ACT NOW - Help us to Oppose Unfair Retroactive Taxes on Employee Compensation

Friends:

As you may have read, Congress is considering legislation that will impose a significant additional tax on my family and my colleagues and hurt our nation's economic recovery. I want to encourage you to contact your U.S. Senators' offices by calling 1-877-634-7783, JPMorgan Chase's toll-free line, or sending an e-mail to express your opposition to unfair and excessive taxes that will undermine our economic recovery.

Click here for a one-page document that explains this issue and how to contact your Senators (http://ex.democracydata.com/JPMorgan/200903/Take_Action.pdf).

This legislation is not only fundamentally unfair, but it will undermine recovery efforts as Washington loses focus on the real economic issues. Banks will lose top talent at a time when they need it most, which will threaten their participation in future programs to help the recovery. This legislation will also have a significant and negative impact on our community, including local charities, schools and small businesses.

The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that imposes a retroactive, 90 percent tax on year-end compensation payments at banks that received TARP funds, even those banks like JPMorgan Chase that have acted responsibly throughout the financial crisis. The Senate is considering similar legislation. While the anger and frustration over bonuses paid by AIG are understandable, it is unfair to paint all financial institutions with the same broad brush.

Here's what you can do:

Contact your Senators' offices in Washington by calling toll-free 1-877-634-7783.
Send an e-mail to your Senators. You can find information about how to locate and contact your Senators' offices website at www.senate.gov.
Thank you for your consideration and help.

David J. Przybylinski
Vice President, Conversion Manager
JPMorgan Retirement Plan Services
Asset & Wealth Management
9300 Ward Parkway
Kansas City, MO 64114

Watchmen - Movie Review

For those who don't know the story or what they are getting into seeing this film. The Watchmen is a very dark movie that takes place in an alternate reality in 1985. The Watchmen started out as a group of vigilantes starting in the 1930's and carried on under the name originally as the Minutement. Decades later they became a stronger and more powerful group including Dr. Manhattan who helped the US crush Vietnam in the the war. In the 1980's Richard Nixon now serving his 3rd term in office decides to outlaw the group. We are in a Cold War with Russia and one of the superhero vigilante's is about to lose his life.

This movie is very dark, violent and filled with a lot of blood and gore throughout. It certainly isn't one for young kids or teenagers either, but it does tell a good story with a good plot. I like films like this and to me it was pretty intense and told a good story. Yes, grim, but good.

Virtually all the actors in this film are unknows outside of maybe Carla Gugiino and Billy Cruddup. The woman who plays Silk Spectre II is the woman from Harold and Kumar Go to Whitecastle, who is married to Freakshow. She seemed familiar, but would never have known it was her.

Great acting, great special effects, good soundtrack and all a good story. I liked it and would recommend it for sure, especially to those big comic book fans.

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals - 2-27-2008 Uptown Theater

I was pretty excited that Ryan adams was coming back to Kansas City. I ended up getting a ticket from someone and it was a 3rd row center seat, big score. I had high expectations for this show. It was originally scheduled earlier and cancelled, so I figured that Ryan and the boys would put on a rockin show to make up for the missed one. Could I have evewr been further from reality.

The last few times I have seen Ryan Adams play have been some really amazing shows that went on for 2 1/2 hours playing some great songs and had some sweet jams. What we got this time is an 80 minute show with 16 songs and little interaction with the crowd and very distant in his songs. I could tell pretty early on that this one wasn't going to be like the rest. 30-40 minutes in he said we are taking a break so we can play until curfew. The Joke of the Show by John Graboff came pretty early. So there were a lot of indications that this one was going to be short like the night before.

Don't get me wrong, when they played, they sounded great. I See Monsters is fantastic. Come Pick Me Up was brilliant, Goodnight Rose had a great jam as well as Peaceful Valley. I just wanted more and it wasn't there to be had. Too bad, I really wanted a nice 30 song jam session.

Anyways, with Ryan you never know what you will get because he's an odd duck. If he gets a bad monitor or "Ringing" in his ears, you rest assure that you will not being seeing him for long. If the crowd is off or anything, he will throw a fit and be done with it. I've seen him throw a fit and still play damn near 3 hours. One time he had his head cracked openin San Diego and he jammed all night. So, you never know what you will get, but enjoy what you do. He is pretty awesome!


Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
Uptown Theater
Kansas City, MO
Friday, February 27, 2009

SETLIST:

On stage: 8:42 CST

I See Monsters
Everybody Knows
Fix It
Let it Ride
Two
evening joke w/ Jon Graboff
When The Stars Go Blue
Come Pick Me Up
Born Into A Light

*set break*

Wonderwall
Freeway to the Canyon
Mockingbird
Goodnight Rose
Oh My God, Whatever, Etc. (Graboff on guitar, Ryan vocals only)
Rescue Blues (Graboff on guitar, Ryan to piano midway through song)
Peaceful Valley
Bartering Lines

off stage: "before 10:15"

The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman - Review

Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book is a fantastic book for not only young readers, but for adults like myself as well. The story is about a young boy whose family is murdered and he alone survives and wanders into the graveyard and is taken in by some of it's residents. Without a name, the Owens family decides to name him Nobody. Nobody's parent of course are dead if you haven't figured that out yet. The man who killed the family is not done and will one day try to find Nobody and kill him as well. So he is protected and will grow up in the graveyard until he is old enough to go on his own.

You would think with the brutal murder of his family and the premise of the book that this might not be a story for kids. I would say it's just perfect and will give them a well rounded reading. You learn a lot about what Nobody can do in his almost magical world and what happens when he strays to the world outside. It makes you use your imagination and you draw your own images of this place in your head. when this book becomes a movie, I'm not sure if it will hit the vision I have in my head, but something tells me it will.

This is a brilliantly told story and I'm happy to have the opportunity to read it. It was an NPR story that intriged me to go out and get it. I couldn't find it anywhere I went. Barnes and Noble, Target & Walmart all out. I went to Borders and after spending 20 minutes looking everywhere I asked and they had one copy left in an obscure place I never would have looked. So now I have my copy and ready to read. Since reading this book about two months back, I stopped by Barnes and Noble last week and there were at least 50 copies and a display. Not sure if it was Coraline or the awards it's winning, but very happy to see picking up on sales. i believe it spent the last 6 weeks in the top or 2nd spot on the NY Times Best Seller List.

I don't want to give anything away about the story plot other than Bod is living in the graveyard to be protected from the man, Jack, who is still looking for him. all the different ghosts and humans that Bod come across over the course of the book teach him new things and have him questioning and eager to find out more.

You could pick this book up in and not want to put it down. The good thing is that it reads easy and you can finish it in a day or two. The bad thing is that you can finish in a day or two.

I have yet to see or read Coraline, but something tells me it will be a great read and a great film to see.

Pick up The Graveyard Book and enjoy it for yourself and read it to your kids as it's a fun story and enjoyable for the whole family.

Joe Purdy - Last Clock On the Wall - CD Review

I first heard Joe Purdy as he opened up for Edie Brickell & New Bohemians in 2006 at The Belly Up in Solana Beach, CA. I had met him briefly outside and talked to him, but knew nothing of his music. I went in and as he got started playing with one other person, I found his voice and the style of music to be pretty cool. He comes from Arkansas, but has slowly developed a pretty good following in both the US and in the UK as well. He's certainly an accoustic folk style adding all sorts of instruments to the mix. Hard to compare him to anyone as to me it's unique.

Last Clock On the Wall was release on Tuesday and is available at his site for download in MP3 320bps format for $9.99. Check it out at www.joepurdy.com if you want to sample the cd and buy it.

Once again a good mix of instruments to compliment Joe's voice on this one. It starts off with a nice number called "Let Me Sing to You". Good catchy tune with some banjo and violin playing in it. Mellow as always, but a good song. "Brown Suits and Cadillacs" had Joe dominating the start with his soulful voice and keeps it going. The title song "Clock Clock On the Wall" kicks off with a little harmonica and a simple drum beat with a slide guitar. Again, a nice song on the mellow fashion of JP.

His style stays a lot the same throughout the cd but does add different flavor to different songs. "Been Up So Long" Kicks off with a nice piano beat and has Joe singing the typical ballad style he does. as you listen to his different cds, you find a simular style, but all songs really grow on you.

Downloading the CD directly from Joe's site includes a couple of bonus songs "Don't Leave Soon" and "Soldier". Both fall in line with the Acoustic Folk sound of Joes music. Good additions to get for sure.

If you like what you hear sampling Joe's music on his site, I would highly recommend getting "Paris In the Morning" and "Canyon Joe" those are my two favorites of his. Have a listen to Joe Purdy, he will grow on you for sure. Check him out live as well, he puts on a good performance.

Track Listing:

Let Me Sing To You
Brown Suits and Cadillacs
The Last Clock On the Wall
Been Up So Long
Dead End Kids
Dress Is Too Long
Miss Me
Death of a Maiden
School Teachers Blues
Too Young
Don't Leave Soon (Bonus Track)
Soldier (Bonus Track)

The Doctors New Companion?

Could this be the first picture of the Doctor and his Companion

It is rumored that Skins actress Hannay Murray may be the next companion of the Doctor. Tune in to see if it's true or not.

U2 - No Line on the Horizon - CD Review

So we once again have a new U2 CD and it certainly takes a different path like the rest of their CDs have in the pst. They have been quite innovative over the years and it's always refreshing to hear a new one from them.

This one mixes it up from some more rockin type of stuff to the ballad type mellow stuff inbetween. No Line On The Horizon starts us off with a pretty cool song jamming out. Somewhat starting off with a little more of the typical U2 sound from older, but changes it up quickly. It's a nice tune and didn't take long to know I would like it.

Magnificent starts off with that melodic style of some of their music, more electronic style sounding and then the drums kick in and guitar and the rest. Nice upbeat tune that has a lot of the old qualities of a Joshua Tree style and some mix of before stuff.

Moment of Surrender is a ballad type more mellow song fitting in with someof the more recent styles. It's a nice sounds, Bono starts out sort og shouting and brings it back down to a nice soulful sound. It's a little slow over all, but still a good one.

Unknown Caller is another slower song that starts off with some mellow beats and then moves into a little more of a moving song. Bono has some backing on this one and at times makes me feel like I'm listing to one of those English bands from the eighties or something. Still it has a different sound in ways than anything they have done before. Not my favorite on the CD, but not horrible.

I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight reminds me of a song by another band, just can't place it at the moment. Good song with Bono being as soulful as he always it. Nice backing and overall a good one.

Get On Your Boots seems to start off like it's going to be this rocking tune, but get's a little weird witht he whole "Sexy Boots" thing. This one will certainly take some getting used to for me. It was the original release from the band and I'm still trying to like it.

Stand Up Comedy is a nice funky little tune with a good beat and keeps it rocking through. For a moment there I thought I was listening to a Filight of the Conchords tune the way they did a little vocal section. But seriously it's a really killer tune and really rocks.

FEZ-Being Born starts off with about 2 minutes of instrumental before getting into the song itself. Has a lot of characteristics of a typical U2 song and it's pretty cool. some piano/keys along with The Edge jamming it out gives it a pretty cool sound. I really like this song overall.

The next song is White as Snow, which starts off with a slow piano playing and then we get some silence then Bono singing with a soft background sound. Pretty mellow tune but really nice with Bono hitting some nice notes through it and again a noce guitar song typical of The Edge. Sweet little ballad song.

Breathe has Bono starting it off with a nice little beat, the song is very typical of the U2 style over the years and is more of that story mode style song. Pretty cool and another neat one.

Cedars of Lebenon starts off with a soft guitar sound and kicks into a mellow Bono singing. Could be one of those songs you see Bono sitting in a pub with a smoke just telling the soft story. The stong stays soft and melodic throughout and is a nice finish to the CD.

Overall pretty cools stuff. I haven't watched the download movie that comes with the deluxe version yet, but may add to the review once I do.

Track Listing:

1. No Line On The Horizon 4:12
2. Magnificent 5:24
3. Moment Of Surrender 7:24
4. Unknown Caller 6:03
5. I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight 4:14
6. Get On Your Boots 3:25
7. Stand Up Comedy 3:45
8. FEZ-Being Born 5:17
9. White As Snow 4:41
10. Breathe 5:00
11. Cedars Of Lebanon 4:13