Steve R.

But you can probably get a "Spam Fighters" t-shirt in Hawaii.

If what's taking you there is going down I-95, get off at Richmond, Va. That's a city I can spend time in (& have).

Well, frankly, I think he did it. However, some very intelligent, involved folks I know and respect sincerely don't. Just sayin'.

No, mostly they didn't (but I get your point). Maybe just my humble time-hazy memory, but the harsh sentence had more to do with his politics than the pot (& open LSD usage). He was founder & chair of the White Panthers Party, the support group of the Black Panthers and was a very prominent leftist of the time. Although his politics shifted to more of the yippie variety, not particularly loved by the more serious Black Panthers, he was generally tolerated and supported by a very wide range of activists. In '68, when he was managing the MC5, they were the only group that got to perform outside the Democratic Natl. Convention before the Chicago Police stepped in. I understand that 15,000 or so people were at the "Free John Sinclair" rally in Ann Arbor in '71. I was in college that year myself & we tried (& failed) to get a live broadcast feed sent to our campus, since John Lennon was there to sing his "John Sinclair" song, alongside Yoko & other performers like Stevie Wonder & Phil Ochs. Most of the Chicago 7, including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin & Bobbie Seale were there as well Side story: while Sinclair was in prison, Abbe Hoffmann tried to publicize the movement to free him by jumping on stage at Woodstock during The Who's performance & grabbing a mic. Pete Townsend put an end to that attempt.

Been thru both, impressed with neither, although they do have the range of food and cultural things that come with being around college towns. Cant say I gave either much of a chance. As small h said, if you wish to go to Asheville, my help is available.

And I think that Ramrod was previously taken.

I still miss 360.

We're staying in the 11th again, but this time further down from where we were last time (off rue du Chemin Vert). In fact, we're about 2 blocks from Les Funambules, on rue des Boulets off rue de Montrueil, and will drop by as needed. Thanks.

Yeah, read the interview and we'll talk. And, when you go, count the # of people around you who may not know what pinball was (is?). Luckily, acid hasn't lost its reference point. (or, unfortunately, pedaphilia or post-traumatic injury for that matter)

So, another month stay in Paris is coming up for us early May. Having done this several times now, our list of places to return to has gotten sizable, our list of places we haven't yet gotten to but want to is also not small & our list of newly recommended places from reputable sources living there or there very regularly is long. Anything anyone want to add? Mitch: glad you liked Soces. Its pretty high on my listing.

Reasonably good. It's in previews and we expect there to be quite a bit of "tightening up" (as Ginny puts it) before the opening date. I liked the 1st production better, but it had more of an audience memory to work with. Here, they have to assume that they may be playing to an audience who isn't very familiar with the history and context (or fans). And, they aren't totally going for the same "take away" in this one either (as Townsend pretty much said in his NYT interview). For me, on the other hand, well I had immediately bought the album when released (I was a huge "The Who Sell Out" fan), saw The Who perform Tommy in its entirety in 1970, then saw the movie, then the 1st Broadway production. So, I was doing more of a comparison than an "in its own right" viewing. And I still liked it well enough.

Are you sure that there's an upstairs from the bar/restaurant? I just went to their website & the "our story" section (see below link) says the theater is downstairs (& talks a little about the Lewis Black days - "playwright in residence"?!). https://www.westbankcafe.com/our_story Maybe you walked backwards on the stairway? I've done that. Especially back in those days. On the "learn something new" front, I didn't know until I read that section that The Who played the restaurant while the 1st staging of Tommy was on Bdway. We went to that production & have now gone to the new one (currently in previews). We sure as hell would've found a way to see The Who when they were there had we known.

We love The West Bank Cafe. Always a friendly bar with food that’s better than you’d expect. Been going for 30+ years. Ginny directed some shows downstairs when Louis Black was the m.c. We were there as recently as a couple of weeks ago.

Cant wait to hear what "Monster" was about. eta: other than it was about 70 minutes too long

I really liked the piece in The New Yorker and, of course, I went to his website afterwards & took a look, noting some interesting places I want to try (including this one). I especially got a kick out of him starting his quest after eating at Mombar. I took a group there just last year, after not going for several years. Mustafa is still cooking up a storm (I also went to Ali's Kebab Cafe that month). At any rate, although Maloya might seem out of the way (& it is, for most of us), folks should note that its only blocks from Roberta's and that the B57 bus goes right there (well, so does my car). Thanks for the reminder. Soon.