Three cheers for Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and Pink for speaking out against our current political mess. It seems like it's taken too long for the artists to start speaking publicly to proclaim that things have gone awry in this country. Pink's song Dear Mr. President cuts right to the bone. It is an honest and genuinely moving performance.
For years I've admired the fact that Pearl Jam, besides kicking ass in general, records their shows and offers them as official bootlegs. There's something really special about seeing them live and then owning the show to listen to at will. Doing different shows each night is essential and lots of acts don't do it. Well Tori Amos does and now she offers some shows as official bootlegs too. The results are true treasures.
To See or Not To See. I've never been a fan of flying and that's only one of the reasons I hesitate to see United 93 which opens this weekend. Brian Williams of NBC told of attending the premier this week, which a lot of the families of victims attended, and hearing the sobbing from the back of the theater at the end of the film when it suddenly goes to black. Which brings me to another reason I may not be able to attend as I'd be blubbering all the way through just knowing the outcome. It's not fun to cry in public, although I can be assured I would not be the only one with hankie in hand. Yet I feel I should see it, as 9-11 is such a part of our national identity now and it touched us all. Upon hearing of the flights originating from Boston's Logan I thought, gee I wonder if I knew any of the people flying that day. Well, I didn't, but I did watch Garnet "Ace" Baily, #14, play on the Boston Bruins hockey team as I was a rabid fan in my youth. He was still a young man and died along with another hockey scout that day. So sad. The night of 9-11 when I went to bed I remember having such a sickening feeling about what kind of horrendous acts humanity is capable of. To be so hateful and disrespectful of life seems incomprehensible to me. Maybe seeing the heroes of Flight 93 will restore some faith in humanity.
