Monthly Archives: February 2008

E.M.D.

E.M.D. (Eat My Dust) is, for my money, David Grisman’s most paradigm-shattering tune, and made its first appearance on the 1976 David Grisman Quintet record. The mandolin parts are wonderful, but Tony Rice’s guitar break
(this one)
forever changed my conception of what the guitar could be made to do. There are several versions of the tune out there in YouTube land, each demonstrating different facets of the tune and showcasing the approaches of virtuoso players:

Grisman Quartet, early 1980s I think. Tony’s break: 1:10-1:45

Bluegrass All-Stars, with Alison Krauss. Tony’s break: 2:40-3:20 (good sound but jerky video)

Tim May and David Harvey, the tune starting after 3:30

Quote of the ummmm week

“It’s a very strange paper. There is a core that is competently done; it’s a review of the various functions of the mitochondrion, and 90% of it is useful, detailed stuff. It’s a bit outside my field, but what I could follow seemed reasonable. But then…oh, man. Every once in a while, it just goes cockeyed and throws out these incredible non sequiturs, making bizarre assertions that are unjustified by the evidence. If Norman Bates were the author of this paper, I’d be able to tell you exactly which parts he wrote while wearing a dress.”

(PZ Myers, over at Pharyngula, and thanks to Nick for calling it to my attention)