Before They Were Stars: Lemmy

Here is a lost rock n' roll gem from Lemmy Kilmister and his early band The Rockin' Vickers from 1966 (LONG before he became the leather lunged lead singer of Motorhead.) 

Happy #@&!$% Valentine's Day: Songs For The Dumped

Valentine's Day.....Is there ANY day more REVOLTING?

Of course not. At least the fact you just got dumped isn't rubbed into your face by every Madison Avenue commercial jingle on Halloween.

For every happy couple you see today, there are couples who were missed by Cupid's arrow.

These songs are for them.......

20. "F--k It (I Don't Want You Back)" Eamon
19. "Kiss This" Joanna Dean
18. "Gives You Hell" The All American Rejects
17. "You Oughta Know" Alanis Morrisette
16. "Love Stinks" J. Geils Band
15. "Before He Cheats" Carrie Underwood
14. "I Hate Everything About You" Ugly Kid Joe
13. "Coney Island Whitefish" Joan Jett
12. "Ain't No Pleasing You" Chas & Dave
11. "My Give A Damn's Busted" Jo Dee Messina
10. "I Hate Everything About You" Three Days Grace
9. "Love Will Tear Us Apart" Joy Division
8. "You're Breaking My Heart" Harry Nilsson
7. "Song For The Dumped" Ben Folds Five
6. "She's Got The Ring (I Got The Finger)" George Strait
5. "Nag" Joan Jett
4. "They'll Need A Crane" They Might Be Giants
3. "Leave You Behind" Sleater-Kinney
2. "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" Green Day
1. "The Salt In My Tears" Martin Briley

Part 15 Radio

If you ever wanted to run a radio station (and who hasn't?), there is a way you can do it without a lot of money, that has small, but fair enough range (about a mile, more or less - enough for a local neighbourhood) and without a license - legally.

There's a little known sub-section in the Code of Federal Regulations under Title 47 called Part 15. Under this section, you can legally operate a small radio transmitter running no more than 100mW (milliwatts) and a maximum antenna height of three meters (about 10 feet) on AM. (FM is much more limited in signal strength and smaller in antenna height.)

You can operate on either AM of FM. But the range you get with FM is much more limited (about 250 feet) than with AM. AM is by far the best method of transmitting under Part 15 rules.

Most Part 15 operators transmit in the upper portion of the AM dial, in that "expanded band" area that appeared on AM radios made past 1988 between 1600-1700 on the AM dial where there are fewer stations. Range is actually farther on these frequencies than those on the lower end of the AM dial. Which was something I never understood because technically, the lower end of the dial always seemed to have the farthest broadcast range of most AM stations. But I think that's factoring in grounding and other high-end engineering methods (that's one downside with AM, you have to really study radio transmission methods and theory.)

Here are some web sites that can get you started on this incredible little hobby:

http://www.hobbybroadcaster.net

http://www.part15.us

http://www.lpam.net

"Live Is Life" Opus (1985)

Interesting tune from Opus. Austria is usually one of the last places on Earth you'd look for reggae. But this one hit wonder scored a massive new wave hit with this flytape catchy tune.

Instant '80s Pop Culture Fact: "Live Is Life" was the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh's favourite song. It also came out at the height of his cult's popularity.

Imagine a bobblehead of this guy if you want a visual of how the Bhagwan danced.....

Abandoned Theaters

There's fewer sights sadder than an abandoned theater.

Buildings that were once the source of so much joy for so many people only to be forgotten to time and ignorance. And depending on building condition could be restored and used again to showcase so much new and exciting talent to new generations.

It's a shame what happens when we ignore and take for granted a beautiful old building....

And having help restore and worked in old theaters, I take these sights VERY personally.....

http://reliques.online.fr/theaters/theaters01.html

I'm getting too depressed looking at this stuff. So I guess I'll call it a night. See you tomorrow......