No taxation with obfuscation!

The Economist describes the experience of various countries that have implemented a flat tax rate. After having to complete federal, MA, and CA returns (finishing the last this morning) I certainly find the simplication that the flat tax offers very appealling. The CA form I found not prohibitively complicated, but much much more complicated that it perhaps could have been (Q: Is the income in CA earned by those turning people in via criminal hotlines large enough that it has to be an item in the instructions?). I'm certainly not qualified to muse upon the relative merits and drawbacks of such a tax program, but I suspect it has no chance here in the US. For one thing, some segment of the population would end up paying more than they used to, resulting in much wailing and gnashing of teeth. In addition, the other people involved in the tax system (besides the payers, of course) such as the IRS bureacracy, accountants, and lawyers, would not accept their likely reduced role quietly.

Live shows

The live music list at Uncertain Principles got me thinking about shows that I've attended. At one point I had written down a running list but God knows where it is now so it's likely I've forgotten a few. Like the list at Uncertain Priciples, this one has a distinctive Capital District/Berkshire County flavor (the dates run from 1989 to 2004). Noteworthy is the fact that during this time the foul business of naming rights started to become popular as the Knickerbocker Arena is now Pepsi Arena and Great Woods is now the Tweeter Center (for all I know these could be different now):

- Iron Maiden, Ace Frehley (RPI Fieldhouse) My first concert. I was a big Maiden fan in high school and my ears rang for days afterwords.
- AC/DC (Springfield Civic Center) This was sometime in the late 80's, early 90's. I hesitate to mention it, but it may help to date it if I state that White Lion opened for them. So yes, I've seen White Lion live.
- B.B. King, John Mayall (Lenox Music Center)
I'm not sure this place exists anymore. B.B. kicked ass. I remember this big huge guy slept through all of John Mayall and instantly awoke when B.B. came on.
- Rush (Knickerbocker Arena)
I was also a big Rush fan in high school.
- Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam (RPI Fieldhouse)
I was there to see the RHCP and had never heard of Smashing Pumpkins or of the unbilled opening act (whom I later found out was Pearl Jam). Great show.
- Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Bim Skala Bim (Siena College)
Few styles beat ska for pure live fun.
- Alice in Chains, Rage Against the Machine, Fishbone, Primus, Tool, Arrested Development, et al. (somewhere in Rhode Island)
Awesome day. Hotter than hell, but a hell of a time. During Fishbone, some guy was pushed from behind into me and his two front teeth hit me right in the forehead. He seemed fine, but I got a nice little gash.
- Arrested Development, Peter Gabriel, Live, et al. (SPAC)
No strong opinions about this show. It was a nice sunny summer day at SPAC though.
- Blues Traveler, Phish, Allman Brothers (SPAC)
Allmans kicked ass (although my appreciation was um, chemically enhanced)
- Grateful Dead (Knickerbocker Arena)
My one and only time seeing the Dead. It was miserable and raining outside the arena and my glasses happened to break before we went in. We had seats in the back on the upper deck and I couldn't see anything clearly. It occasionally helped when I held my left lens up to my eye like a monacle.
- Sonny Rollins (Troy Music Hall)
My first live jazz show, and for that you can't do much better than Sonny.
- Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Parliament Funkadelic, et al. (Some racetrack in Saratoga)
For some reason, I can't remember the other bands. P-Funk was well, seriously funky.
- Metallica, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Primus, Santana, Green Day, Allman Brothers, Bob Dylan, Henry Rollins, et al. (Woodstock '94)
Surely there are some bands I'm forgetting mostly due to the fact that there were so many of them, and also due to my lack of sleep. Primus, Santana, and the RHCP stick in my mind as being especially good times.
- Ornette Coleman (Berklee College)
Ornette with his Prime Time band.
- Ani DiFranco (Great Woods)
Not really a big fan, Ani but played with a kick-ass brass band.
- Fishbone, Maceo Parker (The Roxy)
Funk heaven.
- Junior Brown (Johnny D's)
Good stuff. Highly recommended.
- Iron Maiden, Dio, Motorhead (Worcester Centrum)
Coming full circle, my brother and I couldn't resist this one. We came a bit late and just missed Lemmy. Maiden still rocked.

Perfect day at Fenway

No way was I going to miss the Sox home opener, so I plunked down $15 for a month of MLB.TV which allows for online viewing of the games. Sunday in Boston was gorgeous and from my computer here in Berkeley looked just as good today. The opening ceremony that included the presentation of the World Series rings and the hoisting of the banner was particularly sweet. Some random thoughts and favorite moments:

- Nice to see Dave Roberts and Derek Lowe make the trip.
- It would have been nice to see Pedro.
- No Theo?
- When Johnny Pesky came out last, got his ring, and hugged each of the previous recipients who were lined up, it was getting a "little dusty" in the office.
- The less said about the song by the "Boston Balladeer" the better.
- Nice to see Sox of old around the center field banner and Pesky and Yaz hoist it.
- Classy shot of Yankees in the dugout applauding and Torre tipping his cap to Francona.
- Not sure if it's the usual order, but when the Yankees were introduced, the batboy came out first and was booed lustily. Sweet.
- Torre received well-deserved applause.
- Rivera receieved well-deserved sarcastic applause and being a good sport, laughed and tipped his cap
- During the moment of silence for Dick Radatz, some jackass yelled "A-Rod, you suck". Nice.
- The purely instrumental National Anthem is almost always prefered to the vocal.
- To top it off, the Sox crushed the Yankees.
- Wish I could have been there...