Minor Wisdom

The Black Keys will do Voodoo

Today I learned that my favorite band from Akron, Ohio, the Black Keys, will be in New Orleans to perform at the Voodoo Experience on Halloween weekend (Oct. 30, to be precise). In case you’re deciding whether to see them, here are a couple of videos to help you out. Both come with commercials, but both are pretty good, so consider the commercials as the price of admission. Both videos are from this DVD, so if you want to watch and listen to more of same, well, you know what to do.

First up: “10 a.m. Automatic.” You may have to sit through a short Baccardi commercial to watch it. It continues with a couple of minutes of another song, “Thickfreakness.”

Watch The Black Keys Live in Sydney 2005 in Music  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Next up:“Grown So Ugly.”

The Black Keys - Grown So Ugly
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Separated at birth

So let’s say that New Orleans Council Member Stacy Head bleaches her hair, has some cervical orthopedic problems, and gets caught (without makeup) committing some petty offense. Her mug shot might look like this.

Bad stuff in 3s

I know that “bad stuff happens in threes” is B.S.—three of anything will happen if you wait long enough. But Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett (the ultimate 70s poster girl—see left), and Michael Jackson in 3 days? Spooky, especially for someone like me, who came of age in the 1970s.

Lost and found

My friend Dan Hull is plugging The Lost and Found Family, which he describes as “a poignant, uplifting, instructive and remarkably powerful family film set in the American South.” Personally, I think Dan just has the hots for the star, Ellen Bry.

Who knew?

Professor John Guillebaud (University College, London) claims that the main cause of population growth is sex. (Hat tip to Improbable Research.)

Ain’t no cure

Happy Summer Solstice, everyone. Here in New Orleans, it’s hot as hell, and we have about three months more of the same to, uh, look forward to. So today is as good a day as any to post Eddie Cochran playing Summertime Blues.

How to love

Today’s daily mediation from HenriNouwen.org is worth sharing:

Often we speak about love as if it is a feeling. But if we wait for a feeling of love before loving, we may never learn to love well. The feeling of love is beautiful and life-giving, but our loving cannot be based in that feeling. To love is to think, speak, and act according to the spiritual knowledge that we are infinitely loved by God and called to make that love visible in this world.

Mostly we know what the loving thing to do is. When we “do” love, even if others are not able to respond with love, we will discover that our feelings catch up with our acts.

Because I care about you, the reader

This edition of Saturday Evening Blues was inspired by an experience I had during the last Easter Triduum. I was practicing with the choir in the church sacristy, and I noticed the super-cool keyboard that the music director had brought along in case we needed it for rehearsal. It had a lot of gizmos and gadgets on it, so I joked with the music director that she could play it while channeling Billy Preston. The response: a blank stare, along the lines of “Billy Who?” After a few conversations with a few other choir members, it became apparent that in the entire room, I was the only one who knew who Billy Preston was.

Oh dear! What to do about such a tragic situation? The answer came to me today: Post a Billy Preston double feature for Saturday Evening Blues. If you’ve never heard of this man, please peruse the Wikipedia article about him and his official web site. Or just watch these videos of two of his many hits. The first is Will It Go Round in Circles, complete with old-school ’fro. The second is my favorite Billy Preston song, Outta Space.

Now you have an idea who Billy Preston was and is. My work here is done.

Lawyers, depression, and spirituality

You may or may not be a lawyer who wrestles with depression. You may or may not sometimes wonder whether your life is out of balance. If you fall into one of those categories, or if don’t, but are interested in reading a blog written from the heart, one with a spiritual bent, then check out the Lawyers With Depression blog. It’s by Dan Lukasik, editor of the Lawyers With Depression web site. That is all.

Apparel for the LSU baseball fan

The LSU Tigers and Rice Owls are opponents in the College World Series Super-Regional playoff in Baton Rouge. LSU fans in attendance may covet this item from the Onion Boutique.

Of course, I would not wear such a thing; I’m more of a Tulane fan.