More Freebird

"But did 'Freebird' truly start with the KevHeads? Longtime Chicago Tribune music writer Greg Kot says he remembers the cry from the early 1980s. He suggests it originated as an in-joke among indie-rock fans 'having their sneer at mainstream classic rock.'

Other music veterans think it dates back to 1970s audiences' shouts for it and other guitar sagas, such as 'Whipping Post,' by the Allman Brothers Band, and 'Smoke on the Water,' by Deep Purple.

They may all be right: It's possible 'Freebird' began as a rallying cry for Skynyrd Nation and a sincere request from guitar lovers, was made famous by the live cut, taken up by ironic clubgoers, given new life by Mr. Matthews, and eventually lost all meaning and became something people holler when there's a band onstage.

But as with many mysteries, the true origin may be unknowable -- cold comfort for bands still to be confronted with the inevitable cry from the darkness. For them, here's a strategy tried by a brave few: Call the audience's bluff. Phish liked to sing it a cappella. The Dandy Warhols play a slowed-down take singer Courtney Taylor-Taylor describes as sung 'like T. Rex would if he were on a lot of pills.' And Dash Rip Rock has performed the real song in order to surprise fans expecting the parody. For his part, Mr. Doughty suggests that musicians make a pact: Whenever anyone calls for 'Freebird,' play it in its entirety -- and if someone calls for it again, play it again.

'That would put a stop to 'Freebird,' I think,' he says. 'It would be a bad couple of years, but it might be worth it.'

So what do the members of Skynyrd think of the tradition? Johnny Van Zant, Ronnie's brother and the band's singer since 1987, says 'it's not an insult at all -- I think it's kind of cool. It's fun, and people are doing it in a fun way. That's what music's supposed to be about.'

Besides, Mr. Van Zant has a confession: His wife persuaded him to see Cher in Jacksonville a couple of years ago, and he couldn't resist yelling 'Freebird!' himself. 'My wife is going, 'Stop! Stop!' he recalls, laughing. 'I embarrassed the hell out of her.'"

- Jason Fry, WSJ article, via Waxy.

evil genius

Toby is the cutest little bunny on the planet. I found him under my porch, soaking wet, injured from what appeared to be an attack from an alley cat. I took him in, thinking he had no chance to live from his injuries, but miraculously, he recovered. I have since spent several months nursing him to health. Unfortunately, he will DIE on June 30th, 2005 if you don’t help.

[...]I am going to eat him. I have several recipes under consideration, which can be seen, with some pretty graphic images, under the recipe section. God as my witness, I will devour this little guy unless I receive $50,000 into my account from donations or purchase of merchandise.

[...]Here is the current status of donations for Toby, as of March 10th, 2005. ---- $18,462.12

- http://savetoby.com

(UPDATE) Detective Todd has kindly informed me that this is a hoax. In a cruel sort of way, that really disappoints me.

See also: Save Fluffy!, and Save Bernd!. (The latter reportedly launches a bunch of pop-ups.)

So, You've Written a Romance Novel

How much can you expect as an advance from the publisher? Brenda Hiatt has spent four years surveying authors. Here are the results so far. (Hint, if you have a friend at Harper Collins, you might make out ok.)

- via Karen Fox via Galleycat via Foreward.

Wikipedia

I've been writing Wikipedia articles. Here are some that are mostly my work. (For the time being):

Doris Burn
Eames House
2005 in Architecture
Kelly Ingram Park
Sedlec Ossuary
William Christenberry
Hale County, AL
Rickwood Field
Chalchiuhtlicue
Red Mountain
Ensley, Alabama
Marcel Broodthaers

How Can I Help Stop Infringement?

"The best way to stop infringement is to tell the authorities and the owners so that they can follow up and arrange for a license and for royalties to be paid. Licenses for Happy Birthday are controlled by ASCAP. While monetary royalties will be negligible for a single restaurant performance, it is the principle that is at stake.

If you have seen someone singing Happy Birthday in a restaurant, a park, or at a school, you should tell ASCAP so that they can arrange for a license. If you are an offender, you should apologize and offer to pay whatever is due %u2014 a nickel, a quarter, a dollar %u2014 whatever ASCAP demands.

There is an overwhelming amount of copyright infringement of Happy Birthday. Let's right the balance and tell ASCAP about every one of these violations!"

Off the Island

"Is there a building you really hate? One that makes your life a misery? A building in your local area that is so badly designed and built that you would like to see it demolished?

"Now [BBC] Channel 4 have a solution -- a new four-part series, Demolition, which will allow viewers to nominate their most hated building and see one of the country's worst buildings erased.

"The series, which will be presented by Kevin McCloud and will transmit this autumn, will create a shortlist of hated buildings chosen by viewers. A team of experts, including President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), George Ferguson, will then judge each of these buildings on its design and construction -- and, most importantly, whether it fulfils the purpose for which it was created. Plans for what goes in its place will be carefully considered as will the feasibility of its demolition. The 'winner' will then be demolished at the end of the series.

"The series aims to kick start a national debate about the built environment, about architecture and how bad buildings come to be built. After the demolition, the process of designing and constructing a replacement building will begin and a subsequent programme is planned to follow that process."

Surrational Calendar

Scott Mutter makes old-school photomontages often juxtaposing different scales or contexts of familiar objects. They hint at a familiar unreality that takes form only in dreams and emotions.

I have a 1996 calendar of his stuff that I'm about to get rid of. In looking back through it, the only notes I find seem fictional. There's a driving trip to Pheonix outlined that I never made. (I flew). There's a note about sending my undergraduate thesis materials back to the university for publication. I never saw them again. The rest of the days are blank except for the moon phases. Another familiar unreality.

Upload

I've created a "Magic City" group on flickr to share pictures of Birmingham. Everyone is invited to join and upload their own. You might see some of them appearing on the sidebar of this page.

Whatever happened to Larry Wilcox?

"In 1982, he left 'CHiPs' to pursue other projects. He formed his own production company, Wilcox Productions, which produced the acclaimed Ray Bradbury Theater for 5 years. He also continued acting and directing.
In the mid-90's, Wilcox ran a pharmaceutical company called Team Elite. He described it as 'a multidivisional company selling liquid vitamins, wholesale travel and long-distance communications through network marketing.'
Today he continues to succeed running Wilcox Productions and is also president of MediaCore, a software company specializing in CD-ROMs and Internet compression technology. He has also produced, directed, written, and starred in a childrens video called Lil CHP, which tells the story of two little boys who dream of becoming CHP motor officers. Wilcox returns in his 'CHiPs' role of Jon Baker, and former co-star Robert Pine returns as Sergeant Joe Getraer. The video also stars John Schneider (Dukes Of Hazzard) and Ron Masak (Murder She Wrote)."

- from the "CHiPs" Online: FAQ

Brilliant

Style.org's State of the Union Parsing Tool gives you a graphic display of words used in Bush's (and Clinton's, Reagan's, Lincoln's and Washington's) addresses.