Posts Tagged ‘The Rolling Stones’
Nutriceuticals for the rest of us…
Readers who remember Brewdog– earlier-featured purveyors of the “world’s strongest beer: Tactical Nuclear Penguin”— won’t be surprised that the scrappy Scottish brewery has risen to the occasion of the upcoming Royal Wedding. Their “Royal Virility Performance” is a 7.5% ABV India Pale Ale laced with Viagra, chocolate, Horny Goat Weed– and of course, a healthy dose of sarcasm.
The brew will be available on April 28… but readers should act quickly– only 1,000 bottles will be produced!
[TotH to If It’s Hip It’s Here]
As we rethink our wedding present choices, we might recall that it was on this date in 1993 that Bill Wyman, the bassist of The Rolling Stones, wed Suzanne Accosta. Though moderate (at least by Stones’ standards) in his use of alcohol and drugs, Wyman was a compulsive womanizer; indeed, Maxim ranks Wyman at number 10 on its “Living Sex Legends” list, as he is reputed to have had sex with over 1000 women. Nonetheless, he did have relationships that were at least relatively more permanent… He married his first wife, Dianne, in 1959; they had a son, Stephen Paul Wyman, then divorced in 1969. From 1967 through 1983, Wyman was romantically linked to Astrid Lundström.
Then in 1989 Wyman married the 18-year-old Mandy Smith, whom he had been dating since she was 13; a relationship that was understandably the subject of considerable media attention. The marriage ended in spring 1991, although the divorce was not finalized until 1993. In that final year of Bill’s union with Mandy, Stephen– his son from his first marriage– became engaged to Smith’s mother….
But Wyman’s third marriage was the charm: he is still happily joined to Accosta, with whom he is raising three daughters.
Accosta, Wyman, and their daughters at the 2010 premiere of Ladies and Gentlemen, The Rolling Stones (source)
Looking back…
…if you think that, in the past, there was some golden age of pleasure and plenty to which you would, if you were able, transport yourself, let me say one single word: “dentistry.”
– P.J. O’Rourke, All the Trouble in the World
Still, nostalgia has its uses. The economy seems poised for another dip in the tank; the weather is delivering hotter, wetter warnings of the wages of climate disruption; health care costs are reaching escape velocity; education and infrastructure are (literally) crumbling, as state funding implodes… one could go on.
Instead, one turns one’s gaze to the past; one conjures up the remembered comforts of times gone by: “it didn’t use to be this way”… As P.J. O’Rouke suggests, it’s more often that not the flimsiest kind of illusion– out-of-context features of a whole-cloth past, selectively recalled (indeed, too often imagined), then amplified by the need for consolation.
Still, one does it– one “remembers”– because… well, because it’s what one does.
And so, Dear Readers, three “seed crystals”– three blasts from the past– that can, your correspondent hopes, help one (as they’ve helped him) spin stories that amuse, even as they help us find our way past the challenges that are the stuff of our days…
First, from the ever-informative Brain Pickings, “7 Must-See What’s My Line Episodes“:
The premise of the show was simple: In each episode, a contestant would appear in front of a panel of blindfolded culture pundits — with few exceptions, a regular lineup of columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, actress Arlene Francis, Random House founder Bennett Cerf, and a fourth guest panelist — who would try to guess his or her “line” of work or, in the case of famous “mystery guests,” the person’s identity, by asking exactly 10 yes-or-no questions. A contestant won if he or she presented the panel with 10 “no” answers.
Over the 17-year run of the show, nearly every iconic cultural luminary of the era, from presidents to pop stars, appeared as a mystery guest…
Indeed, over it’s 17 year run through the 50s and early 60s, WML was basically the only media property that could “have” any celebrity or cultural figure. (Sullivan could out-book WML on the entertainment front, but only there.) This was perhaps largely due to the involvement of Random House founder Bennett Cerf who, through his deep connections in the journalism and media world, was but a Kevin-Bacon’s-breath away from essentially any public figure. In any case, no one said “no” to WML.
BP has curated seven of the very best examples of this pull: Alfred Hitchcock, Lucille Ball, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jean Desmond (a girdle tester), Walt Disney, host John Daly (in an early example of meta-comedy), and…
See them all here.
Second, for somewhat younger readers, from our old friend The Selvedge Yard, a look back at The Rolling Stones when they were still “The Rolling Stones.” TSY muses on the theme of this missive:
When I’m feeling roadworn, forlorn, or the subject of scorn– nothing takes me to my happy place faster than great old pics of guitar porn. I came across the below Stones’ porn pic sifting through the internets and became mesmerized by the artfully haphazard array of axes. You can almost smell the sweat, smoke and stale beer as you gaze at the overturned cans, ash, and listing guitars.
The late ’60s – early ’70s was an epic time for the Rolling Stones, and Rock & Roll as a whole. It was a time I largely missed (being born in 1970), but feel like I experienced, partially at least, vicariously through my mom. She was a music junkie, went to Woodstock, worshipped Janis Joplin.
The Stones' Guitars
Berlin, 1965
Many more here.
And finally, for younger readers still, a glance back at the 80s and one of that decade’s indelible icons: from Walyou, “16 Cool Mr. T Themed Designs.”
For those who grew up on the A-Team TV Show or are big fans of Rocky, Mr. T will always be a memorable personality which is simply larger than life. Although you do not see him as much in TV or movies these days, he is still a personality to be reckoned with.
This collection of 16 Mr. T designs includes various pieces of art, design, products and more which prove that Mr T is still popular today, and if you don’t agree…then I pity the fool.
Mr T Cookie Jar
Mr. T Infographic
See the rest here.
As we stroll down memory lane, we might recall that it was on this date in 1905 that Ty Cobb, “The Georgia Peach” made his major league debut; playing for the Detroit Tigers, he doubled off the New York Highlanders’s (later Yankees) Jack Chesbro, who had won a record 41 games the previous season.
Summertime Blues…
50 years ago this Spring, Eddie Cochran died in a auto accident while on tour in England; he was 21. Cochran had burst onto the scene four years earlier in a Tom Ewell musical comedy, The Girl Can’t Help It, with “Twenty Flight Rock.”
Cochran went on to chart with hits like “Summertime Blues,” “C’mon Everybody,” “Teenage Heaven,” and “Nervous Breakdown.” He was one of the first rock & roll artists to write his own songs and overdub tracks, and he’s credited with being one of the first to use an unwound third string, in order to ‘bend’ notes up a whole tone – an innovation (imparted to UK guitarist Joe Brown, who secured much session work as a result) which has since become an essential part of the standard rock guitar vocabulary.
His influence was vast: he was covered– and imitated– by artists including The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Clash, and The Beach Boys, and as various as Buck Owens and The Sex Pistols. But perhaps most historically: it was because Paul McCartney knew the chord and words to “Twenty Flight Rock” that he became a member of The Beatles; John Lennon was so impressed that he invited Paul to play with his band, The Quarrymen.
ToTH to the good folks at The Selvedge Yard, where readers can find more pix of Eddie.
As we paise famous men, we might recall that it was on this date in 1981 that Bob Marley, who had become the very avatar of Reggae, died of cancer in a Miami hospital; he was 36.
Going conkers…
It’s that time again… today, the 2009 World Conker Championships will be held at New Lodge Fields, near Oundle, Northamptonshire.
For readers unfamiliar with the sport, the web site explains:
Choose one conker (a nice big round shiny horse chestnut) and then bore a hole through the middle of it. Be VERY careful as you do this! Most people use a skewer, but don’t hold it in your hand because you could end up skewering your hand (I remember using a metal compass when I was at school, but these days they all seem to be made of plastic and not strong enough for this job). Thread a piece of string through the hole and tie a knot at one end, so that it doesn’t pull through. The string should be long enough to wrap twice around your clenched hand and still have about 10 inches (25 cm) left.
A toss of the coin usually decides who starts first – but in the playground this is more often a matter of whoever shouts something like ‘Obli, obli oh, my first go.’
Each player has a their conker on its knotted string. Players take turns at hitting their opponent’s conker. If you are the one whose conker is to be hit first, let it hang down from the string which is wrapped round your hand. A 10 inch (25 cm) drop is about right. You must hold it at the height your opponent chooses and you must hold it perfectly still.
Your opponent, the striker, wraps their conker string round his hand just like yours. He then takes the conker in the other hand and draws it back for the strike. Releasing the conker he swings it down by the string held in the other hand and tries to hit her/his opponent’s conker with it. If he misses he is allowed up to two further goes. If the strings tangle, the first player to call “strings” or “snags” gets an extra shot. Players take alternate hits at their opponent’s conker. The game is won when one player destroys the other’s conker. If a player drops his conker or it is knocked from his hand, the other player can shout “stamps” and immediately stamps on the conker; but should its owner first shout “no stamps” then “stamps” is disallowed and the conker hopefully remains intact.
In playground tournaments a winning conker can then go on to do battle with other conkers, each victory adding to the conker’s score. A conker which has won one battle is called a “one-er”, two battles a “two-er” and so on. So for example, you might overhear a child saying “I beat his fiver with my twoer”. In this case, and depending on which rules you play by, the winning twoer might simply become a three-er or it might become an eighter (two previous victories plus the victory over the fiver plus the five-score of the fiver). In this way winning conkers can quickly accumulate quite large scores!
And for readers already experienced, there are handy tips; for instance, this from two-times World Conker Champion Charlie Bray:
There are many underhanded ways of making your conker harder. The best is to pass it through a pig. The conker will harden by soaking in its stomach juices. Then you search through the pig’s waste to find the conker.
As we wait for ESPN to ring, we might recall that it was on this date in 1981 that a relative unknown from Minneapolis burst onto the scene (and into the scale of venue he was born to haunt), as His Purpleness, Prince, opened for the Rolling Stones at the L.A. Coliseum.
source: Critical Junctions
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