August 18, 2009

The Number Line: Phish Summer Tour

Now that Phish’s Summer Tour has reached its conclusion, we wanted to throw some numbers at ya. For more where this came from – and the source for a number

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Tour Dates: ZZ Top Pick Up Dates

With legendary rockers Aerosmith forced to cancel the remainder of their summer tour due to the severe injuries that lead singer Steven Tyler suffered after a fall from the stage

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Cover Wars: I’m Only Sleeping Edition

The subject matter of this week’s selection is something I think a lot of our readers can relate to. On the surface, this tune – a selection off The Beatles 1966 album Revolver, could innocently be about the feeling of being woken up too early in the morning…Then again, it could be about drugs. And as my friend Dan likes to say, “If you think it might be about drugs, it’s probably about drugs.”

Cover Wars

While dissecting the lyrics, I found it humorous how polite the narrator of the song is in reference to being woken up early, specifically the number of times he says, “Please”. I’m not sure if I know anyone who would be this polite given the circumstances.

In a famous 1966 interview that John Lennon did with Maureen Cleave, she said of John,

He can sleep almost indefinitely, is probably the laziest person in England. ‘Physically lazy,’ he said. ‘I don’t mind writing or reading or watching or speaking, but sex is the only physical thing I can be bothered with any more’.

So, the song is at least to some degree, autobiographical.

The Contestants:

Bathory: This is likely the most International edition of Cover Wars to date. Bathory, for those of you don’t know about them (like me yesterday), is a Swedish band often credited as creating the first “Black Metal” album. Source: In Memory Of Quorthon Vol III

[audio:https://glidemag.wpengine.com/hiddentrack/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/bathorysleeping.mp3]

READ ON for the rest of this week’s diverse Cover Wars contestants…

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Hidden Flick: Elements of Stalemate

Recently, along with 15 others, Sidney Poitier was awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama as an “agent of change,” and so I went back to revisit his film canon and found an interesting surprise. Poitier’s great acting career reached its peak in the turbulent yet race-defining 1960s. However, he was at an artistic crossroads, a veritable career stalemate where his role as a strong African-American who defies societal norms while personifying the decent citizen led to creative atrophy.

edge_of_the_city

How does one defy stereotypes, and lead a diverse career if one is trapped, forever pigeonholed as THAT straight cat who always makes the right move, always stands tall in the face of evil, and never drifts too far into anyone’s faulty plan? Poitier struggled with those issues throughout his career, but back in 1957 when this week’s Hidden Flick was filmed, he was just another bright star on the horizon, ready for his next big break.

What makes Edge of the City significant isn’t just the 30-year-old’s vigorously righteous performance, but that the film also features Ruby Dee, the dynamic actress/writer/activist, Jack Warden, who always appeared to be in every cleverly-written character role from the 60s to the 80s, and John Cassavetes who would go onto gritty acting and directorial triumphs later on in his career, while married to the brilliant actress, Gena Rowlands. In the end, however, it is Poitier’s soaring presence which towers over the film.

READ ON for more on this week’s Hidden Flick, Edge of the City…

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