A new tour isn’t the only item on Deep Purple’s agenda these days.

The rockers plan to release a new studio album next year.  According to Blabbermouth.net, the band will be fitting in recording with a trek through North America — its first in four years.  “Deep Purple: The Songs That Built Rock” is scheduled to launch this June.  “The Songs That Built Rock” will showcase hits like “Hush” and “Smoke On The Water” with a new dimension.  With the exception of San Francisco, Deep Purple has lined up support from a symphony orchestra for all dates on the concert trail.

Note to band: Please come to Portland… 

THE REMOTE CONTROLLED BEER COOLER

Father’s Day is still more than two months away but maybe, just maybe, you can convince your wife or kids to give you an ADVANCE on your gift and get your hands on a remote controlled beer cooler.

Hammacher Schlemmer is selling a remote-controlled, rolling beer cooler for just $69.95.

It’s got wheels. It’s got a lining to keep your drinks cold. It can go on a porch. It can go in a living room. You can drive your beer to yourself and to your buddies.

And, considering we’ve still got March Madness to enjoy until the championship game on April 4th, now is the PERFECT time to have this toy.

At this point, we don’t see any West Coast dates from Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band in the Spring.  Then he’s taking the summer off.  The possible good news is that he might add dates in the Fall, so that could be a time when he will be  heading to the West Coast .  I just want to see him again.  Here’s the set list from last night:

Bob Seger’s opening night set list:

1) Roll Me Away
2) Tryin’ To Live My Life Without You
3) Her Strut
4) Main Street
5) Old Time Rock and Roll
6) Downtown Train
7) Ramblin Gamblin’ Man C’est La Vie
9) Good For Me
10 & 11) Travelin’ Man/Beautiful Loser

Eight-minute intermission

12) Nutbush City Limits
13) Come to Poppa
14) It’s Your Thing — sung by Silver Bullet backup singers – Shaun Murphy (from Little Feat), Laura Creamer and Barbara Payton
15) Gets Ya Pumpin’
16) Betty Lou’s Gettin’ Out Tonight
17) We’ve Got Tonight
18) Turn the Page
19) Sunspot Baby
20) Horizontal Bop
21) Katmandu

First Encore:

22) Against the Wind
23) Hollywood Nights

Second Encore:

24) Night Moves
25) Rock and Roll Never Forgets

UPDATE:  The first show’s duet didn’t happen because of Rod’s illness.  The second show which took place last night had the crooners doing a duet on two songs, so it looks like things are in full swing now.

This pairing of artists has appealed to me since we heard the news after they announced the tour on Ellen. Stevie told a story on the show about meeting Rod Stewart for the first time at a party at his house. They seemed really chummy on the Ellen show. They even sort of led us to believe that there would be some sort of duet in store, at least at the show. Last night, after a couple of cancellations due to illness, they kicked off the first show of the tour in Tampa. Word has it that they didn’t do any duet. Really? I wonder if this was due to the illness that delayed the start, or that they gave the duet a try and it sort of didn’t work. Stevie Nicks has proven that she can pretty much sing harmony with anyone. Think about it. Tom Petty, Don Henley, Fleetwood Mac, even Taylor Swift have all harmonized with Ms. Nicks. Why not Rod? Oh well. Here’s the list of songs that they did at the show, seperately:
STEVIE’S SET:
1) Fall From Grace
2) Secret Love
3) If Anyone Falls
4) Dreams
5) Sorcerer
6) Gold Dust Woman
7) Stand Back Rhiannon
9) Landslide
10) Edge of Seventeen
11) Rock and Roll
12) Love Is

ROD’S SET:
1) Love Train
2) Tonight’s the Night
3) Young Turks
4) Having a Party
5) First Cut Is the Deepest
6) Heartache
7) Forever Young Rhythm of my Heart
9) Downtown Train
10) You’re in My Heart
11) I Get a Kick Out of You
12) Proud Mary
13) Have I Told You Lately That I Love You?
14) Hot Legs
15) Maggie May

16) Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?

See them live at the Key Arena in Seattle on April 23rd.  Here’s a link to the KGON Concert Calendar if you want tickets and all that!

Elizabeth Taylor died today at age 79, according to ABC News. Known as much for her turbulent romantic life as for her work in such films as Cleopatra and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Taylor died in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure.

Taylor was born in London to American parents. Her mother was a stage actress who gave up the limelight for motherhood, and her father was an art dealer. Taylor spent the first seven years of her life in England, but the family fled to Los Angeles when war rumblings began in 1939.

In Tinseltown, the young Taylor soon shot a screen test for Universal Studios and landed a contract. Her first role came at age 10 in the 1942 short film There’s One Born Every Minute. Universal dropped her shortly after, but she quickly found a home at M-G-M, and her first big production was 1943’s Lassie Come Home. Superstardom came with the 1944 equestrian classic National Velvet. She went on to appear in a string of successful films and at age 22 starred opposite James Dean in the hit Giant.

Taylor got her first Oscar nomination in 1945 for the drama Raintree Country and was again nominated in 1958 for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She lost both. She would end her Oscar losses by playing a call girl in 1960’s Butterfield Eight.

After taking a few years off from film, Taylor came back to the big screen in one of the most expensive productions to date, 1963’s Cleopatra, for which she got a whopping one-million-dollar salary. She would get her second Oscar in 1967 for the drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Though she worked steadily into the ’90s, she would never again rise to the top of Hollywood’s A-listers.

Off screen, Taylor’s troubles were legendary. She was married eight times, twice to Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf co-star Richard Burton. Her other husbands were hotel heir Nicky Hilton, actor Michael Wilding, producer Michael Todd, singer Eddie Fisher, U.S. senator John Warner and trucker Larry Fortensky. She also weathered decades of drug and alcohol abuse. Taylor is survived by four adult children — three natural-born and one adopted.

How about a cute bunny video?  This video got over 2.5 MILLION hits. I can’t help it, I’m a sucker for bunnies.

AVOID THE ST. PATRICK’S DAY HANGOVER

St. Patrick’s Day is one of the most popular drinking nights of the year. Unfortunately, this holiday is often accompanied by a nasty hangover the next morning. If you plan ahead and strategize how you will spend your St. Paddy’s Day, you can avoid the dreaded hangover on March 18th. Here are some tips:

Before

• Abstain –Don’t drink before it’s really time to start drinking. Save it for the big moment.

• Eat — The best foods to eat before drinking contain a lot of carbs and protein and are fatty. These foods help slow down the rate at which alcohol absorbs into your bloodstream.

• Take a multivitamin –Alcohol depletes your body of essential vitamins, so take a multivitamin before or after you drink to help you feel better the next day.

During

• Pace yourself — This one is obvious. The benefits are that you won’t spend as much money and you won’t feel as sick the next day. You’ll also be more aware and more likely to not make a fool out of yourself.

• Stick to beer (or clear spirits) — Don’t mix your drinks. It’s bad news for the next day .. or even for that night.

• Avoid carbonation — Carbonation in drinks speeds up the process of getting drunk and sick. Try mixing alcohol with fruit juices or water.

• Sip water between drinks – Take in as much water as you can while drinking. It’s important to stay hydrated

You really can’t help but love Youtube. I mean, it’s hours and hours of fun, from John Denver videos, to personal and very sweet video messages to lost lovers, to videos about the honey badger.

The honey badger? I know. Just watch. The narration is just classic. Thank you, Youtube.

*Warning- language can be offensive. because it’s cussy. You’ve been warned!

Dear St. Patrick’s Day,

I am very sorry to inform you that I will not be participating in any of your festivites this year. Please don’t be alarmed, I still love you very much and you know perfectly well that you’re still my favorite holiday. Sadly, I am just not up to going out much lately, but more importantly, I will be spending much the day driving. We all know that it’s not a good idea to celebrate St. Patty’s Day while driving, now don’t we?

What’s that you ask, Kind Saint? Yes, yes I do remember the days when I celebrated you in grand form. Those would be the Hayden’s bartending days you speak of, correct? It was always so difficult to hide the fact that we’d been drinking (when I say we I mean me) when our hands and our lips were stained with green food coloring. Yes, we always tried to blame it on just being messy bartenders and having to serve green beer, but we knew we weren’t fooling anyone! Of course drinking Irish Car Bombs with Tim and Jim on the stage in front of everyone was also a rather obvious indicator. Oh yes indeedy, those were good times, Patty, good times.

Anyways, I’ll be thinking about you all day and wishing were were together on this glorious day of celebration. You behave yourself and don’t get into too much trouble. I’ll be counting the days until next March 17th, ok?

Best,
Amy

PS- Yes, I still have the green shamrock tattoo on the back of my neck in sole honor of you, dear Saint. Happy St. Patty’s Day. Let’s hope it brings me some actual luck instead of the hot crap on toast it’s been bringing.