Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Happy Birthday to Dennis Hopper
Jack Nicholson and Dennis Hopper at an Academy Awards after party in Los Angeles, California, April 1970. Singer Michelle Phillips stands in the foreground. –Photo by Max Miller/Fotos International/Getty Images
Dennis Hopper left, onstage as Bob Dylan, with guitar, Arlo Guthrie, holding mike, and others perform at a benefit at Madison Square Garden in New York on May 9 , 1974, in honor of the late Chilean President Salvador Allende. In background are film director Melvin Van Peebles and singer Melanie. At right is Dave Van Ronk.
Monday, May 14, 2012
RIP Donald "Duck" Dunn at the age of 70.
Donald “Duck” Dunn, who died Sunday at age 70 in Tokyo only hours after playing his final show with longtime friend Steve Cropper, was part of one of soul music’s greatest rhythm sections.
Dunn was a self-taught bass player who had been playing in bands with Cropper since they were both in high school together in Memphis. A call from Cropper brought Dunn to Stax Records in 1964, where he become part of Booker T and the MG’s, a biracial quartet that played on some of the era’s biggest hits.
With Cropper, Dunn, keyboardist Booker T. Jones and drummer Al Jackson Jr., the MG’s were self-effacing masters of groove and melodic concision. Jackson had a habit of playing slightly behind the beat, giving the rhythm a swinging feel while building tension that would resolve with a well-placed fill by any one of the musicians, or an interjection from a vocalist. Dunn’s bass playing served the song just as selflessly, bridging melody and rhythm without ever calling attention to itself.
Though not often heralded as the singers whose names were featured on the singles and album covers, Jackson’s drums and Dunn’s bass were critical elements in virtually every track cut at Stax, including hits by Otis Redding (“I Can’t Turn You Loose”), Wilson Pickett (“In the Midnight Hour”) and Eddie Floyd (“Knock on Wood”). Dunn’s willingness to serve the song, rather than his ego, led to an endless array of job offers in the decades since he left Stax. He contributed to recordings and tours by artists including Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Muddy Waters, Eric Clapton, Rod Stewart, Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks, among others.
Dunn, like the rhythm section he served, was a largely unsung musical hero. Here are the best soul rhythm sections of all time:
Booker T. and the MG’s: The house band on countless hits for the Stax label out of Memphis, the MG’s provided a harder edged response to Motown’s more refined chart dominance during the ‘60s. The bass-drums interaction of “Duck” Dunn and Al Jackson Jr. remains the gold standard in soul.
The Funk Brothers: The Motown rhythm section during the ‘60s and ‘70s had a busier but no less potent and influential style than the MG’s, with more of a jazz background bubbling through in the playing of bassist James Jamerson and drummer Benny Benjamin.
The J.B.’s: James Brown’s backing band in the ‘70s included bassist William “Bootsy” Collins and drummer John “Jabo” Starks on the deepest funk of the singer’s career, including "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and “Super Bad.”
The Meters: Bassist George Porter Jr. and drummer Zigaboo Modeliste defined New Orleans’ funk, slicing up beats and syncopations for classic sides by the likes of Dr. John and Lee Dorsey.
Muscle Shoals: The northern Alabama town of Muscle Shoals became a soul epicenter in the ‘60s and ‘70s, thanks to the work of the studio’s peerless house band, which included bassist David Hood and drummer Roger Hawkins. Their work can be heard on hits by everyone from the Staple Singers to Paul Simon.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/turnitup/chi-donald-duck-dunn-appreciation-part-of-great-soul-rhythm-section-20120513,0,1632275.column
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
'Travel + Leisure' Lists America's Best Burger Cities of 2012
Posted by Robyn Lee, May 8, 2012 at 1:00 PM
http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2012/05/travel-and-leisure-lists-americas-best-burger-cities-of-2012.html
This month's Travel + Leisure features a list of America's 20 best burger cities as ranked by their readers from a list of 35 major cities—that is, it's not exactly a definitive list. (T+L made a list last year, too.) In case you don't feel like clicking through the slideshow, here are the rankings:
1.Providence
2.Philadelphia
3.Chicago
4.Houston
5.San Juan, P.R.
6.San Diego
7.Minneapolis/St. Paul
8.Kansas City, MO
9.New York City
10.Los Angeles
11.Denver
12.Savannah
13.Austin
14.Memphis
15.Nashville
16.Las Vegas
17.New Orleans
18.San Antonio
19.Portland, ME
20.Seattle
I'll point out that the article starts off with this gem of a quote:
How much should you pay for a great hamburger?
"The best ones fall between $10 and $20," says burger enthusiast Keith Flanagan, who's also an account executive at a New York City public relations firm. "Anything less should make a foodie question the quality, and anything more should make a foodie question the restaurant's hubris."
About the author: Robyn Lee is the editor of A Hamburger Today and takes many of the photos for Serious Eats. She'll also doodle cute stuff when necessary. Read more from Robyn at her personal food blog, The Girl Who Ate Everything.
http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/americas-best-burger-cities/1
2012 Giro d'Italia, 5 Day Status, Christian Vande Velde in 8 place
Rider Team Time
1 Ramūnas Navardauskas (LTU) Garmin-Barracuda 14h 45' 13"
2 Robert Hunter (RSA) Garmin-Barracuda + 5"
3 Ryder Hesjedal (CAN) Garmin-Barracuda + 11"
4 Matthew Goss (AUS) Orica-GreenEDGE + 13"
5 Mark Cavendish (GBR) Team Sky + 14"
6 Geraint Thomas (GBR) Team Sky + 16"
7 Manuele Boaro (ITA) Team Saxo Bank + 19"
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin-Barracuda + 26"
9 Joaquim Rodriguez (ESP) Team Katusha + 30"
10 Alexander Kristoff (NOR) Team Katusha + 30"
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Kane Allegedly Choked A Girl, Uttered Anti-Semitic Comments In Madison
Here are eye-witness reports submitted to DeadSpin.
I was at a frat last Saturday where Patrick Kane spent a lot of his day before going to the KK. He was really enjoying himself there and thought he would get a little friendly with a young lady. Kaner thought it would be a good idea to choke a girl, like both hands around the throat choking. She immediately freaked out and started screaming, which drew a lot of attention. He was immediately thrown out by the frat boys and thats when he probably went to the KK, which is right down the street from frat row.
I was at the frat party Pat Kane attended on Saturday afternoon. First off, he wasn’t even supposed to be there, he had been hooking up with the frat president’s girlfriend, a junior, over the past year, and had even gone so far as to jet her around the country. Despite this, he showed up anyway and proceeded to get blackout drunk. Later, he relentlessly began hitting on a girl who wanted nothing to do with him—his response to this denial, attempt to choke her, which is what ultimately got him booted.
Later in the day around 5:30 pm he got in a confrontation with a group of guys over a some supposed anti-Semitic comments he made towards one of the other guys. I was working at the door and they were talking to each other in front of me and across the street. I couldn’t really hear what was being said but it looked like a fight was going to break out but the cops showed up and threatened to arrest Kane and then he walked away.
http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/05/10/kane-allegedly-choked-a-girl-uttered-anti-semitic-comments-in-madison/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=email_top&utm_campaign=301877
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
To Bowen........Top 25 cities for hip-hop
****Now you know why Ryan & Dwight left you, They wanted to upgrade.
If you're looking to follow the roots of a genre, you may want to hit the scenes at these locales around the world to hear the next great artist in hip-hop, per Vibe Magazine.
1. New York City, New York
Rappers Who Rep: LL Cool J, Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G., Nicki Minaj, 50 Cent, Nas, Run DMC, Rakim…
City Anthem: Jay-Z Feat. Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind”
Unofficial Mayor: Jay-Z
Why It’s Important: Back in 2003, when small town N.C. lyricist J. Cole had merely a dollar and a dream, he enrolled in St. John's University—not Clark Atlanta or UCLA—for a shot at real-lifing his rap aspirations in New York. And why not relocate to hip-hop's most storied city? Justifying why the Rotten Apple reigns the rap map doesn’t really take much explanation: New York mothered this shit (not to mention DJing, graffiti and breakdancing). And since, the city has steered the hip-hop ship for the greater portion of the culture’s 30-plus years. Whether you’re talking iconic masterpiece albums (Nas’ Illmatic, Biggie’s Ready to Die), fashion (Rev. Run’s shell toe Adidas, Fabolous’ Mitchell & Ness collection), deep crews (Wu-Tang, Boot Camp Click), or dances (b-boying, Harlem Shake), all were hatched within the five boroughs. Sure NYC has taken a back seat in the past decade, but even without new jacks like A$AP Rocky and Azealia Banks stepping up, New York will forever stand as hip-hop’s capital city.
2. Atlanta, Georgia
3. Los Angeles, California
4. New Orleans, Louisiana
5. Houston, Texas
6. Chicago, Illinois
Rappers Who Rep: Kanye West, Common, Twista, Lupe Fiasco, Rhymefest, Cool Kids
City Anthem: Common “Chi City”
Unofficial Mayor: Kanye West
Why It’s Important: The Windy City has been dictating the currents of rap since the ’90s when Chicago MCs like Twista converted their hood raps into national hype. Some could argue that Common Sense unveiled the South Side sound after dusting off the ’70s soul and funk samples—“I Used To Love H.E.R.,” etc.—pairing it with working class lyricism. Yet, no one’s put the city on his back more than Kanye, who brought his quirky Chicago-isms to the mainstream. Lately, Lupe Fiasco occupies the streets just as much as he occupies pop charts, while up-and-comers Rockie Fresh and Cool Kids’ own Mikey Rocks are still building on the Chi’s rep as a hip-hop hot spot.
7. Detroit, Michigan
8. Miami, Florida
9. The Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland, and Vallejo)
10. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
11. Virginia Beach, Virginia
12. Newark, New Jersey
13. Cleveland, Ohio
14. Tokyo, Japan
15. Memphis, Tennessee
16. St. Louis, Missouri
17. London, England
18. Washington, D.C./Baltimore area
19. Toronto, Canada
20. Austin, Texas
21. Jackson, Mississippi
22. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
23. Kansas City, Kansas
24. Boston, Massachusetts
25. Amsterdam, Netherlands
http://www.vibe.com/photo-gallery/represent-represent-25-most-important-cities-hip-hop?page=26
Monday, May 7, 2012
Patrick Kane at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's annual Mifflin Street Block Party May 5, 2012.
“Here is a pic of him passed out at our best bar, the Kollege Klub.”
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, was high on marijuana in every game he played from "Little League all the way through college."
http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/7879759/dennis-oil-boyd-says-used-crack-entire-86-season
Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, who pitched eight of his 10 major league seasons with the Boston Red Sox, says he used crack cocaine every day of the 1986 season while with the Red Sox, including one day in Oakland when he smoked in the clubhouse before one of his starts and had the drug tucked in his cap while on the mound.
In an interview with ESPN's Buster Olney that appeared in an episode of "E:60" on Tuesday, Boyd said his teammates knew of his drug use during the 1986 season and that he occasionally would talk about it with team doctor and minority owner Arthur Pappas, but never was drug tested.
"I would come into the ballpark, (Pappas) would call me in the back and he ask me, 'How you feel? Did you do some last night?' And I was honest with him, 'Yes I did,' " Boyd said.
"OK. So that was my drug test, you got me? Ain't nobody made me pee in no cup."
Asked why he thinks he wasn't tested, Boyd said, "Because I was honest about what I was doing and told 'em to leave me alone and I'll be all right. I learned to deal with it myself, because not one time I've ever played baseball I'd ever pissed in a cup. Not one time. I've never been tested. In no form or no fashion.
"I'm killing myself but they loved my ability and my talent ... so they condoned it."
Boyd told of his start on May 11, 1986, at Oakland when he smoked crack before taking the mound.
"I get to the ballpark, all the ballplayers are on the field, you know, taking batting practice and everythin'. And I walk in the clubhouse and I -- I got my pipe with me.
"I can remember going and locking myself up in the bathroom and smoking some dope right there at the ballpark. I was afraid that they knew and that the clubhouse manager had smelled it, he was gonna tell on me. So I gotta get rid of it.
"I had it under the bib of my cap, inside the crease inside of the cap. And when I was warming up in the ballgame -- third, fourth inning -- it fell off my head."
I can remember going and locking myself up in the bathroom and smoking some dope right there at the ballpark. I was afraid that they knew and that the clubhouse manager had smelled it, he was gonna tell on me. So I gotta get rid of it. I had it under the bib of my cap, inside the crease inside of the cap. And when I was warming up in the ballgame -- third, fourth inning -- it fell off my head.
Boyd's violent delivery often led to his cap falling off.
"Every other pitch I pick it up, put it on. So it's one time, you know, I'm so into what I'm doing, I forgot that the dope is under my hat. So I look on the ground and I'm like, 'Damn, there's little rocks everywhere, man.' So I play it off as I'm walking back, I pick it up like -- dirt -- picking up (expletive), mashing it into the ground."
Boyd won a career-high 16 games in 1986 with a 3.78 ERA, helping the Red Sox win the American League pennant.
Boyd had been scheduled to pitch Game 7 of the 1986 World Series against the Mets in New York, the game after the infamous ground ball rolled through Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner's legs as part of the Mets' improbable comeback to tie the series, 3-3. But when the game was rained out, Red Sox manager John McNamara instead turned to left-hander Bruce Hurst, who already had beaten the Mets twice in the series.
Boyd said after McNamara told him he wasn't pitching, he went "right down the street to the crack house."
"I never forget I was dressed really, really nice and had a lot of gold on," Boyd said. "And he said, Man, you got a lot of nerve.' I said, 'I damn sure do got a lot of nerve. This is what I need. And you don't -- you don't wanna (expletive) with me.' I was very angry at the time, and could have probably gotten myself in some real trouble."
After making 35 starts in 1985 and 30 in 1986, Boyd made a total of 40 starts for the Red Sox over the next three seasons, going 13-12 with a 5.24 ERA. He signed with the Montreal Expos as a free agent before the 1990 season and was traded to the Rangers during the 1991 campaign, his last in the major leagues.
Boyd said he was introduced to alcohol when he was seven years old and was high on marijuana in every game he played from "Little League all the way through college."
Boyd pitched at Jackson State and was drafted by the Red Sox in 1980 at age 20. He said he was introduced to cocaine during winter ball in South America, and after he was called up by Boston at the end of the 1982 season, he said his habit increased. Even so, he won 12 games in 1984 and 15 in '85.
During spring training in 1986, a drug dealer introduced him to crack, he said. Boyd said he did crack every day of the '86 season and that his addiction led to him losing 40 pounds early that year.
Boyd, who was known for his flamboyance and volatility during his big league career, also said he regrets the Negro Leagues were broken up because of the loss of individuality that thrived in the leagues.
"I'm not real thankful to Jackie (Robinson) at all because I'm me, my style of baseball, the way I played it in the major leagues transpired from the Negro Leagues," said Boyd, whose father played in the Negro Leagues. "So that's why people found that I was a hot dog or I was flamboyant.
"Now the kids don't even know the ballplayers anymore, it's so commercialized. And they wonder where the black ballplayer went. Well, black ballplayers went to jail. In the last 20 years, that's where they are."
Boyd's autobiography "They Call Me Oil Can: Baseball, Drugs, and Life on the Edge" is due out in June.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
On this day in 1991..... Rickey!!!!!
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