'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm
By Baron Dave Romm
Ray Charles died on June 10, and his passing brought an outpouring of grief that rivalled that for Ronald Reagan in intensity if not hype. This biographical information comes from his site.
Born Ray Charles Robinson to a poor family in 1930, he always knew he had the music inside him. At age five, he saw his younger brother drown. At age six he slowly lost his sight and was sent to St. Augustine's, a state school for the blind. He remained in school until his mother's death. Music and the road beckoned and he travelled to Seattle, becoming a minor celebrity and taking a young Quincy Jones under his wing. He shortened his name out of deference to boxer Sugar Ray Robinson. He became the ultimate blues singer, and cross-fertilized his soulful renditions with country, jazz and pop.
After being exposed to segregation early in his career, he became a supporter of Dr. Martin Luthor King and David Ben-Gurion. The award among the hundreds he claims to have touched him the most is the Beverly Hills Lodge of B'nai Brith's tribute to its "Man of the Year" in 1976. "Even though I'm not Jewish," he explains, "and even though I'm stingy with my bread, Israel is one of the few causes I feel good about supporting. Blacks and Jews are hooked up and bound together by a common history of persecution. . . If someone besides a black ever sings the real gut bucket blues, it'll be a Jew. We both know what it's like to be someone else's footstool."
Ray Charles won many awards and was recognized across the musical spectrum. He won 12 Grammys in his time (for a listing, go to the Grammy search engine and enter Ray Charles in Artist), and received the National Medal of Arts from Bill Clinton in 1993. His Diet Pepsi ads in 1990-91 were the most popular ad campaign of 1991, and viewers ranked his commercials after the Super Bowl as first, second and fourth. He started the Robinson Foundation For Hearing Disorders in 1987 with a personal donation of $1 million, "Most people take their ears for granted," Charles remarked. "I can't. My eyes are my handicap, but my ears are my opportunity." He was one of the original inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1986.
His numerous hits are listed here, and if you follow the links some of the songs are available to for listening.
The Musical Consultant to The Muppet Show is listed as Ray Charles, but it's The OTHER Ray Charles (see entry in red near the bottom), not the blues singer, who did the music. The Ray Charles Singers were associated this two-time Emmy Award winning musician.
I confess, I was never a big fan of soul or funk, and don't have much Ray Charles in my collection. But I recognize his talent. He was clearly a genius, even if his art didn't speak to me very often. When one of his songs did appeal to me, I appreciated it all the more knowing that there was a long, difficult, journey to the music. He and his fellow musicians toured the world and they, more than any missile program, continue to show the world that America is the land of opportunity and freedom.
Thanks, Ray.
Baron Dave Romm is a conceptual artist and a noble of Ladonia with a radio show, a very weird CD collection and an ever growing list of political links. He reviews things at random for obscure web sites. You can read all his music recommendations from Bartcop-E here.
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Reader Comment
Re: Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Born in Reagan, IL, on Reagan 6, 1911
Acting Career began in Reagan, CA
Governor of the Great State of Reagan
Elected President of the United States of Reagan in 1981
Died on Reagan 5th, 2004
Funeral on Reagan 11th, in Reagan DC
Burried at the Reagan Library in Reagan, Reagan
Now residing in Reagan Hell with Richard Reagan Nixon
Charlie in Croatia
Thanks, Charlie!
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny & breezy.
A 5th kitten has appeared. Argh.
Before I forget, a big happy birthday to Jill, Marian-the-teacher's sister.
Brazilian Culture Minister Gilberto Gil (L) talks to Nane Annan, the wife of the Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, during a UNCTAD meeting in Sao Paulo June 13, 2004. Rich and poor nations will try to narrow their differences over farm trade and put global trade talks back on track when they meet in Brazil on Sunday. The four-yearly UNCTAD conference has brought together representatives of 180 nations to build exports between poor nations and fairer trade with wealthy states.
Photo by Paulo Whitaker
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Angry at Bush, Boosting Kerry
Howard Stern
Forget Al Franken. Democrats have a new champion on talk radio who they hope will counter the likes of conservative icons Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. It's shock jock Howard Stern.
Known more for crude talk of sex and lewd acts than politics or public policy, Stern has launched an on-air crusade he calls a ''jihad'' to defeat President Bush. He blames Bush for a government crackdown on his use of obscenity on the air.
And he's having an impact, apparently boosting the prospects of Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, according to a new Democratic poll released Thursday.
For a lot more, Howard Stern
Not Making Blair Film
Michael Moore
Oscar-winning documentary film maker Michael Moore says he was only joking when he suggested last week that he would make a film about British Prime Minister Tony Blair's role in the Iraq war.
A message posted on Sunday on Moore's Web site, the director of "Fahrenheit 9/11," which is highly critical of resident Bush, said Moore is not making a new film about Bush's close ally, Blair, as he said he would like to do in interviews last week.
Michael Moore
French illustrator Albert Uderzo, center, poses with characters of his famous comics, Asterix, left, druid Miraculix, behind, and Obelix , right, during the awarding of the so called 'Max & Moritz' award by the Erlangen Comic Salon2004 in Erlangen, southern Germany, late Saturday evening, June 12, 2004. Uderzo was honored for his lifetime achievement.
Photo by Frank Boxler
Benefit Aims to Unseat Bush
Art Auction
Andy Warhol's pop creations, William Wegman's offbeat portraits and the abstract drawings of Willem de Kooning are more than works of art to some Democrats. The auction-block objects are a means to a desired goal - defeating resident Bush and other Republicans on Nov. 2.
Artists, art galleries and wealthy collectors are contributing more than 170 works for an auction June 29 in New York to raise money for two pro-Democratic groups, America Coming Together and the political action committee ARTS PAC, that will use the cash for voter mobilization and other election-year efforts.
Paintings, sculptures, photos, drawings and other works are scheduled for auction at the fund-raiser, including pieces by Warhol, de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Diebenkorn, Jasper Johns, Mark Rothko and Close. Wegman, known for photographs focused on canines, is donating his services as a portrait photographer to his winning bidder. Actress Meryl Streep is an honorary chairwoman of the event.
Art Auction
America Coming Togethe
Gaming Hall of Fame Inductee
Don Rickles
Comedian Don Rickles has been inducted into the Gaming Hall of Fame.
Rickles, who made his first appearance in Las Vegas in 1959, accepted the honor Friday during a ceremony at the Green Valley Ranch hotel-casino.
"In the 45 years I've worked in casinos, I dreamed of being honored by an organization like the American Gaming Association, especially since I don't even have a hunting license," Rickles joked.
Don Rickles
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Sells Out in 30 Days
J. Garcia Wine
The late Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia was many things: musician, artist, writer, composer. Wine connoisseur wasn't really one of them, even though J. Garcia wine, released last year, sold out its first shipment of 22,000 cases in just 30 days, according to the Clos du Bois winery, which is producing it with the approval of Garcia's estate.
A second batch of wines, more than 30,000 cases of merlot, zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon, recently arrived in stores.
Renowned initially for his music, Garcia began to gain attention toward the end of his life for his abstract paintings, and examples of the latter are included on each bottle of wine.
J. Garcia Wine
A man, called El Colacho, jumps over babies during the El Salto Del Colacho festival in Castrillo de Murcia, near Burgos, Spain, Sunday June 13, 2004. The Colacho, who represents the devil, is supposed to rid the babies of original sin, according to the age-old tradition.
Photo by Israel Lopez Murillo
Baby News
Courteney Cox
Former "Friends" star Courteney Cox and her husband, actor David Arquette, became parents early on Sunday, after years of trying, People magazine reported.
Cox, who turns 40 on Tuesday, gave birth to a girl in an unidentified Los Angeles hospital, according to a report on the Web site for People magazine, www.people.com.
The magazine said Cox checked into the hospital on Saturday, a week before the baby's due date and was in labor through the night. The baby has yet to be named, it said.
Courteney Cox
Attends Benefit
Anna Nicole Smith
TV reality star Anna Nicole Smith - recovering from two broken ribs - considered canceling an appearance at an HIV/AIDS benefit for children but showed up after all.
The 36-year-old model appeared at the Rococo Theater for Saturday's fund-raiser with Jerri Manthey of "Survivor," Hilarie Burton of "One Tree Hill," and Lincoln native Jon Kelley, who appears on television's "Extra."
Smith suffered two broken ribs in a fall from a water craft while filming "The Anna Nicole Show."
Anna Nicole Smith
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Admits Lying
British Royal Servant
A former servant to Britain's royal family who said he witnessed heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles engaged in a sexual act with another male staff member has admitted he made the allegation up, a report said.
George Smith, a former valet whose lurid allegations last year threatened to severely damage the British monarchy, told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper that the story was a complete fabrication.
He sold his story to another British newspaper last November, but a court injunction banned the British media from printing details of the allegation.
This left Charles's household in the curious position of issuing a formal statement denying the incident took place, yet not being able to say what exactly was being denied.
British Royal Servant
A group of swimmers approach the Chesapeake Bay Bridge during the 13th Great Chesapeake Bay Swim benefitting the March of Dimes, Sunday, June 13, 2004, near Kent Island, Md. Bruce Bockschimdt of Mt. Laurel, N.J., competed with 600 swimmers and finished first with an unofficial time of 1 hour, 27 minutes, 7 seconds, in the 4.4-mile swim from Sandy Park to Kent Island.
Photo by Matt Houston
About More Than Ray Guns
Sci-Fi Museum
The Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame, created with $20 million from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, opens June 18 in a remodeled section of his other museum - the Experience Music Project. Appropriately, the museum's shiny, twisted, futuristic building designed by Frank Gehry is at the foot of the Space Needle, and the Monorail - a 1960s conception of future travel - runs through it.
Exhibits track the genre from Mary Shelley's 1818 novel "Frankenstein" through the prescient atomic war stories of the early 1940s, TV's "The Jetsons," "2001: A Space Odyssey," "Star Wars" and "The Matrix."
Sci-Fi Museum
Science Fiction Museum
Celebrates James Joyce
Dublin
Several thousand Dubliners, tourists and literary experts filled the capital's major boulevard Sunday to celebrate the fictional anniversary of "Ulysses," James Joyce's famously complex epic set on a single Dublin day 100 years ago.
Many of them wearing Edwardian-period suits, dresses and hats, celebrants lined up for free breakfasts on O'Connell Street in the biggest-ever event connected to "Ulysses." The meal kicked off a week of celebrations across the capital tied to Joyce's masterwork.
On Wednesday, the official anniversary, O'Connell Street will close down again for a "Ulysses"-themed parade and stage show. Across the city, a range of art, music, film and drama events have been honoring Joyce since April. A light show along the River Liffey concludes the main celebrations Saturday.
Dublin
www.rejoycedublin2004.com
Catholic Movie Ban Still Stands
Philadelphia
"Pssst. Did you catch `Shrek 2' last week? Did you see `Troy'?" Did you set foot in a movie theater? For Catholics of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, such pleasures were once guilty, even immoral. Going to any movie was declared a sin.
Seventy years ago, Cardinal Dennis Dougherty commanded all Catholics of his archdiocese to stop going to the movies, a ban that never has been formally lifted.
And while Dougherty would later install a screening room in his residence, where he and guests would watch movies, he never lifted the ban. Indeed, no subsequent Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia has, either.
Philadelphia
Smashes Through NZ Home
Meteorite
A grapefruit-sized meteorite smashed through the roof of a New Zealand house, hitting a couch and bouncing off the ceiling before coming to rest under a computer.
The 1.3 kg (2.9 lb) chunk of space debris dropped out of the sky and plummeted through the tiled roof of the Auckland home Saturday.
It is only the ninth meteorite found in New Zealand and the first to hit a home.
Meteorite
In Memory
John R.T. Davies
John R.T. Davies, one of the world's top restorers of old jazz records, has died, his family said. He was 77.
Davies succumbed to cancer on May 25 at his home in Burnham, in Buckinghamshire, northwest of London, his wife Sue announced on Davies' Web site.
Davies, a musician who also gained fame as a member of the 1960s band the Temperance Seven, was one of the foremost experts on remastering classic jazz recordings, mostly from the 1920s to 1950s.
He had an enormous record collection and was known for using temperamental old equipment for his careful, precise work. His goal, colleague Tony Russell wrote in The Guardian newspaper, was to get worn, damaged recordings sounding as much as possible like the musicians who made them had intended.
Sometimes he could even improve upon deficiencies caused by poor recording equipment, Russell wrote.
He restored recordings by artists including greats such as Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway, generally working for small specialty labels.
Davies is survived by his wife, a daughter and three grandchildren.
John R.T. Davies
Six hundred sailing boats and vessels from all around Europe participate in Barcelona's Velas por la Paz (Sails for Peace) event, June 13, 2004. This event is part of a four-day sea fest that is part of 'Forum of Barcelona 2004', which runs until September 26. The forum is to encourage people to debate on the urgent issues of the 21rst century.
Photo by Guido Manuilo
'The Osbournes'
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