The Black Crowes - Where it all started in 1992

On August 11, 1992, I found myself at Memorial Hall in Dayton, Ohio, with two friends to see the Black Crowes live for the first time. It was the High as the Moon Tour and we were so excited to finally get to see them. Front row stage left. The theater lit up with the little white Christmas light curtain that started to blink to the opening chords of No Speak No Slave. When the riff kicked in after about 50 seconds the curtain came up and I was never the same again...I had joined the ride...

This video isn't from that show, but a show in Europe a few months later. It conveys the exact same power I experienced live that night.

Terry Reid - Dean

Terry Reid is probably best remembered, if at all, as the guy who turned down Jimmy Page's invite to sing lead for the New Yardbirds. In the end Page found some guy named Plant and started a band called Led Zeppelin, so I guess it worked out for him. Reid released two excellent albums Terry Reid and River which have been largely forgotten. Here is a great version of Dean from the Glastonbury Fayre in 1971. (Dean was later released on River.) As you can see in the video, it is clear that Reid was a huge influence on Chris Robinson.



If you are a Joe Cocker fan and sometimes have trouble understanding his lyrics, check out this video on Minor Wisdom. "Don't you know I got a leg."

Friendly Foes Above the Falls 2008

After visiting CWH's Flyfest, we spent Sunday at the Russell Group Field attending the Friendly Foes Above the Falls show. The best way to describe this show is Geneseo Jr. A nice grass field, but you have no access to the static aircraft. In addition, the show line is quite far from the field. The Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team put on their usual good show, and there were a few really neat aircraft on display. However, clearly the highlight was a few flybys of the Lancaster, Hurricane, -109, and two Spitfires flight. After the group flybys the Lancaster did quite a few nice passes, and the fighter followed. A great way to end any airshow.

TBM-3E N9584Z/BuNo.85882 "Ida Red" in the static display area.

The Russell Group Harvard II.

One of the highlights of the show was this beautiful Meyers OTW C-FOTW.

Sadly the Russell Group Hurricane XII did not fly this year.

A selection of the Canadian Harvard Aerobatic Team at work.



The Russell Group Spitfire IX MK912/C-FFLC.

Yale RCAF 3372 C-FGIR on the takeoff roll.

And even if it is a Messerschmitt it is nice to see the Russell Group Bf-109E C-FEML in the air.


To be continued.

Canadian Warplane Heritage Flyfest 2008

As I mentioned here, Heather and I attended the CWH's Flyfest last Saturday in Hamilton. It was a great event. Highlights included catching up with Eric and Berni, and Steve, seeing the Lysander taxi, multiple flights by the Lancaster, Firefly, B-25, and of course the Lancaster, Hurricane, -109, and two Spitfire flypast. This was my first all digital airshow, and I ran into a few problems. The most major one is that I forgot to turn on my image stabilization on my lens so almost all my ground to air shots are garbage, and also it appears I've got some junk on the lens that leaves marks on the images. I hope I can get both these issues sorted out before Geneseo. Who knew going digital had such a steep learning curve?

Two shots of the newly repainted DC-3 C-GDAK.


Steve's big ride. Steve took a ride on the Dak. About my only acceptable ground to air shot of the day.
Ohhh Firefly... The Fairey Firefly AS.6 WH632/C-GBDG.


Westland Lysander III RCAF 2363 taxied around. It is hoped it will fly this year or next.


The static Buffalo restoration is coming along well. It will be painted in the markings of CAF Buffalo 115461 which was shot down over Syria in 1974 killing nine members of the CAF. The aircraft will be dedicated on August 9, 2009 (Peacekeepers Day in Canada).

T-28 C-FPUG arrives from Welland.

Cornell FV720/CF-CVT and Harvard IV RCAF 20412/C-FVMG

Harvard VMG taxis in.

Sorta Fury C-FGAT in three poses.

Sandy Thomson's Fouga NX549FM was sitting in a corner.

To be continued.

Some Favorite Non-Fiction Aviation Books

A few friends and I were discussing a few of our favorite aviation books about a week ago. I said I would post a list of some of my favorites, so here they are:

• Flight of Passage by Rinker Bunk - Two brothers rebuild a Piper Cub and fly across America during their teen years. Quite a nostalgic book and very well written.
• Flights of Passage by Samuel Hynes - Samuel Hynes is a literature professor at Princeton and it shows, as this is one of the best written books about military aviation I've ever read. Hynes flew SBDs and TBM Avengers during World War Two. A must read for any aviation fan or modeler.
• Sixty years : the RCAF and CF Air Command 1924-1984 by Larry Milberry - I got this book as a young child it and was my introduction to the Canadian military aviation history. The one that started it all. I still dip into time to time for modeling inspiration.
• The Cannibal Queen by Stephen Coonts - Coonts writes mostly fiction, but this book is his non-fiction story about barnstorming in a Stearman. A good read.
• Ragwings and Heavy Iron by Martin Caidin - One of the few books out there about flying restored warbirds. Some good stories here, though being a Caidin book you do wonder how much of it is fiction.
• Slide Rule by Nevil Shute - Before he became a writer Nevil Shute Norway was an aviation engineer. This is his autobiography up to 1938. Mr. Norway worked on the R-100 project and there is much discussion of it and R-101 in the book. A fascinating read about the early years of aviation.
• Spitfire: The Canadians by Robert Bracken - Maybe the best monograph on a single type in service with the RCAF ever. Great stories, photos, and profiles.
• Spitfire II: The Canadians by Robert Bracken - More of the above. I hope for a Spitfire III someday.
• Airman's Odyssey by Antoine de Saint-Exupery - Three of Exupery's books in one volume. Excellent stories of flying mail in the 30s, and Flight to Arras is Exupery's only wartime memoir.
• Stranger to the Ground by Richard Bach - Bach book about a flight in a F-84F in Europe. Bach writes not only about flying, but about his fears and mortality as well.

Mobile-Blogging and the CWH

We are on the road and this is attempt to mobile-blog from Canada. Isn't technology great?

Heather and I attended the Canadian Warplane Heritage's Flyfest today in Hamilton. Here are a few a few photos from the show. Expect many more later in the week.

The ramp. You don't see this kind of stuff all in one place very often.


The Lysander taxis around the ramp. Hopefully it will fly soon.


The B-25 is still Grumpy.


The money shot. The Russell Group Spitfire and Me-109, the CWH Lancaster, and the Vintage Wings of Canada Hurricane and Spitfire.

Attorney Discipline - See a Trend Here?

In two recent Attorney discipline cases, Ohio State Bar Assn. v Jackel (Slip Opinion No. 2008-Ohio-1981, 2008) and Columbus Bar Assn. V. Willette (117 Ohio St.3rd 433, 2008), the Ohio Supreme Court has again held that Ohio attorneys involved with out-of-state trust mills will be subject to suspension. The court has consistently held that assisting these out of state entities amounts to aiding nonlawyers in the unauthorized practice of law and/or sharing fees with nonlawyers. The Court is also concerned that such arrangements violate the rules against breaching attorney-client privilege. Always speak to an Elder Law or Estate Planning Attorney licensed to practice law in the State of Ohio for your estate planning needs, and I highly recommend that you avoid any out-of-state group selling trusts and/or Ohio attorneys representing these out of state entities.

CTV Buys Hockey Night in Canada Theme Song

CBC's Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday night is a Canadian institution and its theme song is iconic. However, after 40 years Hockey Night in Canada will be without its theme song. CTV, a competitor to CBC, has bought the rights to the song and will be re-arranged it for used on CTV's hockey broadcasts. While CTV would like you to think the song will live on, a little bit of Canadiana has died. Once again in the '00s we see that tradition means nothing in sports when money is involved.

CTV's news story/propaganda piece

Sports Talk and Estate Planning

Last week while driving to court, I tuned into the Jim Rome show to get a shot of sports talk radio. One commercial read by Mr. Rome caught my ear. It was a bit for Legalzoom.com speaking about avoiding probate by use of a living trust, about how simple and easy Legalzoom.com is without the high costs of an attorney. Wow, radio talk shows have made me obsolete. Well not really...

I have seen clients attempt to prepare wills and trusts without legal advice. Often they use forms found on the internet, forms purchased at office supply stores, and/or services like Legalzoom.com, or the one offered by Suzi Orman. Sometimes the documents are fine, other times they are very poorly done. In fact I once had a client come into my office with a trust that was prepared with no beneficiaries named. It would have been quite a shock if this client had died without an attorney reviewing the document. Thankfully he came into the office and I was able to prepare an appropriate estate plan for his situation.

Here are a few issues I see with these type of self help estate plans:

• We have 50 states in the U.S. and will and trust law varies in each state. So how can one standard form meet the requirements of all states? Quite simply it cannot.
• While probate is not easy in Ohio, claims of the costs and fees are overstated. Here is a direct quote from the Legalzoom.com website:

  "A living trust is not usually subject to probate, which can tie up your estate for years and consume a large portion of its value in court fees."

  In Cuyahoga County the deposit on a probate estate is $200.00. It is not unusual for fees to exceed that deposit, but not by more than double. I sure hope that $400 is not a large portion of your estate. This is one point that is not exclusive to self-help estate planners, I’ve seen attorneys advance this claim as a sales tool for living trusts as well.
• Notice the language above "not usually subject to probate?" A trust is only as good as the funding done. I wonder if these services speak about funding of the trust? I wonder if they give correct advice? For example in Ohio, your real estate must be titled to the Trustees of the Trust, not to the Trust itself. I often see this mistake made. Clients never want to hear they need to probate the estate because their trust was not funded and/or was improperly funded.
• Additionally, do the workbooks included with these self-help documents ask the right questions so that the client can prepare an appropriate plan? Does the party have a handicapped child, do their children have creditor issues, do they wish to make a distribution over time? I’m sure advice on how to deal with these problems is not considered. Cookie cutter plans work for cookie cutter lives, but how many of us lead a cookie cutter life?
• How does the self-help client determine which estate plan to choose? Do they need a trust or a will? Would a Transfer on Death Deed be a better choice for this client? Could the client do probate avoidance through other means? I hope they can make the right choice on their own.
• Finally, there is the issue that these services, and maybe even their advertising partners, are breaking Ohio law and practicing law without a license. (I did my due diligence before posting and neither Jim Rome nor Suzi Orman are licensed to practice law in Ohio.) The corporations selling these forms/plans may wish to read the recent case Ohio State Bar Assn. v. Martin (118 Ohio St.3d 119, 2008) for an example of the Supreme Court of Ohio holding that a form preparation business constitutes participation in the unauthorized practice of law. In the Martin case the Supreme Court of Ohio imposed civil fines against the owners of the business. The Supreme Court has made it abundantly clear that only attorneys are licensed to prepare trusts in Ohio and that if a non-attorney does so, they opening themselves up to fines and other sanctions.

While an experienced estate planner does not come cheap, it is money well spent. Keep in mind the old saying "You get what you pay for" before thinking you can go it alone with one of these services.

The Liberty Belle in Cleveland

Last week the B-17G "Liberty Belle" (s/n 44-85734/N817BR) was at Burke Lakefront Airport giving tours and rides. I couldn't visit during the weekend when the plane was on display, but I did do a drive-by coming back from court during the week. I forgot my camera, so I snapped this image with my phone. There is sorta a B-17 in there somewhere...

The Black Crowes - Thorn's Progress live in 1993

In May of 1992 the Black Crowes released Southern Harmony and Musical Companion. Not long after the release of the album they headed out on the High as the Moon Tour. This marked the beginning of the Black Crowes as the premier live rock'n'roll band of the 1990s. Chris Robinson on vocals and harp, Rich Robinson on rhythm guitar, Marc Ford on lead guitar, Johnny Colt on bass, and Steve Gorman on drums. Until the implosion in 1997, nobody was better. This video is from the Pink Pop Festival in Holland almost one year after the release of Southern Harmony on May 31, 1993. Pure musical bliss!

P.S.: The video claimed it is Sunflower which the band did play that night as an instrumental, but this is actually Thorn's Progress. Thorn's Progress was a jam that often lead into Thorn In My Pride. It was released as a B-Side to Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye.

Dan Bern - Black Tornado

I don't think I have ever talked about Dan Bern on this blog. If you are a music fan who likes folk music, check out Dan Bern...please. Here is Black Tornado. Sometimes it feels like my theme song.

You Are Not The (Hobby) Boss Of Me!

We were talking on one of the web modeling forums about these claims of models being built in a weekend. Since it usually takes me about 42 months to just take the parts out of the box, these claims are kind of like claims about the Lock Ness Monster. Cool things you hear about in hushed tones, with blurry pictures, but nothing that exists in your life. So I thought I would give it a try. I started this Saturday morning. It is the recent Hobby Boss 1/72 Sabre 5 ez-build kit. I got it ready for paint by Sunday night. Not done in a weekend...and it is a ez-build...but built in a weekend. It will soon turn gold. Maybe I can finish it in a week...