'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
Baron Dave Romm's Review
Lionel Hampton - An Appreciation
By Baron Dave Romm
This Labor Day edition will be short, not so much because there isn't a lot to say about Lionel Hampton, but because so many people have said their piece. I didn't know that he was a Republican and a Mason... but I don't care. His music was... is... great, and he deserves all the accolades.
The precise year and location of his birth are in dispute, but there's no question that Lionel Hampton came of age in the when challenged by Louis Armstrong to play the vibes in 1930 and the cut they recorded became a hit. Pretty good for a musical instrument that wasn't invented until the early 1900s, derived from the xylophone and gamelon. Now, it has it's own websites.
In one sense, the vibraphone is an unusual instrument for jazz. You can't slide up and down a tone like with a trumpet, and you can't bend a note like with a guitar. It can't even be tuned in quite the same manner as a stringed instrument. Still, like tempered instruments such as the piano, you can get in between notes by playing several bars at the same time. Its got a sound that is loud, distinctive and, in the hands of a master as Hampton, very pretty.
He has quite a few CDs available and, quite frankly, I'm not sure which ones to recommend. None of the Lionel Hampton CDs I have are still being published, it seems. I tend to like his earlier, energetic, phases. (He went through a lot of really excellent phases.) He shone as a solo artist and was even better as part of a talented line-up. His period with the Benny Goodman quartet in the late 30s was ground breaking not merely for the music but for being the first racially integrated jazz band. (Jews and blacks make great music together...)
Some of my favorite Hampton cuts revolve around his instrument: Ring Dem Bells was written by Duke Ellington and Irving Mills, while Hot Mallets and many others were written Hampton. Partially because the vibraphone is not standard jazz fare, his gifts as a song writer are underappreciated. Hard to lug the thing to a gig in your VW. But when you do, it's worth it.
As long as this is Labor Day, let me mention a few sites that have Union music. The AFL-CIO boasts The World's Greatest Online Labor Day Festival, which is ongoing, and has Real Audio music to listen to. Union Songs lists a lot of them. You can read about Australian Union songs here and Irish labour songs here.
And let me repeat my recommendation of Miles To Go Before We Sleep by George Mann and Julius Margolin, the people behind the great CD Hail To The Thief. Give it to someone you love as a Labor Day present as part of a buzzflash.com membership!.
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.
He Was Busy, Again!
the worried shrimp
Supreme Commander
Reader Comment
Re: Lionel Hampton
Lionel Hampton was a staunch Republican activist until 1996, when he
supported the re-election of President Clinton and 2000 when he
supported and endorsed Al Gore.
When asked why he supported Clinton and Gore, he said ''The Republican
Party made it clear that I was no longer welcome!''
Mr. Hampton's quote is as beautiful as the music he made. Rest in peace,
good sir!
~ Joe Bacon
Thanks, Joe! Thought that obit was missing a line or two.
'On Labor Day'
from Alvin
The to-do list awaiting the Cretin of Crawford's return to the
White House today is as long as time is short, like his
brain.
The Moron of Midland wants a big new Pentagon budget forthe Carlyle Group, energy bill for his Big Business friends, legislation guaranteeing pension security & terrorism insurance for Osama bin Laden & his gang, and a new Homeland Security Department - all on DickCheney's desk in the next five weeks.
The too stupid-to-bepResident was flying back to Washington from a month-long stay at his
LazyW Ranch.
MIDILink
ON LABOR DAY
{Sung to 'New York, New York' by Frank Sinatra}
{instrumental intro}
Start spreading the news, I'm working today
I want to be at my desk
On Labor Day
My vacation's done, back in Washington
I'm fit for duty once again
On Labor Day
I want to make up, for the times that I was out
And I ain't calling in sick
On Labor Day
These Crawford town blues, are melting away
I'll stay an hour more today
A holiday
If I can work today, I'll be here - Christmas Day
Back on the job, on Labor Day
{instrumental break}
It's Labor Day
I want to make up, for the times that I was out
And I ain't calling in sick, not on this day
It's Labor Day, a holiday!
These Crawford town blues, are melting away
I'll stay an hour more today
A special day
If I can work today, I'll be here - Christmas Day
Back on the job, on Labor Day!...
Alvin
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Summer finally got here today. Felt like was living in the food dehydrator by 10am.
On the way home from the Aquarium had a small problem with the car that involved fire & an extinguisher. Major bummer. On the other hand, it'll probably be
the highlight of the kid's summer vacation memories...LOL
Also had company for dinner.
Tonight, Monday, CBS has reruns of 'The King Of Queens', 'Yes, Dear', 'Raymond', 'Becker', and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'.
Scheduled on a fresh Dave, the guests are Serena Williams, Tom Arnold, and Dave Matthews Band.
On a rerun Craiggers, the scheduled guests are William H. Macy, Kari Wurher, comic Dave Koechner.
NBC has a 'clips' episode of the 'best' of 'Fear Factor', then reruns of 'Third Watch' and 'Crossing Jordan'.
On a rerun Jay (from 8/6/02), the scheduled guests are Clint Eastwood, comic Gabriel Iglesias, Gavin Rossdale.
On a rerun Conan, the scheduled guests are David Bowie, Colin Farrell.
On a rerun Carson Daly (from 7/17/02), the scheduled guests are Kristin Davis, Greg Giraldo, Apex Theory.
ABC has 'College Football' (Auburn visits the USC Trojans), followed by the movie 'Don't Look Down'.
The WB has reruns of '7th Heaven' and 'Smallville'.
Faux has the movie 'Something About Mary'.
UPN has reruns of 'The Parkers', 'One On One', then back-to-back reruns of 'Girlfriends'.
FX continues the '24' marathon, in real time.
Anyone have any opinions?
Or reviews?
(See below for addresses)
Italy
Venice
Citizens of Venice dressed in historical garb glide down the Grand Canal in a gondola, from the Doge Palace (background) to the Rialto bridge, September 1, 2002. On the first Sunday of every
September, hundreds of Venetians pile into the long boats that have plied the city's canals for centuries for the Historical Regatta, a celebration of the Venetian Republic's success at home and at war.
Reader Supplied Link
from Dr. Bob
Hubble Gallery
Alien Magnet?
Mick Jagger
Is Mick Jagger an alien magnet? UFO specialist Mike Luckman thinks so. "UFOs seem to follow Mick," Luckman says. "Not only did he and his friend Marianne Faithful see a rare, cigar-shaped mother ship while
camping at Glastonbury Tor in England in 1968, but during that period, Mick kept setting off a UFO alarm whenever he left one of his estates in England," the author of "Close Encounters of a Musical Kind," (Pocket Books) said.
At the Rolling Stones' notorious 1969 concert in Altamont, Calif., one UFO was even caught on tape. "You can see the crowd turning away from the stage and looking up at the sky . . . and I have quite a few reports of UFOs
showing up at other concerts. The music seems to attract them," Luckman adds. Luckman is trying to cash in on music and aliens by producing a "Signal to Space: Countdown to Contact" concert next year at a yet-to-be-named outdoor
amphitheater. "It is not inconceivable that we may get a message that will prove once and for all that we are not alone in the universe," he said.
Mick Jagger
Snarky Gossip
Liza Minnelli
Is the honeymoon between Liza Minnelli and David Gest over already? Minnelli had dinner at trendy Upper East Side bistro Le Bilboquet on Wednesday night with a man who
was not her husband. According to foxnews.com's Roger Friedman, "During dinner, Liza was sobbing and said, 'And he's going to keep the ring!'. . . Finally, she jumped up
and ran out of the restaurant, leaving her partner to pay the bill."
Liza Minnelli
Hindu Deity Of Prosperity
Ganesh
An Indian artist puts finishing touches on an idol of Ganesh, the Hindu deity of prosperity, at a workshop in Bombay September 1, 2002. A ten-day "Ganesh Chaturthi," or Ganesh festival, will start
on September 10 and is one of the biggest festivals in the Hindu calendar.
Photo by Roy Madhur
Works Out Career Kinks
Elizabeth Berkley
The cult favorite but critically panned film "Showgirls" helped make Elizabeth Berkley's career. It also took her a while to get over it.
Berkley, at the Venice Film Festival to promote her new picture, "Roger Dodger," said that after her 1995 movie about Las Vegas strippers she had some tough times — "above
all creatively," Venice's daily Gazzettino reported Sunday.
"I had to work out where I was going, what type of films I wanted to make," the actress said. "For that reason, I decided to choose independent productions, less
important roles, and I tried theater, too."
Elizabeth Berkley
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Professor Apologizes to 'Radix'
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology apologized to the creators of the comic strip "Radix" for using the image of their main character without asking.
Edwin L. Thomas, director of MIT's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, used a picture of the strip's armed and armored character Valerie Flores by artists Ray and Ben Lai to
announce a $50 million government grant.
"If I had known it was your work, I would not have used it," Thomas wrote in an e-mail to Ray Lai, five months after the brothers complained to MIT.
The apology was posted on MIT's Web site.
Ray Lai told The Boston Globe the apology was just a "first step." "If MIT was to do the right thing, they would put out a press release like they did before," he said.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Taipei City Zoo
Nameless Koala
Taking a peek at the outside world, a 6-month-old koala rests on his mother's leg at Taipei City Zoo Thursday, Aug. 29, 2002. The baby koala has not been named yet. Children visiting
the zoo on Sept. 10 will be allowed to vote to choose a name for the baby. The mother, Hsiao Wa, originally from Australia gave birth in captivity.
Talking To The Kings?
Dennis Rodman
Poor Dennis Rodman. In the midst of his attempt to return to NBA play, his Newport beach restaurant, Josh Slocum's, burned down. "Dennis has been dealing with that - cleaning it up," Rodman's
manager, Darren Prince, said. Meanwhile, pals said Rodman has been in talks to join Chris Webber and Mike Bibby at the Sacramento Kings, although "he still would love another shot at
the [Los Angeles] Lakers."
Dennis Rodman
Fears 'Crime-Ridden' London
Joan Collins
Actress Joan Collins prefers life in New York over her birthplace of London which she denounces as dirty, crime-ridden and rife with violent thugs in an interview with the Mail on Sunday newspaper.
The 69-year-old actress, who owns a flat in the fashionable west London neighborhood of Belgravia, said she dreads walking even the few hundred yards to her hairdresser's for fear of being mugged.
London, in particular, has seen a sharp rise in street crime, with offences up 40 percent earlier this year over the previous year. Recent figures indicate, however, it may
have plateaued with police data showing street crime in the capital was down 8.6 percent between April and July.
Collins said she worries about the safety of her daughters, the eldest of whom, Tara Newley, was mugged for her watch in Notting Hill last year.
Collins, who married fifth husband Percy Gibson in London in February, heaped particular scorn on the large numbers of "louts" on the capital's streets.
"Yobbism in London is rife. In New York, people are more polite, more respectful," she said.
Joan Collins
BartCop TV!
An Illegitimate Child?
Queen Victoria
A book to be published this week says that Britain's Queen Victoria may have been illegitimate, possibly undermining the whole Royal Family's legitimacy, the Sunday Times reported.
In his book "The Victorians," acclaimed biographer A.N. Wilson alleges that Victoria's mother, Princess Victoire of Leiningen, had a lengthy affair with her Irish-born secretary Sir
John Conroy and that he, rather than Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, was Victoria's real father.
Wilson based his argument partly on medical data, the newspaper said.
Queen Victoria's claim to the crown was through her father, the brother of William IV, who died without children. If Wilson's suggestion is true, it would challenge the right of
Victoria's descendants to the throne, including the current queen, Elizabeth, her great-great-granddaughter.
If Victoria was illegitimate, Prince Ernst of Hanover -- the husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco -- would be the rightful claimant to the throne, according to Burke's Peerage.
Queen Victoria
'Columbo' By Default
Peter Falk
Peter Falk once got the role of a lifetime because Bing Crosby was busy playing golf. Falk - currently appearing with Ving Rhames and Wesley Snipes in "Undisputed" - says Crosby
was the original choice to play the title role in the hit detective series "Columbo," but skipped shooting the pilot so he could play in a golf tournament. "I filled in, and the
casting people liked what they saw," Falk said. "I was friends with Bing, but we never talked about the big break he gave me. I just didn't think it was right to rub it in."
Peter Falk
Verdict Announced
Pakistan
Men accused in a gang rape leave the court in a police van after a decision, early Sunday, Sept. 1, 2002 in Dera Ghazi Khan, 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of
Multan, Pakistan. The court sentenced six men Sunday to death by hanging in the gang-rape of a woman to punish her family, court officials announced. Eight other men were acquitted.
Photo by Khalid Tanveer
Women Banned From Singing On Radio
TV, Radio Restrictions
The Supreme Court of Afghanistan Saturday backed a decision by state-run media to ban women from singing on the radio and prevent Indian films from being aired in the capital.
"We have no opposition to the watching of films, but we totally oppose the idea of half-naked scenes or romantic films being broadcast and women's songs being aired," Fazl Ahmad Manawi, deputy head of the Supreme Court, told Reuters.
While Manawi sought to play down the political implications of the decision, speculation is growing of a tussle between the Northern Alliance, with its more conservative interpretation of Islam,
and the more moderate stance of President Hamid Karzai and his Culture and Information Minister Sayed Raheen Makhdoom.
Manawi also said state television and radio stations in other parts of the country needed to follow Kabul TV and Radio in banning certain programs.
TV, Radio Restrictions
Bengal Tigers
Weni
Weni, an adult female Bengal tiger looks after one of her two newly-born babies at a zoo in North Sumatra, Indonesia, Aug. 30, 2002.
Photo by Poltak Lubis
'The Osbournes'
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 3
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 2
'The Osbournes' ~ Page 1
