soundboard de cheevo

A late but heartfelt birthday post for my sister Lindsay who celebrated 31 years on this sphere on Sept. 26. I took her out for sushi last week and we had an excellent time. I very much heart Cheebers (her nickname for those who don't know.)

The world lost one of the very few truly wonderful politicians last week in the death of Ann Richards, former governor of Texas. Richards, known for her razor-sharp wit, is considered the first woman to win the title of governor without filling the shoes of a politician husband (a la Lurleen Wallace). Richards was no career politician. She got into the arena relatively late in life after teaching and raising four children with her husband, David. In her term as governor, Richards boosted the economy of her state, was successful in prison and education reform programs. After she was sadly beaten by George W. Bush in the 1994 election, she remained strong in her role as political activist taking on causes such as poverty, gay rights, women's rights and education. In a society where women are judged more harshly than men, especially in politics, Richards held her own in the good ole boys club of Texas politics. The only force that could have stopped her was the cancer that took her li...

Jon Stewart had so much fodder this past week and he certainly didn't disappoint.

Liam Lynch - My United States of Whatever (George Bush Re-Mix) on Transbuddha A nice Saturday cartoon by Richie Zirbes and John Zirbes.

I went to Boston for Labor Day to see one of my favorite people of all time, Roy, and his new bride Liane (also an old friend). Like Clare, I have known Roy since my first semester at Montevallo, some 16 years ago (ouch!). It was just the right mix of fast paced and no paced activities that included: * A Sonic Youth concert * A Cat Power concert (we were in the front row) * Trips to Jamaica Pond park and Arnold Arboretum (in their Boston neighborhood called Jamaica Plain, pictured above) * A shopping trip to Newbury Street to the original famous Newbury Comics (and the Hello Kitty! store) * Great meals both out and in * Movies, movies and more movies including "Little Miss Sunshine" at the historic Coolidge Theater (if you are reading this, go see this movie now); back at the crib we saw the tragically trashy "Behind the Camera: the Unauthorized Story of Diff'rent Strokes" which will stay with us forever because of its total trashiness Packing up to leav...

An Aztec mural down the street from R & L's apartment. A typical residential architecture in Jamaica Plain, Mass. This street looks a lot like San Francisco. Sailboats at Jamaica Pond, a park in Jamaica Plain, Mass.

We got to break in the Burns' brand spankin' new Weber grill. Roy and I were like kids at Christmas lighting the grill, adding the wood chips and grilling the massive feast the Liane prepared for us that included vegetable skewers, burgers, stuffed jalapenos and sausages. For the first time in my life I actually got the corn perfect (by putting it down in the coals for a long time). Labor Day evening was probably the best night of the trip because it of my favorite times with Roy and Lou when we all lived in Birmingham -- grilling out, drinking beer, listening to music and engaging in conversations that seem to have no beginning nor end. I feel lucky to have these two and so glad that they have either other.

Cat Power, a.k.a. Chan Marshall, played two solo shows at the Boston Museum of Fine Art. Roy suggested we get there early to get a good seat and low-and-behold, we were the first two in line meaning we got front and center seats. The rule was no flash photography so I did my best with some long exposure shots. The Flickr album is here. Since there was no real stage, only a 12 inch riser, the show felt more like being in someone's living room. She was funny, talkative and brilliant sounding on piano, guitar and acapella and had the entire audience wrapped around her little finger by the show's end. I highly recommend the latest Cat Power album, " The Greatest ". Roy described it to me at her very own "Dusty in Memphis" and after listening to it all this week, I agree that his description is perfect. After hearing the "Sound of Birmingham" album so recently, it's ironic to hear another album so infused with sixties sounding R & B.

Just how bad was the "Diff'rent Strokes" movie? It's hard to put into words, but was so bad I really want to watch it again to try and fully absorb all of the bad casting, bad sets, bad music (they didn't even have rights to the "Diff'rent Strokes" theme song), bad wigs -- where to begin, where to end. It makes all those lame Lifetime movies starring Patty Duke look Oscar worthy. Any child of the '80s should see this movie when and if ever it is released on DVD for pure comedy. The budget was so tight that the audience shots were all recycled, even when they were showing "scenes" from seasons that were years apart. Gary Coleman was played by three different characters, but his assistant, a Michael Jackson wannabe, remained the same age throughtout. Ed Wood would have really appreciated all the corner cutting. Here's what Entertainment Weekly had to say:

There was no need to wait in endless Atlanta traffic to seek entertainment this past week as entertainment came to us. The amazing Audrey Rose, star of her mom Angela's blog , came over to Clare's house with her parents while my sister and I were in town for a visit. Not only can she walk and talk, but this 15-month-old has also mastered the art of the grown folks spoon and showed us her skills with strawberries, chocolate shavings and vanilla ice cream. Like Angela said about Audrey eyeing a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit at the ripe old age of 3 months , Audrey knows a good thing when she sees it. More flickr foto fun is right here.

The Sound of Birmingham show was actually better than I anticipated. The turnout was incredible, the largest crowd Bottletree has had yet, and the performances were fantastic. Ralph "Soul" Jackson was my favorite of the night. He had the crowd wrapped around his little finger and at one point there wasn't a single member of the audience not shaking it, whatever it was. The previously mentioned Sara Leah Miller , who is our hometown girl who helped make the show and album happen, not only got up on stage and shook it five times like the song said, but also sang part of Roscoe's Robinson's "If I had a Hammer." The good energy was contagious and it was one of those moments, like an amusement park ride, where you just can't help but smile. Thanks to Sara, John Ciba and the folks from Bottletree for putting on the best local show most of us have seen in a long time.

Driving to a big box office supply store holds about as much excitment as waiting in line at the DMV so I decided against buying a paper shreader. There's no place to put it in my cramped office/guest room anyway. Why buy a paper shreader when a mini Smokey Joe, a bottle of lighter fluid and a match can do the same thing with much more drama. See ya financial statements, until the next pyrotechnic display that is.

Roy, left, with Stoltze design head honcho, Cliff Stoltze at a recent type conference. Photo by Eben Sorkin (reposted with permission) - - Roy Burns is one of my best friends who lives in Boston. I have known him since my freshman year in college. When Roy used to design CD covers for in his Graphic Design courses, I doubt he ever thought that someday he would design the greatest hits album cover for America's most obnoxious hair metal band. We had a phone conversation about it last Christmas day that went something like this: Roy: "You won't believe whose greatest hits album cover I'm designing." Me: "Barry Manilow" Roy: "No, worse." Me: "Motley Crue" Roy: "WORSE!" Me: "Poison?" Roy: "YES!" Roy and I share a lot of musical tastes in common. Two of our exceptions have been '80s hair metal and new Nashville country so I think it's kind of funny that this high profile job features one of thos...

The final design.

THE BIRMINGHAM SOUND: THE SOUL OF NEAL HEMPHILL VOL. 1 - CD RELEASE - SATURDAY, AUGUST 19 BOTTLETREE CAFE 3719 3rd Ave. S Birmingham, Ala. 35222 with performances by: The Legendary Roscoe Robinson Ralph "Soul" Jackson Roger Hallmark and special appearances by many of the original Sound of Birmingham/ Hemphill Studios members DJs Brian Poust (Atlanta) MLE (Chicago) and John Ciba (Chicago) (Photo and poster design by Ryan Russell .)

(This article was written by Chicago-based writer and music aficionado John Ciba, who was the main organizer of this project. This article is lengthy, but worth the read as it uncovers a very interesting and little known chapter in music history.) Birmingham Sound: The Soul of Neal Hemphill celebrates the body of work recorded at the original Sound of Birmingham and Hemphill Studios in the working-class suburb of Midfield, AL. Although the material from these studios crossed all genres this compilation focuses on the soul music produced from the mid '60s till the late '70s. Neal Hemphill was a plumber by trade with a deep passion for music. He opened a studio in the basement of his plumbing shop to record local and touring acts and named it the Sound of Birmingham. The one difference between Neal's studio and the others was that he welcomed all kinds of music by anybody willing to come in and play him a song. Some of that young talent was songwriters and performers like F...

Sid Vance with bronzed hero, Ted Kluszewski, a Reds first baseman hall-of-famer from 1947-57. Great baseball, great food and crappy customer service are what I will take away from my trip to Cincinnati. I am not sure what was so strange about Cincinnati and its Kentucky suburbs. We had some real twilight zone moments dealing with service industry people and their rude, idiotic ways, but it became funny after a while. They weren't going to rain on our vacation parade. Sid, Clare and I scored some excellent souveniers, got down with Deutschland at the Goetta Festival and at a German brewhouse afterwards and most importantly saw two great games in the Red's new ballpark. The trip home was pure madness as a wreck involving three semis shut I-75 down completely for four hours in southern Kentucky. The detour we took getting around the wreck took about that long making our total travel time back to Atlanta twelve hours. With good music and great conversation, we pressed on toward At...

The Roebling bridge is one of the oldest in the country. It was built in 1869 as a model for the Brooklyn Bridge.

Staying cool does not necessarily go hand-in-hand with looking cool as this photo illustrates.

One well-packed Camry, three passengers and 10 tickets to the Reds/Braves series and here we have landed, not quite in Ohio, but across the river in Covington, Kentucky. After a sun-drenched, beer-soaked Saturday, I don't have a lot of creative writing juices flowing, but I will say that Cincinnati has the nicest baseball park I have ever been to, the new and lamely-named, Great American Ballpark. My best friend Clare, her dad Sid and I got to see Ken Griffey Jr. live and in person today as the Reds beat the Braves for the second time in the series. It's as hot up here as it in Birmingham, but that doesn't stop locals from scarfing up heavy German fare, like peppers and sausages, at the ball park. Across the river is the Goetta Festival (pronounced "Getta" -- rhymes with Jetta), a celebration honoring the strange combination of sausage and raw oats. It sounds absolutely disgusting, but is actually wonderful -- more so on a cold winter morning when Clare's gra...