Velvet

Well, duh.

When I got my 4WD the first winter I didn't get snow tires. I got 'em the next year and oh, what a difference. No more shoveling for me.

Well, I'm convinced. Here I had thought that the show was really good. Turns out I threw away my $50 on a show that really was a waste of time. Thanks for the heads up there Mr. Rat. By the way, should I pass on Phil Lesh at Langerado?

"...Led Zep - best known for the song Stairway To Heaven..." That's a funny line.

For the record, I have no idea how my computer double-posted more than six hours apart.

That's great news. I like that Alain Caron will be there too. If I'm not mistaken, he was in UZEB.

That's great news. I like that Alain Caron will be there too. If I'm not mistaken, he was in UZEB.

Well, here's hoping they keep on touring!

For the record, I saw Van Hager on the OU812 tour and was so unimpressed with the band (Eddie especially) that I skipped them every time I had the chance since. Last minute decision had me at the Montreal show and I was very impressed with the whole band, and Eddie was on fire. Plus, they really looked like they were having a blast. Too bad about cancelling the rest of the tour. I woulda gone again if they were close.

The show I saw in Montreal was stellar. Where did you see VH on this tour Mr. Rat? Assuming you wouldn't accuse a band of having lost their chops from a short youtube clip.

Maybe the USA has privatised incarceration to the point where it is good economy keeping people in jail.

It boggles my mind, but one in nine 'merican black males aged 20-34 are behind bars. Incredible. http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/02/28/prison.population.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview NEW YORK (AP) -- For the first time in history, more than one in every 100 American adults is in jail or prison, according to a new report. art.prison.gi.jpg San Quentin State Prison in California holds more than 5,200 inmates. The report, released Thursday by the Pew Center on the States, said the 50 states spent more than $49 billion on corrections last year, up from less than $11 billion 20 years earlier. The rate of increase for prison costs was six times greater than for higher education spending, the report said. Using updated state-by-state data, the report said 2,319,258 adults were held in U.S. prisons or jails at the start of 2008 -- one out of every 99.1 adults, and more than any other country in the world. The steadily growing inmate population "is saddling cash-strapped states with soaring costs they can ill afford and failing to have a clear impact either on recidivism or overall crime," the report said. Susan Urahn, managing director of the Pew Center on the States, said budget woes are prompting officials in many states to consider new, cost-saving corrections policies that might have been shunned in the recent past for fear of appearing soft in crime. "We're seeing more and more states being creative because of tight budgets," she said in an interview. "They want to be tough on crime, they want to be a law-and-order state -- but they also want to save money, and they want to be effective." The report cited Kansas and Texas as states which have acted decisively to slow the growth of their inmate population. Their actions include greater use of community supervision for low-risk offenders and employing sanctions other than reimprisonment for ex-offenders who commit technical violations of parole and probation rules. "The new approach, born of bipartisan leadership, is allowing the two states to ensure they have enough prison beds for violent offenders while helping less dangerous lawbreakers become productive, taxpaying citizens," the report said. Don't Miss * Prison stabbing ends violent life While many state governments have shown bipartisan interest in curbing prison growth, there also are persistent calls to proceed cautiously. "We need to be smarter," said David Muhlhausen, a criminal justice expert with the conservative Heritage Foundation. "We're not incarcerating all the people who commit serious crimes -- but we're also probably incarcerating people who don't need to be." According to the report, the inmate population increased last year in 36 states and the federal prison system. The largest percentage increase -- 12 percent -- was in Kentucky, where Gov. Steve Beshear highlighted the cost of corrections in his budget speech last month. He noted that the state's crime rate had increased only about 3 percent in the past 30 years, while the state's inmate population has increased by 600 percent. The Pew report was compiled by the Center on the State's Public Safety Performance Project, which is working directly with 13 states on developing programs to divert offenders from prison without jeopardizing public safety. "For all the money spent on corrections today, there hasn't been a clear and convincing return for public safety," said the project's director, Adam Gelb. "More and more states are beginning to rethink their reliance on prisons for lower-level offenders and finding strategies that are tough on crime without being so tough on taxpayers." The report said prison growth and higher incarceration rates do not reflect a parallel increase in crime or in the nation's overall population. Instead, it said, more people are behind bars mainly because of tough sentencing measures, such as "three-strikes" laws, that result in longer prison stays. "For some groups, the incarceration numbers are especially startling," the report said. "While one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, for black males in that age group the figure is one in nine." The nationwide figures, as of January 1, include 1,596,127 people in state and federal prisons and 723,131 in local jails -- a total 2,319,258 out of almost 230 million American adults. The report said the United States is the world's incarceration leader, far ahead of more populous China with 1.5 million people behind bars. It said the U.S. also is the leader in inmates per capita (750 per 100,000 people), ahead of Russia (628 per 100,000) and other former Soviet bloc nations which make up the rest of the Top 10.

That made me laugh because I was just gonna post that I'll be in the store tomorrow morning to play it. But I was thinking about playing the Stairway solo so I guess it's okay, right?

I'll be sitting in the rafters. I forget the actual section and I'm at work, but they are $60 tickets. I just wanted to get in the door. My nephew has never seen any pro sports live. Frankly I don't even think he's a hockey fan, but hopefully he gets a kick out of it.

Hey All, My nephew will be visiting from out of town and I'm taking him to the Sens/Penguins game this Saturday afternoon. I was thinking it would be fun to get there early and check out the tailgate party except I don't know if that happens at Sens games or not. So, should I try to get there early, or will that just have the two of us sitting in the car waiting for the doors to open?

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/02/27/dnt.pot.college.ktvu?iref=videosearch

Will do Basher, thanks. Will they expect me to stay at their hotel? Also, I suppose it would be prudent to wait until they've announced the show and/or have tickets on sale?

Woah! I love that question. I'm gonna key my eye out.

I think I registered for a players card but to no avail. I wanna go to the Friday show but I'm sitting on the fence. Comp tickets would push me over. I wanna play some poker!!!

Hey all, Got some questions. I'm thinking of hitting up Ringo Starr for one of these shows (from Poolstar): 6/19/08 or 6/20/08. Any idea when tickets usually go on sale for the casino, what's the cheapest place to stay in town, and how the hell do I get free tickets? I signed up for the club thing that Basher suggested last summer, but in the occasional spam I get from them there is never a mention of free tix.

Status Of Liberty. I like that a lot.

I think Team America operates in lots of countries.

Les Paul plays every Monday night at the Iridium in Times Square for about $40. The Paul Reed Smith Band plays every Tuesday night at the Hard Rock Cafe. That's free.

Truly awesome. "Yes I'm living at a pace that kills." I never could make out that line before.

My ticket arrived today! I see that they allow up to two cases of beer per person, but hard liquor is not allowed. I'm gonna have to bend them rules a wee bit.