The Great Randy Pausch

Trying to reach your childhood dreams is more important than actually achieving them.

Jeff Beck Beatles

Jeff Beck is a true artist.

Stevie Wonder

This is the truth.

The Dead and The Stones

This is what the Dead and the Stones might sound like if you combined them.

Jerry Garcia

It comes in threes. This is about my father, Jerry himself, and my marriage.

Bruce Dylanlike

Bruce looks a little like Bob Dylan here.

Tweets and Warhol

It’s funny that in place of our Warhol promised 15 minutes, twitter offers us 140 characters to make our statements.

Betty Dylan MySpace

We received a interview from our myspace page from John at “Voices To Hear.” It’s so nice to hear from real music-lovers instead of people trying to sell you crap. Anyway, I thought it was pretty cool, so here it is:

“I run a small music site called VOICES TO HEAR. The main purpose of this site is to introduce readers to artists that they might not be familiar with. Along with Spotlighting as many artists as possible there is a sections entitled “Simply Six” where I ask artists six questions. I would be love to have you contribute.”

Here’s how we answered:

Vickie Lynn (for Betty Dylan)

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they
knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on
the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance
on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?

I have been singing my guts out as loud as I possibly could ever since I heard Marie Osmond sing “Paper Roses” and Helen Reddy sing “Delta Dawn”! I thought I sounded JUST like them!

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of
your favorites?

Always in my stereo: Beatles, Elton John, Counting Crows, Wilco, Old 97s, Randy Weeks, Ryan Adams, Matthew Sweet, Bob Schneider, Paul McCartney & Wings and Amy Winehouse. I like smart writing and amazing voices…but am mostly attracted to undeniable melodies….hence the Paul McCartney.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on
record or live?

Hands down…playing at Farm Aid in 2004 with Rick Schell on drums and Mike Webb on bass and being able to get on stage for the finale with every artist in attendance. I was on stage with WILLIE!!!!! I can officially die now.

4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen
to? How much can music influence current events?

Phhht! Music has, does and will forever have the ability to change the world. Music and art is what raises people’s awareness. There is no other mechanism that comes close in it’s ability to do so. People’s awareness grows and the changes that follow sometimes are slow, but it happens nevertheless.

5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology
affected your career as a musician?

Technology has transformed the music industry completely and it’s not over yet. It’s made live events harder in that people don’t go out as much these days, yet it’s made distribution and even production so much easier. No record company can save you anymore…we’re all on our own. This is harder for artists cuz we aren’t all marketing and internet professionals but now we have to be. On the other hand, it has put all of the responsibility for our music and our careers right onto our own shoulders and I’m all for personal responsibility and self-empowerment. It’s just a lot more work in some ways because we can’t just sit back and do music anymore…not that we ever could really. The times of being “discovered” and “signed” by the “Savior” record company are over. Making that mental transition is tough.

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what
type of shoes would you be?

Platforms! They’re easier to walk in than spikes, make your legs look longer, are stylish, go good with dresses AND jeans (and even just a bikini!)…and you get a better view up there!

DrDan (for Betty Dylan)

1. For many artists, they cite a defining moment for themselves when they knew they wanted to be a singer. For many it was the appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show, to another generation it was the Beatles’ appearance on Sullivan half a decade later. Is there such a defining moment for you?

I wrote my first song when I was 5. That was the defining moment, but in an unconscious way. I sang that song a lot to myself. It was always so obvious that I was a writer. I never forced it or imitated someone I saw on TV, I just did it. Playing guitar was like an itch I had to scratch, and it still is. I feel so good when I am playing it’s like being close to god.

2. When you’re not creating music what are you listening to? Who are some of your favorites?

I always end up listening to Dylan, the Stones, The Beatles and I love female singers and songwriters like Lucinda, classic Ronstadt, Joni, and Lisa Loeb. Secretly I listen to hard rock and pop country, but please don’t tell anyone about the country.

3. What would you say is your greatest moment so far as an artist, either on record or live?

I had a chance to record in Bloomington with the legendary drummer Kenny Aronoff, who’s best known for his work with Mellencamp, but he also played with the Stones, Fogerty, etc. I was playing guitar on the first track, and I was very focused on locking-in with Kenny. Anyway, I heard a lot of flaws as were playing. After we finished the take, we retired to the control room to listen. Kenny “shushed” the room and said, “let me listen to the guitar.” And then he looks at me, and I was scared already thinking we can get someone else to fix my parts later. Anyway, Kenny looks at me and says, “Man, listen to how the guitar and the drums are locked! It’s like when I play with Keith or John!” That was an experience that no amount of money or fame would ever top (but I am taking offers so please prove me wrong about that).

4. Do you believe music can change the world or is just something to listen to? How much can music influence current events?

“You say you want a revolution, well you know, we all want to change the world.”

5. How has technology affected the music industry? How has technology affected your career as a musician?

Technology has created growing pains, but the key word is growing not pain. I can now do everything I hate: I can use strings, horns and I can engineer myself. Seriously I am having fun because everything is affordable and compact. I can compose in a coffee shop. That way I can be in the same spot Jim Morrision was in when he wrote LA Woman.

6. Now for my Barbara Walters question: If you were a pair of shoes what type of shoes would you be?

I have to go barefoot, Barbara, so I can feel the sand in between my toes.

Thanks, John!

Medical Marijuana User Denied Organ

This is happening now! It’s not me being paranoid.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=4893948&page=1

ABC News
Medical Marijuana User Denied Organ Transplant
Jonathan Simchen, Who Has Kidney Failure, Is Latest Example of User Turned Down for Organ Transplants
By MARCUS BARAM

May 20, 2008 —

When Jonathan Simchen was diagnosed with kidney failure last summer, he did just what the doctor ordered: He applied for a kidney transplant and took his prescribed medicine — medical marijuana.

The marijuana was meant to control his nausea.

Simchen, a 33-year-old diabetic who lives near Seattle, soon found out there was a Catch-22 rolled up in his legalized joints. He was turned down by two organ transplant programs because he uses medical marijuana.

“About two or three months after I got on dialysis, I went to Virginia Mason Hospital and they did a rigorous set of tests of my lungs, brain, circulatory system, a psychological evaluation,” Simchen told ABCNEWS.com.

“[They] took me off the list because they’re afraid of me being a future drug user,” said Simchen, who admits that he has used cocaine. But that was in the past and he even quit using medical marijuana at the hospital’s request.

When Simchen went to the University of Washington Medical Center, he says he was also turned down.

“They made it clear that if you had medical marijuana, they wouldn’t treat me. I just lost hope and got totally frustrated.”

Alisha Mark, a spokeswoman for Virginia Mason, would not discuss details of Simchen’s case because of medical privacy regulations, but said that “any patient who smokes any product — tobacco, cloves, medical marijuana — would be precluded from receiving a transplant here.”

The hospital, which performs 90 to 100 transplants a year, is concerned about medical safety in the evaluation of whether a patient is a suitable candidate for organ transfer, explained Mark.

“So few people are denied access to the waiting list. We’re not here to prevent them from getting on the list,” she said.

A spokeswoman for the University of Washington Medical Center also declined to discuss specifics of Simchen’s case, but said that medical marijuana use is only one of multiple factors, including behavioral concerns such as a history of substance abuse or dependency, examined by their transplant committee.

“We’ve never denied someone based solely on their use of medical marijuana,” said Clare Hagerty.

Simchen, whose lawyer is planning legal action against the transplant centers, could become a test case to challenge criteria of who is eligible to receive one of the life-giving organs.

Doug Hiatt, a criminal defense lawyer, has represented several clients including Timothy Garon, a Seattle musician who died earlier this month after being turned down for a liver transplant.

“Everyone else I’ve repped died on me,” said Hiatt. “This guy [Simchen] is in good enough shape that we can fight it out. & I realize that there is a shortage of organs and that doctors and hospitals have to do the best they can to take care of the organs they have, but it never dawned on me that they would discriminate against someone using marijuana under supervision, not as a street drug.”

There has never been a successful case brought in such cases, according to Dale Geringer, the California director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. He could recall similar situations going back to 1997.

“The litigation takes months and years and these people have weeks or days,” he said.

Other transplant doctors and bioethicists, including some in states where medical marijuana is against the law, were surprised to hear about the refusals.

Vivian Tellis, the director of the transplant program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, says that he would never turn somebody down because of a history of marijuana use or abuse. Because medical marijuana is not allowed in New York, most of those cases involve recreational use.

“There is no known contraindication between marijuana and the drugs you have to take after transplant,” Tellis said.

Tellis explains that an addictive personality is of concern “because if you’re high, you don’t take your [post-transplant regimen of] pills.”

Transplant centers tend to be very careful because they survive financially based on the number of successful transplants they do, explains Maxwell J. Mehlman, director of the Law-Medicine Center at Case Western Reserve University.

“They use a screening process to avoid people who might be failures and they look at several factors from drug use to having a support system,” he said.

“It has actually been a source of bioethical controversy because it allows them to reject homeless people and people who live alone. In some cases, it’s a backdoor way of rationing based on social worth and lifestyles.”

Transplant centers insist that their utmost goal is to get organs to people who need them the most and ensuring patient safety.

The United Network of Organ Sharing, which includes 254 U.S. transplant centers, has no policy on the use of drugs or marijuana and leaves it up to their individual members to set reasonable guidelines.

Simchen, who is studying history and anthropology at a community college, is getting help from friends and strangers who are trying to get him into a transplant program.

“I’ve got hope that we can find a center that will put me on the list. I just wish it would happen in Washington, where I live.”

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

The Queen

Many people say the Queen has “no political power any more,” “her role is ceremonial,” and she “rubber-stamps decisions .” Obviously, these people have never been to Brooklyn. The Queen is working you, and you are a total fool if you believe she has no power.

Oh do you know who this is?

The Emperor of Japan