Disney Buys Marvel for 4 Billion

Deal to unite Mickey Mouse with Spider-Man worth 4 billion.

Disney has ponied up 4 billion to buy Marvel, the home of Spider-Man and Iron Man. The deal will give Disney access to more than 5000 characters. [TheWrap]

When is the last time you bought a marvel comic?

Lady Uses Lighter To Check Fuel Level In Gas Can: KABOOM!

Gifted Songwriter, Ellie Greenwich, Dies At 68

Ellie Greenwich, an important songwriter from the Brill Building school, died last Wednesday in Manhattan of pneumonia, at the age of 68. She was a co-writer of such hits as Be My Baby, River Deep-Mountain High, and the Shangri-Las` Leader of the Pack.

Ellie Greenwich got her start in 1962 with Trio Music, a company started by the brilliant songwriting partners, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Ellie also collaborated much with Phil Spector, who recorded and produced many of her songs for his slew of artists, such as The Ronettes, Darlene Love, and even Ike and Tina Turner. She is also credited with discovering Neil Diamond, who was just a down-on-his-luck songwriter in those days.

Ellie Greenwich has made significant contributions to American pop music. My favorite is Hanky Panky by Tommy James & The Shondells. What is your favorite? *(thanks to Wiki and The New York Times Obituary, 8/28/2009).

Cows Gone Wild

“The deaths of no fewer than four people after being trampled by cows in the past two months has prompted Britain’s main farming union to issue a warning about the dangers of provoking the normally docile animals.

Breaking News: Who Killed Michael Jackson?

The L.A. County Coroner has officially ruled Michael Jackson’s death a homicide. The cause of death was Acute Propofol intoxication, and…read more at TheWrap.

The ruling means Jackson died at the hands of another, however whether criminal activity is involved remains undetermined.

Search warrants executed by the police and the Drug Enforcement Administration at the home and offices of Conrad Murray, Jackson’s personal physician indicate they are investigating the possibility of manslaughter, excessive use of prescribing medication and prescribing to an addict.

Who do you think Killed Michael Jackson?

Robbery Nets Three Thieves 75 Cents

“Amarcord”- A Fantasy Of Sound And Screen Images!

“But… Fellini well, movie making for him seems almost effortless, like breathing, and he can orchestrate the most complicated scenes with purity and ease. He`s the Willie Mays of movies.” Roger Ebert-September 19, 1974

I experienced Amarcord in the historic Paramount Theatre last night. Built in 1915, it has the kind of grandeur and spectacle of a bygone era. I was looking up at the ceiling at an angel with a harp. Perfect to view Federico Fellini`s look back at his life in 1930s Italy. These are impressions of his growing up in Rimini in the newly emerging Fascist culture of Mussolini. I had an epiphany as I watched. I have been listening to the soundtrack to Amarcord, with the music composed by Nino Rota, for some time. When watching, I could see the perfect marriage of Rota`s notes with the zany screen images of Fellini.

I saw this more as an afternoon fantasy or a fairytale, than any kind of serious autobiography. Especially with Nito Rota`s music, it`s life in real time in a small town, just at the very moment when its innocence is taken away. One scene has the Fascist soldiers shooting a chimmering gramophone off a church bell tower. Surely symbolic of the suppression of the arts. The theme of the blind accordion player, a sort of village fool,  Le Manine Di Primavera, is interjected periodically to comic effect. Nino Rota`s brilliant medley, Lo Struscio, which morphs such familiar songs as Stormy Weather and La Cucaracha together, is clipped into street scenes that are robust with life, its randomness, full of surprises. The Amarcord theme itself is pure fantasy-we are incapable, in our times, of understanding the romance being projected here by Fellini & his capable partner, Nino Rota. This texture of life is gone, yet preserved by Fellini!

Please support KOOP 91.7 FM Radio in their pledge drive over the next few weeks!

Factory Workers Go Full Monty To Save Their Jobs

“Workers at a crisis-hit boiler factory in France have stripped off for a nude calendar in a bid to save 204 jobs slated for redundancy.

The Music Of The Camelot Years

Seeing this photo of the three Kennedy brothers, Jack, Bobby, and Teddy brings music to my ears, but it`s a sad tune, Ave Maria. I came upon this extraordinary document, Music At the White House by Elise K. Kirk, which is part of the collection of the JFK Presidential Library & Museum. I am hoping you will take a few moments to read it over. As we look back on the life and achievements of Senator Edward Kennedy, we should also reflect back on the lives of his fallen brothers, who left us so long ago.

Let me just say, and in deference to the thrust of this whimsical posting, Jack Kennedy himself had an aversion to music, what with the suffering he endured from his back injury in WWII. However, the article notes that his favorite song was Greensleeves, but most of the honors of coordinating these affairs of the performing arts resided with Jacqueline Lee Bouvier.

The first and last performance at the White House was of bagpipes, entreating the president`s Irish roots; the first one was on the South Lawn on May 3, 1961 by the Air Force Pipers and the Drum and Bugle Corps. Also, I must note the Pablo Casals concert of November 13, 1961, which honored Puerto Rican Governor, Luis Munoz-Marin. This was made into a record album by Columbia with a four page booklet, and featured Mendelssohn`s Trio in D Minor, op. 49 and Schumann`s Adagio and Allegro in A-flat Major, op. 70.

This is exciting! There was “twisting in the historic East Room” one time to the groove of Lester Lanin`s orchestra. An expert, Andrew Burden, modeled the twist for Jack and he really got a kick out of this. This one I can not forget: the day before JFK`s funeral *(the same day Jack Ruby shot Lee Oswald), twenty-four drummers, with drums muffled, solemnly marched with the caisson down Pennsylvania Avenue; this is the Dead March with 100 beats per minute.

What songs do you hear when you think of the Kennedys? High Hopes, Irish Eyes, Abraham, Martin & John? I hear Hail To the Chief, that was played when I saw The President at Rice Stadium in 1962…

Has anybody here, seen my old friend John-
Can you tell me where he`s gone?
He freed a lot of people, but it seems the good, they die young
But I just looked around and he`s gone.

Dude Steals Son’s Car And Smashes Open Grandson’s Piggy Bank

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