This post is a little bit late going up tonight, but I have a good explanation for that that I’ll share before we get to the main subject matter. I was wrapping up work last week, when I saw a Twitter update from acmaurer about bacon cinnamon rolls!

I immediately jumped to the link, and knew that I had to make them! I sent the link to several co-workers, all of whom reacted quickly with immediate disgust.

By the time I got to hanging out with my friend Pat this past weekend, I had talked to about 10 people, and all of them had said “no way.” Knowing that Pat is quite a foodie, I was curious for his reaction, and he immediately said “oh YEAH!” and proceeded to tell me about a place that serves bacon ice cream.

I’ll draw the line at bacon ice cream.

Can’t do that one.

But I was on board with bacon cinnamon rolls – got the supplies tonight, and made up a batch. I’m not going to say that it was the best thing I’ve ever eaten, but it wasn’t gross, and I dug the combination.

People eat pancakes and sausage together, so bacon and cinnamon rolls should be no problem, right?

That’s my thought.

Anyway!

I’ve had some Bruce related items building over the past few days, and I’ll share them all with you guys right here, right now:

First up, good wishes to E Street guitarist Nils Lofgren, who announced that he is having double hip replacement (Yow!) surgery tomorrow (9/30) in New York City:

Due to a long, beautiful life on the road (40 years) that’s included back flips with guitars, dive rolls, leaping off drum risers and trying to break stage floors with pounding legs due to the amazing energy I gratefully continue to get from you, the audience, in addition to thousands of hours playing aggressive basketball, (my favorite sport to play) on mostly cement, city courts, I have finally destroyed both of my hips and they are both bone on bone with no cartilage left. Thus , I am headed to NYC with my fabulous wife Amy to have bi-lateral hip replacement this Tuesday, Sept. 30th (both hips completely replaced). Although I am understandably nervous, it is a hugely successful surgery and I have a great surgeon in a great hospital so I should come through it fine. We certainly would welcome your prayers and positive thoughts and will keep you posted. Amy’s offered to work with Linda in getting updates of progress to you as I go through this. God willing, it will all go well and I’ll recover completely. I hope to be back home in AZ. to continue rehabbing by late October and start more guitar lessons and writing. If all goes well, I hope I can start doing my acoustic show touring by early Spring. Anyway, right now I’m just focusing on the immediate future and would welcome your kind thoughts and prayers.

Lofgren also has a tribute to Yankee Stadium that he co-wrote with his wife Amy available for free download here.

The thought suddenly occurs to me – might Lofgren’s surgery put the Bruce/Yankee Stadium rumors on permanent ice? I guess there’s no reason why Bruce couldn’t do it with some of his traditional Jersey pals (i.e. Jon Bon Jovi, Southside, etc) but for me at least, closing down Yankee Stadium would be a lot cooler with a Bruce / E Street Band show.

Bruce @ Super Bowl

This much we know – the rumors you’ve been hearing are all true for next February: Super Bowl time will be Boss Time! If you’ve paid any attention to the news over the past 24 hours, chances are that you already know this. For the eight or nine of you that are still in the dark, here’s the word from the official press release:

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN AND THE E STREET BAND will perform in the BRIDGESTONE SUPER BOWL XLIII HALFTIME SHOW on NBC Sports at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday, February 1, the NFL announced today.

The Super Bowl halftime show is annually the most-watched musical performance. More than 148 million viewers in the U.S. watched last year’s show. The Super Bowl and halftime show will be broadcast worldwide in more than 230 countries and territories.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band join an esteemed list of recent halftime acts that includes the Rolling Stones, U2, Paul McCartney, Prince and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

My thoughts – eh, 8-12 minutes of Bruce is a cruel tease! I like the idea though that a Super Bowl appearance could be a launching pad for a 2009 Bruce tour – especially since they allegedly recorded two albums worth of material when they recorded the Magic album.

The Ghost of Tom Joad, Akron style:

captain’s dead serves up a show that I’ve always thought was one of the finer boots from Springsteen’s Ghost of Tom Joad tour, and it just happens to be a show from Springsteen’s 1996 Akron performance at E.J. Thomas Hall.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t a fan of The Ghost of Tom Joad. Skipped the Akron show, and also skipped the tour dates for Devils & Dust. Since then, I’ve come around a bit on Devils & Dust.

It’s not an anti-acoustic Springsteen thing, those two albums/tours just didn’t hit it with me, at the time.

And yet, on the right day, I really enjoy this Akron show.

Hopefully you will too!

P.S.

While we’re hanging out at captain’s dead, I’ll share another favorite show with you guys – The Grateful Dead and The Beach Boys on stage together in 1971 at the Fillmore East.

It’s every bit as good as it sounds!

The Promised Land of Legos:

Final bit ‘o Bruce for today comes via Pete @ Blogness:

This one is a very special version of “The Promised Land” for all of you Springsteen nuts that also grew up playing with Legos. Even if you grew up before they made Legos, you still need to watch this!

Be good, ya’ll!