Tom Jones thinks he's a rock star. No shit. I wouldn't necessarily put him in that category. I'd slot him more in the "entertainer" category, because his style is more of a revue kind of show. Limited banter and we are right into the next song. Keep things moving briskly. Here's the scoop on Wednesday's show at the House of Blues.

Audience was about 70% women. No walkers, but I think I saw an iron lung. EMS was on call at the entrance. I admit he did have a nice video introduction leading up to his stage entrance, lending to his "rock star" image. Then he came out and sang a hip-hop flavored song...about himself! Now that's a cocky rock star attitude. I hadn't really paid attention to the guy since "Mars Attacks!", so I had no idea how he looked. He was a bit chunkier than I recall, looked Botoxed to the hilt, sported a Van Dyke, and wore all black. Although I think his slacks were Sansabelts. When the spotlight hit him a certain way, he resembled Satan.

He had 11 folks in the band: 4 horns, bass, lead guitar, keyboardist, drummer, and 3 backup singers. My new dream job is to be in his horn section. They do their own choreography, sing backup on occasion, and take breaks during the show. My kind of gig. I say that Tom Jones still has the voice, although the backups help out with the high notes. But his dancing (or should I say gyrating) has taken a hit. I estimate his vertical leap is, oh, about 2 inches. And he does some weird monster-type dance that I think I've perfected in a scant 36 hours of practice.

And the women still throw their underwear on stage. Come on, the guy is 65 years old now. But he really does not acknowledge it much anymore. I think only one time did he wipe his brow with one. When the rest landed on stage, he was more concerned with moving it out of the way for his monster dance. I think it's a combination of it being old hat and the fact that he can't bend down anymore.

Having said all that, it was a pretty good show. Started at 9:00, I was in my car at 10:38. Sang all the songs you'd think he'd sing: "What's New, Pussycat?", "Delilah", "Green, Green Grass of Home", "She's A Lady", "It's Not Unusual", "Help Yourself" and, of course, he closed with Prince's "Kiss". However, he did not sing "The Duck Dodgers Theme" or "I (Who Have Nothing)". What else? Oh, he also sang "Mama Told Me Not To Come", "You Can Leave Your Hat On" and something called "Sexbomb".

Meal of Links

I am a Johnny Cash freak, so I was anxious to see "Walk The Line". I went yesterday before Thanksgiving dinner. Terrific performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon. Joaquin had the style down pretty good. But Johnny Cash is such a compelling figure to me, I'm not sure the movie got to the guy's soul. Although it was OK, it seemed like it was series of vignettes strung together without much depth. Music was good, and I was happy to hear two of my favorites, "Get Rhythm" and "Cocaine Blues", the latter from Folsom.

Today is "Black Friday". So:

"When Black Friday comes
I'll stand down by the door
And catch the grey men when they
Dive from the fourteenth floor"

In this civilized nation, why do we still execute people?

Exercise Yard


















George Best passed away today. You have to understand that when I was a kid, when it came to soccer, Americans knew Pele. And Georgie Best.

"I've spent a lot of my money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered."--George Best, 1946-2005

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48 Across: Only hit song for which title and artist are palindromes (3 letters) Answer: SOS by ABBA. (Today's Friday puzzle may have been the easiest in several years. A softball to the stay-at-home holiday crowd.)