Christmas in Fallujah

Billy Joel, whose music was the soundtrack of my adolescence, has written a new song, the anti-Iraq War "Christmas in Fallujah." Interestingly, he refuses to perform it because, he says, it deserves a "younger voice." It's a good song, though I don't really agree with the message. You can watch Cass Dillon's performance of it here.

Concerts Part II

Saturday night I journeyed up to the 9:30 Club, where I hadn't been in some time, to take in Iron & Wine, whom I refer to as "that soft-sounding guy from the Garden State soundtrack."

Turns out not only does he sing softly and mellifluously, but he looks like a young God. I don't mean Jesus, but rather the wide windswept face and flowing locks, just normal-hair-colored, not all-white. It was a good show.

I also discovered this new Jamaican food place called Tropicana Eatery, where I will now be going for a pre-game meal before every 9:30 concert. We had jerk and curried chicken (they were out of goat) with rice, beans, and fried plantains. Delicious. I don't recommend the chicken pattie, however, which we only got in the first place because the beef ones were just then being baked.

Concerts Part I

Continuing the theme of cultural-events-every-night-of-the-week, Friday I went to the Bob Dylan concert at Merriweather Post (which is a lovely outdoor venue halfway between DC and Baltimore). Traffic was ridiculous so it took us about two hours to get there, thereby missing the opening act and most of Elvis Costello.

Then came Bob. And he wa disappointing. I mean, I mainly went to be able to say to my grandkids that I've been to a Bob Dylan concert, but I kinda was hoping to be entertained as well. The problem was that he only sang one song I knew ("Everybody Must Get Stoned"). And everything he sang was completely incomprehensible. They should've had supertitles, like they do at the opera.

Oh, and Merriweather ran out of food, other than hot dogs and popcorn. At least the beer, while expensive, was free-flowing...