“I know you know the words to this song; we love the words to this song because it’s more timely and relevant right now than it’s ever been… It was relevant in the 60’s when it was written but it seems to have grown only more relevant with the years. This song, if people sing along with us and sing it loud, maybe the rest of that world out there will hear what we’re saying tonight…” Michael McDonald at the Crest Theatre in Sacramento on Tuesday night, in preface to his encore beginning with a soulful cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On”. It was quite a night for fans of one of the great voices of his generation, as he played hits from his solo career as well as works he created with the Doobie Brothers. Special with his most recent tours is the showcase of several songs from his latest album, Wide Open, which was released in late 2017. His first studio album of all-new material in 17 years, it’s really a brilliant work and the songs are even more remarkable live in concert. If you have seen Michael McDonald in concert in the past, it is well worth turning out for this current tour just to hear some of the new songs. Fantastic show. [Read more…]
Travel Photo/Video Journal Editorial: My Experience on United Airlines Flight 959 (London/Heathrow to Chicago/O’Hare) August 27, 2012; Emergency Landing With Engine Problem/One Engine Out/”Surge”
This is my personal account as a passenger on United Flight 959 on Monday, August 27, 2012, scheduled for travel from London at Heathrow Airport (LHR) to Chicago at O’Hare Airport (ORD), where I would have boarded a connecting flight back home to Sacramento (SMF). After departing from London, the plane experienced equipment malfunctions related to engine problems, and returned to Heathrow for an emergency landing, utilizing just one of two engines, after which the landing gear reportedly caught fire (though there are conflicting accounts on this) on the runway and the landing gear and overheated engines were extinguished by ground crew. A harrowing experience, and one of the only news stories that I could find about this specific incident lacked details, included one photo, and had a one line statement from a United spokesperson (“United Airlines’ flight UA959 bound for Chicago returned to Heathrow on Monday after experiencing an unexpected engine surge; [t]he aircraft landed safely and without incident“). I thought it would be appropriate to memorialize the experience from the point of view of a passenger on the aircraft. According to international news reports, this flight was the third in ten days that had engine problems resulting in emergency landings for the carrier. [Read more…]