Since it is Friday night, and almost time for the biggest and best street fair on the annual calendar in Los Angeles ([update: not counting the Halloween Carnaval!] the Sunset Junction Street Fair – they shut down several blocks of Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake for two solid days of fun [update: oh dear]), it is time to recall the excellent careful series of scientific experiments in blowing apart stereotypes performed by Dave Chappelle, assisted by John Mayer (along with two other musicians when they do the controls at the end).
The video quality is not perfect, but this is simply hilarious, and rather well thought out. It is presented as though it is a set of experiments, with a control group, and Click to continue reading this post
Peter Brown enters the No. 1 subway train on New York City’s Upper West Side, not far from his apartment. But to Brown, he is in the Capulets’ orchard, looking up at an imaginary balcony. In a trained, strong voice, he calls out these immortal words: “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east and Juliet is the sun.”
Well, you’ve heard the news (and I’m sure I’m not the first to use the above title in this context) about Isaac Hayes, I imagine. He died yesterday. You’ll almost certainly have heard the theme from Shaft, if nothing else from his work. I grew up with a lot of that music all around me, back in the 70s, so I have a lot of fond memories that start flowing whenever I hear that theme, and a number of other pieces by him. 
