Animal Liberation Orchestra (ALO) Worth The Hype

I'd been told by a trusted ear to check out Animal Liberation Orchestra from San Francisco a couple of years ago. This recommendation was seconded by Robin, Suzi, Melissa, amongst others. However, it took all this time for them to finally make it to Chicago. They played at Martyr's, one of ChiTown's premiere jamband destinations.
I saw them play a few days before on the SBC BlueRoom broadcast of Vegoose. The highlights of the show for me included Shapeshifter and a funky version of Hava Nagilla. It probably would have been hokey had everyone held hands and danced in a circle, though I really thought it'd be funny (and not the first time I would have seen it happen at a jamband show).
Afterwards, I had the opportunity to chat with the artist and they're just the nicest guys on the road. They were really looking forward to playing at Irving Plaza with Galactic. It turns out their keyboard player, Zack, is going to be very busy in the next couple of months. Besides travelling half way across the world to play in Japan, dates with Jack Johnson etc... he's recording with Jack Johnson on upcoming movie: Curious George.
I loved the book growing up and I couldn't think of a better combo to portray the music than maybe a ukele and accordian combo for the soundtrack to this animated tale.

Nine Dollars to Jamaica

So I just bought me and my roomie tickets to Jamaica for a lil irie holiday!
Spirit Air has a special promotion running right now where you can fly to all of these awesome destinations for $9! That means my round trip ticket was $18 + tax & fees!!!

If anyone wants to go, drop me a line! Evry'ting will be irie!

November and Tilt

I know the weather is rarely a topic of discussion, but we're in Chicago, its November and there are leaves on the trees and they're green still. Regardless of the wet or dry weather, this is a good indicator of warmth in the system still. As disconcerning and tragic as it is to know that some people don't believe in global warming, it won't stop the planets from turning.
I believe that the jet stream is going to produce a rather wet winter for our neck of the woods. On either side of the thermacline there will be either strong cold or warm front and if you get caught in between, you'll get a volitale and wet winter.
What I don't know is how deep the heat runs into the earth. I wonder if there is any data about soil temperature at depth. The warmer the soil, the easier it is for small lil organisms to live. Little bacterium and viruses that normally would become capsulated in the winter will increase their fitness. This might be good for soil, but generally deleterious to humans. I think we'll begin to see outbreaks of new and reemerging diseases in the USA soon. This isn't a terrorist attack, it has nothing to do with God, but most likely it has to do with the weather.
How the magnetic core of the earth is doing and weather or not global warming will eventually alter the axis / tilt has yet to be pondered. What are the tetonic implications of global warming? Will it increase fault activity and magma flows? What's the weather far under our feet? I've noticed that earthquakes usually follow one another from west to east around the world, like a wave circling the planet.