The Harry Rags – Kinks tribute band


Chase Hamblin


Derek Dunivan

After leaving Notsuoh I headed over to the Continental Club. On the bill for the evening were Von Hindenburg, a Led Zepplin tribute band and another band called The Harry Rags, a Kinks tribute band.

I had seen Von Hindenburg before and was not overly enthused, but I was intrigued by The Harry Rags. As it turns out the two bands have some band members in common, most notably Steve Candaleri who drums for both bands and Derik Dunivan (Willie “punkdaddy” Dunican’s kid) who plays keyboard, guitar and sings for The Harry Rags and is the singer (aka Robert Plant) for Von Hindenburg.

I must say, I was rather impressed by the performance of The Harry Rags. They not only performed all the classics like “Lola” and “You Really Got Me” but they also dug deep into the Kinks repertoire and pulled out some rather obtuse songs like the one that obviously inspired the band name.

It was a great show and only at two points did I experience any distress.

The first twinge was brought on when I was discussing with a friend the fact that the members of this tribute band (with the possible exception of Steve Candelari) were not even born when these songs were written.

The second twinge was brought on when they started playing “Picture Book” and a young woman in the audience declared that they were playing that song from that cool HP commercial…

Best shot of the show is this one of Derek Dunivan:

Derek Dunivan
Click for full size!

Many more in the gallery

Orange Is In

Amy Price

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Found my way to Notsuoh to catch Orange Is In. My friends Amy Price and Jeff Balke are members.

I thought it would be a larf to catch some pics of Jeff but, as luck would have it, he was standing in the one spot on the stage that was not well illuminated. Ah, well….such are the vagaries of concert photography.

The above photo of Amy is my favorite of the evening. Here are two of the front man, George Kovacik, that came out pretty well.

Early warning

My band, The Flying Fish Sailors, has some shows scheduled for March!

Friday, March 2nd

Fitgerald’s
Doors open at 8:00

We’re opening up for our friends, The Blaggards.
This should be a GREAT show.

Saturday, March 17th (St. Paddy’s Day!)

Bryan O’Neill’s from 8am to noon

Goose’s Acre Bistro & Irish Pub in The Woodlands from 2pm to 6pm.

We’re finishing the day with a FREE show at The Big Top that evening.

Hope to see you there!

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Space madness

Obviously, this story shines the unforgiving light of truth on a very harsh reality, the reality that our understanding regarding the true nature and danger of space travel is extremely limited.

All indications are that NASA has a very strenuous and thorough psych screening and evaluation process in place for our astronauts. They just don’t let anyone at the controls of millions of tax dollars worth of sophisticated space gear.

We must assume that Lisa Nowak has returned to earth completely saturated in cosmic crazy dust, otherwise how can you explain the fact that she drove to Orlando, Florida from Houston, Texas (in an adult diaper to save time no less) to confront the perceived rival for the intergalactic affections of one Bill Oefelein equipped with a knife, pellet pistol, can of pepper spray, steel mallet and 4 feet of rubber tubing?

One thing is certainly clear. Nowak does not belong behind bars. She needs to be taken, and taken quickly, to one of our most sophisticated scientific laboratories to be studied and examined. We have an obligation to make sure she has not infected any other Earthlings with what could possibly be the most horrific space plague ever to threaten the human race!

I can see for miles and miles

Prior to turning 40, I was the only member of my family who did not wear glasses. Everyone else, mom, dad and my three brothers all had been wearing them since childhood.

It was a point of pride for me that I had not inherited this one particular genetic flaw.

After I turned 40 I began to notice that I could not see so well. At one point I remember having Cynthia read the bill to me at a restaurant because I simply could not make out the numbers. We agreed it was time to have an eye exam.

As it turns out, I have trouble with my far AND my near vision and have been prescribed corrective lenses to assist me in seeing things. Not just glasses, BIFOCALS! The official eye-wear of old people.

Fortunately corrective lens technology has advanced significantly over the years and the glasses I have don’t look all that bad. In fact, I kinda like them. And you don’t really realize how much your missing until you get your glasses. It’s much easier to read, I get fewer headaches and things are just clearer overall.

We go each year to get our eyes checked. I’ve only needed to change my prescription once since I started wearing glasses, so that’s pretty cool. Again this year there has been no change but I had an extra set of frames that I like a lot so I’m having my opthomotrist fit them with my current prescription and also adding the transition feature so I have a pair of sunglasses to wear.

The geeks, they gathered


Laurence (isfullofcrap.com) Simon, Kojo (the architect) Idrissa, Dwight Silverman and KD5 enjoy some technology, bubble tea, food and conversation at the February Geek Gathering

The first Friday of the month is always reserved for “The Geek Gathering.” It’s an informal gathering of the participants and listeners of my show, Technology Bytes.

Basically I just invite anyone who is listening to the show to meet up at Tropioca for a few hours of general hanging out.

Over the years it been a real neat experience. Some Fridays there’s not very many people, other Fridays we get a huge crowd.

This past Friday we had a great turn out which included Kojo back from China and an old friend I haven’t seen in 20 years who is now working for Russell Holliman and Podcast Ready. Small world.

One very cool aspect of doing radio for over 20 years is that I tend to run into old friends and acquaintances I’ve lost touch with over my lifetime. It’s like having a permanent P.O. box (that happens to be broadcasting at thousands of watts). There may be a ton of Jay Lees in the world, but only one at KPFT so it’s a good bet it’s me if you happen to be looking.

More pictures of this geek gathering (as well as past gatherings) can be found in the gallery over at geekradio.com if your interested.

Fight or flight

Dooley the African Gray parrot is African in name only. I purchased him from a breeder in Katy, TX. Suffice to say, he’s pretty much only known the inside of a cage for the entirety of his life. Sure, he comes out to explore on occasion or when I handle him, but the TV room is pretty much makes up his entire universe.

Dooley has never had to forage for food or defend himself from predators. His hardships, trials and tribulations tend to center around whether or not he gets some of the pasta we’re having for dinner or a piece of tasty pizza.

With that in mind, there was this one event that we still laugh about.

Since Dooley lives in the TV room he gets to watch a lot of TV. He loves the Simpsons and seems to get the jokes because he laughs in all the right spots. It has always been our impression that the TV holds no great mystery for Dooley. That was until the time we happened to be watching this show that featured a visit by Jack Hanna. If you’ve ever seen a guest appearance on The Letterman Show or Larry King Live you know that Jack brings out animals to show the host and the audience.

On this particular occasion Jack had some type of Owl. We weren’t paying all that much attention as it was going on.

We were fairly distracted. We tend to talk while the TV is on and Cynthia often just sit with me and read while I type away on my laptop. It’s a cozy little family scene.

So we’re all sitting there, just hanging out as we do, and that owl decides to launch itself off the arm of it’s handler and flies straight at the camera.

I guess with it’s wings outstretched and with it flying in the direction it was, Dooley must have thought that owl was coming to get him because he let out a lout HOOT and fell backwards right off his perch to bottom of his cage.

Dooley was unhurt and climbed back up the side of his cage to his perch once he determined the coast to be clear.

What does Dooley know about Owls? Much less any other predatory bird? I would have to say NOTHING. But his natural instincts just kicked in when he saw that owl and he did what comes naturally.

It’s also noteworthy to point out that Dooley is completely terrified of a small step stool we use around the house, squawking and retreating whenever he sees it. I guess roving bands of step stools once hunted the jungles of Africa, preying upon unsuspecting gray parrots and that genetic imprint also remains coded in Dooley’s DNA.

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