GOP Debacle, er, Debate

Steph,
Boy, was I impressed last night with the GOP field especially Tancredo, Brownback and Huckabee who all three raised their hands indicating that they don't believe in Evolution - what insight! That is, if you are courting the votes of toothless, evangelical, fundamentalist, four-times divorced, trailer-park inhabiting Neanderthals who stop for cigarettes on their way to church every Sunday and save their best outfits ("Kill 'em all - Let God sort 'em out" t-shirts and sweat pants - all XXXL size) for their daily trip to Wal-Mart. What a bunch of losers!!!
Cheers,
Faye

Lucinda Williams Rocks Tulsa (with a little help from her friends)

Lucinda Williams rocked out in Tulsa's classic Cain's Ballroom on May Day 2007. Her show was opened by Anne McCue, a relatively unknown artist from Sidney, Australia who played only a handful of tunes, but did come back out and join Lucinda and the band for a rousing rendition of "You Took My Joy (and I Want it Back)." Lucinda introduced this song by proclaiming to an audience that was predisposed to love her, "Don't let anyone take away your joy, not even the president..." In fact, it was Lucinda's fantastic rapport with an audience that came to hear her unique meld of blues/country/rock 'n roll music and superb songwriting that made the night feel special. Lucinda opened her show with a set of country songs played as an homage to the ghosts of Cain's Ballroom, including a Ralph Stanley inspired hoe-down.


As Lucinda chatted with the crowd of about 2000 adoring fans, she mentioned that she had a few friends in the audience and proceeded to call a couple of them up on stage. So Tulsa was treated to two old-time true American blues tunes with legendary blues guitarist D.C. Minner (hailing from Rentiesville, OK), who joined Lucinda and company onstage along with D.C.'s wife Selby who was positively channeling the late great Janis Joplin and who strapped on a bass guitar for one of the tunes. The crowd responded warmly to the mini-reunion of sorts that was witnessed and much appreciated by all, then it was back to the business of rocking out the Cain's...

A task that Ms. Williams and her able band took quite seriously. After going through her country set, Lucinda launched into some rock 'n roll favorites, including a wonderful version of the song "Overtime" written by Williams, but made famous by Willie Nelson. I believe that the band even covered an old Jethro Tull tune. Williams and her band concluded with the aforementioned "You Took My Joy." For the encore (and yes, Lucinda and the boyz did another set for an encore), Lucinda opened her final set with a crowd-requested version of "Metal Firecracker" followed by a new song about a honey bee (wink wink) and she closed out the show with a cover of the Bobbie Gentry classic "Ode to Billy Joe."

All in all, it was a fabulous evening with loads of great, and most importantly, fun music. Tulsa loves Lucinda and Lucinda dubbed the Tulsa crowd the "best audience of the tour," so the feeling must be mutual. You're welcome anytime here in Green Country, Lucinda, don't stay away long.

Here's a review of the show in the Tulsa World.

Let Dan Abrams Know That You Love Steph!!!

Stephanie Miller, Jim "Voice Deity" Ward, and Chris "Cute as a Button" Lavoie were in the MSNBC house this morning and what a wake up call it was! Things started off a tad shaky as Momma and her lovable mooks got their sea, er TV, legs, but by hour two Momma had figured out the phone-in machine and the Voice Deity was in full swing and Executive Producer "Boy Toy" Lavoie only missed one discernible cue. They were the best thing I've seen on the boob tube (no reference meant to Momma's purple sweater - and I do mean sweater - more on that in a moment).

Let's just sit back a minute and allow some of our own wonderful progressive, liberal voices to bask in the limelight that they veritably snatched out from under Imus and other true ToxJocks (credit Roxie for coining that apt and able term) this morning. Mr. Abrams should give himself a raise for having the foresight and vision to put this wonderful crew on the air. What a breath of fresh air, what an amazing sea-change, what insight, what a show - I could go on and I think I will... As I mentioned it took these quick studies no longer than the first several minutes of the first hour to work out their kinks. Stephanie is a TV pro, and Jim Ward a star of stage and screen, but the one who stole my heart was little Chris Lavoie - all blinky and dewey-eyed in his virgin TV appearance (not counting the rib-eating contest that Chris participated in during a radio stunt in Phoenix.) The gang of three and lovely Rebekah Baker back in LA on phones and drums set the cable news world on fire. If you missed it, shame on you. But never fear, if you didn't see the show this morning, you have another chance to catch Momma and the mooks tomorrow - same time, same channel (6:00 - 9:00am EST on MSNBC). Do yourself a favor - don't miss it! And if you enjoy the show half as much as I did - let Dan Abrams know. E-mail him at feedback@msnbc.com or viewerservices@msnbc.com and give our grrrl and her team a plug.

Now back to an honest critique of the show, lest my radical militant bias become too obvious. So here are a few words about the purple sweater with the emphasis on "sweater." A round of "Oh dears" were hear across the nation this morning when Steph lifted her arms in an enthusiastic move, we noticed that she was not only wearing the much-requested form-fitting purple sweater, but she had also chosen to forego the pads under her arms, so we found out that Momma is a real-life human who sweats and talks and jokes (and probably farts, too, but my point here is not to be indelicate.) Rather it is just to point out that not a single one of us is perfect, but some of us are certainly loads of fun, and I have to say that not only is Stephanie Miller loads of fun but she is also a barrel of laughs. I e-mailed Steph and suggested that she may want to select a less form-fitting top for tomorrow, but otherwise don't change a thing. The SMS ROCKS - check it out!