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Vibes, Good Better Best
Let me introduce you to my eleven-year-old. "Good Vibes," my radio show, features the vibraphone, an instrument I became enchanted with the first time I heard it. And all these years later it still captivates me.
Someone very special is going to sign in here to explain the instrument and its history. (Check out Tony Miceli in my blog) Briefly, though, Lionel Hampton and Red Norvo introduced it to jazz in the 1930s. Hampton had been a drummer and Norvo (real name Kenneth Norville) had been experimenting with mallet instruments of all kinds, the xylophone and the marimba, for example. To really love the sound, though, all you have to do is listen to it, which you can do at www.wwfm.org (follow the JazzOn2 prompt) or streaming online. If you are local to central New Jersey and have an HD radio it's WWFM, Jazz On 2, 89.1 HD2. In either case, tune in on the first Sunday of the month at 8pm eastern time. The show is rebroadcast the following Wednesday afternoon, 4pm eastern.
In those two hours I also include a half hour of "Where Jazz Goes," playing tunes that were not born as jazz but ones you may recognize from rock, R&B, Motown, country, and even classical genres. Listen to talented jazz artists adapting non-jazz to the jazz style.
Put December 5th on your calendar for the December edition of Good Vibes. 8pm eastern, Jazzon2. And Dec 8 at 4pm.
There's a sprinkling of holiday/winter tunes, a dash of standards, a dollop of rock and pop remakes on Where Jazz Goes and my always interesting patter. Learn why the theme song from Frasier, played by Gary Burton and Friends, is named "Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs."
Shows are also posted after they air on JazzOn2 at mixcloud.com. Search Good Vibes with Gloria Krolak.
While you're here, see my book
Jazz Lines...free verse in the Key of Jazz and my photographs.
Enjoy Thanksgiving!
JazzOn2
ALERT: We're having a changeover of program directors in 2022. Winifred Howard has been a stalwart of jazz in general and of vibraphone programming in particular and I will miss her terribly. There is a chance the general manager may opt out of the jazz format. If that happens you'll be hearing the last of GK on GV, sad to say.
December '21 Good Vibes
December 5, 8-10p eastern
December 8, 4-6p eastern
www.wwfm.org or streaming online
November '21 Good Vibes
November 7 8-10p eastern
November 10, 4-6p eastern
And I'm listening to Christmas music in prep for December (Warren Wolf, Dave Stryker, Jay Hoggard, for example). But I get ahead of myself.
Back to November. Blue November (Joe Locke) Some lovely ladies (Jean De Fleur, Waltz for Hannah) and a few dance steps (Jive Samba, RMM Mambo). A share of standards like What's New and On Green Dolphin Street. Then there's Yimba Rudo and "I Dig Facts, Man." And if you think I'm editorializing, you're right. I am!
Listen in.
October '21 Good Vibes
October 3, 8-10p eastern
October 6, 4-6p eastern
Hey Vibrafans,
The October program will be airing soon at JazzOn2 and I hope you'll be listening.
Rolando Morales-Matos opens with "El Cumbanchero" (The Fun Lover), followed by Stefon Harris on "Thandiwa," (Beloved One) and a track by Jalen Baker from his new CD, "Faith."
Pheralynn Dove and Tyrone Brown (with Randy Sutin on vibes) welcome our old friend Autumn with attitude ("Such Is Autumn"). And we continue exploring Eldad Tarmu's Jazz Chamber Ensemble from Songs for the Queen of Bohemia, the fantastical story of a traveler to a new land who enchants everyone he meets with the sounds of a strange vibrating instruments.
That's just the first half-hour. Much more!
Meanwhile, go jump in a pile of leaves. It's that time of year.
September '21 Good Vibes
September 5, 8-10p eastern
September 8, 4-6p eastern
September's Good Vibes is nearly here and it features two singles, the first by Joe Locke. It's Stevie Nick's "Landslide," which she wrote in Aspen. She was feeling like she was at the center of an avalanche of emotions and so the metaphor is entirely appropriate. Locke's version is as tender as it gets.
The other single is by Cleveland musicians, The Nice Jazz Trio, the standard "Taking a Chance on Love." Is releasing music as singles a new trend?
The show opens with Bobby Hutcherson who settled in California and wrote the tune "Highway One," for the Pacific Coast Highway. I was raised along the East's own Highway One, better known as Route 1, which travels from Maine to the Florida Keys. It's not as scenic as Hutcherson's byway, but it serves the same purpose, moving people up and down the coast.
Chuck Redd and La Lucha close the show with "Lullaby Medley" where Redd is a guest of the trio.
In the middle we continue to explore Eldad Tarmu's new chamber jazz release, Dan McCarthy's excellent new offfering and Tony Marino's "Your Bad Self." We all have one, and this tune is a naughty reminder.
The August Good Vibes is ready, set, and nearly go, full of interesting new players and albums. Vibes players Jalen Baker, Tony Marino, Alan Petersen and Dan McCarthy are on the new-ish side, at least as far as Good Vibes is concerned. Eldad Tarmu introduces his Chamber Jazz Ensemble with a concept album and Joe Locke releases a simply must-hear new single, "All Along the Watchtower/Breathe." He combines Bob Dylan's "Watchtower" with his own lyrics, "Breathe," a heart grabbing statement on racial injustice.
Tierney Sutton and Al Jarreau sing a duet in the Where Jazz Goes segment. There's a fine blend of classics ("Sophisticated Lady" and "Naima") with contemporary tunes like Behn Gillece's "The Dog Days," a year-round favorite. Tune in!
August '21 Good Vibes
August 1, 8-10p eastern
August 4, 4-6p eastern
July 2021 Good Vibes
July 4, 8-10p eastern
July 7, 4-6p eastern
Dan McCarthy, one of two debut artists on this month's Good Vibes, plays a tender piece of his own composition, "Goodnight Sweet Cat." The album is A Place Where We Once Lived, written for his and his family's move to Toronto after living in New York for many years.
Also new, La Lucha, a trio of John C. O'Leary III on piano, Alejandro Arenas on electric bass and Matt Feinman at the drums. The track "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," a 1985 Tears for Fears tune that appears in my Where Jazz Goes segment in the second hour. Melissa Aldano guests on tenor sax.
Jon Metzger opens the show with a track from The Spinner, and Bob Dorough, with a little help from Jack Hitchcock on vibes, plays his own "Midnight Sun." All good stuff in between too. Tune in! JazzOn2.
Don't forget you can listen to Good Vibes at mixcloud.com. Type "Good Vibes with Gloria Krolak" into the search box.
June 2021 Good Vibes
June 7, 8-10p eastern
June 10, 4-6p eastern
Remember the Henry Mancini theme song to "Mr. Lucky," a program that lasted only one season? It's on June's Good Vibes, played by the Buddy Rich Big Band in the segment Where Jazz Goes. Behn Gillece lets us know he's "Glad to Be Back," Bobby Hutcherson has an "Inner Glow" and Susan Pascal takes us to the movies with "Film Noir."
Much, much more on this edition of Good Vibes. Tune in!
On Sunday, May 2nd Good Vibes is celebrating 11 years broadcasting! That's a lot vibraphone jazz over the airwaves.
Each tune is special, selected carefully from among the thousands in my collection. Choosing them is the fun part. Researching them often leads me down the internet rabbit hole where I can spend more time than I intended.
A good example is Anthony Smith's "Blackberry Winter," on his Connections, Vol 1, a gorgeous ballad written by Alec Wilder and Loonis McGlohon. I discovered there is a real thing referred to by farmers as a blackberry winter, then a locust winter, dogwood winter, linsey-woolsey britches winter. If you're as curious as I am, you'll want to know that the phrase arose from the belief that "a spring cold snap helps the blackberry canes start growing." (Wikipedia) I think the same would apply to locust trees and dogwoods, while the last one means you can finally put away your long johns.
It's also the title of a short story by Robert Penn Warren, a 2006 movie directed by Brent Stewart about a cannibal clown in the Antebellum South. Blackberry Winter is also the title of anthropologist Margaret Mead's autobiography (1972). Vietnam has its own version of blackberry winter. Called Miss Ban's Winter, it's an intricate folk tale of the clumsy Miss Ban and the suit of clothes she tries to make for her husband. English farmers call it blackthorn winter and the Finnish call it "takatalvi" (back winter).
And there is more. Another tune by Edith Lindeman and Carl Stutz, recorded on the B-side of Mitch Miller's recording of The Yellow Rose of Texas, a number 1 hit in the U.S. in 1955. It is also the name of symphony by composer Conni Ellisor, and a ballet based on this composition. Who knew?
I climb out of that rabbit hole, finally, knowing I can't share all of this on the radio, and look at the next 20 tunes on the list. Every one has a story.
Here's to year #12!
PS: Don't forget you can listen to Good Vibes on mixcloud.com
May 2021 Good Vibes
May 2, 8-10p eastern
May 4, 4-6p eastern
April 2021 Good Vibes
April 4, 8-10p eastern
April 7, 4-6p eastern
April is Jazz Appreciation Month. It's great to have a whole month, not just a day, but I know you and I appreciate jazz all year. In this month's show I share many of the ways listeners can show they care. If you know others I haven't mentioned, let me know. But first you have to listen to the show, right?
Two new vibes players, it's always exciting to discover them. Susan Pascal hails from Seattle and Abe Lagrimas, Jr. was born and raised in Hawaii. Pascal will play on "Audrey's Dance" with horn player Dmitri Matheny. It's on the CD Jazz Noir. The tune was inspired by the character Audrey Horne from the quirky TV series Twin Peaks, played by Sherilyn Fenn. Lagrimas plays both vibes and ukelele on Ukelele Vibes. Yes, you read that correctly. The tune is "Cookies and Ice Cream." Listen to Chuck, Lem, Stefon, Terry, Milt, Joe, Gary and many more!
Also, check out mixcloud.com to listen to Good Vibes on your own schedule. Type Good Vibes with Gloria Krolak in the search bar. I post Good Vibes there after they've played on JazzOn2. They go back to June of 2020.
March 2021 Good Vibes
March 7, 8-10p eastern
March 10, 4-6p eastern
February 2021 Good Vibes
February 7, 8-10p eastern
February 10, 4-6p eastern
Good Vibes, the first and only broadcast program to feature the vibraphone, will air on March 7, 2021 and March 10, 2021. Details below.
I wish Joe Locke and Stefon Harris happy March birthdays by playing Joe's "The Shadow of Your Smile" from Sound Tracks and Stefon's "Easy Now" from the album Keep Searchin'. Gary Burton reunites with Astor Piazzolla, Bryan Carrott is In Your Dreams, Behn goes to church, and Tony tells Porgy of his love. So much more! Tune in.
I'm also posting shows on mixcloud.com where you can listen anytime.
Winter is almost over. I hope for you it hasn't been as bad as predicted. I've had both vaccines but it's going to take some getting used to being all and about like "normal." What does that mean anymore, anyway?
By the way, La Chiquita Studio on Etsy is selling a cool Good Vibes doormat. $38.
February's Good Vibes is a varied, eclectic show of jazz
standards ("If You Could See Me Now" by Lolly Allen) and
new compositions ("Thanks, But No Thanks" by Steve Shapiro)
traditionalists ("If I Were A Bell" by Jon Metzger) and modern
("Aamos" by Severi Pyysalo), the mellow ("Early Morning" with
Lem Winchester)and the percussive ("Angel Eyes" with the
Kevin Hart Latin Jazz Quintet) all tied together by our favorite
Let's not forget the half-hour of Where Jazz Goes - The Rolling Stones, Sting and Lennon/McCartney compositions, for example.
My favorite piece in this playlist is Mike Mainieri's "America." He's joined by alto saxman Charlie Mariano and Dieter Ilg on bass. Very moving.
January 2021 Good Vibes
January 3, 8-10p eastern
January 6, 4-6p eastern
Happy New Year! May 2021 bring us all the relief we so need from the unrelenting Covid-19 we've experiened. I, for one, celebrate a new administration and a new start.
January's Good Vibes is overflowing with the best of the vibraphone scene today. Steve Shapiro has a new group, Tri/0, through which he is experimenting with an electronic marimba, called the MalletKat. The album is Try The Veal. Steve Nelson's
new album with vocalist Naama Gheber is still in rotation, as we continue to explore it. Same with Cobb's Pocket, the new CD by Hendrik Meurkens and Lolly Allen's Coming Home.
Two hours on the Vibraphone Highway, punctuated by an off-road experience to follow Where Jazz Goes. This month, Jorge Garcia with "Purple Haze" (Jimi Hendrix) and Bill Frisell with John Lennon's "Woman."
December 2020 Good Vibes
The December show is filled with happy tunes
Some do double duty as Christmas songs,
like Jay Hoggard on "Joy to the World," a
bunch actually have some form of "happy"
in their titles, including Spanish, and the closer,
Stevie Wonder's "Overjoyed," (Songs in the Key of Wonder) is just happy to the nth power. Dany Doriz and his big band open with "Halle Hallelujah." Some, like Tony and Paul's "Hush," and Steve Nelson with vocalist Naama Gheber playing "Since I Fell for You," are completely unrelated to anything going on. But one tune says it all, "What A Difference A Day Makes," by the Steve Hobbs Quartet.
Hope you all enjoyed Thanksgiving as best you could. It came with mixed blessings, not seeing those we love in person but also not having to put up with that annoying uncle or cousin.
November 2020 Good Vibes
November 1, 8-10p eastern
November 4, 4-6p eastern
This is NEW! I've been posting my shows at mixcloud.com. Go to the website and in the search box on the top left, type Good Vibes with Gloria Krolak. There are a number of Good Vibes programs; none but mine feature the vibraphone. Hope that makes it easy for you all to listen whenever you want. I haven't advertised it, Vibes lovers, so it's up to you to build up those numbers. ;)
November's show: After our TRAVELS to the BOSSA NOVA SUNSET CLUB in the LAND OF GIANTS, we'll be COMING HOME, ALONE TOGETHER, UNDER THE SAME SKY. SOUL FINGERS, KEEP SEARCHIN' for VAN GOGH BY THE NUMBER and THE SONGS OF STEVIE WONDER. And more.
PS: If I'm not playing your new release it could be because I don't know about it. Write to me.
October 2020 Good Vibes
Oct 4, 8-10p eastern
Oct 7, 4-6p eastern
Hope you and your loved ones are all healthy and safe! I know what a tough time this is for musicians and so fervently wish we could get back to seeing and hearing you in live settings.
Meanwhile, the October show is slated for October 4 and 7.
It opens with my favorite election tune, "Elect 'Oral' Blues" by the Jerry Tachoir Group. The Blues with a capital "B" has got it just about right.
Here's the playlist of musicians alphabetically:
David F
John Lolly Mike Nick Rusty Stefon Terry Tony Warren
September 2020 Good Vibes
September always feels like New Year's to me. In the past it meant going back to school with new teachers, new notebooks, new clothes. There were old friends to see and the possibility of making new ones. It was always an exciting time filled with promise. The weather would be crisp and in the air was the smell of leaves burning. I loved that aroma! Not to mention jumping in those leaf piles beforehand.
September's Good Vibes also seems like a new beginning. The majority of the tunes I've not played before so they're as new to me as they probably are to you. We're still exploring Dave Stryker's newest release, as well as those by Thaddeus Tukes, Anthony Smith and Martin Fabricius. The View from Madeleine's Couch is also their newest, as is Chris Dingman's. And let's not forget Chuck Redd's latest, Groove City.
From older but well-loved albums are Bobby Hutcherson, Tony Miceli, Dave Pike, Warren Wolf, Joe Locke and Cal Tjader. Behn Gillece joins the scene as do Arthur Lipner, Mike Freeman, Ted Piltzecker and Randy Sutin. I feel like I'm taking roll call on the first day of school. There are all their bright faces ready to share the music they've made over the summer. Class is in session!
August 2020 Good Vibes
I hope you were able to catch last month's all-Jobim program, played by an assortment of many our favorite vibraphone players. If you were listening you may have noticed one important, well-loved Jobim composition that was omitted. I didn't have time to fit in "Girl from Ipanema"! So, I'm making that up to you now with an arrangement by The View from Madeleine's Couch on their newest album, Bossa Nova Sunset Club. The album was recorded at a mountaintop studio in Australia's Sunshine Coast. The original is called "Garota de Ipanema." This version features Kym Ambrose on vibraphone and Anje West vocals. The rest of the vibes crew includes, Bobby Hutcherson, Dave Samuels, Arthur Lipner, Emil Richards, David Friedman, newcomer Thaddeus Tukes, Arturo Serra and Warren Wolf. That's the first half!
In the Where Jazz Goes segment, which doesn't always
include vibes players, I was surprised to hear David
Friedman on Bob James' "Feel Like Making Love" on the
album One. Roberta Flack had a giant hit in 1974 and
James recorded his instrumental that same year. The rest of
that segment includes Gregory Porter on "The In Crowd,"
Dave (Brubeck) Digs Disney, Anthony Smith and Retrosonik
on "True," and Marvin Gaye's "Trouble Man," by Dave
Stryker, Bob Mintzer and the WDR Big Band. When we
come back to the Vibraphone Highway, we'll be riding with Milt Jackson, Chuck Redd, Behn Gillece, Steve Nelson and Christian Tamburr. A great line-up!
June 8, 4-6p eastern
July is a first-of-its-kind program for Good Vibes; it features the work of just one composer, the Brazilian father of the bossa nova, Antonio Carlos Jobim. The acclaimed composer and musician plays on a few of the tunes but most are performed by a select group of our favorite vibraphonists. Solos by Gary Burton and Ted Piltzecker, and small groups with Behn Gillece, Roland Morales-Matos, Rusty Burge, Roy Ayers, Tony Miceli and more. There are many enchanting vocals, including those of Gal Costa and Karrin Allyson. Some of the tunes are familiar but others, like "Two Kites" and "Retrato Em Branco E Preto," are less well-known. This a major chill session for all the weary minds and hurting hearts suffering bravely through the events of the last few months. Close your eyes, open your ears, and enjoy the soul-satisfying music of Maestro Jobim.
Album cover photo by Pete Turner
Here's what's coming up in June. We welcome Lolly Allen who makes her debut on Good Vibes with an Antonio Carlos Jobim tune, "O Grande Amor." Her album is Coming Home, just released in 2019. Find out more about it in "Featured."
This month's roster includes Behn, Bobby and Joe; Dave Pike, Steve Shapiro, and Anthony Smith; Chris Dingman, Fats Sadi, and Mike Freeman. And more. Denmark's Martin Fabricius closes the show by sending us his "Best Wishes." Now is a good time to get reconnected to the radio. Tune in to JazzOn2 and we'll improve your day.
Heads up for July. I'll feature a full two hours of Antonio Carlos Jobim as performed by the vibraphone players we love and several recorded by Jobim himself. That's July 5th at 8pm eastern.
May 3, 8-10 eastern
May 6, 4-6 eastern
I'm hoping you are all safe and healthy and doing what you need to do to stay that way!
I'm filing May's show very early, trying to keep ahead and free up time to help my friend with her mask-making endeavors. She's makin' 'em good to look at, color-coordinated from cheery fabrics. Mine is Minnie Mouse and Michael's got Batman. Mine are going to be made with some wild and colorful African prints.
So, Good Vibes, the real reason for writing this. May's show continues to explore new albums from Chuck Redd, Madeleleine's Couch, Christian Tamburr, Martin Fabricius and Behn Gillece. I'll be playing an amusing little piece from David Friedman called "Bubbles of Nothing." It's very short, only about a minute, and the bubbles are all in your imagination. Let 'em go. Das Vibenbass, a now defunct Seattle-based group, returns with a track I found online, "Da Loop." It's on HOP Records Anthology Vol. 1. (BTW, the record company is named for an ingredient used to make beer.) Justin Sorenson, the vibes player with the group, has been exploring other interests since the group's dismantling. I wish him well.
Stay positive!
Let's JAM! That's Jazz Appreciation Month, celebrated
in April. The tradition began in 2001 with the folks
at the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of
American History and grows in scope every year.
To celebrate, Milt Jackson starts us off with a trip
to "Tahiti," Mike Mainieri takes off on "Song of My
People," and Chuck Redd catches us crying over his
lovely rendition of "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Cryin'."
Let me tell you a bit about Christian Tamburr's new CD The Awakening. His inspiration were the statues by Seward Johnson at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey. Throughout the park there are hundreds of super-realistic statues in natural settings. A young woman lays on the grass reading, but as you tiptoe around her you realize she is one of Seward's subjects. Tamburr wrote tunes for each of ten artworks, and the one I play this month is "Hiding in the Light," inspired by The Stainless Girl. The highly polished work lays beside a waterfall. The CD cover is of The Awakening, a giant struggling to free himself from the ground. There are sculptural re-creations of famous works of art, like Manet's Bridge Over Water Lilies. Some of the statues are over-sized, as is the one of Marilyn Monroe who barely keeps her white dress from blowing up over her head. The grounds are meticulous, populated with real peacocks and sprinkled with ponds and fountains. The restaurant, Rats, lest you feel uneasy about eating there, is named for a very hospitable character in "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame. Visit this playground of the arts, if you can.
March 1, 8-10p
March 4, 4-6p
March is not so lamblike on Good Vibes. It features four crazy good new albums. Christian Tamburr, Chuck Redd, The View from Madeleine's Couch and Martin Fabricius are all offering new CDs. Martin is from Denmark and this album sounds like the aurora borealis looks. Chuck's Groove City is a place you'll want to go. He plays Billy Strayhorn's "A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing." (Check out my photography page to realize how heartily I agree.) Christian was inspired by Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey, where J. Seward Johnson's super-realistic works pop out at you wherever you wander. Lastly, Mad Couch, an Australian group, really lives in their Brazil of the mind. Nothing wooly here.
Stefon Harris transports us to Cape Verde, an island country off the coast of Africa. The Wee Trio reprises a favorite, "Tig Mack," and Warren Wolf elegantly melds Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust" with Frederic Chopin's "The Minute Waltz." March actually does go out with a lion, Lionel Hampton, that is, with "Running Home."
I took the month of January off to attend to some business and am now so glad to be back! Jazzon2
replayed the November show. So, it's
February. Here's the line-up:
Christos, Stefon, Gary, Chuck (two tracks),
Tim, Behn, Bobby, Hendrik, David, Arthur,
Steve N., Steve S., Tony, Kym, Jay and
Steve H. A collection of the exceptional. You know them all, and if you don't, all the more reason to tune in.
My half hour of Where Jazz Goes includes two Sting tunes, two very different Beatles compositions, a Percy Mayfield hit and one from West Side Story. So, stay "Cool" and listen in.
www.gloriajazz.com
Happy Valentine's Day,
December 2019 Good Vibes
The December show has aired but it's still in rotation for a rebroadcast on Wednesday, Dec 4 at 4:00p. You can still catch it at wwfm.org. It opens with a burner from MCcoy Tyner and Bobby Hutcherson, cools down with Cal Tjader's "Black Orchid," played by the Kevin Hart Latin Jazz Quintet, and picks up the pace again with Arturo Serra's "The Sealer," from Nebulosa. I'm playing a track from Dave Stryker's new Eight Track Christmas every half hour. Teddy Charles, Steve Hobbs, Matthias Lupri and David Friedman pitch in, (pun intended), as do Joel Ross, and Dave Samuels. In that order. That's just the first hour. The second, Where Jazz Goes, opens with a new group from Sweden that recorded Phil Collins' "Another Day in Paradise." Amidst the holiday merriment the Collins tune about homelessness is from the album is Four Wheel Drive. There's so much more. Two ballads, "Blue Sojourn" by Behn Gillece, should touch your heart. The second is the show closer, "Everything Must Change," played by Jay Hoggard and written by Benard Eghner. As always, IMHO, an eclectic variety of the very best of the vibraphone.
Putting a radio show together turns out not to be so simple.
There's the tempo of each tune to consider, like the fast
paced "Yardbird Suite" (Gibbs) and "Alice's Journey,"
(Gillece) and the slow pace of "Stargazer" (Fisher) and
"Dusk, " (Rossy). Mid-tempo tunes like "My One and
Only," (Redd) and "Frankie and Johnny" (Wolf) help weave everything together. There should be variety among the composers. Jazz icons like Ellington and Charlie Parker share a spotlight with the newer kids in the flock, (Mancini). Classic tunes want to blend with contemporary and the timing has to come down literally to the second. In a two-hour no-commercial program, it's easiest to divide by four and put each quarter together. There are 26 minutes of music per quarter, usually five songs. Depending on their length, however, there could be six or four. Allow three and a half minutes for announcements, including station ID at certain intervals. That adds up to the required 59 minutes per hour. In a show like mine that features a specific instrument, I have to consider over a hundred vibraphone players and how often I play their music. Some are more prolific, others who record less have less to play so the distribution of airtime may seem lopsided. Something else to keep in mind are the combos themselves. Have I played a big band (Dany Doriz), a solo record, a quartet, duo, vocal (Tierney Sutton) and are they equally distributed, not solo against solo? Lastly, there is personal taste. What I choose to play must be melodic. It you can't tap your feet, the music's too offbeat.
November 6, 4-8p eastern wwfm.org,, click on jazzon2
First, a welcome to Kevin Norton, a native New Yorker, who is new to Good Vibes. Much of his work seems experimental but a track on his new album, Yimba Rudo, caught my ear. It's "Winter Retreat" (we'll be there before we know it). It's moody, icy and atmospheric.
Joe Locke plays from an old album and Terry Gibbs from his newest and maybe, he says, last. (Happy Birthday, Terry!) Tony Miceli plays on bassist Nicholas Krolak's first release, then Tony comes back for a solo from Invitation. Jerry Tachoir bemoans the "Elect 'Oral' Blues," (just the beginning, my friends) and Behn Gillece dedicates a tune to bossa nova pioneer Roberto Menescal, who also celebrates his birthday in October. It's on Behn's Parallel Universe. Stefon Harris plays vibes on Dave Stryker's "After the Dance," as well as a Stevie Wonder tune with the SF Jazz Collective. David Friedman shares a track from his newest, Flight, and the Jazz Passengers (with Bill Ware) reprise "Imitation of a Kiss," to commemorate October as Domestic Violence Awareness Day. The lyrics, sung by Deborah Harry, are stunningly real. If you know someone in this situation the national hotline to share is: 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).
I learned something about Maracatu, the northwestern Brazilian drumming groups for which Joe Chambers wrote "Samba de Maracatu" that appears on his Landscapes. One parade group might include up to 100 drummers (imagine it!), singers with a chorus, dancers, costumed characters representing the area's African and European roots. Something to put on the bucket list.
And more. Enjoy the show!
October 6, 8-10p eastern, www.wwfm.org. Click on jazzon2.
September 2019 Good Vibes
September's Good Vibes boasts another vibes-packed
playlist. I may not be celebrating a wedding, but I've
included something old ("Black Orchid" by Cal Tjader),
something new (Lucky To Be Me from David
Friedman's newest "Flight"), something borrowed
(five tunes borrowed from rock hit lists), and something
blue ("Samba D'Blue" with Steve Nelson).
Roy Ayers is on hand to celebrate his September birthday, Terry Gibbs pays homage to Lionel Hampton, both Hamp and Red show up to celebrate vibraphone beginnings, and Tony plays his tender solo of "Tennessee Waltz." What more could you ask for?
Many more. Like Mike Freeman and Zonavibe, Ed Saindon and Kenny Werner with an extended version of "Invitation," Eddie Costa, Milt Jackson, Bill Ware, Stefon Harris & Blackout, and Bobby Hutcherson. Welcome to vibes heaven!
September 1, 8-10p eastern, www.wwfm.org. Click on jazzon2.
Cool off with some hot vibraphone jazz as Good Vibes, August Edition, racks 'em up for you. The line-up is stellar, as always, with legend Milt Jackson, established names (for good reason) like Steve Nelson, Stefon Harris, Joe Locke and Tony Miceli, and the new man in town, Joel Ross. Lots more!
There's always a good mix of standards, like those written by Mulgrew Miller, Lennie Tristano, Sidney Bechet, Horace Silver, Freddie Hubbard and Dizzy Gillespie, and more contemporary tunes by songwriters/vibraphonists Bill Ware and Behn Gillece. Then there's the half hour following Where Jazz Goes. This month it's the disco-born "Street Life," Paul Simon, Lennon/McCartney, and the groups A-Ha and Steely Dan. So much good music and so many things to learn about it. Did you know that Joe Sample, pianist, composer and founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, wrote "Street Life," a top 40 hit in the US and a Top 20 Billboard in the UK? Will Jennings, who wrote lyrics to Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven," also write the lyrics to "Street Life."
July 2019 Good Vibes
In July, there are a few albums I recently acquired
that I'm continuing to explore; Anthony Smith's
double set, Songs from a Lighter Planet; Dinah
Sings Some Blues with Red (Norvo); Dave Stryker's Eight
Track III with Stefon Harris; and Tyler Blanton's
Sense of Place. Also, The Sequel with Mulgrew
Miller and Steve Nelson. Gary Burton has a set
of his own from Like Minds, Reunion and Libertango. Jerry Tachoir celebrates George Shearing and Anita O'Day, with Larry Bunker, pays homage to Billie Holliday. New young lions include Joel Ross, Ethan Fisher and Smith Dobson. Joni Mitchell performs a Mingus tune. Then there's our old friends Karl Berger, Joe Locke, Arthur Lipner and Tom Collier. So much to like! Airing July 7, 2019, Sunday, 6-8 p eastern, www.wwfm.org and again on July 10, 2019, Wednesday, 4-6p eastern, same place. Local (NJ) HD2 radio 89.1. BTW, Anthony and Retrosonik are on the featured page this month.
Sunday 2nd, 8p eastern, Weds 5th, 4pm eastern
I finally was able to get a copy of a an album I've kept my eye on for years. At first it was not available on CD. Then when it finally was, it was too expensive (almost $200 new). So I broke down and bought a used copy, something I've never done before. It was a reasonable price (under $20) and it turned out to be perfectly fine. The CD I'm writing about is Dinah Shore Sings Some Blues With Red. You'll hear the first track in June's show. I'll also play Lionel Hampton's and Curley Hamner's "Hey, Ba-Ba-Re-Bop. Marv Goldberg, at his website uncamarv.com, gives a dissertation length analysis of this song and the often conflated "Open the Door, Richard," written a year later. Check it out if you want to take that deep dive with him.
Sunday 5th, 8p eastern, Weds 8th, 4p eastern
Happy Birthday, Good Vibes! We're beginning our 10th year! And they (or someone) said it couldn't be done. A program featuring the vibraphone would become boring, and there would there not be enough content to continue for very long. As it happens, neither one is true. The program continues to showcase fresh and exciting young players - Joel Ross in this month's edition - and new compositions (tomorrow's standards) like Tyler Blanton's "Oaty" blended with the classics we all know and love. Ted Piltzecker takes things up a notch when he combines his music with one of Langston Hughes' best known poems, "What Happens To A Dream Deferred?" with vocals by Taylor Burgess. Check it out!
Sunday 7th, 8p eastern, Weds10th, 4p eastern
April is Jazz Appreciation Month, appropriately abbreviated JAM – and was started in 2001 by John Edward Hasse, PhD, curator of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History – that's where the legendary Ella's archives are stored – and initially funded by the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation. There are lots of ways to celebrate and I talk about some of them on April's Good Vibes.
We're honoring the month by listening to some new albums, Behn Gillece (Parallel Universe), Tony Miceli (Invitation), Ted Piltzecker (Brindica), Joe Locke (Subtle Disguise) and Mike Freeman (Venetian Blinds). And some old ones as well, by Hendrik Meurkens, Bill Ware, Steve Nelson and Chuck Redd. One of those oldies is the Klenner/Lewis standard "Just Friends" played by Lem Winchester. I became aware of a Little Rascals episode ("Mush and Milk") where five-year-old Tommy, played by Tommy Bonds, was asked to sing the sophisticated tune for his class. It's a classic in its own right. Check it out on YouTube.
Sunday 3rd, 8p eastern, Wednesday 6th, 4p eastern
Sometimes for no apparent reason a show comes out as fast-paced, or slow. Maybe it's just my mood when I edit the show. March, like the month itself, happens to have a breezy feel, the tone set by Arthur Lipner who opens with "Street Vibes." With a few exceptions, (funky "Penny for A Pound" by Nick Mancini, and Dave Pike's "Middle Earth Herd"), feel free to chill out with lodestars Cal Tjader and Milt Jackson, contemporary geniuses Joe Locke, Steve Shapiro, Steve Nelson and Tony Miceli, and up-and-comers Ethan Fisher and Joe Doubleday. Where Jazz Goes features a Hank Williams tune, Sting, the McCartneys and more.
Includes recordings by four jazz legends, Gary Burton, Astor Piazzolla, Terry Gibbs and Bobby Hutcherson and generous servings of contemporary giants like Joe Locke, Bill Ware and Arthur Lipner. Helping me follow Where Jazz Goes - Bill Frisell, Stefon Harris, Don Braden and Kevin Mahogany. Tune in, turn on, chill out.


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CURA's Artists Neighborhood Partnership Initiative (ANPI) provides small grants to artists of color and Native artists working in neighborhoods in Minneapolis, St. Paul and the surrounding suburbs. ANPI grants recognize the valuable role that artists and the arts play in the work of fostering neighborhood wellbeing, and are intended to support the leadership of artists in these efforts. This grant program is particularly focused on directly funding individual artists or groups of artists working to build a more equitable Twin Cities.
The goal of the program is to identify and support compelling projects that artists have developed in response to their community's specific challenges and opportunities.
Sign up for CURA's email list to hear about the next ANPI deadline
Funding criteria
Projects must demonstrate a clear commitment to a neighborhood or place, as shown by the relationship between that place's community to the project's development process and focus.
The request for proposals is open to individual artists of color and Native artists, or artist teams.
Organizations may not apply, although they may partner with an artist or artist team who is leading the project
View an archive of ANPI projects and News
Our office may be closed, but CURA is open
SEA Echoes Through Rivers
Legends of Identity / Leyendas de Identidad
YO MAMA's Water(ing) (W)hole. Get Served. Be Prepared.
The Ones We've Been Waiting For
The East 38th Street African American History Mural
Cope with Me
Rondo Family Reunion

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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After Their Thank You Note To 'Pittsburg', The Chainsmokers Now Head To 'Clevlande'
Looks like The Chainsmokers may need a full-time spell checker.
Melody Siganporia
Always wanted that dream job of working with The Chainsmokers?
Well, your prayers might have just been answered! Or they sure as hell will be, or rather should be, hiring for the coveted position of a 'Spell Checker' to join them on tour soon!
Last weekend, The Chainsmokers touched down in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for a sold-out performance at the city's PPG Paints Arena. Coming as a stop on their recently unveiled debut album tour for Memories… Do Not Open, the show had all the makings of a high energy, banging Chainsmokers show! 'Til the very end that is though…
Love them or hate them, The Chainsmokers have been in the news a lot, like almost everyday kind of a lot. But the latest reason why the The Chainsmokers are making headlines, is for offending the great people of the city of Pittsburgh.
Their crime: misspelling Pittsburgh.
During the duo's sold-out arena show in the city last weekend, they ended their set with a huge banner as a 'Thank You' note to the audience for being downright awesome. Except errrr, they ended up thanking 'Pittsburg' and giving that crucial 'H' a break… Something a LOT of 'tweeple' from the 'Burgh weren't very happy about.
What was a real pity was the fact that before the mishap they seemed to have had the audience left rapt with quite a show!
As the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette review said:
Escape Reality With Aluna's Kaleidoscopic "Forget About Me" Music Video
Not only did Aluna release a new track, but she also sold out its 69 corresponding NFT editions in under a minute.
Miami Bitcoin Conference to Conclude With Music Festival Featuring deadmau5, Steve Aoki, More
San Holo, Apashe, and TOKiMONSTA will also perform at Sound Money Fest, among others.
"With an impressive production that included animated, comic book-style backdrops, an automated DJ table that raised and lowered, thick clouds of smoke, multiple storms of confetti, pyrotechnics and several sophomoric live skits (like one where Pall supposedly left the stage to use the bathroom and Facetimed Taggart), The Chainsmokers hushed any naysayers who contended that electronic dance music could not be commercialized."
But in the end, things finished on a rather sour note.
Perfectly put in the Trib Live review of the show speaking about the finale mishap:
"...the song was met with much applause, before being dampened with a misspelled "Thank You Pittsburg" sign that came down at show's end. It was obviously unfortunate, but even more so because Taggart made it a point to talk about how great the city had been to The Chainsmokers and not every city was as enthusiastic as Pittsburgh".
On that note, we'll just leave this here.
After photos of the mistake started circulating online, the duo took to Twitter to post a now-deleted message, saying: "lol totally putting our visual guy on blast for misspelling Pittsburgh at the end".
Talk about owning up for their shit much! Also, misspelling the name of the very city giving you sold out shows and mad love is pretty much the 'pits' right? Right!
However, get set 'Clevlande', you're up next!
H/T: Billboard
The Chainsmokers make an Attempt to Clear the Air with Lady Gaga
The Chainsmokers take to The Howard Stern Show to clarify the actual issue with last years beef over Alex Pall's comments about Lady Gaga's "Perfect Illusion". Read on to find out
The Chainsmokers' "Closer" (feat. Halsey) is now 12-Times Platinum
The hit single joins just four other 12-times platinum tracks, among artists like Eminem and Justin Bieber.
The Chainsmokers Tease Upcoming Blink 182 Collaboration
The Chainsmokers recently spent time in the studio with Blink 182.
The Chainsmokers to Produce Paris, a Film of Their 2017 Song's Namesake
Alex Pall and Drew Taggart of The Chainsmokers have a movie in the works.
The Chainsmokers' Drew Taggart Receives Songwriter Of The Year Award By ASCAP
Yet another milestone for The Chainsmokers.
The Chainsmokers Donate KN95 Masks to New York and Las Vegas Medical Facilities
The Chainsmokers stepped up to donate some much needed medical resources.
The Chainsmokers and 5SOS Announce WORLD WAR JOY Fall Tour
The Chainsmokers and 5SOS will embark on a North American 2019 tour.
Forbes Announces The Chainsmokers, 21 Savage and Normani for 2019 Under 30 Summit
The Chainsmokers, 21 Savage, and Normani will kick off the 2019 Forbes Under 30 Summit's Music Festival at Detroit's iconic Masonic Temple.


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Home Diversity Gillum Wows Overflow Crowd at Hillsborough Dem. Gala
Gillum Wows Overflow Crowd at Hillsborough Dem. Gala
April 21, 2018 - 10:47 pm April 21, 2018 Diversity, Education, Elections, Environment, Gun Violence, Infrastructure, Politics, Transportation
By Jim Bleyer
An already energized throng of more than 500 Hillsborough County Democrats, anticipating that the much hyped Blue Wave will wash over Florida in November, saved most of its enthusiasm and cheering Saturday night for gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.
All four primary candidates spoke for only a few minutes each but it was the mayor of Tallahassee that touched all the bases and fired up the party faithful. Using passion and decibel levels as yardsticks, Gillum won the evening.
He noted his successful court fights against the National Rifle Association in advocating for stricter gun laws, reiterated his commitment to bolstering public education by a $1 billion annually, championed a high speed rail system that would link major cities, and vowed to protect the environment.
Those policies would make Florida a more desirable location for entrepreneurs and major companies looking to relocate or expand.
Gillum reminded the audience that a coalition of Latinos, people of color, the LGBTQ community, and mainstream Democrats would be vital to winning the governor's mansion in 2018. There hasn't been a Democratic governor in Florida for 20 years.
Former Miami Beach mayor Philip Levine, who once contemplated running as a Republican or Independent, said the next governor must meet the challenge of rising sea levels.
Entrepreneur Chris King observed that his progressive views have been consistent and unwavering. King, of Orlando, has never held public office.
Former Congresswoman Gwen Graham, who voted with the Republicans 38 percent of the time during a two-year stint in the U.S. House, told the audience that electing a female governor is long overdue in Florida.
The annual affair, known as the "Spring Fling," smashed attendance records. The room was filled with candidates for school board, county commission, mayor of Tampa, Tampa City Council, the state legislature, and Congress.
Andrew Gillum, Blue Wave, Chris King, Gwen Graham, High speed rail, National Rifle Association, Philip Levine, Spring Fling.
Road Diets and 60-Foot Buses on Gulf Boulevard: Dysfunction or Deception?
Florida Democratic Party Still Hounded by Racism, Suppression of Progressives


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Construction begins for new Child Development Center at Sheppard
by: Dylan Jimenez
WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — Construction for a new child development center is underway at Sheppard Air Force Base.
Ground broke on base Friday morning for the construction of a new child development center, that's one of four approved for Air Force bases in the United States. The new state-of-the-art facility will replace the former child development center, which used to be a detention center.
Local News: When will QuikTrip open in Wichita Falls?
Students and teachers from the center were there to thank those who made it possible for the new building.
Commanding Officer Lyle Drew said the new facility shows the United States is not just committed to taking care of its own, but also their families.
"We're really proud that we got on that list this year and today that we're able to do a groundbreaking and take that first step in the process to construct a new CDC so that in 2025, we're excited to have you back out here as we cut the ribbon on the Air Force's new Child Development Center," Drew said.
Drew wants to thank elected officials for securing the funding for the center and all the community support.
180 days in jail possible for ski pass fraud
Business / 11 months ago


The Lee Foundation Kit is the basic element of the Lee filter holder System. This kit contains all the necessary components (including a small screwdriver) to construct a versatile holder which will take up to four filters. When assembled, the holder in it's standard form accepts three filters - 100mm (4") wide x 2mm thick and one additional 100 x 100mm (4x4") gelatin filter. It also holds 4x6" (100 x 150mm, 2mm thick) filters.


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describe('Application', function() {
  it("does something", function() {
    expect(1 + 1).toBe(2);
  });
});

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Second roll cold winter lake cliff at the Changan chapter 180thLooked to the direction of the filter cloth out of the master figure, Dashun brother and two seniors vaguely understand what, however they still think teacher put the little brother in jail after mountain cliffs of the punishment was too harsh, because although Zhucheng death resurrection, but not everyone can like that year, the small Shi Shuna kind. Text starting in the reading clubMens Nike Huarache Yu curtain up a good case of ink, paper and inkstone, went to the grass outside the house, passing the lack side stopped and said quietly, since the teacher's decision cannot be redeemed, then with your home shAC female with the teacher to you, don't play to the teacher in front of the time is too long.
Lack at this time is also looking at the distance of Confucius figure, prayer a teacher a few laugh then forget yourself, let oneself in eluding the doom. However, muttered three pregnant sister, just know oneself just on wishful thinking, with a wry smile with a sigh, followed her out of the hut to the bamboo chair before.Yu sister of curtain Tang Xiaotang said: you come with me, I will give you arrange accommodation.Mens Nike Huarache Nod Tang Xiaotang happy place, Sangsang and waved goodbye, said: 'looked after me will always stay in the college. When the time comes for you to ask me to play ah.


New Tool Changes the Face of Business Decision Modelling/Management?
The need to cope with ever increasing rates of change in business policies has made agile decision/rule management a vital topic for enterprise architects – particularly where regulators or legal compliance are concerned – we need to involve business SMEs directly in the capture and stewardship of decisions to improve agility and accountability. Regular readers of this blog already know the significant benefits the Decision Model (TDM) offers in this area. But, until now, we've been hampered by the absence of cost-effective tools that support TDM and that would encourage mass adoption of the technique.
Our wait appears to be at an end.


Digital Mammography, X-ray, Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapy services provided by Exeter Hospital.
Podiatry (Foot & Ankle) and primary care services for the entire family.
Orthopedics, Sports Medicine, Neurology, Physiatry, Podiatry, Rheumatology and Acupuncture services.
Massage Therapy and Rehabilitation services provided by Exeter Hospital.


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HMS Royal Oak is sunk in Scapa Flow
On this day in 1939, the battleship HMS Royal Oak was torpedoed and sunk in Scapa Flow with the loss of 833 lives. Coming just weeks after the outbreak of World War Two, it was one of Britain's worst naval disasters. It was an even worse shock because it happened inside a famous and supposedly impregnable naval base. Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands, was the Royal Navy's home base in World... Read more >
First 50p is Introduced
Coining It In
On this day in 1969, in preparation for full decimalisation in 1971, the fifty pence piece was first introduced in the UK. And people hated it. The coin was created to replace the old 10-shilling note and, even though it was the only heptagonal coin in circulation in the world, the British public felt it was too similar to the brand new ten pence piece that... Read more >
Yeager breaks sound barrier
American pilot Chuck Yeager breaks the sound barrier on this day. For years, many aviators believed that man was not meant to fly faster than the speed of sound. All that changed on October 14, 1947, when Yeager flew the Bell X-1 rocket plane, nicknamed Glamorous Glennis, over Rogers Dry Lake in southern California. The X-1 was lifted to an altitude of 25,000 feet by a B-29 aircraft and then re... Read more >
The Cuban Missile Crisis begins
The Cuban Missile Crisis begins on October 14, 1962, bringing the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear conflict. Photographs taken by a high-altitude U-2 spy plane offered incontrovertible evidence that Soviet-made medium-range missiles in Cuba--capable of carrying nuclear warheads--were now stationed 90 miles off the American coastline. Tensions between the United States ... Read more >
Theodore Roosevelt shot in Milwaukee
Before a campaign speech in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Theodore Roosevelt, the presidential candidate for the Progressive Party, is shot at close range by saloonkeeper John Schrank while greeting the public in front of the Gilpatrick Hotel. Schrank's .32-caliber bullet, aimed directly at Roosevelt's heart, failed to mortally wound the former president because its force was slowed by a glasses case a... Read more >
Who Killed Tupac
Hip-hop's most high-profile unsolved murder
Damian Lewis: Spy Wars
The landmark programme begins this august on HISTORY
Master forgers recreate the most popular weapons from films and TV
Iranians seize American hostages
Student followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini send shock waves across America when they storm the U.S.
First Allied jet flies
On this day in 1941, the first test of an Allied aircraft using jet propulsion is made in Britain. The W
Crazy Horse fights last battle
On this day in 1877, Crazy Horse and his warriors - outnumbered, low on ammunition and forced to use
A remarkable reprieve for a man sent to the gallows
Nineteen-year-old John Lee is sent to the gallows in Exeter, England. Convicted of murder despite
James Cameron's Titanic wins 11 Academy Awards
By the time James Cameron took the stage to accept his Academy Award for Best Director on the night of
Swedish Town Invaded by Twins
Twin Town If you were visiting the town of Felixstowe on this day in 1977, you may have become very,


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Citing privacy concerns, the nonprofit also refused to release the names to the Revenue Department, filing a complaint with the court instead.
Donors can use the credits to reduce the taxes that they owe by up to 60 percent. The tax agency has said it wants to ensure that the tax credits – capped at $8 million a year – are issued fairly.
Palmetto Kids operations director Olga Lisinska said that only 3 percent of its donors have received grants.
Lisinska also said that donors have received letters from the Revenue Department asking them whether they received scholarships, making the nonprofit's records unnecessary.
"There is no point in asking for the names other than to claim a victory," she said.
Lisinska said 1,300 children have received private-school tuition grants from Palmetto Kids since the state launched the choice program in 2014.
The Mount Pleasant-based nonprofit has raised $12 million since the program launched in 2014, its donors qualifying for 86 percent of the tax credits lawmakers have approved.
But the nonprofit also has been at the center of criticism of the new private-school choice program.
Palmetto Kids First provided the Revenue Department with bank records, financial information, IRS filings and other documents, but refused to hand over the names, citing privacy concerns.
The nonprofit then filed a complaint with the Administrative Law Court against the Revenue Department.
Lisinska said Monday that the state tax agency has asked donors who claimed tax credits whether their children received scholarships.
Palmetto Kids has not decided whether to appeal the order. The nonprofit has 20 days from when it was notified to give the Revenue Department the names of parents or guardians of children who received grants and others who applied for but did not receive grants.
Senate spending deal 1 step closer
The S.C. Senate will continue debating Tuesday how to spend nearly $7 billion in state general-fund money.
Senators are one step closer to deciding state spending, giving an initial nod of approval to state spending Monday.
The budget needs only one more vote by senators before it is approved, and sent back to the S.C. House.
But senators can still make changes, setting up the potential for debate Tuesday.
Still, the most heated debate over state dollars is yet to come.
Senate President pro-tem Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, hinted Monday at an impending fight over his borrowing plan before budget talks began.
Leatherman is pushing for a $237 million borrowing proposal, but acknowledge there will be opposition to the plan.
Republican Gov. Nikki Haley helped defeat a similar proposal in the S.C. House, and has said she would veto Leatherman's proposal.
"You can't get something for nothing," Leatherman said, telling senators to keep that in mind when they decide whether to debate the bond package.
That package is made up of $15 million for deteriorating S.C. armories, and $222 million is spent on building needs at S.C. colleges and technical schools.
Failing to train the S.C. workforce for promised jobs would ruin future economic development deals, Leatherman said.
"We (won't) have to worry about any other companies coming to South Carolina; I can assure you they will not be here," he said.
The 'Gentleman Bandit' robbed 5 banks in 3 states. Here's how the S.C. man got caught
MORE SOUTH CAROLINA
Fifth Clemson student dies in three months after being hit by car, university says
'Mexican fare with a Southern flair': Popular Rock Hill brewery plans a second site.


Can I Get Jumbo Loan With 10% Down Payment?
Borrowers often ask "Can I Get Jumbo Loan With 10% Down Payment?" The answer is Yes, assuming the borrower meets the loan qualifying requirements listed below. In fact, there are also financing options that allow only 5% down, … [Read more...] about Can I Get Jumbo Loan With 10% Down Payment?


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'This really just happened:' RedHawks celebrate MAC Championship win
The Miami RedHawks hold up their Mid-American Conference Champions shirts during the postgame celebration Saturday at Ford Field.
Photo by Brady Pfister | The Miami Student
By Chris Vinel Sports Editor
December 10, 2019 | 8:50pm EST
The celebration started well before the clock hit zero.
After senior kicker Sam Sloman drilled his fourth field goal of the game Saturday — this one to put Miami ahead of Central Michigan, 26-21, with 30 seconds left at Ford Field — his teammates lifted him into the air as the RedHawk faithful chanted his name.
Six plays later, a group of RedHawks batted down the Chippewas' final-second Hail Mary attempt, and the game ended.
Pandemonium.
Miami stormed the field, basking in its first Mid-American Conference Championship since 2010.
The RedHawks ran toward midfield, jumping around before gravitating toward the west end zone.
They grabbed championship signs, grey t-shirts and black hats.
They dapped each other up and hugged their coaches.
Noticing the dozens of flashing cameras on the field, the RedHawks gathered together, chanting "I'm t'd up, hey!"
While the attention surrounded his players, head coach Chuck Martin quickly sought out the Chippewas. He congratulated them for their performances in Saturday's game and all season long.
"I wanted to shake their hands," Martin said. "I wanted to go tell some Central Michigan players how good I thought they were and what kind of season they had."
The stadium facilities team set up a stage at the 50-yard line for a trophy ceremony. The RedHawks migrated toward it and cheered, as redshirt junior wide receiver Jack Sorenson, redshirt junior cornerback Manny Rugamba and Sloman won player of the game awards on their respective sides of the ball.
They offered the loudest roar of all when Martin's son, Max, raised the MAC Championship trophy.
As the ceremony ended and the media dispersed from the field, the RedHawks didn't let the celebration die.
"I can't leave yet," senior tight end Quentin Hardy told Rugamba, as they stood on the Miami sideline.
"I know, I don't want to give up this moment," Rugamba responded, surveying the scene.
Photo by Chris Vinel | The Miami Student
Quentin Hardy (No. 80) and Manny Rugamba (wearing a grey shirt to the left of Hardy) share a moment during the Mid-American Conference Championship victory celebration Saturday at Ford Field.
Many players found their families. The hugging continued.
Senior defensive lineman Doug Costin went into the stands and snuck up behind his parents. He saw them peering onto the field, wondering where he was.
"Who you guys looking for?" Costin asked, right behind his parents.
"We're looking for Doug," Costin's mom said, as she turned around.
Then, she saw him.
"Just her smile and happiness, that was the best for me," Costin said.
Costin carried a sign around during the entire celebration. On Monday, it was still in his car. He planned to bring it to all of his exams this week.
Holding a different sign, sophomore defensive lineman Kam Butler hopped up on Miami's bench, just behind a table of postgame snacks — orange slices and bananas. Butler waved the poster around, hyping up the team's fans. None of them had left.
Central Michigan's side was empty.
Seeing several of his former teammates — Heath Harding, Sam Martin, Gus Ragland and more — Sorenson walked over to the front row of the stands. He went to high-five them, but one of them grabbed his arm and yanked him up over the ledge into the crowd with them.
"It's really cool," Sorenson said. "We saw those guys put in so much groundwork and kind of lay the foundation for what we got to build off of, which is really awesome. So, the win for us was just as important to them, which is really cool. The chance to celebrate with them was really priceless."
Once the RedHawks made their way to their locker room, their rendition of the Miami fight song rang through the bowels of Ford Field.
Martin, Costin, Sorenson and Sloman smiled their way through the postgame press conference. Seemingly, every answer revolved around how excited they were.
On the bus ride home, the RedHawks remained in good spirits. The victory still felt surreal, but it was beginning to set in.
"We kept looking at each other, and people just kept repeating, 'Wow, we're really MAC Champs right now,'" Costin said. '"This really just happened.'"
Going against his typical routine, Martin decided to ride home with his family. He wanted to enjoy the moment with them after celebrating with his team up to that point. They stopped for dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill.
"The energy in my car was really good, though," Martin said. "The Martins were jacked up."
As the party persisted on the bus, the team came to a realization, Costin said.
"Once we got two or three hours in, coming home, we were like, 'Man, this would've really sucked if we lost."'
@ChrisAVinel
vinelca@miamioh.edu
Miami wins the Mid-American Conference Championship
By Chris Vinel | December 7, 2019
Miami beats Central Michigan to claim first conference championship since 2010.
Miami football and Detroit mesh for MAC Championship game
There's something to be said about being underestimated, underappreciated and gritty.
RedHawks will not dwell on Ball State loss before MAC Championship
Martin said the loss, despite its timing, will be treated like any other.


To write a book you'll need three things. A story idea — which you probably have, since you're on this page! Determinaton, which you already have in abundance (again, you're reading this page. You're ready to write a book). Lastly, you'll need some basic skills — and you're in the right part of the world.
Some writers seem to be born with good grammer and great sentence construction. Everyone else has to work, but luckily writing is also a lot of fun. You'll enjoy the process, make friends, go places you never imagined ... and the skills you gather as you write a book, be it fact or fiction, or a blend of both, are an investment in your future as a novelist.
Getting Started: freelance writing is where almost all authors -- of fact or fiction -- begin Every writer begins by tackling the same puzzle: 'how to write a novel?' There are many solutions -- succesful freelance writing begins here.


For some reason, children just love drawing on walls. There must be something about the large, canvas-like expanses that begs for a splash of colour that us grown ups simply can't see. Well to save on tears (from told off children and tired parents alike), we thought we'd make things easier by giving the little ones their very own walls and encourage them to draw on them! This 100% cardboard playhouse is easily constructed by slotting and folding the pieces together to form a lovely little cottage that's almost a metre tall. The walls are detailed in every way except for colour, meaning they're ready and waiting to be attacked by creative little hands that love to scribble, stick, draw and paint. Once everything is appropriately decorated, all that's left to do is open the door and get down to some serious play time!


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Nicole Heins
Nicole joined KKTV in October 2019 as a producer and worked her way up to being a reporter. She grew up in Colorado Springs, but spent the last two years working at the "happiest place on earth" in Anaheim, California.
Nicole graduated from Colorado State University in 2017 with her B.A. in Journalism and Media Communication. While in College she worked at her college television station (CTV) as an entertainment anchor, reporter, and producer. She also interned at Fox 31 in Denver on the "Everyday Show".
She is still getting used to the cold weather, but she is excited to be reporting stories in her hometown! When Nicole is not in the newsroom, you can find her hiking with friends, watching cute dog videos, or planning her next travel adventure!
Mystery 'elf' leaves cash, prizes to spread holiday cheer
Updated: Nov. 24, 2021 at 6:02 PM CST
By Amanda Alvarado, Nicole Heins and Tony Keith
The mystery elf is leaving gifts across Colorado Springs, Colo. with a messages that read, "If you found this, it is a gift for you! Please open!"
CAUGHT ON CAMERA: 'Fireball' meteor lights up Colorado sky
Updated: Oct. 4, 2021 at 3:02 PM CDT
By Lindsey Grewe, Nicole Heins and Gray News Staff
Many in Colorado received an unexpected light show early Sunday morning when a meteor lit up the sky.
Warm air and sunshine thorugh the weekend
By Justin Fanfarilli
Very warm air sticks around as we continue to be dry with lots of sun through the week
West Nebraska Arts Center auction event
By Angel Alvarez
The event is January 22nd from 7:30pm-10:00pm and is age restricted adults only 21 and up.
United Way of Western Nebraska receives two check donations
United way of Western Nebraska would like to raise a goal of $320,000.00 total.
Bricks for the Bluffs Fundraising Campaign Kicks Off For The 18th Street Plaza
By Alyson Tackitt
A great way to be apart of the community we all know and love.
Troopers arrest one following pursuit near Aurora
By KSNB Local4
Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested a Minnesota man following a pursuit on Interstate 80 near Aurora.
Holdrege man to federal prison for child porn
A Holdrege man will spend six years in prison for child pornography.
Troopers find 231 LBs of Marijuana, THC products in I-80 traffic stop
Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested two people after locating more than 200 pounds of marijuana and THC products during a traffic stop on Interstate 80.
Cloudy with isolated snow showers for Friday;Mild and pleasant weekend ahead
Updated: Jan. 21, 2022 at 8:23 AM CST
By Andre Brooks
Updated: Jan. 20, 2022 at 10:07 PM CST
John J. Brehm began working at the Veteran of Western Nebraska in 1974.
Lake Minatare Annual Soup Supper
Updated: Jan. 20, 2022 at 4:57 PM CST
The event is happening January 22nd from 5-8PM.
Longfellow Elementary is getting a new Principal for the 2022-2023 school year
He will begin his duties after this semester.


Elton, Louisiana > Business Industries: Yellow Pages Directory Inc.
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The town of Elton is located in the parish of Jefferson Davis. The town covers a total area of 4.1 sq. km. The economy of town has developed around businesses related to supplies of auto parts, supplies of farm equipments, home building, hotels, industrial and commercial machinery, and tourist information facility. Commercial spaces are utilized by service stations, restaurants, libraries, drug stores, wine shops, educational institutions and financial institutions.
For continually updated facts on Elton use: the Elton Wikipedia page.
To get a feel for Elton's cost of living view: single family homes on Zillow.


Last week I got to watch the movie '3 Idiots' in Satyam. Had skyhigh hopes. After all, 5 point someone is very dear to me. I had read FPS just after clearing iit, and it indeed amused me a lot.
Now the question was whether a movie which was openly declared as being "loosely based on FPS", was gonna strike the same chords or not.
Well, for me, It did.
Aamir, a ghost director he is, took FPS to a new level, from being a fun tale of some talented youth with deranged priorities to the story of chasing one's dreams and living life on one's own terms.
He actually taught us what engineering is all about after using the vaccuum cleaner and car batteries for delivering a baby.
All these frames when rest of the audience was busy cheering Aamir for doing that out of the box stuff, I couldn't resist thinking tht okay, this is what engineering is actually. You gotta solve real life problems with machines as tools.
We at IITs, I mean most of us, are busy either watching movies, sitcoms or 'peacing around', or craming up notes right before the exam to get good grades so that we end up with a job with a better package.
But I doubt how many of us have actually thought of making a new machine. A machine that does something new. Anything new. I think hard to locate the time when we architecture guys looked up to a building seriously, examined its functionality and tried to think about some ideas that can enhance the same.
In the movie, Madhavan says.. "aur main agar engineer ban bhi gaya na abba, to main bahut kharaab engineer banoonga".
Some people would say that the morale is impractical.
"Kisi cheez mein interest hona achhchi baat hai, par jab ghar k baahar aate daal ka bhaav maloom chalega to saari interest dhari ki dhari reh jaaaegi."
Well, they are wrong in identifying the holistic span of the message. We have a range of interests. Somethings we like, and somethings we don't. How about choosing something as a career that can strike a balance between our career needs, our parents' expectations ans well as our personal interests.
" Paise thode kam honge, Gaadi thodi chhoti hogi... aur kya"
But the satisfaction would supercede everything. And thats what matters. Right Idiots?


A series of high profile hunger strikes have kept India riveted for the past few months. Even as the curtains came down on Baba Ramdev's fast unto death, news came in of unfortunate demise of one Swami Nigamananda, who was on fast since February this year but no one seems to have taken note of it till his death. Of course the most famous person to use this unique weapon of protest was Mahatma Gandhi but there were others, who are almost forgotten today.
For millions of Calcuttan, his name simply means a convenient metro station – where they need to get down to reach the busy South Calcutta traffic crossing of Hazra. Not many in the crowd would be able to tell you why that particular station (or for that matter the park next to the station, as the station is actually named after the park) is called Jatin Das (Park station). In this season of high-profile fasts, I am reminded of a young revolutionary, who died in Lahore jail after a record 64-day long fast, protesting against the treatment of political prisoners in British jails. He started his protest fast (along with other prisoners) on 13th July, 1929. Authorities tried every coercive method to break their resolve, but could not succeed in feeding Jatin. He died on 13th September, 1929; he was yet to celebrate his 25th birthday. In pre-independent India, he was the only person known to have fasted to death. When his body reached Calcutta, a two-mile long procession followed the coffin.
Jatin was a member of the famous Hindustan Socialist Republican Army. Three of his comrades and fellow prisoners at Lahore Jail (who also participated in the hunger strike) – Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were hanged on 23rd March, 1931. Apparently Bhagat Singh and his fellow comrades were inspired by Irish Republicans. Ireland is the only other country in the world, where hunger strike is a regular method of protest. In 1920, in a widely publicized protest, Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney sat on a fast unto death in prison along with 11 Republicans. MacSwiney died after 74 days of fast (three other prisoners also passed away later). After Jatin's death, his family received a condolence message from MacSwiney's family.
Perhaps, it is not wholly without symbolism that as a firebrand opposition leader, Mamata Banerjee often used to sit in protest at Hazra crossing, next to the Jatin Das Park – many would like to believe that it was actually her protest fast in 2006 against Singur, which turned the tide in West Bengal.
Before Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev, the hunger strike, which literally shook the political establishment of this country and changed the map of India for ever, took place in 1952. On 19th October that year freedom fighter Potti Sreeramalu sat on a fast unto death at the heart of Madras, demanding a separate Andhra state. Born in Madras in 1901, Sreeramalu joined railways after his education. But after losing his young wife at childbirth along with the child, he gave up his career and joined freedom struggle. He even spent some time in Gandhi ashram at Sabarmati. Even before independence, he sat on a fast demanding temple entry for lower castes in 1946 –he was then persuaded by Gandhiji himself to withdraw his fast.
By 1952, movement for a separate Andhra state already gained momentum but the central government was unwilling to curve out new states on the basis of language. Even as Sreeramalu's health started deteriorating, an unperturbed Nehru declared that he was not persuaded by fast, but only by fact. Even as the Prime Minister remained unmoved, Swami Sitaram and Andhra supporters rallied around Sreeramalu and protests movements were organized all over the Telugu-speaking areas of Madras Presidency. After 58 days of fasting, Sreeramalu died on December 15, 1952. As the news of his death spread, spontaneous protests, arson and rioting engulfed the entire state – forcing the government to grant a separate state of Andhra Pradesh and heralding an era of linguistic states. On October 1, 1953, when the state of Andhra came into being at a function at the capital Kurnool, two of the most eminent guests on the dais were Prime Minister Nehru and Chief Minister of Madras C Rajagopalachari – it was primarily their inactions, which led to the death of Sreeramalu. Gradually more and more linguistic states (Kerala, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat) came into being. In a way it was largely due to self-sacrifice of this man, but today people hardly remember him outside Andhra, where he is always respected as Amarajeevi(immortal)Potti Sreeramalu.


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Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) är en amerikansk maoistisk organisation grundad 1985.

Då många av de maoistiskt orienterade grupperingar som grundades i den US-amerikanska nya kommunistiska rörelsen under 1970-talet krympte i storlek eller kollapsade helt bildades FRSO i ett försök att ena och stärka vissa av dessa grupper i en enda verksam organisation.

De ingående grupperna såg ultravänsterismen som det huvudsakliga felet i den nya kommunistiska rörelsen och de försökte fjärma sig från vad de såg som sekteristisk inskränkthet. Ursprungligen konstituerades FRSO 1985, som en sammanslagning av två organisationer, Proletarian Unity League och Revolutionary Workers Headquarters, vilket följde av att organisationen Revolutionary Unity anslöt sig 1986. Vidare upptogs Amílcar Cabral-Paul Robeson Collective 1988 och Socialist Organizing Network 1994.

Freedom Road är för självbestämmande inkluderande nationellt oberoende för afroamerikaner i södra USA:s "svarta bälte" och för hispanics i sydvästra USA. Dessa idéer kan spåras till den afroamerikanske kommunisten Harry Haywood och de resolutioner han lade fram i Komintern 1928 och 1930. Freedom Roads hållning i frågan om etnisk självständighet för grupper i det amerikanska samhället är en av organisationens politiska huvudfrågor, och något som är särskiljande visavi andra vänstergrupper i landet.

FRSO:s internationella samarbetsorgan är Internationella Kommunistiska Seminariet.

1999 splittrades FRSO i två organisationer som bägge gör anspråk på namnet Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Bägge ser sig som den enda legitima företrädaren för den ursprungliga organisationen.

Externa länkar
Motstånd och förtryck i USA - Intervju med en amerikansk marxist-leninist. Proletären nr 26/2012.

Politiska partier i USA
Kommunistiska partier
Politiska partier bildade 1985

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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← Oscar Pistorius' Trial – ON again & South Africa Justice ON Trial as well? UPDATE – Adjournment update July 21
Palestine Gaza v Israel – 800 DEAD now July 24 →
Commit Murder in the UK and escape Justice – only if you are Russian of course?
July 23, 2014 by dadman007
A brave man lay on his hospital death bed and movingly told about his murder – it is an image that many of us will never erase from our memory.
The man was a Russian. A man who had defected from his country. A man perhaps with a murky past (as a member of the secret Federal Security Service FSB/KGB) and possibly working here for our MI5/MI6. A man given refuge and political asylum , and citizenship in Britain. A man who lived in fear, fully justified. A dissident and devastating critic of Russian President Putin, an obvious target for revenge, for silencing indeed. He wasn't blown up, shot, bludgeoned, strangled, knifed, or even run down – no, he was cleverly, bizarrely, subtly, cruelly, poisoned with radiation. Plutonium 210 a lethal radioactive isotope you can't buy in your corner shop, and is so rare & obtuse that only a sophisticated military associated nuclear plant can produce it.
The thing about radioactive material is that like a dog urinating on lampposts, it leaves a trail. Oh yes, the authorities detected such a trail and reportedly the man most likely to be associated with it. The UK security forces went to great lengths to follow that trail. How did such deadly material get smuggled into the country without detection or killing the courier one might ask? Not an ordinary passenger then, perhaps someone with diplomatic immunity who doesn't get searched?
All UK deaths, even of a non-celebrity Russian, are investigated by a Coroner. The security forces refused to share any details with him so he wasn't able to say what everybody knew already, that the poor man was murdered. The man's devastated wife Marina has fought tirelessly for a public enquiry to be enacted so that the true facts could be disclosed about her husband's murder.
Our Home Secretary has consistently refused because she didn't want to cross the Russians. For the same reason no extradition warrant had been successfully enacted to get the Russian murder suspect (an ex FSB/KGB agent) back to the UK for questioning – so he continues to live the life of Reilly without a care in the world (indeed now a member of the Russian Duma parliament, deemed to protect him from extradition – a reward?). Theresa May had now announced (eight years after the man's death) that there WILL be a public enquiry – why is that? It is sickenly only because Vladimir Putin is also now accused of being implicated in the murder of three hundred souls travelling in MH17, isn't it?
[Oh yes, international politics is a low life disgusting murky arena where state murder is apparently an acceptable price to pay for not ruffling a few feathers – we aren't even talking here about our Country's security]
Alexander Litvinenko – MURDERED
In his last statement Alexander Litvinenko said about Putin:
…this may be the time to say one or two things to the person responsible for my present condition. You may succeed in silencing me but that silence comes at a price. You have shown yourself to be as barbaric and ruthless as your most hostile critics have claimed. You have shown yourself to have no respect for life, liberty or any civilized value. You have shown yourself to be unworthy of your office, to be unworthy of the trust of civilized men and women. You may succeed in silencing one man but the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life. May God forgive you for what you have done, not only to me but to beloved Russia and its people


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The Mob VS The Godfather
Forty years after The Godfather was released, Jimi Famurewa explores the death threats, disputes and violent mafia battles that nearly whacked a cinematic classic
Autumn, 1970 and the cosy silence of a Californian suburb has just been broken by the sound of gunfire and shattering glass. Bettye McCartt, assistant to Hollywood producer Al Ruddy, quietens her understandably terrified children and leaves the house to see what's happened.
Every window on the sports car outside, a vehicle she had borrowed from her jittery boss after he received a tip-off that his car was being tracked, has been smashed. The exact scrawled words on the note stuck to the remains of the windshield have been lost to myth, speculation and faltering memories, but the gist of the message is clear to this day. Pull the plug on The Godfather, or else.
It sounds like it could be a deleted scene from the film itself rather than a real-life tale from the other side of the camera. But this was just one moment in a prolonged campaign of intimidation, theft, violence and scheming that characterised, and jeopardised, the making of a modern masterpiece.
"There was a twofold reaction when Paramount announced it was making Mario Puzo's book into a movie," explains film historian and author of The Godfather Effect Tom Santopietro. "It was a bestseller, so there were of course fans of the novel who wanted to see it on the big screen. But then there were Italians who were upset about another larger-than-life depiction of Italians as mobsters."
This opposition was spearheaded by the recently formed Italian-American Civil Rights League, a wealthy and increasingly powerful group that campaigned against any perceived marinara-stained stereotyping in pop culture.
It soon became clear however that the charismatic leader of the League might have had a different, altogether less innocent reason for shutting down production on this high-profile Mob epic. "The ultimate irony was that the League was headed by a real-life mobster called Joseph Colombo," laughs Santopietro.
It was the beginning of a period that brought the forceful personalities behind The Godfather uncomfortably close to the dangerous men they were depicting. Forty years, $268m at the box office and three Academy Awards later it's incredible to think that, had it not been for a few dramatic interventions, one of cinema's greatest films might never have been made.
MOB PRESSURE
Four decades after it was released, this operatic story of family, crime and equine decapitation is an untouchable classic, rated third (behind Casablanca and Citizen Kane) in the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Films Of All Time, and rightly regarded as the pinnacle of modern filmmaking.
Surprisingly though, it began life with the odds stacked heavily against it. It was made on a comparatively puny $7m (£4.4m) budget, had a supposedly washed-up Marlon Brando leading an unknown cast and had been given to an untested young director called Francis Ford Coppola.
Coppola's hiring was met with fierce opposition by playboy Paramount executive Robert Evans ("He's crazy. F*ck him and the horse he rode in on," was what Evans apparently said at the time) but he had one, notable thing in his favour.
"Evans only agreed to hire Coppola after a fellow Paramount exec called Peter Bart suggested that an Italian-American director might cool the situation [with the League]," explains Jon Lewis, Film Studies lecturer at Oregon State University and author of the BFI's slim but insightful book on The Godfather. "Needless to say it didn't work."
Coppola's arrival, and his vision of the story as a sympathetic family chronicle, fitted in with Paramount's promotion of The Godfather as the first Italian Mob drama made by Italians. One where, as Bart put it, "you could smell the spaghetti". But despite assembling a crew and cast with vowel-laden names and authentic heritage Paramount couldn't quash the League and Joe Colombo's growing anger.
"Before The Godfather started filming, Italian-American civil-rights groups had no heft or muscle at all," says Santopietro. "Then, all of a sudden, the protests took on a life of their own and thousands of people joined."
But what began with peaceful protest — including a rally at New York's Madison Square Garden that raised $500,000 to halt production — soon became a Corleone-style campaign of intimidation.
Colombo, despite his status as a Mafia don and former contract killer, projected a wholesome image of lectern-clutching respectability. But those connected to his crime family embarked on a campaign of intimidation of which the Corleones would have been proud.
Bomb scares saw Paramount's New York offices in the Gulf + Western Building evacuated twice. Then Al Ruddy, after a series of threatening phone calls and an LAPD tip-off, made the decision that left him with a hefty bill from his mechanic.
"There were major threats, they were serious," says Gianni Russo, the Mob-connected fixer who ended up memorably portraying Don Corleone's abusive son-in-law Carlo Rizzi in the film. "[The Colombos] had idiots around them who would do anything. Francis [Ford Coppola] went to Little Italy to do some tests before filming in a movie mobile, like an Airstream. They went in for lunch and when they came back the truck was gone. A million dollars' worth of equipment."
Thefts and veiled threats were one thing, but the most vicious incident came when Evans, his Hollywood actress wife Ali McGraw and their infant son Joshua received a mystery call at their New York hotel. "We don't want to break your pretty face, hurt your newborn," rasped the voice. "Get the f*ck outta town. Don't shoot no movie about the family here. Got it?"
Evans, a cigar-chomping, hard-headed old Hollywood figure, didn't wilt, and suggested they take it up with Ruddy, the film's producer. "Listen carefully, motherf*cker," said the voice. "I ain't gonna say it again. When you wanna kill a snake, pretty boy, there's only one way to do it — you go for its head."
THE M WORD
As well as the hoodlums making pre-production a nightmare, the team behind The Godfather had angered a powerful member of Hollywood royalty: Frank Sinatra. The Rat Pack crooner had been against the project since its inception — he allegedly threatened to break Mario Puzo's legs in 1970 when the pair were introduced — because of the uncanny similarity he bore to the story's feckless, Mafia-owned singer Johnny Fontane. But there might have been another reason for his vocal support of the League in its campaign to shut down production. "There are definitely elements of Sinatra in Fontane, no question. But Sinatra was also incessantly career-obsessed," says Santopietro, who also has an Ol' Blue Eyes memoir in his bibliography. "He knew Don Vito Corleone was a great role and so he saw Francis Ford Coppola, well before filming had started, and said to him, 'Francis, I will play Don Vito for you. I'll never do it for those guys at Paramount so let's you and I buy back the rights and make the movie.'"
Coppola, for whatever reason, rebuffed this breakaway offer and, according to Santopietro, only deepened Sinatra's hatred of The Godfather.
Legend has it Sinatra successfully got Italian-American singer Vic Damone to quit his role as Johnny Fontane (a part ultimately played by the equally dapper Al Martino), and Russo claims he tried the same trick with him. "Sinatra's a punk," he spits. "He called me up and said, 'I don't want you to support this thing.' So I hung up the phone."
With celebrities intimidating cast members, Mob-controlled unions refusing to allow filming and Paramount staff living in fear, something had to be done. It was time for Hollywood's elite to swallow their pride, say a few private prayers and meet the Mob. Unbowed by the numerous threats he'd received, Al Ruddy invited Joe Colombo and two broad-shouldered associates to his East Coast office to broker a deal.
"They demanded that he delete all mentions of 'mafia' in the script, but they didn't bother to read it," laughs Santopietro. "So Paramount agreed and [the League] thought it'd won this great victory despite the fact there was only one use of 'mafia' in the script."
It was a masterstroke by Ruddy — albeit one that briefly got him fired thanks to unhelpful press tales about Mob collusion. But his next move helped guarantee that the Little Italy and Staten Island locations Coppola craved would be made available.
"Ruddy ended a speech to the League by saying, 'Of course we'll be looking to use people as extras in the film," continues Santopietro. "People started cheering and from that point the American love of showbusiness took over."
Gianni Russo, a charismatic New Yorker now in his late sixties with a fondness
for lawyer-troubling anecdotes and high-collared shirts, was one of these fame-hungry Americans. He'd already sent a showgirl in his '65 Bentley limousine to personally deliver a screen test (where he portrayed Michael, Sonny and Carlo) to Ruddy. But he fondly recalls that it was another sit-down with Paramount where he unlocked restrictions at a location in exchange for a place in cinematic history.
"It was like a scene from the movie," says Russo. "I took Joe [Colombo] and all these guys to the Gulf + Western building. We made a deal and they tried to pacify me by saying, 'Oh yeah, we'll give him a part.' I said, 'I either play Michael, Sonny or Carlo. That's my deal.' And Joe said, 'That's what the kid wants, give it to him.' Were they scared? I think they stained their underwear."
Pretty soon, Russo — who occasionally worked for Frank Costello, the gravel-gargling Mob boss said to have been the inspiration for Brando's Oscar-minted portrayal of Vito Corleone — wasn't the only shady presence on the set. Members of the notorious Gambino crime family would "visit every day" and, according to him, the wedding scene featured "100 years of good behaviour total".
"It was amazing," cackles Russo. "I was making more money on that film than anybody. I had all the soft drinks on set, all the pastries… forget about it."
This eventual love-in between the Mob and the makers of The Godfather may have blurred the line between fiction and reality, but midway through filming it was completely obliterated. On 28 June 1971, a few streets away from where Coppola was shooting the climactic scenes of the film, Joe Colombo was gunned down by a hitman reputedly working for rival gangster Joe Gallo. "Carlo Gambino and Frank Costello had warned him. He was bringing too much attention [to the mafia way of life]," explains Russo. "If that doesn't tell you that what was happening [in The Godfather] was real, then I don't know what can." Colombo remained paralysed for seven years until his death.
Being filmed in the midst of bloody gangland battles did nothing to harm the film's press — it was a certified hit as soon as it was released. Queues snaked around the block as Coppola's epic became one of the highest-grossing pictures of all time. What's more, police officials noticed a strange trend among the film's newly approving criminal audience.
"Mario Puzo had invented the term 'The Godfather' for the novel. It didn't exist," explains Santopietro. "But the effect of the book and the film was so extreme that real-life mobsters started to imitate what they had seen on screen. Kissing the hand in a gesture of respect, referring to 'The Godfather' of a particular family and so on. There are FBI tapes of mobsters quoting Don Corleone. That's the power of this film."
It was a final twist to the tale of which Coppola himself would have been proud. His Mob saga had survived death threats, disruptions and table-flinging disputes to become every wiseguy's favourite flick.
The omerta-breaking enemy was reborn as the manual for modern Mob life and launched a tradition of authentic screen mafiosi that stretches from GoodFellas right up to The Sopranos. All along, the filmmakers wanted to turn the criminal experience into something complex, noble and even heroic and all they wanted in return from the Mob was approval and cooperation. Fittingly, it was an offer they couldn't refuse.
The Godfather Effect is out now; giannirusso.com
The Godfather Coppola Restoration boxset is available to own on DVD and Blu-ray from Paramount Home Entertainment. Buy it from Amazon here.


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• Huffington Post: Tracy Morgan continues to battle Joaquin Phoenix for craziest talk show guest in history award.
• Editor & Publisher: McClatchy is expanding its Sunday Select program so more non-subscribers can read its newspapers for free.
• New York Observer: Condé Nast, MTV rebrands. A sign of the times?
• TVNewser: What should be Evan Bayh's next career move? Voe here.
• FishbowlLA: Sarah Silverman versus Wired's TED conference organizer Chris Anderson in a Twitter flame war? Lets all meet behind the school after math class and watch them fight!