TESTING, TESTING

Hello? Hello? Is there anyone out there?

Something has possessed me to try and reinvigorate my blog. For months, I didn't even know how to log into this shit any more.

Well, it's been a little over a year and a half since I last posted here. The big headline since August '07 has been: CANCER!! Diagnosed a year ago (Dec. 5 to be exact) I am now feeling strong and doing well, but it was a rough fucking ride.

You can read more about my Adventures in Cancerland here:

http://myplanet.planetcancer.org/profile/EmilyBeck

I will try to post more substantively soon, but for the moment I just wanted to see if I could kick-start this thing. One can never have too many on-line playthings. (I guess that sounds kind of naughty...but you know what I mean.)

Cheers and Happy Holidays.

A HOLY PLACE

These are nightmare times.

So it must be something special that sends me back to the blog after...well, it's been awhile.

I guess I just needed a place to (virtually) share the enormous grin that I have been unable to shake since my date with the reunited CROWDED HOUSE two weeks ago. What pure joy. Really. If you don't believe me, or you want details, see for yourself.

There are a million reasons to love this band, and I am happy to report that they really haven't lost any of their magic since my last encounter with them 13 years ago in Chicago. On a peculiarly chilly August night in Philadelphia, Neil, Nick, Mark, Matt and Liam took us all to that special, holy place that only great live music can.

If you haven't heard the new record, give it a try. If you want to hear endless new variations on SOMETHING SO STRONG, it might not be for you. But Neil and Co. suffered a devasating loss with the suicide of Paul Hester two-plus years ago, and quite frankly, I find the record's somewhat restrained, mournful atmosphere to be both approrpriate and breathtaking.

I could write for days about the genius of Neil Finn, but I'll stop here for the moment. Who knows: now that the inspiration has come, there might actually be more to follow.

Greetings from Amsterdam

Here's a first: a travel blog on Beck-a-Rants. Mike and I are spending a week in Amsterdam, and so far, it's been cold but lovely. Mainy things have amazed me so far, but to name just a few: the prominance given to bicycles, and the total lack of deferrence show pedestrians. I was even hit by a bike that wasn't moving today! They are everwhere. And, there are no stop signs. Traffic-wse, it's a bit of a free for all.

Cats and dogs in bars and restaurants. We just finished a few beers at the neighboring brown bar, where there is a resident puddy cat. And we had lunch in the Vertigo cafe in the groundfloor of the Filmmuseum with about six or seven dogs earlier today.

Pay toilets. Wow.

All right, there's only a bit of battery left on the computer. More to follow.

REMEMBER THE GULF

Mardi Gras is next week, so I thought this might be a good time to gently remind folks that New Orleans and the Gulf Coast are still in quite dire straits, and there is much work to be done. The Gulf Restoration Network is working hard to keep awareness up, and at the moment they are asking folks to sign an on-line petition to urge Congress to close the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet, a crucial step in preventing future hurricane damage.

Please take a second to visit the GRN website and join their campaign. Just because the Gulf is starting to fade from the national headlines doesn't mean we should forget her plight.

Is There Anything He DOES Know??

I guess this explains why I kept hearing clips of W. on the radio this morning, talking about the proposed sale of US ports to a UAE-owned corporation, saying, "The government has reviewed this." What exactly does that mean, I wondered? Well, obviously it DOESN'T mean that the President has any f***ing clue about what the people in his Administration are cooking up while he is out clearing brush or speechfying to pre-screened audiences about eliminating health insurance.

Can someone please tell me what is wrong with these people??!!?!?!?

Every day, I am amazed anew at their lies, deception and downright underhandedness. Not to mention the fact that the President is probably the least powerful/informed person in his own Administration. If I had voted for Bush, I think I would be a little upset that the person I thought I was electing would actually have so little to do with the running of the Executive Branch.

SHOOTS AND LEAVES

So I have just learned that our Vice President spent the weekend shooting at one of his millionaire hunting companions. As horrible as it sounds, I am somehow not surprised. I mean, after all, Cheney really does seem like some robot from a sci-fi movie whose internal wiring gets crossed and just lets loose with the automatic rile fire on unsuspecting passersby.

So good to know he's a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

With a Mouth Full of Teeth, They Ate All Their Friends

I haven't paid attention to the Grammy Awards in years, and last night was no exception. Still, I was delighted to wake up this morning and see that my boys CLEANED UP in L.A. last night. I don't entirely understand how a record that was released in November 2004 qualifies for a 2005 Grammy, but what the hell. I am so unplugged from the music industry's mainstream, and I have had the impression that hip-hop artists and American Idol-style warblers usually win all the awards, so I take a certain delight in the fact that my middle-aged heroes kicked everyone's butt last night. They deserve all the praise they get, and "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" really IS a masterpiece. Three cheers, then, for my boys, as they head off of the next leg of their seemingly never-ending Vertigo Tour. Come back and see us soon, please.