Judy Collins and Arlo Guthrie-Home for the Holidays-Cheap Tickets, Cheap Parking and a Great Show!!

                                               

I've just returned from seeing two classic and all time favorite  folk singers of mine, Judy Collins and Arlo Guthrie. I've seen both of them several times separately in the past in both New York City and New Jersey, Arlo much more than Judy, but never together like this.

I first started seeing Arlo about 20 years ago when I was still dating my wife who is a big fan of his. Over the years I've seen him perform solo, then with his son Abe and Abe's band Shenendoah, then with Pete Seeger, then with Arlo's daughter Sarah Lee Guthrie (Who I've met and spoken to in person as well as Arlo) and more recently seen him perform with his entire family consisting of his other two daughters and his sisters and their kids, (Arlo's grandkids) who he currently tours with.

Just in case their are still some of you out there who are not familiar with this folk legend, Arlo is the son of famed folksinger Woody Guthrie and shot to fame in 1968 with his now infamouse 16 minute song, "Alice's Restaurant" which tells the story of his adventures being arrested on Thanksgiving Day for dumping half a ton of garbage in dump that was closed on Thanksgiving. It also tells the story of his adventures with the draft board at the time. When I saw Arlo in 2006 he said if someone told him in 1968 that he'd be singing Alice's Restaurant in 2006 he'd laugh in their faces. I'm including a great You Tube of him below singing it at Farm Aid in 2005. In fact, those of you familiar with the song will note he updates it with a few humorous and clever comments parodying the fact he's still singing it 40 years later. :D

In Sunday night's concert, Arlo led off and it was just him solo with two guitars, one acoustic and one electric. His voice was raspier than usual and he apologized saying he was fighting off a cold, but to me that just added to the folkiness of his songs and story telling.

Arlo amused us with stories of growing up with his father Woody Guthrie and traveling all over the country with him meeting other folk legends like Rambling Jack Elliot in Calif. and blues and folk guitarist Leadbelly in Louisiana. Arlo even told about  looking for Leadbelly's grave  many years later with his friends and finding it in a churchyard in La. in his usual rambling humor that is so typical of Arlo.

Although he didn't do Alice's Restaurant ( and he doesn't always do  it in the many times I've seen him) at one point someone in the audience shouted out, "Where's Alice?"
  Arlo replied," I'm wondering that myself" and proceeded to play a few notes from it  and then stopped saying, "That's all I can remember." He added that doing Alice is like living a half hour of the movie Groundhog Day every day, "That's why we put it on record," he said. Those of you familiar with the 16 minute song will know what he means and can view it in it's entirety below. Besides it would have been foolish for him to do Alice  with the condition his voice was in and I'm sure he's sick of doing it for 40 years.

Judy Collins is from the same era as Arlo and they are good friends. She used to be known as Judy Blue Eyes for she has the bluest of eyes and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young did a song about her titled "Suite:Judy Blue Eyes." Judy is best known for her song "Both Sides Now" which became a huge hit and is still played around the world today. I've seen  her four times in person, twice where she did a most memorable Christmas Show. Besides singing her hits, she tells a beautiful tale half narrative and half sung accompanied by a pianist and her playing on guitar where she describes various Christmases she holds dear  growing up.

In Sunday's show Judy followed Arlo looking ever so radiant in her black knee high stiletto heel boots, skin tight black pants and a sequined black top with a sequined cape. Her thick, flowing, full, long, silver hair was radiant too  as she kept flirtatiously flickering it with the back of her hand. Judy opened with  the Christmas Song, "Joy to the World" followed  by "Silver Bells" her voice so clear as a bell and  angelic and flowed melodiously throughout the theater. She too told stories of growing up and singing on the road with each story segueing into a song. She was accompanied by her pianist who also had a great voice  joining her on harmonies.

During her signature song, "Both Sides Now" Judy forgot the lyrics to the second verse. Rather than stopping abruptly she continued playing on the guitar and looked to her pianist who told her the words.The audience also helped her along singing the entire verse for her while she played. She handled it with such class and grace that it was  understandable. She apologized  saying "Sorry about that.We were having  a 'junior ' moment there." She said that was the first time that ever happened to her.

Judy ended her session with  "Over the Rainbow" getting everyone singing along. For an encore Arlo came back out and they both did his song "City of New Orleans" while he played on piano and she on guitar. They then both did "Amazing Grace" which I think was a bad idea for Arlo at this point since his voice was almost gone now, but  they both do that song  in their individual concerts so it was fitting they both do it together.

Although both Arlo and Judy's politics lean to the liberal side, their comments are not hateful or vitrolic, but more humanistic where both sides can appreciate  their humor since they are more for bringing people together. They also keep politcs to a minimum and concentrate more on their songs.

The concert was at the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway, N.J. They have a well lit new parking garage four blocks  away that costs $4.00 and a free shuttle bus that takes you back and forth from the garage to the theater. It was cheap tickets, cheap parking and a great show!!!

I've also included a You Tube of Judy singing Both Sides Now below from 1987 and again from last year in England. You can see at 71 years old she still retains her beauty and  angelic voice. Please enjoy both of these videos.

Arlo Guthrie - All 16 minutes of Alice's Restaurant - YouTube

Judy Collins - "Both Sides Now" 1987 - YouTube

Judy Collins-"Both Sides Now" (Glastonbury 2010) - YouTube

OWS=Obamavilles: The Endless Parade of Human Debris

"Some day a real rain will come and wash all the scum and filth off the streets."-----Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickel in "Taxi Driver."

The Wall Street Journal recently labled the OWS crowd as Obamavilles and rightly so. The term is a reference to all the shanty towns that went up during the great depression under President Herbert Hoover  and were labeled Hovervilles at the time.

These encampments  are being infested with disease and pestilence such as tuberculosis from sharing bottles and cigarettes and head lice is beginning to surface in places like Portalnd and Atlanta. Their posters are teaming with bacteria from being left out in the rain and elements and there are rapes, suicides, murders and theft by this endless parade of human debris that claim this is all in the name of free speech. I don't consider  defacating and urinating in public as well as having sex in public and women walking around naked in puiblic in city streets as free speech. In New York City, the rapes were so prevalent that they set up a separate tent for women that holds up to 16 women at a time.

These so called protestors are even scaring little kids on the way to school in New York. Shouts of "follow the kids"were heard as protestors followed parents with four year old kids to their school scaring them half to death.

Yet thru all this who embraces these great unwashed? Why Obama of course along with Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden. This is  what the democratic party looks like now. This is what Obama wants to see  so he can gain power and transform the America we all love  and he hates to a country like the third world countries he's familiar with and apologized  for America's greatness to.

Christopher Adamo of  GOPUSA had an excellent article on the OWS crowd recently which I am excerpting here followed by an interesting comment froma reader to his article:

"For all but the most blindly dogmatic, any former “bloom” has long since left the rosy facade of the “Occupy Wall Street” phenomenon. Though the liberal media have been working overtime from the beginning to maintain the fantasy that the protesters embody the concerns and aspirations of Real America, and despite their best efforts to frame any discussion of the movement as a noble endeavor propelled by unfettered idealism, its sheer ugliness is daily becoming more apparent and inescapable.
Increasingly, “Occupy” events throughout the nation are becoming anarchistic zones of unchecked assault, robbery, rape, and even murder. Reports of spreading diseases, in one instance even including a particularly virulent form of tuberculosis, are ever more common at the protest gatherings. And in general, the lofty and pious rhetoric of the protesters is rendered completely implausible by the abhorrent filth and squalor in which its participants are willing to subsist.
Nevertheless, these brave and principled individuals, we are told, constitute a shining army of visionaries who have dedicated themselves to the establishment of a proper and decent America. The future of the nation is firmly in their hands, and we can all rejoice at the plans which they have conceived for us. And herein lies the one critical warning to be gleaned from this debacle by a vigilant America. From its inception to the appalling manner in which the “Occupy” movement is being advanced, it does indeed represent the grim fate awaiting the nation if a drastic course correction is not implemented soon.
To begin with, this was no uncoordinated groundswell of like-minded individuals sharing a collective yearning to establish justice and promote the “general welfare” of their fellow citizens. Despite all of the propaganda seeking to create parallels between the “Occupy” and Tea Party movements (aided and abetted by the entire liberal/Democrat political machine up to and including the Obama White House), the foundations and methods of the organizations could not be more disparate.

While the people of Heartland America did indeed rise up spontaneously in the spring of 2009, taking time off from their jobs and voicing their opposition to the decimation of their country occurring at the hands of the hard-left, the “Occupy” movement was hatched and nurtured from the top-down, ACORN style, and facilitated through enormous outside funding. These “Occupy” players are simply incapable of autonomously generating and supporting an effort of this scale. On a continual basis, they are being resupplied and underwritten from the outside through Soros style backing, which is the only reason they can maintain their noxious presence on public property while the nation’s adults accept their responsibilities and go to work each day.

The nation needs to get a good look at the escalating savagery and chaos going on in every “Occupy” event from Zucotti Park to Oakland. This is the modern Democrat Party vision for America’s future. Next November, you can vote to institute it on a national scale.

November 17, 2011 @ 9:55 am

This entire mob according to many was organized by Van Jones, Piven, Obama and his minions and funded by the Tide Foundation headed by George Soros.
This was obviously not a random situation brought about by frustration and concern for the state of our nation, but is the actual army that Obama tried to recruit during his first campaign for the White House. It’s a known fact that Obama had much to do with this so-called Arab Spring all over the Middle East, so it shouldn’t be too hard to realize that he and his progressive hordes are behind this as well. Obama WARNED America in 2008 about his proposed “fundamental transformation” and so did his wife but few even questioned what that transformation entailed.

America rejects the progressive ideology. So their ideology must be imposed by any means necessary, in coordination with global forces that want America’s decline, and that’s what I believe this mob is all about. Considering the crime these people have committed, the sanitation problem causing health concerns and the scores of drug related problems, etc., with little or no repercussions is proof positive of the power behind the mob.

NYC Protesters Chant 'Follow Those Kids!' As Small Children Try To Get To School...

YORK: 'Unoccupied with nowhere to go'...

Protester steals furniture from n'bor's house for encampment...

Is Newt Electable? You Bet he Is.

                                   


Newt Gingrich has really moved up in the polls and is now in a three way tie with Romney and Cain and recently moved into second place.  Newt is pictured here with his wife Calista. Newt is a very articulate and strong person and extremly knowledgeable in government and history. He's been a college professor and has written books on WW11 and the civil war. He was also the author of the extremely successful Contract With America that time under Clinton when he was Speaker of the  House. Anyone who has seen Newt speak will find him an excellent orator par none and without a telepromter too. I would love to see him in a debate with the  telepromter in chief Obama.


Of course he has some baggage to overcome, but so do all politicians. The left will probably no doubt bring up the fact that he divorced his wife while she was in the hospital with cancer. When he was speaker under Clinton I attended Rush Limbaugh's then TV show and met a woman who's son worked for Newt. She told me then that Newt and his wife were planning an amicable divorce before she was in the hospital and when she was in there she told him if the papers come then bring them in the hospital and she can sign them there. This was later proven true, but of course the media ommitted those facts and will no doubt do the same this time.
Below is Dick Morris' right on analysis of Newt. Listen and judge for yourself. Dick also gives a cute plug for his dog's new book "Dubs Goes to Washington", a children's book for your kids to learn about the American monuments in rhyme which I highly reccommend.

IS NEWT ELECTABLE? DICK MORRIS TV: LUNCH ALERT!
Published on DickMorris.com on November 15, 2011

Checkout a part of a speech Newt recently gave without a telepromter and see what a great orator he truly is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=qtjfMjjce2Y

Herman Cain's Accusers; Legalized Extortion

                               

The real scandal goes far beyond the case of Herman Cain and his accusers. The real scandal is that the law allows people to impose heavy costs on others at little or no cost to themselves. That is a perfect setting for legalized extortion.---Thomas Sowell.

The above quote is from  proficient writer and columnist Thomas Sowell. He is so right on in this quote. Caine's accusers are nothing more than that, legalized extortionists being used by the democratic party to destroy him.  To democrats seeing something that they are supposed to have a hold and monopoly on must be destroyed. Their whole existance and philosopy is based on dependency and victimhood. They are the protectors and supervisors of minorities such as women, blacks and hispanics. When they see a black conservative like Herman Caine, that is a no, no in their book just as a conservative woman like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachman must be destroyed as a conservative hispanic like Marco Rubio must be destroyed. They can't have that.

Liberal dems have  always had the monopoly on accusing conservatives of being racists yet their blatant hypocrisy shines thru in the Herman Cain situation. MSNBC has displayed some of the most vile racist comments coming from black commentators attacking Caine. Such comments as "he's smoking the symbolic crack pipe," and "He's the white man's friend" and "White people like Caine because they know he's a black man who knows his place with them."  Another black commentator kept pointing out that all the women were BLONDE over and over with a wry smirk on his face. No wonder MSNBC is dead last in the ratings.

When  Bill Clinton  had all these sexual harassment accusations leveled against him, the media attacked the women and feminists stuck up for him with excuses every time even though his attackers were much more credible than Caine's attackers. With Cain's attackers they are so obviously being set up by the democratic party and are all money grabbers. Also  many dems don't want to see a black vs. black election.

One of Cain's accusers, Karen Kraushaar, 55 has a history of a shady financial past including financial judgements against her and personal bankruptcies and just happens to live in the same apartment building as embattled Obama Attorney General David Axelrod though she claims not to have had any interaction with him. A woman who met Kraushaar and got to know her in the 1990's said "Kraushaar is a social climber and out for the money" All these accusations are just a matter of he said- she said and nothing substantial. Besides didn't we learn under Bill  Clinton that a person's private life doesn't matter?

In another unrelated matter that came to my attention, I see actress Ellen Barkin gave an interview claiming she's not pretty. Well who cares? But what struck me about her  daffy thinking was  that she blamed the news media for the awful position the world is in and blamed FOX News in particular for  the destruction of the world.  Duhh Ellen that's pretty stupid and to admit in public that you are not pretty when I think you are shows  a lot of insecurity on your part. That's typical  Hollywood lib thinking. FOX News is reponsible for the destruction of the world?  If we're going down that route then I would include CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS and MSNBC.

                         

Obama Opposes FDR Prayer at WW11 Memorial

An administrator for the WW11 memorial in Washington D.C. who represents the Obama administration is opposing adding FDR's prayer for the troops on the memorial saying it "dilutes the message of the memorial." HOW PREPOSTEROUS!!!! Below is part of an article written by Bob Eberle of GOPUSA today expressing his outrage followed by several comments to this outrageous omission by the Obama administration. The commnets express my feelings too, better than I can say.

There's common sense. There's the faith in God that helped build this country and hold it together through trying times such as World War II. Then, there's the Obama administration, which appears to lack both of the above. During a congressional hearing on whether to include President Roosevelt's famous prayer as part of the WWII Memorial, an Obama administration official objected, saying the prayer would "dilute" the memorial's central message. What is happening to this country?


As reported by Fox News, "Republican lawmakers and conservative activists are expressing outrage after the Obama administration announced its objection to adding President Franklin Roosevelt's D-Day prayer to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C."


"It is unconscionable that the Obama administration would stand in the way of honoring our nation's distinguished World War II veterans," Rep. Bill Johnson said. "President Roosevelt's prayer gave solace, comfort and strength to our nation and our brave warriors as we fought against tyranny and oppression."

But Robert Abbey, the director of the Bureau of Land Management, said any plaque or inscription of the prayer would "dilute" the memorial's central message and therefore "should not be altered."
"It is not a judgment as to the merit of this new commemoration, simply that altering the Memorial in this way, as proposed in HR 2070, will necessarily dilute this elegant memorial's central message and its ability to clearly convey that message to move, educate, and inspire its many visitors," Abbey said in written testimony.

CNSNews.com reports that in trying to cover himself, Abbey said his opposition is not to the prayer itself but that the prayer would "intrude" on the memorial, "something that is technically prohibited by federal law."
"The Commemorative Works Act specifically states that a new commemorative work shall be located so that it does not encroach upon an existing one. It is not a judgment as to the merit of this new commemoration, simply that altering the Memorial in this way, as proposed in H.R. 2070, will necessarily dilute this elegant memorial's central message," Abbey said.

In other words, the Obama administration argues that Congress is trying to create a separate memorial commemorating FDR's prayer, rather than an addition to the national World War II Memorial.

It's sad how times change. On the one hand, we have Barack Obama omitting "endowed by our Creator" on several occasions when he has referenced the Declaration of Independence. On the other, we have Franklin Roosevelt who took to the airwaves to ask the nation to pray with him.


Dilute the message? This IS the message. We won WWII because we were fighting the forces of evil, and we turned to God for help. We can't turn away now.




Comment by newsjunky
November 8, 2011 @ 9:08 am

If anyone out there is still convinced that this president is a God fearing man they are only kidding themselves. He has done just about everything humanly possible to erase everything pertaining to God while still possessing a semblance of religion with his rhetoric. More often than not, he uses God as a means to manipulate the public knowing that it will play well. We are still the same people he accused of “clinging to our guns and religion” as if we were bonafide freaks who didn’t know any better.


Obama in my opinion is a smooth talking, sophisticated replica of Bill Maher who shares the same thoughts and opinions in stealth. Obama’s adversion toward God and all things religious can only be detected by radar where Maher’s is openly active. The only religion that our president seems to admire is the one his father loved and served — Islam!


Comment by Kevin in Kansas

November 8, 2011 @ 9:41 am
This is the last straw. This Godless heathen needs to go. He is evil and I truly despise him; I have never felt that way about any President before. As bad as Carter and Clinton were, at least they were still Americans and held some of our values sacred. This guy is just….evil.

Comment by inluminatuo

November 8, 2011 @ 10:01 am


Obama’s idea of the Central message of the Memorial is that there is a GOD and it is him and the government from whom all power and blessings must flow,,,or else. Anything that alludes to the true source from which all our blessings, freedoms, and personal Liberties originate, must be squelched before the formative minds of our future generations can embrace it and defund their ideological bankrupt Socialist Agenda which is to divide and conquer America.

When Americans realize they are endowed by their creator, not enabled by a Man-Edified God-Government, then they will rebel and kick the Secular Liberal Democrats out of power. Can anyone at this juncture of Obama’s administration refute the idea that he lied to us that he is ANY sort of a real Christian who as Christ warned is “Either with me or against me.” Since he is not with us he is definitely AGAINST US, condemned by the very words of he who has the clarity and authority to condemn. This is why you CANNOT continue to vote these people of the secular Liberal persuasion into office and still call yourselves Christians. This man was raised in Indonesia during the formative years of his mind as a Muslim and his foot is upon your Christian neck as we speak.


It was NOT the power of FDR’s socialist Democrat ideology that enabled America to conquer, but by his prayers, like the prayers of a George Washington on his knees before battle or a George Patton on his knees evoking a weather prayer before the battle of the Bulge which indeed arrived in time to clarify the skies for conquering battle, just like it will cleanse and clarify the minds of the American population before the coming battle in November 2012.

The Tree Song: Words by Tom Pacheco, Pics By Jaycee

This past October on a warm sunny Sunday my wife and I took a stroll through Brookdale Park near us. The trees there reminded me of my favorite song by Irish folk singer Tom Pacheco called The Tree Song. It is a narrative he tells while a guitar and violin play in the background. Tom said the tree told him the story and he just wrote it down. I saw him sing it live in the early 70's once. I'm presenting it here with pics I took to match it. Please enjoy it.

The Tree Song
by Tom Pacheco, pics by Jaycee

Well good morning folks, come gather round
this oak tree you have climbed,
I guess you've all lost kites in my branches at one time.

I've seen a million sunsets and grown a trillion leaves,
and every winter that old North wind
comes and blows them right off me

People come and meet here when the midnight moon is high.

Some laugh and love all night,

some just sit here and cry.

A million cats have climbed me, below me children play,

I won't tell you what the dogs do,

but that's just nature's way.

And once there was a murder,
I was the only witness there
and the wrong man went to prison
The killer was the mayor.

And see that nice old couple
walking down the road.
Why they carved their initials in me some 50 years ago

I could talk to you forever with the stories that I know
why just 50 feet below me

there's a chest of pirate gold.

But now I see bulldozers and soon I'm going to fall

They're going to pave this whole field for a brand new shopping mall.

I hope they use some of me for a fence or for a door,

ahh but you know they don't seem to make things out of wood much anymore.

But anyway I'm happy because in the woods across the way

there's a brand new oak tree growing

from one of my own acorn seeds.