Paul McCartney's company, McCartney Productins Limited (MPL) has announced that they will digitize McCartney's library of music, artwork, paintings, film, and videos.
More information is available at th website paulmccartneye former Beatle's.com
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Frank Zappa Ceremony
Seventeen years after the rock legend’s death, Zappa drew a large, fittingly eclectic crowd to a ceremony in the city where he was born.The festivities included a concert by Zappa’s son, Dweezil, and his band, Zappa Plays Zappa; a library exhibit, "Zappa’s Baltimore: Rebels and Iconoclasts in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave," and a temporary name for the street in front of the library, "Frank Zappa Way."The bronze bust of the mustachioed Zappa — one of rock’s great iconoclasts — was donated by Zappa fans from Lithuania, which has had its own Zappa sculpture in its capital of Vilnius since 1995. Although Zappa never visited the Baltic country, he was admired there for his advocacy of free expression as well as for his music.Zappa’s widow, Gail, attended the ceremony, along with Dweezil and two other children, Ahmet and Diva. A group of Lithuanians flew to Baltimore for the event.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Sizzling At Washington DC Firehouse
An investigation is under way after a naked Washington, D.C., firefighter was apparently caught on camera preparing food for a party in a firehouse.
The photo was supplied by a source who says complaints have been made by female firefighters and paramedics who were there at the time.
The D.C. Fire and EMS Department says there was a retirement celebration attended by off-duty firefighters at an engine company in July.
The source claims the photo shows a naked firefighter at the stove and that as many as three firefighters may have prepared and served food at the party naked.
The source alleges that there were female emergency medical personnel present and that no disciplinary action has been taken.
The DC Fire and EMS Department says it is looking into the allegations.
Monday, September 20, 2010
The Real 'Lynyrd Skynyrd' Dies
Leonard Skinner, the basketball coach and gym teacher who inspired the name of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died Monday in Florida, he was 77 years old. Skinner was working at Robert E. Lee High School in Jacksonville Fl in the late 1960's when he sent a group of students to the principal's office because their hair was too long. Those students later went on to form a fucking rockin' band, adopting a variation of Skinner's name as their own and well...you know the rest of the story...
Sunday, September 19, 2010
October Sampling
As a sampling of what's to come check out this old school clip from the Beatles cartoon:
October
As October approaches the Halloween mindset has already started to fall on us here at shawndowney.blogspot.com and we have a whole mess of plans for the month. Be expecting a ton of doodles, Halloween classic toys, and a new horror review every week. So keep checking back with us here to get your horror fix. Oh and we also play classic rock…I guess. So that means tons of Alice Cooper, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and lots more of the darker stuff coming this October!
Queen Borat?
“Borat” star Sacha Baron Cohen has been signed up to star in a movie about flamboyant rock star Freddie Mercury, producers said Friday. Producers say Peter Morgan, who wrote “The Queen”, is working on a screenplay about the front man of the band Queen, who died of AIDS in 1994.The announcement was made by GK Films, which is producing with Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Productions and Queen Films.Founded in 1971 by Mercury, guitarist Brian May, bassist John Deacon and drummer Roger Taylor, Queen scored hits with songs including "We Are the Champions," "We Will Rock You" and "Bohemian Rhapsody."Brian May told the BBC that the band supports the project, and May and Taylor will oversee the music for the film. There was no word on whether Baron Cohen will try to imitate Mercury's grandiose singing style, but the comedian has appeared in several musicals, including Tim Burton’s film version of “Sweeney Todd”.
40th Anniversary of the Death of Jimi Hendrix
Saturday was the fortieth anniversary of the death of guitar and music legend, Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix,who is widely considered to be the greatest electric guitarist of all time, was just 27 at the time of his death. Despite forty years having passed, there is still a bit of mystery with regards to the circumstances of his death. The last person to see Hendrix alive was girlfriend Monika Dannemann, whom Hendrix had left a party on the night of September 17th with, returning to her Notting Hill flat. According to testimony by Dannemann (which varies widely from interview to interview), Hendrix then took a massive dose of her sleeping pills, Vesperax, though it was unbeknown to her until it was too late. Rather than a suicide attempt, however, it was thought to be a simple misunderstanding, as the pills were foreign. Dr. John Bannister, the surgeon who first attended to Hendrix, said that Hendrix died from asphyxiation, drowning in his own vomit, which consisted mainly of red wine. Last year, however, around the time of the 39th anniversary of Hendrix's death, James "Tappy" Wright, a former roadie, wrote a book stating that Hendrix's former manager, Mike Jeffery, admitted to him that he had murdered Hendrix, with the reason being that he had wanted out of his contract. Though no charges came to fruition in light of the revelation, Bannister, the doctor who had found him, said that the story was "plausible".
Thursday, September 16, 2010
You Say It's His Birthday?
Monday, September 13, 2010
Restaraunt Bans Screaming Children
A restaurant in North Carolina stirred up controversy by posting a sign warning that “screaming children will NOT be tolerated,” many have objected to the policy. Do restaurants have that right?
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Two-Facedbook?
Facebook is used mostly by narcissists and those with low self-esteem, says a Canadian study.
The study extensively examined the online habits and personalities of 100 Facebook users aged 18 to 25 years old and found that individuals higher in narcissism and lower in self-esteem spent more time on the site and filled their pages with more self-promotional content. The study has been published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking if you don’t believe me.
Facebook has more than 500 million users worldwide and is the world’s biggest social networking website, but it has been involved in a number of controversies.
A study earlier in the week showed that the grades of students who use FAcebook while they study, even if it is only in the background, are 20 percent lower on average than those of non-users.
The study extensively examined the online habits and personalities of 100 Facebook users aged 18 to 25 years old and found that individuals higher in narcissism and lower in self-esteem spent more time on the site and filled their pages with more self-promotional content. The study has been published in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking if you don’t believe me.
Facebook has more than 500 million users worldwide and is the world’s biggest social networking website, but it has been involved in a number of controversies.
A study earlier in the week showed that the grades of students who use FAcebook while they study, even if it is only in the background, are 20 percent lower on average than those of non-users.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Free As A Bird...NOT!
Mark David Chapman, the man convicted of killing John Lennon, had his request for parole denied by a New York parole board for the Attica Correctional Facilility for the sixth time since 2000. Chapman was originally sentenced to 20 years to life.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Founding Member of ELO Dies in Freak Accident
A founding member of rock band Electric Light Orchestra was killed on Friday in a freak accident with a giant runaway bale of hay.
Cellist Mike Edwards died instantly after the 1,320-pound bale came tumbling down a steep hill and onto the van he was driving through Devon, England. The bale is believed to have fallen from a tractor working nearby.
Edwards swerved into another vehicle as he was struck but the other driver was uninjured in the crash.
Now authorities are reaching out to the Edwards' relatives to help with their investigation and formally identify the musician, who was 62.
Sergeant Steve Walker of the Devon and Cornwall police says, "This was a tragic accident and we have now identified the victim as Michael Edwards, a founder member of ELO.
"We have used photographs and YouTube footage to identify him but we now need help contacting his family for formal identification."
Edwards quit the band at the height of its fame in 1975 to become a Buddhist.
Cellist Mike Edwards died instantly after the 1,320-pound bale came tumbling down a steep hill and onto the van he was driving through Devon, England. The bale is believed to have fallen from a tractor working nearby.
Edwards swerved into another vehicle as he was struck but the other driver was uninjured in the crash.
Now authorities are reaching out to the Edwards' relatives to help with their investigation and formally identify the musician, who was 62.
Sergeant Steve Walker of the Devon and Cornwall police says, "This was a tragic accident and we have now identified the victim as Michael Edwards, a founder member of ELO.
"We have used photographs and YouTube footage to identify him but we now need help contacting his family for formal identification."
Edwards quit the band at the height of its fame in 1975 to become a Buddhist.
DVD Reviews: Cool Hand Luke
Adan Reviews Cool Hand Luke
Cool Hand Luke is a 1967 American drama film which stars Paul Newman as Luke Jackson, a war veteran who is arrested for cutting the heads off parking meters and given a two year sentence in a Georgia prison camp. Directed by Stuart Rosenberg and based on the novel of the same name by Donn Pearce, Cool Hand Luke is an excellent movie and an inspiring ride. The film portrays the harshness which seems to pervade prisons in America and carries an interesting message.
Life in the prison camp is hard; the prisoners are forced to work in chain gangs for hours in the Georgia heat under the guns of the guards and The Man With No Eyes( the head guard who is never without his sunglasses). The head of the camp, or Captain as he insists on being called, runs the facility under the guise of kindness while all the time beating the prisoners down and subjugating them. When Luke arrives at the camp he is first berated and ridiculed by the prisoners and their de facto leader Dragline (George Kennedy). However after a fight with Dragline, which Luke wins only because dragline refuses to beat on him anymore, and a poker game, where Newman has a no good cards yet wins by bluffing, Luke wins the respect of the prisoners and the nickname “Cool Hand Luke”( Newman explains that sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand). Later, after Luke devours fifty eggs in an hour he is immortalized in prison legend and everyone in the camp, especially Dragline, begins to idolize him.
After Luke gets a message informing him of his mother’s death he begins to rebel against the rules of the prison camp and several times escapes, but is each time captured. The guards, seeing the effect which Luke has had on the rest of the camp, put all of their effort into breaking him. The Man with No Eyes forces Cool Hand Luke to repeatedly dig a grave and fill it in again and soon Luke is begging not to be struck, sobbing, and beaten. The other prisoners turn their backs on him, but Luke never stops fighting and escapes again (this time with dragline in tow). However Luke is soon cornered by the police and, knowing that there is no way out, mocks The Man With No Eyes one more time before he is shot down.
The theme of the movie is to never give up fighting the system no matter what the odds. The viewer can see the parallels between the films story and the anti government movement that was going on at the time. Luke is the rebel who plays by his own rules, one man against unbeatable odds, but like he says sometimes nothing is a real cool hand. And, although Luke is broken, beaten and eventually killed he never stops smiling. Dragline noticed that himself at the films end. In many ways Luke’s story was like that of Jesus Christ. They were both one man, whom everyone admired, struggling against impossible odds. Both were betrayed (Newman accidentally by Dragline) and crucified for their perceived sins.
Cool Hand Luke is an excellent film with great symbolism and an enduring message which is still relevant today. The performances by Newman, Kennedy, The Man With No Eyes and The Captain are fantastic, emotional and real. The viewer is left in suspense for the entire film, they want to see Luke escape to see him beat the system because we all want to achieve the impossible and overcome those unbeatable odds, but deep down we know that he can’t win that we are all just subjects of the system. But, this move offers a message, one that says just because we are slaves that doesn’t mean we cannot strive to be better, that doesn’t mean we can just give up. Cool Hand Luke says that giving up isn’t an option, that you have to use the cards your dealt to their fullest and remember that sometimes nothing is a real cool hand.
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Oh No...Yoko!
Yoko Ono paid an emotional visit to John Lennon’s childhood home and school on a fast tour of Liverpool.
The artist was greeted by dozens of screaming children when she dropped in to Dovedale junior and infant schools, in Mossley Hill, yesterday.
She also surprised visitors at Mendips, Lennon’s boyhood home in Menlove Avenue, by turning up at the end of their tour for a chat.
To mark the former Beatle’s 70th birthday, EMI is releasing 11 remastered Lennon albums, in an initiative overseen by Yoko, entitled “Gimme Some Truth”.
The artist was greeted by dozens of screaming children when she dropped in to Dovedale junior and infant schools, in Mossley Hill, yesterday.
She also surprised visitors at Mendips, Lennon’s boyhood home in Menlove Avenue, by turning up at the end of their tour for a chat.
To mark the former Beatle’s 70th birthday, EMI is releasing 11 remastered Lennon albums, in an initiative overseen by Yoko, entitled “Gimme Some Truth”.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
FOX News has released their Top Hollywood Potheads:
Hollyweed
Megan Fox Brad Pitt Tommy Chong Sting Matthew McConaughey Jennifer Aniston
Woody Harrelson Sarah Silverman James Franco Nicole Richie Snoop Dogg
Willie Nelson Kevin Smith Shia LeBeouf Kirsten Dunst Johnny Depp
Paris Hilton Montel Williams Justin Timberlake Michael Phelps Cameron Diaz
Keith Richards Lil Wayne Jason Mraz Frances McDormand Jack Black
Ellen Pompeo Whoopi Goldberg Charlize Theron
Megan Fox Brad Pitt Tommy Chong Sting Matthew McConaughey Jennifer Aniston
Woody Harrelson Sarah Silverman James Franco Nicole Richie Snoop Dogg
Willie Nelson Kevin Smith Shia LeBeouf Kirsten Dunst Johnny Depp
Paris Hilton Montel Williams Justin Timberlake Michael Phelps Cameron Diaz
Keith Richards Lil Wayne Jason Mraz Frances McDormand Jack Black
Ellen Pompeo Whoopi Goldberg Charlize Theron
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)