See him play the protest song on TV to honor John Hammond
Bob Dylan was more than a decade past his protest-song period when he came across Rubin "Hurricane" Carter's book The Sixteenth Round: From Number 1 Contender to Number 45472
in the summer of 1975. Carter was a middleweight boxer that was
arrested in 1966 and charged with a murder that he almost certainly
didn't commit. The book moved Dylan deeply and he went out to go visit
Carter at prison in Trenton, New Jersey.
"I left knowing one thing," said Dylan. "That
this man's philosophy and my philosophy were running on the same road,
and you don't meet too many people like that. I took notes because I
wasn't aware of all the facts and I thought maybe sometime I could
condense it down and put it into a song."
1st) More celebs reading mean tweets about themselves...
In a related story, Sofia Vergara is now my favorite actress
2nd) Bad Lip Reading returns! And this time.. they're taking on American Idol
First of all, didn't realize Idol was still on the air. But judging by the dude who won, can't imagine it will be on much longer. Also, in the interest of full disclosure, I couldn't even make it through this entire video, because a video making fun of American Idol is still a video of American Idol, amirite? 5. Where Are They Now? 80's Edition! (Aka, the mother of all Where Are They Nows!) I have to say, I was drawn to this link by the tease of Sloan Peterson, of Ferris Bueller fame..because I had always wondered what happened to her? She was probably my first crush, as I watched that movie dozens if not hundreds of times.. and I never saw her in anything again. So, finally, after decades of wondering what had become of poor Sloan, was she even alive.. I have found my answer. And the results are oh so depressing..
Oh, Sloan! Why! Whyyyyy... I feel like my entire youth was a lie! Can we just go back in time and pretend we never saw this.. Quick..watch this..
Phew! Okay, I think I've calmed down. The good news.. this guy stayed true to himself...
Never change, Arvid... Never change.
(Also note: I made it through all 100 of those slides on that slideshow.. yes, I am a loser)
6. Twitter Update of the Week
I just recently found my way to Samuel L Jackson's account.. and not a moment too soon.. because I was able to see this magnificent update...
I can neither confirm, nor deny, if I have started following @AssBible as well.. you'll have to investigate that on your own...
The good folks over at Priceonomics recently published
a very long, leaked list of the fees some of the world's favorite bands
and pop stars charge for a concert appearance. While scanning over it,
my heart sank a little. Not only does Macklemore have a Grammy that, by
all rights, should belong to Kendrick Lamar,
he also appears to earn substantially more than Lamar at gigs, with an
asking price of between $200,000–$300,000, versus a minimum of $150,000
for Lamar.
9. In His Defense
Can ya blame him?Lentils? For Dinner? WTF. You're in America now honey.
A Pakistani immigrant beat his wife to death in their Brooklyn home
after she made the mistake of cooking him lentils for dinner instead of
the hearty meal of goat meat that he craved, according to court papers.
Noor Hussain, 75, was so outraged over the vegetarian fare that he
pummeled his wife, Nazar Hussain, 66, with a stick until she was a
“bloody mess,” according to prosecutors and court papers.
“Defendant asked [his wife] to cook goat and [his wife] said she made
something else,” the court papers indicated as Hussain’s murder trial
opened on Wednesday.
“The conversation got louder and [his wife] disrespected defendant by
cursing at defendant and saying motherf- -ker, and . . . defendant took
a wooden stick and hit her with it on her arm and mouth.”
To say I've been pumping this song at a rapid clip, would be an understatement. I may or may not have converted this to an mp3 and been rocking it everywhere I go.. I can't say for sure. All I know is, this jam is the greatest thing to hit the internet since this.
The folks over at Postmodern Jukebox have a knack for reimagining old standards in new ways, but their latest cover is especially delightful: a rendition of the DuckTales theme song, spiced up with some masterful vocals and a sensual, slowed-down backing band.
The cover is part of the group's Saturday Morning Slow Jam series,
which takes old-school cartoon songs and infuses them with '90s R&B.
And if their take on DuckTales isn’t enough for your daily nostalgia fix, check out their version of the Pokemon theme.
2. Wildfires Out.. Guns Out
Hey give him credit, he saw an opportunity and took it.. however misguided it may have been...
A shirtless man carrying a small dog did not seem very concerned
about the wildfire about to consume his neighborhood in Rancho
Cucamonga, Calif. Wednesday, but he was on the prowl for a date. When
KTLA reporter (and former Fox News correspondent) Courtney Friel asked him if her lived in the area, he responded, “Wow, you’re super pretty. Wanna go on a date sometime?”
Reminding the man he was live on the air, Friel pushed forward
without missing a beat, asking him if he’s going to evacuate his home.
“I was just checking out the fire,” he said, implying no intentions of leaving the area.
“What do you think of it?” Friel asked.
“It’s pretty cool,” he replied.
Watch video below, via KTLA:
3. Behind the (Plantation) Scenes
There's not only audio leaking of Donald Sterling, but someone's released some video of him harassing employees in his office. Shocking stuff.. take a look..
4. For Adults Only
It's a constant running gag (no pun intended) but porn parodies of real movies are indeed a real thing.. and the titles are better than anything we, or the simpsons could make up (Though I will always love "Stardust Mammories")
These magazine ads, via artist Mitch O’Connell, show us the kind of thing feminism was up against.
From the Detroit News.
An advert for Holiday Inn.
Tell that to Kobe...
6. Nerd Alert
As you may or may not have heard, the cast of the new Star Wars was announced... and yes, this guy will be in it. (hey, who said Jedi's can't be fat). But did you know they're also holding auditions for a new Cantina band? Sadly, Dog and Saw did not get an invite..
7. Whoa, Heavy.
We need to expand this series to other forms of music.. Let me be the first to petition for gangsta rap.
Who could more eloquently express the goring of a person
other than a heavy metal artist? Who could so perfectly capture the true
essence and beauty of human suffering and pain?
Luckily, Metal Outlaw TV is here to highlight the lyrical grace of metal.
8. They were speaking another language, I think it was, Asian?
In his defense, some of Rupert Murdoch's best friends are Asian..
Rick Phillips of the Korean Cultural Center in Los Angeles has sent three letters to Fox News with a question about a news segment regarding the sinking of a ferry in South Korea, which left about 260 dead. Like other outlets, Fox rushed to document the ins and outs of the accident, including the mourners who lost loved ones.
On April 25, the Korean Cultural Center, an auxiliary of the Consulate
General of the Republic of Korea, got a call from a Korean reporter for a
Los Angeles TV station, asking whether they’d seen this footage.
Phillips had a look. His reaction: “I lived in Korea for five years and I
was just like, ‘Wow, man, I have no idea why they’re doing this,’ ” he
says. “They used footage of random sad Asians instead of going to
Korea.” The blog IamKoream.com picked up the story.
Here’s a screenshot of a woman in the Fox News report (Note: The link to the video now redirects to another story):
If you've seen one sad Asian, you've seen them all.
This guy would be proud..
9. When Journalists Attack
Seriously, how come this never happens in the U.S. You know Al Roker is just dying to beat the shut out of Matt Lauer..
AMMAN, Jordan — Two journalists in Jordan having a televised debate
about the civil war in neighboring Syria literally turned — and
overturned — the table on each other during an on-air brawl. The
speakers broke apart the studio’s table they had been seated at in an
attempt to fight each other.
The program aired Tuesday on the Seven Stars satellite television
channel. It featured journalists Shaker al-Johari and Mohammad
al-Jayousi talking about the 3-year-old war pitting rebels against
President Bashar Assad’s government, a conflict which activists say has
killed more than 150,000 people.
However, the debate fell apart as al-Jayousi accused al-Johari of
supporting the Syrian rebels. Al-Johari then accused al-Jayousi of
taking money for supporting Assad. The two men fought each other and
pulled the table apart in their scuffle.
10. Fun With Google
In case you needed further evidence that the internet is a rough place..
Would you have sex with a robot? If you answered yes, you’re not alone.
Forget
raging against the machine: Some people would rather get nasty with it
instead. A new survey has found that one in five U.K.-dwellers would be
willing to have sex with robots, marking something of a leap in the
realm of digitized romance.
Over 2,000 people were quizzed on their attitudes toward
androids—with less than favorable results. Forty-six percent of
participants said they felt that technology was progressing too quickly,
while a third expressed fears that automatons posed a serious threat to
humanity. The same number also believed that robots may soon replace
key jobs, including those of soldiers, cops and teachers.
It's just the audio, but since yesterday is the anniversary of one of the greatest concerts in history, let's take a stroll down mammory lane, shall we?
The Grateful Dead's May 8, 1977 performance at Barton Hall on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, NY is just one of many powerful shows the band laid down that spring. Yet, when a high-quality recording of the show surfaced in 1985 and was spread quickly amongst fans, it rose to towards the top of the list of the most famous shows in Grateful Dead history. Today, 37 years to the day later, and after hundreds of crispy recordings of Dead shows have circulated, it still remains a fan-favorite.
The late Dick Latvala, the Grateful Dead's first official archivist, was a huge fan of
Cornell '77. As noted by Nicolas Meriwether of the Grateful Dead archive, Latvala
wrote
this in his journal just based off an audience recording, “After a few hearings I remain
pretty convinced that this is the best show I’ve yet heard from the 1977 tour. Of course,
there are shows where they excel on some of the above tunes, but overall, I haven’t heard
a finer show. Every song is done well and what is extremely nice is that they put extra
charge into some of their age-old standards that usually always sound the same. The jam
that ends the second set is outstanding. It has to be one of the best 'Not Fade Away's
I’ve ever heard ... 'Morning Dew' was possibly the best version yet, with a burning finish
...”
When a recording of 5/8/77 was entered into the prestigious National Recording Registry of
the Library of Congress, the show gained even more fame. Unbelievably, the Grateful Dead
doesn't have a master tape of Cornell '77 in its archives, which is why it was passed up
for release on last year's May '77 box set. The great Betty Cantor-Jackson
recorded
the show and it was one of hundreds of soundboard recordings to reach fans hands in 1985
through an auction of her storage space. When asked about the status of the source tape,
current Grateful Dead legacy manager David Lemieux told
Relix, "I do not know specifically but I have heard from many people that they know
where it is and they know who has it and that’s fine. We’ve certainly made a note that
we’d love to have it back as we would with any master Grateful Dead tape that we don’t
have in the vault. But there’s really nothing we can do about it. We’re not going to pay
for our own tape. That’s one thing I don’t think we’d ever do is to pay to buy them back
and I don’t think they’ve been offered to the band in a long, long time. They know where
we are, we’re easy to find and I think it has been made clear that we would love to have
them back. Some people would just rather have the tapes in their closet than in the vault,
but that’s fine. It is what it is. Again, there’s nothing we can do, we don’t lose sleep
over it, but it is as it is."
For further reading on Cornell '77, we highly recommend Blair Jackson's essay and Meriwether's piece. With all that in mind,
here's streams of the soundboard recording via NuttyRiv3r
as well as an audience tape...
For someone as into music as myself, it was no small wonder that I had never been to the great city of New Orleans, especially for an event such as Jazzfest. And it did not disappoint. All told, we probably caught something in the neighborhood of two dozen bands, including at the festival, at various clubs around the city, at various riverboats coasting parallel to the city, and especially on the streets of the city itself. Ironically, Phish was not the best music we heard all weekend. Ironically, we left Santana early to see Public Enemy (and it could have been the best call we made all weekend). And most ironic of all, some of the best things we heard were not music at all. So without further adieu.. the top 10 things overheard at Jazzfest 2014.
10. "I wonder if this hotel has a business center?" - LD
Not something I normally hear on vacation. Especially from someone in my party. That's when I knew, dayum, we are getting old. I thought Nola was the land of NO responsibilities? This is The Big Easy, is it not?
But I digress... Day One. Before we'd even had a drip of alcohol. Just getting to the our hotel, the "historic" Prince Conti... deep in the heart of the French Quarter. Hey, it was my first time there right?
A few steps from the corner of Conti & Bourbon, close enough to the madness that you can smell it (you know that smell, right? If you've never been to Nola just think "Chinatown Alleyway." Any Chinatown will do). Anyway, tending to a work crisis back at home, LD was already planning something big for the next morning.... an early AM conference call!! Wooey! Dayum, we are getting old.
Fast forward a mere 48 hours later, and LD could be heard saying...
9. "Our new name is the Old Pussies" - LD
Yes, in just 48 short hours we'd become completely unraveled. Not because of over-drinking mind you. Because of under-drinking.. and bad oysters. Our first day in town we had Oyster dishes at two well-known, well-respected restaurants. I won't name names just to protect whichever establishment isn't to bla--- just kidding. The first one was the historic Casamentos Restaurant in the Uptown area of Nola. This was a place we had actually researched online before our trip, and read only amazing things. Like it was "not your run of the mill touristy spot", it was "the REAL New Orleans".... The Yelpers neglected to tell is it was also a spot "that you had to cut through the kitchen in order to get to the bathroom." No, seriously... this is a picture I took on my back from the bathroom.
Perhaps I should have checked that out before I ordered the Gumbo...
I do have to admit, it was delicious....
In addition we ordered two Fried Oyster Loafs. Which also looked, and tasted amazing. (Not pictured as mine was not on my plate long enough to get its photograph taken.)
So, was it Casamentos? T'would be strange for us both to randomly get a bad oyster in our individual sandwiches. I've eaten a lot of oysters in my day, with a lot of people, and I've never seen any one of them get a bad one. What are the odds we both got one in two different sandwiches? In their defense we saw a delivery guy bring in a literal truck full of fresh oysters during our meal. Several dolly's worth...
Man that pic made me so much more excited as I was taking it....
So, does this mean we got the tail end of the fresh batch from the week before? Did we get the ass end of a huge pot of Gumbo that had been sitting on the stove for a week? Did the "chef" put his hand in his ass before making our sandwiches? Should I have realized seeing a store full of the dolls from Spaulding's room from AHS: Coven on our way to the restaurant... was a bad omen?
These are questions we'll never have the answer to, but still..
Suspect #1: Cassaments. Probability? Likely.
Suspect #2.. Cochon. A classier, upper-end joint. Apparently, the name means "Pork." We still ordered Oysters. But just the "Wood Fired Oyster" appetizer. What does "wood fired" mean? Not exactly raw, not exactly cooked, not exactly a good idea either way. (Although, of course, they were delicious). We also ordered a lot of amazing dishes, including the pork bellies, pork cheeks, and pork ribs...hey, it's called "Cochon," right..
Suspect #2: Cochon. Probability? Possible. But unlikely. But still, possible. Trust no one.
Whoever the culprit, it quickly took us out of commission, with LD throwing up that night, and me almost passing out on my feet on the way to the bathroom (although in their defense...I may or may not have done that before... )
8. "That was the greatest Port-O-Potty experience of my life." -Yours Truly
Despite the setback, we soldiered on through the festival on Friday. LD lived up to her new nickname..
We caught some classic Nola style Brass Bands ...
... gave a shout out to my ancestors with the New Orleans Klezmer All-Stars (our 2nd band of the weekend that included Stanton Moore) ...
... and I carefully treaded the line between "wow, this Coors Light is refreshing" and "wow, I think I am going to throw up."
It's on a day like this that you appreciate a good Port-O-Potty experience. There I was, waiting in line in front of a sea of them. It's like one giant game of Russian Roulette. You must choose, but choose wisely. You never know what's waiting for you on the other side. So, the door in front of me opens, and a young lady walks out. Looks nice enough. No dreadlocks or armpit hair. She holds the door open for me as I enter. I, of course, already have my T-shirt up over my mouth and nose, just in case. But when I walk in ... nothing! This girl had put the seat down for me, so I didn't even have to look into the belly of the beast. And let me tell ya, having been to my fair share of music festivals, I have seen some shit go down in those toilets (pun intended). I've seen shit climb up! Literally! A pyramid of toilet paper and feminine hygiene projects poking its head through the seat like that thing in the garbage compactor in star wars...
But not this time. The top lid was shut tight, and the men's urinal on the side was almost bone dry! It wasn't clogged and backed up, with chunks of TP floating in urine like some rank bowl of egg drop soup (your welcome for striking that from your menus ; )
Hence, I walked out of a Port-O-Potty full relieved, almost refreshed. A crucial turning point in the weekend...And no, don't worry, I didn't take any pictures of the inside.
7. ((Three Way Tie/Public Enemy))
7-A) "This Ain't No Hologram" - Chuck D
Since this was quickly becoming a weekend of doing the unexpected, we made the tough call of leaving Santana's set early, to catch Public Enemy. This is always the problem at these festivals as tough decisions will need to be made... but it turned out to be one of the best calls we made all trip. First off, Santana came out on fire. He opened with Toussaint L'Overture, then went right into Black Magic Woman (the ultimate Nola song) > Gypsy Queen > Oye Como Va. Straight heat off the top from Carlos. We also caught a Guajira (my favorite Santana tune and one of my favorite basslines of all time). Then he decided to slow it down with "Maria, Maria." We were already planning on leaving early, but this seemed like the prefect time to hit it. We made our way over to the Congo stage just in time for Public Enemy's opener. LD had asked me what P.E. song I wanted to hear the most.. without hesitation I said, "911 is a joke." I mean, it doesn't get any more P.E. than that.
Sure enough, as we approached the stage,
we heard the opening notes and I knew it was on. Had no idea what to
expect since rap shows can either be awesome, or really bad. These guys
killed it. They had a live band just shredding the entire time. They busted all the classics including
one I totally forgot about, "He Got Game." I may even have to add some
of the dancing soldier's moves to my repertoire.. stay tuned. Anyway,
with all due respect to Tupac, this was not no Hologram.
7-B. "Some of us still have our slave names" - Flavor Flav Clearly, he was not talking about himself. No, he was talking about Chuck D's mom! Yes, it was apparently her birthday and they brought her out for a bow. I forget hold they said she was, but it was fuckin old. So, do they sing her happy birthday? No, they introduce her as Mrs. Ridenhour. Which is when Flav took the opportunity to make fun of Chuck Douglas Ridenhour and his momz.
7-C "Don't be a dumb M-F with a smart-ass phone" - Chuck D
Yep. He still got it.
(Editor's note: He did indeed say "M-F" and not "Motherfucker." It was after all a family friendly environment. Clearly we do not have that problem here at TDS, motherfuckers)
And while we're here...
6. "Maybe I should get a shirt that says: I practice public milk extraction" - LD
Under The Nursing Tree
Yup. Back to those dang responsibilities again. And once again, gotta give some props to LD. She not only powered through The Oyster Flu, as we dubbed it, but she kept up with her pumping schedule for our little man. While he was back at home having a grand old time with his DeeDee, his mom was making sure he'd be well fed when we got back. Whether it be at our Nursing Tree near the Fais-Do-Do stage, or on the concern field itself during the Rebirth Brass Band set. As luck would have it, Rebirth had a new album coming out that very day at Jazzfest (and so as not to leave it to luck, they kept reminding us of this fact over and over again), but anyway, they were also filming the music video for the new single. And the idea was that the audience would take a 10 second clip of the song, and upload it with the hash tags #RebirthBrassBand #MoveYourBooty
Here was my contribution, with one small modifier.. can't wait to see if this makes it into the official video.. stay tuned..
#RebirthBrassBand #MoveYourBooty #PumpYourBoobies
5. "This is New Orleans. We gonna climb it till we get to the climax!" -Treme brass band
Yes, Rebirth wasn't the only Nola institution we made sure to check out. We also caught a bit of the Treme Brass Band set in the Economy Hall Tent, which actually proved to be the most consistent source of fire at the whole festival. This was where bands marched through the crowd with their horns, followed by people with umbrellas, knee-high socks, and crazy hats. This was where the music really brought us back from the brink and where LD was actually able to stand up and dance for the first time in over a day. And incidentally, it was the perfect warm-up for a little band called, The Phish.
After TBB we made our way to the main stage and got ready for the boys (We caught the tail end of Anders Osborne, which was about what I expected). They came out strong, playing Kill Devil Falls (exactly as I predicted..obv) And they kept the energy high for the entire first set. But that was perhaps part of the problem. Being given the longest slot ever at Jazzfest (3 hours) the wide-eyed speculation among our area was that they might play for three hours straight? If that's the case, all bets are off! Special guests, long jams, crazy covers! Anything was possible.. Then they played "The Line", "Character Zero" and took a break. "The Line" woulda been great, if I was in the gospel tent.
The Line. Not the worst song on Wingsuit.
Now, don't get me wrong. We had a great time during their 2 sets. Seeing Phish anywhere, especially at Jazzfest is always amazing. We made new friends in our area, got down with our bad selves, and caught a couple nice jams (DWD in particular, which Ironically had a nice little "the Line" jam in it). But, it was still "Festival Phish", which is to say, not quite like the real thing. Perhaps it was the fact that the entire show was during daylight, which not only makes for a weird vibe, also eliminates CK-5 and the entire light show. Although, mother nature provided some dazzling displays of her own..
Can never complain when you're seeing Phish. But that doesn't stop us Phisheads from trying..
Further adding to the strangeness, we had to leave during the Hood (my favorite Phish song) in order to get to the Riverboat show on time. The boat was supposed to leave at 9pm sharp, and sail until 11, so there was no getting there late. Another of these tough decisions you have to make at Jazzfest, and another that turned out to be a great call, as that show on the Riverboat was the best set of music we saw all weekend. The lineup consisted of Oteil Burbridge (ABB) on bass, Ivan Neville (Ivan Neville) on Keys and Vocals, Eric Krasno (Soulive) and Roosevelt Collier (The Lee Boys) on Guitars, the TAB horns on horns and vocals, and of course, Nola mayor, Stanton Moore on drums (Galactic). They played a scorching two-hour set, mostly helmed by Ivan, with all sorts of Nola classics, and a smoking rendition of Cisco Kid. Definitely a great show and one of those times where our pre-planning paid off.
The morale, as always: expectations. We had zero expectations for Public Enemy and they blew our minds. Had (perhaps unreasonably) high expectations for Phish (as always) and they kinda, sorta, maybe, almost disappointed (that's as close as you will get to me ever saying anything bad about them.. and perhaps a tad strong. Phish: It's always a good decision. Even when Robert Plant is apparently one stage over and playing a set of all Zeppelin). Didn't know what to expect from the Riverboat show and we were once again blown away. So it goes.
4. "That's the funny thing about black music in the 70's" - Random dude. Overheard this as we were walking in the opposite direction at the fairgrounds, and it was killing us all weekend. What?!?! WHAT IS IT!? What's the funny thing about black music in the 70's. If you find out, please let us know. 3. "That's how cowboy get herpes" - LD
This, we do have the answer to, but I will leave that up to your imagination. Submit your guesses below, and the winner will receive something precious. My respect and adoration. 2. ((Two Way Tie/Random Shady Dudes))
2-A) "I got a horn, wanna hear?" - Shady Dude #1
Sunday night, post festival, RB and I returning to our hotel when a car blows its horn up ahead. We shake it off, and keep walking. Suddenly, we see a shady dude walking towards us. Looked kidna like he came to Nola for Phish in '96 and never left.. kinda like he was one of the Bushwackers... you remember them, right?
So, a guy who looked kinda like that is walking towards us and goes, "I got a horn, wanna hear?" And out of nowhere, he pulls a fog horn out of his ass and blows it in our face. Yup, only in New Orleans.
2-B) "When I was in school, my teacher told a Mexican midget: 'you too small to be an essay' " - Shady Dude #2 Another random dude walking by us that night. And no, I didn't get a good look at him, because, well, duh. 1. "We can make a rape pic in the ass happen... might not even have to post it on facebook" - (Name Redacted)
Yup. Only in New Orleans.
Editor's note: No, it's not yours truly. I would definitely own up to something that epic. Also for the record, it was not the nice old lady sitting on her porch outside the Festival Exit, or as I called her, "The Guardian of the Beads"
