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April 20 - Carolina Mudcats Game Information
April 20, 2019 - Carolina League (CarL) - Carolina Mudcats News Release
Winners of three straight, and following last night's rainout, the Mudcats continue a seven game and eight day road trip today with a day-night doubleheader beginning at 12 PM and continuing at 5 PM. Today's split twin-bill will also feature games two and three of a four game series between the Mudcats and Woodpeckers at SEGRA Stadium in Fayetteville... Carolina won the first ever game at SEGRA Stadium 7-5 on Thursday night to take a 1-0 lead in the current series and a 3-1 advantage in the overall season series.
CAROLINA MUDCATS (MILWAUKEE BREWERS) at FAYETTEVILLE WOODPECKERS (HOUSTON ASTROS)
Saturday, April 20, 2019 | Doubleheader | 12:00 PM/5:00 PM | Game 16/17, Away Game 9/10 | SEGRA Stadium | Fayetteville, NC
RADIO: WDWG, 98.5 FM
STREAMING AUDIO: www.carolinamudcats.com, TuneIn Radio, First Pitch App
STREAMING VIDEO: N/A
Overall Record: CAR: 9-6; FAY: 8-7
Streaks: CAR: W3; FAY: L3
Last 10 Games: CAR: 6-4, FAY: 6-4
Home Record: CAR: 3-4; FAY: 0-1
Road Record: CAR: 6-2; FAY: 8-6
Division Record: CAR: 5-3; FAY: 4-4
Current Series: CAR leads 1-0 (of 4)
Season Series: CAR leads 3-1 (of 20)
CAR v. OPP: 2-1 @CAR (10), 1-0 @OPP (10)
UPCOMING PROBABLE STARTERS:
TODAY, 4/19 at Fayetteville, 7:00 PM: Carolina RHP Dylan File (0-2, 6.30) at Fayetteville RHP Cristian Javier (2-0, 0.82)
TODAY, 4/20 at Fayetteville, 5:00 PM: Carolina RHP Christian Taugner (1-1, 3.97) at Fayetteville RHP Bryan Abreu (0-0, 2.79)
SUNDAY, 4/21 at Fayetteville, 2:00 PM: Carolina RHP Nelson Hernandez (2-0, 3.24) at Fayetteville LHP Parker Mushinski (0-0, 3.48)
TONIGHT: Winners of three straight, and following last night's rainout, the Mudcats continue a seven game and eight day road trip today with a day-night doubleheader and games two and three of a four game series versus the Fayetteville Woodpeckers at SEGRA Stadium in Fayetteville... Carolina won the first ever game at SEGRA Stadium 7-5 on Thursday night to take a 1-0 lead in the current series and a 3-1 advantage in the overall season series... The current road trip includes three more games at Fayetteville before continuing with three games at Myrtle Beach following the first scheduled off day of the season on Monday, April 22.
ICYMI: Tristen Lutz broke a 5-5 tie in the top half of the ninth with a two-run home run and Rodrigo Benoit worked a clean frame in the bottom side as the Mudcats won the first ever game at SEGRA Stadium in Fayetteville 7-5 versus the Woodpeckers on Thursday night. The victory was Carolina's third straight and gave them a 1-0 lead in the four game set at SEGRA Stadium against the Woodpeckers (8-7). The Mudcats (9-6) won, what ended up being a see-saw affair, with help of big nights and big swings from Payton Henry (2-for-5, HR, 3 RBI), Joantgel Segovia (2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI) and Lutz (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI). They were also led by strong pitching as starter Noah Zavolas (6.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, BB, 7 SO) totaled a career high seven strikeouts over a career best six innings in his first career quality start.
ABOUT THE LAST ONE: After beginning the season without a home run over their first three games, and with just five homers over their first 11, the Mudcats have totaled six home runs over their last four consecutive games (all of which versus Fayetteville). The current power streak has included a fourth inning, no-hitter snapping solo homer from Joantgel Segovia on April 15, home runs from Ryan Aguilar and Mario Feliciano on April 16, an eighth inning, 4-4 tie breaking solo homer from Feliciano on April 17 and big flies from Payton Henry and Tristen Lutz in Carolina's last game on April 18. Henry's homer on Thursday was the first in SEGRA Stadium history, while Lutz's two-run shot on Thursday broke a 5-5 tie in the ninth.
STREAKING: After opening the season at 2-2 in a season opening four game set at Down East, the Mudcats have put together streaks of four straight wins, four straight losses and (currently) three straight victories while going 7-4 since their season opening series split. Carolina's season opening series against Down East also included back-to-back wins on April 5 and April 6; giving Carolina win streaks of two, four and three so far this season over their first 15 games.
CLUTCH GENE: Payton Henry brought the Mudcats back from a 2-1 deficit to a 3-2 lead after driving in two runs with a double with two outs in the fifth on Thursday night. Henry has totaled eight 2-out RBI this season and 11 RBI overall. Henry is batting .320/.320/.440 (8-for-25) with a .760 OPS and 8 RBI when batting with two outs this season.
HOW THEY'RE BUILT: The Mudcats open the 2019 season with 11 returning players from last season... The 2019 squad features three of the Brewers' Top 30 prospects (as rated by MLBPipeline.com) including OF Tristen Lutz (No. 5), C Payton Henry (No. 10) and C Mario Feliciano (No. 22).
WHERE THEY RANK: Joantgel Segovia is currently 2nd in the CL in OPS (1.096) this season. Segovia is also 2nd in the CL in on-base (.483), 5th in slugging (.612), 6th in average (.367) and tied for 4th in walks (10)... Ryan Aguilar is currently tied for 1st in the CL in doubles (6), tied for 7th in extra-base hits (7) and tied for 4th in walks (10)... Noah Zavolas is currently 10th in the CL in ERA (2.81)... Matt Hardy is tied for the CL lead in games (7)... Rodrigo Benoit is currently tied for 2nd in the CL in games (6) and 2nd in the CL in saves (4).
MUDDIES V. WOODIES: Thursday's 7-5 road win at Fayetteville lifted the Mudcats to a 1-0 series lead and 3-1 lead in the overall season series against the Woodpeckers...The Woodpeckers are an affiliate of the Houston Astros and previously played in the Carolina League as the Buies Creek Astros the last two seasons. The Mudcats were 11-17 versus Buies Creek overall last year, including a 5-6 record at home and 6-11 record on the road. Carolina additionally went 7-16 overall against the Astros in 2017; 3-8 at home and 4-8 on the road. Carolina entered the 2019 season 18-33 all-time against Houston's High-A Carolina League team (8-14 at home, 10-19 away).
THE SKIPPER: Manager Joe Ayrault is back for his third season as Manager of the Mudcats and his eighth season overall as Manager of Milwaukee's Class A Advanced affiliate. Ayrault is currently second on Carolina's all-time managerial wins list and second all-time in games managed in Carolina...
MANAGER W L PCT G SEASONS
David Bell 176 239 .424 415 2009-11 (3)
Joe Ayrault 147 144 .505 291 2017-Present (2)
Ron Gideon 126 151 .455 277 2000-01 (2)
Marc Hill 96 111 .464 207 1996-97 (2)
Trent Jewett 89 55 .618 144 1995 (1)
THE MUDCATS HAVE...
... played in Zebulon, NC since 1991 (29th season).
... played in the Carolina League since 2012 (8th season).
... been an affiliate of the Brewers since 2017 (3rd season).
... operated under the ownership of the Brewers since Oct. 2017.
... not made the playoffs since the 2008 season.
... not made the playoffs during their Carolina League era.
Check out the Carolina Mudcats Statistics
• Discuss this story on the Carolina League message board...
Carolina League Stories from April 20, 2019
Down East Sweeps Double-Header From Wilmington - Down East Wood Ducks
Dash Drop Saturday's Twin Bill Opener at Potomac - Winston-Salem Dash
Rocks Manage Just Six Hits Total in Doubleheader Sweep - Wilmington Blue Rocks
P-Nats and Dash Split Saturday Night Doubleheader - Potomac Nationals
Hillcats Manage Just Three Runs in Double-Header, Get Swept by Pelicans - Lynchburg Hillcats
Birds Sweep Doubleheader against Lynchburg - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
Woodpeckers Finish Doubleheader Sweep with 6-3 Win in Nightcap - Carolina Mudcats
Woodpeckers Sweep Carolina in Doubleheader - Fayetteville Woodpeckers
Keys and Red Sox Split Doubleheader - Frederick Keys
Fayetteville Rallies Late to Take Game One of a Split Doubleheader 3-2 on Saturday - Carolina Mudcats
Winston-Salem Dash Game Notes (April 20 at Potomac, Doubleheader) - Winston-Salem Dash
April 20 Game Information - Down East Wood Ducks
Myrtle Beach Pelicans Game Notes: April 20 at Lynchburg - Myrtle Beach Pelicans
April 20 - Carolina Mudcats Game Information - Carolina Mudcats
Other Recent Carolina Mudcats Stories
Manager Joe Ayrault Returns as Brewers Announce 2020 Mudcats Staff
Mudcats Announce Promotions Schedule for 30th Anniversary Season
Grand Slam Ticket Plan with Giveaway Guarantee on Sale Now
New Grand Slam Ticket Plan with Giveaway Guarantee on Sale Now
ECU Night Souvenir Hat Ticket Package on Sale Now

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Lucifer Rising
Hit up my article about the making of the infamous Lucifer Rising soundtrack over on Niche Appeal or peep below:
All Time Weirdest Records #49: Lucifer Rising
Let's just get one thing out of the way straight up front about this record: The soundtrack to Kenneth Anger's 1972 (oc)cult classic Lucifer Rising was recorded in Tracy Prison in San Joaquin, California by Robert "Cupid" Beausoleil of Manson Family Fame on a series of incredibly innovative self-made synthesizers. The fact that this is NOT the strangest thing about the record is testament to just how wonderfully bizarre both the back story and the music itself truly is.
In order to understand the intricate reasons behind why the darkly ambient soundscapes of this record are so compelling, you have to understand a little bit about Cupid. The first thing to know about Bobby Beausoleil is that he was a messianic little prick floating on the hazy outer edges of late '60s popular culture who was eventually convicted of the first official Manson Family murder, where music teacher and mescaline dealer Gary Hinman met his predestined but still-horrific fate. The second thing to know is that Cupid was, and still is, an extremely talented musician who performed in an early lineup of everyone's baroque hippie faves. Love. As a matter of fact it was Arthur Lee himself who gave young Bobby the Cupid moniker. Young Cupid was a founding member of the completely awesome San Fran musical magic mushroom trip known as The Orkustra and later became the Brian Eno of the Oregon penal system with his way-ahead-of-the-curve work with synths and ambient dreamscapes. Just like his namesake, Cupid has also gotten up to abundance of horrific mischief over the years as well. If you're the type who cannot separate the art from the artist, then you should certainly separate yourself from the Lucifer Rising Soundtrack. If you can deal with it then by all means keep on reading.
Sometime in 1966, right on the cusp of that elusive grey line when the '60s really got good, Scorpio Rising filmmaker Kenneth Anger rented a run-down, vibey-as-hell flat on the first floor of an old Russian embassy in San Francisco's Alamo district. Then in his late 30s, the ever-esoteric Anger was fascinated by the hippie tribes sprouting to vivid life all around him, sensing that the Age Of Aquarius could very well be the dawn of the new pagan era he had longed for since his early teenage years. Like 90% of filmmakers of the time, he had the idea to capture the vibe of all these youth cult uprisings in the vivid light of celluloid. Kenneth was a lifelong devotee of everyone's favorite egg-headed antichrist, The Great Beast 666 Himself, Mr. Aleister Alexander Crowley. Like in all times of great unrest and uncertainty, Sir Crowley was back in style (there he was peering out from behind Mae West on the Sgt. Pepper's cover) and The Great Beast's description of Lucifer as a light bearing god in his "Hymn to Lucifer" poem really turned Anger's head around and gave him the core concept for what was to become his most famous and enduring work.
The first thing he needed was a "naughty, mischievous" boy to play that most famous of fallen angels, and he found just what he needed at an orgy held in a cathedral. Never in the history of destiny has there been a more perfect meeting place for two figures of Kenneth Anger and Cupid's predilections and interests. Chancing upon the indeed naughty and mischievous, not to mention extremely good-looking, young Bobby at said orgy was infamy in the making, for Anger christened his Lucifer that very night. And it wasn't long before Anger realized his young Lucifer wasn't just a pretty face. The kid was a versatile and well-regarded musician on the freak scene, and soon he was playing both the lead role and composing the film's soundtrack with a bunch of jazz musicians called the Magick Powerhouse of Oz.
All seemed to be going well until (you just can't make this stuff up) Anger and Cupid were involved in an event called Equinox of the Gods where the Magick Powerhouse performed and Anger invoked (most would agree successfully) the oncoming of the Luciferian age. The sheer heaviness of the vibes on this night combined to create a falling out between the cosmic pair, with Cupid moving out of the embassy soon after. But he didn't leave empty-handed. In an interview around this time Anger claimed that Cupid walked out of his life with the footage from Lucifer Rising. Soon after, Anger did the logical thing and proclaimed his own death in a two-page Village Voice ad, after which he fled to the then-swinging London.
Cupid Outside The Embassy
This turned out to be the best move Anger ever made, for less than a year later Mr. Cupid was splashed all over the headlines after having fallen in with the Manson Clan and notching the first post on their lumpen hippie killing spree (RIP Gary). The Family was known to target individuals from the entertainment industry who had crossed them (Terry Melcher, Charles Manson's producer, lived in Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski's house until just months before the Tate murders), so it isn't outside the realm of possibility that Cupid could have convinced them to head North to pay Anger a little creepy crawl visit had he not fled to The Smoke.
So for those keeping careful track at home:
First attempt at the Lucifer Rising soundtrack:
Robert "Cupid" Beausoleil
Falls in with Manson Clan, banged up on first degree murder, sentenced to death (later commuted to life in prison)
Cupid Mugshot
This may seem impossible, but in London Town the Lucifer Rising got even stranger. Mick Jagger, then in his Edwardian-robed prime, was interested in stepping into the Luciferian role but ended up getting spooked after Altamont and offered up his brother Chris instead. This is unfortunate since anyone who's seen Performance could tell you that the 1969-era Jagger would have been just perfect for the role. Before the infamously bloody festival soured his taste for the occult, Jagger even laid down some impressively atmospheric Moog tracks for the project, though these were eventually used in a different Anger banger, Invocation Of My Demon Brother, which is well worth checking out.
The Lucifer Rising soundtrack curse continues!
Second attempt at the Lucifer Rising soundtrack:
A curse that resulted in the most infamously disastrous music festival of all time and the actual death of the 60s.
A Man Of Wealth and Taste
Even though Mick dropped out as Lucifer, the "Jagger" name was still retained as his brother Chris stepped in. Plus, Mick's GF Marianne Faithfull was expertly cast as the goddess Lilith. As one of the greatest scam artists of all time, Anger utilized these marquee names to gain funding from the National Film Finance Corporation to complete the remainder of the film in extravagant fashion. The fact that such a purely Satanic passion project that never made a dime received funding from such a prestigious institute is just one of the myriad of mind-blowing aspects to this story. England's Sunday Telegraph certainly noticed, screaming "Devil Film To Get State Aid" from its red top pages. Nobody could say that Anger didn't use the money wisely, however, since he blew it on flying the whole operation to Egypt where some of the most vivid scenes in the film are captured, including the simply immortal image of The Sphinx's head being replaced by that of Lucifer.
So the filming was going well. But what about that cursed soundtrack? Well, back in London's grey scotch mist Anger hit up an auction to bid on some rare Crowley memorabilia (robes and staffs and self-published poetry volumes and other Great Beast treasures) where, inevitably, he ran across a man who just hadto be in this story: Jimmy Page. Despite competing on the bid, with the Hippie-rich Page being the one who ultimately walked away with the robes, real recognizes real in the end. The two modern pagans were instant esoteric brothers and before long Anger was whisked off to the ultimate piece of Crowley paraphernalia that Page happened to own, the Great Magus' former estate, Boleskine House on the shores of Loch Ness. Crowley had once attempted, and failed, to perform the Sacred Magic of Abramelin ritual at the Manor. Various demons and other mischievous beings let loose during Crowley's residency still lurked the grounds, and all sorts of weird shit and death had befallen the place over the decades. Needless to say Boleskine was right up Kenneth's proverbial alley, and it wasn't long before he was living full-time in the basement.
Jimmy outside Boleskine House
It was only natural that the third person to attempt the Lucifer Rising soundtrack would be the princely and occult-obsessed James Patrick Page, and this was indeed officially announced in an Anger interview in Variety. The soundtrack curse got its long, cold fingers into Page almost immediately. Then at the zenith of Zeppelin's universal reign, Jimmy began cultivating a serious taste for certain brown powders derived from poppy flowers, went from "rock star skinny" to "famine victim skeletal", and began falling out with his wife Charlotte. The heavy, dark vibes he inherited as the soundtrack's producer drew some seriously stifling curtains down on his until-then crystalline creative drive, and he barely managed to complete less than 20 minutes of music for the score. Growing weary of the dissolute pagan chanting strange incantations in their basement, the bummer-bringing Charlotte eventually tossed Anger out of Crowley paradise. Anger got his revenge by calling a presser, from which he chastised Page savagely: "I'm beginning to think Jimmy's dried up as a musician. He's got no themes, no inspiration, no melodies to offer."
Harsh words from Anger, but in fairness it should be noted that Page's discarded music for the Lucifer Rising soundtrack surfaced in 2012 as Lucifer Rising & Other Soundtracks and, although not nearly as well-executed as Cupid's, it isn't dismal listening by any stretch.
Third attempt at the Lucifer Rising soundtrack:
A decade-long heroin addiction, the death of Robert Plant's son, the death of John Bonham, and the downfall of one of the mightiest band of living gods to ever stalk this fair planet.
Sir Jimmy
This is the point in the story where we see the seemingly inevitable return of the Original Lucifer, Mr. Cupid himself. The bond originally formed at that fateful pagan orgy all those years ago was destined to complete its cycle. Really, there could have only been one cursed person who could adequately complete this most cursed of soundtracks. And the fact that Bobby was in the midst of a life term prison sentence? Well, had such lame earthly matters ever stopped Anger previously?
The supremely talented Cupid had not given up on his music dreams after his conviction, and with the aid of the prison music teacher he got his hands on a number of instruments and recording equipment, forming a band with fellow inmates called the Freedom Orchestra, a prison band strange enough to rival the one Roky Erickson formed with the inmates at his Texas psychiatric prison made up of spree killers and rapists, and put the mono synths he had spent years crafting behind bars to good use. Anger visited the prison regularly during the recording, and he was delighted with the sounds he was hearing. It is amazing to consider that a California Prison inmate named Cupid managed to succeed where two of the world's most famous, talented, and rich musicians failed is a testament to the intrinsic strangeness woven into the dark tapestry of Lucifer Rising. Really, for such a strange project with such a sordid history of heady, brilliant failures, there could be no other ending, and the 44 minutes of music produced by Cupid at Penitentiary Studios was heady and brilliant indeed.
Cupid Recording In Prison
One of the main reasons Inmate Cupid's soundtrack works so incredibly well is that, unlike temporary dabblers Mick and Pagey, Bobby and Anger truly walked the walk when it came to this occult shit. Anger had the book smarts, having deeply studied esoteric texts well beyond the usual Crowley content since far too young an age. Bobby may not have tapped into the texts to the same depths as his demon brother, but he actually LIVED OUT the lifestyle in a way the more respectable Anger could never quite bring himself to do. This combination of dark knowledge and actual darkness interlocked to create not only a classic film but an even more classic soundtrack which has won out over the usual controversy and outrage to see number of official releases and reissues over the years and has received a vast array of critical praise.
Don't forget that Cupid was involved with this project from its very inception and once walked in the plush shoes of the Lucifer roll. There was nobody else who understood the multitude of themes, intricate rhythms, and hidden undercurrents of the project like Bobby B. The music is closely linked with the main occult themes on display in the work, mainly, in the words of the composer, the "mythical Lucifer awakening in his pit of despair, rekindling his torch, and rising like a phoenix from the ashes of his own unmaking to begin his long journey from the dark recesses of the underworld — shedding his pride along the way in his uncompromising desire to regain the Beloved."
Fittingly for such a subject, the extraordinary music Mr. Cupid laid down in confinement is convincingly dark yet invitingly lush, grand and sweeping but also claustrophobic, orchestral but primitive, evoking stark netherworlds both supremely alien and strangely familiar. Also importantly, the droning ambience perfectly complements the esoteric tones of the film and paints in the many corners of Anger's masterpiece, gliding next to it and guiding the proceedings like a dark angel. He bests the Jimmy Page by a misty mountain hop, and the fact that he made this in a state prison is completely extraordinary and a major indicator that the mind can shine bright even in the bleakest of circumstances, and that sometimes the worst people are capable of creating staggering works of beauty. It should be noted that there is no need to actually watch Lucifer Rising in order to enjoy the film's soundtrack. Those who groove to ambient Eno or early Tangerine Dream will find a whole lot to admire here. Although the grand, cold hand of esoteric belief can be strongly felt throughout, not to mention the weighty history of the project, this is a lush dreamscape that is in many ways incredibly beautiful, like stumbling across a stoic stone head carving while out for a walk in a field of emerald-green.
This record and its back story may be incredibly bizarre, but the Lucifer Risingsoundtrack is well worth listening to and is one of the most incredible scores ever committed to tape.
Posted on June 29, 2018 July 26, 2018 Categories Articles
The Layla Curse: How Eric Clapton's Masterpiece Is Responsible For Parentacide, Dead Guitar Heroes, Failed Kidneys, Bad Shorts, And Even Disco
Check out my article over at Niche Appeal about how Clapton's smash hit "Layla" brought death, jail, and artistic decline for everyone who touched it. Or read below.
You've heard the song at least 102,697 times. It's been blasting from the FM Classic Rock stations at every jobsite you've ever walked past. A limp acoustic version haunted your MTV childhood. It's lush piano outro soundtracked several of the most poignant moments in your favorite movies. It's a song that has seeped its way into the world's collective consciousness with the likes of "Stairway" and "Freebird" and "Gucci Gang". The song is "Layla" and it's got you on your knees. The song is "Layla" and it's screamin' darlin' please. The song is "Layla" and darlin' it will ease your worried mind.
You know "Layla" well. But did you know that the guy who co-wrote it with Eric Clapton killed his mother with a hammer?
If you don't know this, then you don't know about The Layla Curse. But unfortunately for you we're about to tell you all about it.
We'll start by stating a fact: "Layla" and the album it comes from, 1970's Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs are absolute stunners. Every second of this record is richly layered, earthy, highly emotional, and capital "G" groovy in every way. It was Clapton's last stand, really, since he definitely never did anything cool ever again. He still had great hair and had not yet sprouted that coked-out line beard that haunted him through the late 70s and 80s. This was still the Clapton of Cream and Blind Faith. The spirits still walked with him. The heartbroken swagger on this record was influenced by George Harrison's wife, Patti Boyd, and it bleeds through heavy on immortal dirges like "Bellbottom Blues" and the title track. We know, we know, you've heard "Layla" so many times it just doesn't have an impact. But it's a great and desperate song. Take our word for it. We're professionals.
We've established that the record is an out-and-out classic. It's also moved millions upon millions of units and is easily one of the crowning jewels of the classic rock era. But it came with a horrible curse, and even Clapton himself wasn't able to outrun it.
Playing on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs should have been a big red letter day for everyone involved in the sessions, from the boys in Eric's band (called Derek And The Dominos for some perverse reason) to the engineers to the person who swept the floor after hours. It's a rare combination: a misunderstood cult record that still sold millions, an uncompromising work of art that made the commercial marketplace bend to its will over time. It's remarkably pure but soundtracked jaded times. Everyone knows it and could hum the title track's main riff off the dome. Playing on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs should be like having Dark Side Of The Moon or Appetite For Destruction on your resume.
And yet everyone involved in the swampy hot Miami sessions that produced this thing met a horrible fate.
Jim Gordon, the "Layla" Drummer and Co-Writer
We'll start with the sessions' drummer, Bill Gordon. Or more specifically, Bill Gordon's poor, doomed mother. Her son may have looked kind of square, but this was one of the freakiest and most versatile session drummers of the era. Dude pretty much played on everything. His resume reads like a wonderland of classic records from the era. Nobody would believe it if it wasn't on Wikipedia. Crosby Stills & Nash? Check. The Monkees? Sure thing. Byrds? You know it. Alice Cooper? Oh fuck yea. Nancy Sinatra? Uh huh. Zappa? Of course. Steely Dan? You best believe it. Beach Boys? Been there, done that. John Denver? Booh yah. It was only natural that Clapton would phone him up to jam when he was putting together the Dominos, and only more natural that he was given the full-time drummer role. But Gordo wasn't just a "How do you know when the stage is level? When the drummer is drooling out both sides of his mouth" caveman Keith moon type. This was a composer, classically trained, and that sweeping piano outro you know so well from that scene in Goodfellas that was tacked on to the end of "Layla" was his creation. Now, you can call Eric Clapton many things (a racist, for example) but you can't say he was stingy with the songwriting credits. Gordy got a co-write on the thing. Perhaps Eric would have changed his tune on this had he known his cry of romantic pain would go on to generate millions upon millions of dollars. But now he has to share the proceeds and the multiple Grammys with a California Correctional System inmate.
But that's just how the Layla Curse Works.
On a hot June night in 1983, some very convincing voices within Jim Gordon's head demanded that he kill his mother. He took them up on it without question. We won't get into the truly horrific details other than to say that a hammer was the main instrument used, which makes sense considering Jim's long history as a percussionist. RIP to Osa Marie Gordon. After his conviction Gordy was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and he has long asserted that the voices began just after the release of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs.
So if you're keeping score at home, the Layla Curse has a dead mother and a murder conviction under its belt and we haven't even made it past the drummer.
Jim Gordon, the Convicted Parent Killer
Since we're starting with the Derek and the Dominos rhythm section, let's next move on to the bassist.
Carl Radle, "Layla" Bassist
This guy also got around. And by "around" we mean that he jammed with a Beatle. Radle served as the main bassist on George Harrison's overwhelmingly awesome All Things Must Pass record. He also kicked it with Joe Cocker and J.J. Cale. But then he made the poor decision to take Eric Clapton's call and join in on the Layla sessions. Check out the gatefold album sleeve sometime and you will see an incredibly drunk guy in granny glasses sitting underneath an indoor palm tree. That's successful session bassist Carl Radle, ladies and gentleman, and his alcohol consumption skyrocketed right around the time he became a Domino, crested during the Layla sessions, and never let up after that. Rads may have been an in-demand session musician of the 60s, but he couldn't sidestep the Layla Curse. His liver gave out well before he saw 40.
The Layla Curse takes another life
So now we have a dead mother, a murder conviction, and a dead bassist. The Layla Curse is in full horrific spring. But you didn't think it would stop there, did you?
Brother Duane
If there was ever a template for the "rising rock star" it was created by Duane Allman in 1970. His band, a little outfit called The Allman Brothers Band, had just released their second LP. A little song called "Midnight Rider" was gaining traction on the radio. They were touring hard, selling out the psychedelic ballrooms, getting coverage in Rolling Stone…it was just ON for these boys and they absolutely knew it. They had even reached the discerning ears of Eric Clapton, which led to Brother Duane taking a fateful phone call and falling right into the grips of the Layla Curse. Duane's playing and backing vocals on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs are emotional, evocative…too saintly for any known descriptors. His slide playing is what makes this record ring out so distinctly. It made him familiar to millions before the Allman Bros had their big breakthrough with At Fillmore East later on that year.
But it also sealed his fate. The Layla Curse could not be cast off with mere stardom and Rolling Stone covers. Just months after the release of Fillmore East Brother Duane crashed into the back of a flatbed truck while speeding on his motorcycle in Macon, Georgia. He didn't make it. May flights of angels sing thee to thy rest, and damn that Layla Curse.
He didn't even get the chance to suck in the 80s
We've now added one dead guitar legend to the Layla Curse tally. But how about we'll throw in another one just for kicks? And why not make it the Ultimate Dead Guitar Legend of all time while we're at it?
Jimi Hendrix chilling with Clapton
During the Layla sessions the Dominos cut a wailing, majestic version of Clapton's homey Jimi Hendrix's "Little Wing". It serves as a centerpiece of sorts on the record and should have been a great compliment for Jimi who loved him some Eric Clapton. But the Layla Curse was an efficient and heartless beast, and within days of the song being recorded he was found dead in London after choking on his own early morning vomit.
Jimi Hendrix after the Layla Curse
Two dead guitar legends. A murdered mother. A killer drummer. A dead bassist. Where will it end?
Not there, of course.
This brings us to the trickier Layla Curse victims, the ones who aren't dead or in prison. They may technically be survivors, but as far as career trajectory and artistic output are concerned, they were dead in the water after Layla. Bobby Whitlock was an official Domino and can be seen in the photos lining the album sleeve looking sweaty and happy. By all means he should have been happy in 1970. Dude was on the rise for sure. Whitlock had spent time jamming the keys with Delaney & Bonnie before Eric called him up to the big leagues for what should have been his big break. It should also be noted that Whitlock was by far the best looking of the Dominos.
Stoned and Dethroned: Bobby with Duane during the Layla sessions
The sky truly was the limit for Mr. Whitlock after the release of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs. A solo career. High priced session work. A supergroup invitation. All of these seemed inevitable. So why have you never heard of him then? Because of the Layla Curse, that's why. His solo LPs went nowhere (you should check them out, though. They're good.). He was never in Fleetwood Mac. His session work fell off. Bobby Whitlock is one of the more bewildering musical footnotes of all time. Because he was never meant to be a footnote. Sure, he never killed any of his family members or drank himself to death, but the Layla Curse has its hooks poor Bobby to this day.
Now we have a mysteriously stalled career to throw on the Curse's rap sheet. But what of the man who made the Layla Curse possible?
Conjuring the Curse: Clapton at work
We would understand if you argued that Eric Clapton himself managed to sidestep the Curse he created. He's one of the most massive rock stars in the world, after all. The guy probably has nine Ferraris. He dated Cheryl Crow. He's had hits as recently as ten years ago. But did he really dodge it? Think about it. Sir Eric was weaving dreams from fire right up until Layla. Cream. Blind Faith. The Yardbirds. The Blues Breakers. Six absolute classic records spread out over the four bands. More if you're a Clapton fanatic. He was cutting edge, the height of fashion, a visionary on an artistic run that rivals the Stones and Beatles progressions of the same era. Layla and other Assorted love Songs was another crowning achievement, a left turn from the bombastic lysergic blues of the Creams and the Blind Faiths into something far more soulful and earthbound. If E.C. had died after these sessions he would have gone out a legend with the perfect artistic progression to his credit.
But Eric Clapton did not die, which is the Layla Curse showing its supreme cleverness. Instead he sank into years of heroin addiction, eventually kicking the habit but also kicking what was left of his artistic inspiration. For the past however many decades Eric Clapton has been releasing subpar solo records, putting out subpar blues covers, organizing subpar reunions of his once great bands, touring on subpar nostalgia fumes. His eventual marriage to Patty Boyd, his torturer and soulmate and most vivid of muses, ended in divorce. One of his children fell off a balcony and died. Sure he's rich. Sure he's maintained his star status. But as he lays awake at night Eric Clapton himself just has to know that he hasn't done anything of much artistic value for many decades. If there wasn't a dead mother involved we could say that Eric Clapton himself is the saddest victim of the Layla sessions. Just go and try to listen to Covering Robert Johnson Volume Nine or whatever and you will see right into the lucid, evil eyes of this seemingly never-ending Curse.
Robert Johnson Never Wore Shorts, Eric: The Curse continues
Inspirational voids. Divorces. Tragic accidents. Shorts. This Curse just doesn't let up, does it? Can there possibly be any other travesties to attribute to these fated sessions from 1970? How about Disco? No, really.
The argument can indeed be made that the Layla Curse brought about the very downfall of the classic rock era it pinnacled. Unlike some of the tragedies covered in this article, this one isn't even too far of a stretch. It is, after all, a fact that Clapton's sleazbag manager of the time, Robert Stigwood, stole a good portion of the Dominos' money (there's that Curse again!) and used it to start up a little thing called RSO Records whose main reason for existence was to record the Bee Gees Saturday Night Fever album which of course launched the rise of Disco and killed off what was left of the prime rock era, banishing it to classic rock stations forevermore. If you miss guitars in popular music, then you too are a victim of the never-ending Layla Curse.
….and so does the Layla Curse
By this point we've lost count of the tragedy tally, but it's up to at least five tragic deaths, one vicious murder, the Bee Gees, ruined careers, inspirational dead zones, embezzlement, shorts, and the Death Of Rock N Roll.
Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs is a masterful work, but it's also a spiral of destruction and evil. Make sure to get rid of any copies your dad most likely has in his attic vinyl collection. Delete it from your playlists (although Spotify should take it off their site completely due to their new "hate" clause). Steer well clear of all films that use these songs on their soundtracks. And never, ever, turn on that FM dial.
For the Layla Curse lives on.
Altamont: Strictly the Music
This infamous, bloody music festival may have killed off the '60s dream for good, but it produced much better music than its angelic cousin, Woodstock. Check out my review at niche appeal or peep it below.
Altamont: A Musical Review
Rest in peace to Meredith Hunter.
The sacrificial lamb of the '60s. He is easy to identify in the Maysles Brothers footage that made up the Gimme Shelter movie due to his psychedelic green suit, hovering on the edge of the churning, violent crowd like the ghost he was soon to become. He dances wildly. He grinds his teeth and bites on his lips. Classic speed freak behavior. His eyes dangerously alive, gleaming with joy and paranoia. A potent speedball. Just 18 years old when he was cut down by the Hells Angels at the Altamont Motor Speedway as the Stones played "Under My Thumb", Meredith Hunter still hovers on the edge of youth culture like a whirling green dervish.
Mr. Hunter getting stomped and slashed down and by the Angels has to be one of the most disturbing images ever caught on film. The parting of the crowd at the first flare-up of trouble. The dark cloud swarm of Angels bum rushing in on Meredith. The gun from the pocket of the psychedelic suit, gleaming obscenely against the backdrop of the Northern Californian night. The Angel swarm reaches him. The kid had no chance. Even with the gun. Down he goes. Fists and feet and denim. The knife in the Angel's hand, long and strangely tribal. And down it goes, so precise and methodical it's easy to forget there is a mere kid on the receiving end. The Maysles Brothers make these horrible few seconds the centerpiece of their infamous documentary, rolling, rewinding, and rolling it again to hypnotic effect. Several members of the Stones are forced to watch as the cameras capture their reactions, and it's completely riveting to witness as they realize the full extent of the horror they created with this festival. Even the cold dead eyes of the future Sir Mick Jagger go moist for a long moment. Of all the hundreds of hours of footage that have been filmed of this performer over the past 50 years, this may very well be the only moment that captures him raw. "That's horrible," he mutters audibly under his breath, flipping his classic 1969 corkscrew shag back into place.
Indeed it was horrible. But was it truly the "death of the '60s" as has been mentioned in the same breath as Altamont for nearly 50 years by every publication, blog, documentary, and buzzed music writer at happy hour? Any true '60s aficionado, Stones fan, or horror gawker knows the legend well and has seen the documentary. Many can quote from it directly. Some dress as particularly colorful audience members from the film for Halloween. Images of pool cue-wielding Hells Angels in coonskin hats tripping their faces off as they lash out randomly at audience and band members alike, flower children looking grey and washed out in the winter Californian gloom, naked fat guys falling and crushing people who were just trying to vibe to the music, traffic jams and bad acid, cheap bottles of wine passed next to out-of-control bonfires, musicians pleading for peace from the stage, some seemingly genuine and others just because they knew it was being filmed and wanted to be on the right side of history. This is what people think of when they vibe on Altamont.
Although they took place on opposite ends of the Nation and were set up as distinctively different beasts, Woodstock and Altamont are nearly always used as an angel and devil analogy, the shining heart of the optimist, change-the-world, peace-and-love '60s vs. the dark dismantling of bad drug freakouts and Mansonoid zombie killers. An easy yin-and-yang scenario for lazy writers and uninformed cultural historians alike. In reality Altamont was not set up to be anything like Woodstock. While the party in Bethel was touted from the very beginning as a multi-band festival to spread out over three days, Altamont was from its inception a simple showcase for the Rolling Stones with the other bands added as afterthoughts, a sort of nod of their golden hat to a flower power generation they never truly belonged to. Woodstock was originally a paid festival before The People took over and made it free, while Altamont was free from the very start. Woodstock was set up as a multi-day affair, while Altamont was schedule for just one very long day. The two festivals really couldn't be more different in their intentions and setups.
While it cannot be denied that Altamont turned out very badly and deserved the harsh press it received (thanks to the Grateful Dead for sparking the idea for hiring the Hells Angels as security), one thing that is hardly ever mentioned is the actual music. Five bands played at Altamont, three of which had also graced the stage at Stock just months earlier and would be cashing in madly on the film and endless double albums commemorating the event. The main aspects always mentioned about the bands at Altamont are what horrific events took place during their sets. Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane getting knocked unconscious by the Angels during their performance. Meredith getting stabbed to death while The Stones shuffled through their shortened set. The outbreaks of violence during Santana and CSN&Y. The music itself tends to be left out in the cold like an Orange Sunshine casualty in the Speedway dawn.
The reason for this is simple. Because of the violence and degeneration on display at Alty, there was never an album released to showcase the musical trip of the evening. The documentary itself focused mostly on the blood and the shell-shocked faces of the audience. Meanwhile, everyone and their ex-hippie mother assumes that the music of Woodstock was a glorious tapestry of good vibes that no amount of rain or mud or brown acid could conspire to soil. You already know all the clichés. Hendrix rocking the Anthem at dawn. Santana headbanging away on one riff for an hour. CSN&Y with their "soaring harmonies". Ten Years After with their savage blues pummeling and watermelons. But for each of these instantly iconic moments there were the ones you never hear about. The abysmally bad Dead set in the pouring rain with the failing amps. The Band showing up lethargic and out of tune. The ear-splittingly awful Incredible String Band set where 300,000-plus couldn't hide their disinterest. The lame band that played the woodblocks. John Sebastian's cloying, twee wailings. And…ahem…Melanie. The editing in the final Woodstock film made it seem like one flowing, groovy dreamscape of history in the making, but The Stock's musical reality was far drearier than what Rolling Stone's decades-long propaganda campaign has led us to believe.
So what of the music at angelic Woodstock's evil west coast second cousin? It is understandable that the actual music of Altamont has been long-buried by images of dead teenagers and ultra-violent motorcycle gangs glazed on speed and acid. But for anyone who actually delves into the music produced on that '60s-killing night, as we do here, the argument can be made that the music of Altamont actually burned much brighter amidst the hippie apocalypse than the better-documented sounds that came out of that Upstate New York hog farm.
The sources:
The famous Gimme Shelter. There are really less than twenty minutes of music footage from festival, but as some of the lone visuals from the Death Fest they are invaluable
The Rolling Stones & Friends – Altamont Live. This bootleg only surfaced earlier this year. Previously you would have had to cobble together 47 or so different spotty boots just to get a complete-ish musical picture of the day/night, making this thing an absolute godsend. The sound is patchy in parts, but this audience recording is easily the most complete document of the musical twists and turns of Altamont and includes many, many tracks that never even showed up on the various band's official setlists from that last month of 1969.
Opening Announcement
Rating: 76/100
Altamont kicks off early in the jingle jangle morning with the bizarre and appropriately eerie strains of an early Moog being tuned. As someone who has listened to every scrap of recorded music from this festival, I can tell you that I've not come across one Moog line on any song by any of the bands who graced the makeshift stage that day. So if some fellow obsessive out there should know who used a Moog at Altamont, hit us up. Here the synth squelches work as a perfect lead-in, setting an ominous feel much like the opening seconds of a '60s acid exploitation flick, which is essentially what Altamont was, only come to very real life.
Then we have legendary Stones manager Sam Cutler on the mic. While Sam never fully recovered from the Altamont bloodbath (he was the guy who listened to the Dead and installed the Angels as security, i.e. the guy who made the call that killed the '60s dream), here he sounds sincere as all fuck in his belief that "this could be the greatest party of 1969." The exhaustion tinging his voice is understandable. The guy had not slept in 3-or-so days. On the documentary footage he looks like a wet shag rug left out on the lawn, wrapped in a plastic jacket against the northern Cali fog cold. But while not completely convincing, there is definite hope that can be detected underneath the trepidation of this opening proclamation. It was hope that would soon be viciously dashed, but the guy wasn't cynical out of the gate. Which counts for something.
Kicking off the fest is the wide-eyed Chicano mystic. Right from the opening notes of "Savor" you know this isn't the gentle vibes world music bro who showed up at Woodstock and found his fame. Mr. Santana and his band sound raw here, locked-in and savage. This isn't "Oh wow man far out". This is crunchy and darkly tribal. The crowd sounds hushed in awe, stunned at finally getting some music after a long night on blankets in the chill. Percussion breaks pound like drum circles in hell, threatening to spin out of control completely. It may have been the sound system which was admittedly bottom heavy, or perhaps the young upstart was simply adapting his vibe to the mood of the crowd, morphing from the saintly, benevolent Woodstock San Man to something a little more foreboding. A young punk in sleeveless fringe casting a hypnotic and surprisingly aggressive spell on an early afternoon crowd of sleep-deprived lumpen hippies. "Evil Ways" simply slays to close out his short set as the recording captures an audience member stating with wonder that a fat guy had just taken off his clothes. This is most likely the same naked fat man who can be seen in the documentary being beaten down by the Angels' pool cues, but it's interesting to know that earlier in the day dude was just grooving to this incredible set as the lysergic waves fried his synapses.
Crowd Calming Score:
Santana: 0/100
Mr. Santana is the only Altamont frontman who had nothing to say to the audience, potentially because the main trouble had not yet started during his set.
Sam Cutler: 90/100
Sam jumps back on the mic at the end of the set to admonish the "many people who should not be on this stage". He pleads, "Let's give the musicians some room to breathe." While not necessarily crowd control, his concern for the musicians is admirable considering what came later. And it's chilling to hear his voice start to lose control as he realizes the gravity of the situation. Oh shit, here we are in a field with 300,000 people and with only a day-drunk motorcycle gang as security. Oh shit indeed, Sam.
Next The Airplane takes flight. Always a hit-or-miss prospect, here the future Starship sounds far less watery than usual, something close to solid, with Jorma's solos squiggling and wiggling in a way seemingly designed to freak out hundreds of thousands of people on heavy psychedelics. Grace Slick and Marty Balin, whose voices often clashed horribly both on wax and stage, lock in on vocals the way they probably always imagined it in their heads, conjuring their vision to life. Things were no doubt starting to get out of control out there in the crowd by this point, and the band ring through the chaos admirably. Check out the ragged, almost punked-out edge to "3/5th Of A Mile" if you've always assumed the flower children didn't have grit. And was the choice of playing "Fat Angel" a good one when surrounded by fat, pissed-off Hells Angels? Perhaps due to the danger, the song burns here with far more funk and verve than it did on vinyl. "White Rabbit" is blessed with a doomy bottom end that places it very far away from the song you know from classic rock radio and every '60s movie montage, more of a bad trip anthem than a call for utopia. "Free Bird" is presented as a garage rock rager with Jorma ringing out snotty rhythm chords like dirty denim flung into the corner of his room. Only the beginning of "The Ballad Of You & Me & Pooneil" falls into disarray as the twin leads yodel out of sync. Considering Balin had just been punched in the face by a fat Angel, this was understandable and the band pulls out all the stops to back him up amidst the chaos, sweeping back in with a crazy rhythm break and then a swirling out with a psych freakout breakdown that spirals over ten minutes and crash lands with a Jorma solo with so many notes it seems to be trying to pick out all the shifting heads in the audience. The Plane is a hundred times better at Altamont than their tepid, disjointed, oh-so-out-of-tune Woodstock set. They powered through more violence here than your average 77 punk band and came through with a set both spacey and admirably tough.
Grace Slick: 100/100
"Easy, Easy, Easy, Easy, Easy, E-e-e-e-asy"
This mantra, chanted perfectly in sync with the rhythm section after the guitars cut out during one of the many outbreaks of violence during their set, is some of the most convincingly cerebral crowd calming attempts of the night. And then you have the simply immortal, "You've got to keep your bodies off each other unless you intend love." Ah, the late '60s. Peace and love and not a puritan thought in sight.
Jack Casady: 0/100
"I'd like to mention that the Hells Angels just punched Marty Balin in the face and knocked him out for a bit. I'd like to thank them for that."
Although admirable for his fearlessness and cocky stance in the face of what was proven to be serious danger, the Airplane bassist certainly did nothing to stop the Angels from beating on people with pool cues. If anything this announcement worked to amp up the gang's hippie hate and spark them up for further battle.
Rating: 100/100
Simply immortal.
Gimme Shelter and the black-and-white photos from Altamont are jewels for Gram Parsons fanatics. Here was GP before his largest ever audience, angelic in a snake skin, torso-exposing Nudie suit that only he could pull off, all smiles with a prop acoustic held out to the audience like a joint on a clip. These are some of the purest Gram images in existence, and they perfectly capture his laid-back oddball charisma. The Burritos were no joke. Chris Hillman chugs away on hard-edged Bakersfield bass lines and future Eagle Bernie Leadon masters his twangy Telecaster, leaning into string bends like his impressive whiteboy afro tilting in a strong breeze. One of the highlights of the documentary, "Six Days On The Road" is a total delight, rollicking along like a rusty train, rickety but headstrong. You get the sense each of their songs could fall apart at any moment, but you have faith that they never will. "High Fashion Queen", an underrated track from Burrito Deluxe, is trotted out to strong effect here. The Burritos were that rare band who could add a touch of lightheartedness to a song without diluting its message, and when Gram gets to "nothing left inside your heart but the same old hurt" his voice breaks with emotion in the midst of an otherwise rote junkie groupie tale. You really get the sense that some buckskin-and-sandals cutie had done some damage to poor ol' Gram just recently. Of all the bands that rocked Altamont, this is the only real "having a good time and grooving in a field" music on the agenda, and it's telling that there were no significant acts of violence from the crowd during their set. In the documentary footage you can peep frolicking hippies with zonked smiles having way too much fun tossing coffee can lids back and forth like Frisbees. It's the only time you see people smiling the whole day. The sun is even out. "Cody Cody" floated with a Byrdsian jangle that worked like a calming salve on the crowd. It's interesting to hear an audience member calling for "Lazy Day", a song that failed as a single and is much hated within the Parsons cult. The Burrito Bros happily bust it out, adding a stutter-stop R&B rhythm that locks in defiantly after the opening lead and never lets go. This is clearly the only band having any fun at the Altamont Motor Speedway that day. Gram was known to be hit-or-miss live during his short life, but here he really shined when many lives depended on it.
Gram Parsons: 100/100
GP didn't have to address any violence because there was none during his set. His honky tonk angel presence and good vibe music was far more successful in soothing the crowd than any of the peace rap preaching by the other bands.
At Woodstock they had arisen from the mud as harmonized acoustic saviors. At Alty they storm the gates with a slow-burning "Black Queen" that taps into a dark energy that people just don't think of when they consider CSN&Y. Steven Stills sounds almost metal on the solo, raining down-strokes like early, bluesy Slayer. "Pre-Road Downs" hits solid and bright, unabashed pop with an expansive mindset, with a jittery organ underscoring the hooks. It sounds like Stills may have been hitting some dirt weed before their set as his vocals sound a bit ragged on this one, but Crosby and Nash swoop around his lead for the save. "Long Time Gone" is The Cros at his supernatural tent preacher best. The chorus burns with a surprising desperation, the band crescendo-ing with an aggressive force that could jar your image of these dudes as some Laurel Canyon "Judy Blue Eyes" warblers. "Down By The River" locks into flight and surges with a grace that Neil's more respected Crazy Horse never could have mastered, with four of the greatest ever vocalists swooning and gliding over the top. Extra points are awarded for Stills and Young doubling up on the first solo like Ratt would two decades later.
Graham Nash: 45/100
"Please you people stop hurting each other. You don't have to."
The first sentence of this plea rings true, with Nash sounding like a child pleading with his parents to stop their fighting. But "You don't have to"? Seriously, Graham? Of course they don't have to, man. But they are, man. And, man, you're doing nothing to stop them.
One of the Maysles Brothers who filmed Gimme Shelter stated:
"The Stones never sounded better than at Altamont…they were playing like their life depended on it."
In a very real way their lives did depend on it. And Mr. Maysles was also right-on about their playing. This is far-and-away the best Stones live performance on record, not only from this period but ever. If you only know the stadium Vegas act of the post-'70s Stones then listening to any of the dozens of "Stones At Altamont" bootlegs will shock you. This was a young band (seven years old in 1969) that was still raw and hungry even as they were achieving the type of status that would draw 300,000 people to a godforsaken race track in the middle of nowhere.
The contrast between what the Stones were doing and their long-tuning, free-form jamming peers of the time was monumental and misunderstood by the rock press of the time. For example, the Grateful Dead were supposed to play Altamont but backed down because they were wimps. While The Dead and The Stones sharing a stage may seem just about right for the times, in reality these were bands at serious aesthetic odds. The Dead's Utopian vision and anti-star persona was completely lost on the Chuck Berry greaser Stones. The English lads were old school showbiz through-and-through, so it isn't surprising that they would stand out like an uncool ego trip at their own festival. The Stones were trying to buy into the flower power market here, but they didn't have the loose spirit to back it up. "We don't really do the crowd participation thing," Mick Jagger said in a pre-Altamont interview. "We'd rather come out on stage in a Cadillac." A joke? Sure. But it rang true and set them apart from the muddy free festival spirit of the late '60s/early '70s.
"The Stones were on an ego trip," David Crosby later said of the band that birthed the Altamont nightmare. And their set from that night benefits greatly because of it. The opening one-two-three punch of "Jumping Jack Flash" into Chuck Berry's "Carol" into "Sympathy For The Devil" draws the battle lines very clearly. These are not groovy tunes to usher in the communal age. These are harbingers of the apocalypse. "Sympathy" in particular is given its best ever airing here, with Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts giving the tale a hard-funk edge. Keef's solo is truly evil, dredging up The Dark Lord far more effectively than Mick's satanic posturing, and it's no wonder that the main bloodshed of the night began kicking off during this solo. Motorcycles exploded. Multiple scuffles erupted in the dark. And Meredith Hunter began his death dance.
One of the filthiest songs of all time, "Stray Cat Blues" is treated like a redheaded groupie on ludes. Mick Taylor does his crazy slide guitar thing way off the beat. It sounds like he's playing a completely different song, or at least he wishes he were. Keef misses whole chord progressions. Mick changes the age of the stray cat in question from 15 to an even more scandalous 13. It's a savage deconstruction of a song that was only one year old at that point, and it shows why bands like The Damned would give the Stones a break eight years in the future. These shag-haired Englishmen didn't give a fuck long before that was cool.
Finally realizing that their hard-edged avant blues was actually causing people to be stomped and killed that night (just consider this and compare it to the sanitary seated arena spectacles The Boys put on these days), Mick & Co. made the call to slow it down a notch. "Love In Vain" is glistening and gorgeous like they just couldn't capture it on record. The malevolent ghost of Brian Jones shows up in the dark misogynist grooves of "Under My Thumb". Even the gentle, down-tempo reading the surviving Stones give it on this night cannot chase him away. The crowd erupts, parting like multiple red seas from any sign of trouble. A black dog walks across the stage. And Meredith Hunter is knifed down within mere yards of Sir Mick's mic stand.
At that point they knew they were fucked. They were fully aware their "best party of 1969" had morphed into something monstrous that their music itself was partially responsible for. They realized they were in great danger. It was shut-up-and-finish-the-set time. No more gentle grooves to pacify the crowd. Like any great band would, they settled fully into the murderous chaos. Their set really takes flight from here on out. "Brown Sugar" rears its soon-to-be-inescapable head for the first time ever, and it never sounded this good again. Oh the gall of this band for breaking out "Midnight Rambler" as kids were being assaulted and hoisted bloody onto the stage in front of them. "Gimme Shelter", all heroin and rape and murder, rings out desperate and true with Keef and Mick T. weaving around one another like shaman dancing next to a massive bonfire. Only "Honky Tonk Women" sounds out-of-place in this atmosphere with its leering, party-time vibe clashing with the counterculture meltdown taking place in its path.
Leave it to the Stones to end this slasher-fest with the incredibly inappropriate "Street Fighting Man" and somehow escape being hounded into early retirement by all the hundreds of post-Altamont think pieces and op-eds and finger-wagging radio broadcasts that started once the sun came up the next morning.
Over the course of their roughly hour-long set, it is thrilling to listen as The Stones gradually ease into their role as Luciferian hippie dream killers.
They would never sound this great again.
Mick Jagger: 11/100
"Why are we fighting and what for? WHY ARE WE FIGHTING AND WHAT FOR??"
Crowd control is certainly not Sir Mick's strong suit. Why ask why, Mick? People were fighting and they didn't know what for, and no English school mum scolding was going to stop it.
Keith Richards: 96/100
"Listen man, either those cats cool it, or we don't play!"
Leave it to Keef to go right for the source. Pointing to a couple of club-wielding Angels, the Human Riff calls it as he sees it. Unlike the Jefferson Airplane bassist, he doesn't get all passive aggressive in calling them out either. In pointing out that the Stones would stop playing if the violence of their security platoon continued, he was most likely hoping that the Angels themselves wanted to hear them play and would stop pummeling naked fat men in order to keep the concert going. Unfortunately he assumed wrong, but props to Keef for the proactive effort. As always, the most fucked up head on the racetrack that night was also the most sensible.
While the Free Concert At Altamont Motor Speedway may have been a bloody disaster and the death knell of the flower power dream, its musical selections were far tastier than those of its angelic and peaceful Upstate New York rival.
Niche Appeal
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Posted on June 27, 2018 July 26, 2018 Categories Condominium


text:
Q: How to add spring editing into config files I am very new to spring. I saw some spring validations where the code was embedded into java source code. Im am trying to avoid this.
Is there a way to put the editing into the bean config file using properties.
For example @Size min=6 max=10 to
<bean id ="myvalidator"
 class = "org.some.spring.class.blahblahblah"
<property name="min" value="6">
<property name="max" value="10">
<property name="errormsg" value=${error.msg}>
/>

or something to that effect
How do I associate @annotation to "com.some.spring.classname"

A: Validation annotations do not belong to Spring Framework, usually they come from the javax.validation package, sometimes, they come from a vendor, like hibernate ones for example.  Check the import statement to be sure about that.
So if your purpose of trying to get rid of the annotations is to not being dependant on any frameworks, unless you are using vendor specific validation annotations you shouldn't worry.
But anyways, if you still want to get rid of the annotations in your code and don't use any validation framework, one way is to create a Validator class elsewhere, and then use Spring for inject it whenever it is needed.
Let's say for example (i'm going to use JavaConfig style, because i'm not very familiar with XML)
@Component
public class MyValidator {
  // some validation code
}

In some configuration class
@Configuration
public class MyConfigurationClass {
  @Bean
  public MyValidator myValidator() {
    return new MyValidator();
  }
}

And now you can inject with @Autowire an instance of your validator whenever you need it.
Edit: Btw, in this scenario, validation code should be coded manually, that is the price to pay if you want to get rid of the annotations.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Charges: Man watched porn moments before fatal crash in Rogers, Minn.
Huntington Beach woman, dog reported missing while camping in Bristlecone Pine Forest found alive
Retailers offering in-store deals to tempt shoppers during Amazon Prime two-day sale
Pregnant school teacher guarded her unborn child as she was stabbed 11 times in carjacking
By Gigi Graciette, FOX 11
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (FOX 11) - Tanya Nguyen — a victim, a survivor, a warrior — and she has the battle scars to prove it.
"The paramedics started counting one, two, three up to 11 and I said 'what are you counting?"' Tanya recounted from her trip to the hospital. "And they said you have 11 stab wounds, ma'am. I didn't even know it."
Evil leaving a trail of stab wounds on her body; injuries that may never heal. And then there are the invisible wounds; the scars on her soul.
"I feel helpless," Nguyen told FOX 11's Gigi Graciette in an exclusive interview as tears filled her eyes.
Pregnant woman stabbed, carjacked in Los Angeles; multiple arrests made
Pregnant Beverly Hills Catholic School teacher stabbed 10 times in carjacking
5 alleged gang members charged in vicious attack of pregnant school teacher
"I fall apart and I just start crying. I was the caretaker, I was the one who was independent and taking care of other people and children and now I'm just helpless."
March 20 was a beautiful spring day in Los Angeles, Nguyen remembered the day like it was yesterday.
The pregnant first-grade teacher had just pulled up to her Sunland home. It was broad daylight when suddenly her car was surrounded by three men.
"I remember thinking they were probably visiting someone on my block. They looked so young", Tanya said about the alleged gang members who attacked her.
Within seconds she was fighting for her life and for the life of her unborn baby.
After asking for her cell phone, one of the men began stabbing her as she sat in her car. She used her left hand to defend herself and shielded her stomach and child with her dominant hand. Then they pulled her out of the car, repeatedly stabbing and punching her.
"I screamed 'I'm pregnant!'" Nguyen said. "I was just so scared at that moment. I was still in my first trimester and that's so fragile, it's such a fragile time. I said 'Oh my God oh my God.'"
But even when she was down on the ground, drenched in blood, drifting in and out of consciousness her attacker kept stabbing her in the back.
The attack was so vicious it shocked even veteran Los Angeles Police Department officers who called the attack "animalistic".
Police said the three men then stole her car, crashing it less than half a block away. The suspects left the scene in a getaway car with two women that had been waiting and watching, police said.
Nguyen was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Her lungs were punctured, her teeth were knocked out by a stab wound to her mouth. A piece of the knife's blade lodged in her chest, putting her baby's life at risk.
Within 24-hours, police had arrested five alleged gang members they said are responsible for attacking Nguyen, who now spends her days recovering. Bedbound most of the time and in excruciating pain, she is comforted by handwritten messages of love from her students — hundreds of them.
But with no use of her left hand — due to the damage she endured as she used her right to protect her baby during the attack — the Beverly Hills Catholic School teacher faces more surgeries. Her life, she said, is forever changed.
"This is supposed to be a special time when a woman feels the most beautiful and happy and elated. Planning a baby room, buying little baby clothes. I can't even do that now," Nguyen said as the tears returned. "I can't even move my hand without shaking. I can't bend my fingers. They cut completely the nerves, the artery, the veins, the tendons."
The road to recovery is a long one for Nguyen. Her baby — due in the fall — is growing, and where there is life, there is hope.
"I'm willing to put this behind me and just move on," Nguyen said. "All I ask for is peace in the future. I just want that reassurance that I have happy and peaceful days ahead."
Suspect in composite sketch viciously beat woman during road rage incident in Long Beach
Investigators with the California Highway Patrol released a sketch of a suspect they say viciously attacked a woman with a tire iron during a road rage incident in Long Beach on May 10.
Authorities are hoping the community can help identify the suspect who was described as a black male adult in his 40's with a full beard, black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a dark blue beanie and a white stripe, a blue shirt, black basketball shorts and white tennis shoes.
The vicious assault occurred at about 7:55 p.m. on Willow Street just off the southbound 605 Freeway. The suspect was driving a Nissan described as a late model white 4-door sedan, possibly a Sentra, Altima or Maxima with a partial license plate of either:
Driver plows car into meat market in Irwindale
By Oscar Flores, FOX 11
One person was taken to the hospital Monday night after their vehicle plowed into a building in the 16000 block of E. Arrow Highway in the city of Irwindale.
The crash happened at Ayutla Meat Market. Los Angeles County Fire medics took one person to the hospital with minor injuries. Irwindale police are handling the investigation into the incident.
Authorities are working to assess and determine any structural damage to the building. No other injuries were reported.
Man shot to death in Temple City neighborhood
Homicide detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department are investigating a homicide that occurred in Temple City Monday evening.
A man was shot and killed in the 9400 block of Workman Avenue shortly after 6 p.m. The victim died at the scene. He has not yet been identified.
A description of the gunman was not immediately available.
Vehicle crash reportedly ignites brush fire in Angeles National Forest


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Affiliate and influencer marketing each have a time and place. Your responsibility is figuring out which one works for you now.
Too many times, we see things as one thing against another -- chocolate or vanilla, yin or yang, paid or organic -- as if the two entities cannot hope to coexist. The same goes for affiliate marketing and influencer marketing, and unfortunately for us, digital marketing agencies get their clients caught up in an endless battle of which vehicle is better.
But they're having the wrong discussion. They should ask which type of marketing is best suited for the organization's current goals.
Affiliate and influencer marketing each have a time and place. Your responsibility is to figure out where your company is today and how to get where you want to go tomorrow. It all starts with a broader understanding of your options and opportunities.
As of the first quarter of 2016, Amazon reportedly had an astonishing 310 million active customers. Perhaps you're one of them. If so, you might have made your way to this behemoth of an online shopping center through an Amazon affiliate.
Affiliates are paid to link to a business's products from their websites. Every time a visitor clicks the link and makes a purchase, the affiliate receives a commission. Most businesses work with the support of an affiliate marketing service provider that handles the work behind finding and paying affiliates, weeding out spammers and tracking success.
Here's the caveat -- this industry has more black hat (or untrustworthy) affiliate marketing programs than not. Much like the black hat SEO tactics that saw their heyday before Google algorithms started to punish those tactics, black hat affiliate marketing programs have yet to be pushed out of the industry. If the benefits of affiliate program sound like a good fit for you, it's important to properly vet a partner before signing on.
JVZoo, an online software solution for affiliate marketing, is one white hat provider that's on a mission to restore the soul of internet marketing. You'll never hear it tout any get-rich-quick schemes as a recruitment tactic for affiliates that use the software, and it actually cares about making online business owners' lives easier.
Generally, businesses that prefer using affiliates sell products or services online with high enough profit margins to pay out commissions without hurting their bottom line. Affiliate marketing has great potential for your business if it's the right fit, but don't go into it blind. Do your research and make sure you select an affiliate solution that has your best interests in mind.
Every social media platform has certain people who collect devotees by the thousands or millions.
They are influencers, and their reach is deep, personalized and thoughtful. Imagine you could get a well-known industry guru to mention or endorse your brand. You'd be hitting a prospective buyer niche and increasing the chances of striking a gold mine.
Business-to-consumer companies routinely pay influencers to use and promote specific products on their channels, such as YouTube or Instagram. The remunerative arrangement varies from influencer to influencer; some influencers are paid by the post, while others are given a flat fee for their brand loyalty. And believe it or not, it's one of the most effective strategies for reaching your target audience.
Axe's recent partnership with theAmplify is an example of influencer marketing excellence in action. By utilizing theAmplify's proprietary mobile app that streamlines the process of identifying and communicating with influencers, Axe created stellar influencer campaigns around its hair care products.
TheAmplify reached out to its network of influencers in the men's grooming sector and extended Axe's marketing reach without overspending. For instance, millions of people saw influencer Rudy Mancuso's short video, giving Axe a huge popularity and recognition boost without the need for costlier traditional advertising methods.
Neither affiliate nor influencer marketing is better or worse; everything depends on your timing and adherence to a few tips.
1. Outline the psychographics and demographics of your target audience.
Knowing your target is as essential in marketing as it is in a game of darts. Affiliates can assist in bringing your items to audiences who fit your ideal customer by giving them direct links to products or services. However, if your goal is to bring about awareness to mass numbers of Millennials, you'll want to think about the personalized nature of influencer marketing. Younger audiences tend to eschew affiliates and prefer buying on the recommendation of a trusted influencer.
2. Take a serious look at your marketing budget.
Affiliate marketing doesn't cost much up front because you only pay your affiliates and software partners when people they send your way make a purchase. Still, this takes a cut out of your bottom line and reduces the take-home amount of each purchase. Every percentage point counts when you're thinking about profits.
Influencers typically charge up front for their commitment, though rates will vary. If you feel like you'd rather go the influencer route but have a modest budget, look for mid-level influencers. Although they have thousands -- not millions -- of followers, they'll eat up fewer of your marketing dollars.
3. Consider both affiliate and influencer marketing for differing campaigns.
Your job is to create a viable marketing stack that takes advantage of opportunities. In some cases, your research and education may lead to the realization that affiliate marketing is the right strategy for one campaign and influencer marketing for another.
Crunch the numbers ahead of time to ensure you're putting the right affiliates and influencers in place and your company knows how to convert the visitors you obtain from each. Do a little competitive analysis to see how your biggest challengers are spending their marketing dollars; if they're all in the affiliate marketing sphere, perhaps you should follow suit.
To say that new online marketing doors are being opened regularly would be a serious understatement. Years ago, affiliate marketing was in its infancy; now, software allows companies to take it further than ever. Similarly, influencer marketing has blossomed thanks to our global reliance on and appreciation of social networks. Know the proper time to use each, and you'll position your organization to take giant leaps forward.


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«Life Goes On» () — сингл американской певицы Ферги с её второго альбома Double Dutchess. Сингл вышел 11 ноября 2016 года. Видеоклип появился 16 декабря.

Обзор
Ожидалось, что Ферги выпустит синглом песню «You Already Know», которую она записала вместе с Ники Минаж, однако в релиз вышел трек «Life Goes On». Некоторые критики посчитали, что это довольно актуально, особенно в связи с тем, что в начале той недели прошли президентские выборы на которых неожиданно победил Дональд Трамп. Сама Ферги, представляя новый сингл, написала у себя в Instagram: «Посреди всего этого безумия помните, что жизнь прекрасна».

Музыкальное видео
Музыкальный клип появился через месяц после выхода песни. По сюжету видео Ферги едет на кабриолете вдоль океанского побережья на пляжную вечеринку. В клипе приняли участие интернет-звёзды последнего времени — Бадди Винкл и Baby Ariel.

Бадди Винкл (Baddiewinkle) — 88-летняя бабушка ставшая известной несколько лет назад благодаря Instagram. Она добавляет туда фотографии сделанные в стиле современных подростков, у неё было порядка 2,5 миллионов подписчиков на момент съёмок у Ферги. Baby Ariel — 15-летняя девочка ставшая известной благодаря сайту musical.ly (социальная медиа-платформа, которая позволяет пользователям создавать и обмениваться 15-секундными видеоклипами). Ариэль стала звездой этого сайта набрав 7 миллионов подписчиков меньше чем за год.

3 января 2017 года Ферги выложила в своём твиттер-аккаунте фотографию с места съёмок клипа. Оказалось, что в видео она снималась в майке с изображением Александра Пушкина и строкой из стихотворения «Не дай мне бог сойти с ума…».

Рецензии
Многие критики обратили внимание на резкую смену жанра после предыдущего сингла «M.I.L.F. $». Сайт Hollywood Life отметил также сильный вокал Ферги. В журнале Forbes оценили расслабляющую мелодию — «горячий тропикал-хаус».

Формат выпуска
 Цифровая дистрибуция
 «Life Goes On» — 3:50

Чарты

Примечания

Ссылки
 — видеоклип на сайте YouTube.

Песни 2016 года
Синглы Ферги
Синглы Interscope Records
Песни Ферги

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Born in 1953 in Pueblo, CO, to a Latina mother and "an Okie farmer with a German name," Blaine Reininger has the advantage of not only one of the most distinct names in music but an equally distinct and often fascinating career in general, thanks to his nearly continuous membership in one of America's most underrated bands, Tuxedomoon, which started off in San Francisco in 1977 around a core of Reininger and Steven Brown.
The band's subsequent career, first as Ralph Records semi-stalwarts and then as expatriates struggling on a number of levels in Europe, is its own tale of persistence, but one that Reininger didn't always participate in.
He first started doing solo shows when the band was in Brussels, on one night suffering a terrible hand injury when he was mugged after a show. The incident provided grist for what later turned out to be his solo debut, the moodily experimental Broken Fingers, in 1982. While not intended to be a formal solo start at the time -- a number of tracks were already planned as Tuxedomoon efforts -- other factors led to Reininger deciding to separate from the band in 1983. A reunion with former Tuxedomoon guitarist Michael Belfer resulted in Reininger's second album, the confident Night Air, getting a release in 1984, gaining Reininger more attention and later resulting two subsequent EPs, Colorado Suite and Paris en Automne, that found him working more closely with a backing band. Following the shows that provided the tracks for Live in Brussels, however, Reininger and his band split, with the follow-up effort in 1987, Byzantium, proving to be a somewhat strident and weak third full album.
Orpheum Dortmund- Der Musik wegen!
Listen to Blaine L. Reininger now.


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Homepage > Joss Whedon's Tv Series > Firefly > Spoilers > Aintitcool Reports On Last Night's Serenity Screenings
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From Aintitcool.com
Aintitcool Reports On Last Night's Serenity Screenings
Wednesday 15 December 2004, by Webmaster
Hercules and Others Rave About Joss Whedon's SERENITY Now!!
I am - Hercules!!
The version of "Serenity" that screened in Chatsworth Tuesday evening isn't quite the movie we'll be seeing next fall. The music was temporary and the special effects were only about half-baked, with Adam Baldwin hanging off wires and many spaceships lurching about without texture and detail. Still, in many ways the film is already a great antidote for those of us so terrifically bored by the "Star Wars" prequels. The lion's share of my own disappointment with "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" can be traced to an absence of players as compelling and likeable as Han and Leia. "Serenity," by contrast, returns to "Firefly" fans better than half a dozen Solo-caliber characters to sink our teeth into: thuggish Jayne, heartsick Kaylee, conflicted Mal, aristocratic Inara, heroic Simon and damaged River. In addition, the evil Alliance has dispatched a great new villain, a ruthless and amusingly philosophical self-proclaimed "monster" essayed by Brit Chiwetel Ejiofor. The new film is smart, romantic, moving, fast-paced, action-packed and, most crucially, one of the funniest films you'll see next year. It's certain to be a must-see for every "Firefly" fan, as it answers every question devotees may have harbored with regard to two important elements of the series: The Reavers and River Tam. (It also offers a bit of resolution with regard to two key shipboard romances.) But Herc loving a new Joss Whedon project hardly warrents a headline, yes? The better news is that "Serenity" is garnering raves from others who caught the screening, like "The Scientist":
Hey Herc! The Scientist here with a quick review of Serenity, although I suspect that you'll be sending a review as well since I saw you at the screening. I tried to stay impartial throughout the viewing of the movie since I'm an unabashed lover of the show and think that Objects in Space is one of the finest hours to ever air on the small screen. That being said, I'll try to break down my review for two audiences: the newbies and the oldbies.
Non-Firefly viewers: First, if you've never seen the show before, the movie does a fantastic job of establishing all of the characters over again so you don't have to worry about coming in unprepared. Also, the more overt western aspects of the show have been tremendously tamed down, so it plays more straight-forward in a scifi universe, but all without losing the grittiness and rawness that made the worlds on the show so special. It's extremely funny, almost always surprising, and kick-ass. I especially think that those of you who like operatic martial arts films will enjoy the choreographed fights that appear now and then. Just wait until you see the first trailer, cause I'm guessing you'll all flip.
Firefly droolers: Reavers! River and Simon back story! More shocks than you can shake a stick at! You can't take the sky from me! But seriously, when this thing gets through with all the post-prod. stuff, you're going to be peeing in your brown leather coats because it'll be like the clocks were rewound and you were in 2002 again. It's not perfect yet, mind you. I think that Zoe and Book get a little neglected and a couple of the new additions to the 'Verse are weak, but that's nitpicking the absolute blast I had seeing everybody again. Plus, there's some wicked gorram action that would have been way out of budget for the TV show.
The temp tracks and rough cg sometimes detracted from the film and the editing is still rough in spots, but this thing doesn't come out for over 8 months! The only other extremely early preview I've been this excited about was when I was much more wee and saw a super rough cut of Toy Story (Hey! That's another one Joss had his hand in.) Start getting excited everybody, this one's a winner! The aptly-named "Happily Surprised" adds:
Tonight, in Chatsworth, CA, I think I stumbled across the geek Holy Grail. Upon the announcement of said Holy Grail, cheers erupted from the crowd... For what we were "the first audience ever" to view was... Serenity.
Since this has been the subject of much banter on this site and I'm sure there will be a million of other reviews, I'll skip any other touching stories about the screening. But I will tell you that I am not a hardcore Joss Whedon fan. I've seen a handful of Buffy and Angel episodes (and enjoyed them) and I admire his dedication to his online fanbase, but I've never seen Firefly and I've never totally bowed down to him. No hard feelings, just haven't been so totally familiar with him as to realize his genius.
This movie rocked. While it seemed a tad too long, that just means more gold for the DVD. Anyway, I don't even know what they could cut out because just about every scene kept the movie moving along. Before I contradict myself again, I'll just get to the meat.
Whedon has created such incredible characters and dialogue in this movie. What has always struck me about most science fiction movies is that no one speaks normally, it's almost as if space has stifled their sense of normalcy and rammed a giant stick up the characters' asses. Well, as most of you will already know, Whedon can put his characters in the most unimaginable and incredible circumstances and still give them personalities, wit, and true emotion. It doesn't sound like much, but between the dialogue, the characters, and the visuals (effects were unfinished, but you could tell what will be in store for the final product), I believe that he has really not just elevated the genre, but has transcended it.
The characters are as fleshed-out as most Whedon fans would probably expect, but I was not prepared for this. Nathan Fillion (a guy I ashamedly say I only really recognized from Two Guys A Girl and A Pizza Place) is a great addition to the heroes of the big screen. He's the best Han Solo since... well... Han Solo. The rest of the cast, filled with people I kind of recognized, seemed so comfortable and so natural. Their rapport with each other was perfect. It really shows that they all spent time together on a TV show... albeit a short-lived one.
But the best character (and I think she was new to the troupe) was a waifish girl, Fiona Apple look-alike, named River. The story centers around her. She's a mentally unstable psychic who is also a trained killer. The government (here, called The Alliance) has been doing tests on her for years, utilizing her psychic abilities and building her killing skills, until her brother rescues her. This is the set up for the prologue, which blew everyone away. Months later, we see that they've been on-board the Serenity and her brother is being used as an on-board doctor and she is being used for her psychic skills as an asset on their money-grabbing runs. I'm sure someone else will have a more detailed synopsis. As for me, I'm going to boil it down because it wasn't what really impressed me about the movie. Bottom line is that, The Alliance is trying to find her. Led by an assassin (who, of course, was written beautifully and with great complexity), they know that she's on-board Serenity. Despite being tracked by these folks, Fillion and his crew keep her around for her skills, out of curiosity of what she's all about, and because Han Solo has a heart. You see, what makes her so interesting and what kicks ass most about this movie is that, when she whups ass, she whups ass! I'll honestly say that her fight scenes blow away anything I've seen on Buffy, in Kill Bill, or just about anything I've seen in a long time. I found myself hoping for more fight scenes when, much of the time, she was in her crazed psychic state... and then the fight scenes came. Whedon knows what his audience (old fans and, like me, new ones) like.
The final fight, by the way, will not disappoint anybody, if you like air battles, check. Gun fights, check. Attacks by nasty ass villains (the Reavers), check. Hand to hand, check. Swords, check. Battles of wit, check.
The audience was filled with old Whedon fans. And they seemed quite ecstatic about the whole thing. The cheers didn't just erupt at the beginning, they were all throughout. There were actual screams at points. These would break out with little bits of dialogue from familiar characters, after the fight scenes, during space battles, at looks characters would give each other, and, of course, at the end. I'll be happy to drag my uninitiated friends to this when it comes out and I just may feel like I'm a little more on the inside this time around. But no matter... it's a great movie, none of this horseshit Steven Sommers-type popcorn movie, this is a great movie.


Routines have been developed that allow the calculation of snow depth and density, water storage in snow and water melting from the snow pack, using daily input of air temperature. The original snow model was developed at the University of Helsinki by Vehviläinen & Lohvansuu (1991) for calculating water equivalent, but modified by Tuomo Karvonen to calculate snow depth, which is important for determining soil freezing and thawing. We have further modified this model and have calibrated it by iterative simulation using a 10-year dataset from Norway, as described by Riley and Bonesmo (2005). The approach has later been validated with independent data.
The chosen soil frost model is based on two approaches, one for freezing and one for thawing. The approach for soil freezing was proposed by Olsen and Haugen (1997), at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, assuming uniform thermal properties throughout the profile. Values for the latter properties are taken from the Swedish SOIL model (Jansson, 1991). The model requires input of surface temperature as modified by the snow pack. The approach used for thawing is that in the ECOMAG model developed at the University of Oslo (Molitov et al., 1999). We have validated both freezing and thawing processes for Norwegian conditions.
The snow and frost calculation procedures, including all parameters used, are described in detail in a programming note (Riley, 2004a). This note also describes how these processes interact with water infiltration and associated processes such as leaching. In brief, it is assumed that infiltration ceases when soil freezes. During snowmelt and soil thaw, an amount of water equal to the difference between field capacity and total porosity is stored for later infiltration, whilst the remainder passes to surface runoff. An example of the interaction of frost with runoff appeared in an article in the second project newsletter (Riley, 1994b).
Jansson, P.E. 1991. Simuation modell for soil water and heat conditions. Report 165, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, 72 pp.
Motovilov, Y.G., L. Gottschalk, K. Engeland, & A. Belokurov,1999. ECOMAG: Regional model of hydrological cycle. Application to the NOPEX region. Dept. Geophysics, University of Oslo, Report no. 1051, 88 pp.
Olsen, P.A.& L.E. Haugen, 1997. Jordas termiske egenskaper. Dept. Soil and Water Science, Agricultural University of Norway, Rapport nr. 8, 14 pp. (in Norwegian).
Riley, H. 2004a. Description of submodels on snow dynamics and frost depth. Programming note of 18th June 2004, 9 pp.
Riley, H. and Bonesmo H. 2005. Modelling of snow and freeze-thaw cycles in the EU-roate_N decision support system. Planteforsk Grønn Kunnskap (e) vol. 9, no. 112, 8 pp.
Vehviläinen, B. & Lohvansuu, J. 1991. The effects of climate on water doscharges and snow cover in Finland. Hydrological Sciences 36 (2): 109-121.