US Patent number 3005282 A, issued October 24, 1961, for a design for a “Toy building brick,” later known as LEGO. For the complete look, check out the full Patent.
That Time ABC News Covered The 1978 Grateful Dead Egyptian Shows
Rocking the Cradle: Egypt 1978 is a live album by the Grateful Dead, consisting of two CDs and one DVD. It was recorded at the Gizah Sound and Light Theater in Giza, near Cairo, Egypt on September 15 and 16, 1978.
Most of the tracks on the DVD also appear on the two CDs. Besides the concert material, the DVD includes a 15-minute feature called The Vacation Tapes, containing footage, shot on 8 mm film, of the band and crew visiting tourist attractions in Egypt. A bonus disc of additional tracks recorded at these dates was included with early shipments of the album.
Bassist Phil Lesh was instrumental in arranging the concert. Describing the planning he said “it sort of became my project because I was one of the first people in the band who was on the trip of playing at places of power. You know, power that’s been preserved from the ancient world. The pyramids are like the obvious number one choice because no matter what anyone thinks they might be, there is definitely some kind of mojo about the pyramids.” Lesh contacted promoter Bill Graham in January 1976 but found that he was too busy. Through an introduction to Joe Malone, a professor at the American University of Beirut, Lesh made contacts with the Egyptian government. Lesh did not want the band to take any money from Egypt, and asked that proceeds from the concert be donated to the Department of Antiquities, the charity preferred by Jehan Sadat.
The Grateful Dead only played three concerts in Egypt in their thirty-year history — September 14, 15, and 16, 1978. The shows were performed very close to the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid. A total lunar eclipse occurred during the third concert.
What “True Detective” Would Look Like Mashed Up With “Starsky and Hutch”
The second season of “True Detective” was supremely dark and almost entirely devoid of car chases. Wouldn’t it be radically improved if it took some lessons from the cheesed-out action (and marvelous soundtrack) of 1970s cop shows like “Starsky and Hutch”? Vulture thought so.
Artist Creates The Beatles And Yellow Submarine In Jello.
Henry Hargreaves says he’s always enjoyed toying with people’s expectations when it comes to food. Here, viewers might be fooled into thinking they’re looking at a 2D illustration of The Beatles’s Yellow Submarine — but upon closer inspection, they’ll realize the reflective color blocks are, in fact, made entirely of Jello.
He explains, “Leading up to the 2012 US elections, I did portraits of all 44 presidents, using plasticine to construct moulds of each face. Each mould was then filled with Jello, and the plasticine was removed once the liquid was set. With this new project, I applied the same method but left the plasticine in resembling the pen lines in a drawing in order to recreate a cartoon I’ve loved for as long as I can remember — it was, in the end, a fun way to introduce one enduring childhood treat to another.”
Ringo: Knock, knock.
Paul: Who’s there?
Ringo: Jello!
Paul: Jello who?
Ringo: Jello, how are you doing?*
* This may have never happened.
On David Foster Wallace’s 7th Anniversary Of His Passing, Here’s A Complete Uncut Interview From 2003
This is the full interview David Foster Wallace gave to the German television station, ZDF, in 2003.
“There’s a difference, though, I think, between being mildly bored and but then there’s another kind of boredom that I think you’re talking about which is um: reading, reading requires sitting alone, by yourself, in a quiet room. And I have friends, intelligent friends, who don’t like to read because they get — it’s not just bored — there’s an almost dread that comes up, I think, here about having to be alone and having to be quiet. And you see that when you walk in. When you walk into most public spaces in America it isn’t quiet anymore; they pipe music through. And the music’s easy to make fun of ’cause it’s usually really horrible music. But it seems significant that we don’t want things to be quiet, ever, anymore. And, to me, I don’t, I don’t know that I can defend it, but that seems to me to have something to do with when you feel like the purpose of your life is to gratify yourself and get things for yourself and go all the time, there’s this other part of you that’s the same part that can kind of, is almost hungry for silence and quiet and thinking really hard about the same thing for maybe half an hour instead of thirty seconds, that doesn’t get fed at all. And it makes itself felt in the body in a kind of dread, in here. And I don’t know whether that makes a whole lot of sense. But I think it’s true that here in the US, every year the culture gets more and more hostile — and I don’t mean hostile like angry — just, it becomes more and more difficult to ask people to read, or to look at a piece of art for an hour, or to listen, to listen to a piece of music that’s complicated and that takes work to understand, because — well, there are a lot of reasons — but, particularly now in the computer and internet culture everything’s so fast, and the faster things go the more we feed that part of ourselves but don’t feed the part of ourselves that likes, that likes quiet, that can live in quiet, you know, that can live without any kind of stimulation. I don’t know.”
https://youtu.be/FkxUY0kxH80
Making memorable experiences at 5 Seconds of Summer with Amex Invites
Commenting on his time with The Rolling Stones in 1986, drummer Charlie Watts humorously said that, in his estimation, he’d “worked five years and had 20 years of hanging around”. It’s a sentiment that I share when having the privilege to go to a concert with my 12-year-old daughter, Hannah. While I haven’t been on-stage as much as The Rolling Stones (quite frankly, who has?), I’ve definitely spent a lot of time with Hannah waiting for the concert or show to begin and hang out afterwards. I stopped counting after a few dozen shows I’ve been lucky enough to bring her along, but recently, it’s her that is taking me to her favourite bands.
Last week, thanks to American Express Canada, we had the soaring pleasure to see 5 Seconds of Summer at Toronto’s Molson Canadian Amphitheatre and have a daddy-daughter night out. Not only was it a thought-provoking experience for me, but seeing how Amex has gone from a credit card to providing Cardmember perks such as Front Of The Line Advanced Presales, the Amex Lounge and Amex Front Of The Line Reserved Tickets, only demonstrates the power of music as a marketing platform, as sponsorship spending in the music category continues to soar to new heights. And the fan wins, every single time.
Amex unlocks memorable moments for half a million Canadians every year. In 2015, Amex will help over 400,000 fans rock out to their favourite band. It was our turn – the Alpers – to unlock – our concert experience. I talked to a number of other parents who brought their kids, and that took advantage of Amex perks like staying in the Amex Lounge or who used their Amex Card for Front Of The Line Reserved Tickets to get up-close to the stage. These parents found out 5 Seconds Of Summer was coming to the Molson Amphitheatre even before their kids knew because they had signed up for the Front Of The Line Entertainment e-updates. With American Express Invites, Amex is expanding the model to bring Cardmembers an ongoing flow of access to entertainment and lifestyle experiences – often with added value elements that make them both very appealing and also accessible only through American Express.
When it comes to access, no other brand comes close to providing the memorable experiences that American Express does, and that means we knew first when the major touring acts play in our area, or get in early to watch an up-and-coming artist play a small theatre, before they start to play stadiums.. Another superb reason to have an Amex Card is known as soon as you enter onto the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre grounds, where a large banner tells Amex Cardmembers they can skip the general line, and go right to the dedicated Amex line for faster entrance to the venue. This doesn’t seem like much, until you have the opportunity to see over 10,000 teenagers celebrating by singing their favourite 5 Second Of Summer song over and over again. Not just the one song, mind you, but different groups of teens singing their own choruses punching through the night. So, while I’m happy to have singing around me, we got to skip most of the impromptu choir, thanks to Amex.
What was politely noted by the parents is the loyalty they have for Amex, since the card company has been doing this for over 25 years through Front Of The Line by providing their Cardmembers with experiences like Delights, its partnerships with LiveNation, Mirvish, Massey Hall, and Molson Canadian Amphitheatre, to name a few. My fervour is the same, as what Amex does so well is really know what I want to see, and their access to some of the most in-demand events is second to none. You don’t have to question Amex’s ability to show that as a credit card company they can indeed be human and offer memorable experiences.
What followed us arriving into the venue was a scene I love – 17,000 screaming teens, the party atmosphere I thrive for every artist I work with to one day have. Walking up to our seats – first row, by the way – we leapfrogged the usual hurdle of waiting for hours in-between sets, and into a short countdown on the screen with an emotional audience already almost unable to contain their emotions. From the start of the opening three songs, End Up Here (as in my thought, “How The Heck Did We End Up With These Awesome Tickets?”), Out Of My Limit (like, “This Volume Of Screams Is Out Of My Limit For Normal Hearing, Just Kidding, I Can Take It,”) and Voodoo Doll (I have nothing funny to add about this song), it’s easy to see why 5SOS are finding themselves in surroundings like these, night after night. Here was Hannah, so comfortable in this stadium, it’s almost impossible now not to think of her as my daughter, but as a fun concert buddy. She’s singing loudly, having an unexpected glee, going for broke with her happiness of seeing the band so close.
Here's @Michael5SOS from last night's @5SOS show in Toronto! They had bigger plans that no one else understands. pic.twitter.com/x1EEZwX70r
— Eric Alper (@ThatEricAlper) August 26, 2015
By the time the band ended their set with She’s Kinda Hot and She Looks So Perfect, every single girl in the crowd knew 5SOS wrote the song just for them. Because, in a way, they did, the sly ones. Hannah and I have been to enough shows to know our experience was better than we had a right to expect, but that’s really what Amex does. They offer an experience you’ll never forget. As 5SOS closed off the night with The Romantics’ cover of What I Like About You, I almost sang it as a heartfelt thank-you to Amex.
Looking for your own memorable experience? Explore www.AmexInvites.ca to learn more about some of the hottest upcoming events.
Rival Sons Get Opening Slot For Black Sabbath‘s ‘The End‘ Farewell Tour
Rival Sons have landed the coveted opening slot on Black Sabbath‘s ‘The End‘ farewell tour. The group will be out supporting the band across multiple legs of the tour and their guitarist Scott Holiday said of landing the gigs:
“Every now and again the universe just speaks to ya…and planets align…This is definitely one of those cool situations for us. A while back we played an award show… The Osbourne family happened to be in the audience. Luckily the attending -which included the upper crust of classic rock and some of the world’s most famous- really enjoyed our little 3 song set…especially Ozzy, Sharon and the kids. Standing ovation and all.
We chatted and hung with the Osbournes after the show, which was just incredible on its own…but something much greater has transpired. We couldn’t be more honored and excited to announce we’ll be supporting the legendary Black Sabbath on their upcoming world tour(s)!! This will take us to most of those places we haven’t been yet and back through the many places we have made so many friends and fans. Here we go folks… Black Sabbath and Rival Sons coming to your town…city…country soon!”
Steve Earle Denounce Confederate Flag in New Song ‘Mississippi, It’s Time’
Singer-songwriter Steve Earle has partnered with the Southern Poverty Law Center to take a stand against the Confederate battle flag and is urging Mississippi to remove the emblem from its state flag with the release of his new song, “Mississippi It’s Time.”
The Who perform a killer version of ‘Baba O’Riley’ live in Hyde Park, London
One of the greatest rock bands of all time, The Who celebrate 50 years of classic songs live in London’s Hyde Park. The show-stopping performance features all of their greatest hits and proves The Who are still one of the best live bands playing today.
Recorded in front of a sell-out crowd of 65,000 fans, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend deliver a definitive set list of all the greatest hits as The Who take their audience on an ʻAmazing Journeyʼ through their entire career from classic albums such as Who’s Next, Tommy, Quadrophenia, My Generation and Live At Leeds up to the present day.
Featuring ‘My Generation’, ‘Pinball Wizard’, ‘Baba O’Riley’, ‘Who Are You’ and many more, plus exclusive interviews with Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Robert Plant, Iggy Pop and others. ‘The Who Live in Hyde Park’ is an electrifying cinematic event not to be missed.
Find out more about watching ‘The Who in Hyde Park’ at your local cinema on October 8th here.
BMI Reports Record-Breaking Revenues of Over $1 Billion With Digital Revenue Up 65%
BMI today announced record-breaking revenue and royalty distributions for its fiscal year ended June 30. BMI generated total revenues of $1.013 billion, the highest in the company’s history and the most public performance revenue generated for songwriters, composers and publishers by any music rights organization in the world. In addition, BMI distributed and administered $877 million to its affiliated songwriters, composers and music publishers, a nearly 4.5% increase over last year and the company’s largest distribution ever.
BMI operates on a non-profit-making basis and returns approximately 87% of all revenue to the musical creators and copyright owners it represents.
“These are phenomenal results for BMI and underscore the value we bring to our community of songwriters, composers and publishers,” said Mike O’Neill, President and CEO, BMI. “They’re even more impressive when you consider the negative impact to our international revenues brought on by the strengthening dollar,” he added. “We will continue to work hard on behalf of the more than 700,000 affiliates we have the privilege to represent, not only to make sure they can continue to earn a living doing what they love, but also through our ongoing efforts with Congress and the U.S. Department of Justice to rewrite the rules so they make sense for today’s digital world.”
BMI’s digital revenue exceeded $100 million, the first U.S. PRO to achieve this important milestone. Digital revenue increased 65% over last year, which was the largest category increase for the company. Revenue sources included Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Pandora, Spotify and YouTube, among many others.
Revenue from all media licensing, including radio, television and cable and satellite entertainment, also saw record levels at $484 million, with cable and satellite entertainment accounting for the largest portion of BMI’s domestic revenue for the second consecutive year. Additionally, general licensing revenue, including license fees from bars, hotels, fitness facilities and restaurants, along with other income, achieved a record high $137 million. General licensing added more than 14,000 new businesses to its already vast portfolio.
International revenues came in at a strong $292 million, despite significant economic challenges overseas. While down 5% in USD from last year, the company overcame a $28 million negative impact to international revenues caused by lower foreign exchange rates due to the strengthening dollar.
BMI processed nearly 600 billion performances, more than 500 billion of which were digital, a 25% increase from last year. More than 1.2 million unique musical works were identified across the various digital services.
BMI’s historic revenue performance comes in the same year the company prevailed in a groundbreaking rate-setting case against Pandora. After a nearly two-year legal battle over the value of the BMI repertoire to the streaming music giant, the court agreed that BMI’s proposed rate of 2.5% of Pandora’s gross revenue was the more appropriate reflection of the value of BMI’s music. Importantly, the decision established that publisher marketplace agreements can be taken into account as benchmarks when determining rates, an important step forward in valuing music today.
