So after the sad demise of my beloved scooter.......

 

....I finally learn exactly how much my insurance company will pay out and it may limit my sights somewhat as to what I can afford to get as a replacement.......

 

More drawings from my 'Injury Book' hospital notebook . . . largely drawn with either the left hand or both left and limited right . . . . . .

Recovery ward...

Hospital corridor waiting for an X-Ray

Hospital ward corridor

Hospital Trauma Unit Ward 3a

iPad drawings from 'The Injury Book' Sept - Oct 2012 . . . . 

Hospital portrait - 20ml morphine 100ml Tramadol 100mg Paracetamol

Spine study

Home with bones broken

Spine study II

View from my hospital bed

Hospital bed Oct 2012

Big O comes up with more than music that often makes for an interesting read

------------------------------------------

HEADROOM

RE: THE WANING OF THE MODERN AGES

Human life before the age of capitalism was one of early death, high infant mortality, illiteracy, and suffering. The age of capitalism resulted in more advances in measurable aspect of human life then the previous 6,000 years of non-capitalist civilization.

The so called "capitalist system" is the only one (yet known) that relies on voluntary human actions and not on force backed up by the threat of violence. Capitalism allows individuals of endless varieties of worldviews to live together in peace. If you don't like what companies or individuals do, under capitalism one is allowed to ignore them and both parties can live in peace and go about different paths towards happiness. Socialism and other non-capitalist systems require all to conform to a single world view or suffer imprisonment, execution or other means to prevent non-conformist actions.

In a capitalist transaction, both parties have to think they benefit, as either party can back out of any transaction. No one is forced to shop at Wal-Mart or eat at McDonald's, these companies can only survive by providing things people want. Capitalism is freedom, almost all of the problems the author whines about came about due to government interference in the market, not the market itself.

Socialism has been tried in a wide variety of forms, including National Socialism (Nazis) in Germany, Stalinism in Russia and Mao's version in China, all failed miserably, and resulted in deaths of hundreds of millions of individuals.

Been there done that, didn't Berman learn anything from the 20th century?

America has not failed, the opposite is true, America has been a huge success (look at the number of applications for immigration to the USA), although we Americans have been facing slower growth (but still growth) as we have moved farther away from a true capitalist system to more of a mixed system with increased government regulations and involvement.

Silly arguments made here which are unlikely to appeal to anyone over the age of 22 (unless dreaming of being a '60s protestor) or anyone who has ever lived in a system like the one Berman advocates.

Let us not forget Malthus from 200 years and realize dire prediction of ecological disasters in the past have not come true, in fact the opposite has happened as capitalist systems have proven to be able to adapt to changing environments much better than other systems and continue to improve the quality of our lives.

Despite what the alarmists over centuries have claimed, the sky is not falling and life generally gets better for each generation and there is no reason to believe this trend over the past 600 years is about to change anytime soon.

Jack

via Internet

There's a doozie of a Neil Young (and Crazy Horse) today over at Big O  . . . . available here Neil Young & Crazy Horse - New York 2012
This is from 29th September! It never ceases to amaze me how fast we can get this stuff now.....I'm of the generation that was used to waiting years for certain bootlegs to reveal themselves!

This is what Hendrik Hertzberg posted at newyorker.com:

Neil Young, sixty-seven years old next month, is a wonder. His voice is rougher and lower than it was when I first heard it, forty-six years ago, at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. But it’s as strong as it was in his Buffalo Springfield days, and as distinctive, and as clear, with those emphatic Canadian “r”s. Even against the cacophony of Crazy Horse’s tsunami of sound, you don’t need a lyric sheet to understand the words he sings the first time you hear them. You get the music and you get the meaning.
Back then he was a diffident young buck. Now he’s a lion, thrashing and roaring. He’s a buffalo in an autumn field, snorting and pawing the plain of the stage. For more than an hour, every minute of it intense, he sang and played, loped and ducked and stomped. This is not an oldies act. There was no “Everybody Knows,” no “Heart of Gold,” no “Old Man” (except the ones on the stage). From the long-ago past, only “The Needle and the Damage Done,” which he sang accompanied solely by his own acoustic guitar. (The set was beautifully paced.)
The shortage of “greatest hits” mattered not at all. In his late sixties Young is a volcano of creativity. The song about hearing “Like a Rolling Stone” for the first time was proof enough of that. For me, though, the night’s high point was another new composition of his, “Walk Like a Giant.”
The lyrics are about disillusionment (”I used to walk like a giant on the land/Now I feel like a leaf floating on the stream”), but the music, its thunderous, feedback-rich electric guitars set off by a jaunty whistled bridge, is about defiance. Its stunning conclusion was a long series of stomps: Neil in his thick farmer’s boots slamming the floor - thud! thud! thud! - and putting his whole body into it, with every thud augmented by a bone-rattling guitar chord. It was as if we were being stalked by a tyrannosaur as big as the Beresford.
The concert ended the only way it properly could, with everyone on stage with the master, “Rockin’ in the Free World.” The last note faded at exactly 10 pm.

Meanwhile......I am getting slowly better and thanks for all the good will texts and cards, they are ALL really appreciated. Can't write yet as fast as I'd like and it's slow stuff as is most stuff but we re getting there . . . . .still awaiting to see if there are operations on the hands as they don't seem to be happy with how they're healing....as in their not! Hasn't stopped me drawing mind.......or writing this to you.........peace love and understanding - Swappers

Trauma Ward 3a, John Radcliffe Hospital 2012

Well this my take me a while.......I have come off my beloved scooter and would just like to send this brief acknowledgement of my friends who have been in touch and the fine fine people working in the local John Radcliffe Hospital Trauma department Thanks guys! and yes I am typing this with fractures in both hands, cracked ribs, cracked thumbs cracked sacrum and cracked pelvis and all in all feeling pretty CRACKED (nothing new there then ED) Thanks for all your good vibes people and here's a suitable song to be going on with a favourite from a favourite band....... ....up date: why Thanks Dave Sealyman for dropping by and 'Daft Bugger' indeedily doodily, I'll have you know I resemble that remark! ...........Oh, BTW nearly forgot! Anyone checked the entire album stream of the NEW Bobby Zee album? It's a doozie! Available over on iTunes NOW! Duquesne Whistle could have been released in the 1940'2 or last week! LOVE IT!

Today I are mostly liking .....

Amy MacDonald

 

 
 

 Class act, finely executed 'pop' and she's only 22........I like her

get her new album ' Life In A Beautiful Light' here........

In the spirit of uproarious drunken nonsense and fine fine rock n roll here's a coupla links to

THE FACES!

I hitch-hiked up to Leicester Polytechnic in the early 70's to see these guys and had a glorious time. Rodney and the boys came on to his introduction of "Ladies and Gentlemen, Matteus Rose Limited!" This was also when he was introducing their wonderful version of McCartney's 'Maybe I'm Amazed' with the obligatory "Here's a number, you may not know it and if you don't know it, I really don't know where ya bin!" Happy drunken days! Ah, we were young............Catch these two fine sets from the ubiquitous Big O while you can....

The Faces - That's All You Need

Compilation of BBC recordings from 1971 to 1973. Very good to excellent radio broadcast.
The artwork says “Recorded Live 1973″ but, according to socialmusic.fm, “this is actually a compilation of BBC recordings made from 1971-1973. April 5, 1973 is probably the date this compilation was broadcast. I believe most, or all, of this was recorded at the Paris Theatre.”

....and from 1970
The Faces - In Concert 1970 compilation

In Concert 1970 Compilation [no label, 2CD]
Mostly stereo mixing desk recordings and high quality audience recordings. Fan compilation by Stranger009. Great sound.
“My aim here was to collect the best quality performances from the 1970 shows by The Faces.
“Sound quality was important, as while there are some great audience recordings from this time, the mixing desk recordings and high quality audience recordings (for example San Francisco May 9, 1970) I’ve worked with here put those mostly firmly in the shade.
“For those who need to know the details I have described the work I carried out: both Miami and Boston 1970 had Rod’s voice firmly in the right channel, and through trial and error I found a way to correct that convincingly (have a listen to the end results).” - Stranger009
The artwork has all the text supplied by Stranger009 when he shared this at DIME. This was put together in the hope that Rod Stewart would reunite some day with the remaining Faces for a couple of gigs. It was shared in January of 2012 but the hoped for reunion of the band at this year’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Awards never materialized. Some fans have suggested the reason was because Stewart no longer can sing “rock” songs. In 2000, Stewart went for surgery for his thyroid cancer. Stewart then concentrated on singing standards and has released a number of volumes of Great American Songbook. He did step out to make one “rock” album, Still The Same… Great Rock Classics Of Our Time in 2006. None of the songs covered could be termed “rockers”.

So I suggest you put on your velvet loon pants, stack heeled boots and a feather boa round your neck and can even feather cut your hair and loon round the garden staggering past the gazebo with a bottle of wine and sing along to happier times!

 Enjoy!

Well, when I say final FINAL word...........

So the panjandrums can't stop me from sharing OTHER peoples links and stuff......well not yet anyways

So here's a treat for all my readers (Oh come on! just stop it now! ED) for you see it's ALL about the music.........Big O, my favourite blog for mewsic, has posted a coupla fine, fine Neil Young & Crazy Horse sets from earlier this month! 

Neil Young & Crazy Horse Red Rocks FIRST SET Aug 5 2012

and what's more they then post the second night set too...............

Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Red Rocks Second Night set 6 Aug 2012

They are really worth getting for those Ol' Shaky fans who drop by...........(Who isn't? ED)

The first night includes a nearly 25 minute version of 'Walk Like a Giant'! For those not familiar with the reformation of Crazy Horse and who like me bought those early albums, this is a real treat. Awesome (sorry) explosive guitar and that sound is uniquely wonderful.

Enjoy! I know I did.......

P.S. and remember they won't stay up for long.....and if you are relying on me to have them up on filesharing sites remember I have been booted off (Funneeeee! ED) so you won't be able to get them from me even if you email me.....ya get me?

“All right, I’ll leave you here
But you’d better hurry up and choose which of those bills you want
Before they all disappear”.....

THE FINAL Final WORD

OK people........it's a sad day but I have had all my file links forbidden, banned and have been kicked off both Mediafire and 4Shared and there are now NO LINKS to file sharing sites on here....I will leave much of the written word for the moment until I decide what to do about it but suffice to say this looks like the end for filesharing from Swappers Mansions. I have enjoyed contact from you all but this looks like going back to literally........ the blog nobody reads......

Once again and finally to reiterate there are no links to bootlegs on this site anymore and therfore there is nothing illegal available here,

'What a long strange trip its' been'...........'this is the strangest life I've ever known'.........

Stay cool won't you?!............

Over and out................Swappers