We love the King or do we? And American Music
I’m not much of a Kings’ person, so I’ve been ignoring the King’s stuff, although I guess his address to Congress was pretty good (5 Takeaways from the King’s Historic Address to Congress). Ohh and this is the British King, not the wannabe American one (Hi, Prez!).

I’m not sure that the Beeb’s take on this is entirely correct - ‘Smiles and wonder: How the US reacted to King Charles’, but who knows. Here’s a bit:

The United States declared independence from the British crown 250 years ago - but this week, it could not get enough of it.

From the minute King Charles and Queen Camilla stepped onto the White House South Lawn, US networks dumped their standard diet of political warfare and breaking news for something rare: pure pageantry.

In a country that seems to agree on almost nothing, the British royals managed something close to a clean sweep - drawing warm receptions from both sides of a political spectrum where neutral ground is rare.

The visit came at a fraught time in US-British relations, with the White House and Downing Street at odds over the war in Iran, straining a relationship both governments insist remains unshakeable.

The reviews following the King's appearances at the White House, in Congress and in New York were warm across the political divide.

"War is Our Business, and Business is Good"

We've been waiting for more war this week. Everyone seems to think it is coming in the near term. The ceasefire has been used by all sides to prepare for the next round of destruction in western Asia. What a foolish, destructive, unpopular, war of choice, but the Emperor is mad and the empire is destined to fall. Meanwhile the EU managed to finagle it's $90B "loan" (which doesn't have to be repaid) to Ukraine to keep that war going. The object of wars today is NOT to win, but just to keep the grift machine going on the spin cycle, and don't forget the 10% for the big guy. Lots of people in positions of power are making lots of money off our wars betting on the market and directly.

Afternoon folks!

It's a triple scoop of blues this week, starting off with an album from Chicago blues piano player Pinetop Perkins, followed by a real toe-tapper of an album from John Lee Hooker and then a compilation album of lesser known but quite talented artists from a California record label. Then it's on to some blues rock from a group composed of members from The Pretty Things, The Yardbirds and Canned Heat along with Chicago harmonica and guitar player Studebaker John. Finishing off the week is an album of prog rock from Gentle Giant.

Enjoy the tunes and have a great weekend!