06 September 2006

Pardon the lack of content on here...usually when I can think of good things to post I don't have time to type them up, and when I do have the time I've forgotten anything worthwhile.

First off, a good show worth checking out is "Yes Minister", a British comedy I thought I'd give a shot since I rather liked Paul Eddington in "The Good Life". Very clever show...a bit too blasted clever sometimes, and I wish the DVDs had closed captioning, as it can be hard to follow. But a great indictment of office politics (and naturally government politics) and the stonewalling/CYA maneuvers of superfluous bureaucracy. One of the best written shows I've ever seen...can you imagine a show done in America about just three 55-year-old white men working together in an office for government administration? No wacky characters, no crazy situations, just the drudgery of paperwork and meetings. Cheap gags are at a minimum...they have to work for it to be funny, and they succeed at that.

Secondly, both Steely Dan and Michael McDonald were excellent in St Louis on Monday night. Jon Herington, in particular, is a freak of nature. With a guy like that in the band, Walter Becker ought to just sit down when it comes time for a guitar solo. Herington was the closest thing to mind-blowing I've seen in a live guitarist, whereas Becker, well, he does what he does pretty well, but his addiction to bluesy phrasings stuck out like a sore thumb on some songs. He definately has his own voice. But in terms of relatively unknown guitarists, Herington is it. I know this is one of those stupid sayings, but the guy really does reinterpret the original solos. Usually I am disappointed by the live solos, but not with this guy...easily an equal with Carlton and the others, if perhaps a generation late.

1 comment:

matt said...

Too bad class acts like that don't come to KC that often.

I did see a whole production on PBS with a band covering Pink Floyd songs. They had three backup female vocalists...which definitely seems in tune with the whole experimental space rock thing. And they couldn't harmonize for poop. It was painful to watch.

Prithee, where would I be able to find "Yes Minister"?