Category: Music

Dieing Well

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Music impresario Kathi Goldmark:

Kathi Kamen Goldmark, a beloved San Francisco literary impresario and country-rock singer, died May 24 after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 63.

Ms. Goldmark died at UCSF Medical Center surrounded by family and friends, including authors Amy Tan, Dave Barry and Maya Angelou. In her last hours, musician Roger McGuinn of the Byrds sang an Irish hymn to her over the phone, and Judy Collins called to sing “Amazing Grace.” As the end drew near, Ms. Goldmark mouthed something toward those around her. It was “Rosebud,” the famous last line from “Citizen Kane.” And she smiled as she whispered it.

“She had a sense of humor right until the end,” said Barry, the humorist. “There has never been a funnier lady.”

I hope I do half as well when my time comes.

Read the rest.

I wish that I had known of her before reading her obituary.

Cry Me a River

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That is not the real Pope

Ok, because Natalie, my daughter, insisted on watching the Grammys, so I saw Niki Minaj’s The Exorcist inspired bit.

My reactions was, “WTF?”

But professional victim, pedophilia apologist, and talented amateur bigot, Catholic League president Bill Donohue predictably blew a gasket:

In what should come as zero surprise to anyone who watched Nicki Minaj attempt to reenact “The Exorcism of Emily Rose” during her performance at Sunday’s Grammy Awards, the Catholic League has issued a statement condemning the actions of the “Superbass” star.

As predicted by our own Maura Judkis, the faith-based organization whipped up an angry news release written by Catholic League president Bill Donohue as a response to Minaj’s rendition of her song “Roman Holiday.” Donohue mocked Minaj but primarily blamed the Recording Academy for allowing the number to air, a notable fact given that the executive producer of the Grammys and Minaj have told conflicting stories about how the performance got approved. More on that in a moment. First, the angry press release.

Well, this improves my opinion of Minaj.

There is probably a more contemptible (technically self appointed) spokesman for the Catholic Church, but none immediately come to mind.

They Are A Bunch of F%$#ing Ghouls!

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Sony Music, one of the slimiest record distributors out there, has just topped itself.

It raised prices on Whitney Houston’s music less than 12 hours after her death:

It’s easy to get so emotional about a singer after they’ve passed prematurely, as Whitney Houston did Saturday at the age of 48. But fans seeking to buy her digital albums in remembrance weren’t too happy at sudden price hikes so soon after her death.

The Brits picked up on it quickly, with London-based Next Web writer Matt Brian and The Guardian’s Josh Halliday both finding the price increases, which raised Houston’s “The Ultimate Collection” 2007 album from £5 (about $7.89) to £8 (about $12.63). In the United States, the cost is even steeper: $15 for the “Greatest Hits” collection at both Amazon (mp3 store) and iTunes.

Halliday found out that Sony Music increased the price of “The Ultimate Collection” at about 4 a.m. Sunday, not even 12 hours after news broke of Houston’s death. Fans were quick to point fingers at Apple for the anti-sale, but it turned out that when Sony bumped up the wholesale price of “The Ultimate Collection,” iTunes and other retailers automatically upped their pricing.

Not a fan, but sort of crap is cold.

H/t Chris in Paris.

Too True

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This has a core of truth to it

Full disclosure, I’ve never worked at the Pentagon, but I’ve worked on a number of doomed Pentagon projects, most notably MEADS and the Future Combat Systems, and there is much to to be desired in the ways that we make our own weapons of mass destruction.

I’m just saying.

The Final Serial Comma Is Still a Necessity

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You kow what the final serial comma is, don’t you?

It’s the last comma used on a list, so you see, “Item1, Item2, Item3, Item4, Item5, and Item6.”

Some people believe that this is an anachronism that can be discarded, and that, “Item1, Item2, Item3, Item4, Item5 and Item6,” is acceptable.

Well, Patrick Nielsen Hayden believes that this shortcut is in error, and I agree:

With the final serial comma, it is clear that Merle Haggard’s ex-wives, as well as Kris Kristofferson and Robert Duvall were interviewed.

Without the final serial comma it is clear that Kris Kristofferson and Robert Duvall are Merle Haggard’s two ex wives.

To quote Emo Phillips, “Ambiguity, the Devil’s Vollyball.”

Henry Rollins’ Is Saying Something About Politics

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A metaphor for our times

Yes, it does sound like our body politic, particularly the bit infected with the teabagger manifestation:

I’ll tear (rip) your mind up, I’ll burn your soul
I’ll turn you into me, I’ll turn you into me
’cause I’m a liar, a liar, a liar, a liar…

Then again, the whole element of pathological need of the person to whom he is lying to keep believing reminds me of a wider range of political fanboi out there.

This Is Bloody Amazing

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Entwhistle’s bass playing here is completely sick, and Keith Moon is positively insane.

It’s a nice window into the band about a year before they became rock icons with the release of Tommy.

They were playing at the “The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus,” and they so blew away the Stones that Mssr. Jagger and company did not have the stones* to release the film or album for almost 30 years.

Wow, just wow.

And that fringed jacket is so 1960s.

*Pun intended.