Buck Owens 1929 - 2006

Just heard the sad news that honky tonk hero Buck Owens has died in his home in L.A. Read his bio here. Mr. Owens' stellar musical career spanned six decades inlcuding an incredible string of 15 consecutive #1 hits in the 60's. It's impossible to fully document his influence on everyone who has heard his heartfelt songs, but his legacy is apparent in so many of the artists in my library, some of which include: The Beatles, The Backsliders, Bobby Bare Jr., Beck, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys, BR5-49, Junior Brown, The Byrds, Calexico, Elvis Costello, Deke Dickerson, Steve Earle, Robbie Fulks, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Geraldine Fibbers, The Grievous Angels, The Handsome Family, Emmylou Harris, Mike Ireland, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Kris Kristofferson, Loretta Lynn, The Mavericks, Rhett Miller, Scott Miller, Willie Nelson, Old 97's, Gram Parsons, Tom Petty, Reverend Horton Heat, Doug Sahm, Todd Snider, The Starkweathers, Dave Stuckey, Uncle Tupelo, The Untamed Youth, The V-Roys, Dale Watson, Ween, Whiskeytown, Jim White, Hank Williams III, Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakam, Neil Young...and countless others. Needless to say, Buck Owens has touched your life somehow, some way. He will be dearly missed.
Some of my favorite Buck Owens tunes:
Second Fiddle - His first single to chart, released in 1959.
Streets of Bakersfield - This is the song that comes to mind when i think of Buck Owens.
Who's Gonna Mow Your Grass - My favorite Buck Owens song of all times, from 1969 with a dose of psychedelia.
Close Up the Honky Tonks - Yep, close up the honky tonks, the king is dead. R.I.P.

News Nuggets 032106

White House Watch
Bush gives speech, updates the American people on the Iraq War, does not say the word "war" once.
The President is in denial. No wonder his disapproval rating is reaching Nixonian levels.

Insurgents Kill 19 Iraqis in Prison Break, Free 33 insurgents.
And they did it pretty easily.
But Bush insists that Iraq is not in a civil war. Former Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi: "We are losing each day as an average 50 to 60 people throughout the country, if not more - if this is not civil war, then God knows what civil war is."
Apparently, Bush knows what a civil war isn't.

Carlos Santana: "I have wisdom. I feel love. I live in the present and I try to present a dimension that brings harmony and healing. My concept is the opposite of George W. Bush." Carlos for Prez?

Homeland Insecurity Update
"An FBI agent who interrogated Zacarias Moussaoui before Sept. 11, 2001, warned his supervisors more than 70 times that Moussaoui was a terrorist and spelled out his suspicions that the al-Qaeda operative was plotting to hijack an airplane, according to federal court testimony yesterday."
Mr. Mousaoui is the only person the US gov't has detained for the attacks on 9-11, and they continue to bungle the investigation. Tell us again, Mr. Bush, how you protect us from terrorists?

Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff to Focus on Chemical Plant Safety "Legislation is pending in the Senate to authorize Homeland Security to shut down facilities that do not comply with minimum safety standards. The bill by Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., would largely let the chemical industry draw up its own security plans for the federal government to approve or reject."
Stay tuned for the Right Wing Repugnicans to clandestinely insert into that legislation language that will include huge tax breaks to chemical plants to defer the costs of such safety standards. Because that's how they roll.

News You Can Use
Breast Asymmetry May Indicate Increased Risk of Breast Cancer In Women.
Now creepy men have a new excuse to leer: "I'm not staring at your chest, I'm checking for breast cancer."

Just in time for the busy petting zoo season: Study Finds Petting Zoos Can Spread E. Coli Virus.
File under: Duh! This breaking health news will be a boon to the rubber glove manufacturing industry.

Notable recent DVD releases: Capote - See Phillip Symore Hoffman's Oscar-winning portayal of the eccentric author. The Squid and The Whale - Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney star as parents of two who decide to divorce, and the impact their decision has on their troubled family. Good Night and Good Luck - Clooney's film about journalists and their battle against a suppressive government during the red scare of the 1950's. Count the parallels to today's administration and their adversarial relationship with the media. Howl's Moving Castle - An enlightening animated alternative to Disney/Pixar drivel. NewsRadio: The Third Season - See Season 3 of one of the best TV shows of all times.

Over and out.