Lisa Robin Kelly passed away from problems having to do with addiction today, although she had only copped to alcohol addiction in the past, judging by the recent photo I have seen of her, I suspect drugs might have been involved.
She will always be known best for her role as Laurie Forman - Eric Forman's older sister on "That 70's Show".
Creative people in general tend to be predisposed to alcohol and drug abuse and Lisa was no exception. The lucky ones are able to beat their demons, unfortunately her demons got hold of her before she tamed them.
Let's remember Lisa as the vibrant human being she was, someone who entertained us all as one of the best "Mean Girls" on TV.
The "That 70's Show" Gang
Thank You, Lisa Kelly for bringing Laurie Forman to life, the character and the show will live on in syndication and our memories forever.
With the monetary and critical success of "The Artist" it looks like Silent Movies are making a comeback.
Director/Writer/Actor Alex Monty Canawati's "Return to Babylon" proves this point quite nicely, a homage to a gone by era and it's Gods and Goddesses that graced the silver screen. Starring some really great actors, like Jennifer Tilly as a perfectly cast Clara Bow, Debi Mazar as Gloria Swanson and Maria Conchita Alonso as Lupe Velez, "Return to Babylon" is a lovely piece of work.
Thanks to Mr. Canawati who, by the way plays Rudolph Valentino in the picture, for inviting me to the World Premiere at Maxwell DeMille's Cicada Club, held where else, at Cicada Restaurant located in Downtown Los Angeles.
On hand was special guest of honor Giovanni Guglielmi - Rudolph Valentino's Great Nephew - so rather than me continue writing about this special event, that had a dress to impress mandate in the invite, check out the images I snapped while there...Enjoy!
Karen Black was one of my favorite and Best Actresses that ever graced the silver screen. She starred in many high profile films: "Easy Rider", "Airport 75", "Nashville", "Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot" & one of the best horror movies ever "Trilogy of Terror" - "Yes" I am a horror fan! However my personal favorite film Ms. Black was in was John Schlesinger's ode to Hollywood reality and it's desperate losers. "The Day of the Locust" is anything but a cheerful, light look at Hollywood in the '30s. It recreates both the town as well as the filmmaking world around which much of the town revolved with devastating accuracy. The movie tells the twin tales of talentless wannabe actress Faye Greener (Karen Black) and Homer Simpson (Donald Sutherland), a lovelorn accountant who couldn't care less about movies. Around this framework, a huge and intricate social network is tellingly revealed, until the film'sgruesome and tragic ending. Not for those who prefer to hang onto their illusions about the glory days of Hollywood, "The Day of the Locust", is based on the novel by Nathanael West" Karen Black was great in all of her films, this movie however to me was the best performance of her career, it was that rare moment where every element of a project gels and is total perfection, I have seen "The Day of the Locust" five times and love it every single viewing.
Ms. Black passed away today from pancreatic cancer, so sad she had to die in such an awful manner. R.I.P. Sweet lady, you had an amazing life and career, thanks for the memories.
“SAFE AND SOUND” IS A HIT AT TOP 40, TRIPLE A AND HOT AC AND ENTERS TOP 20 OF BILLBOARD’S HOT 100
“SAFE AND SOUND” VIDEO NOMINATED FOR TWO MTV VMA’S
“KANGAROO COURT,” THE SECOND SINGLE FROM IN A TIDAL WAVE OF MYSTERY, ADDED BY KROQ AND 98/7 IN LOS ANGELES AND SF’S LIVE 105
Capital Cities is co-headlining the feel-good event of the fall concert season: “Bright Futures Tour” with Fitz and The Tantrums. The two high-energy, Los Angeles-based bands will kick off the U.S. run on October 20 at The National in Richmond, VA. Tickets are on sale now for the outing, which will include shows at Roseland Ballroom in New York City (October 23) and Washington, DC’s 9:30 Club (October 30).
Capital Cities have taken the world by storm with the break out hit “Safe and Sound,” which is approaching Platinum status in the U.S., where it’s a multi-format smash at radio. After hitting No. 1 at Modern Rock, it’s now Top 10 at Triple A, Top 15 at Top 40 and Top 15 at Hot AC. Featured on the band’s debut album, In A Tidal Wave Of Mystery, it’s in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, has over four million streams on Spotify and is the #4 most Shazam-ed track in America. “Safe and Sound” has been heard on “American Idol,” “TODAY,” “90210” and in more than a half dozen promotional campaigns, including spots for Nike, HBO and Smart Car. The track has already gone Platinum in Germany and Gold in Canada.
The official "Safe and Sound" video– directed by Grady Hall (Beck, Modest Mouse) – recently picked up two MTV Video Music Award nominations: Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction. The clip, which has racked up over eight million views, is a mash-up of the past 100 years of dance, presided over by front men Ryan Merchant and Sebu Simonian at the historic Los Angeles Theatre. It was choreographed by Mandy Moore(“So You Think You Can Dance,” Silver Linings Playbook).
Capital Cities – founded by Merchant and Simonian, two L.A.-based jingle writers who met on Craigslist – recently performed “Safe and Sound” on the outdoor stage of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” You can view their appearance. The band also recently performed at the Grove Summer Concert Series where over 7,500 people were in attendance.
Modern rock stations such asKROQ and 98/7 in Los Angeles and Live105 in San Francisco have already jumped on the band’s follow up single, “Kangaroo Court,” which Billboard hailed asa “summer jam if we’ve ever heard one.”The band – which USA Today praised for its “playful fusion of pop, rock and EDM” in a recent “On the Verge” feature – continues its world tour, with dates in Japan, Korea, Europe and North America.
Capital Cities – Upcoming Tour Dates
8/10 Osaka, Japan Summersonic
8/11 Osaka, Japan Summersonic
8/14 Seoul, South Korea Supersonic
8/17 Sterling Heights, MI MoPop Music Festival – Freedom Hill Amphitheatre
8/23 Eugene, OR Kaleidoscope Music Festival
8/24 Salt Lake City, UT The Gallivan Center – X96 Big Ass Show
8/25 Monterey, CA First City Festival – Monterey County Fairgrounds
8/30 Chicago, IL North Coast Music Festival
8/31 Calgary, AB X-fest – Fort Calgary
9/3 Luxembourg Den Atelier
9/4 Amsterdam Melkweg Oude Zaal
9/5 Hamburg Docks
9/6-7 Berlin Berlin Festival 2013
9/9 Frankfurt Gibson
9/10 Munich Muffathalle
9/11 Milan Magazzini Generali
9/13 Lisbon Santiago Alquimista
9/14 Madrid DCode Fest 2013
9/16 Paris Nouveau Casino
9/17 Cologne E-Werk
9/18 Antwerp TRIX Centrum voor Muziek
9/19 London XOYO
9/20-21 Atlanta, GA Music Midtown 2013
9/21-22 Denver, CO Riot Fest 2013
10/12-13 Mexico City Festival Corona Capital 2013
10/20 Richmond, VA The National *
10/23 New York, NY Roseland Ballroom *
10/24 Boston, MA House of Blues *
10/25 Wallingford, CT The Dome at Oakdale Theater *
I sat naked next to Iggy in the Steam Room at the gym I used to go to in Los Angeles once and had a conversation with him, he is as cool as his music...!
C2SV TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE + MUSIC FESTIVAL
TO CELEBRATE DIGITAL CULTURE EXPLOSION
IN SILICON VALLEY
Iggy and the Stooges to Headline C2SV Festival in Silicon Valley as Tech Fans and Music Lovers Converge on Downtown San Jose Sept. 26-29, 2013
Beakthrough Event to Showcase Emerging Acts, Advanced Ideas and Disruptive Innovation in a Festive Urban Environment
Pivotal Silicon Valley innovators will converge on their home turf with some of the biggest names in music when THE C2SV TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE + MUSIC FESTIVAL,headlined by protopunk legends Iggy and the Stooges, takes over Downtown San Jose to celebrate the digital culture explosion Thursday, Sept. 26 through Sunday, Sept. 29, 2013.
Early-bird tickets for C2SV (Creative Convergence Silicon Valley), including multi-venue music passes and technology conference passes and wristbands, are on sale NOW at : www.c2sv.com.
The newly re-branded festival expands on the success of last year’s inaugural Silicon Valley Sound Experience to showcase more than 70 emerging and established acts in over a dozen downtown venues as well as St. James Park, site of the Sept. 28 outdoor concert that will be headlined by Iggy and the Stooges. Other acts on board for C2SV include ‘90s alt-rock pioneers The Lemonheads, electro-pop duo The Limousines, Oakland’s The Coup, featuring Boots Riley and DJ Pam the Funkstress, and modern funk pioneer Dam-Funk.
On the tech side, Robert Scoble (Rackspace, Scobleizer), Jeff Stibel(Author of bestseller “Breakpoint”), Nolan Bushnell (inventor of the first videogame and founder of Atari), Chris Anderson (3D Robotics, former editor of Wired), Andre Haddad (CEO, RelayRides), Steve Westly (venture capitalist and former California comptroller), Hugh Williams (Ebay) and Steve Kirsch (Infoseek, OneID) are among the more than 200 speakers who will share new ideas during presentations and panels at the technology conference. Scoble will moderate the keynote session that opens the technology programming which, over the course of three days, will explore a compelling range of topics such as the sharing economy, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, transmedia, mobile applications, social media and societal impacts of rapid technology change.
Many more acts and tech luminaries will be announced soon.
C2SV provides an exciting new platform for sharing ideas, discovering new music and, of course, having a lot of fun in the heart of Silicon Valley, the epicenter of the global digital revolution and a driving force behind the mega-festival industry. Technology and music events across the country have become a place to network, collaborate, launch companies and promote bands. C2SV invitesthe world to experience live music with Silicon Valley technology on its home turf.
“With so much musical and technological talent here, it seemed obvious that there needed to be a local event for performers and technology innovators to network, collaborate and get a little crazy,” said C2SV organizer and longtime Silicon Valley journalist Dan Pulcrano. “Sure there are popular conference/festivals in Toronto, Portland, Austin and elsewhere. But C2SV will have a uniquely Silicon Valley stamp on it, with our legendary sunshine overhead and relaxed urban culture as a backdrop.”
C2SV also is an opportunity for the valley’s hard working technical workforce to experience a festival of music and advanced ideas without having to sleep on someone’s couch in another city. The conference and accompanying expo will inaugurate the new wing of the San Jose McEneryConvention Center, a $120 million expansion that will open in September.
Here is the first round of C2SV acts. More acts will be announced shortly:
"It's my very first DVD, "Under The Ink". In the age of YouTube, many people are like, "You don't even need a DVD." But I think there is still something to having a whole concert presentation" - Eric Himan This is from my interview with Eric about his concert DVD "Under The Ink" for "Chorus and Verse", you can jump and read it here: http://www.chorusandverse.com/content.php?id=20120303A Well Mr. Himan is back with an amazing pop/rock/blues combo single "Red Hot Tears" from his album "Gracefully" - Yep, I used the A-Word, so you know I mean business!
Let me give it up for Eric so you can hear about it from him: "From my amazing backup singers (Tylisha Oliver and Tina Phillips) to my horn section (Ryan Tedder and Dave Johnson), it is not hard to hear "Red Hot Tears" is different from my previous work. I've always loved writing in different genres but this sound feels more like me than any other. The CD, Gracefully, and music video were both shot in my hometown of Tulsa, OK which is a first. Very proud of that." Thanks Eric! Check out the video for the song "Red Hot Tears" below...kick it!
