PHOTO
This is a photo taken by me looking back at our ice fishing house and John Newman's snow mobile. During this visit in the winter of 2006, I was lucky enough to have the use of one of Tom Malay's extra snow machines. On this day, John and I decided to go ice fishing despite an absolutely powerful blizzard, with temperatures hovering around 5 degrees and winds howling out of the NW at more than 25 mph.
Once out on frozen Leech Lake, I took my sled some distance from the ice house and snapped this picture. If you look very carefully, you might be able to see the horizon, separating the ice for the sky.
After taking this picture I motored back to the warmth of the ice house and within minutes caught a 30+ inch northern pike. The perch fishing wasn't fantastic this day, but it was a lot of fun being out on the lake during white-out conditions.
ALBUM
As a kid, it was just me and my younger sister. Therefore, most of the music I listened to was as a result of recommendations from friends or albums I discovered myself. One day way back in 1973, while in a record store perusing the cassette tape case (in those days cassette tapes were in locked glass cases), the tape Brain Salad Surgery by Emerson, Lake & Palmer caught my eye.
I decided to buy the tape without ever having heard a note from this particular album or from ELP, an English progressive rock band that redefined the genre. The first time I remember really listening to the tape -- start to finish, carefully -- was at my grandparents house in Jackson, Michigan sometime during the winter months. I remember thinking that this was unlike anything I'd ever heard before. It took me several listenings, and actually several years, to really appreciate the brilliance of this album -- which I eventually bought on both vinyl and CD.
I had the opportunity to see ELP at Jenison Field House on the campus of Michigan State University sometime in the mid-1970s (the exact year escapes me), but I do remember that they played Karn Evil 9 in its entirty, which is their magnum opus, not only from the Brain Salad Surgery album, but from their long and storied career as well. To this day, Brain Salad Surgery remains one of my favorite albums.
As always, if you've never heard of Emerson, Lake & Palmer or Brain Salad Surgery, here's a little taste of Karn Evil 9 recorded live. Enjoy.
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