To be perfectly honest, I find the veracity of the report I'm about to cite rather strenuously dubious.
BUT...
...just when I thought I was finally done with all things royal wedding-related (after logging a marathon, twelve-hour all-nighter at the office covering it, ... to say nothing of the last six months of coverage), I stumbled across a recent report that practically made me weep. According to the site Tyranny of Tradition (see what I mean by dubious?), Cronos, the lead singer and bass-batterer from my beloved high school heroes, VENOM, is Kate Middleton's uncle.
Ummm....wait, what?
That's right, the rumor is that he's her uncle and that his feelings were hurt when he didn't get an invite. Go figure, right?
In any case, it's probably a heaping pile of goat shit, but it's certainly a fun story regardless. However, if it is true, I suggest that the royals really missed a fine opportunity. I'd love to have seen Cronos, Mantas and Abbadon resplendent in royal morning coats. Ah well..
Here's a way of getting rid of random JPEGs that have found themselves on my desktop. A two-pronged quiz! With each of the photos below, name (a) the notable personages pictured and (b) the address. Bonus points if you can name the photographer, where applicable. Full disclosure: In some instances, I'm not entirely positive myself, so this could be fun. Some are easier than others. Answers revealed later.
In lieu of sleeping earlier this evening, I'd written this big, huge post about growing up as a rampant Anglophile and whatnot, but then paused and figured, "who really cares?" In any case, I'm about to head in to partake in royal wedding coverage. If you're a royals-hater, chances are you're already (a) asleep (b) drunk (c) going over NFL draft picks or something, so don't trouble yourself, but if you are up and so-inclined, why not check out my place of work's full coverage? Here are the deets. Tally ho.
The awesome image above, by the way, was created by the amazingly talented folks at This Isn't Happiness. Check them out, do.
The mighty Don Rauf of Life in a Blender posted this on his Facebook page, and I could not resist the urge to evangelize its surreal brilliance here. Even if you're not a fan of slick Japanese pop music, you must admit that the synchronized moves of mixed martial arts master Genki Sudo's World Order are nothing short of hysterical and amazing (somewhere between Madness, Kraftwerk and Michael Jackson). The clip below also features a loving montage of Manhattan landmarks --- from Central Park to Grand Central to the Dakota to Rockefeller Center to Wall Street and all points in between -- making it as ripe for inclusion here as a juicy Japanese plum. Hilarious and incredible. Enjoy.
Apologies for the relative slowdown in activity here, but I'm kinda heads-down at work these days, which is gearing up with all engines burning over the impending royal wedding (as I mentioned here). Hopefully, normal service will resume shortly, but hang in there and be patient until then.
On other fronts, I found myself engaged in a typical exchange with my mother over the Easter weekend wherein she was decrying my generation's music (and the music of the generations that came after me) as lacking any regard -- let alone semblance -- of melody (this while she cited the merits of the likes of Michael Feinstein and his vile, indefensible ilk). It's invariably the generation gap at work -- I'm sure I'll similarly decry my children's favorite music as being equally unlistenable, but it didn't stop me from dismissing her argument as laughably ludicrous.
As evidence of same, I present to you one of the masters, Sir Elvis of Costello. Among my crowd, he remains a hotly-contested figure. A good friend of mine frequently quotes a mutual acquaintance who once infamously exhorted, "I'm tired of pretending Elvis Costello rocks, `cos he just doesn't." Suffice to say, while I share that individual's affinity for that which unmistakably rocks, I must beg to differ. Elvis is/was both a master musician and simultaneously kicked a man-sized platter of whupass. Here he is at his best.
Hi gang. If you’re a fan of the Beastie Boys, you’ve probably already seen this … or at least snippets of it. Here’s the whole enchilada. It’s amusing, although I don’t condone the casting of Danny McBride as MCA. Regardless, my biggest beef with it is a typically pedantic one. For a band as solidly NYC to the bone as the Beasties, why oh why was this shot on the lamest of ersatz “city street” sets? C’mon. How about a little hometown authenticity? This looks like it was shot on the set of “Friends”.
My friend Simon passed this onto me earlier in the week (originally found of Flavorwire). I like the concept (click on it to enlarge), but I feel that it's missing about nine-dozen other spots, notably "Dance (Pt.1)" by the Stones (West 8th Street & Sixth Avenue), "I Love New York" by the Pop-O-Pies (St. Marks Place), "At the Zoo" by Simon & Garfunkel (Central Park), "Balloon Man" by Robyn Hitchcock (Sixth Avenue & Bryant Park), "People Who Died" by the Jim Carroll Band (Upper Manhattan, The Tombs), "Hung Again" by Cop Shoot Cop (the Williamsburg Bridge), "Broadway (So Many People)" by Low (Broadway, just north of Houston), etc. etc. etc.
What other Manhattan topographical-song-citations can you name? Ready? GO!
Sadly, this would have been a wonderful item to put up on The New York Nobody Sings, but it seems that said blog has had its plug pulled. Pour one out.
As we hurdle perilously like a burning meteorite of hysteria towards April 29th, things at my office have reached a virtual frenzy in terms of covering the impending royal wedding of Prince William and his blushing bride-to-be, Kate Middleton. Personally speaking, while I indeed still vividly remember the hoopla that accompanied the nuptials of Prince Charles and Lady Diana back in the day, here in the busy-bodied age of the 24-hour news cycle and social media, I'm firmly of the belief that one should be forgiven for giving in to a crippling bout of Windsor Fatigue at this stage of the proceedings.
But seeking to add to the avalanche of news items that is currently threatening to consume every aspect of the media in the next week or so, I pithily whipped up a quick post yesterday for possible inclusion on my job's blog dedicated to same. While some quarters hailed it as a refreshing detour from the norm, certain others justifiably suggested that it was a trifle "off brand." As such, the prospect of publishing it on the site limped meekly to an early, shallow grave.
Not wanting to let my own floridly overwritten prose go to waste, I thought I'd exhume it from said premature tomb and present it here. If possible, enjoy. Bear in mind, this was never edited by anyone other than its own slavishly opinionated author....
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While royal wedding hysteria is ramping up to a fever pitch here in the States, it seems not everyone is particularly enthused about the impending royal nuptials and their accompanying, media-saturating hoopla. As an exclamation of same, some enterprising Britons have launched a new Facebook campaign to express their ire and mount a movement to vault “God Save the Queen,” the notoriously provocative 1977 single by the Sex Pistols, back to the top of the British pop charts during the weekend of the royal wedding.
There’s a crucial flaw in this particular campaign, however. While “God Save The Queen” is largely perceived as a slap in the face of the Windsor family, the Sex Pistols’ own Johnny Rotten (neé John Lydon) has long since attempted to clarify the intended target of the fabled punk anthem, decrying British society’s class division as opposed to the actual personages involved. Taking that a step further, Lydon was even quoted at some length in The Sun last November as having nothing but the best of wishes and happiest of hopes for the union of Prince William and Kate Middleton. “It will put England back on the map and we’ll be given a voice for the first time in ages,” Lydon told The Sun. “They get my backing to have a happy marriage. As people there’s nothing wrong with them.” Could the preeminent voice of British punk be a big softie after all?
In other news of princes and punk rock, the royal family took a gentle ribbing in a sketch earlier this month on ‘SNL,’ wherein venerable rocker -- and royal wedding guest -- Sir Elton John enjoyed a surreal audience with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip (played with alarming zeal by Fred Armisen and Bill Hader). After a stiff discussion about what music Sir Elton should play at the reception, the confrontation swiftly devolves into a high-volume bash worthy of late 70’s punk, albeit in an endearingly cartoony manner. Nice to see that Sir Elton can laugh at himself.
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