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I’m sitting here alone, late in the night of the day the great Bo Diddley died. I don’t expect it’s going that way for you. You’re not ending your day or working through the long, slow hours before the next one rises thinking about the life and times and lyrics of Ellas Otha Bates, Ellas McDaniel, Bo Diddley, the inventor of “The Bo Diddley Beat.” But I am.
I saw him just once, at Morganfield’s in Portland, ten or fifteen years ago, that venue since closed and reopened as a different sort of club catering to a different and younger clientele with whom I have much less in common than I feel I did with that old black man who sat on a chair because his back hurt too much to stand, but who sang “I’m A Man” and “Who Do You Love” and “You Can’t Judge A Book By The Cover” and we all sang along with him, and not a few middle-aged Maine men went at last out into the night thinking for sure, “I look like a farmer, but I’m a lover,” their wives perhaps concurring, perhaps not.
June the second, 2008: the day Bo Diddley died. These events always make me spool up my mental track of Tom T. Hall’s “The Year Clayton Delaney Died,” another song you don’t much think of and may not know or have ever heard, but if you live long enough and have a soul and a heart and learn by repeated reduction the great and terrible lessons of lonely life, you’ll know how Mr. Hall could admit, “I went out in the woods and I cried” when some old drunken, “Lovesick Blues” picker passed away.
I think Bo is probably truly dead, not just hiding out in Vegas working on a second or third comeback special. In understanding this simple reality (and in some other ways, too, but not in all ways, certainly) I stand separate from the legions of middle-aged women who keep, even these thirty-one years later, wishing and hoping and a few probably actually believing that Elvis Lives. I have three plants of a Hosta cultivar called `Elvis Lives’, which is interesting but not a significant piece of information relative to tonight’s discussion. But I was not hired to teach anybody significant facts, was I? I can make more hostas by cutting apart my growing plants with a knife, but you can’t raise the dead back up when they’re in defeat.

wiscassetnewspaper.maine.com

Album: ‘Spread the Rumors’
Why They’re About to Pop: This pop rock five-piece gives Jersey a good name. After playing local venues for several years, Socratic put out their first EP, ‘It’s Getting Late,’ in 2002. They built a solid fanbase and generated buzz on the indie circuit, eventually signing with Drive-Thru Records just two years later. Their debut full-length, ‘Lunch for the Sky,’ garnered Duane Okun (vocals/guitar), Kevin Bryan (guitar/vocals), Vincent D’Amico (keys), Thomas Stratton (drums) and Louis Panico (bass) much deserved accolades. Now, the band has just released their second LP, ‘Spread the Rumors,’ produced by Blink-182/+44’s Mark Hoppus, and featuring their insanely catchy first single, ‘Boy in a Magazine.’ Socratic is currently on tour with Bedlight for Blue Eyes through July 24.
Download a free mp3 of ‘Boy in a Magazine’ by Socratic
Three Questions with lead singer Duane Okun:
What inspired the songs on your record?
Everyone and everything influenced ‘Spread the Rumors.’ It’s definitely a culmination of more things than I could possibly begin to list. Every member of Socratic brings in different tastes, ideas and experiences all across the board. The songs are a complete reflection of where we were at that point in time and what, if anything, we learned from it.
What’s your favorite song on the record?
It’s kind of like choosing your favorite kid, isn’t it? Tough question. Right now I’d have to say my favorite song is ‘Another Headache.’ The lyrics are beautiful and the tone of the song is perfect.
If you could have any musician’s career other than your own, whose would it be?
Any musician who’s able to successfully balance life at home and life on the road is someone I completely envy and hold the utmost respect for. Being away is a lot harder than it looks. It’s not all fun and games. If anyone has figured it out, please let the rest of us know.

popeater.com

Historically, many of us would associate religious art with the Middle Ages and the Age of Enlightenment. Recently, however, a new style of religious art is becoming more popular in our 21st century culture. In the Sixth Annual Vermont Conference on Christianity and the Arts on Saturday, April 26, five artists, one of them a vocalist who later performed at the College, came to speak at the United Methodist Church of Middlebury to share the major inspirations behind their work along with the impact that their art has had on the world.
The first speaker was Sandra Bowden, a painter who has had much of her artwork displayed in numerous museums such as the Vatican Museum of Contemporary Religious Art, the Museum of Biblical Art in New York City and the Haifa Museum. As a passionate collector, Bowden presented many famous innovative contemporary religious artworks at the conference that she has found inspiring when creating her work. Many of the paintings were subtle in conveying spiritual meaning, but after intensively studying these works, Bowden said she has been able to see the deeper meaning beneath the colorful oil paints.
“It is important for artists in the 21st century to communicate to the people in the post-literature era with visual art,” ” said Bowden.
The next speaker, Elizabeth Ehmann, was also a painter and grew up in Vermont, though she later moved to New York City to pursue her career. Upon returning to her hometown for this conference, Ehmann had been excited to show off the new paintings she created. Some were portraits with colorful backgrounds, while others were rich, detailed, spirited paintings of natural landscapes with high mountains, green trees and sparkling blue rivers.
“From choosing the subject to work with to what I see in the subject, my spirituality has impacted much of my art,” said Ehmann. “I am able to see the inner beauty in the people that I collaborate with and that is reflected in my portraitures and paintings.”

middleburycampus.com

Weezer are returning with a new album next month and in one track have revealed how Nirvana inspired them to form the band.
On Heart Songs the group- fronted by Rivers Cuomo- list their influences and mention legends Nirvana.
The lyrics run: “Back in 1991 I wasn’t having any fun, Until my roommate said C’mon and put a brand new record on, It had a baby on it, he was naked on it, And then I heard the chords that broke the chains I had upon me.”
The reference to a naked baby is clearly about Nirvana’s classic album Nevermind.
Weezer have become legends in their own right in their 15 year career releasing classic singles like Hash Pipe, Buddy Holly and Islands In The Sun.
The four-piece release new track Pork And Beans on June 23 while their self titled seventh album (referred to as The Red Album) comes out June 9 digitally and June 16 on CD.

mtv.co.uk

Walls and billows of fire made it “hot” because he was promoting Lamar Institute of Technology future fire fighters training to douse industrial incidents. He spent the night behind a camera, but as a working couple, we make the most of rare time together.
The prison camp date was more relaxing. I actually look forward to being his guest at the annual volunteer appreciation banquet, where I know I’ll get a hefty meal and some darned good inmate entertainment. My husband volunteers with men of St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church to support and guide inmates. He’s not alone. The night draws dozens of volunteers from all faiths who get to hear the “men in green” share how they’ve been changing.
I enjoyed generous servings of fried fish and chicken and everyone’s favorite starches: corn, macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes. Then I saw the dirty rice. My plate was heavy. There were grapes as big as I’ve ever seen. The men cooked and served the food, but there were several mentions — to taxpayers — that this is not how they eat every day.
A jammin’ choir and band provided soulful music with lyrics such as “God’s got a blessing with your name on it.”
As secure as I felt in the camp, there were ever-present reminders of where we were. I’ve seen servers wear hair nets, but these inmate waiters filling coffee also wore mini surgical mask coverings on their beards and mustaches. The sugar packets read IPS: Institutional Product Supply. A door is marked “bano de prisonero” and signs warn people not to stand in the corners of the room. I think that’s so cameras can catch them better.
Karios, Bridges to Life and other groups operate within prison walls. Free world people spend gas money and time away from their families to go to a world others don’t understand. They hear comments about wasting their time on criminals, but volunteers don’t know the crimes that these inmates have committed. They are working under the Biblical directive to visit prisoners and on the very real fact that these inmates will soon be walking our streets again, so wouldn’t it be great if they were more accountable to their faith and their families?

tradingmarkets.com

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rockymountainnews.com

Not an ‘Idol’ fan
I would like to go on record at this moment and say that I am not a fan of the show “American Idol.” I am aware that many people do enjoy this show, however, I am not amused or intrigued in the least little bit. I have never been able to get through an entire episode without turning the channel. Please realize that you do not have to agree with or accept my views on this subject. That is why they are my views.
Why do I have such distaste for the show? It is the biggest farce that I have seen in music since those two lip synchers Milli Vanilli were busted out on stage. You have three people commenting on vocal talent of which they have little of themselves. Heck, Paula Abdul is the only one of the three that had a singing career and she was only popular for one album. The rest of her career was spent choreographing other artists’ dance moves, as well as a stint as a Lakers cheerleader. Simon, to my knowledge, has never been a singer. He is a producer. That is a code word for “person who tells the talent what to do.” Last but not least we have Randy Jackson. Randy, the most talented of the three, played bass for the band Journey in the ’80s as well as a multitude of other well known recording artists. Note that he was NOT the singer. Now, Randy is a producer. See above sentence for definition of producer.
I would be willing to make a bet that if you placed some of the most famous singers of our time on that show, before they were famous, they wouldn’t have made the first cut. Let’s take a look at a few. Eddie Vedder is one of the most talented song writers and singers of my generation. He sang for Pearl Jam and now has begun a solo career. He has countless No. 1 songs and is well known with the rock scene. He would have been given the boot and instructions on not to mumble through lyrics. Hey Simon, it’s his trademark.

vintoncourier.1upmonitor.com

Of course, audacity is what has always been good about comics. Even if it has always been widely ignored, I’m starting to think it’s the single most important factor. To paraphrase Gilbert Shelton’s Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, audacity will get you through times of no craft better than craft will get you through times of no audacity.
As many have learned over the years. I’ve noticed this has always been a source of extreme annoyance to comics talent who’ve spent years perfecting their craft but demonstrate not a hint of audacity in their performance, and are largely ignored and unlionized while those they generally consider lesser talents than themselves because those others don’t demonstrate perhaps the same level of craft they do. (I’ve also noticed those who obsess about that kind of thing generally aren’t as talented as they prefer to believe, but that’s another topic.) I don’t subscribe to much of the “cyclical theory” of comics, but audacity and comics go hand in hand back to the beginning of the medium.
So what’s audacity? In social terms, it’s behaving above your station. The concept itself evokes a social network of dominants and submissives, elite and commoners. Audacity used to be something that could get you killed, if you were on society’s lower rungs but spoke or acted as an equal to someone on the upper rungs. But audacity was always a necessary component to any kind of democratizing social change, in fact a catalyst for most social changes good or bad. Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses to the church door was audacity. The American Revolution was audacity. Audacity still isn’t much appreciated by those who consider themselves in charge, because social audacity is insubordination. Frequently the term is applied to some person or work that “flies in the face of common decency.” Even — in a democratic society more often than not — self-presumed elites traditionally have behaved audaciously if self-servingly, but it’s only characterized as such after they fall from power (if then) because elites view their own audacious behavior not as audacity but as birthright. In a democratic society, the terms shift slightly; audacity is what characterizes the flagrant movement of a person or small subset beyond what society in general has decided to accept as the norm.

comicbookresources.com

Gary Dourdan (born Gary Durdin, December 11, 1966 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an African-American actor, widely known for portraying Warrick Brown on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.
Dourdan and his family moved to Willingboro, New Jersey when he was in his youth. At this time his interests included acting, music and martial arts. Later Dourdan moved to New York City and worked as a doorman at a rehearsal studio where he met some of Manhattan’s promising young artists.
Green-eyed Dourdan got his first break when Debbie Allen cast him as Shazza Zulu on A Different World based on a tape of him in an avant-garde play. He had a recurring role on the Showtime series Soul Food until he nabbed the part of Warrick Brown on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. He was also the host of a BET Spoken Word show entitled the Lyric Cafe.
Dourdan was briefly married to Roshumba Williams, and he has a daughter, Nyla and a son, Lyric from other relationships. He recently joined DMC on stage at Live 8 at Park Place in Barrie, Ontario, and also co-sang the lyrics to the theme song of The Jeffersons at the 2005 Emmy Awards.
He also starred in the movie Alien: Resurrection.
He is currently set to play Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott, on a biographical film on the latter’s life.[1]
He had a small role, in the movie Thursday, starring Thomas Jane.
He also appeared in Janet Jackson’s video for her 1993 hit “Again” as her love interest.
Dourdan also has a small part in the 2007 film Perfect Stranger, as the protagonist’s boyfriend.
He played a small part in the episode Never on Sunday (Lois & Clark episode) in the TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
TMZ.com reported on July 17, 2007: 1 “Clad in leather biker gear, Dourdan violently grabbed our photog outside Hyde, who the actor had mistaken for another guy, and slammed him to the pavement several times, sending his head bouncing into concrete over and over again — all while his camera continued to roll.” Subsequently, Dourdan and his entourage returned to the scene and chased the photog, forcing him to flee in a cab.

guncel-haber.com

“Mail on Sunday — Flo Rida
Newcomer Flo Rida follows up his massive club-banding — yet uniquely harmony-laden — hit “Low” with the chart-climbing “Elevator,” featuring Timbaland. He has plenty more all-star assistance on his debut album, with Sean Kingston, Trey Songz, Yung Joc, Rick Ross, will.i.am and Birdman. The album is over-balanced with party-starters, but its better moments come when he tosses a change-up, such as the defiant, rock-fueled “American Superstar” with Lil’ Wayne, or the Roger Troutman-influenced ballad “Me & U.”
“Welcome to the Dollhouse’ — Danity Kane
The second album from the winners of Diddy’s “Making the Band 3″ sees the group getting in touch with its inner sleaze on this disco-fueled collection of dance tracks. They breathlessly coo cheeky lines such as “I got some tasty cakes” as they brazenly tempt the objects of their desire. This dollhouse might not deliver the promised “Ecstasy,” but it could help you work up a sweat.
“Do You Like Rock Music?’ — British Sea Power
On its third full album, British Sea Power traffics in dramatic but airy arrangements, fluke effects and guitars swimming in reverb, all with an anthemic sweep, rebellion and grace that evoke Arcade Fire. The Brighton quartet hasn’t abandoned its offbeat agenda, offering intelligent and cagey observations. As sharp as the lyrics are, it’s the sound that powers “Rock Music.” The title’s question may be cheeky, but the answer in this case is: Definitely.
TV this week: March Madness
Basketball fans are in Hoops Heaven: The NCAA Tournament is underway! The field of 64 narrows by the hour as teams good enough — or lucky enough — to go to the Big Dance vie for a shot at the national college basketball title. The first round is today; Round 2 is Saturday and Sunday; the Sweet Sixteen kicks off Thursday.

courierpostonline.com