DrW

"The Laws Of The Game" by the U.S. Soccer Federation's Referee Program takes up 36 pages in a rather small format (half letter size).

Good choices. I actually prefer The Nice over ELP. In both cases, their original compositions do not do much for me. However, when it comes to interpretation of classical music or what we now would call "mash-ups", Emerson's early efforts with The Nice seem to be stronger.

Frank Zappa once asked the question: Does humor belong in music? His own answer was obvious. Here is another nice example - XTC posing as psychedelic band, The Dukes of Stratosphear And here an early live recording of the Talking Heads. The sound engineer apparently decided to tone the drums down. Thus, Tina Weymouth's bass seems to be the rhythm section.

However, all the lakes in California that have lake trout are high up in the Sierra, far away from LA.

A few more: Velvet Underground Traffic Soft Machine Brian Eno (early, before his "ambient" phase) Gentle Giant The Slits Gang of Four Cardiacs Ghost of a Saber-toothed Tiger All Them Witches

Something like this happened at the soccer world cup in 1982 in Gijon/Spain. Germany and Austria played the last game of group A. With a 1:0 or 2:0 victory for Germany, both would advance to the next round and Algeria would be out. The first 10 minutes were like a normal soccer game, until Germany scored the 1:0. For the remaining 80 minutes, both teams passed the ball around in their own half without any serious attempt to attack. The German goalie touched the ball twice, once on a pass back from a teammate and once on a throw-in. The Austrian goalie had a similarly quiet afternoon. The game is now known as the non-aggression pact (usually a political term) of Gijon or the "Disgrace of Gijon". The German TV announcer actually refused to comment on the game in the second half. The most important positive outcome of the game was that the FIFA changed their rules so that now all four teams in a group play their last games at the same time.

One of my favorite Pink Floyd songs. Recorded in 1969, but not released until 1971 in the compilation album "Relics". Here is some fascinating documentation of a rehearsal...

Brilliant, but also deeply disturbing...

One of the best songs of Ringo's solo career. The studio recording was the last time three Beatles played together before Lennon's death. Here is an "all star" live version... The song was written by Lennon. I always thought it was more about him than Ringo. Here is John's version, just discovered a couple of years ago...

I liked some of his solo work. This is from his third album (with the "First National Band").

The problem with subtitles is that they distract you from what is going on on the screen. I still remember from my college days in Germany, watching Tarkovsky's "Solaris" in Russian, with English subtitles. I was so busy reading the subtitles, that I missed much of the action on the screen. In addition, as I was sitting in the third row of the cinema, my neck hurt the next day.

Even better... https://www.theknot.com/fashion/mj10-madison-james-wedding-dress

Had to run 5Ks decades ago in the army in Germany; took me around 30 minutes. Since then, I prefer hiking. My daughter recently started long-distance running; she did her first two marathons this year. When she visited from college on Thanksgiving, we went together to a popular recreation spot here in Lubbock, Lake Six. She ran twice around the lake (close to 6 miles) and I did bird watching - saw a beautiful ferruginous hawk (the third-largest raptor in the US, after golden and bald eagles). Nice way to spend an afternoon with your kid...

I find the Megadeth version intriguing. A cover closer to the original, but from an unexpected side...

I would restrict playing the national anthem(s) to events where the athletes actually represent their country, like in the Olympics. Or in European soccer, where anthems are played before games between national teams, but not before games between club teams from different countries.

This is like a Greek tragedy where the choir comments on the actions of the actors... "You must be joking..."

Zappa February 1976 Niedersachsenhalle, Hannover, Germany

One of my favorite Bowie songs. This one was Lulu's biggest commercial success. Bowie plays sax. Nirvana's version... Finally, Bowie himself on SNL... In the SNL clip, one of the backup singers/performers was Klaus Nomi (the guy in black with the receding hairline). Here he is featured performer...

Sushi and the Banshees

Pita Frampton

Bangles and Mash Blue Oysters Rockefeller Sour Cream CinnAmon Düül II (Amon Düül II was one of the first German "krautrock" bands) Big Mac Country (Big Country was a Scottish rock band) Kristin Hershey Chocolate Veruca Salt-crusted Snapper Lobster ThermiDoors

Another early mashup. The Nice (Keith Emerson's band before ELP) fuses a Bob Dylan song with Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 6. Pure genius.

Most of Umphrey's McGee's original songs did not leave a lasting impression for me. However, I like their mashups. The one you selected is one of their best. My personal favorite... However, the idea of "mashups" is not really novel. One of the first attempts in rock was "Apache Dropout" by the Edgar Broughton Band; they fused Captain Beefheart's "Dropout Boogie" with the Shadows' "Apache".

I am very much looking forward to the new album. While the "first album in 12 years" might help sales, some solo albums released by Steve Wilson in the meantime sound very much like Porcupine Tree, especially The Raven That Refused To Sing (2013) and Hand. Cannot. Erase (2015). IMHO, his later solo efforts (To The Bone, The Future Bites) were OK, but not quite as interesting as PT or earlier solo SW albums. My all-time PT favorite: Fear of a Blank Planet