Category Archives: the MisterG-laneous

Hall of Fame shortstop and longtime broadcaster Phil Rizzuto passed away at the age of 89 on Tuesday. The 1950 AL MVP, Mr. Rizzuto played 13 seasons with the Yankees, going to the playoffs in 10 of them. He would later serve as the team’s color commentator, both on radio and television, for 40 years. Mr. Rizzuto was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994 after being voted in by the Veterans Committee. I am a 2004 World Champion Boston Red Sox fan, but I know a baseball persons person and “scooter” was it. He has infield soil in his veins and I wish to pay my respect to a man who seemed to live with it. I am sure Mr. Rizzuto is slated to start doing color for the big club in the BIG SKY league…..sometimes it’s about more than music.

Check out Mr. Rizzuto’s career statistics here.

This is a wild, weird and wacky (just what we lean towards at greenarrowradio) video. I look forward to hearing your comments about this one.

Dig it,
MisterG

The Wishlist Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by Mike McCready of Pearl Jam for Crohn’s Disease and Colitus related charities. The Wishlist Foundation’s primary purpose is charitable, out of love for and thanks from Pearl Jam . Our mission is to bring Pearl Jam fans together for worthwhile causes while enjoying the music, friendship, community and events that Pearl Jam inspires. No member or volunteer benefits financially from the Foundation in any way. Proceeds from Wishlist Foundation projects are donated to tax-exempt organizations, such as our primary beneficiary, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). The folks here plan to provide support, education and donations through support, please visit their web site at www.wishlistfoundation.org

For even more info head HERE.

Who better than fans of Pearl Jam to help out.

Art Davis was blacklisted in the ’70s for speaking up about racism in the music industry, then later earned a doctorate in clinical psychology and balanced performance dates with appointments to see patients. Known for his stunning and complete mastery of the instrument, Davis was able to jump between genres. He played classical music with the New York Philharmonic, was a member of the NBC, Westinghouse and CBS orchestras, and played for Broadway shows. The most enriching experience of his career was collaborating with John Coltrane. Described by jazz critic Nat Hentoff as Coltrane’s favorite bassist, Davis performed on the saxophonist’s albums including “Ascension,” Volumes 1 and 2 of “The Africa/Brass Sessions” and “Ole Coltrane.” Davis viewed his instrument as “the backbone of the band,” one that should “inspire the group by proposing harmonic information with a certain sound quality and rhythmic impulses,” Davis said in an excerpt from So What magazine posted on his Web site. He played with a long and varied list of artists: Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Louis Armstrong, Judy Garland, John Denver, Peter, Paul and Mary and Bob Dylan. By 1951 he decided to make music his career. He chose the double bass, believing it would allow more opportunities to make a living. At age 17 he studied with the principal double bassist at the Philadelphia Orchestra. But when he auditioned for his hometown’s symphony, the audition committee was so unduly harsh and demanding that the conductor Edwin MacArthur questioned their objectivity. “The answer was, ‘Well, he’s colored,’ and there was silence,” Davis recalled in a 2002 article in Double Bassist magazine. “Finally MacArthur burst out, ‘If you don’t want him, then you don’t want me.’ So they quickly got together and accepted me.”
This was a cat who found his home hanging right there, outside the box. A quality or trait I can only dream dream of matching.

So I was invited to be a part of a conference call with one of the original innovative wordsmyths of total coolth Mister Chuck D. of Public Enemy. I was able to be the first person from the U.S. press to ask him a question or two and I asked him more or less about the political natures of his new album…more on that disc to come……What a cool thing to have happen and I am thankful to Jolyn at the Brookes Company for the invite and for being a great hostess, and thanks to Chuck himself for making and taking the time…..Make some Noise.
So, the most important thing to take away from this isn’t that:”Damn that MisterG is too cool for school”, that goes without saying. The thing to focus on is my mentioning of the new Public Enemy album….get ready to get yours.

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED: CALL YOUR SENATORS AND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY TO ASK THEM TO CO-SPONSOR AND BRING TO THE FLOOR FOR AN IMMEDIATE VOTE THE INTERNET RADIO EQUALITY ACT, S. 1353 IN THE SENATE AND H.R. 2060 IN THE HOUSE!

Time and options are running out for Internet Radio. The emergency stay sought on behalf of webcasters, millions of listeners and the artists and music they support has been denied.

UNLESS CONGRESS ACTS BY JULY 15th, the new ruinous royalty rates will go into effect on Sunday, threatening the future of all Internet radio.

This situation is grave, but that makes the message all the simpler and more serious.

CALL YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES RIGHT AWAY and urge them to support the Internet Equality Act. If they’ve already co-sponsored, thank them and ask them to fight to bring it to the floor for an immediate vote.

So, I have given up the television for a few month now and due to that I miss many sport highlights I enjoy so much. In the middle of all the negativity surrounding professional sports, I find this. A moment that should be considered “No Big Deal, but oh, in this day and age it IS. I have called the Phillies to express my sincere appreciation for their players, coaches and their attitude towards helping out a fellow working man. (in an opposing teams ballpark) With all the money in the pockets of many ballplayers these days, I am not so sure I would expect to see this. I would want those men on my side in any situation, and Major League Baseball, with all of its bumps and bruises as of late should pay respects to this effort of selflessness. From last years Home Run Champ to the teams starting pitcher and all Phillies in between, I applaud and most of all, I want others to take a moment to notice this act, not as a baseball highlight but for the split-second putting themselves in potential harms way to help someone else….SOMEONE ELSE…

THANKS PHILLIES

I hope we all remember the WHY/HOW we are able to celebrate freedom(?)

Former Giants closer Rod Beck, whose spirit flowed as freely as his long, dirty blond hair, and who intimidated hitters with a Fu Manchu mustache and an even more menacing split-finger fastball, was found dead in his Phoenix home Saturday. He was 38. Beck saved 286 games over 13 major-league seasons, including 199 for the Giants from 1991-97. That stood as the franchise record until Robb Nen broke it in 2002. Moments after Nen earned the milestone save, Beck phoned the Giants media-relations department to make sure they relayed a message of congratulations. With a beer belly and the Fu Manchu, Beck had the look of an old-time ballplayer and the fortitude to be a closer, although he did not possess the brute force of a Goose Gossage. His fastball rarely hit 90 mph during his most successful years, but his splitter was unhittable. He stood on the mound, staring at the batter, bent at the waist with his right arm dangling before he delivered the ball. Beck looked like a gunslinger, which made his nickname of “Shooter” so appropriate. “When I was playing for the Indians and we would go to Milwaukee, when they brought in a reliever, they’d be brought in on a Harley-Davidson,” Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper said. “I always thought Rod would be the perfect guy to ride in on a Harley every time he came in, because that’s how he looked and that’s how he pitched. Rod Beck is someone I will always keep with me as I many times mimicked that intimidating arm swing and wind up while playing some backyard wiffleball. My thoughts to his family.

Need I say much more. I want to be the James Bond who rolls with this theme song. Hell Yeah!

Everyone seems to be in love with Miho Hatori and soft bossa nova-sounding tracks. She recorder her first tastes of fame as one half of the now-defunct Cibo Matto. After leaving the group, she contributed vocals to Handsome Boy Modeling School, The Beastie Boys, Blackalicious, and Gorrilaz.

It’s true. Like I was picked off first base, my attention was grabbed by some of the funky underground scene in San Francisco. Om Records stands as one of the only true independent labels still surviving for the love and growing with the times. Such internationally renowned artists as Mark Farina, Miguel Migs, Kaskade, Marques Wyatt and many more have all got their start on Om. Branded the United Nations of Future Music, Om’s mission is to find and put out music that is refined, innovative and always pushing boundaries. Om Hip Hop. A subsidiary imprint of the well-known San Francisco-based electronic music label Om (home to superstar DJ/Producers like Mark Farina, Kaskade, Colette, Lance de Sardi, and numerous others), Om Hip Hop represents a bold leap into the future of urban music, as well as a return to its parent label’s early roots.

I have really been appreciated the sounds and vibe coming out of this musical environment and I hope you’ll take your open minds and thirsty earholes over to give them a check.

spin in this universe

The titan arum or Amorphophallus titanum (from Ancient Greek amorphos, “without form, misshapen” + phallos, “penis”, and titan, “giant”) is a flowering plant with the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world. The largest single flower is borne by the Rafflesia arnoldii; the largest branched inflorescence in the plant kingdom belongs to the Talipot palm (Corypha umbraculifera). It was originally discovered by an Italian botanist, Odoardo Beccari, in Sumatra in 1878. Though found in many botanic gardens around the world it is still only indigenous to the tropical forests of Sumatra. Due to its fragrance, which is reminiscent of the smell of a decomposing mammal, the titan arum is also known as a carrion flower, the “Corpse flower“, or “Corpse plant” (in Indonesian, “bunga bangkai” – bunga means flower, while bangkai means corpse or cadaver; for the same reason, the same title is also attributed to Rafflesia which, like the titan arum, also grows in the rainforests of Sumatra).
After a tasty lunch, Moustapha and I had a rare opportunity to see one of these giants of the stink at the UCONN greenhouses, it was reported that it was far more disgusting smelling the day prior, but man…the scent of rotten flesh was in the air.

Titan Arum–the Corpse Flower

SAN FRANCISCO — An auction of Grateful Dead memorabilia Tuesday brought in more than $1.1 million for items collected by the band’s longtime road manager. The collection of Lawrence “Ram Rod” Shurtliff included a 1975 cream-colored Travis Bean electric guitar played by the main man, Jerry Garcia, which fetched $312,000, according to Bonhams & Butterfields Auctioneers. Deadheads bidding by phone and in the crowded auction room bid up prices for band photos, original album artwork, guitars and other musical gear RAM ROD collected over decades. A leather guitar strap worn by Garcia on stage about 1973 sold for $20,400 — 4 times the estimated selling price. A flight case containing Garcias picks, unopened guitar strings and other accessories sold for $16,800. RAM ROD died in 2006. He started as a truck driver for the band in 1967 and went on to become president of the group’s board of directors when the Dead incorporated in the 1970s.

R.I.P. BROTHER RAM ROD

Bei Bei is a Gu Zheng (Chinese Zither) virtuoso. She started to play the Gu Zheng at the age of seven. She received her professional musical training, majoring in the Gu Zheng at the Central University of Nationalities in Beijing, China and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in Hong Kong from several Gu Zheng masters such as Li-Jing Sha, Mu-Lan Hai, Chun-Jiang Teng, and Ling-Zi Xu. Bei Bei is a multi-award winner of many national and international competitions such as the 1993 National Chinese Instruments Competition and the 1999 College Students Art Festival in Beijing. Bei Bei came to United States in 2003 both to perform and study music recording. She has been collaborating with musicians from different genres such as Jazz, Alternative, Rock, New Age, Hip-Hop, and dancers. Bei Bei has been featured as an instrumentalist and composer at Revolution 626, the Chinese Moon Festival Concert, Knitting Factory Hollywood, Irvine Barclay Theater, UC Irvine Claire Trevor Theater, Ford Amphitheater, and more. The feedback that she has received as she has introduced American audiences to Gu Zheng and its broad and varied repertoire has been extremely positive. Her passion for her instrument and the beauty of her music have touched people across the world.

Folk Music Center/Upland CA

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A few of my most spiritual moments have come with the explorations joined in accompaniment with the music of Babatunde Olatunji. I was fortunate to have been able to attend several shows and met up with this saint of rhythm while he put on a seminar at Central Connecticut State University many years ago. I wanted to share my memories of a healing time in my soul and found this video to help represent the man who brought insight to my mind.

Internet radio broadcasts, jeopardized by a royalty payment ruling earlier this year, would get a reprieve under bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress. The Internet Radio Equality Act would roll back dramatic rate increases handed down earlier this year by the Copyright Royalty Board and instead charge royalty payments for Web-based radio broadcasting, or streaming, in line with those paid by satellite radio. Under the rules issued by the CRB, an agency charged by Congress with overseeing royalty disputes, streamers would be charged 8 cents a song retroactively to 2006 – a rate that would increase to 19 cents a song in 2010. For public broadcasters, the CRB set fees at a flat $500 a month but only for a set level of listening hours per month, one that many station owners said they would easily exceed and thus have to pay much higher fees. Internet streamers said the increases amounted to 30 to 300 percent increases over what they are paying now.

The new legislation, proposed by Reps. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Don Manzullo (R-Ill.), would instead charge streamers a flat fee of 7.5 percent of their revenue through 2010. A companion piece is expected to be introduced in the Senate this week.

Advocates championed the bill as more in line with reality and a proper response to the public outcry from critics who said the ruling could kill Internet radio streaming. Inslee spokeswoman Christine Hanson said the congressman’s office alone received about 1,000 complaints about the CRB fees, and members of Congress had received more than 400,000 e-mails demanding the fees be changed, so the sponsors are hoping quick action can be taken on the legislation. Radio stations large and small as well as Internet-only broadcasters who have gotten into the streaming business were united in their opposition to the new royalty fees and had been preparing a court challenge. (Jeff Cox, CNNMoney.com contributing writer)

Well, I for one hope there is no hesitation to put this Legislation through, as it would overturn rulings that boosted Web radio royalties and align them with what satellite broadcasters pay.

This is one to watch.

check out PANDORA for more.

I was asked to be a judge in the Windham High School Battle of the Bands, the 2007 edition. It was a fun and difficult task to rate the artists, not because they were hard on the ears….quite the opposite. The 7 acts proved to be quite a challenge for myself and the 2 other judges (Kelly Savoie & Gabriel Stalnaker). The artists were (in order of appearance): Looked, Vincero, Restless Souls, the Whiskers, This City Never Sleeps, Tim Roxy and Matador. Blending many styles together with a ferocious rock theme as a foundation, the large crowd…(man, was I impressed with the support by fellow classmates and friends) was treated to a night that was a true BATTLE of good bands. In the end, the rough, raw sound of RESTLESS SOULS took home the $200 prize with a groovy edged MATADOR taking in $100 for the runner up. All participants should walk proud for the efforts and sounds that put forth on this fine night in April. Thanks to the WHS PAC for sponsoring this event as well as Charter Communications, Dillion Kearns, Jay Hernandez and the host for the evening, Bryce Monahan.

In books such as “Slaughterhouse-Five ,” “Cat’s Cradle,” and “Hocus Pocus,” Kurt Vonnegut mixed the bitter and funny with a touch of the profound. Vonnegut, regarded by many critics as a key influence in shaping 20th-century American literature, died Wednesday at 84. Vonnegut’s more than a dozen books, short stories, essays and plays contained elements of social commentary, science fiction and autobiography. Vonnegut lectured regularly, exhorting audiences to think for themselves and delighting in barbed commentary against the institutions he felt were dehumanizing people. Some of Vonnegut’s books were banned and burned for alleged obscenity. He took on censorship as an active member of the PEN writers’ aid group and the American Civil Liberties Union. The American Humanist Association, which promotes individual freedom, rational thought and scientific skepticism, made him its honorary president. Vonnegut once said that of all the ways to die, he’d prefer to go out in an airplane crash on the peak of Mount Kilimanjaro. He often joked about the difficulties of old age.

“I think the thing that stands out about Coach the most is the development of transforming boys into men and preparing them for life,” said Monroe, La., native James “Shack” Harris, vice president of player personnel for the Jacksonville Jaguars and a former Grambling and NFL quarterback. “He understood the players and where they came from and what it took to be successful.” Robinson once estimated he coached more than 4,500 varsity athletes in football, basketball and baseball with an 85% graduation rate. “I tended to want to bring things out in a football player as a student,” Robinson said. “We were blessed to have some good football players, but when you graduate people, they seem to be good people. They get a degree, and they can go out and handle things.” Robinson’s career spanned 11 presidents, several wars and the civil-rights movement. “The real record I have set for over 50 years is the fact that I have had one job and one wife,” Robinson said.

Coach Robinson ended his 57 year career at Grambling with a remarkable 408-165-15 record and sending more than 200 players to the NFL.