I’m not the first person to note, and scratch my head at, the curious phenomenon of bands playing whole albums in their entirety, in concert. That being admitted, though… well, it’s still weird. Roger Waters may have started it by recreating “Dark Side Of The Moon” live on his 2006 tour - but the demand for such a thing was clearly evident from decades of sold-out, cannabis-scented laser light shows at confused but happy planetariums. Sonic Youth continued the trend by thrilling thousands of cerebral indie-rockers with a start-to-finish performance of their landmark 1988 album “Daydream Nation” at a few dozen American and European gigs (and more to come next month in Australia and New Zealand.) More recently, the Stooges did it with “Fun House,” Lou Reed with “Berlin,” and Jethro Tull with “Aqualung,” the last on an XM satellite radio show dedicated to the practice. Let’s say that’s all well and good, for now. To be honest, when I see a classic rock n’roll artist (and that term is now starting to include punk) I cross my fingers and pray that the desiccated, leathery lead singer will never utter the dreaded words “And now here’s something from the new album…” (New York Dolls. Need I say more?) Then today, Read the rest of this entry »

Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency, or LOPA, are the brave souls who approach a grieving family within 24 hours after a loved-one’s death to ask for organ donation. Can you imagine that job? I can, because for 3 afternoons last week I reacted to the awful news of a loved-one’s death, over and over again. As an actor, I dramatized scenes that simulate real-world scenarios, so that the LOPA grief counselors could practice their craft in a safe environment.

The scenes were specifically designed to be difficult for the counselors; and thus, as an actor, difficult for me. My wife and I could not have children, and our adopted daughter was struck by a drunk driver on her way home from the school. It just so happened that the grief counselor who approached us was 6 months pregnant. DANG. I was a Fundamentalist Baptist who could not accept the death of my teenage son because Pastor RJ promised that my boy, Steve-O, would rise up at 10am. And then at 10am, the grief counselor had to approach me for organ donation. SHITE. I was a teenage son who’s mother died, and at 18, am legal next-of-kin; but if I consent to organ donation, my step-father will kick me out. FRAK. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve known Matt McBride, a mechanical engineer and a Army Corps of Engineers watchdog, for about 2 years. In that time, I’ve seen McBride spend what appears to be an unbelievable amount — Does this guy eat or sleep? — trying to keep the Corps honest. McBride combs through huge piles of government documents like Takeru Koybayashi going through a mound of hotdogs. And McBride finds more than indigestion; he discovers indignation and dismay at the Corps incompetence.

It was McBride who alerted the media and the public that the Corps had installed defective pumps in 2006 at the outfall canals. The pumps are used in case the floodgates have to be closed in the event of a hurricane. When gates are closed, the pumps will move water out of city. That is, of course, if they work, and as a memo written by one of the Corps own engineers, Maria Garzino, pointed out, the pumps failed when they were tested prior to installation. McBride found out about the contents of the memo through the Freedom of Information Act request. Not only were the pumps defective, but also, as I wrote back in March ’07 so were the testing facilities used. Still, the Corps installed the pumps, New Orleans survived the 2006 hurricane season, and the defective pumps were repaired for the 2007 season with each pump successfully tested for two hours. Read the rest of this entry »