It’s still festive and strange and if you have never been, and long for those amazing hippie days gone by, then make plans to get yourself to this year’s Oregon Country Fair, July 10-12. 

It’s like nothing else I’ve ever witnessed.  It’s like a giant Saturday Market set up in the woods in Veneta, with stages featuring all kinds of music.  From Rock to Clog Dancing and everything inbetween.  There are people dressed up like chickens having a parade in the middle of the day.  Men dressed up like ballerinas taking your ticket as you enter.  Topless women with painted breasts.  Years ago you would have also seen naked people in the river running by, but the city fathers wanted it to be more of a family event so they put the lid on any drug use and other things that would scare the natives.  Sort of.  It’s like a family friendly Woodstock held yearly outside of Eugene. 

I get all misty just thinking of the times I’ve been there.  In the very early days of the festival, members of The Grateful Dead would show up and play on the stage at night when you had to have a special pass to stay there.  Ah, memories.  Anyway, tickets go on sale May 1st, and you have to buy your tickets BEFORE you go from TicketsWest.  They do not sell them on site.  Also plan for a long walk.  That’s pretty much what you will be doing all day.  Walking from the huge parking lot to the site of the fair, and on through the woods.  There’s booths where you can have your palm read, massages, candles, jewelry, erotic art…you name it.  Hanging out in the summer with simi naked people, eating organic food and listening to music along the way.  That’s my kind of weekend.

I can just smell the patchouli now.  See you at the Fair.

Yeah, I’ll admit it.  I’m on Facebook.  Like any new toy, it was really amusing at first and I couldn’t get enough of it.  Now it’s like email.  I check it for messages from family and friends and the best part is being connected to my family that lives all over this planet.  I have a large family tree…more like a forest really.

Today I got a link to one of the funniest things I’ve seen about Facebook ever!  Click here to see it.  If you use Facebook, you’ll get the joke better than if you don’t.  Enjoy.

I’m a major fan of “24″ which is how I’m justifying my lurking around the building on April 23rd just to get a glimpse of Keifer Sutherland.  I’ll openly admit to being a complete geek when it comes to certain stars in music, film, and TV.  He’s one of them.  How delightful to find him warm and fun to meet.  The reason he was even in our building was to promote Ironworks Music, the independent label that he and his best friend, Jude Cole have founded.  They were in our sister station, 94-7 and it was an exclusive interview with Gustav in the afternoon, who did a great job by the way.  The good news is that the bands that they have signed and are promoting are incredible.  Here’s a link to the website so you can check them out for yourself.

Their self-titled debut won’t be released until  June 9th, but new rock supergroup Chickenfoot have already sold out all nine road-test concerts they had planned for May. The quartet – which features former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Mike Anthony, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith and guitarist Joe Satriani – have posted on their official site, “Beyond our expectations, the public on-sales for the nine road-test shows sold out all tickets in record time. The band was blown away by your response and can’t wait to take the show on the road!”
The boys have started rehearsing for their tour. Mike Anthony has posted photos on his website,  MadAnthonyCafe.com.

For decades most fans have likely envisioned Ann Wilson as the vocal powerhouse behind the sound of Heart, and rightfully so. Ann has served as the lead vocalist since the beginning, and has made a name for herself as one of the best female rock vocalists of all time.

These days Ann and her sister Nancy — who is no vocal slouch herself and is also a fine guitarist – are  planning some changes for their next new album, which the group has already begun working on. This time, they are experimenting with more harmonies, a development that does not seem to bother Nancy at all.

“It’s just a way of reinventing, and having more fun, and taking some of the pressure off of Ann as a singer,” she told Reuters during a recent interview.

She also went on to say that she really enjoys the chance to use her vocal talents when the opportunity presents itself, but adds that the material has to be a perfect fit for her voice.

The new album is scheduled to be released next summer, but since they are said to be taking their time on it, it’s hard to think that fans can be certain of a 2010 summer release. As for how the release will be done, that’s something they are currently thinking about.

They do not sound terribly satisfied with the way the release of their last album was handled by Capitol back in 2004 when they released  Jupiter’s Darling. Perhaps they will consider an exclusive deal with one of the big retailers – something we mentioned quite recently here, and seems to be working well for other veteran acts like the Eagles and AC/DC.

With eight tracks reportedly recorded so far, Heart returns to the studio in a few weeks to resume work. Also on their itinerary is a summer tour with fellow classic rockers Journey, which is probably keeping the group quite busy with rehearsals and other preparations. It’s clear that the Wilson sisters are not just sitting around and waiting to grow old, something their fan base is most likely very happy to see.

A new survey has revealed the world’s most destructive dogs. Number one, the Great Dane, is no real surprise but the runner up may shock you. That would be the tiny Chihuahua…the second most destructive dog you can have in your home according to the survey of 3,000 dog owners.  The average Chihuahua causes about $1,200 worth of damage over his lifetime, just $60 bucks less than its giant cousin. This would include things like soiled carpets, scratched doors, chewed sofas and more. The Pug and the huge St. Bernard were found to be the least destructive breeds, the former tending to be better behaved and more easily trained, the latter more gentle and stable in nature. Dog owners said most of the destruction came when their pets were just puppies, but nearly 15% said that they had to endure this throughout their dogs’ lives. I think if I had a dog, it wouldn’t be the Great Dane. I think of it in terms of how many less pounds of stinking steaming piles of crap I’d have to pick up. We had a couple of dogs…I don’t know where the first one dropped his loads but we lived in an almost rural area so I didn’t have an issue with turd detail. Eventually we moved to a more urban section of town that required leashes and “pick up” rules. I loved both of those dogs but don’t miss the degrading ritual of yardbomb scooping. But you know what? Another pup will undoubtedly wander into my life at some point and I will undoubtedly love it enough to become commander of lawn mines once again.

There is solid evidence that gum chewing brings big benefits in dental health and acid reflux disease. Might even help your thought process and help you to lose weight.

The American Dental Association says on its Web site that “chewing sugarless gum for 20 minutes following meals can help prevent tooth decay” and recommends looking for gum with its ADA-approved seal. The saliva produced in the mouth by the physical act of chewing can wash away acids and bacteria, thereby protecting teeth.
Besides beating tooth decay, independent research finds that gum can aid in reducing the symptoms of acid reflux disease. The saliva flow can lead to an antacid effect in the stomach.

There is also early evidence that gum chewing increases blood flow to the brain and the head by up to 25 percent, but no one can explain what impact that blood flow may have on cognition.

As for dieting, one study from the Mayo Clinic finds that the body burns 11 calories an hour through working the jaw. “Overall gum chewing is more beneficial than it is harmful,” says Dr. Michael Benninger, chairman of the Head and Neck Institute at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Medical experts agree that gum chewing may be a tool, as people struggle to chip away at the obesity problem.
According to the American Dietetic Association, “If you chew two sticks of gum at 20 calories instead of eating one to two chocolate chip cookies at 140 calories, you can save 120 calories.”

As for the notion that gum can stay in your stomach for years if swallowed, experts said that’s a myth. Gum is passed through the body and not digested.

This was one of my favorite albums in 1967…got this from the Who fan club:

The Who have just released a reissue of the classic Who album “The Who Sell Out”! Remastered from the original stereo and mono masters for the first time!

This greatly expanded 2 disc edition includes 11 unreleased songs and mixes and a 28 page booklet with unseen photos and in-depth liner notes by Who biographer Andy Neill.

Released in December 1967 as the band’s third album, The Who Sell Out was in tune with psychedelia while also paying homage to an era that had recently passed with the outlawing of pirate radio – in particular, Radio London.

This is reflected in the zany jingles that can be heard throughout the album, which act as links for some of the Who’s most memorable songs such as “Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand”, “Tattoo” and, what many regard as the band’s greatest moment, “I Can See For Miles”. This arrangement of interlinking songs within a concept also paved the way for the Who’s next album, the widely-acclaimed Tommy which broke them in America and cemented their status as one of rock’s most original forces.

If anyone wins a pair of Aerosmith tickets this week during Mark & Brian and wants to take me to the show, I would be happy to go. I’m just sayin….

And if you want to win tickets to tomorrow’s Blazer game, meet me at Fort Awesome, which is a big white party tent where Broadway meets Weidler, TOMORROW from 3-6pm! I will have the KGON Latus Super Truck and KGON and ESPN Sports Radio 1080 The Fan, will be giving away TWO pairs of tickets between 3 and 6pm!

Join us for food and beverages Tuesday, 4/21 where Broadway meets Weidler from 3-6pm!!!!! Ps- how did I end up with a cold today, pray tell? And how did all those horses in Florida die? Tha’s straight up weird!

Oh- and why is it a bad thing that the guy who planned the 9/11 attacks got waterboarded more than 180 times? Why is that a bad thing? Oops- did I just go somewhere I shouldn’t? Probably. I’ll be a good, quiet little girl now.

Win tickets!!!!

In case you haven’t heard, The Beatles are going to re-release their entire catalog. The re-mastered discs will be available worldwide on September 9th, the same day that The Beatles Rock Band game hits stores. On the same date, two new Beatles boxed C-D collections will also be released.

The re-issue comprises all 12 Beatles albums in stereo, and Magical Mystery Tour, which became part of the Beatles’ core catalog when the C-Ds were first released in 1987. In addition, the collections Past Masters Volume One and Two are now combined as one title, for a total of 14 titles over 16 discs. This will mark the first time that the first four Beatles albums will be available in stereo in their entirety on compact disc. These 14 albums, along with a D-V-D collection of the documentaries, will also be available for purchase together in a stereo boxed set.
The second boxed set contains all the albums that were mixed for a mono release.