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14 Jan 2010 09:23

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Culture, Music: Teddy Pendergrass dies: ’70s R&B icon dead at 59

  • That night I saw the coming of a superstar. When Teddy walked out on the stage, he didn’t even open his mouth and the place went crazy with screaming females. He was just so dynamic and when he started singing, he just blew them away.
  • Producer Leon Huff • Recalling the first stage performance of Teddy Pendergrass, a huge pop star in the ’70s. Beyond his hits – including solo hits “I Don’t Love You Anymore,” “Close the Door,” “Turn off the Lights” and “Love TKO,” along with “If You Don’t Know Me by Now” and “I Miss You” as lead singer of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes – he was known for having an unfortunate car crash in 1982 which left him paralyzed. Despite this, he continued his music career until 2007. He was one of the greats. Losing him at the same time as Jay Reatard is really sad. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Oct 2009 02:31

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Tech: Goodbye, Geocities: XKCD commemorates the death of a net icon

XKCD redesign
  • This is how Geocities should be remembered: An ugly piece of crap, but our ugly piece of crap. Not specifically ours, but the Internet’s. Yahoo’s biggest financial folly and the reason why we still fear for the futures of our good, not-awful friends Flickr and Delicous. But an essential reminder of the anyone-can-screw-with-it nature of what makes the Web awesome. Good show, XKCD. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

26 Aug 2009 01:48

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U.S.: BREAKING: Ted Kennedy dead. Twitter’s on the scene (and so are we)

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Aug 2009 00:45

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Music: Gibson’s CEO says Les Paul had a huge influence on the company

  • The guitar shines in modern music. … In the ’50s and before the ’50s, the guitar was amplified, but it was just louder. In other words, it still sounded just like an acoustic guitar, but you could turn it up. What Les did was turn it into a whole new instrument.
  • Gibson CEO Henry Juszkiewicz • Describing the Les Paul guitar’s role in musical history, and how the guitar became a musical icon. Paul’s influence has helped the company in numerous ways – he convinced Gibson to start selling cheaper models of the namesake model, helping the guitar fly off the shelves and putting it in the hands of the average person. And to think, they laughed at “The Log!” • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink

11 Aug 2009 10:16

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U.S.: Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a tireless campaigner for the mentally disabled

Smithsonian portrait of Eunice Kennedy Shriver
  • She died early Tuesday at 88. Beyond being known as a member of the Kennedy family, Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968 just weeks after her brother Robert’s assassination. It was a profound idea – during an era where physical activity was unheard of for the mentally disabled, she started an event to encourage it. She learned about it from her sister Rosemary, who grew up in Kennedy household during an era where many with mental disabilities were institutionalized. Her victories may not have been as loud as those of her famous brothers, but in their own way they were just as profound. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 1 Comment • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 16:15

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U.S.: A Kennedy and Shriver family matriarch is on her deathbed

  • She’s Ted’s sister. She’s Ahnold’s mother-in-law. 88-year-old Eunice Kennedy Shriver, the founder of the Special Olympics and a woman who’s probably had a more interesting and indirectly influential life that the rest of us, is currently in critical but stable condition in a Cape Cod, Mass. hospital. Her entire family is at her side, including California’s first family (which includes her daughter Maria). More details as we get them. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

07 Aug 2009 11:19

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Music: Expect mumbling: Bob Dylan is releasing a Christmas album

  • He’s Bob Dylan. He can do whatever he wants. The greatest folksinger that ever lived is currently holed up in Jackson Browne’s recording studio putting together what’s sure to be the most bizarre Christmas album ever. Four songs are already done: “Must Be Santa,” “Here Comes Santa Claus,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Now … not that we don’t think this news is awesome (we do), but who would’ve expected this from Bob Dylan? Definitely not us. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 3 Comments • Permalink
 

23 Jul 2009 10:12

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Politics: Was journalism icon Walter Cronkite really worthy of our trust?

  • If the nostalgia for Cronkitian news values were genuine, you’d expect PBS’s soporific News Hour would be drawing huge and growing numbers of viewers. … Alas, the NewsHour’s Cronkite-lite approach has failed to attract much of an audience.
  • Slate columnist Jack Shafer • Discussing why the legacy of someone like Walter Cronkite – the trustworthy face of journalism for a generation – was bad for news consumers. Shafer suggests that today’s era of multiple opinions all over the place is a much better market – and that trust, especially of a information source like Cronkite is a bad yardstick to follow. He ends his piece by saying: “Be skeptical, news consumers, especially of the journalists you trust most. It will make you smarter and keep them honest.” • source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Jul 2009 11:24

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Culture: There’s a reason Walter Cronkite was so easy to listen to

  • 124 words per minute – the speed at which Cronkite spoke source
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17 Jul 2009 15:23

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Culture: Meet one of our favorite people ever, Hollywood Car Racer

  • Linder Lue Lawrence, a.k.a. Hollywood, is the queen of Norfolk, Virginia. She’s an icon of the city and the Ghent neighborhood. Despite living a life of hard knocks as a developmentally disabled adult, thanks to the Hope House Foundation, she has not only survived, she’s thrived. She regularly shows up on billboards, in newspapers, and other unexpected places. When we launched, we gave her a shout-out. Here’s another one. ‘Cause the world needs to know how awesome she is.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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