First of all: congrats to John of 2loud20ldmusic for making it to the final Kiss show. No surprises in the setlist; just the same songs. They did a Q&A featuring, most notably, Desmond Child. After all was said and done and Kiss finally played the last show of their last tour…now we have the Kiss Avatars.
We knew Kiss would continue in some way. I predicted a “Kiss II” kind of lineup a few years ago. What we are getting is so so so much worse.
These new digital Kiss “avatars” are eight feet tall and animated, composed of pixels and lights. They are inspired by the ABBA Voyage show. Both shows are produced by a company called Pophouse.
It is not yet known where or when we will see the Kiss Avatars next. But we will.
Me, I’ll be waiting patiently for a 50th anniversary box set of the debut album, or Hotter Than Hell, or a 40th anniversary box set of Animalize. I won’t pay to see avatars, of anyone, anywhere. Except maybe the blue kind if the third movie doesn’t suck.
Paul was a long-term employee with National Trust/Scotia Bank, retiring as Vice-President. Paul and Maria for many years enjoyed their cottage on Lake Huron, trips and many outings with his beloved Barracuda. Paul was truly an enthusiast of Mopar Cars, and he and Maria volunteered for many years at the Mopar Fest held in New Hamburg every year.
Paul was the epitome of a true gentleman and always enjoyed family get-togethers for food and laughter.
Not only was he a true gentleman, but he had many friends. He would be the first one to offer his seat, or to ask if you needed anything. Though he loved quiet time alone watching the races on TV, he was rich in friendship.
He was a car expert. Any movie or TV show, he could identify the vehicles. He would always know when a car that was too new for a period piece was used by mistake. You couldn’t sneak it past him.
He loved Christmas, ornaments and TV specials. It will be weird knowing he’s not here to enjoy this Christmas. We will miss him more than usual this year.
Uncle Paul was kind of my music uncle in a way. He didn’t like the same bands as me, but he liked his oldies. He loved the Beach Boys. He even liked when Van Halen played cover tunes. I remember making him a mix tape around 1989 – Best of Van Halen and David Lee Roth. He let me play my music in his stereo, he let me watch Star Trek on his TV. He was a good uncle.
My uncle and my dad were very close. My dad raised him, from a very young age. I grew up with all those memories. “Your uncle lost my Meccano #2 set!” my dad would chide. They shared a mutual love of cars – Chrysler products only. My dad could tell you every car my uncle owned. I couldn’t, except for his vintage ‘Cuda. I think it was a ’72. He bought it, sold it, bought it back, and restored it with original parts. He was very fussy about his cars. One of the best summers of my life involved two days of finishing a large garage in his back yard and wiring it for power.
I liked buying him car model kits every Christmas. He tended to keep them sealed for a “rainy day”. He had a stockpile of sealed models, and several dozen built. They were immaculately displayed in a special custom shelving unit. I remember drawing his picture, and pasting it onto the driver’s seat of a model car, on the box art, because I knew he might not open it for years. He loved watching us open our Christmas presents, but hated the year that they stayed over in the rec room where our Atari 2600 was hooked up. We wanted to play Atari so bad that Christmas morning, and we kept waking him up!
Uncle Paul had a cottage near ours. You could see it from our backyard and get there in a few steps through the woods. He loved our dogs and always had dog treats for them. Whenever he went back there to get another beer, they’d yip and yipe and follow him hastily to get their treats. We had many summers together at that cottage before he sold it. Many shared meals, many chats around the barbecue. When we were really young he’d come down to the beach with us. I remember growing up, he’d always have fried eggs for breakfast at the cottage. But he hated fried eggs so he covered them with pepper until they were black. He loved spicy food. Funny the things you remember.
Juice Newton. I couldn’t tell you the first thing about her, except my uncle had one of her tapes. That’s the only reason I know the name Juice Newton.
He loved comedy. Steve Urkel – remember Family Matters? That was one of his favourite shows for a long time.
I remember installing wooded tiling in the bedroom at the cottage. He “supervised”. We have a photo of him supervising. From the bed! But he sure pitched in when I moved into my first condo. We had the place painted in a day! I returned the favour when he moved into his new place. We had a blast, working together. Building wooden decks at the cottage. How many did we build together? Four? Five? His was the most complicated, and most fun. It had three levels, and wound its way in front of a little stone wall. I cut all the wood custom fit to the stones. We were so proud of our work.
As the memories flood back as they do, I think I will write more stories about my uncle. He hadn’t been well in a long time, and fortunately my only memories of him are when he was himself. You don’t want to say you have a “favourite uncle” but he was a special one. My sister and I always fought over who got to sit next to him at the dining room table, because he was fun and always clowning around. Just like you want an uncle to be.
I’ll miss you Uncle Paul. A lot. Here’s some Beach Boys for you.
I did not see this coming! Mike Portnoy is back in the band he co-founded 40 years ago, Dream Theater.
Ex-drummer Mike Mangini was a great fit, and he was beloved by fans, myself included.
But there is something about having the founding guy, and a chief writer, back in the band. Dream Theater are heading into the studio to make their first album with Portnoy in 14 years. As for Mangini, he seemed to accept this change as inevitable.
“I understand Dream Theater’s decision to get Mike Portnoy back at this time. As was said from day one, my place was not to fill all the roles that Mike held in the band. I was to play the drums in order to help the band carry on. My main role of keeping our live show working tightly on a nightly basis was an intense and rewarding experience. Thankfully, I got to experience playing music with these iconic musicians, as well as some fun times laced with humor. I also really enjoyed spending lots of time with the crew. And then there’s the Grammy win, which was amazingly satisfying.”
Given the amount of time and effort it took to find Mangini, and the amount of work Mangini himself put into the band, this never seemed like an event we could assume would eventually happen. But it has — and Dream Theater will be bigger than ever for it.
That’s right folks! I’ve twisted his arm, and Jex “Rambo” Russell is now on WordPress.
You can find him at Jexcalibur.wordpress.com. He’ll be telling stories like I do, he’ll be reviewing movies (one review is in the bag, to be posted August on 13 on both our sites simultaneously) and he’ll be talking music. Subscribe and support!
You guys should already know Jex from the Distortion Den, Tim’s Vinyl Confessions, and Grab A Stack of Rock. If you don’t, where the hell have you been all this time?
Subscribe to Jexcalibur, and celebrate as the community continues to grow. Welcome Jex!
Sadly at the age of 81, Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, better known as the Iron Sheik, has joined the Squared Circle in the sky.
The Iron Sheik’s real name was Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri. Unlike many “foreign” WWF wrestlers, Vaziri was actually born where he was billed from: Iran. In his early years, he worked as a bodyguard for the Shah of Iran.
The Iron Sheik won the WWF World Heavyweight Championship from Bob Backlund on December 26, 1983 due to Backlund’s manager throwing in the towel during a vicious camel clutch. Sheik lost the title January 23, 1984 to Hulk Hogan and his atomic legdrop. Hulkamania had begun.
Fans of 80s wrestling knew the Sheik best for his tag team partnership with Nikolai Volkoff. Under the management of “Classy” Freddie Blassie, the Sheik and Volkoff took the WWF Tag Team Championship from the U.S. Express on March 31, 1985. The U.S. Express took the title back on June 17 of that year. The angle here was the US/Iran/Russia political rivalry, played out in the ring.
It was kind of a big deal when the Iron Sheik was caught doing cocaine while rival Hacksaw Jim Duggan was smoking weed in a car on the way to a match. For the WWF, an impact of this was that the Sheik was caught partying with his supposed enemy. This destroyed the illusion. The WWF let the Sheik go, and Duggan also temporarily left the organization.
Less than a year after the cocaine incident with Hacksaw Jim Duggan, the WWF deemed the public’s memory short and the Sheik made a triumphant return defeating “jobbers” (the guys who always lose to the bigger names). He bounced around other wrestling organizations, came back to the WWF in 1991, and then wrestled the independent circuit for almost a decade.
In his later years he enjoyed a pop culture status as a minor icon. In 2013 he challenged then-Toronto mayor Rob Ford to a match. Both men were caught doing cocaine during their professional careers. He has even appeared on the Canadian television program Kenny Vs. Spenny, attempting to sodomize Spenny with a bottle! We loved ya, Sheiky!
When I saw Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. live for the first and only time about 15 years ago, I thought he was a goner! He looked so thin and frail, and when he tripped over a cord onstage I feared, “Well, that’s it.” The air went completely out of the room. Fortunately and obviously it wasn’t the end, but it was also obvious that Lightfoot had been battling health issues. His voice was thin and whispery; very different from those booming old 1960s folk records.
Gordon Lightfoot and I bonded over “Edmund Fitzgerald” like many others did. The nautical theme struck a chord, and of course that guitar riff was unforgettable.
Even more than that unmistakable voice, Lightfoot might be better recognized for his songwriting. “Early Morning Rain”, “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” and “If You Could Read My Mind” are prime examples of perfect songwriting. Elvis, Johnny Cash, Neil Young, and Bob Dylan all knew it. That’s why they covered his songs.
Gordon Lightfoot will forever remain not just one of my favourite Canadian artists, but one of my favourite singers, period. His lyrics will forever remain poems with dusty, buried layers of story that some of us will never even notice. He educated me. Without Lightfoot I would have been ignorant of the name gichi-gumi, and possibly much of Canada’s history. His records will be played infinitely. He will live forever.
To the shock and dismay of her 200,000 fans, Grab A Stack of Rock co-host @MarriedandHeels has made the announcement that she is done with high heel shoes, and is now endorsing Crocs and only Crocs! This will come with a name change, to @MarriedandCrocs.
“It’s true,” she announced while sipping on her watermelon peach tea, with local honey. “To be honest, high heel shoes are too much work. Do you have any idea how hard it to walk in 10 inch platforms? I know my loyal fans will understand. After all, I still have my boobs, and they really like those!” she reasoned.
Reportedly, her OnlyFans account saw a boost of over 1000 new subscribers this morning.
“There must be many fans out there with a Crocs fetish,” she concluded. “I plan on buying as many colours and styles as I can! Especially those sexy KISS Crocs! I bet they look hot with silver anklets!”
Is there anything you don’t like about Crocs, we asked her?
“Just that you can’t see my pretty toe rings and pedicure!” she winked. With that, @MarriedandHeels logged onto Amazon to order a pair in hot pink. “See you April 7 on Grab A Stack of Rack!” she said to her fans in a statement.
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