Miss Ross makes no mistake regarding what she is: a STAR!!!


A little song title tie in for Bob Seger and a solo Saturn piece. After that it's sundown for Los Lobos and sun-up for the Vapors.

As stickers go, these are a cut above the rest.  I've cataloged odd trends and themes in past blogs, but these stickers actually add quite a bit of value when they're found adhered to the original shrink wrap...





The yellow sticker above is an original promotional tool from the 60's, the green tape was added later to preserve the shrink! Below is a sticker used on pressings from the late 70's, early 80's.




The sticker below is an excellent accompaniment to the jacket design and adds a little prestige to the piece.

Usually anniversaries are times of celebration; opportunities to rejoice a landmark in the life span of someone or something notable, positive, inspirational, etc. etc.  But today's date, March 19th 2008, which marks the five year anniversary of the war in Iraq, is hardly a time for any sort of celebration for anyone.  Even those few remaining staunchly pro-American, anti-terrorist, die-hard Bush supporters must find little to celebrate today.

For even if they choose to blindly dismiss & ignore all of the damage done to Iraq and its people (approximately half a million citizens of Iraq killed & countless more maimed or left homeless and/or with their lives in total disarray) and just focus on the American lives lost, not to mention the incredible damage done to the US economy that is not even fully felt, and won't be for years, nay, generations, to come -  then even the most stubborn supporters of this war would have to agree that is a losing battle in every sense of the word.

One life lost is one too many no matter how noble a cause might seem. But in this case, in this war, there is no noble cause at stake. There is no honor. Just a tragic waste of lives and money and a huge stain on the future - especially for the USA.  If we were to just forget about all the human lives lost and were to just ponder the financial drain of this war it is simply mind-numbing.  Currently the US has wasted over $500 billion on this war.  And estimated figures point to the US spending close to a total of a trillion dollars (a thousand billion) before this whole war in Iraq can be brought to a close.  Now considering the needs of so many poor struggling American citizens at home, with so many living below the poverty level and dealing with poor medical care, housing, and schooling, etc., this war is not just a terrible waste. It is horrendous crime.

A few weeks back on January 22nd, retired Los Angeles Times photojournalist Bernard "Bernie" Boston, and a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, died at his home in rural Virginia. Praised as one of the leading photojournalists of his generation, Boston is probably best remembered for his iconic 1960’s photograph of a young Vietnam War protester putting flowers in the barrels of soldiers' gun.

Not that anybody asked, but I thought I’d toss up a couple of my picks for the best photos of the year.

This image is of Mary McHugh at the grave of her fiancé, Sgt James J. Regan at Arlington National Cemetery. He was from Manhasset, New York. Sgt Regan was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

After a record drought year, this past fire season was one of the most destructive and costly in Southern California history, photographer Karen Tapia-Anderson took this photo of 12 firefighters trapped atop a ridge in Orange County after flames jumped the road sending the fire up the hillside, prompting the firefighters to deploy their fire shelters. "We just remained calm, everyone did," one firefighter said after he was checked out by paramedics. All 12 firefighters were treated at the scene, none of them wanted to be sent to the hospital. 

A photo of the gruesome aftermath of Pakistan’s oppositional leader Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, the suicide attack left more then 20 people dead.