Just Because...Jon Hamm

Who's Your Daddy?
Jon Hamm

Just Because he fills out his sweats nicely, Just Because it's Father's Day (think about it, but not too much) and Just Because he's bringing Bucket Hats back, here's Jon Hamm leaving a liquor store with what looks like an energy drink.

Happy Father's Day to all of you Daddy's out there (now do you get why Jon is my poster guy for it???) - Anyway nothing beats a Hamm sighting in sweatpants, although it does not look like Jon is up to his freeballing ways from this shot. Which is a bummer, I know he got a lot of attention for it in the press when Mad Men was on the air. Perhaps he decided to tie the Kraken down to avoid the unwanted(?) focus it drew.

Whatever the case a nice casual photo of him out and about is always a welcome sight.

Seize the day Minions!

Jon on IMDb -
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0358316/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0  

Juneteenth Block Party Today!

Danielia Cotton
Photo:
Chia Messina 

DANIELIA COTTON TO JOIN TULSA’s NATIONAL JUNETEENTH BLOCK PARTY

WITH SPECIAL PERFORMANCE OF ‘A DIFFERENT WAR’

Riding a new wave of critical acclaim from A Different War, her incredibly timely and most politically charged album to date, widely heralded blues-rocker DANIELIA COTTON has risen again into the light, fiercely and defiantly, to join a star-studded lineup for Tulsa’s national Juneteenth Block Party, a virtual event to accompany

on-the-ground celebrations happening over the weekend. The Block Party will begin streaming tomorrow (Saturday, June 20) at 6 p.m. CT at www.tulsablockparty.com.

The Juneteenth Block Party event arrives as Cotton enters a “new normal” touring mode with her “Virtual Album Release Tour.” The first stop on the tour will be Friday, June 26 at Sellersville Theater, 24 West Temple Ave., Sellersville, PA. Show time is 8 p.m. More dates will be announced shortly.

The Full Livestream Concert at Sellersville Theater on June 26 will be streamed LIVE on the Sellersville Theater Facebook page. This is a PAY AS YOU PLEASE Event. All contributions will go to support both Danielia Cotton and Sellersville Theater. Payment information will be available while watching the show.

The Juneteenth Block Party was created to recognize Juneteenth, the holiday that marks the abolition of slavery in the United States and celebrate the culture of African American communities in Tulsa and around the country. The Block Party lineup will include conversations, stories, messages of hope, and musical performances from a number of prominent Tulsans and beyond, and special celebrity guests. Organizers promise the Juneteenth Block Party to be “the moment this country deserves for an exceptional holiday weekend.”

Cotton joins a stellar list of confirmed participants including Alfre Woodard, Sen. Kamala Harris, NBA Houston Rockets’ Russell Westbrook, creator of HBO’s Watchmen Damon Lindelof, former Attorney General Eric Holder, former Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick, Emmy-award winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson, Biden 2020 Sr. Advisors Karine Jean-Pierre and Symone Sanders, Emmy nominated comedian Baratunde and more celebrity guests. 

Cotton will be performing an acoustic version, on piano, of “A Different War,” the title track from her latest album, which finds the woman whose music is “soulful enough to fill a revival tent” (The New York Times) and whose voice gives her songs “stunning power” (No Depression) speaking to these extraordinary times by unloading her sin while the world around her is gripped in a turbulent spin.

She will be joined for this special live performance by prominent Bronx hip-hop artist Mickey Factz, reprising his guest appearance on the original album track. “A Different War” examines how the reality of people of color getting called into battle as a result of being marginalized informs their entire existence. The song also urges us to press ahead because of the ongoing need for substantive change.

In a deeply personal and moving editorial she titled “Fade to Black” just published by SWAAY.com, Cotton confronts her own upbringing as a biracial woman in a predominantly white upper middle class New Jersey suburb. Read it here.

Cotton frames A Different War by confronting race, gender, and wealth − deeply personal and pervasive issues that have plagued folks like her for an eternity.

Calling the album, “stunning and stirring,” American Songwriter praised A Different War for “an uncompromising urgency that transforms its songs into anthems for our times.” Including the album among its Best Bets in “The Hotness” Summer Issue, BUST Magazine raved: “A Different War is an album bursting with soulful blues rock, delivered with steely confidence. … Whether she’s wailing Janis Joplin-style on ‘Cheap High’ or declaring ‘I was not born a man, but I can do anything that he can,’ on ‘She Too,’ she’s in control, and she’s our kind of belter.”

Adding to the praise for A Different War, MediaNews Group syndicate was impressed at how Cotton’s “consistent ability to overcome pain and express it through music shines a light on the issues of the day and shows the world what it's like to continue to fight.” San Francisco Classical Voice chimed in, saying “I would really encourage you to take a listen to” the new album.

Throughout her career, the longtime New Yorker from Hopewell, NJ, has drawn praise from the New York Times, Billboard, the Los Angeles Times, NPR, and USA Today, among many others. She continues to inhabit a song, turning it inside and out to create transcendent music and lyrics, and carry us higher and higher with her in her musical flights.

A Different War finds the gutsy New Yorker swimming through the tumultuous social issues of racism and greed, and the tempestuous waters of love and relationships. These are songs deeply rooted in the protest anthems of yesterday but built for the current state of our world. A multi-racial, gospel-fueled, Jewish blues-rocker who believes in the power of womanhood, Cotton grew up in a predominantly white New Jersey community as one of just seven black kids in her high school. She has survived cancer and the tragic loss of twins at birth, only to bounce back and finally welcome a daughter in 2018. Cotton’s consistent ability to overcome pain and express it through music shines a light on the issues of the day and shows the world what it's like to fight “A Different War.”

A Different War is a true collaboration with some of the most talented musicians and technicians in the business. From Aaron Comess (Spin Doctors, Joan Osborne, Edie Brickell) on drums, Ben Butler (Sting, George Michael, Chris Botti) on guitar, and Andy Hess (Gov’t Mule, Black Crowes) on bass, to young gun guitarist Emmanuel Rossillo working his first major studio project, the record resonates with innovation and flare. The finishing touches of the brilliant mix provided by Dave O’Donnell (James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, John Mayer) and the mastering of Greg Calbi (numerous hits over the past 20 years) make this record a true meeting of the best of the best.

The evidence is clear on A Different War that DANIELIA COTTON continues to evolve and challenge herself as a musician. Fifteen years since her breakout as an Artist to Watch by influential Philadelphia public radio outlet WXPN, Cotton remains a true indie artist fighting for independence – the space to create her own sound and an audience that would journey with her.

Available NOW at Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, and where music is consumed on-line.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

Have A Good Time (But Get Out Alive)

“Few bands offered up material as gritty, rich, and poignant as Pittsburgh’s own The Iron City Houserockers. … [An] epic musical milestone. … Given the current world pandemic, there’s a modern-day relevance to the message of the title track and the album itself. Get Out Alive! has always been a record of hope, home, solidarity, community, strength, and love - themes that are as important today as they were 40 years ago. 5 STARS”

- Goldmine

The physical edition of the greatly expanded 40^th anniversary deluxe reissue of Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive), the sophomore album originally hailed by Rolling Stone as “a new American classic” from beloved Pittsburgh rocker Joe Grushecky and his gritty, blue-collar outfit the Iron City Houserockers, arrives TODAY (June 19) on CD and vinyl amid a mounting new groundswell of attention.

A holy trinity of rock and roll royalty united to help oversee the recording, as Mick Ronson (David Bowie), Ian Hunter (Mott The Hoople) and Steven Van Zandt (Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny) combined with co-producers the Slimmer Twins (Steve Popovich Sr. & Marty Mooney) and the Iron City Houserockers to create one of rock’s great lost classics. Their cohesive efforts − as producers, arrangers and players − will finally be rediscovered as an entirely new listening experience on CD and vinyl when Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive) is released by fabled indie label, Cleveland International Records. The remastered two-CD set includes a bonus disc with 16 previously unreleased tracks of demos and other rarities. The new vinyl edition will include a download card of those same 16 tracks to go with a vinyl replica of the original album. The digital package is on sale NOW and streaming here. Order the vinyl and physical CD here. Order the exclusive Iron City Houserockers Bundle Pack at www.clevelandinternational.com.

The presence of Hunter, Ronson and Van Zandt, says the Houston Press, sets “this project apart,” and “gives the whole record a sort of Pittsburgh/New Jersey/London amalgamation vibe.” MediaNews Group called this chapter in Grushecky’s four-decade career “one of his shining moments.”

Little Steven’s Underground Garage celebrated Digital Release Day with a “Coolest Conversations” album spotlight, as Grushecky spoke with the Mighty Manfred on Sirius XM. Ultimate Classic Rock hosted an exclusive Track Premiere of the bonus disc demo version of “Hypnotized (A Work in Progress),” featuring Hunter and Ronson, and called the new release “cool stuff.”

Iron City Houserockers

American Songwriter, in an interview with Grushecky, hails Have A Good Time (But Get Out Alive) as “a forgotten gem of a record, a time capsule of frenetic ‘80s energy and lyrics about home that hit home, performed by the toughest, tightest band from the ‘work hard, play hard’ working-class streets of Pittsburgh." The magazine adds that the bonus disc not only “documents each song's evolution,” but “showcases how Grushecky and the band took it up a notch when the 'record' button was pressed."

Goldmine, in a new five-star review, proclaims the album an “epic musical milestone,” and placed it in the context of the current world pandemic, noting the how “few bands offered up material as gritty, rich, and poignant as Pittsburgh’s own The Iron City Houserockers” and the “modern-day relevance to the message of the title track and the album itself. Get Out Alive! has always been a record of hope, home, solidarity, community, strength, and love - themes that are as important today as they were 40 years ago.”

Adds Midwest Record: “Anyone that wants to rock will salute this. Amazingly heady still after 40 years of sitting in limbo, waiting for the sky to fall.”

Forty years since The Iron City Houserockers’ willingness to let Ronson, Hunter and Van Zandt reshape their initial ideas in the studio proved prophetic, and the songs they recorded for the 1980 release put down roots that stretched far outside of Pittsburgh. Greil Marcus, in The Village Voice, said Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive) was “the strongest album an American band has made this year” and “proves the Iron City Houserockers are the best hard rock band in the country.” All Music Guide marveled at the new album’s power surge, saying the band “landed with the impact of a Louisville slugger connecting with a fastball” and crediting Grushecky for songwriting and lead vocals that “seethe with a furious passion that's never less than convincing. … The total commitment of his performance, delivered with the conviction of a man fighting for his life, brings these stories to vivid, sweaty life.”

Have a Good Time (But Get Out Alive) is listed as one of the top eight Essential Heartland Rock records alongside the likes of Bob Seger's Night Moves, and John Mellencamp's Scarecrow,

and features many of the Houserockers' signature tunes, including "Pumping Iron,” "Junior's Bar," and "Have A Good Time.” During a 1981 live radio concert in Boston, rabid fans can be heard screaming requests for “Pumping Iron,” an anthem Grushecky penned as a tribute to his home city, and which he still usually plays with Bruce Springsteen when they perform together.

As Hunter fondly remembers: “Joe and the Houserockers were and are an actual rock and roll band. So many 'rock and roll' bands are not real − they just look and act like they are − and fool people most of the time. These guys are for real − and what a lovely man Joe is.”

In the liner notes, Grushecky offers a remarkably concise analysis of the record that emerged: “We had great songs and the band was smoking,” he writes. “We all knew something special was happening. The results were a mixture of Pittsburgh rock and roll, Jersey Shore savvy and soul, and English mystic and muscle. Add a dash of Cleveland moxie and an anything goes attitude and a legendary album was born.” 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

Michael's Musings

Rainbow High
Michael Shinafelt

"Someday we'll find it
The Rainbow ConnectionThe lovers, the dreamers and me" Rainbow Connection, The Muppets

This past week the Supreme Court took a stand for LGBTQ Civil Rights, and it happened during Pride Month, Yay! While I don't even know why basic equality should be held into question, let alone need a ruling by a court this is still rocking news!!!

So, how you doing Minions? Let's hit this noise!

I don't know about you, but I don't trust anyone who can't hold a drink with one hand, just sayin'

"To go Full Karen you must imagine that you're delivering Scarlett O'Hara's "As God as my witness" speech, for your talent competition in the Miss USA Pageant and that if you don't win there will be a lawsuit" - Paul Rudnick

FYI If you've never had the Supreme Court decide if you have the same rights as others you have privilege

Just say no to being a victim of lunar carnivorous activities

Gwyneth Paltrow now offers a candle called "This Smells Like My Orgasm" and is hawking it with the help of her 14 year old son Moses. File this under: "Just when you thought 2020 couldn't get any more disturbing"

Radiant and Real

COVID-19 has now cancelled more gigs than Morrissey

Silence is not Golden

Woman Crush of the Week - in keeping with Pride Month, Madonna. For being at the forefront of the fight against AIDS. Here she is in the 90's at the AIDS Dance-A-Thon, you're welcome 😎

For the older people making fun of Tik Tok, remember you used to do the same thing in front of a mirror alone and for free

I work from home in mysterious ways...let that sink in

Marking myself safe from who the Hell knows what today

Alien Sex Fiend has always been one of my favorite band names (yes, it really is the name of a band)

We all have one thing in common, we are all mosquito food

Now I'm hungry, follow me at:
https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/MShinafelt  

Hump Day & Chill

Pride Unicorn
Lucy Hale

Today's Hump Day & Chill moment is brought to you by the Supreme Court because of it's ruling to protect LGBTQ Civil Rights and my pick as mascot for it, Pretty Little Liars Lucy Hale as the Pride Unicorn.

While I don't quite understand why someone not getting fired for their sexual orientation was even up for debate or needed a Supreme Court ruling, I am glad the end result was on the right side of  History.

This was a bright spot in what has otherwise been a, needless to say, challenging year. Combine this with the Pride Unicorn and we have a Hump Day & Chill Pride Celebration going on!

So kick it today with your favorite Adult Beverage and celebrate the LGBTQ Supreme Court victory. Isn't it awesome that it happened during Pride Month?

"Yes" it is!

Lucy on IG -

https://www.instagram.com/lucyhale/?hl=en  

Just Because...Pandemic Fashion

Little Blue Dress
Scarlett Johansson

Just Because there is still a pandemic happening, Just Because it's Tuesday & Just Because she's Scarlett Johansson - it's time for some Pandemic Fashion!!!

Well OK, perhaps it's not really fashion, but look at Scarlett rock a simple blue print dress with a color coordinated mask. Hey, we gotta make the best of the situation, no?

Keeping it simple is sometimes the best way to go and can actually be more effective as a fashion statement than glam, especially during a warm Summery day in The Hamptons.

Thus take a cue from Scar-Jo and make your Summer of Pandemic fashionable.

Now to find my basic walking shorts and a simple yet stylish, Black T-Shirt...

Scarlett on IMDb -
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0424060/

All Black Lives Matter

I remember when I first arrived in Hollywood I couldn't wait to see the world famous Chinese Theater. Little did I know several years into the future it would be the starting point for one of the biggest worldwide protests All Black Lives Matter

While I did not march I did bear witness to this historic event, the energy was amazing! The following images that I captured speak for themselves, here they are...

Black Lives Matter
on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/blklivesmatter?lang=en