Galactic again, this time backing their friend and yours, Big Freedia, the Queen Diva. But this is more than funk… this is New Orleans Bounce music.
PT Prologue 1: Cymbal Song
Let’s do an epic warm-up to a summertime Actionsuit! tribute to Porcupine Tree. I’ll go first: Gavin Harrison’s “Cymbal Song” from the Arriving Somewhere… DVD. Not the best quality, but still very cool.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Gil Scott-Heron died last week. He was a politically aware intellectual, poet, and musician who came up in the 70s and who had a big influence on many contemporary performers and activists. He is probably best known for this:
Here’s another one I found that I like even more because he stretches out and develops the ideas and the wordplay. You could call it a lot of things, but I’d probably put it with “protest music” alongside Rage and Bob Marley and Woody Guthrie.
Best Stanley Cup Playoffs Since…?
Now that Boston and Vancouver are set to battle it out for the Cup it’s time to take a breath and realize what a great Stanley Cup Playoffs it’s been so far this year. Most of the series were well contested except in the East where the best two teams were swept in the Conference semi finals and the Conference finals were just one great game after another. Definitely the year of the veteran goaltenders with Thomas and Luongo with honorable mention to Roloson. And last night Steven Stamkos illustrated why hockey players are the toughest and most committed to their game more than any other professional sport (with the possible exception of Rugby). Even the Predators made it to the second round and battled the Canucks with their stingy defense and team offensive play (or offensive team play in the opponents end as they say in Nashville).
My opinion might be a little biased for this year’s playoffs because I have been able to watch many more games than usual by signing up at Hockeystreams.com for their playoff package ($30 US for playoffs/stanley cup, full season + playoffs is $89 Euro right now). In previous years I’ve been stuck with trying to watch on VS and/or NBC. Now that I’ve cut the satellite cords, Hockeystreams is the perfect solution. I was prepared to jump in with the NHL’s Gamecenter Live but the high cost and the blackout restrictions (they get your computers IP address and blackout any/all games in your area) were just too much to stomach. I know their are licensing issues to work out but why o why do they not even attempt to put together an online package where you get all your local teams games?
A few other bonuses to the Hockeystreams package are streaming in HD-720p for some games (it’s been about half to one-third of the games in 720p, regular feed is pretty good anyway), most feeds are from TSN/CBC rather than VS or NBC, streaming to your iPhone, and they also streamed games from the World Hockey Championships and multiple other minor league playoff games.
The Cup Finals schedule is below. I don’t have any horses in this race but any team that beats the Blackhawks gets my vote. Canucks in 7!
- Game 1: Jun 1 8:00pm EDT @VAN (TV: NBC)
- Game 2: Jun 4 8:00pm EDT @VAN (TV: NBC)
- Game 3: Jun 6 8:00pm EDT @BOS (TV: VS)
- Game 4: Jun 8 8:00pm EDT @BOS (TV: VS)
- Game 5: Jun 10 8:00pm EDT @VAN (TV: NBC)
- Game 6: Jun 13 8:00pm EDT @BOS (TV: NBC)
- Game 7: Jun 15 8:00pm EDT @VAN (TV: NBC)
Meet Ellie
Say hello to our new family member, Ellie. She’s a German Shepherd almost 2 years old. We were lucky enough to rescue Ellie through Serendipity GSD Rescue, a very well run rescue service that was able to match us with a family that was forced to give her up to move close to an ailing family member.
We’ve spent the weekend with Ellie and she has absolutely melted our hearts with her intelligence, warmth, and playfullness. My daughters have now met their match in energy levels.
Erin petting Ellie while we watch Mary Kate play baseball
In our search to rescue a dog I found that there are any number of rescue services for each breed you’re interested in most major cities. Check the APDA.org website for the officially sanctioned rescue services but most will register their pets with either AdoptaPet.com or Petfinder.com (as will your local Humane Society).
Update: Here’s IO9’s top ten list of Greatest Superhero Dogs for your enjoyment!
Actionsuit Alert! 