Late 60's Nirvana

Back from vacation; went out to Chicago for the Eric Clapton Guitar festival; specifically went to see/hear the pseudo Blindfaith reunion (Clapton & Winwood) and, for me, it was the highlight of the whole show (although our own Susan Tedeschi did kick some ass and it thoroughly pissed me off to hear some jackass in the airport say "yea, her husband, Derek Trucks, taught her a lot".... really?.... seems to me she was doing quite well as a musician long before the two of them hooked up, but I digress).

The festival was at Toyota Park; very nice venue; the show went from noon 'til about 11pm; thoroughly enjoyed seeing/hearing all the different performers playing solo and together, some I probably wouldn't see otherwise. Clapton was the best I've heard him. I never got to see him with Cream (sigh) but I've seen him solo twice and wasn't all that impressed (please don't hate me for saying that). But this time, he was with many of his peers (the unbelievably great Robbie Robertson to name one!!) and they did stuff off the Layla album with Derek Trucks doing a fine Duane Allman. During the Steve Winwood/Eric Clapton portion of the show, the full moon was coming up over the stadium on one side; on the other side was the Chicago skyline and puffs of fireworks from neighboring communities (nice surprise!). They did three songs from Blindfaith's one and only album. I, of course, was hoping they'd play the whole thing; it's only, what, six songs? But, I'm satisfied with what I did hear: "Presence of the Lord", "Had to Cry Today" and "Can't Find My Way Home"...if they'd played any of side two, "Sea of Joy" or the 20 minute "Do What You Like" I probably would have floated off into some sort of permanent late 60's nirvana and who knows where I'd be now so it's just as well.

Since we're on the subject of floating off, or to be more specific, flying, whose idea was it to abolish lotions and liquids in your carry on? Did that brilliant decision come from the head of our homeland security, Michael Chertoff????? I watched a guy being told "uh, sir, that tube of toothpaste is too large...you can't bring that on". Yes, nothing more dangerous than a full tube of Crest. Now, I don't give a damn what your political affiliation is, not being able to bring a bottle of shampoo or a damn tube of toothpaste (what is it, over three ounces?) in your carry on IS IRRATIONAL. Where is the common sense? Who are the idiots who make up these ridiculous rules? I know, NO FIREARMS OR WEAPONS ON THE AIRPLANE. Rational. The shoe bomber, one freak attempts to light his shoes on fire now ALL OF US have to take our shoes off before walking through the metal detectors. Irrational. Just about anything can be used as a weapon if someone is hell bent on wreaking havoc so, can we use some common sense here? Or soon, we'll all be flying nude...late 60's nirvana?