Shinered

About halfway between Houston and San Antonio is the little town of Shiner, best known for the Spoetzl Brewery’s premier product, Shiner Bock. But for those in the know, it’s also near the Lewis ranch, where John and his brother host an annual spring weekend getaway for friends and family on their parents’ estate. Shiner newbies, Varya and I made a day trip out to enjoy fresh air and open Texas countryside with new and old friends and colleagues.

Like any good semi-weekend mechanic, John has a few projects in various stages of progress in the family barn, including a little red Porsche and an old British BSA that he fired up to the delight of onlooking bikers.

After a huge feast of smoked BBQ and guest-provided side dishes, the fabulous Mr. & Mrs. Fox tended bar with a fine selection of their delicious mixologist cocktails.

When a group of well lubricated NASA nerds gather in an unrestricted rural area with tools, PVC and pressure vessels, how do they entertain themselves? Launch projectiles, of course!

Veggie Cannon

Ex-Watermelon

Big thanks to John et al for the fun, food (eaten and exploded) and festivities, and we look forward to our next journey west. Maybe we’ll even stay the night next time (in Shiner, not a tent). 😉

KOOZA Deux

KOOZA was the first Cirque du Soleil show that Varya and I enjoyed in Houston after returning to the US over a decade ago, and after we saw it again in February, became the first repeat show we’ve caught from this Canadian-born troupe. We’ve seen many Cirques over the years, including in Moscow and Las Vegas, and never miss them when they swing through Houston and set up large climate-controlled tents at the Sam Houston Race Park. Their world-class acrobatic acts drawn from around the globe never fail to amaze, set to the intercultural rhythms of live bands, loosely strung together by a “story” unique to each show.

As she often does these days, Varya used KOOZA to debut an outfit made by her own hands and sewing machines. Starting as an offshoot of knitting, sewing her own tops, skirts and dresses has become her primary hobby. Besides choosing her own fabrics, she enjoys customizing her fit, including creating the sufficiently long sleeves so elusive in store-bought tops. Plus, her handmade dresses often have pockets, taken for granted by guys, but apparently all too rare in women’s clothing. She can now outfit herself daily with her own fashionable creations for a couple weeks, maybe longer.

MotoGP at COTA

MotoGP racing hooked me online even before I steered away from power cruisers like my old Triumph Rocket III and Honda VTX1800C to a Ducati Multistrada 1260S earlier this year. Perhaps watching young riders rocket through turns on 220mph GP bikes even had something to do with my switch to a sportier tourer. During the pandemic, I’ve watched quite a few races online, VPNing into European countries to watch “locally”, or waiting for Sunday afternoon replays on NBCSN or YouTube. (I guess I wasn’t so hooked as to spring for the expensive MotoGP VideoPass for live viewing–plus watching European races live means the wee hours in Texas, and I need my beauty sleep.) So, a few months ago, when the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin confirmed they’d be hosting the only American MotoGP event in early October, Austinite Erik and I jumped on full weekend passes. Turns out we didn’t need to rush, as biker buddies David and Edgar bought tickets just days before the event and joined us for a trio on Saturday and foursome on Sunday.

That first weekend in October was hot and mostly sunny, so we were glad to be sitting in the Main Grandstand Club section, one of the few shaded areas around the track with easy access to amenities such as the Velocity Lounge (for really fast food). Other grandstands around the track offered better views of twisty turns, but seemingly at the price of sunburns and heatstroke. So, I was duly lauded by our group for picking our Club section. Unfortunately, I was also relentlessly derided for not picking the adjacent parking lot A, but rather the cheaper and distant lot T. Apparently lower letter lots are what you want at COTA, which was surprisingly lacking in shuttles (saw several parked/empty, but never one in action…a COTA fail), so lot T made for quite a hike each day, especially leaving (all uphill). Not to mention the hour-long wait in the car just to exit lot T on Sunday afternoon (very poor parking lot traffic control was another COTA fail)…but I digress, back to the track…

Edgar, David, Steve & Erik decked out for MotoGP

If you really wanted to save money with General Admission tickets, there are hillside areas to drop a folding chair or blanket. Just be sure to bring your own shade in the form of umbrellas and hats.

David saved us by bringing enough tethered ear plugs for all four of us. The only MotoGP veteran, he was well aware of just how ear-shattering the unmuffled, unrestricted GP bikes are at full throttle. The rest of us newbies were very grateful for the ear plugs since we couldn’t find any being sold…at a race track (another COTA fail).

Ducati Island was the place to be for Ducatistas, offering new Ducati bikes to sit and drool on, overpriced Ducati gear for the price-insensitive, and even Ducati-only parking…filled with a long line of (mostly) red Italian bikes. Guess where I’ll be parking next year?!

With immortal young riders pushing and occasionally exceeding the limits of their machines and tire traction, crashes are not uncommon in MotoGP, perhaps more so in Moto2 & 3 classes filled with teens. Fortunately, most crashes are “low sides” in which the bike and rider slide off the track and into the rock fields that slow them to a stop. While walking around the track, Edgar and I watched one Moto2 rider hop right up after sliding out on a corner and walk over to a waiting golf cart driven by a Medical Crew while waving to the fans, followed by a Track Crew who loaded his wrecked bike on a trailer, all within a few minutes. Glad to see the rider safe, and the efficient Moto-Cleanup.

Yellow smoke bombs filled the Paddock seats near the starting line shortly before the MotoGP race. We could smell it from our distant Club seats, so I wondered if the riders disliked breathing the cloud as they prepared for launch, even Rossi. But, moto fans gonna be (Grazie!) Vale fans.

Just like last spring when Varya and I biked through the hill country, our host and hostess, Erik and Liza, were awesome! They graciously offered their west Austin home to us cheap crashers, feeding us great morning breakfasts and wining and dining us each night with Erik’s grilled steaks and Liza’s amazing cuisine. 5 Stars all around…soon to be 6 when the new pool is finished! 😉

We appreciate and thank you both, Liza & Erik!

Cord Cutting Cost Update

Unlike my lengthier Cord Cutting and Cost Cutting posts of 2018 and 2020, this is just a quick update on what I’m currently paying for streaming, internet, phone, security and other online services to help gauge how these have changed over the last few years in the greater Houston area. (Please refer to those previous posts for details, comparisons and rationales.) Monthly costs listed below include all fees and tax. A little over $200/month for all of these services is less than some friends pay for satellite or cable TV/phone/internet packages with Comcast, Verizon, or (perhaps worst of all) AT&T. So, I’m thinking cord cutting cuts costs along with improving choice.

*Provider & Service Name*	*Service Type*	*Monthly Cost*
Comcast Xfinity cable (400 Mbps)	Internet Broadband	$50
Apple One Premier • Music • TV+ • Arcade • iCloud (2TB) • News+ • Fitness+	Bundle • Music • Video Streaming • Games • Cloud Storage • News & Magazines • Fitness Videos	$32
Amazon Prime	Bundle • Fast Shipping • Video Streaming	$11 ($120 annually)
Disney+	Streaming	$7 ($80 annually)
HBO Max (ad-free)	Streaming	$16
PBS Passport	Streaming	$5 (donation)
YouTube Premium Family (ad-free)	Streaming	$25
SiliconDust HDHomeRun	Broadcast TV	Free
SiliconDust HDHomeRun DVR	Broadcast TV DVR	$3 ($35 annually)
Audible Premium Plus	Audiobooks	$16
Mint Mobile (10GB/month)	Mobile Phone	$22 ($240 annually)
Google Voice with OBi200 (VoIP)	Home Phone	Free
ADT	Home Security	$22
*TOTAL*		*$209*

Monthly Cost Summary Table

Cost Cutting

In 2018 I wrote about Cord Cutting, my experience dropping my overpriced DirecTV satellite TV service several years ago and relying solely upon Internet TV & movie streaming services. Cord cutting saved some money, but was also about choice, chasing the a la carte TV dream: only paying for what you want rather than 500 channels of useless crap, and turning services on and off monthly as needed rather than being stuck in bloated long term contracts. (That post remains mostly applicable two years later, though all of the quoted costs have increased.) As the COVID-19 pandemic spread worldwide early this year, like many people I focused on cutting costs, trimming the fat from monthly bills, subscriptions, and online services. So, Cost Cutting is an update to Cord Cutting, providing a few ideas on how to save more than a few bucks, especially for those unfortunate souls still overpaying an “Evil Corp” (the likes of Comcast, Charter, DirecTV, AT&T or Verizon) for TV/phone/internet bundles. Time to go all Marie Kondo and streamline your connected life!

Streaming Apps & Online Subscriptions

First, I saved nearly $60/month by dropping Hulu (no ads), Sling (Orange + Sports Extra) and Netflix (Premium 4K). I only had Hulu for late-night comedy/talk shows (watched in the morning over coffee and breakfast) and The Handmaid’s Tale. My wife found the latter too depressing (fascist religious fanatics take over US Gov…a little dark), and I could record the late-night shows with my HDHomeRun Extend box, cheap antenna, and $30/year (<$3/month) HDHomeRun DVR service. I was only using Sling for watching sports on ESPN (1, 2 & 3) and the Tennis Channel (w/ Sports Extra), so once the pandemic shut down most sports, turning off Sling was a no-brainer. Despite enjoying Patriot Act on Netflix, I found it was easy to let the red N go as well. Last month we restarted Netflix for the final season of the sci-fi series Dark (so German), and my sister Claire’s recommendation, the dark comedy Dead To Me (Christina Applegate is great…who knew?!), but having finished those, we’ll probably turn it off again. I kept these subscriptions and apps:

HBO Max: $15/month, formerly HBO Now
Apple TV+: free for a year with recent device purchase (otherwise $5/month)
Disney+: $70/year = $6/month, mainly for Star Wars, Marvel & Pixar movies, not to mention Jeff Goldblum and, of course, Baby Yoda on Mandalorian
Amazon Prime Video: included with Prime Membership ($120/year = $10/month)
PBS Video: free by default, though I donate $5/month to PBS for their excellent catalog
Comedy Central, 60 Minutes, TED Talks, video podcasts and YouTube videos, all free (with ads)

Next, I reduced my Audible audiobook subscription from Gold at $15 for 1 book credit every month, to Silver at the same price every other month, saving ~8/month. (All those books in my GoodReads list at right were audiobooks, so it really should be GoodListens.) I mainly listen to books with my iPhone while driving, so my audiobook listening time plummeted along with car time due to teleworking, and books took longer to finish. In fact, I later canceled Audible altogether (still keeping purchased audiobooks), though I recently restarted again to replenish my unread/unheard library. If you’re new to Audible, you’ll likely see only Gold and Platinum membership options, and wonder how to get the cheaper Silver. The answer is to use the same leverage you have over all monthly subscriptions and services: threaten to cancel. As soon as an Audible member clicks to cancel their subscription, the Audible site tries to keep you by offering lower cost alternatives such as the “secret” Silver level. Sneaky bastards to be sure, so you have to know how to play the game.

Internet Service

With little competition at the high end of broadband service, cable is still the best Internet option in our area. The growth of optical fiber networks (e.g., Google Fiber or Verizon Fios) has slowed to a crawl in the US, hasn’t reached our neighborhood, and DSL generally remains a slower, less reliable choice (you can only get so much out of a twisted pair of skinny copper wires). Perhaps Elon Musk’s Starlink constellation will help disrupt/bypass cable Internet with fast-n-cheap satellite access, but that literally just got off the launch pad. Cable companies such as Comcast and Charter pay…er…lobby legislators hard to keep their local monopolies on cable service, so for us, cable = Comcast.

I dropped my Comcast Internet bill from >$90 to $50/month by dropping my speed from 200Mbps to 75Mbps (speed tests show we actually get 90Mbps most of the time), which is sufficient for 2 non-gamers streaming simultaneously (a large family with gamers may need more shared bandwidth). Since 2018, Comcast finally stopped forcing a TV/internet bundle to get the best Internet price, acknowledging that many people no longer want their bloated TV packages. So, I now pay Comcast the minimum for Internet access only (forcing the switch from HBO Go to HBO Now/Max noted above). I call Comcast about once a year to make sure I have their cheapest Internet option, since they’re always changing options and prices. Comcast phone reps sometimes have access to options not shown on their web site, so ya gotta call. Of course, I always purchase my own cable modem (currently a Motorola MB7621), which is much cheaper than renting Comcast’s Xfinity modems.

Mobile Phone Service

In the Before Times, pre-pandemic, we were paying AT&T over $50/month (>$600/year) for Varya’s iPhone service, capped at 1GB of data. Years ago AT&T hit us with over-charges for exceeding that monthly cap when she accidentally left her phone on streaming music videos all night. We long ago switched her to an AT&T plan that simply slowed down above the cap rather than inflating the bill, but I was always on the lookout for a better alternative to AT&T. Enter Mint Mobile (thanks to Uncle Leo’s TWIT.tv network). Now for only $180/year = $15/month (!), she gets 3GB of data, far more than she ever uses in a month. If we paid Mint $25/month, half as much as we used to pay AT&T, she’d have 12GB, an order of magnitude more than AT&T’s low limit. The catch? Mint licenses the T-Mobile network, so you have to be in an area with good T-Mobile coverage, typically in or near cities. Fortunately, Varya gets great coverage in the greater Houston metro area, including driving downtown to work. When my Mom tried Mint, she found T-Mobile’s coverage was spotty out in the sticks of Misery…er…Missouri, so she returned to AT&T at over 3 times the price for their larger cellular network. (BTW, if you’re not too rural and want to try Mint Mobile, we both get a little bonus if you use my Mint referral link: http://fbuy.me/pFeNf)

Home Security Service

Your home security system is another often overpriced monthly service open to negotiation. When we bought our home in 2012, I signed up with ADT, locking myself into a 1 or 2 year contract at ~$45/month (silly boy, that was too high!). After the contract expired, I called ADT about the price, and they happily dropped it to ~$25/month…apparently they had a helluva profit margin to play with! Every year or two they’d increment the price, and when it got too high I’d call again to bring it back under $30/month. This year it increased to $36, and last month they sent an email suggesting it would increase again to $39. So, I called to cancel the service—remember, the threat of cancelation is always your best negotiating tool with any monthly service/subscription! They offered a “special pandemic price” of $15/month to keep me, and said I could ignore the price increase email…effectively acknowledging their recent price increases were BS, just squeezing extra profit out of loyal customers, assuming most wouldn’t notice or take action. In the increasingly competitive home security market—DIY newcomers like Ring Alarm and SimpliSafe are as low as $10/month—old companies like ADT must adapt to remain viable.

Bottom Line

How does all of that tally for my monthly costs? As of right now—and I could easily change it at any moment, which is what I love about cord cutting—my monthly pre-tax bill for all TV, audiobooks, Internet, cell phone, and monitored home security is $133 = $15 HBO Max + $16 Netflix Premium + $6 Disney+ (paid annually) + $5 PBS Video (donation, not required) + $3 HDHomeRun DVR (paid annually) + $8 Audible Silver + $50 Comcast Xfinity (75-90Mbps) + $15 Mint Mobile (paid annually) + $15 ADT Security. I may drop the $16 Netflix Premium, but restart the ~$30 Sling/ESPN/Tennis Channel for the US Open at the end of August, adding a net ~$14 this month, still keeping everything under $150. I don’t count Amazon Prime Video because I pay for Prime Membership for free 2-day shipping of my Amazon purchases and rarely watch their video service. I’m also not counting online movie rentals, because those are independent of streaming services—we typically use Apple TV to rent movies, but could easily use Prime Video, Vudu, or many other options at about the same cost per rental ($1-7). My “land line” phone service is free using Google Voice with an OBi200 VoIP box (and rarely used anyway).

So, the bottom line is that if you’re paying anything near or over $200/month for TV + DVR + Internet + audiobooks + cell & home phone + home security—or worse, just a subset of those—the bad news is you’re probably wasting money, and the good news is you have opportunities available now for cutting costs, maybe by half. Even if you’re afraid you’re not tech savvy enough to try cord cutting and managing various services a la carte, at the very least call your provider and say you want to cancel your bundled services due to cost—you’ll get transferred to a “retention specialist” who’s professional mandate is to keep you as a customer and thus who has the power to offer you deals and lower prices the first-line phone rep can not. Feel free to use any of the costs I quoted above as negotiation leverage…as I did by mentioning SimpliSafe to ADT. 😉

[2020-08-31 Updates: I recently called Comcast and dropped my Xfinity Internet plan to $45/month while increasing the quoted speed from 75 to 100 Mbps. This was one of the first times that the deals offered by the phone rep matched those offered online in my Comcast account, i.e., it would have been faster to change my own service online, since my Comcast guy was confused and slow. Meanwhile, Audible dropped the precious metal nomenclature, and now calls their top service Premium Plus ($15/month) and their lower level just Plus ($8/month). With Premium Plus, you own your audiobooks, whereas with Plus it appears you can only access them as long as you maintain your membership…not good. Both have an option to pay annually with a discount. Selecting the “Cancel membership” option no longer unlocks a secret half-price option, but rather enables you to pause for up to 3 months. This may work out even better than the old Silver/half-membership option if I can pause for 3 months, turn it one for 1 month and repeat this cycle, effectively having a 25% membership option.]

Family Sharing

Family members added to my Apple Family Sharing list get to use my purchased iPhone and iPad apps, iCloud storage, Music and News+ subscriptions and watch my purchased movies and shows, and vice versa. Instead of trying to explain this to some of my family members by phone or email (again), I thought I’d post a visual step-by-step guide for future reference by them and others.

Let’s start with my iPad home screen (below), in which I’ve highlighted Apple’s App Store, Music, News and Settings icons (your icon locations may vary). Using the same iPadOS 13.5.1 that I’m using will make it easier to follow along, so as a first step tap on Settings > General > Software Update and make sure your software is up to date; if not, go ahead and update it…I’ll wait here.

Now that our iPad software is matched, you’ll want to make sure your Family Sharing is turned on. In Settings, tap on your Apple ID/name at the top left, then on Family Sharing on the right. Below you can see that I’m already sharing with a few family members.

At the top of the Family Sharing window, you’ll see the Organizer (in my case, me), and any adult and child Family Members the Organizer has added, up to six people total. Scroll down and you’ll see all the available Shared Features. As shown below, I’m sharing my app purchases, my iCloud storage and Apple Music subscriptions, TV channels and movies, and my Apple News+ subscription. (I share my location on my iPhone that usually stays with me, so I have it turned off here on my iPad that usually stays home.) Go ahead and turn on your Purchase Sharing so that other Family Members can access your purchased apps.

Now we’ll close Settings, open the App Store, and tap on the Apple ID icon in the upper right, in my case mother Earth (your icon may vary).

This brings up a smaller Account window in which you can tap Purchased. You could also tap Subscriptions just below that to see a list of all your active and expired subscriptions, handy for canceling subscriptions you may have forgotten about or no longer need, but that are still charging to your credit card, or to the Organizer’s card if you’re a Family Member.

Tapping Purchased provides a choice between My Purchases and Family Purchases listing Family Members who are sharing purchases. In my case, Phyllis and Varvara are sharing purchases, while Claire is not and does not appear here. I’ll tap Phyllis to see what apps she has to offer.

I get the scrolling list of Phyllis’ purchased apps shown below. Apparently Phyllis likes words and cards. I tap on “Not on this iPad” at the top of the sub-window to make sure I’m only seeing apps I don’t already have, apps that Phyllis bought and that I’m able to download for free from the App Store because of Family Sharing and Phyllis’ Purchase Sharing.

Hmmm…Words With Friends Classic…isn’t that basically Scrabble (yawn)? I can tap on the app icon on the left or title in the middle to see the app description, ratings, and other app information. Or, I can simply tap on the cloud with down arrow icon on the right to download the app immediately. The circular download progress icon appears for a few to several seconds, depending upon your broadband speed and the file size, and finally becomes an OPEN button when the app is downloaded and installed.

At this point, I could tap OPEN to open the app from here. Or, I could back to the iPad home screen and find and admire the newly installed app icon…then delete it because, you know, Scrabble (yawn).

Let’s move on from shared apps to TV shows and movies. Tap and open the Apple TV app. Mine is in my Entertainment folder, but your location will vary.

In the Apple TV app, tap on Library at the bottom, then Family Sharing on the left to see a list of Family Members who may or may not be sharing anything.

When I tap on Varvara, I get a message, “No TV Shows or Movies, Your library is empty…”, because she doesn’t buy or rent video content in Apple TV or iTunes. When I tap on Claire, I get a message, “Family Member Not Sharing, Claire is currently not sharing their purchases. They can change this in Settings.” She’s not a sharer, or inadvertently turned off Purchase Sharing in Settings > Apple ID > Family Sharing. When I tap on Phyllis, I see her entire library consisting of one Blue Planet II show trailer that I installed on her iPad as a test long ago. I could download and watch it on my iPad from here. Fortunately for my Family Members, they see a much larger selection of TV shows and movies when they tap on my name in the Apple TV app, including Apple’s original shows in my Apple TV+ subscription. (We recently enjoyed M. Night Shyamalan’s creepy Servant series in Apple TV+.)

Finally, Apple Music and Apple News+ are much easier to share and use: once the Organizer has shared them, all Family Members can simply open these apps and use the subscription services. Apple Music has about 50 million songs in all genres, as well as a For You section that learns your tastes and offers playlists and artists. Apple News+ includes most major news outlets and–what really sold me–many magazines, including a few I used to subscribe to separately, but now get as part of my Apple News+ subscription. Back on the home screen, find and tap to open Apple News (stylized red N on a white icon…see the first image at the top of this post), then tap News+ on the left to browse, search and read magazines in many genres. The image below shows I like Scientific American and Wired (two of my former subscriptions replaced by Apple News+), and if you could scroll this image to the right you’d see Motortrend, Forbes, Macworld, etc.

Apple has added Election 2020 and COVID-19 as special sections on the left side of Apple News for easy access to the latest-n-greatest news on these topics of mass interest. You can add or delete channels & topics in your list if you wish, or let Apple’s learning algorithm auto-pick them for you.

That should be all you need to get started with Apple Family Sharing on your iPad and iPhone. Happy sharing.

Bohemian Pandemic

Distractions during the worst(?) of the worsening pandemic…

Watch HBO for Free

Varya and I were avid fans/serfs of (most of) Game of Thrones, and now look forward to questioning our reality and humanity each week in Westworld, currently in its 3rd season. But HBO was leading the golden age of prestige television long before the robot Hosts’ bloody uprising and the Queen of Dragons’ fiery rampage. You might say this age started with the widely acclaimed Sopranos at the turn of the century (though I watched the series years later). Still, it was the first 4 seasons of the hard edged The Wire–arguably one of the best TV series ever produced, better than the more popular mob show in my book–that really hooked me on HBO content. I would purchase entire Wire and True Blood (guilty pleasure) seasons on iTunes, download them to my video iPod (still have a couple) in Moscow, hook it up to the old TV in my Energia Hotel room inside the Baikonur Cosmodrome, and binge watch (before that was a thing) through the long nights on the Kazakh Steppe. I missed the acclaimed Six Feet Under, didn’t quite get hooked on the comedies Barry and Veep (your mileage may vary), but loved the sharp, nerdy humor of Silicon Valley. HBO has made all of these bold TV titles and more (e.g., the highly rated Succession), plus some movies and documentaries (including a recent favorite, McMillion$, about the criminals who rigged the McDonald’s Monopoly game throughout the 1990’s), available for free streaming through the month of April. The How to Watch HBO for Free page is rather self-explanatory, and includes links for downloading HBO apps from the App Store or Google Play (HBO Go, a companion to cable/satellite TV, or what I use, the standalone HBO Now). Now you can binge watch HBO at no cost for at least 3 more weeks of the pandemic.

Musical Quarantine

Anything can inspire musicians, especially the comedic kind, even a deadly virus and the first (not last?) global pandemic of the 21st century. Here are a few favorite recent performances:

For those born to boogie (at home) with the Bee Gees, Stayin’ Inside
For those born on the bayou with Creedence Clearwater Revival, Coronavirus Rising
For those born to rock with Queen,
- Coronavirus Rhapsody from Adrian Grimes
- Coronavirus Rhapsody version from InVoca/Raul Irabien with cute video
Chris Mann has been busy while sheltering…
- My Corona for fans of The Knack (like me and My Sharona)
- Hello (from the Inside) for Adele fans
- …and the clear favorite of Madonna & fashionistas like Varya, Stay Home Vogue

Finally, while there are many big names live-streaming virtual concerts during the pandemic, this Lockdown Session caught my eye and ear, as I haven’t seen or heard The Red Rocker in years: Won’t Get Fooled Again cover by Sammy Hagar & The Circle.

Hopefully we don’t get fooled again, learn from our lack of preparedness and slow response, get ready to quickly detect and control the next novel virus before it spreads into a pandemic. (See epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant’s Wired interview and TED2006 Talk.)

Apollo 11 in Real Time

To join in celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first Moon landing, you can follow the Apollo 11 mission in real time at https://apolloinrealtime.org/11/…click on the link and then the blue NOW button to jump back in time exactly 50 years to the second. The site shows mission status and actual mission communications (audio & transcripts) and images as they happened half a century ago. As I type, the crew–Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins–are in the Command Module, docked to the Lunar Module, nearing the Moon, and are about to enter lunar orbit, where they’ll prepare for the landing attempt tomorrow, July 20th, 1969. At this point, successful landing and return to lunar orbit by Neil and Buzz in the Lunar Module are still uncertain, and a mission abort or worse–catastrophic failure and loss of crew–is a very real possibility. Tension mounts as the lunar surface draws near…

While monitoring Apollo 11 in real time, look for 50th anniversary events in your town this weekend. Here in Houston, there will be public events in Discovery Green downtown and at Space Center Houston in the Clear Lake area on Saturday. NASA listed some nationwide events in an Apollo 11 50th Anniversary press release. Cool stuff for us space geeks!

Floydish

Pink Floyd is at once one of the best bands I’ve ever seen in concert–A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour in St. Louis in the late 80’s (with tickets won in a college radio contest…a great night)–and the worst–when a Texas storm pummeled us in Rice Stadium and blew them off stage, abruptly stopping the open air show (plus car problems on the way home…a less than great night). Regardless of that drenched experience, they remain one of my favorite bands of all time, with so much fantastic, innovative music spanning decades. So, when a friend suggested we see Brit Floyd last week, I was ambivalent–sounded fun, but it’s hard to mimic greatness. It was my first time enjoying the relatively new Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land, southwest of Houston, an excellent venue with excellent acoustics, even up in the Club level. Sure, it was quite a drive there and back from the Clear Lake area, but the show turned out to be well worth it. Calling Brit Floyd a Pink Floyd tribute band is like saying Disney World is an amusement park–technically true, but the experience is so much more.

Brit Floyd’s musicianship was top notch as they adeptly covered the best Floyd songs from the early 70’s through the mid 90’s, with the most focus on The Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon, of course. Perhaps more importantly, their vocals were just as great. Two frontmen, Damian Darlington & Ian Cattell, traded off songs, depending upon whether they wanted to sound more like Roger Waters or David Gilmore. They’re not exact matches for either, and that’s OK, as they both sing very well. A true highlight was the woman who belted out the female vocal solo in The Great Gig In The Sky…wow! In fact, all three female backup singers knocked it outta the park.

Brit Floyd’s stage production values might not match a real Pink Floyd show–nor should they–but still included very impressive and familiar theatrics and tech: lights, lasers, circular video screen above, glowing-eyed pig, and even some video and reenactment of The Wall scenes. Alternately entrancing and energizing, it was a high end rock show, visually as well as aurally.

Brit Floyd took the stage shortly after 8pm, exploded into The Wall with In the Flesh?, and left nearly 3 hours later, including a 20-minute intermission. Their choice to end with a slow, acoustic song was odd (I took that opportunity to beat the crowds to the restroom)…they should have ended on the earlier encore peak with the driving Run Like Hell. Regardless, if you get the chance and like Pink Floyd, definitely check out Brit Floyd, a top shelf “tribute band”.

Newish Bands

These are a couple bands that I found myself listening to more than many last year…

Lo Moon

I barely paid attention when Lo Moon played “This Is It” on Jimmy Kimmel early in 2018. I must admit that we all too frequently skip the bands on late night shows, especially when streaming them on Hulu during breakfast. Varya was listening, however, and remembered, suggesting this song a couple weeks later when I was looking for new romantic evening music (you can only hear so much Enigma). “This Is It” is catchy, no doubt, but the next song on Lo Moon’s self-titled debut item is what really hooked me, the atmospheric epic “Loveless.” Perhaps not the ideal song title to request of Siri or Alexa when snuggling up to your Love, so I usually just ask the digital ladies to “play the album Lo Moon.” Fortunately, the whole album is great, whether you’re chilling alone or warming up together. I’ve been hoping for a follow-up album, and they whetted my appetite with a new single in November, “For Me, It’s You,” a good sign of more to come. Lo Moon rising!

Greta Van Fleet

If you’re not paying attention, it is possible to hear this young Michigan band and not be sure you’re not listening to Led Zeppelin circa early 1970’s. Even a well-versed Zep fan might hear Greta Van Fleet’s “Safari Song” or “Highway Tune” from their first album and think he overlooked some obscure BBC radio session (ignoring audio quality). And yet the three Kiszka brothers plus drummer Wagner claim they aren’t intentionally channeling, or worse, aping the mighty Zeppelin. In fact, far from some tribute band with more original material, these guys come across as genuine, impassioned rockers, not just saluting the banner but waving it furiously high. While I challenge you to listen to “When the Curtain Falls” or “You’re the One” from their second album and not think of Plant, Page, Jones and Bonham thunder, you can’t discount it as mere derivative mimicry. When the band played on a recent SNL, lead singer Josh Kiszka’s early Plantian nouveau hippie wardrobe was overpowered by his wailing vocals and his brothers’ infectious exhuberance. More (flower) power to these torch-bearing kids from the North!