Category: On this date

The Grateful Dead at Cornell – 5/8/77

Good background on one of their most famous shows.

Link to YouTube files of the whole show – see the column on the right of the video

Wilco’s Summerteeth released 25 years ago on 3/9/99

I love Summerteeth and have posted about it before. I admit it took me a while to get there based on what I was expecting from Wilco. There’s no alt-country here.

Luis Bunuel was a great film director

Bunuel was a surrealist in the 20’s, made films in Mexico in the 1940s and 1950s, made one film in his native Spain in the 1960s which was banned there and finally made films in Europe (mostly in French) with prominent actors.

I would start with Nazarin (1959), Viridiana (1961) The Exterminating Angel (1962) and Tristana (1970), three of his more accessible films.

Then I would move on to The Milky Way (1969), The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972), and The Phantom of Liberty (1974).

What a great career. Bunuel had a wicked sense of humor. I remember the cross that folded out into a knife in The Exterminating Angel

I have watched some of his lesser-known Mexican films and recommend El (1953) and The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955).

BFI on where to begin with Bunuel

El has never been issued on any US DVD or Blu-ray.

Bob Dylan and the Band – 1/20/68

I have posted these before. They’re from the Woody Guthrie Tribute Concert. Bob Dylan, backed by the guys who would become the Band, played three loud versions of Guthrie songs. The performances are great. The Band was young and healthy. 

The recording quality is not great. A deluxe version of the recordings of the two tribute concerts was released six years ago.

Robert Andino’s walk-off hit was 12 years ago today

On September 28, 2011 Orioles player Robert Andino got a hit off Red Sox closer Jon Papelbon which won the game and prevented the Red Sox from making the playoffs. I linked to a tweet with video.

That winter, I went to the Orioles FanFest and got Andino’s autograph. After that, I heard one fan tell another “I tried to get him to sign it ‘Suck it Pap’ but he wouldn’t”.