I know this to be the case because I happened to have tickets for Joni Mitchell that night at Pine Knob.

You can trust me on this one when I tell you that the crowd was ready.

 Under normal circumstances, I would have never gone out and bought myself a ticket to a Joni Mitchell show but ..... there was this girl .....

 Anyway, I was completely unprepared for a band that rocked as hard as Tom Scott and the LA Express.

To this day, Court and Spark remains one of my all time favorite records.

Do what you want, but my best advice to you would be ..... crank it.

Apologies for the crap resolution, the great version of this performance has disappeared from the internet.

He bought a 57 Biscaine, he put it in a ditch.

Drank up all the rest that sonofabitch.

Thanks to everyone who sent this story through, especially to Don D. who had the source, Trim Tabs Investment Research, which impressed us around here to no end.

As always, click on the photo.

Welfare State: Handouts Make Up One-Third of U.S. Wages

By: John Melloy Executive Producer, Fast Money

Government payouts—including Social Security,Medicare and unemployment insurance—make up more than a third of total wages and salaries of the U.S. population, a record figure that will only increase if action isn’t taken before the majority of Baby Boomers enter retirement.

So anyway, the above story reminded me about a Joni Mitchell interview Mary? had sent in a while back that I had been unable to find a place for.

It takes a couple minutes to get to the tie in, but she tells a good story, is still pretty easy to look at, and has a surprising take on the condition of American society.

Hang in there for it.

As an aside, Charlie Rose consistently does outstanding interviews with people from everywhere.