Amazing Concerts Growing Up in St. Louis

I consider a big benefit to growing up in St. Louis in 50s-70s, was the opportunity see some amazing concerts.

One of the most amazing concerts I ever saw took place at the old Ambassador Theater on the evening of December 20, 1974. The show was Jerry Garcia and Merl Saunders. Jerry Garcia kept incredibly busy with the Grateful Dead, but still found time for some outside projects like his work the amazing Merl Saunders.

The show was going to be a sellout. So the night before tickets went on sale at the Ambassador box office in downtown St. Louis, I loaded up my sleeping bag and joined a few hundred other people to wait on the sidewalk outside the Ambassador all night. One of the few times I got to see the sun come up at that time.

I would never dream of doing something like that these days. The crime rate in downtown St. Louis would prevent most people from sleeping on the sidewalk all night in front of a theater. But that in itself, was quite an experience.

Even more so, was the actual concert. The start time was supposed to be 8 PM, but Garcia's flight had been delayed. The producers asked the audience to be patient, assured us that Garcia was on the way, and there would be a show that night.

For the next 3 hours the audience passed the time by doing lots of visiting with other concert goers. There were people smoking and sharing opium, hashish and of course marijuana. The act of doing it at a concert like that was no surprise, but it was the amount of sharing I saw going on that amazed me.

Around 11 PM, the producers announced that Jerry Garcia was on the way. A short time later the band took to the stage.

Garcia was having trouble with a guitar string, but the guys manning the spotlights persistently kept them shining on him even though he was trying to fix a problem.

A few times he asked them to the turn the lights down. Frustrated, he finally said, "Can somebody dim those f_____ers, man, they're blinding me." And the spotlights got turned off.

I think the band played until around 2 AM that night and the audience loved every minute of it. And it's surely an opportunity I wouldn't have had if I had not grown up in St. Louis.

In our youth we did some dangerous things. Looking back, it's quite amazing to think we actually did some of those things. But we did and we survived in spite of the danger.

Life is good. God is great. Carpe diem!

So it goes.

Thank You, Mexico!

To the good people of Mexico, MO, I can't say thank you enough.

While with the station, I know we did lots of good things for Mexico over the years, but I never really felt like we were "making a difference".

Now with my reporting at MexicoMaxim.com, some of which falls under investigative journalism, I feel like I am making a difference for Mexico.

The local media would never do anything remotely considered investigative journalism, out of fear of making someone, somewhere unhappy with their reporting.

But the joy of doing investigative journalism for Mexico is far more rewarding than anything I ever did in my 30+ years with the radio station.

In our youth we are considered idealistic. We have big ideas on how to change the established way of doing things.

As we enter the work force, those ideals often become lost in pursuit of other things - namely money and possessions.

To have the opportunity to return to some of the idealistic ideas I had in my youth, and to benefit the citizens of Mexico at the same time, is rewarding in ways that words can't describe.

And for that I say Thanks, Mexico! But saying thanks will never show enough gratitude for the way I really feel about life in Mexico, MO these days. How I now feel about life in Mexico, MO, - for that I will be eternally grateful.

So it goes.

Looking back, you think as a teen, Did I Really Do That?

Gee, when you look back at some of the things you did as a teen, you start thinking, "Wow, I did that!?"

I went to junior college at Forest Park Community College in St. Louis for two years to get general studies out of the way before heading off to a "real" college. That was 1974-1976.

At the time, I was running with a group of geeks and into "recreational" drugs at the time almost every night. I was not part of what brought these people together in the first place, but most of these guys (and a few girls) had been through the "Gifted" program in the St. Louis Public Schools. That's accelerated classes for the super smart starting in grade school and continuing through high school. Some of these kids were taking Calculus and English Literature in grade school. It was an amazing group to be a part of - and looking back, we did some really stupid stuff. The kinds of things that, yes, we could have been arrested for a lot of it, but fortunately most of that group was never "caught" in the act - so we felt like we really got away with something.

One member of the group was considered a moocher. His family was poor and he was always looking for angles to get something for free. Mooching was just a part of his personality.

It was 1975 in St. Louis, and this "genius" stole a maid's master key at The Chase Park Plaze Hotel. Yes, the famous Chase Park Plaza Hotel. He considered it a way to always have a place he and his girlfriend could go to makeout.

Then he got the idea to make a movie.

So the group would go in to the Chase through the parking garage to avoid staff, then climb up the stairs to the top floors where the suites were. Sometimes we'd find a suite that was loaded with stuff like food and alcohol and I must admit that it was "fun" at the time.

I later found out it was also extremely dangerous and stupid.

One night the group of us had found a two story suite on the top floors. This place was posh. Very nice. So for about 4 hours we partied and basically trashed the place. There was some construction going at the time in the suite, so I don't think we actually harmed anybody's personal suite. But still....

Sometimes the staff would get noise complaints and we'd make a quick exit, running down the stairs and out of the parking garage.

Then that night in the two story suite, hotel security showed up at the doors on both levels. Holy cow! What to do?

We tried to be quiet while they tried to force open the doors and we headed out onto the balcony at the very top of The Chase Park Plaza. The moocher checked out a neighboring suite by climbing across the balconies. He came back and said there were two guys sleeping upstairs, but he thought we could get out through the lower level without being caught. So the group of us, mostly guys and a couple of girls, climbed precariously across the stone balconies. We went through some open doors of the suite next door and checked out the hallway. Security had either gone back for reinforcements, or they were in the suite that we had been occupying.

We made it to the to the stairwell and ran as fast as we could to get out of there.

We did not get caught that night, but it was close, and I never went back.

The moocher was using a Super 8 camera and a film editor he borrowed from me to make his big movie in The Chase Park Plaza.

Eventually he and his girlfriend got caught by hotel security and they turned them over to the police. But while they were being questioned by hotel security, there were a few times he said they stuck the barrel of a gun into his mouth to get answers, because that's how PO'ed they were. I mean we had been going into those suites for most of the summer of 1975, and it must have frustrated hotel security to not be able to catch us.

The police went to the moocher's house and found all of the film he had been shooting. But when they asked him who the other people were, he never disclosed anyone else's name. I lost the camera and film editor - but didn't get caught, even though police had film of all us in those hotel suites in the summer of 1975 at The Chase Park Plaza.

Looking back at that time now, I can't believe I was actually part of that. And as David Letterman would say, "Kids,don't try this at home!" Oh to be young and stupid. Wow.

But life is good. Carpe diem.

So it goes.

European Union: "Water is not wet"

Here's one that's just plain bizarre. It makes you wonder - is the whole world getting stupid? It defies logic. It defies common sense. It defies the laws of science.

The European Union has gone on record publicly, officially saying that water is not wet. That there is no proof that water can prevent dehydration. That there is no proof that consumption of water can help hydrate the human body.

In fact, this is now law in Europe:

Drinking water does not ease dehydration, the European Union has ruled – and anyone who disagrees faces two years in prison.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2063031/Dehydration-EU-says-CANT-claim-drinking-water-stops-body-drying-out.html#ixzz1eFUzd1O8

This goes beyond bizarre. But it's true:

Water is not wet ...

EU bans claim that water can prevent dehydration

From The Telegraph...

EU officials concluded that, following a three-year investigation, there was no evidence to prove the previously undisputed fact.

Producers of bottled water are now forbidden by law from making the claim and will face a two-year jail sentence if they defy the edict, which comes into force in the UK next month.

Last night, critics claimed the EU was at odds with both science and common sense. Conservative MEP Roger Helmer said: “This is stupidity writ large.

“The euro is burning, the EU is falling apart and yet here they are: highly-paid, highly-pensioned officials worrying about the obvious qualities of water and trying to deny us the right to say what is patently true.

“If ever there were an episode which demonstrates the folly of the great European project then this is it.”

NHS health guidelines state clearly that drinking water helps avoid dehydration, and that Britons should drink at least 1.2 litres per day.

The Department for Health disputed the wisdom of the new law. A spokesman said: “Of course water hydrates. While we support the EU in preventing false claims about products, we need to exercise common sense as far as possible."

German professors Dr Andreas Hahn and Dr Moritz Hagenmeyer, who advise food manufacturers on how to advertise their products, asked the European Commission if the claim could be made on labels.

They compiled what they assumed was an uncontroversial statement in order to test new laws which allow products to claim they can reduce the risk of disease, subject to EU approval.

They applied for the right to state that “regular consumption of significant amounts of water can reduce the risk of development of dehydration” as well as preventing a decrease in performance.

However, last February, the European Food Standards Authority (EFSA) refused to approve the statement.

A meeting of 21 scientists in Parma, Italy, concluded that reduced water content in the body was a symptom of dehydration and not something that drinking water could subsequently control.

Now the EFSA verdict has been turned into an EU directive which was issued on Wednesday.

Ukip MEP Paul Nuttall said the ruling made the “bendy banana law” look “positively sane”.

He said: “I had to read this four or five times before I believed it. It is a perfect example of what Brussels does best. Spend three years, with 20 separate pieces of correspondence before summoning 21 professors to Parma where they decide with great solemnity that drinking water cannot be sold as a way to combat dehydration.

“Then they make this judgment law and make it clear that if anybody dares sell water claiming that it is effective against dehydration they could get into serious legal bother.

EU regulations, which aim to uphold food standards across member states, are frequently criticised.

Rules banning bent bananas and curved cucumbers were scrapped in 2008 after causing international ridicule.

Prof Hahn, from the Institute for Food Science and Human Nutrition at Hanover Leibniz University, said the European Commission had made another mistake with its latest ruling.

“What is our reaction to the outcome? Let us put it this way: We are neither surprised nor delighted.

“The European Commission is wrong; it should have authorised the claim. That should be more than clear to anyone who has consumed water in the past, and who has not? We fear there is something wrong in the state of Europe.”

Prof Brian Ratcliffe, spokesman for the Nutrition Society, said dehydration was usually caused by a clinical condition and that one could remain adequately hydrated without drinking water.

He said: “The EU is saying that this does not reduce the risk of dehydration and that is correct.

“This claim is trying to imply that there is something special about bottled water which is not a reasonable claim.”

What's in the water those people have been drinking? Is somebody spiking their water with LSD?

So it goes.

Non-Smokers Rights

In my interview with State Representative, John Cauthorn this week at MexicoMaxim.com, I posed the question, "Do you think Missouri will ever be a smoke free state, or is the tobacco lobby in Jefferson City too powerful?"

John's answer skirted both sides of the issue, and as a politician not wanting to lose any votes I can understand why  he would answer that way.

But what about the rights of non-smokers to breathe smoke free air? 80% of the population does NOT smoke, don't we have rights too? Tobacco is the number 1 preventable cause of death in the United States. Tobacco use places a tremendous burden on the health care system. Why? Because many smokers don't have insurance, they're on welfare rolls, and taxpayer dollars are going toward their tobacco habits and the health care they will require as a consequence of tobacco use.

Today, 39 states in this country are smoke free - including most of the states that border Missouri.

Technically speaking smokers have no inherent right to smoke. The United States Bill of Rights clearly spells out ten fundamental rights of all Americans, and The Right To Smoke is not in the list. Nor has Congress since that time enacted any law or amendment guaranteeing smokers have a right to smoke.

80% of the population does not smoke. Isn't it time somebody started standing up for our rights (and health), too?

Audrain County will have a new Audrain County Health Board overseeing the operation of the Audrain County Health Department starting in 2013. That board will also have the power to enact ordinances that protect the health of all residents of Audrain County.  Let's hope they have the wisdom to make Audrain County a smoke free county.

So it goes.

Socrates, Plato, Nietzsche, Rooney

When history next takes attendance and makes note of the great philosophers through the eons, there's a good chance that Andy Rooney won't be on that list.

And that's a shame.

He took a simple premise, encouraging people to think about various topics and became an American icon. Actually, a worldwide icon. On Saturday Night Live, Joe Piscopo did satire on Andy Rooney's profound perplexities of life, and made "Did you ever wonder ...." a trademark associated with Rooney, although Rooney never began any of his essays with, "Did you ever wonder ....". But Andy Rooney did indeed make us wonder.

Since he began his short segments at the end of "60 Minutes" each week back in July of 1978, "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney" got people thinking about any number of things - many times speaking about one absurdity or another in life.

Topics like, was there a real Mrs. Smith somewhere making Mrs. Smith's pies? (The answer was no).

Commenting on things like the peculiarity of men wearing neckties to the even greater peculiarity of how banks choose their names, Newsweek once said that Rooney was a "homespun Homer", and declared him "America's Bard of Banality".

He once commented that he hadn't said anything on "60 Minutes" that most of his viewers didn't already know or hadn't thought. "That's what a writer does," he said. "A writer's job is to tell the truth."

So when the next round of history books make note of the great philosophers through time, there's a good chance Andy Rooney's name won't be included, after all it was only television.

And while that may be a shame, Mr. Rooney would probably be OK with being omitted from that list. Although we'll still be wondering about this absurdity or that absurdity for a long time to come.

Godspeed, Andy Rooney.

So it goes.