Keeping with the tradition started in 2002, the 9th annual Sasquatch Music Festival was again held at the Gorge Amphitheater in the city of George, Wa over memorial day weekend.  I had my media pass for coverage solidified, but my lady, Kim, didn’t have one and I hadn’t exactly locked down my transportation situation for how I had planned to get to there.  This, of course, was in keeping with our own tradition of doing everything half-sketch.  Time was winding down, so I needed to crank the “hustle” dial up to 11.  As stated in our previous piece about this year’s Sasquatch, a key element of our coverage will address the festival experience from the perspective of an attendee and not just as a “reporter”.  That element will come into play now, as I talk about getting your broke ass to the show, dodging ticket scams, and working the hustle in your favor.

STEP ONE:  The Ride

A week before the festival,  friend/artist, Thea Wolfe (creator of the WEEN coloring book) had a farewell party before her big move down to the Hollywood area.  Unfortunately, this meant that we wouldn’t be kicking it during the WEEN set at the festival, as planned.  On the upside, I met someone at the party who offered to give Kim and I a ride up there.  This actually worked out remarkably well, but I will refer more to that later, during the actual day by day reviews.  The main point is that carpooling isn’t necessarily a bad avenue to take. (more…)

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I spent a good part of this morning unsuccessfully looking for an old black & white Halo Benders promotional photo from the mid 1990s.  I’ve been working the same type of hustle that I am now for half of my life and, when I was in high school, I spent the majority of my focus on getting companies to send me free shit for my marketing program’s “trade show” projects.  The Calvin Johnson founded, K Records was one of the most helpful and provided me with tons of merchandise and materials, including that Halo Benders photo, which was intended to hype the group’s sophomore effort, Don’t Tell Me Now (1996).  Two years prior, when Johnson (Beat Happening) first started the side project with Doug Martsch (Built to Spill), I had begun hearing the song “Don’t Touch My Bikini” on the local community college radio station.  Both keeping with and ending their pattern of dropping a new album every other year, Halo Benders released their final album, The Rebels Not In, in 1998.  That release contained “Virginia Reel Around the Fountain“, a song that is still a regular feature on Built To Spill set-lists to this day.  Calvin hopped on stage with BTS for a few random cameos throughout the following decade and the group reunited with a slightly altered lineup for a pair of shows in Boise, Idaho.  There have even been some random non-confirmed rumors of a possible new album and/or comeback but, for all intents and purposes, The Halo Benders were a Nineties band.  At one point or another during that initial run, the side-project even made an infamous, yet rarely seen, appearance on a quintessential 90‘s television program.  Thanks to today’s technology, the footage from that fiasco is just one more thing that has managed to resurface in our current times. (more…)

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The monstrosity pictured above is the latest slab of liberty being offered from the Pepsico spinoff, Yum! Brands Inc.  The terrorists can’t frighten us anymore folks! (not after this)  Until now, KFC‘s Double Down sandwich has strictly been available in the test markets of Omaha and Rhode Island, but now it’s crawling it’s way to your neighborhood… and fast.  Since no deaths have been traced directly back to the consumption of this product, it looks like those of us residing elsewhere in the good ol’ U.S. of A. will be having our sweet, sweet freedoms extended as well.  By “freedom” we mean the freedom to gamble on our coronary healths with a whole new shape of grease.  And what’s the point of “gambling” if you’re afraid to DOUBLE DOWN motherfucker?!  (more…)

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“Hey everyone! Monster Fresh made this group for me, and I think it’s rather ingenious. It worked for Betty White and SNL. I mean, I can picture myself as Slimer, Moranis’s son, the new Stay Puft… Become a fan and pass it on!“ -Har Mar Superstar

BECOME A FAN

I conducted an interview with musician/writer/actor Sean Tillmann (aka: Har Mar Superstar) back in January, in which we spoke of the rumors behind a new Ghostbusters film (now confirmed).  I then asked Tillmann if it was something that he would be interested in being a part of, to which he responded:

“Oh, to be in Ghostbusters 3? It would be amazing. Yes, of course! Are you casting me?”

Of course I was not, but the plan became to get the concept that he was going to be cast out into the ether with the hopes that it would manifest itself into reality.  That didn’t exactly work, but now that I’ve brought up the possibility of such dreams, it’s time for a little follow through.  Since, these days, it has become perfectly clear that the only way to efficiently make a point or to get anything accomplished is to create a FACEBOOK page, here it is.

You loved him in Whip It!, in his Crappy Holidays film shorts, and as “Dancin Rick” in Starsky as Hutch.  With your help, perhaps we will love him in Ghostbusters 3 as “Moranis’ son or like… sidekick?” or something…

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On Christmas day of 2006, James Brown died at the age of 73.   The official cause of death was determined to be congestive heart failure, brought on by complications with pneumonia.   To anyone that remembers his haggard mugshot and takes into account the age of this man and the life he lived, it shouldn’t have been much of a surprise.  He was an amazing innovator who had a great run and left a stamp on the world forever, but it appeared that “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business” was all worked out.  Although the 3 separate New Years Eve performances/appearances that he was slated to make were canceled due to his demise, that didn’t mean that the spectacle was over. In fact, there was 3 separate memorial services held for him instead.  The first was at the Apollo Theater in NY on Dec. 28th, followed by a private memorial for family and friends in North Augusta, SC on the 29th, and then another large scale event on the 30th at James Brown Theater in Augusta, Ga.  Throughout these various services/presentations, the following was included: a open gold casket, a white glass-encased horse drawn carriage to transport it through the streets of New York, nachos, Michael Jackson, Bootsy Collins, a dance by MC Hammer, costume changes for the body, and more (yes… we’re fucking serious).

As is far too common these days with the deaths of celebrities, and even more-so legends, there was a lot of disputes regarding both Brown‘s will and where his final resting place had been.  Much like we witnessed last year with the death of Michael Jackson, family members and others actually argued about where to rest the musician’s body.  They had already transported it all over the goddamn East Coast as it was, so I guess they figured that they could shift it around a bit more.  I’m sure it’s all in keeping with whatever they feel James would have desired because, honestly, who wouldn’t want their lifeless corpse dragged around by horses, redressed constantly, put on display, and then buried and reburied after their death?  First his body was temporarily placed in a temperature controlled room at his estate, before being moved to an “undisclosed location“, as his common-law widow, Tomi Rae Hynie, and his children viciously argued about where it’s permanent resting place should be.  It only took a little over 10 weeks after his death for both sides to come to an agreement “amicably”.  The decision was to build a public mausoleum and, in an effort to keep milking the cash cow, transform the former legends estate into an attraction the likes of Graceland.  Until then, it was chosen for the body to be held temporarily in a crypt at the home of Brown‘s daughter Deanna Brown-Thomas.  Another private ceremony was held at Thomas‘ home, which was officiated by Reverend Al Sharpton, just like the previous 3.  Since that date on March 10, 2007, this is where the body has been laid to rest (or rather, “SNOOZE”) for the last 3 years.  Or has it?

As reported by the New York post, a 48 year-old woman by the name of LaRhonda Pettit is actually claiming that JB‘s body has gone missing. (more…)

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I just don’t get it.  Why the separation between white and black culture in America?  We have so, so many things that we celebrate in common; it’s just that we haven’t searched youtube deep enough to find them.  I found this today and I offer it as proof that black people have as much utter disdain, disgust and hatred for the dead as we honkies do.

Sure, the thunder clap cannot raise the dead, but it can definitely raise awareness.  If we can all just look past the prejudices that divide us and into these beautiful gyrating lumps of liberty, I am more than confident that the reflection will be red, white and blue.  Not black and white.

This video was originally posted on Worldstarhiphop.com, a site that can boast an “Official Honeys” page, which features a collection of amateur, pornstar, and model ass shaking videos.  Below is the original caption that they posted on WSHH, along with the cemetery footage above (the caption is unedited for grammar…. clearly):

One of our viewers sent us this footage. They reports “Some kids shakin they ass on people graves. SMH what has this world come to?”

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