#then pass the rhythm of the saints 1990

[1962dude420-blog]

Today we remember the passing of Jani Lane who Died: August 11, 2011 in Woodland Hills, California

Jani Lane (born John Kennedy Oswald; February 1, 1964 – August 11, 2011) was an American recording artist and the lead vocalist, frontman, lyricist and main songwriter for the glam metal band Warrant. From Hollywood, California, the band experienced success from 1989 to 1996 with five albums reaching international sales of over 10 million. Lane left Warrant in 2004 and again in 2008 after a brief reunion. Lane also released a solo album, Back Down to One, in 2003, and the album Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner with a new group, Saints of the Underground, in 2008. Lane contributed lead vocals and songwriting to various projects throughout his career.

Lane was born John Kennedy Oswald (later changed to John Patrick Oswald), on February 1, 1964 in Akron, Ohio to Robert and Eileen Oswald. He was raised in Brimfield with four older siblings: sisters Marcine Williams, Michelle Robinson and Victoria Ley, plus older brother Eric, already an accomplished guitarist. With sisters Micki and Vicky and brother Eric harmonizing and playing guitar, Lane taught himself to play drums, guitar and piano by ear by age five. He grew up listening to Cleveland rock station WMMS (100.7 FM "The Buzzard") and was introduced to a variety of music by his older siblings.

With connections from siblings Eric and Vicky in and around the music scene (and with his parents' help), Lane made a name for himself at a very young age. He played drums under the pseudonym "Mitch Dynamite" in clubs by age 11 and with a local band "Pokerface." By that time, his siblings had left for college or marriage, although Vicky was still active in the entertainment industry in northeast Ohio and southwest Florida. Due to Vicky's numerous connections, Lane was able to network with industry execs in pursuit of his dream. Lane graduated from Field High School, in Mogadore, Ohio, a nearby city to Brimfield in 1982.

Lane is credited as the vocalist/drummer on Warrant's Latest and Greatest CD. Throughout his career, Lane would sometimes play drums/acoustic guitar and piano with his band and played the drums in various formats and gigs with other musicians.

After high school, Lane joined the band Cyren, featuring vocalist Skip Hammonds, guitarist John Weakland, bassist Don Hoover (and later Rusty Fohner) with Lane on drums and vocals. Many of Cyren's shows opened for a popular local band called Risque'. When their bassist, Al Collins, noticed Lane's vocal talents, he convinced Lane to form a new band they eventually called Dorian Gray. The new band also included Steven Chamberlin on drums and Dave Chamberlin on lead guitar. Dorian Gray was designed to have Lane as the lead vocalist and to perform original material, but Lane wasn't ready to be the lead singer and quickly returned to the drum kit. Billy Denmead was hired as lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. After only a few shows, Collins left the band, vowing to put a band together when Lane was ready to be a lead vocalist.

Lane moved to Florida in 1983 with Dorian Gray. He eventually formed Plain Jane with Collins and Chamberlin, adopting the stage name "Jani Lane" (Chamberlin would also soon rechristen himself Steven Sweet). He took the name "Jani" from his German grandparents, who spelled his name "Jani" and pronounced it "Yay-nee."

Lane began vocal training with vocal coach/trainer Ron Feldmann, who introduced him to Creative Engineering, Inc. in Orlando. Lane worked there as a programmer of the animatronic character Dook LaRue, the drummer for The Rock-afire Explosion. His vocal debut was at The Station in Fern Park, Florida.

Lane, Collins, and Chamberlin recorded the first Plain Jane four-track demos at their rented house in Winter Park, Florida. Although reluctant to leave Florida, they rented a trailer in the spring of 1984 and moved to California with hopes of landing a record deal. They were broke by the time they landed at the Hollywood Bowl Motel and resorted to making sandwiches with mustard packets while taking turns calling their parents for cash.

Struggling to make ends meet as a musician, Lane resorted to working in a pornographic video warehouse. The band, along with a new road crew and a few girlfriends, pooled their wages and lived in a two-bedroom condominium rented by new Plain Jane guitarist Paul Noble. At one time there were 13 people living in the crowded space.

By 1985, Plain Jane had become a regular feature on the Los Angeles club circuit and opened many shows for a band called Warrant. Plain Jane's bassist and guitarist both left the band on the same day Warrant's singer and drummer quit. Erik Turner, who had founded Warrant in July 1984, was impressed by Plain Jane's songwriting and vocal performance and invited Lane and Sweet to jam with his band at Hollywood's db Sound in September 1986.

After generating notoriety on the club circuit, Warrant began to attract the attention of record labels. Following an abortive deal with A&M Records over a contribution to the soundtrack for the motion picture Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, the band signed with Columbia Records. The Columbia deal came via the partnering of Warrant and manager Tom Hulett, known for working with The Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, The Moody Blues and others. Hulett became Lane's mentor and friend until Hulett's death from cancer in 1993.

As lead vocalist with Warrant, Lane wrote all of the material for the band's 1989 debut double platinum album, Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich, including four Top 40 hit singles: "Down Boys", "Sometimes She Cries", "Big Talk" and the No. 2 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Heaven." The album peaked at no. 10 on The Billboard 200. Lane also wrote four Top 40 hit singles ("Cherry Pie," "I Saw Red," "Uncle Tom's Cabin" and "Blind Faith") for the second album, the 1990 double platinum Cherry Pie, which peaked at no. 7 on the Billboard 200. Lane also co-wrote and performed with Warrant the song "The Power" in the 1992 movie Gladiator. In 1992, Warrant released Dog Eat Dog, their gold third album, which peaked at no. 25 on the Billboard 200.

Lane left Warrant in March 1993 to pursue a solo career. He returned six months later, helping the band secure a new record with Tom Lipsky of CMC International. Warrant recorded Ultraphobic in 1995, Belly to Belly in 1996, Greatest & Latest in 1999 and a cover album, Under the Influence, in 2001.

Due to personal and business disagreements, Lane left Warrant again in 2004. In January 2008, the band's agent, The William Morris Agency, issued a new photograph of the band with Lane prominently featured, confirming his return to the band. It was the first time that all original members had been in the band since 1993. The band's first show with all original members was in May 2008 in Nashville, Tennessee. Warrant performed a series of shows during the summer of 2008, but by September, the band and Lane agreed to move forward separately due to "too much water under the bridge." Warrant and Lane both continued to perform Lane's compositions live and Lane continued to write for himself and other artists.

Lane became involved in acting in the early 1990s. He made a brief appearance in Caged Fear and appeared in High Strung in 1991.

In 1993, Lane started working on his first solo project. Titled "Jabberwocky," the album represented a significant musical departure from previous work. Between 1997 and 2000, demos of Lane's solo material began surfacing on the Internet, with some bids on eBay reaching an estimated $100 per copy. In 2002, Lane decided to postpone the "Jabberwocky" project and released a new project as his debut solo album. The "Jabberwocky" project remained unreleased.

Lane's official debut solo album, Back Down to One, was released on June 17, 2003 through Z Records and in the U.S. in 2006 on Immortal/Sidewinder Records. It carried a "power pop" sound more closely aligned with the sound of Warrant than "Jabberwocky." Shortly after the album's release, Lane was admitted to a rehabilitation center for alcohol and drug-related exhaustion.

In the fall of 2004, Lane contributed lead vocals for the first ever theme song to a novel, Billy McCarthy's "The Devil of Shakespeare," along with James Young from Styx, Ron Flynt of 20/20 and Chip Z'Nuff of Enuff Z'Nuff.

Lane contributed vocals on the track "Bastille Day" and "2112 Overture/Temples of Syrinx" for the Magna Carta 2005 Rush tribute album "Subdivisions."

Lane had success with the "VH1 Classic Metal Mania: Stripped" discs, where the acoustic version of "I Saw Red" was included on disc 1, a new acoustic swinging version of "Cherry Pie" featured on disc 2, and a new acoustic version of "Heaven" featured on disc 3.

In 2005, Lane became a fan favorite on the popular VH1 series Celebrity Fit Club 2. His problems with alcohol were highlighted and many viewers supported his efforts at recovery.

With the reissue and U.S. release of "Back Down to One" in 2006, Lane attempted to restart his version of Warrant. Although "Back Down to One" was credited as a solo release, Lane assembled a new touring band called "Jani Lane's Warrant." The band's first shows in Michigan were stopped by legal action from former bandmates objecting to his use of the Warrant logo on his posters. Lane subsequently continued touring without the Warrant name and logo.

Lane lent his vocals to numerous tribute CDs during the 2000s. In 2007, he released a solo cover album titled "Photograph," featuring a collection of his tribute contributions.

Keri Kelli and Lane wrote a song for Alice Cooper titled "The One That Got Away." It was recorded by Cooper on his 2008 record Along Came a Spider. Lane also finished work on a side project, Saints of the Underground, which included Kelli and Bobby Blotzer and Robbie Crane, (both from Ratt). Their album, Love the Sin, Hate the Sinner, was released on April 22, 2008 by Warrior Records, and was mixed by producer/engineer Andy Johns, who'd worked with The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. The album featured additional bass work by Chuck Wright (Quiet Riot, House of Lords). The band was originally called "Angel City Outlaws" when they posted their first two promo singles, "Bruised" and "Exit."

In summer 2010, Lane toured with Great White, filling in for singer Jack Russell, who was recuperating from surgery after suffering internal complications.

On August 11, 2011, the Los Angeles Police Department and local news stations announced that Lane was found dead of acute alcohol poisoning at a Comfort Inn hotel in Woodland Hills, California at the age of 47. Lane was pronounced dead by fire department personnel who responded to a call shortly before 5:30 p.m.

#August 11 #2011 #R.I.P. #Jani Lane #Warrant

[evanfleischer]

Truth, like love and sleep, resents Approaches that are too intense. —  W.H. Auden, “New Year Letter”

Walter Benjamin spoke of an “angel of history” in his unpublished-at-the-time essay, “On The Concept Of History,” writing that  — 

His [that is, the angel’s face] face is turned toward the past. Where we perceive a chain of events, he sees one single catastrophe which keeps piling wreckage and hurls it in front of his feet. The angel would like to stay, awaken the dead, and make whole what has been smashed. But a storm is blowing in from Paradise; it has got caught in his wings with such a violence that the angel can no longer close them. The storm irresistibly propels him into the future to which his back is turned, while the pile of debris before him grows skyward. This storm is what we call progress.

Benjamin’s definition of ‘the angel of history’ enables us to look a little bit more closely at the function of the symbol and the idea of ‘an angel of history’ in The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald. It’s also in discussing both Walter Benjamin’s angel and The Rings of Saturn that we can discuss Wings of Desire and take note of how the three engage with the other.

There are literal connections and all but literal connections that can be drawn between the three texts: in the library scene in Wings of Desire, per the screenplay, one reader studies Paul Klee’s “Angelus Novus,” which is referenced by Walter Benjamin in relation to “the angel of history” (and which prompts the above-quoted paragraph), which itself serves as a point of intellectual reference in The Rings of Saturn.

Thinking involves not only the flow of thoughts, but their arrest as well. Where thinking suddenly stops in a configuration pregnant with tensions, it gives that configuration a shock, by which it crystalizes into a monad. A historical materialist approaches a historical subject only where he encounters it as a monad. In this structure he recognizes the sign of a Messianic cessation of happening, or, put differently, a revolutionary chance in the fight for the oppressed past. He takes cognizance of it in order to blast a specific era out of the homogenous course of history  —  blasting a specific life out of the era or a specific work out of the lifework. As a result of this method the lifework is preserved in this work and at the same time canceled (orig.: aufheben) … The nourishing fruit of the historically understood contains time as a precious but tasteless seed.

The Rings Of Saturn is manifestly aware of an oppressed past and the notion of “blast[ing] a specific era out of the homogenous course of history.” The text is aware of how frequently it looks upon a “wreckage,” so aware that the voice of the text frequently slides upward into a register filled with hauntings — but not just Gothic-styled hauntings pegged to a specific object, i.e., a single ghost haunting a single house because of a single terrible act committed one generational leap back into the past.

Sebald pursues a different path: when the reader ascends to a certain level in the text when one might feel a more ‘direct’ encounter with a ‘ghost,’ i.e., that space between a pile of herring and the bodies of those murdered in the Holocaust as defined by the implicit metaphor, we also share an intellectual space with thinking over of what generational trauma means while also operating in the middle of an encounter with ‘place.’ (The narrator can be expected to only accomplish so much, being human, after all.) The book has names for the things that have produced that “wreckage” — imperialism, colonialism, capitalism, and fascism; and the book traces their evolution well — but merely indicting a large ‘-ism’ isn’t where the mission of The Rings Of Saturn begins or ends. Sebald the narrator seeks out a saint in Nuremberg. An angel seeks to become human in Berlin. Each are on an analogous path and make use of similar tools. In a small essay called “Why Do You Make Films?” written in 1987, Wim Wenders remarked that “The camera is a weapon against the tragedy of things, against their disappearing.” Sebald himself was quoted in an interview flagged by the podcast Backlisted as saying that “The photograph is meant to get lost somewhere in an attic — a nomadic thing that has a small chance only to survive,” making their survival — and the act of ensuring their survival — all the more striking.  And, more often than not, both Sebald and the angel seek to commune with nominally empty spaces.

To explain what occupies this emptiness requires us to talk for a moment about what we mean when we use words like trauma, collective trauma, and generational trauma.

With all three, there’s a rough feeling that lingers with us where we can say that we know it when we see it, feel it, or hear about it. We know it when we keep friends safe in the middle of the night, telling them over the phone to breathe in and breathe out. We know it when we hear a blues song scratchily emanating from the side of an open and otherwise quiet car mechanic’s garage late at night. We know it when we read a book like The Body Keeps The Score and we know it when we watch a television show like Watchmen.

Now, there’s a DSM-5 definition we can break out — which talks about “actual or threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence” — but that doesn’t incorporate a thousand other things that are part of the landscape of trauma. There is also a certain level of complexity in tracing generational trauma from one generation to the next at the level of biology. As of 2018 — insofar as this writer can make out — no studies exist that follow the trauma a mother might have before she conceives a child, how that trauma changes the genetic make-up of an oocyte (a cell in the ovary that changes to form an ovum), and how that link between the trauma established before conception and the trauma felt by the child is established after the child has been born.

That difficulty doesn’t mean the investigation into generational trauma is illegitimate. In 1966, Vivian M. Rakoff, a Canadian psychologist, described the children of parents who survived the Holocaust as suffering more acute psychological symptoms than their parents. In the 1990’s, as Rachel Yahuda and Amy Lehrner note in World Psychiatry, as technology developed, time passed, and more investigations were made — 

… offspring of Holocaust survivors were more likely to show HPA axis alterations associated with PTSD, such as lower cortisol levels and enhanced GR responsiveness … Subsequent investigations documented that maternal and paternal PTSD were associated with different biological outcomes. A post‐hoc analysis of cortisol circadian rhythm data indicated that lower cortisol levels in adult Holocaust offspring were associated with maternal, but not paternal, PTSD.

The HPA axis refers to the connection between the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and adrenal glands. GR responsiveness refers to glucocorticoid receptors, which are found throughout the body and play a role in regulating the genes that control development, metabolism, and immune response.

Looking at these results suggests that it wouldn’t be entirely unreasonable to offer up the reductive assertion that lower cortisol levels and enhanced GR responsiveness means that someone is both hyper-sensitive and might not feel the stress that the body should otherwise feel if it were in a ‘flight or ‘fight,’ trauma-inducing situation. In other words: the children exhibit the symptoms of the traumatized.

There is much more detail at hand here — studies involving GR gene methylation that parallel but don’t explicitly show genetic transmission of trauma, mothers with PTSD who experienced September 11th rating their children as having higher anxiety in the morning than mothers without PTSD, animals exposed to “chronic stress in utero [that led to] increased male, but not female, HPA stress reactivity,” and ‘secondary traumatization’ — but we should zoom the camera lens out to flag the fact that trauma simply makes itself manifest in the day-to-day lives of individuals in a variety of ways. In Bassel Van Der Kolk’s book, The Body Keeps The Score, the doctor describes patients who “felt emotionally distant from everybody, as though [their] heart were frozen and [the individual in question was] living behind a glass wall,” as well as other patients who were “suffering from memories,” and notes that “I [the author] could not be [the doctor of a traumatized group] unless they made me one of them.”

This characterization brings us back to the idea of the lead characters in The Rings Of Saturn and Wings Of Desire encountering nominally empty spaces. At Somerleyton Hall in The Rings Of Saturn, the narrator thinks of how “fine a place the house seemed to me now that it was imperceptibly nearing the brink of dissolution and silent oblivion,” a house where “there are … moments, as one passes through the rooms open to the public … when one is not quite sure whether one is in a country house in Suffolk or some kind of no-man’s-land, on the shores of the Arctic Ocean or in the heart of the dark continent.”

The house is only ‘nominally’ empty because of the action implied by the phrases of “the Arctic Ocean” and “in the heart of the dark continent.” Open up the door of the latter phrase and voices will come rushing through. The alexithymia of trauma located in more than one place — in both the house and the ‘dark continent’ — will find a voice — of exploitation, cruelty, and worse. (Later on, the narrator goes so far as to suggest that the colonial violence of the Belgians in the past makes it manifest in physical deformations in the near-present.)

Consider two scenes in Wings Of Desire. The first is the montage that shows us a glimpse of what happened to Berlin in the war: the camera passes by a destitute man, a domestic argument, and a child screaming for his mother in the street before we transition to the sounds of a bomb siren, see for ourselves the bombs flash bulb across the sky of the city, the shadow of planes and white-yellow search lights, and buildings on fire. Or, as the English writer Thomas Browne puts it in one section of The Rings Of Saturn —

The shadow of night is drawn like a black veil across the earth, and since almost all creatures, from one meridian to the next, lie down after the sun has set, so … one might, in following the setting sun, see on our globe nothing but prone bodies, row upon row, as if levelled by the scythe of Saturn — an endless graveyard for a humanity struck by falling sickness.

The second scene is Peter Falk standing outside a small snack bar in the middle of a muddied expanse. He talks to Bruno Ganz, the angel, and — even though the angel says nothing — they share a moment.

I can’t see you, but I know you’re here. I feel it. You’ve been hanging around since I got here. I wish I could see your face. Just look into your eyes and tell you how good it is to be here. Just to touch something. See, that’s cold. That feels good. Or, here … To smoke. Have coffee. And, if you do it together, it’s fantastic. Or … to draw. You know, you take a pencil, and you make a dark line … then you make a light line. And, together, it’s a good line. Or when your hands are cold — you rub ’em together. You see, that’s good. That feels good. There’s so many good things. But you’re not here. I’m here. I wish you were here. I wish you could talk to me, because I’m a friend. Compañero.

It is agonizingly tempting to liken Falk’s voice here to Sebald’s voice in a one-to-one ratio, even in spite of the fairly central role ‘wreckage’ and melancholy play in The Rings Of Saturn, especially if one were to factor in the consistently sumptuous turns of Sebald’s language, i.e., how the scratchy sounds of a transistor radio playing on a beach are “as if the pebbles being dragged back by the waves were talking to each other”; how — instead of a child — one couple in The Hague has an “apricot-colored poodle”; and how — “every now and then” at the Schiphol airport — “the announcers’ voices, disembodied and intoning their messages like angels, would call someone’s name.” But just before that scene in the film, Falk is seen wandering through a muddied expanse of earth. “Walking and seeing,” he says in voice over. He turns and looks off in the distance to his right (and the lingering background of the shot.) “That must be the station — not the one where the trains stop, but the station where the station stops.”

“The station where the station stops” is a roundabout way of talking about “the zero hour,” the end of history, or the “inclusion of all exclusions,” which is how the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann once described the apocalypse. Falk goes from contemplating the “inclusion of all exclusions” — an enormous collective trauma collectively felt — to talking about simple things with a spirit he can’t see, a spirit who doesn’t feel like it’s part of humanity and wants to be a part of humanity. And Falk wants that spirit there.

Sebald’s narrator has a role in reaching out to the spirits. The angel has a role in reaching out to humanity. Each are working to build a narrative bridge over which those impacted by collective trauma and generational trauma can pass into the story of the present. The aforementioned individuals who felt “emotionally distant from everybody, as though [their] heart[s] were frozen and [they] were living behind a glass wall” might now have a better idea of the path they need to take to unfreeze the heart and come from behind said glass wall. (Or, as it was put in HBO’s Watchmen: “Wounds need air.”) Neither narrator in either text can accomplish the project of building this bridge without the other, as is evidenced by the fact that The Rings Of Saturn all but ends amongst a reconstructed Temple of Jerusalem — an appeal to the judgement of eternity — and Wings Of Desire ends with the angel becoming human and falling in love.

There are a few complications that linger along our path: on one level, Sebald’s narrator doesn’t really ‘do’ much of anything. He walks around, has some associative thoughts, and eventually ends up in the hospital. The same judgement could be passed on the angel: he drifts, becomes human, and — for his troubles — ends up with a colorful coat.

But that reading ignores the role of what it means to be a witness.

“A witness is needed in order for the particular narrative to rise from the inundation of universal sound,” Xavier Vila and Alice Kuzniar wrote of ‘the library scene’ in Wings of Desire in the 1992 Spring issue of Film Criticism, and witnesses abound in both Wings of Desire and The Rings of Saturn. Roger Casement is witnessed on television. The gaze of the painter is witnessed in The Anatomy Lesson. The pathway of a Nazi who becomes the head of the United Nations is witnessed from one era to the next. The descendants of the colonialists — as well as what they took — are witnessed. In looking at a bridge crossing the river Blyth, the narrator also performs an act of witness concerning the growth of capitalism and empire in China.

It is this repeated act of witness that lends a shape of characterization to the seemingly unobserved, un-filled-in narrator. In observing this, we observe a man who is quiet, decent, and thoughtful. We observe a man who knows what it means to genuinely ‘live in the moment.’ We observe his silence in the same fashion that the narrator and housekeeper observe the silence of Major George Wyndham Le-Strange after the latter was one of the ones who liberated Belsen.

By contrast, the angels in Wings Of Desire observe things in an earthward direction, i.e., someone reading in a library — or someone dying as the result of a motorcycle accident  and seeing their life flash before their eyes — 

Albert Camus. The morning light. The child’s eyes. The swim in the waterfall. The spots of the first drops of rain. The sun. The bread and wine. Hopping. Easter. The veins of leaves. The blowing grass. The color of stones. The pebbles on the stream’s bed. The white tablecloth outdoors. The dream of the house in the house. The dear one asleep in the next room. The peaceful Sundays. The horizon. The light from the room in the garden. The night flight. Riding a bicycle with no hands. The beautiful stranger. My father. My mother. My wife. My child.

In each case, we see a deepening of the role of the angel of history as described by Benjamin in his essay. It isn’t just that the angel witnesses the wreckage; it’s that the angel has emotions about the wreckage it wants to share with us. It isn’t just that the storm propels the angel into the future; it’s that the angel has an opinion as to how that wreckage should have conducted itself. The angel of history isn’t about the truth or falsity of history; it’s about who is acknowledged and what it means to share care and concern for those initially lost to history.

The other complication to the arc of this argument is that solely ascribing an interest in the traumatized ‘lessens’ the work of either text — that it strips them of the necessary ineffable mysteriousness that makes art ‘art.’

If that were to hold true — if we were to push our concern with trauma to the side — it still wouldn’t get rid of the fact that there is an emotion we can ascribe to the wreckage of history as described in The Rings Of Saturn. You can’t look at the very end of the book — wherein Sebald notes the death of his father-in-law — and not feel an emotion — that, over the course of history, when a ‘lady of the upper classes’ suffered a grief — which the reader could reasonably read as barely concealed code for ‘a very important woman’ — this is how history would respond (ergo, how we could respond), with …

… heavy robes of black silk taffeta or black crêpe de chine … black Mantua silk of which the Norwich silk weavers … had created … to rape black mourning ribbons over all the mirrors and all canvasses depicting landscapes or people or the fruits of the field …

 — but the text doesn’t just stop with the emotion. It begins to move and slides upward to note that these arrangements were done so that  — 

… the soul, as it left the body, would not be distracted on its final journey, either by a reflection of itself or by a last glimpse of the land now being lost forever.  

In other words: amidst the wreckage of empire and silk, as you cross from a story about Queen Victoria to fictitious words falsely attributed to Thomas Browne, we realize that a bridge has been built for a dear one close to the narrator’s heart. In fact, all of this is done in the name of building a bridge: the angel bearing witness to the words of a dying motorcyclist in Wings of Desire; Peter Falk (as an ex-angel) bearing witness to an empty space on his way to get a cup of coffee; Sebald’s narrator bearing witness to an empty house or to fishermen on the beach who looked

… as if the last stragglers of some nomadic people had settled there, at the outermost limit of the earth, in expectation of the miracle longed for since time immemorial, the miracle which would justify all their erstwhile privations and wanderings.

The late David Foster Wallace once characterized true heroism as “minutes, hours, weeks, year upon year of the quiet, precise, judicious exercise of probity and care — with no one there to see or cheer.” The actions undertaken in Wings Of Desire and The Rings Of Saturn highlight just how much weight the words ‘probity’ and ‘care’ carry over the course of a story, as well as what it takes for someone to actually earn that epithet of praise.

#writing #essay #lit #literature

[aprilpillkington]

What you will see in this article is really the very beginning...

What you will see in this article is really the very beginning of hardbass culture. Hardbass is essentially sub genre of electronic music, which obviously originated in Russia, someplace in 2000’s. It is defined with fast pace, strong bass beats (AKA donk bass), with periodic lyrics. Dress code is generally budgety outfit, the majority of typically Adidas tracksuit. Holy carriers of hardbass culture are gopniks, which are typically seen crouching in groups, drinking and, obviously, doing hardbass. Here in next few minutes you will learn everything about the normal gopnik specimen in his natural environment. As we said, hardbass began to establish in Russia, precisely in St. Petersburg, with leaders like DJ Snat, Sonic Mine and X Job. After few years, it began to spread out through VKontakte, Russians version of Facebook, and by 2010, numerous “copycat” artists and videos of EDM songs began to sprout all over Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Individuals were crouching and pump dancing in classrooms, busses, work stations, malls, basically everywhere. In the future, people began doing this pump dancing thing at famous landmarks and places in their home town to reveal something in your city that you’re proud off, and to show that you like your city. In some nations hardbass was used for a slightly different purpose, like a form of public rebellion, such as in Serbia, where people were utilizing it to oppose about Kosovo, or Chile, where trainees utilized it to protest against the federal government cutting funds for education. However, in all fairness, EDM music is a type of (hillarious) dance and we should use it and comprehend it as a type of socializing and home entertainment, while expressing yourself! A few of the most popular artists nowadays are DJ Blyatman, XS Project, Hard Bass School, YURBANOID, Celebration Factory etc. Get in your Adidas, get a bottle of beer and hardbass the night away! It all began as a type of joke that went too far– four people from St. Petersburg were trying to mock stereotypical gopniks (low-life Russian criminals) but ended up winning their appreciation rather, and after that the entire thing went viral worldwide. You have actually most likely seen it, a minimum of in a video. A number of men and sometimes ladies worn tracksuits, their faces frequently covered with masks or balaclavas, collect in a circle and move their bodies (or in some cases just their heads) to really loud and primitive music with unique basslines and a quick pace. The whole picture is attractive as hell.

What is a Gopnik?

Gopnik is a stereotype and subculture in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other former Soviet republics to describe boys of sometimes lower-class suburban areas originating from families of poor education and earnings.

Ignore ballet. In the 2010s, it was an uniquely Russian kind of music called hard bass that conquered the world. However before this, it discovered its way to the hearts and ears of countless Russian individuals. In a very unusual way. As frequently happens in Russia, people took something foreign and then Russified everything the way to the bitter end. Hard bass traces its roots back to pumping house, a Western-born genre of techno with a fast pace and rhythmic bass area (Klubbheads are a good example of pumping home). But then it encountered some severe Russian culture phenomena. Paradoxically, for the innovators of hard bass, integrating Western rhythms with the tracksuit clothing used by gopniks (petty goons or scallies) was simply the method to have a laugh. As Lenta.ru put it, the hard bass movement was originally planned as mockery of the “rave gopniks” who would participate in huge rave parties however had no concept what rave culture was originally about (peace, love and techno). Therefore it was that in 2010 4 young people living St. Petersburg published a video on Youtube teasing the absurd dancing of gopniks– moving your ankles around and stomping your legs back and forth. While dancing, it is also essential to make an unique gesture with your hands clenched into fists and just a thumb and little finger extending. The “song” that they carried out to was quite simple: “Raz-raz-raz, eto hard bass!” (something like “Hey-hey-hey, this is hard bass!” in English) but it likewise consisted of a bit of healthy lifestyle propaganda. The guys pointed out that their archenemies are different kinds of chemically produced drugs and that they drink only kvass. Obviously, this too was a joke making fun of gopniks’ pride in their apparently healthy lifestyle– healthy primarily in the sense that they wear tracksuits every day.

Perhaps the paradox was too subtle though because lots of real gopniks who viewed the video didn’t detect it and related to it on a genuine level. No drugs, a basic dance and music to run over the ground to– what’s not to like? Therefore it was that this weird new design, purposefully elegant and ridiculous, started to grow in popularity. With time, the circumstance grew pretty intricate, with 2 separate kinds of hardbass music fans emerging– those who sincerely liked it and those who were teasing it. In some cases the line between them was (and is) very thin, so now when you see the latest funny video with a lot of individuals dancing to hard bass in tracksuits, it is hard to inform if they are severe hardline gopniks or simply fooling around. The hard bass fan website hardbas.ru informs us “It is the pursuit of favorable energy and objection to fool oneself with drugs that lags the hard bass philosophy. Hard bass will help make your life better and more favorable.” That seems a little pretentious, but who we are to evaluate? Then suddenly, the author diverts off in a dubious political instructions: “In numerous cities, hard bass is likewise a Russian alternative to Lezginka (a nationwide Caucasian dance that people of Caucasian origin in some cases perform in the streets).” There are conservative activists amongst hard bass fans, and in 2013 they even attempted to perform “a hard bass protest” dance in the center of Moscow but were apprehended by the authorities. Nonetheless, hard bass is, as a general rule, not about politics. It helped Russia draw attention from the West, albeit in a strange method. Numerous Youtube blog writers now simulate the Russian accent and explain how to behave like a real Russian patsan (a more considerate term that gopniks usage to describe each other) by squatting, consuming sunflower seeds, using Adidas tracksuits and, naturally, dancing to some premium hardbass music. Just remember that this all began as a parody. What basically began as a Russian take on hard house has spread out across the world through social networks and developed into a form of viral demonstration. Local hard bass crews arrange flash mobs called “mass attacks,” where packs of masked youths “pump dance” strongly in public while baffled passerbys pick up speed and try their finest to prevent eye contact. The entire routine is filmed and published onto YouTube, where– instead of curl up and pass away under a barrage of keyboard warrior hate– it’s managed to motivate new hard bass crews that have sprouted westward across the continent.

What is hardbass music?

Hardbass or hard bass (Russian: хардбасс, tr. hardbass, IPA: [xɐrdˈbas] is a subgenre of electronic music which originated from Russia during the late 1990s, drawing motivation from UK hard house, bouncy techno, Scouse home, and hardstyle. Hardbass has become a central stereotype of the gopnik subculture. Originating in Saint Petersburg in the early 2000s, hard bass resembles every other range of generic dance music popular with young Europeans who dress solely in budget plan sportswear: 150-160 BPM, four-to-the-floor beats, and tacky ‘90s synths. This is generally Russian donk. The only real distinction is that instead of hearing a Boltonion drawl chewing on a Greggs cheese-and-onion piece tell you to “put a donk on in it,” you periodically get a Russian MC spitting something in Cyrillic that I have actually been too frightened to penetrate Google translate. Championed by home-grown manufacturers like DJ Snat, Sonic Mine, and XS Job, regional record label Jutonish was your one-stop purchase all your hard bass requirements. By all accounts, hard bass would not remove beyond Saint Petersburg for the next couple of years, and even Muscovites appeared to prefer listening to the noise of rusting Soviet equipment grind into disrepair over the St. Pete’s sound, but eventually, hard bass’ mundanity would be what moved it into the international awareness.

The truth that you could drop a hard bass track at a gabba night in Holland, or a poky rave in Spain, indicated that there was a lot of cross-pollination in between the scenes, with European DJs dipping into hard bass celebrations in Russia and vice-versa. This is how Dr. Poky, the primary face at Sound Makers records, marched from a sea of gurning faces and ended up being the hard bass messiah, preaching the pump bass gospel through a grassroots Facebook marketing campaign. Initially from Russia’s eastern steppes, Dr. Poky first relocated to Madrid, where he went far for himself as DJ in the local “poky” scene, before ultimately settling in France. It was on an eventful trip to Russia that he first experienced the infamous hard bass “pumping dancers.” “When I DJed in Russia in 2009, I saw some video on the internet of two or three guys dancing in the street to hard bass as a joke,” Dr. Poky told me over Skype, “They put the video on the internet, on a program called VKontakte.” If you’re not familiar with bootleg social networks platforms, VKontakte is Russia’s answer to Facebook, with a 195 million profile-strong following, largely based in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Kazakhstan. Hard bass now had an audience, and as we’ve seen in the after-effects of “Gangnam Style” and Soulja Kid, with sufficient inexpensive laughs and a viral video, you too can leave your grubby mark on the worldwide linked loins of modern-day popular culture.

By 2010 copycat videos started appearing in Belarus, Ukraine, and throughout Russia. Pumping dancers were pump-dancing in class, in shopping malls, on public transport, on football pitches, and even on the actions of the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre in Minsk. Groups could be as small as three or four dudes (and it’s pretty much always men) or as huge as numerous lots, however the general goal is to get as lots of people as possible pump-dancing at an innovative location that nobody has ever tried before, or somewhere where you make the greatest problem out of yourself– and if you don’t get it on video, it didn’t happen. Simply in case you’re having trouble imagining pump dancing, let me simplify for you: think of a lot of hunched-over guys treading grapes, arms bent at the elbow, hands formed into beach bottom “hang loose” gestures, casually flailing their forearms up and down. That’s pump dancing. Straight from the off, a few common threads started emerging; the pumping dancers were constantly big on reppin’ either their country or their native city, and most of the videos were recorded at distinct regional landmarks most likely to include in regional tourist board pamphlets. “It has to do with showing the city where you live, the piece de resistances, to reveal it’s genuine. This is my city and I like it– we dance to hard bass here too,” exposes Dr. Poky. Another commonality was an overarching sense of masculine aggressiveness, and spending plan sportswear. Mass attacks appear like fight scenes from hooligan flicks like The Football Factory. In one Ukrainian video, two groups of hooded youths approach each other in a city underpass, hands raised overhead and chanting as if there’s a lot of obscenely overpaid professional athletes kicking a ball around nearby. After a brief pause, they charge at their equivalents in a relocation that reminds me of a wall of death that I saw at an Agnostic Front program when I was 15, before breaking into fits of pump-dancing upon effect. It’s like seeing a musical adaptation of the 2011 London summer season riots composed by Blackout Crew. In all fairness, this isn’t just special to EDM music; among gabba’s most significant anthems is “Rotterdam Thug” by the Rotterdam Terror Corps that samples the impassioned chants of Feynoord fans. Pondering hard bass’ withstanding appeal with football punks, Dr. Poky explains, “It’s simple for them to bring people and make a video. It’s low-priced promo to demonstrate how hard they are.” I’m pretty sure dancing hasn’t been utilized to intimidate people since the Jets and Sharks threw down in West Side Story, but whatever.

At some time in late 2010, hard bass slipped under the digital Iron Curtain and made its method onto YouTube, pump dancing into the cumulative worldwide consciousness. Over the course of 2011, hard bass teams sprouted in Slovakia, Serbia, Lithuania, and the Czech Republic. In Belgrade, one mass attack attracted around 200 barely-pubescent kids, while others took place as far away as France, Spain, and even Chile. Mass attacks were increasingly taking place outside of federal government buildings and, to the untrained eye, should have appeared like political demonstrations by means of ham-fisted line dancing. Were they trying to say something to political leaders? Dr. Poky explains: “Some people make videos due to the fact that they enjoy hard bass and want share it with the world, however some other people use it to promote their own program. In Chile, trainees used it to protest against the federal government cutting money for education, in Serbia for example, some of them used videos to oppose about Kosovo.” The first crew to explicitly use hard bass as a political platform were Russian group Hard Bass School,“ who saw themselves as an eastern bloc Minor Threat. As Dr. Poky elaborated: "You have some video on Internet with a man smoking cigarettes, then some person comes and states 'Why do you squander your money and time smoking cigarettes or taking drugs? You need to be wearing a Hard Bass School t-shirt and dancing to Hard Bass!’” Yeah, let’s get high on tee shirts! In Belgium, Jeune Nation, the Hitler Youth-esque junior wing of Francophone nationalist movement, COUNTRY, use0 electronic music in their nonstop battle versus Islam. With Halal dietary standards becoming progressively typical in supermarkets and school kitchens across Charleroi, they unceremoniously took the streets last April wearing pig masks and staged a mass attack in defense of their inalienable right to pork products. Political gains were limited, however sighs of exasperated offense were at an all time high. Over in the Czech Republic, anti-authoritarian hard bass teams are persuaded that the recession marks the start of a counter-cultural revolution, as Mord explains: “Society is staggering on the edge. Today’s financial crisis is not simply a cost-effective problem; it’s a crisis of culture. We believe that this crisis is a significant one which a huge social shift and transformation is on the horizon. We want to contribute.”

Okay, however isn’t pump dancing a bit of an unclear way to make a declaration? Why do not you make some banners and scream cute slogans like everybody else does? Team member Mord argues, “That’s simply another system-approved form of habits. How can you protest against the system if you continue to play it’s game? How you want to alter rules if you behave by the rules? Take a look at the Occupy Wall Street motion. Where are they now? What did they in fact attain?” However how precisely is rhythmically simulating the early stages of the red wine making procedure a much better revolutionary tactic than civil disobedience? “Think about the symbolic power! Groups of masked individuals making noise and dancing where they’re not supposed to is a lot more outrageous than ten times as many individuals marching with banners and screaming slogans! We are provoking people to think a bit more about what they see around them; people are desensitized to opposing crowds, however everyone responds to hard bass.” Though Nenad, from Serbia’s hard bass team, included a more level-headed answer: “To us, it’s a type of interacting socially and home entertainment and it lets us reveal our viewpoint. We won’t alter anything, but at least we get to reveal our position.”

What is EDM music?

Electronic dance music, likewise known as dance music, club music, or simply dance, is a broad series of percussive electronic music categories made mainly for bars, raves and festivals. And I guess that’s the real point of EDM music– it’s just kids trying to run the hormonal onslaught of adolescence as best they can and hope it brings them some sort of purpose and belonging. When one Prague hard bass crew got together to go garbage selecting in a regional forest, I don’t think a lot of them really provided a shit about the environment, or dreamt of trolling Japanese whaling vessels with the Sea Shepherd Preservation Society, they probably simply wanted to hang out with their pals. Due to the fact that, basically, adolescence sucks and not everybody gets to be prom queen, so why not indulge in hard bass?

What you will see in this article is really the very beginning... published first on https://the4th3rd.tumblr.com

[ndtcjamaica]

The National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica (NDTC) announces with extreme sadness and deep regret, the passing of Jihan Palmer, former dancer with the Company. She transitioned in the early hours of Saturday (April 21) in New York, USA after battling stage four cancer. She was 36 years old.

Artistic Director of the NDTC, Marlon Simms said that the death of Jihan has rattled the entire dance community. “We are all at a loss,” Simms said, continuing, “The immense outpouring of support while she battled cancer and the extent of the tributes now, is testament to the fact that her light was bright, powerful and wide reaching. Jihan fought hard and suffers no more.”

“The NDTC extends heartfelt sympathy to her son Rafael, step-son Anthony, mother Joan Munroe, husband Ryan, brother Jason, and the rest of her family, friends and the entire dance fraternity,” he added.

A free spirit

Born Jihan Aisha Alicia Palmer on June 19, 1981, her love for dance began during her primary education at Saints Peter and Paul Preparatory School and continued when she matriculated to the esteemed Campion College in 1992. She joined The Little People & Teen Players Club in 1994 at the age of 12. There, her natural talent in dance and performance was fostered and she developed into the elegant, passionate and versatile dancer for which she became renowned as an adult.

Cathi Levy, Artistic Director, The Little People & Teen Players Club remembers Jihan fondly: “A bright-eyed, twelve year old Jihan Palmer walked into my life in the early 1990s and spent the better part of five years - through her teens - in The Little People & Teen Players Club (LP &TPC), being introduced to and developing her skills in multiple disciplines within the performing arts. Her gregariousness, talent and passion for the dance drove her success in the LP & TPC, and her unwavering love for her Club-family has cemented a spiritual bond in all our hearts that won’t soon be forgotten. We love and miss you, JiJi. DANCE ON in Heaven, our angel!,” Levy said.

Persistently and fervently seeking her own personal and professional growth, Jihan danced with L’Acadco: a United Caribbean Dance Force for approximately three years while pursuing her Diploma in Dance at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in 2000. She furthered her tertiary education at the State University of New York (SUNY) in Brockport, New York, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in 2001.

Dr. L’Antoinette Stines, founder and artistic director of L’Acadco expressed sorrow at Jihan’s passing. “She was one of the most beautiful dancers that I have ever worked with. Jihan was a spirit dancer. She was technically clean and beautiful when she performed. She was a free spirit that had to fly,” Dr. Stines commented.

Jihan joined the NDTC in 2003. A year later, in 2004, she was recruited by Garth Fagan Dance Company in New York and spent two years performing and touring with the internationally acclaimed company. On her return to the island in 2007, she re-joined the NDTC and danced with the company up until 2008.

A muse

Within the NDTC, Jihan was a sought after muse, working with most major choreographers, performing in dozens of works and touring extensively to the USA, UK, and the Eastern Caribbean.

Described as the consummate dancer with a commanding stage presence, Jihan was coveted for her articulation, focus and sense of purpose. She is especially remembered for her powerful performance in A Prayer, a solo choreographed by Arsenio Andrade Calderon as well as for leading roles in Rex Nettleford’s Drumscore and The King Must Die.

She gave memorable performances in Clive Thompson’s duet Vision and full company work FolkTales, and was a favourite in David Brown’s Labess and Bert Rose’s Steal Away. Additionally, she was a critical cast member in Barre Talk by Oneil Pryce; Incantation and Rhythm de Deux by Haitian choreographer Jean-Guy Saintus; as well as in Chris Walker’s Urban Fissure, Fragile and Of a Passage.

Jihan was not only a celebrated dancer, but a dedicated teacher, lifelong learner and cultural entrepreneur. In 2010, she founded and operated an after school dance programme, Lines Dance Institute in Mandeville, offering a fusion of dance genres including, ballet, tap, modern, jazz and folk. Hundreds of children in the parish benefitted from her tutelage, some of whom achieved gold medals in national dance competitions and gained merit-based scholarships to U.S. institutions.

She ran the programme until 2016 when she moved to New York in to pursue her Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) in Finance and Accounting from the Simon Business School, University of Rochester, New York in 2016.

The mother of two balanced her family life with major professional passions – for dance and finance. In her work life, she served as an MBA Intern at Empire Valuations Consultants in New York; and as a Brand Manager at the Wisynco Group. At the Simon school, Jihan was active in her university community serving as President of the Simon Dance Club; Vice President of Marketing and Communication, Simon Finance and Investment Club; Vice President of Marketing and Communication of the Simon School Venture Fund.

Jihan was also well known for her strong Christian faith and often used her enormous talent in dance to minister the gospel. She volunteered as a mentor with Vessels of Praise, a faith-based organization, which provides an outlet for individuals to express themselves through the performing arts and was a member of the Simon School Christian Fellowship.

In a 2014 quote describing her relationship with dance for the NDTC Journal, Jihan said “I am not bound, rather I flow freely. I ‘flex’ my body so that I can 'releve’ to the heights of perfection. I am a dancer! I create positive space despite the negative space that surrounds me and this love vibrates through each vertebrae when I’m … sharing, moving, feeling, shining…dancing.“

NDTC Principal Dancers Marisa Benain and Kevin Moore, also products of The Little People & Teen Players and close friends of Jihan, described her as a “beautiful soul”.

“Jihan was fearless in all her endeavours and every dream she envisioned. It is a painful loss,” Benain recounts.

“I will never forget all the beautiful memories that we shared. From Little People to NDTC to Garth Fagan Dance… Jihan touched so many aspects of life in such a positive way. I honour her. She was the epitome of a strong black diva. May her soul Rest in Eternal Peace, ” Moore said.

The NDTC says it will pay tribute to Jihan Palmer as part of its 56th Season of Dance at The Little Theatre between July 20 and August 12.

[daggerzine]

Deardarkhead’s founding member and drummer, Rob Weiss, give up all the secrets.

Kevin, Rob and John- the current lineup 

South Jersey’s Deardarkhead started as a band shortly after I had started doing this very zine, DAGGER (my first issue was March of 1987 and they began in ‘88). I had met drummer and founding member (and the only original member left) as kids as he grew up down the street from me on the mean streets of Linwood, NJ. Fast forward several years later and Rob is into underground music and forming a band (and working at Sound Odyssey, our local record store in the Shore Mall).

The band was really a breath of fresh air in the South Jersey scene back then as most bands in the scene were either metal or by-the-numbers punk. DDH went across the pond for their influence and gathered it in bands like the Jesus & Mary Chain, Echo & the Bunnymen, Joy Division and many more (many years ago our friendship was further solidified when he told me he was a huge Naked Raygun fan). The band were able to take these influences and create something truly unique. 

Through a myriad of ups and downs and band members, Rob (drums) and guitarist Kevin Harrington (longtime vocalist Michael Amper left nearly a decade ago) hooked up with a bassist last summer, John Bennett and began playing out again and the band is excited about recording new music.

All of the band’s releases had been on their own Fertile Crescent Records, but nearly a decade ago the band got a serious boost when NYC indie label, Captured Track released a compilation of the band’s early days (Oceanside- 1991-1993). It’s a superb compilation and a great place to start for newcomers (of course DDH completists need it as well). In 2016 Texas shoegaze label Saint Marie Records released an EP, Strange Weather. I was a bit hesitant as the EP was their first record as all instrumental, but the songs were so good that I needn’t worry.

As you’ll read below, Rob’s anxious to record more music and hit the stage as well. That makes me excited as I really hope DDH have lots of gas left in the tank.  

When did you first start playing drums? Did you pick up any other instruments?

I started playing drums in 2nd grade, but I had always wanted to play drums since I was in kindergarten. We had a piano in my house and all of my family played, so I grudgingly agreed to take lessons. A friend of my mother's, who was a piano teacher, would come to our house for the lessons. After about three weeks in, during a lesson, I was asked to repeat a song. I asked my teacher if I could use the bathroom first. Minutes and minutes go by, and my mother comes to the bathroom door asking "Rob are you coming out?" My reply was "I want to play drums!" Lesson over, and the rest is history as they say. I started learning to play other instruments when DDH formed in 1988. I got a 4 track and experimented, until I got good enough to write songs on guitar and bass. If you give me an instrument, I'll make music with it. 

Kurt, Mike, Blakely and Rob- the early daze

 What do you remember as the first indie/alternative bands that you began listening to?

I was really getting into New Wave during the last few years of junior high school. Stuff like Blondie, Devo, The Police, The Cars, and The B-52's. I mostly rejected classic rock at the time, as I wasn't too interested in bands that were no longer around. By high school (1982-1986), I was getting into bands like U2, The Cure, Echo and The Bunnymen, Duran Duran, Public Image Limited and INXS. 

 When did you get hired at (South Jersey record store) Sound Odyssey? How long did your tenure there last and what was it like?

I started at Sound Odyssey in 1987. I was going to Stockton State College at the time and had started hanging around WLFR, the college radio station. While I wasn't a DJ myself, I met a lot of like minded people there, including our mutual friend DJ Bob Portella, who was working at Sound Odyssey then. He put in a good word for me and I got the job. Sound Odyssey was a great record store and I'd probably still work there now if it existed! It was a small chain of about seven stores, owned by the Richman Brothers, and for a mall record store it was amazing. We had a bit of everything: vinyl, tapes, cds, imports, 12"s, 45's, videos, t-shirts, posters, guitars, effect pedals, small amps etc. I bought so many records at that store and it was an important, formative period in my musical education. I made a lot of great friends there (both employees and customers). It was definitely a social hub of the time, as there weren't too many record stores in our area. I came in right at the end of the era, and sometime in 1989 it was sold to the British company, W.H. Smith, which turned it into a Wee Three Records and then The Wall. Although it had changed into an average mainstream record store, I continued working there until they shut it down in 1998, but it had moved to the other end of the mall a few years before. After that, I worked at another local record store, CD Warehouse/Exchange, for a few years. 

 Kevin, Rob, Mike and Blakely- aka: the next lineup (Kevin replaced Kurt)

Had you been in any bands before Deardarkhead?

Prior to DDH around 1987-1988, I had started a short-lived band called Aslan's Pride. We were very U2-esque and only played a handful of shows. Blakely Parent, who had recently moved from Baton Rouge to Ocean City, was our bass player and he would go on to be in the initial line up of DDH.

 Tell me about some of your influences. I know you loved a lot of UK stuff like Echo & the Bunnymen and Jesus & Mary Chain but you also loved Naked Raygun.

I'm definitely an Anglophile, as most of my favorite bands are British or from the UK. In terms of my major influences when I started DDH, I'd list: The Cure, U2, Echo and The Bunnymen, The Beatles, Bauhaus, The Police, Joy Division/New Order, The Church, The Psychedelic Furs, The House of Love, The Cocteau Twins, The Jesus and Mary Chain and 4AD/Factory Records/Creation Records in general. While DDH was definitely on the post-punk side of things, we also liked a lot of punk bands: The Dead Kennedys, The Sex Pistols, The Dead Milkmen, The Ramones, The Buzzcocks, Agent Orange etc. I never really got into the hardcore scene, and preferred bands that were more melodic, which is something I've always loved about Naked Raygun. They are totally kick ass, but the songs are very anthemic and super melodic. 

 Tell me about the beginnings of DDH? Was it 1987 (same year I started Dagger)?  Was it you, Mike and Kurt early on?

DDH actually started in 1988, after Aslan's Pride broke up. The original lineup that recorded our first demo "Greetings From The Infernal Village", was Blakely Parent (vocals, rhythm guitar), Kurt Douglass (guitar), Josh Minor (bass), and me (drums and ebow). So Dagger started a year earlier. Frances Avenue, the street you and I both lived on, was pretty happening for South Jersey!

The first recordings- on gold-plated cassette

 Tell me about the revolving lineups? I know Blakely Parent came aboard pretty early on. Who else?

We've had fairly stable lineups over long periods of time, although at this point I'm the only original member. After the initial lineup, Josh Minor left and Michael Amper came onboard in 1990, as our vocalist and rhythm guitarist, with Blakely Parent moving to bass. Kurt Douglass left in 1992, and was replaced by Kevin Harrington, who is our guitarist to date and is a defining element of our sound. Blakely left in 1994 and we continued on as a three piece. The next major change was Amper's departure in 2009. Unable to find a suitable vocalist, Kevin McCauley joined us in 2010 on bass and we became an all instrumental three piece. McCauley departed in early 2019 due to family obligations. We had been on a hiatus for a few years before that, as my mother was sick with Alzheimer's and I was completely overwhelmed dealing with that. She passed in June 2018. Around the end of summer 2019, John Bennett joined us as our bassist, and we've done three shows together since the beginning of 2020. 

 Were the early recordings collaborative or was one person doing a bulk of the writing?

Every DDH record and lineup has been about collaboration. I've always encouraged everyone to contribute ideas. We don't really have one standard way of writing our songs. Sometimes one person will bring in a mostly finished idea or maybe just a few sections and other times we've written tunes after jamming on a riff out of the blue. We tend to spend a lot of time arranging the song structures, so it's definitely a group effort for us.

An early EP- 1992

 Was there a specific studio where you did most of the recording?

Every recording was done in a different studio: 

Greetings from the Infernal Village - my house Linwood, New Jersey Spiral Down and Vibrate - Dekar Studio, Northfield New Jersey Melt Away Too Soon - Audio Plus, Northfield, New Jersey Ultraviolet - The Catbox, Lancaster, Pennsylvania Unlock the Valves of Feeling - The Churchbox, Lancaster, Columbia, Pennsylvania Strange Weather - Miner Street Recordings, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

 The Catbox and The Churchbox were both run by Ken Heitmueller and Jay Sorrentino of Suddenly, Tammy!

 Did the band tour back them (or now)? What’s the furthest away you’ve played?

We've pretty much stuck to the East Coast, as we've never had any label support. We mainly concentrated on putting out our own records.

 Who are some of the bigger names you’ve opened up for?

The Psychedelic Furs, Supergrass, The Lilys, Everclear. 

 How do you feel about the early recordings? I still think the Melt Away Too Soon EP is really great.

We've always tried to make the best recordings we could, with what we had at the moment. Since we never really had any record label money behind us, we had to pay for all the studio time out of pocket. Most songs were done in a few takes with minimal overdubs. Constraints are a good thing, as you can get lost in infinite possibilities. I think we always sound like DDH, no matter what the lineup is, but I do feel there has been a continuous evolution of our sound over time. I'm proud of every record we have released, and feel lucky to have worked with so many talented people. 

The Captured Tracks compilation

 Tell me about the Captured Tracks collection, Oceanside: 1991-1993. What year was that and how did it come about?

That came out in 2011. I was at home one summer day, when I got a call from Mike Sniper from Captured Tracks. He wanted to know if we would be interested in having our early recordings released as a compilation, which would be part of a series called The Shoegaze Archives. The idea was to shine a light on American bands, from the late 80's to early 90's, that were working in a similar vein as their British contemporaries, (eg. Lush, Ride etc.), but never got the same attention. We were the second release in the series and all of the tracks were remastered with sleeve artwork featuring photography I took, that we used to project on stage when playing.  Overall, it was a great experience in terms of exposing an entirely new crowd of people to what DDH has been doing all along. Mike Sniper and the entire Captured Tracks staff were wonderful to work with and we are big fans of many of the bands on the label. Thanks again for contributing liner notes, we were honored!

 Your most recent EP is the vocal-less Strange Weather EP Saint Marie Records, the Texas shoegaze label. How did that come about? Will you do more stuff with that label?

After we finished the recording, I shopped it around for the better part of a year with some labels I thought might be a good fit. Wyatt Parkins, from Saint Marie Records, responded favorably and we worked together to get the release out in March 2016. We'd love to do another record with Saint Marie, but that's up to the label.  Strange Weather, certainly got some of the best reviews we've ever had, however being a instrumental, shoegazer/dreampop/post-punk/indie rock three piece is a hard sell for a lot of folks. That said, DDH always finds a way to keep doing our thing. 

Strange Weather EP- 2016/ Saint Marie Records

 Bring us up to what the band is doing currently. Is there a new vocalist yet? Any new recordings? Shows?

As I mentioned in the lineup question, we played three shows in Atlantic City during January and February 2020, with our new bassist. We played out one new tune and had started working on more material when the Coronavirus pandemic hit. Everything is up in the air until that blows over, but ideally we'd like to write new songs, play more shows, and hopefully make another record sooner than later.

 Who are some of your current favorite bands?

There is always a ton of stuff I'm checking out every day, but some of my heavy rotation lately includes: Ringo Deathstarr, Cigarettes After Sex, Khruangbin, Wild Nothing, Tycho, DIIV, Washed Out, The Horrors, Destroyer, Arctic Monkeys, Pinkshinyultrablast, The Wants, Tara, Seablite, Sulk, Feet, Hatchie, Southpacific, Beabadoobee, Slowdive, Ride.

 What are your top 10 desert island discs?

Let me just say, as a hard core music junkie, narrowing it down to only 10 choices is next to impossible! This is the hardest question ever, and on any given day you might get a slightly different list. Here are ten records I adore, and still listen to regularly, in no specific order:

 The Police, Zenyatta Mondatta

The La's, The La's

My Bloody Valentine, Loveless

The Cure, Disintegration

Miles Davis, Kind of Blue

Echo and the Bunnymen, Songs to Learn and Sing

The Dukes of Stratosphear, Chips from the Chocolate Fireball

U2, War

Slowdive, Souvlaki

The Cocteau Twins, Treasure

Still destroying stages  (and women’s hearts)

Final thoughts? Closing comments? Anything you wanted to mention that I didn’t ask?

Thanks for asking me to do the interview. I feel like it could easily go on as long as Jack Rabid's Big Takeover interviews with The Chameleons! For those of you who have never heard of us, please check us out at: www.deardarkhead.com

 Bonus questions; What’s the weirdest fan letter or strangest thing you have ever received in the mail regarding the band?

We never got any super weird fan letters, however since we put out the majority of our recordings on our own label, Fertile Crescent Records, we'd get a demo submission now and then. I recall getting a tape from a rap artist in our area early on. I of course politely replied saying that we were in no position to sign any artists and even if we were, rap certainly wasn't our area of expertise. For all I know it was one of my smart ass friends winding me up, as it was pretty bad. If that was the case, they never let me in on the joke!

A few recent flyers.

If you missed it, all things DDH can be found at www.deardarkhead.com  

[blackkudos]

Gregory Hines

Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, singer, and choreographer.

Early life

Hines was born in New York City, the son of Alma Iola (Lawless) and Maurice Robert Hines, a dancer, musician, and actor. Hines began tapping when he was two years old, and began dancing semi-professionally at the age of five. After that, he and his older brother Maurice performed together, studying with choreographer Henry LeTang. Gregory and Maurice also learned from veteran tap dancers such as Howard Sims and The Nicholas Brothers whenever they performed in the same venues.

The two brothers were known as "The Hines Kids", making nightclub appearances, and later as "The Hines Brothers". When their father joined the act as a drummer, the name changed again in 1963 to "Hines, Hines, and Dad".

Career

Hines performed as the lead singer and musician in a rock band called Severance in the year of 1975-1976 based in Venice, California. Severance was one of the house bands at an original music club called Honky Hoagies Handy Hangout, otherwise known as the 4H Club. Severance released their debut album on Largo Records (a subsidiary of GNP Crescendo) in 1976. In 1986, he sang a duet with Luther Vandross, entitled "There's Nothing Better Than Love", which reached the No. 1 position on the Billboard R&B charts.

Hines made his movie debut in Mel Brooks's History of the World, Part I. Critics took note of Hines's comedic charm, and he later appeared in such movies as The Cotton Club, White Nights, Running Scared alongside Billy Crystal, Tap and Waiting to Exhale. On television, he starred in his own series in 1997 called The Gregory Hines Show on CBS, as well as in the recurring role of Ben Doucette on Will & Grace. In 1999, he would return to voice Big Bill, in Nick Jr.'s television show Little Bill. In 2000, he starred in "The Tic Code."

Hines made his Broadway debut with his brother in The Girl in Pink Tights in 1954. He earned Tony Award nominations for Eubie!(1979), Comin' Uptown (1980) and Sophisticated Ladies (1981), and won the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Jelly's Last Jam(1992) and the Theatre World Award for Eubie!. In 1989, Gregory Hines created "Gregory Hines' Tap Dance in America," which he also hosted. The PBS special featured seasoned tap dancers such as Savion Glover and Bunny Briggs. He also co-hosted the Tony Awards ceremony in 1995 and 2002.

In 1990, Hines visited his idol, Sammy Davis, Jr., as he was dying of throat cancer, unable to speak. After Davis died, an emotional Hines spoke at Davis's funeral of how Sammy had made a gesture to him, "as if passing a basketball … and I caught it." Hines spoke of the honor that Sammy thought that Hines could carry on from where he left off.

Hines was an avid improviser. He did a lot of improvisation of tap steps, tap sounds, and tap rhythms alike. His improvisation was like that of a drummer, doing a solo and coming up with all sorts of rhythms. He also improvised the phrasing of a number of tap steps that he would come up with, mainly based on sound produced. A laid back dancer, he usually wore nice pants and a loose-fitting shirt. Although he inherited the roots and tradition of the black rhythmic tap, he also influenced the new black rhythmic tap, as a proponent. "'He purposely obliterated the tempos,' wrote tap historian Sally Sommer, 'throwing down a cascade of taps like pebbles tossed across the floor. In that moment, he aligned tap with the latest free-form experiments in jazz and new music and postmodern dance.'"

Throughout his career, Hines wanted to and continued to be an advocate for tap in America. In 1988, he successfully petitioned the creation of National Tap Dance Day, which is now celebrated in 40 cities in the United States. It is also celebrated in eight other nations. Gregory Hines was on the Board of Directors of Manhattan Tap, he was a member of the Jazz Tap Ensemble, and a member of the American Tap Foundation (formerly the American Tap Dance Orchestra). He was a good teacher, influencing tap dance artists Savion Glover, Dianne Walker, Ted Levy, and Jane Goldberg.

In an interview with The New York Times in 1988, Hines said that everything he did was influenced by his dancing: "my singing, my acting, my lovemaking, my being a parent."

Personal life

Hines' marriages to Patricia Panella and Pamela Koslow ended in divorce. He had two children—a son, Zach, and a daughter, Daria, as well as a stepdaughter, Jessica Koslow, and a grandson.

Death

Hines died of liver cancer on August 9, 2003, en route to hospital from his home in Los Angeles. He had been diagnosed with the disease more than a year earlier, but had informed only his closest friends. At the time of his death, production of the television showLittle Bill was ending, and he was engaged to Negrita Jayde. Hines is interred at Saint Volodymyr's Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, the country in which he met Jayde. Jayde, who died from cancer as well on August 28, 2009, is buried next to him.

Awards and nominations

Awards

1979 Theatre World Award—Eubie!

1992 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical—Jelly's Last Jam

1992 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical—Jelly's Last Jam

1988 Image Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture—Running Scared

1998 Flo-Bert Award—Lifetime Achievement in Tap Dance by the New York Committee To Celebrate National Tap Dance Day

2002 Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special—Bojangles

2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program —Little Bill

Nominations

1979 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical—Eubie!

1980 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical—Comin' Uptown

1981 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical—Sophisticated Ladies

1982 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement—Special Class—I Love Liberty

1985 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program—Motown Returns to the Apollo

1989 Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program—Tap Dance in America

1992 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Choreography—Jelly's Last Jam

1992 Tony Award for Best Choreography—Jelly's Last Jam

1995 Image Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture—Waiting to Exhale

1998 American Comedy Awards Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series—Will & Grace

1998 Image Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series—The Gregory Hines Show

2001 Black Reel Awards Network/Cable Best Actor—Bojangles

2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie—Bojangles

2001 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries—Bojangles

2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special—The Red Sneakers

2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children's Special—The Red Sneakers

Wikipedia

#Gregory Hines

[titoslondon-blog]

New Post has been published on Titos London

#Blog New Post has been published on http://www.titoslondon.co.uk/indian-designers-mourn-the-loss-of-a-style-icon-in-sridevi/

Indian designers mourn the loss of a style icon in Sridevi

On Sunday morning, the nation woke up to the shocking, sad news of the demise of iconic Bollywood actor, Sridevi. The superstar, all of 54, passed away relatively young due to a cardiac arrest in Dubai.

Sridevi, arguably the biggest female superstar of her age, left behind a prolific body of work that will continue to inspire and entertain audiences in the coming years. Although the actor had taken a hiatus from her career in 1997 after her superhit film Judaai, her powerful comeback in 2012 with the critically acclaimed English Vinglish, proved that she could still single-handedly lead a film to box office and critical success.

A legendary beauty and a talented dancer, Sridevi had currently become the favourite muse of many of India’s top designers. With her admirers still in shock, the design community has expressed their grief at the untimely loss of an icon.

Manish Malhotra

This was our last picture together and just 4 days ago .. I will never able to get over this loss

A post shared by Manish Malhotra (@manishmalhotra05) on Feb 25, 2018 at 12:50am PST

“Sridevi and I first met in 1990 when she was already a superstar and I was beginning my career. Working with an icon I always called “Ma’am” was a turning point in my career, as it was the beginning of many associations and a longstanding friendship beyond work. We have seen each other grow professionally and personally—it was amazing to see the roles she blossomed into, her passion for painting, and the doting wife and mother she was. I met Sridevi very recently in Dubai and we just had so much to share. The news that she is no longer with us comes as a shock. I will always cherish the precious memories of a friend who was an iconic superstar. At this point, all my thoughts are with Sridevi’s family and I request for privacy as we honour a friend and we grieve her loss.”

Tarun Tahiliani

Saddened by the untimely demise of India’s greatest actor, Sridevi. An epitome of beauty and grace. We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family. May her soul rest in peace.

A post shared by Tarun Tahiliani (@taruntahiliani) on Feb 24, 2018 at 10:52pm PST

“Saddened by the untimely demise of India’s greatest actor, Sridevi. An epitome of beauty and grace. We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family. May her soul rest in peace.”

Sabyasachi Mukherjee

We are extremely saddened at the sudden demise of Sridevi. We extend our deepest condolences to her family at their hour of bereavement. May her soul rest in peace.

A post shared by Sabyasachi Mukherjee (@sabyasachiofficial) on Feb 24, 2018 at 9:12pm PST

“We are extremely saddened at the sudden demise of Sridevi. We extend our deepest condolences to her family at their hour of bereavement. May her soul rest in peace.”

Amit Aggarwal

A post shared by Amit Aggarwal (@amitaggarwalofficial) on Feb 25, 2018 at 11:54am PST

Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla

SRIDEVI! She was and will always be iconic. The very standard of stardom. There are no words to express our sadness at her tragic and untimely passing. Our heartfelt condolences to her family. And every prayer. Fly Beautiful Soul. #RIPSriDevi #RestInPeace #RIP #Beauty #beautiful #Bollywood #Actress #Sridevi #gorgeous #divine #ajsk

A post shared by Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla (@abujanisandeepkhosla) on Feb 24, 2018 at 11:29pm PST

“Iconic. One word that Sridevi owned and made her own. We mourn her cruel and untimely passing. Our first thoughts go to her beloved daughters who must learn to live without their mother. To her husband. We celebrate a woman who ruled the silver screen, pan India for decades. Who lit it up with one solid gold performance after another. A powerhouse of talent, a muse for millions, style setting, trailblazing diva. A life lived fully and cut so brutally short. As fans of Cinema, as designers and as two men who knew this legend, we will miss you terribly, Sridevi. Fly, Beautiful Soul.”

Falguni and Shane Peacock

You will always live in our hearts ❤️ RIP #Sridevi |

A post shared by Falguni Shane Peacock India (@falgunishanepeacockindia) on Feb 25, 2018 at 5:02am PST

Gaurav Gupta

Today is a sad sad day. It really is not fair. Not fair on her. It should be a national holiday tomorrow, our biggest legend has passed on to another realm. Sridevi passed away. Still in shock and I think I might be in shock for a long long time to come. She was and will always be light , celebration , Hope , electricity , grace , woman , fighter , mother, dedication, peace , saint , omnipresent. She was life itself, art itself. She was everything good that could be. A performer of all performances , lived life with a flare of giggles and humour despite acting for 50 years out of her 54. The only true comedienne The only one with rhythm Dance herself Spirited Divine A true mother to creative spirits. Joy to millions. She will always be everywhere. Are we all wondering why are the most spirited, spiritual, soft, sensitive, divine, artists leaving us so soon? She must be inspiring more universes now. The legend lives! Forever #sridevi

A post shared by Gaurav Gupta (@gauravguptaofficial) on Feb 25, 2018 at 1:27am PST

The post Indian designers mourn the loss of a style icon in Sridevi appeared first on VOGUE India.

[junker-town]

Say goodbye to the 2017 NFL regular season with 14 stats from Week 17

Let’s celebrate the end of the regular season with cold, overjoyed Bills fans, a tipsy Mike Zimmer, and eight new teams heading into the 2018 playoffs.

For auld lang syne to the 2017 NFL regular season (is that the right use of that phrase? Eh, who cares. It’s 2018, baby!).

For better (touchdown celebrations!) and worse (omg, so many injuries), the 2017 NFL regular season is over. Now, we focus on the playoffs. Well, us, the fans, the 12 teams still remaining will, at least. The other 20 teams can work on figuring out who their next coach will be or who they’re going to draft this spring.

But before we look ahead, let’s take a peek at Week 17’s numbers and say our final goodbye to what was a strange season, in many different ways, in the NFL.

8

2017 was a great year for NFL parity. Eight teams that failed to make the playoffs in 2016 found their way to the postseason. That’s more than any season since 1990 — the first year with a 12-team playoff. Five of those teams won their division just one year after finishing third or worse the year prior — including worst-to-first efforts from the Eagles and Jaguars.

But while that’s good news for the Bills, Rams, Vikings, Saints, Panthers and Titans, it’s awful for last year’s holdovers. The Giants posted the league’s biggest regression after falling from 11-5 to 3-13, but at least they’ll get a premium draft pick out of the deal. The Raiders, Texans, and Dolphins both fell out of the playoffs and to six wins or fewer. The Cowboys, Seahawks, Packers, and Lions will join them as postseason spectators this January.

-6

On a frigid day throughout most of the U.S., one of the most heart-bursting moments of the day — and really the entire season — was watching the Bills celebrate their first playoff appearance in 17 years. Their ticket was punched in one of the most dramatic ways possible, too. The Bills won their last game, but needed the Ravens to lose to the Bengals at home to grab the final wild card spot in the AFC.

The Bengals were down three and faced fourth-and-12 from midfield with less than a minute left. Andy Dalton flung the ball to Tyler Boyd, who hauled it in and ran to the end zone, crushing the Ravens’ playoff hopes — and giving Bills fans a new hero in Dalton and 17 years’ worth of celebrating to do:

McDermott: “It was -6 degrees at 2am and there were fans waiting for us outside at the airport. It was incredible seeing the team share that moment with our fans.” #GoBills http://pic.twitter.com/Wvl7QPJ1FC

— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) January 1, 2018

A little cold will never stop Bills fans.

7 (p.m.)

Mike Zimmer was pretty clear about his New Year’s Eve plans earlier in the week:

I asked Mike Zimmer how the results Sunday will impact his New Year's Eve plans. "Well, if we win, I'll pretty tipsy by 7 o'clock for sure." That'd mean the #Vikings locked up a bye.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 28, 2017

The Vikings had an easy time with the Bears in their 23-10 win, securing a 13-3 season and the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

Hopefully Zimmer got a chance to throw some back and ring in the new year.

1963

It’s been quite some time since a Steeler had a receiving touchdown and a kick return for a touchdown in the same game.

Unsurprisingly, JuJu Smith-Schuster was the player to break that drought and, again unsurprisingly, it came against the Browns:

JuJu Smith-Schuster (@TeamJuJu) is the first @steelers player with a receiving TD and a kick return TD in the same game since Gary Ballman in 1963. http://pic.twitter.com/RhKgNFlu36

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 31, 2017

Smith-Schuster, a second-round pick in 2017, has been one of the best additions to the Steelers offense this season. In his 14 games, he had 917 yards for seven touchdowns, with an average of 15.8 yards per reception. Expect him to make some noise in January.

314

Browns quarterback DeShone Kizer experienced a few firsts in Cleveland’s season finale against the Steelers on Sunday. He threw for more than 300 yards for the first time in his young NFL career, ending with 314 yards. He averaged 10.5 yards per pass, which is a career high for him. And he threw two passes of 50-plus yards in the first half alone.

This is more impressive because they were the very first 50-yard passes Kizer has thrown all season. Kizer also set a high mark for the franchise:

DeShone Kizer has the most rushing yards by a Browns QB in a season. Also has 5 rushing TDs.

— Dan Murphy (@DMurph_BrownsPR) December 31, 2017

He finished with 419 rushing yards and five touchdowns this season.

Kizer’s rookie season came to an end without the Browns getting to experience another first — a win in 2017. There’s always next season, Browns fans.

34, 45

The Colts didn’t end up with much to be proud of this season. But the old guys on the roster put a bunch of younger players around the league to shame in 2017.

At 34, Frank Gore is four years past the standard sell-by date for running backs. But that hasn’t stopped him from racking up the yards in Indianapolis, both on the ground and as a receiver. Gore finished this season with 1,206 rushing and receiving yards and four touchdowns. That makes him the first player in NFL history with 12 seasons of 1,200-plus yards from scrimmage.

That’s not Gore’s only accomplishment in 2017. And he’s not the only old guy on the Colts roster defying Father Time.

Frank Gore became only 5th back to go over 14k yards in his career in a drive capped by @adamvinatieri 54-yard FG. They’ll both be in @ProFootballHOF one day soon.

— Rich Eisen (@richeisen) December 31, 2017

Adam Vinatieri, 45, is the oldest player in the league, but he’s still getting it done. He hit 85.3 percent of his field goal attempts this season, including that 54-yarder on Sunday.

Vinatieri and Gore are both at ages where nobody would blame them for considering retirement. Both reportedly want to come back for another season, and it seems like they have plenty left in the tank.

0-6

The Bears finished 2017 with a perfect record against the AFC North, defeating the Steelers, Ravens, Bengals, and Browns to account for 80 percent of their regular season wins. They also finished the season without a single win against opponents in their own division, going 0-6 against the Vikings, Lions, and Packers.

It was the first time the team had failed to win a game in the NFC North since the Nixon Administration:

Bears finish winless in their division for the first time since 1969.

— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 31, 2017

That was enough to finally seal John Fox’s fate.

22

No team gave up fewer points in 2017 than the Vikings, and their dominant defense was on full display over the final three weeks of the season. Minnesota allowed just 17 points to their opponents over that span — the Bengals, Packers, and Bears — who combined for a lengthy scoreless streak:

Vikings defense hasn’t allowed a point for 22 straight drives. Only allowed 1 score in last 34 drives

— Gregg Rosenthal (@greggrosenthal) December 31, 2017

It was against underwhelming competition, but it was a showcase of why the Vikings are the betting favorite to escape the NFC and enjoy a Super Bowl on their home field.

106

Alvin Kamara may have wrapped up the league’s offensive rookie of the year award Sunday when he joined Gale Sayers as the only first-year player in NFL history to record five rushing touchdowns, five receiving touchdowns, and a kickoff return for a touchdown in the same season. The icing on the cake was a 106-yard return that left the Buccaneers in his wake and stood as longest kick return in franchise history.

Caption this.#SaintsGameday | #NOvsTB http://pic.twitter.com/bQ72Eemrh1

— New Orleans Saints (@Saints) December 31, 2017

Even more impressive? Kamara overcame his own doubts to rumble out of the end zone and rip through Tampa Bay’s kick coverage. Less than seven minutes later, he’d score on a 7-yard carry and make it 14 total touchdowns on the season — more than anyone else on his roster.

1

In the Buccaneers’ first tilt with the Saints in Week 9, Jameis Winston tried an unorthodox method of firing his team up for the NFC South matchup. He wanted to get everyone hungry for a win.

Jameis Winston with an ... interesting pump up speech. http://pic.twitter.com/z0tESHAA6k

— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 5, 2017

It didn’t work. The Bucs lost 30-10, and Winston was sidelined with a shoulder injury for the next three games. Ryan Fitzgerald led the Buccaneers to wins in Weeks 10 and 11, but after Winston was healthy enough to return, the Bucs lost their next four straight.

The rematch with the Saints was the last game on the schedule, and Winston and his squad won 31-24. Congratulations to Winston, who finally got to eat a W.

31.5

The Panthers couldn’t get in an offensive rhythm against the Falcons on Sunday. It showed in Cam Newton’s quarterback rating.

Career low 31.5 QB rating for Cam.

— Joe Person (@josephperson) January 1, 2018

Newton finished with 180 passing yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions in Carolina’s Week 17 loss to the Falcons.

Newton bounced back from last year’s career-low completion percentage of 52.9 this season with a respectable 59.1 percent overall. But it’s been an up-and-down year for Newton. His quarterback rating has ranged from Sunday’s low mark to a 141.8 back in Week 5 against the Lions.

Newton’s previous low rating this season of 48.8 came two weeks before he completed 78.8 percent of his passes for 355 yards, three touchdowns, and no picks against Detroit to earn that 141.8 rating. Unfortunately for Newton, that 48.8 rating came against the Panthers’ opponent in the Wild Card round: the Saints.

29.9

The Rams emptied their bench Sunday, resting a litany of starters in a meaningless loss to the 49ers. Despite that Sean Mannion-led 13-point performance, Los Angeles still finished the 2017 season as the NFL’s highest-scoring team.

The Rams’ 29.9 points per game was a testament to the running power of Todd Gurley and the development of Jared Goff, but it’s even more impressive when viewed through the lens of an awful 2016. No team scored fewer points in 2016 than Los Angeles, who struggled to a 4-12 record. Not only was 2017 a seven-game improvement in the standings, it also marked the first time in more than 50 years that a team went from worst-to-first in total points.

The last team to do so? The 1965 San Francisco 49ers, who did it in a 14-team league in a time before the Super Bowl.

1,327

The Rams sat Todd Gurley for their final game against the 49ers, which opened the door for Chiefs rookie Kareem Hunt to take over as the NFL’s rushing leader for the 2017 season. Hunt finished the year with 1,327 yards on the ground, plus 455 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns.

It took Hunt just one carry to get to the top of the rushing rankings. He took his single handoff for 35 yards and a touchdown against the Broncos. Here’s what really makes his rushing title this season stand out:

Kareem Hunt (1,327 yards) became 1st rookie not selected in 1st round to lead NFL in rushing in common draft era (since 1967).

— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) January 1, 2018

Hunt was an under-the-radar prospect, drafted by the Chiefs in the third round of the 2017 draft out of the University of Toledo. Now he’s the reigning rushing champ in the NFL.

14,928

Blake Bortles got the Jaguars to the playoffs this year, but if you asked people to rank the starting quarterbacks in the NFL, he’d be in the bottom 10 for most. No player has thrown more interceptions since 2014 than Bortles who has 64 in 62 career games.

That’s why it’s hilarious that Bortles passed Andrew Luck on Sunday for fourth on the list of quarterbacks with the most passing yards in the first four years of their NFL career.

The list now goes:

Peyton Manning: 16,418

Dan Marino: 16,177

Ryan Tannehill: 15,460

Blake Bortles: 14,928

Peyton Manning? Yep, that makes sense. Dan Marino? Absolutely. Ryan Tannehill? Well that’s weird, but OK. Blake Bortles? HOW.

The truth is that there just aren’t many quarterbacks who had 60 starts in their four seasons like Bortles did. Matthew Stafford racked up 12,807 yards in his first four seasons and only had 45 games to get there with injuries cutting his first two seasons short.

For all his struggles, Bortles has been on the field nearly every Sunday and that put him in some good company.

[1962dude420-blog]

Today we remember the passing of Ronnie Montrose who Died: March 3, 2012 in Brisbane, California

Ronald Douglas Montrose was an American rock guitarist, who led the bands Montrose (1973-77 & 1987) and Gamma (1979-83 & 2000). He also performed and did session work with a variety of musicians, including Van Morrison (1971–72), Herbie Hancock (1971), Beaver & Krause (1971), Boz Scaggs (1971), Edgar Winter (1972 & 1996), Gary Wright (1975), The Beau Brummels (1975), Dan Hartman (1976), Tony Williams (1978), The Neville Brothers (1987), Marc Bonilla (1991 & 1993) and Sammy Hagar (1997). The first Montrose album has often been cited as "America's answer to Led Zeppelin" and Ronnie Montrose was often referred to as one of the most influential guitarists in American hard rock

Montrose was born in San Francisco. When he was a toddler, his parents moved back to his mother's home state of Colorado (his father was from Bertrand, Nebraska, and his mother was from Golden, Colorado). He spent most of his younger years in Denver until he ran away at about 16 years old to pursue his musical career. Ultimately he spent most of his life in the San Francisco Bay area.

In 1969, he started out in a band called 'Sawbuck' with Mojo Collins (lead vocals, guitar), Starr Donaldson (guitar, vocals), Chuck Ruff (drums) and Bill Church (bass). They were signed to Fillmore Records, co-owned by producer David Rubinson and promoter Bill Graham (promoter), and toured and opened for major acts. At the end of 1970 and beginning of '71, they were recording their first and only album, Sawbuck. During this time, Rubinson had arranged an audition for Montrose with Van Morrison. Morrison, having recently moved from New York to California, needed a new band to record his next album Tupelo Honey. Both Montrose and Church left Sawbuck to join Morrison, but both did appear on two songs on the Sawbuck album which was released in 1972. Montrose and Church also played on the song "Listen to the Lion", recorded during the Tupelo Honey sessions and released on Morrison's next album Saint Dominic's Preview (1972).

Montrose played briefly with Boz Scaggs before joining the Edgar Winter Group in 1972 and then Montrose recruited Chuck Ruff which essentially ended the band Sawbuck. For Winter's third album release, They Only Come Out at Night (1972), which included the hit singles "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride", Montrose recorded electric guitar, acoustic 12 string, and mandolin.

Montrose formed his own band, Montrose in 1973 and featuring Sammy Hagar on vocals. That incarnation of the band released two albums on Warner Bros. Records, Montrose (1973) and Paper Money (1974), before Hagar left to pursue a solo career. Although the liner notes for the CD edition of Paper Money said that Montrose was offered to play lead guitar for Mott the Hoople, when he left the Edgar Winter Group, Montrose says that it never happened and was just a rumor. He also added his guitar work to Gary Wright's song, "Power of Love" off the 1975 album, The Dream Weaver.

The guitarist released two more Montrose band albums in the rock/vocal format (Warner Bros. Presents Montrose! (1975) and Jump on It (1976), featuring vocalist Bob James replacing Sammy Hagar and adding Jim Alcivar on keyboards. Montrose then shifted direction and released a solo album, the all-instrumental Open Fire (1978) with Edgar Winter producing.

In 1979, Montrose formed Gamma with vocalist Davey Pattison at the recommendation of fellow Scotsman James Dewar (musician) bassist/vocalist for Robin Trower. Jim Alcivar appears on his fourth Ronnie Montrose project in a row and bassist Alan Fitzgerald returns as well with drummer Skip Gillette. Gamma had more of a progressive rock edge as compared to the Montrose band and initially produced three consecutive albums. The rhythm section was replaced by Montrose drummer Denny Carmassi and bassist Glenn Letsch with Gamma 2. Gamma 3 saw Alcivar replaced by Mitchell Froom on keyboards.

In 1983 Montrose played lead guitar on the song "(She Is a) Telepath" from Paul Kantner's album Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra although he wasn't a member of the original PERRO.

In 1985 he joined Seattle's Rail (winners of MTV's first Basement Tapes video competition) for several months. He was looking for a new band and one of Rail's guitarists, Rick Knotts had recently left. Billed as 'Rail featuring Montrose' or 'Ronnie & Rail', they played a set of half Rail favorites and half Montrose songs ("Rock Candy", "Rock the Nation", "Matriarch" and Gamma's remake of Thunderclap Newman's "Something in the Air"). At the end of the tour, there was an amicable split.

He continued to record through the 1980s and 1990s, releasing solo albums including The Speed of Sound (1988), Music from Here (1994), and Bearings (2000), as well as another Montrose album titled Mean (1987) and a fourth Gamma album Gamma 4 (2000).

Montrose appeared on Sammy Hagar's solo album Marching to Mars (1997) along with original Montrose members bassist Bill Church and drummer Denny Carmassi on the song "Leaving the Warmth of the Womb". The original Montrose lineup also reformed to play as a special guest at several Sammy Hagar concerts in summer 2004 and 2005. Montrose also performed regularly from 2001 until 2011 with a Montrose lineup featuring Keith St. John on lead vocals and a rotating cast of veteran hard rock players on bass and drums. In 2011, Montrose formed the 'Ronnie Montrose Band' with Randy Scoles on vocals, Dan McNay on bass, and Steve Brown on drums, playing music from his entire career, including both Montrose and Gamma songs. This lineup was captured in his final released work, the concert DVD Ronnie Montrose: Live at the Uptown.

During his 2009 tour, Montrose revealed that he had fought prostate cancer for the previous two years but was healthy once again; he continued to tour until his death in 2012.

On March 3, 2012, Montrose died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death was originally assumed to be the result of his prostate cancer. However, the San Mateo County Coroner's Office released a report that confirmed the guitarist had taken his own life.

The toxicology reported a blood alcohol content of 0.31 percent at the time of death. In early 2012, the deaths of his uncle and of Lola, his bulldog, worsened what Guitar Player magazine called a "clinical depression that plagued him since he was a toddler."

Montrose was survived by his wife, Leighsa, two children, Jesse and Kira, and five grandchildren. He also had two brothers, Rick and Mike.

#march 3 #2012 #r.i.p. #ronnie montrose #montrose

[paulodebargelove]

Luther Vandross, Gregory Hines - There's Nothing Better Than Love

Remembering yesterday's birthday Gregory Oliver Hines (February 14, 1946 – August 9, 2003) was an American dancer, actor, singer, and choreographer.

Early life

Hines was born in New York City, the son of Alma Iola (Lawless) and Maurice Robert Hines, a dancer, musician, and actor. Hines began tapping when he was two years old, and began dancing semi-professionally at the age of five. After that, he and his older brother Maurice performed together, studying with choreographer Henry LeTang. Gregory and Maurice also learned from veteran tap dancers such as Howard Sims and The Nicholas Brothers whenever they performed in the same venues.

The two brothers were known as “The Hines Kids”, making nightclub appearances, and later as “The Hines Brothers”. When their father joined the act as a drummer, the name changed again in 1963 to “Hines, Hines, and Dad”.

Career

Hines performed as the lead singer and musician in a rock band called Severance in the year of 1975-1976 based in Venice, California. Severance was one of the house bands at an original music club called Honky Hoagies Handy Hangout, otherwise known as the 4H Club. Severance released their debut album on Largo Records (a subsidiary of GNP Crescendo) in 1976. In 1986, he sang a duet with Luther Vandross, entitled “There’s Nothing Better Than Love”, which reached the No. 1 position on the Billboard R&B charts.

Hines made his movie debut in Mel Brooks's History of the World, Part I. Critics took note of Hines’s comedic charm, and he later appeared in such movies as The Cotton Club, White Nights, Running Scared alongside Billy Crystal, Tap and Waiting to Exhale. On television, he starred in his own series in 1997 called The Gregory Hines Show on CBS, as well as in the recurring role of Ben Doucette on Will & Grace. In 1999, he would return to voice Big Bill, in Nick Jr.’s television show Little Bill. In 2000, he starred in “The Tic Code.”

Hines made his Broadway debut with his brother in The Girl in Pink Tights in 1954. He earned Tony Award nominations for Eubie!(1979), Comin’ Uptown (1980) and Sophisticated Ladies (1981), and won the Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Jelly’s Last Jam(1992) and the Theatre World Award for Eubie!. In 1989, Gregory Hines created “Gregory Hines’ Tap Dance in America,” which he also hosted. The PBS special featured seasoned tap dancers such as Savion Glover and Bunny Briggs. He also co-hosted the Tony Awards ceremony in 1995 and 2002.

In 1990, Hines visited his idol, Sammy Davis, Jr., as he was dying of throat cancer, unable to speak. After Davis died, an emotional Hines spoke at Davis’s funeral of how Sammy had made a gesture to him, “as if passing a basketball … and I caught it.” Hines spoke of the honor that Sammy thought that Hines could carry on from where he left off.

Hines was an avid improviser. He did a lot of improvisation of tap steps, tap sounds, and tap rhythms alike. His improvisation was like that of a drummer, doing a solo and coming up with all sorts of rhythms. He also improvised the phrasing of a number of tap steps that he would come up with, mainly based on sound produced. A laid back dancer, he usually wore nice pants and a loose-fitting shirt. Although he inherited the roots and tradition of the black rhythmic tap, he also influenced the new black rhythmic tap, as a proponent. “‘He purposely obliterated the tempos,’ wrote tap historian Sally Sommer, ‘throwing down a cascade of taps like pebbles tossed across the floor. In that moment, he aligned tap with the latest free-form experiments in jazz and new music and postmodern dance.’”

Throughout his career, Hines wanted to and continued to be an advocate for tap in America. In 1988, he successfully petitioned the creation of National Tap Dance Day, which is now celebrated in 40 cities in the United States. It is also celebrated in eight other nations. Gregory Hines was on the Board of Directors of Manhattan Tap, he was a member of the Jazz Tap Ensemble, and a member of the American Tap Foundation (formerly the American Tap Dance Orchestra). He was a good teacher, influencing tap dance artists Savion Glover, Dianne Walker, Ted Levy, and Jane Goldberg.

In an interview with The New York Times in 1988, Hines said that everything he did was influenced by his dancing: “my singing, my acting, my lovemaking, my being a parent.”

Personal life

Hines’ marriages to Patricia Panella and Pamela Koslow ended in divorce. He had two children—a son, Zach, and a daughter, Daria, as well as a stepdaughter, Jessica Koslow, and a grandson.

Death

Hines died of liver cancer on August 9, 2003, en route to hospital from his home in Los Angeles. He had been diagnosed with the disease more than a year earlier, but had informed only his closest friends. At the time of his death, production of the television showLittle Bill was ending, and he was engaged to Negrita Jayde. Hines is interred at Saint Volodymyr’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, the country in which he met Jayde. Jayde, who died from cancer as well on August 28, 2009, is buried next to him.

Awards and nominations

Awards

1979 Theatre World Award—Eubie! 1992 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical—Jelly’s Last Jam 1992 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actor in a Musical—Jelly’s Last Jam 1988 Image Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture—Running Scared 1998 Flo-Bert Award—Lifetime Achievement in Tap Dance by the New York Committee To Celebrate National Tap Dance Day 2002 Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special—Bojangles 2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer In An Animated Program —Little Bill Nominations

1979 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical—Eubie! 1980 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical—Comin’ Uptown 1981 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical—Sophisticated Ladies 1982 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement—Special Class—I Love Liberty 1985 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program—Motown Returns to the Apollo 1989 Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program—Tap Dance in America 1992 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Choreography—Jelly’s Last Jam 1992 Tony Award for Best Choreography—Jelly’s Last Jam 1995 Image Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Motion Picture—Waiting to Exhale 1998 American Comedy Awards Funniest Male Guest Appearance in a TV Series—Will & Grace 1998 Image Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series—The Gregory Hines Show 2001 Black Reel Awards Network/Cable Best Actor—Bojangles 2001 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie—Bojangles 2001 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries—Bojangles 2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children’s Special—The Red Sneakers 2003 Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children’s Special—The Red Sneakers

[bdotson46-blog]

Behind America's success story are untold tales of endurance.  The people who succeed in this country come from sturdy stock, the ones who have always carried on when the going got tough.  Their ancestors thought America’s streets would be paved with gold.  What they found, instead, was opportunity to build, discover, create, achieve, survive, and grow.  For many that chance started in wilderness.  They carved out lives, planted dreams and worked hard.   In wilderness, time does not drift back into the past.  It renews itself.  People, too, or so I had heard.  That’s why I went searching for a place few ever find.      A moose munched his lunch by the side of a bubbling stream, as my four-wheel drive waddled across the creek and continued up a mountain, a couple of hundred miles southeast of Anchorage.  At the top was another remote Alaskan village where the rhythm of life had not changed since 1650. How people came to this distant corner of Alaska reads like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book.  The settlers on this mountain top date back to a great split in the Russian Orthodox Church.  Reformers in the Seventeenth century changed the holy texts and the method of worship.  Old Believers vowed to stick with the old ways.  The Russian Tsar, Peter the Great, ordered them to pay double taxes and a separate tax for wearing beards.  They couldn't hold government jobs.  Many were beaten and burned. The Old Believers fled to remote parts of the vast Russian Empire, searching for places so isolated they would go unnoticed. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, a considerable number escaped to Manchuria in China, where they stayed until another Communist takeover.  This one, in 1949, forced them further from home.  Some settled two hundred miles southwest of Sao Paulo, Brazil.  In 1963, after three centuries of wandering the world, then Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy helped them come to America.  A few stayed in Oregon.  Others pushed on to Alaska.  In 1968 six families punched through a thick forest and hacked out a new town, Nikolaevsk - a mile square - in a high mountain valley on the Kenai Peninsula, north of Homer, Alaska. Four hundred people lived there the day I bounced into town.  Their houses were modern, but custom dictated that women wear long skirts and cover their heads with a scarf.  Men wore colorful linen shirts without collars, similar to the Eighteenth century Siberian peasants of Russia. In the 1990’s, village elders asked Nicholas Yakunin to give up his commercial fishing business and begin studying Christianity's oldest texts.  Now he was their priest.   I grinned at Father Yakunin.  "You're a fisherman for God?" He smiled.  "I try to be, but I have better luck catching real fish than being a priest."  He paused to listen to a teenager's question, asked in archaic Russian.  Like their life-style and customs, the Old Believers' mother tongue is frozen in time, unchanged since their grandparents fled the Soviet Union. Father Nicholas and I sat in front of the village's onion-domed church, its entry way covered with ancient icons.  I asked him how he could balance the need for change with the things that need to be kept constant? He grinned and then leaned in, as if to whisper a secret.  "I live in a remote area!"  But these vast mountain ranges could never keep their kids corralled, even if Father Nicholas ruled with an iron hand.  Instead, he encourages them to start businesses they can run from Nikolaevsk.  Father Nicholas spoke with pride about the villagers' small fleet of ultra-modern fishing vessels, with the latest electronic equipment.  Fishing is their main source of income. His oldest son, Nick, Jr., captains a fifty-six foot commercial fishing boat.  There is nothing Seventeenth century on board, except Nick, Jr.’s clothes.  We found him installing a new computer monitor.  "It's not the same any more," he insisted, touching the design of his seventeenth century tunic.  "I believe in the advancement of man."  His mom, Masha, believes in the advancement of women, too.  She raised eight children and now owns a daycare center outside the village.  That was a tough decision, she said, “but I'm a driven person."  Masha put her first four babies in orange crates aboard her husband's boat so she could fish along side him.  Now, she watches over thirty-eight children in Homer, Alaska.  It is a break from Old Believer tradition that her husband, Father Nicholas, approves.  "What's tradition?" he pondered.  "There's always been progress going on."  Even in a church that never changes.   The Old Believers’ brightly colored chapel was decorated with faces of saints that stared out at the world with vivid eyes.  Bells above them called the faithful to a wedding.  My producer, Amanda Marshall, and I hoped to be among them.  She was dressed in an ankle length skirt and a headscarf similar to the ones the Old Believers wore.  Some grinned when they saw it.  “Orthodox Jews wear those,” a woman pointed at the scarf. “I bought it in New York City,” Amanda admitted.  “Close as I could find.” “Good try,” Father Nicholas smiled. He had never allowed television cameras inside his church and there we stood with our crew, wondering if we had come forty-five hundred miles for nothing.  We didn’t need to worry.  I married well.  My wife, Linda, walked around the side of the church with her new pal, Father Nicholas’ wife, Masha.  They were discussing the pie recipe Linda had brought as a gift.  It wasn’t as old as the Old Believers, but it had been passed down through Linda’s family for generations.  We outsiders were insiders before the ceremony began. Katalia, the bride, had been born outside the village. She grew up in Anchorage and had to study church customs before Father Nicholas would approve the marriage.  "It was the right decision," Katalia asserted.  She and Anecta fell in love outside a gas station ninety miles from the village. Katalia's grandmother had married a Native American and left the Old Believers.  A cousin convinced Anecta to give Katalia a call.  Eight months before they decided to meet at those gas pumps half way from her home.  "I liked his eyes!" she giggled. Anecta rolled his. What did he think when he first saw Katalia? "I got lucky,” he gushed.  “Really, really lucky!"  Custom requires that the bride and her friends sew wedding outfits for the groom's extended family.  It's a big one.   Men and boys sport richly decorated shirts and hand woven belts.  Women and girls wear colorful ankle-length dresses and kerchiefs, which they exchange for a cap covered with a scarf after they get married and take the title, "house hostess."  There's a reason these large families stay knotted together.  Before the honeymoon, couples endure sort of a newlywed boot camp.  They move in with the groom's parents to learn what the community expects of them in married life.  On their wedding day, the bride and groom must hold tight to a scarf, a symbol and a reminder of their lifelong obligation to family and community.  The wedding celebration would last a week, but now the groom's family, all dressed in green, and the brides' wearing gold, gathered for pictures.  Digital cameras popped out of all those Seventeenth century pockets, as everyone crowded together.  The outside world may be creeping closer, threatening to change all this, but the community keeps attracting new people to their old ways.  Survival requires change, but tradition illuminates what matters most. WANT TO READ MORE STORIES FROM AMERICA'S STORYTELLER? CLICK HERE. https://goo.gl/Dlv2m7

[junker-town]

The Chargers have a chance this week, and so do the Giants

Retired NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz previews the biggest games for Week 3, along with the real problem offensive lines are facing.

As we head into Week 3, there are lots of intriguing story lines I’m keeping an eye on. Teams firing on all cylinders like the Falcons, Broncos, Chiefs, etc. and teams reeling early on, like the Giants and Bengals.

I often get asked this time of the season what you can gather from the first two weeks of the season. I tend to look at style of play. If you’re physical on defense now, you tend to be physical when it gets cold. If you’re running the ball well, just wait till the defenders get beat up.

I take win loss records into account, but I’d rather look at efficiency. The Chargers are 0-2 with two missed field goals. That’s different than the 0-2 Bengals. Not all records are the same. The Panthers are well on their way to 3-0, playing the Saints at home this weekend. However, their offense has sputtered early on, with no run game. Those are signs of trouble.

Striving for perfection

The playoff picture in the AFC might be set after Week 3. The 2-0 Ravens, Steelers, Chiefs, Broncos and Raiders all look to move to 3-0. Since 1990, teams that start 3-0 make the playoffs 73.5 percent of the time.

The Ravens and Steelers should easily move to 3-0, but the AFC West teams have a tougher road this week. The Raiders travel to Washington for a 1 p.m. kickoff, 10 a.m. for the west coast Raiders. This is a type of game Kirk Cousins must win for his team, but hasn’t recently.

The Broncos head to Buffalo, after opening the season with two home games. This game will be a low scoring slugfest, with both teams trying to run the ball and control the line of scrimmage. It will be a good test to see if Trevor Siemian is for real. The Broncos will need a drive or two from him to win the game.

The Chiefs head to KC West (sorry Chargers fans, you know it’s true). The Chargers failed to sell out the StubHub Center for their home opener, and I would imagine 15k Chiefs fans in attendance on Sunday. This is a sneaky tough game for the Chiefs. The Chargers should be 2-0, and Rivers has played well this season. If the game is close though, the nod goes to the Chiefs. Since 2016, the Chargers have blown seven fourth-quarter leads and have lost 11 one-possession games during that span.

Stop rotating running backs, Bengals!

Bengals and Giants, I’m looking at you. Both teams were expected to be playoff teams, and are staring down the barrel of a 0-3 start. Since 1990, 0-3 teams have made the playoffs just 2.3 percent of the time. That’s three out of 132 teams! And both teams have tough matchups this weekend.

The Bengals are the only team in the NFL that Aaron Rodgers hasn’t beat. If Rodgers can get both his tackles back and at least one of Jordy Nelson or Randall Cobb to play, I don’t see how the Bengals can score enough to keep up.

The Bengals fired their offensive coordinator after an embarrassing first couple of weeks. They got shut out in Week 1 and only scored nine points on three field goals in Week 2. Their issues aren’t play calling. They rotate three running backs with a shaky offensive line. No Bueno.

I’m not a fan of a running back rotation in general. The starter should get 70 percent, the backup 30 percent of snaps. The back has to get into a rhythm with his offensive line. They both need to run the same plays versus the same looks. Can’t do that when you’re always rotating.

The Giants can beat the Eagles if ...

The Giants have an even tougher road to victory this weekend. Since 2009, the Giants are 2-5 in Philly, with most of those losses being in double figures. The Eagles have also dominated Ben McAdoo’s Giants offense at the Linc. In 2014, zero points for the Giants, seven points in 2015 and last season, in an Eagles upset, 19 points.

However, the Giants can get a win in Philly. They need to pass protect long enough against that fierce rush to allow the Giants wide receivers to exploit the weaker Eagles secondary. On the other side of the ball, the Eagles shouldn’t be able to run on the Giants, and the pass rush can force Carson Wentz into some bad decisions.

Big opportunity for the Titans

One low key important tone setting game this weekend is Seattle at Tennessee. This could be a monster victory for the Titans’ young group of players, especially on offense. If that offensive line can run the ball against Seattle and if Marcus Mariota move the chains, their confidence will be through the roof.

How about this stat. Russell Wilson has played 41 games at home and is 35-6!!! That’s remarkable. He’s started 41 games on the road and is 22-18-1. Seattle doesn’t travel well, especially outside in warm weather. I lean the Titans here.

The gap between NFL offensive lines

There has been lots of chatter about poor offensive line play in the NFL and rightfully so. There are some bad offensive lines. I’m seeing, maybe more than ever, a big gap between a good line and a bad line. Lines are either above average, or way below average. I tend to think this is due to the lack of veterans in offensive line rooms. There’s no depth. One injury, and your line is toast.

There are plenty of young super talented offensive lineman that get overlooked because people love the negative. Social media has put even more pressure and scrutiny on our position. Every bad rep you take now ends up there. I feel like that has hurt the overall impression of NFL offensive lineman.

That’s it for me. Enjoy the games this weekend. As you’re watching, if you see a block that is disrespectful or nasty, please send it my way on twitter at @geoffschwartz, and I’ll include it in next weeks DBOW video!

[bdotson46-blog]

Behind America's success story are untold tales of endurance.  The people who succeed in this country come from sturdy stock, the ones who have always carried on when the going got tough.  Their ancestors thought America’s streets would be paved with gold.  What they found, instead, was opportunity to build, discover, create, achieve, survive, and grow.  For many that chance started in wilderness.  They carved out lives, planted dreams and worked hard.   In wilderness, time does not drift back into the past.  It renews itself.  People, too, or so I had heard.  That’s why I went searching for a place few ever find.      A moose munched his lunch by the side of a bubbling stream, as my four-wheel drive waddled across the creek and continued up a mountain, a couple of hundred miles southeast of Anchorage.  At the top was another remote Alaskan village where the rhythm of life had not changed since 1650. How people came to this distant corner of Alaska reads like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book.  The settlers on this mountain top date back to a great split in the Russian Orthodox Church.  Reformers in the Seventeenth century changed the holy texts and the method of worship.  Old Believers vowed to stick with the old ways.  The Russian Tsar, Peter the Great, ordered them to pay double taxes and a separate tax for wearing beards.  They couldn't hold government jobs.  Many were beaten and burned. The Old Believers fled to remote parts of the vast Russian Empire, searching for places so isolated they would go unnoticed. After the Russian Revolution in 1917, a considerable number escaped to Manchuria in China, where they stayed until another Communist takeover.  This one, in 1949, forced them further from home.  Some settled two hundred miles southwest of Sao Paulo, Brazil.  In 1963, after three centuries of wandering the world, then Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy helped them come to America.  A few stayed in Oregon.  Others pushed on to Alaska.  In 1968 six families punched through a thick forest and hacked out a new town, Nikolaevsk - a mile square - in a high mountain valley on the Kenai Peninsula, north of Homer, Alaska. Four hundred people lived there the day I bounced into town.  Their houses were modern, but custom dictated that women wear long skirts and cover their heads with a scarf.  Men wore colorful linen shirts without collars, similar to the Eighteenth century Siberian peasants of Russia. In the 1990’s, village elders asked Nicholas Yakunin to give up his commercial fishing business and begin studying Christianity's oldest texts.  Now he was their priest.   I grinned at Father Yakunin.  "You're a fisherman for God?" He smiled.  "I try to be, but I have better luck catching real fish than being a priest."  He paused to listen to a teenager's question, asked in archaic Russian.  Like their life-style and customs, the Old Believers' mother tongue is frozen in time, unchanged since their grandparents fled the Soviet Union. Father Nicholas and I sat in front of the village's onion-domed church, its entry way covered with ancient icons.  I asked him how he could balance the need for change with the things that need to be kept constant? He grinned and then leaned in, as if to whisper a secret.  "I live in a remote area!"  But these vast mountain ranges could never keep their kids corralled, even if Father Nicholas ruled with an iron hand.  Instead, he encourages them to start businesses they can run from Nikolaevsk.  Father Nicholas spoke with pride about the villagers' small fleet of ultra-modern fishing vessels, with the latest electronic equipment.  Fishing is their main source of income. His oldest son, Nick, Jr., captains a fifty-six foot commercial fishing boat.  There is nothing Seventeenth century on board, except Nick, Jr.’s clothes.  We found him installing a new computer monitor.  "It's not the same any more," he insisted, touching the design of his seventeenth century tunic.  "I believe in the advancement of man."  His mom, Masha, believes in the advancement of women, too.  She raised eight children and now owns a daycare center outside the village.  That was a tough decision, she said, “but I'm a driven person."  Masha put her first four babies in orange crates aboard her husband's boat so she could fish along side him.  Now, she watches over thirty-eight children in Homer, Alaska.  It is a break from Old Believer tradition that her husband, Father Nicholas, approves.  "What's tradition?" he pondered.  "There's always been progress going on."  Even in a church that never changes.   The Old Believers’ brightly colored chapel was decorated with faces of saints that stared out at the world with vivid eyes.  Bells above them called the faithful to a wedding.  My producer, Amanda Marshall, and I hoped to be among them.  She was dressed in an ankle length skirt and a headscarf similar to the ones the Old Believers wore.  Some grinned when they saw it.  “Orthodox Jews wear those,” a woman pointed at the scarf. “I bought it in New York City,” Amanda admitted.  “Close as I could find.” “Good try,” Father Nicholas smiled. He had never allowed television cameras inside his church and there we stood with our crew, wondering if we had come forty-five hundred miles for nothing.  We didn’t need to worry.  I married well.  My wife, Linda, walked around the side of the church with her new pal, Father Nicholas’ wife, Masha.  They were discussing the pie recipe Linda had brought as a gift.  It wasn’t as old as the Old Believers, but it had been passed down through Linda’s family for generations.  We outsiders were insiders before the ceremony began. Katalia, the bride, had been born outside the village. She grew up in Anchorage and had to study church customs before Father Nicholas would approve the marriage.  "It was the right decision," Katalia asserted.  She and Anecta fell in love outside a gas station ninety miles from the village. Katalia's grandmother had married a Native American and left the Old Believers.  A cousin convinced Anecta to give Katalia a call.  Eight months before they decided to meet at those gas pumps half way from her home.  "I liked his eyes!" she giggled. Anecta rolled his. What did he think when he first saw Katalia? "I got lucky,” he gushed.  “Really, really lucky!"  Custom requires that the bride and her friends sew wedding outfits for the groom's extended family.  It's a big one.   Men and boys sport richly decorated shirts and hand woven belts.  Women and girls wear colorful ankle-length dresses and kerchiefs, which they exchange for a cap covered with a scarf after they get married and take the title, "house hostess."  There's a reason these large families stay knotted together.  Before the honeymoon, couples endure sort of a newlywed boot camp.  They move in with the groom's parents to learn what the community expects of them in married life.  On their wedding day, the bride and groom must hold tight to a scarf, a symbol and a reminder of their lifelong obligation to family and community.  The wedding celebration would last a week, but now the groom's family, all dressed in green, and the brides' wearing gold, gathered for pictures.  Digital cameras popped out of all those Seventeenth century pockets, as everyone crowded together.  The outside world may be creeping closer, threatening to change all this, but the community keeps attracting new people to their old ways.  Survival requires change, but tradition illuminates what matters most. WANT TO READ MORE STORIES FROM AMERICA'S STORYTELLER? CLICK HERE. https://goo.gl/Dlv2m7