Review: Henry Rollins finally comes to Delaware

Henry Rollins' show at the Grand Opera House in Wilmington, Delaware was another first for the first state:

It was Rollins' first ever performance in good ol' DE.



Rollins said as a kid he visited Rehoboth Beach with his mom and had good memories about Delaware.

His spoken word performance on June 7, 2009 was a great booking for the Grand in my opinion, although I was surprised the venue was only 2/3 full of Rollins fans.

Surely there are more than 1,200 Rollins fans in the DE/PA/NJ area.

Maybe it's the Rollins prejudice; there are many people who don't realize that Rollins has evolved into a superb story teller and those who even go as far to say Rollins ruined Black Flag.

Rubbish.

Rollins remains right on the mark. His sets average two and a half hours of non-stop talking; a mini-odyssey of travel, cultural observation, politics and several personal anecdotes.

He remarked several times that he's hurtling towards fifty (he's 48.) But you wouldn't know it from his stamina and intensity. Rollins gives the audience their money's worth and approached storytelling and his life adventures with the unbridled enthusiasm of an 18-year old.

One of the highlights of the night included Rollins recounting his commencement speech at Sonoma College and interactions with the school's intellectual elite. You can read the whole speech on Henry's site.

During his two and a half hour set, it remains clear that Rollins continues to guided by the same intense, if not maniacal, work ethic of the early SST records crew; you can never work and perform hard enough.

Rollins has evolved into an insanely energetic storyteller and an entertaining performer.

He's funny, a self-made intellectual and is one of those people who actually tries to make the most of every day and every opportunity life hands him.

And I think that's pretty darn cool.

Go get some Rollins stuff from amazon.com.

Sonny Rollins Plus 4 LP

Found this at Farmer's Market earlier in 2009.

This is one of my favorite records that Clifford Brown plays on.

Probably the best record I have found so far this year while garage sale'ing and flea market'ing.


Sonny Rollins Plus 4 LP, originally uploaded by Dave_McGurgan.

I got this: The Jesus Lizard - Inch

The Jesus Lizard - Inch

And it's awesome!

Stereolab's 'hiatus' announcement

Was listening to Stereolab's most recent 'Chemical Chords' and it got me wondering what the band was up to at the moment.

Found their announcement that Stereolab is on hiatus. Nooooooooo!!!

Their site
says they're working on yet another 'Switched On' comp of singles.

There's also talk of remastering the back catalog. I can only hope that some vinyl reissues will be part of that ... I have some gaps to fill in my collection.

Bummer since I had tickets to see their last show in U.S. in Solana Beach, CA in fall 2008, but had to cancel my vacation due to $$$ issues.

By my calculation that would have been the last U.S. show before the hiatus.

Henry Rollins at the Grand Opera House, Wilmington, Delaware Sunday June 7

Tickets on sale now.

Philly Stair Climb '09 recap

Thanks to everyone who sponsored me and sent their well wishes as I climbed 50 floors (1,088 steps) in yesterday's Philly Stair Climb!

Breathe for Becky: Climb the Tower '09 flickr set (83 pics, 20 videos)

50 floors up: At the top of Bell Atlantic Tower (video) - This gives you an idea of what it was like at the top - over 400 climbers right after they walked up 50 flights of stairs

Mayor Michael Nutter: Climb the Tower 2009 speech (video)

Jen Katz: Climb the Tower 2009 speech (video) - My team captain speaks! She was the TOP fundraiser this year!

Facts:


-I made it up all 50 floors in 19 mins, 12 secs (that's 6+ mins faster than last year)

-I did not pass out, vomit, or even lose my breath. In fact, I felt really good! Training paid off.

-My legs are very sore today! LOL.

-I surpassed my fund raising goal of $1,100.00

-I was the 3rd top fund raiser out of 400+ climbers

-My team Breathe for Becky was 2nd place in fund raising overall, raising nearly $4,000.00

-I couldn't have been this successful without all my friends, family and sponsors

Let me thank you one more time ...

Thanks, thanks, thanks for your support. You helped me exceed expectations in fund raising and helped me climb up 50 flights of stairs.

Dave and Team Breathe for Becky,
breatheforbecky.com

P.S. Here is the complete list my sponsors as of today:

Abernathy, Rebecca
Ardis, Bonnie
Anonymous
Astrero, Mary Ann
Bateman, Kelly
Bensel, Eric
Bolin, Louise
Bozzo, Thomas
Burgess, Heather
Burke, Melissa
Childers, Oakland
Colancecco, Patrice
Davies, Evan
Dickerson, Robert
Engle, Morgan
Erdody, Mark
Fontalbert, Lisa
Harbin, Lisa
Hart, Yvette
Hendrix, Les
Herdan, Allison
Hillyard, Audrey
Jaffe, Michele
Landers, Sean
Leal, Carolyn
Lenert, Michael
Levine, Adam & Logan
Lynch, Ingrid
Lyons, Jeffrey
Mack, Donna
Mah, Marsha
Mccabe, Katie
Mcgurgan, Anne
Anonymous
Mercer, Mark
Moss, Maureen & Tony
Obrien, Joe
Oliver, Jonathan
Patel, Shashikant
Peregoy, Bill
Roark, Taylor
Rohana, Meridith
Ruckelshaus, Jill
Stevens, Shannon
Sybert, John
Terry, Kirsten
Thompson, Thom
Tomko, David
Anonymous
Woolworth, Carol
Yokimcus, Deana

McG Stair Climb prep, last minute sponsors welcome

I trained hard this past weekend for Philly Stair Climb, which is Saturday March 21.

I'll be climbing 50 floors (that's 1,088 steps) to help raise money for the American Lung Association.

There's still time to sponsor me if you haven't already.
http://www.tinyurl.com/sponsormcg

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me so far!

That's Katie, Bill, Mike, Yvette, Maureen, Sean, Kelly, Tom, Evan, Lisa F., Lisa H., Allison, Audrey, Michele, Carolyn, Donna, Joe, Jon, Jill and Kirsten.

You can see the latest total you've help me raise for American Lung Association here:

http://www.tinyurl.com/sponsormcg

The weekend workout:

Friday and Saturday I did 123 floors total. On Sunday I really pushed it to see how far I could go. I did 146 floors!

When I do the climb this weekend, I'll only be doing 50 floors ... but as much training on a stair machine I do, there is no equivalent to walking up flight after flight of stairs.

Thanks again to everyone for their support! It is truly appreciated.

Maui vs junk mail


Maui vs junk mail, originally uploaded by letitbe2000.

Philly Stair Climb training recap

Thanks to everyone who has sponsored me so far in the Philadelphia Climb the Tower fundraiser:

Sean, Kelly, Tom, Evan, Lisa F., Lisa H., Allison, Audrey, Michele, Carolyn, Donna, Joe, Jon, Jill and Kirsten.

You've helped me raise over $300 for the American Lung Association!

Check out my page for the latest on how much I've raised:

McG's official Philly Stair Climb page

I did 105 floors on the stair machine at the YMCA last night.

Progressively increasing stamina for the stair climb -- it's in a week and a half.

I'll be posting pictures and video from the event here on facebook and on my team's page, breatheforebecky.com.

Money raised through the Philadelphia Climb the Tower event will help give hope to people living with asthma, emphysema, lung cancer and other lung diseases through community programs and research on lung disease.

The ALA confronts lung disease at the root level, educating kids about the dangers of smoking, playing an integral role shaping smoke- free legislation and even working to reduce air pollution.

Augie visits with his mom, Daphne