After our discussion of the tragedies that have befallen Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kinky Paprika chimed in on an old, long-dead thread to say that he had found a picture of the brand-new car Gary Rossington was driving when a whiskey bottle caused him to say "Oak tree, you're in my way." They don't seem to want people to post the photo elsewhere, but you can see it here.
It's not much of a new car for a rock star, is it? At the time of the crash, September 1976, Skynyrd was about to go on tour, and was forced to postpone a few dates. The rest of the band fined Rossington $5000. He didn't learn his lesson, though; last October, Gary was arrested for driving his 2005 gold Cadillac under the influence while outside Atlanta. The police offered to give him a Breathalyzer test, but Rossington refused: "I know I am drunk," he said, according to the police report. "I do not want take [sic] the evaluation."
The police report also noted "a odor [double sic] of an alcoholic beverage from the driver that caused the accident." Can't you smell that smell?
Monday, February 2, 2009
Birthday Wishes
All of us here at "One Poor Correspondent" wish a happy birthday to friend of OPC/funniest writer in America Rob Sheffield. Back in the late 1990s, before I was an editor there, whenever I would pick up a copy of Rolling Stone, the first thing I would do is read Rob's column "Pop Eye" in the front of the magazine. The second thing I would do is flip to the back to read any record reviews Rob had written. The third thing I would do is flip even further back to the TV reviews to see if Rob had written any of those.
Then I went to work there, and we became friends. I knew I had arrived at Rolling Stone when I asked Rob to write a story about watching TV all night long, and the bizarre things you would find there. His article concluded with the relief of coming across, in the wee hours, an episode of "Three's Company"; Jack, Janet and Chrissy, Rob wrote, just wanted to help you make it through the night. I suggested he amend that to say that they "just want to come and dance on your floor, take a step that is new, and help you make it through the night." Rob thought that was funny, and agreed to the change. I thought, if Rob Sheffield thinks I'm funny, I might have a future in this business.
These days, you can read Rob's "Station to Station" column in Blender magazine. Or you could pick up his heartbreaking memoir, Love Is a Mix Tape, if you haven't done so already.
Then I went to work there, and we became friends. I knew I had arrived at Rolling Stone when I asked Rob to write a story about watching TV all night long, and the bizarre things you would find there. His article concluded with the relief of coming across, in the wee hours, an episode of "Three's Company"; Jack, Janet and Chrissy, Rob wrote, just wanted to help you make it through the night. I suggested he amend that to say that they "just want to come and dance on your floor, take a step that is new, and help you make it through the night." Rob thought that was funny, and agreed to the change. I thought, if Rob Sheffield thinks I'm funny, I might have a future in this business.
These days, you can read Rob's "Station to Station" column in Blender magazine. Or you could pick up his heartbreaking memoir, Love Is a Mix Tape, if you haven't done so already.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
OPC Recommends
"One Poor Correspondent" would like to take this moment to wholeheartedly recommend a brand-new blog on the market, "The Squeaky Shoe" by Jack Nawrocki. If you enjoy OPC, this compendium of bizarre and humorous news stories is well worth checking out.
The Little People Simply Don't Understand Finance
The New York Times had a piece today where Wall Street wizards defended the bonuses they pried out of the money given to them by the Treasury Department, i.e., you and me. Here's one such rationalization:
“On Main Street, ‘bonus’ sounds like a gift,” he said. “But it’s part of the compensation structure of Wall Street. Say I’m a banker and I created $30 million. I should get a part of that.”
OK, now say you're a banker and you lost $30 million. What should you get for that?
“On Main Street, ‘bonus’ sounds like a gift,” he said. “But it’s part of the compensation structure of Wall Street. Say I’m a banker and I created $30 million. I should get a part of that.”
OK, now say you're a banker and you lost $30 million. What should you get for that?
OPC's Continuing Coverage of the Super Bowl
In the local paper yesterday appeared a collection of Super Bowl picks by celebrities, my favorite of which came from Penn and Teller: "Pittsburgh, 27-17. Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger has an unbeatable motivation: The NFL has promised that if he wins a second Super Bowl, he can put an umlaut on his uniform." Now, you might think this necessarily comes from Penn, since Teller doesn't talk, but Teller certainly writes, and this could have been delivered via email. Teller even talks, a little bit, as you know if you saw the 1989 film Penn and Teller Get Killed, directed by Arthur "No Relation" Penn. Teller speaks, albeit softly, at the very end of that.
More disturbingly, Vanilla Ice echoes my own pick by predicting the Cardinals, 31-21, with the reason being "I'm just going with my gut on this one." If there's one thing I always assume is wrong, it's Vanilla Ice's gut.
I do have to say I'm impressed with how many of these celebs display more than a superficial knowledge of the two teams. Speed skater Apolo Ohno says, "Warner might get sacked hard during the game, and those Pennsylvania boys are coming hungry." Branford Marsalis: "The Cardinals match up physically, and Warner knows exactly how to exploit the blitz, which the Steelers do a lot." Pilar Lastra, holder of briefcase 14 on Deal or No Deal: "[The Steelers] have both an amazing defense, and their offense is right up there with Arizona's."
Then there's Maya Angelou, who picks Arizona "because the Cardinal bird is so poetic." Thanks a lot, Maya. I guess we should be thankful she didn't simply assert that she knows why the caged bird sings.
I'm picking Arizona, in part because of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin (who is almost as good as Larry Fitzgerald, and who is probably hacked off that Larry has gotten all the press lately while he's been ignored), but mostly because of Kurt Warner. This was in the paper today:
Warner and wife, Brenda, have a family tradition of picking up the check for another table whenever they eat out. ... "We started doing that when we were in St. Louis and the manager would always give us our meal for free whenever we ate out," Brenda Warner said earlier Friday. "I had been a single mother living on food stamps at one time who couldn't ever afford to eat out, and I never understood why people give free meals to people who can afford them."
The Warners started a tradition of allowing their seven children to pick one family in the restaurant, and they try to quietly pay that table's tab before slipping out the door.
"It's gotten to be part of a game with the kids," Brenda Warner said. "They'll say `Oh, that family has a lot of kids, dinner must be expensive.' Or `They look old, maybe it's hard for them to afford eating out a lot.' We try to be discreet about it, because we don't want people trying to get picked."
You can pick who you think is going to win, or you can pick who you want to win. I want Kurt Warner to win.
More disturbingly, Vanilla Ice echoes my own pick by predicting the Cardinals, 31-21, with the reason being "I'm just going with my gut on this one." If there's one thing I always assume is wrong, it's Vanilla Ice's gut.
I do have to say I'm impressed with how many of these celebs display more than a superficial knowledge of the two teams. Speed skater Apolo Ohno says, "Warner might get sacked hard during the game, and those Pennsylvania boys are coming hungry." Branford Marsalis: "The Cardinals match up physically, and Warner knows exactly how to exploit the blitz, which the Steelers do a lot." Pilar Lastra, holder of briefcase 14 on Deal or No Deal: "[The Steelers] have both an amazing defense, and their offense is right up there with Arizona's."
Then there's Maya Angelou, who picks Arizona "because the Cardinal bird is so poetic." Thanks a lot, Maya. I guess we should be thankful she didn't simply assert that she knows why the caged bird sings.
I'm picking Arizona, in part because of Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin (who is almost as good as Larry Fitzgerald, and who is probably hacked off that Larry has gotten all the press lately while he's been ignored), but mostly because of Kurt Warner. This was in the paper today:
Warner and wife, Brenda, have a family tradition of picking up the check for another table whenever they eat out. ... "We started doing that when we were in St. Louis and the manager would always give us our meal for free whenever we ate out," Brenda Warner said earlier Friday. "I had been a single mother living on food stamps at one time who couldn't ever afford to eat out, and I never understood why people give free meals to people who can afford them."
The Warners started a tradition of allowing their seven children to pick one family in the restaurant, and they try to quietly pay that table's tab before slipping out the door.
"It's gotten to be part of a game with the kids," Brenda Warner said. "They'll say `Oh, that family has a lot of kids, dinner must be expensive.' Or `They look old, maybe it's hard for them to afford eating out a lot.' We try to be discreet about it, because we don't want people trying to get picked."
You can pick who you think is going to win, or you can pick who you want to win. I want Kurt Warner to win.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
In Search of the Lost Chord
Everybody knows that the Beatles' "Hard Day's Night" begins with a single guitar chord, struck once and left to ring, before the vocals come in. It's one of the most famous chords in rock & roll, and just that lone chord is used to evoke an entire era of Beatles music. Even so, nobody is quite sure what it is: George Harrison, who played it, once said, "It is F with a G on top, but you'll have to ask Paul about the bass note to get the proper story." Apparently the whole band was actually playing, very subtly, behind George.
As memorable as that chord was, the basic strategy was not original to the Beatles. The Everly Brothers also played a single chord on the guitar before chiming in on "All I Have to Do Is Dream." There's no doubt that the Beatles knew this song, since it was a Number One hit and the boys were big fans of the Everlys. What I don't know, and what I'd like to know, is if the Everlys invented that move, or if it originated with someone else.
This clip I have for you doesn't really show off the opening chord at its best; Don (at least I think that's Don) kind of tosses it off, not like it is on the record. But here, on The Alma Cogan Show (a British variety show hosted by a pop songstress who died of cancer in 1966 at the age of 34), they're singing live, and their voices blend so effortlessly and euphoniously. You can see why every band from that early rock era loved them:
As memorable as that chord was, the basic strategy was not original to the Beatles. The Everly Brothers also played a single chord on the guitar before chiming in on "All I Have to Do Is Dream." There's no doubt that the Beatles knew this song, since it was a Number One hit and the boys were big fans of the Everlys. What I don't know, and what I'd like to know, is if the Everlys invented that move, or if it originated with someone else.
This clip I have for you doesn't really show off the opening chord at its best; Don (at least I think that's Don) kind of tosses it off, not like it is on the record. But here, on The Alma Cogan Show (a British variety show hosted by a pop songstress who died of cancer in 1966 at the age of 34), they're singing live, and their voices blend so effortlessly and euphoniously. You can see why every band from that early rock era loved them:
Friday, January 30, 2009
OPC Recipe Club: Super Bowl Guacamole
If you're going to make guacamole for the Super Bowl on Sunday - and I don't know why you wouldn't - then today's the day to buy your avocados, if you haven't already. Go to the store today, get some avocados that are still pretty firm, then put them in a brown paper bag till Sunday morning, by which time they will have ripened nicely, and will be soft enough to turn into guacamole.
You'll also need a plum tomato, so you can pick that up too, plus fresh garlic, lime juice and maybe some cilantro or onions if you don't have them at home. I recommend you not execute the rest of this recipe until midday on Sunday, because guacamole has an unfortunate tendency to start turning brownish very quickly, although it remains delicious. Anyway, on Sunday, what I'll be doing is slicing the avocados in half lengthwise, discarding the pit, then taking a sharp-pointed paring knife and scoring the avocado flesh, still in the skin, in a crosshatch pattern, making little cubes of avocado. Then you can turn the avocado skin inside-out, and dump the little cubes into a bowl for easy mashing.
You'll similarly dice the tomato up into small cubes; you can remove the skin as well, but I think that's too much work. Throw that in the bowl with the avocado. Put a clove of garlic through a garlic press, or, if you don't have a garlic press, cut it up into very small pieces. I think one medium-sized clove is plenty, but if you like garlic, make it two. Or if you don't like garlic, leave it out. Put in a tablespoon or so of lime juice as well.
Then there are the more optional ingredients. I plan to put a little cilantro in mine for color and a little extra flavor. I don't eat onions, but many people like a little chopped onion as well. You could even chop up a little jalapeno, but that wouldn't fly in my house. I also want to stress that the amounts are totally up to you: You're going to have to eat this stuff, not me. Make it with more of the ingredients you like and less of the ones you don't.
Once everything is in a bowl, I take a potato masher and crush everything together. You don't want to use an electric mixer and make it soupy, but you do want to limit the number of big chunks of avocado. When the consistency is to your liking, serve with blue corn chips for a colorful treat. And I like the Cardinals in an upset, 30-24.
You'll also need a plum tomato, so you can pick that up too, plus fresh garlic, lime juice and maybe some cilantro or onions if you don't have them at home. I recommend you not execute the rest of this recipe until midday on Sunday, because guacamole has an unfortunate tendency to start turning brownish very quickly, although it remains delicious. Anyway, on Sunday, what I'll be doing is slicing the avocados in half lengthwise, discarding the pit, then taking a sharp-pointed paring knife and scoring the avocado flesh, still in the skin, in a crosshatch pattern, making little cubes of avocado. Then you can turn the avocado skin inside-out, and dump the little cubes into a bowl for easy mashing.
You'll similarly dice the tomato up into small cubes; you can remove the skin as well, but I think that's too much work. Throw that in the bowl with the avocado. Put a clove of garlic through a garlic press, or, if you don't have a garlic press, cut it up into very small pieces. I think one medium-sized clove is plenty, but if you like garlic, make it two. Or if you don't like garlic, leave it out. Put in a tablespoon or so of lime juice as well.
Then there are the more optional ingredients. I plan to put a little cilantro in mine for color and a little extra flavor. I don't eat onions, but many people like a little chopped onion as well. You could even chop up a little jalapeno, but that wouldn't fly in my house. I also want to stress that the amounts are totally up to you: You're going to have to eat this stuff, not me. Make it with more of the ingredients you like and less of the ones you don't.
Once everything is in a bowl, I take a potato masher and crush everything together. You don't want to use an electric mixer and make it soupy, but you do want to limit the number of big chunks of avocado. When the consistency is to your liking, serve with blue corn chips for a colorful treat. And I like the Cardinals in an upset, 30-24.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The Smell of Death Surrounds You
Friend of OPC Rob points out via email that with the death of piano-tickler Billy Powell this week, Lynyrd Skynyrd has edged ever-closer to being a band that has lost all its members, a la the Jimi Hendrix Experience. There are a couple of key Skynyrd hands who are still hanging on, so they haven't been completely wiped out, but what's remarkable about Skynyrd is that so many of its members died so young.
Ed King, the former Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist who co-wrote "Sweet Home Alabama," is still with us, as is drummer Artimus Pyle and guitarist Gary Rossington, whose brand-new car, whiskey bottle and oak tree occasioned the opening lines of "That Smell." On the other hand:
* Ronnie Van Zant, singer and songwriter, died at age 29 in the infamous Mississippi plane crash.
* Allen Collins, guitarist and songwriter, was paralyzed from the waist down in a car crash at age 34, and died at 37 after contracting pneumonia. His wife had died earlier in childbirth. His girlfriend died in the car wreck that paralyzed him.
* Leon Wilkeson, bassist, died in 2001 at the age of 49. He had been declared dead at the site of the plane crash, but he got better.
* Steve Gaines, guitarist, also died in the 1977 plane crash at 28.
* Billy Powell, keyboardist, died on Wednesday at the age of 56.
I'm leaving out Cassie Gaines, Steve's sister, who was a backup singer and died in the plane crash as well, but was never really an official member. Ed King, by the way, had left the band by then, so he wasn't on the fateful plane. Even with a couple of suriving members, though, it's pretty clear that God had it out for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Especially Allen Collins.
Ed King, the former Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist who co-wrote "Sweet Home Alabama," is still with us, as is drummer Artimus Pyle and guitarist Gary Rossington, whose brand-new car, whiskey bottle and oak tree occasioned the opening lines of "That Smell." On the other hand:
* Ronnie Van Zant, singer and songwriter, died at age 29 in the infamous Mississippi plane crash.
* Allen Collins, guitarist and songwriter, was paralyzed from the waist down in a car crash at age 34, and died at 37 after contracting pneumonia. His wife had died earlier in childbirth. His girlfriend died in the car wreck that paralyzed him.
* Leon Wilkeson, bassist, died in 2001 at the age of 49. He had been declared dead at the site of the plane crash, but he got better.
* Steve Gaines, guitarist, also died in the 1977 plane crash at 28.
* Billy Powell, keyboardist, died on Wednesday at the age of 56.
I'm leaving out Cassie Gaines, Steve's sister, who was a backup singer and died in the plane crash as well, but was never really an official member. Ed King, by the way, had left the band by then, so he wasn't on the fateful plane. Even with a couple of suriving members, though, it's pretty clear that God had it out for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Especially Allen Collins.
I Don't Know - We Do So Many Shows in a Row
On "The Load-out," Jackson Browne sings the following:
Now the seats are all empty
Let the roadies take the stage
Pack it up and tear it down
Isn't that backwards? You gotta tear it down before you can pack it up.
Now the seats are all empty
Let the roadies take the stage
Pack it up and tear it down
Isn't that backwards? You gotta tear it down before you can pack it up.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Nobody Knows My Name, Pt. 2
The mention of Kanye West in the comments to an earlier thread reminded me of a question: How many well-known rappers record (or recorded) under their government name? I can only think of four.
* Kanye
* Tupac Shakur
* Missy Elliott
* Will Smith
And even Will Smith, of course, started out as the Fresh Prince.
* Kanye
* Tupac Shakur
* Missy Elliott
* Will Smith
And even Will Smith, of course, started out as the Fresh Prince.
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