Thursday, September 27, 2007

Page 1 Consider (09/27)

  • Thanks for the Mezzanines: Dennis Hensley, of "Misadventures in the (213)" fame, reflects on his first concert: Pat Benatar on the "Crimes of Passion" tour in 1982. Do you remember your first concert? (The Go-Go's with the Blasters in 1982 with my friend Greg was mine.) (MSNBC)


  • A Farewell to Glamour: The Cocoanut Grove nightclub, where Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. entertained starlets, world leaders and Hollywood producers, will be razed in November to make way for a school auditorium. The nightclub is the last remaining piece of the fabled Ambassador Hotel complex, where every American president from Hoover to Nixon stayed and where Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan. (NYT)


  • It's a Blog! Congrats to my friend Greg on the birth of his latest blog, Hollywood Joe.


  • Wall of Money: That there are even two people in this world who would believe for one second that Lana Clarkson went over to Phil Spector's house and blew her own brains out is enough to make me lose all faith in our judicial system. (LAT)


  • The Rebirth of America: A federal judge has struck down two provisions of the Patriot Act, dealing another blow to the government in its (il)legal war on terror. (ABC)


  • Persian Pansies: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's official Web site and Iran's state news agency have cut out any reference to gays -- including his comment that there are none in Iran -- in their Farsi-language transcripts of his controversial appearance this week at Columbia University. (Wouldn't want to give 'em any ideas.) (AP)


  • Hate Crime Bill: The Senate is expected to vote today on legislation that would add sexuality to list of categories included under federal hate crime law. The House passed a similar bill in May, despite a dickhead threat from the White House to veto it if the measure passed both houses. (365Gay)


  • No Child Left Behind (Within Reason): A teenage girl in Spencer, N.Y., was sent home from school last week for wearing a T-shirt that read, "Gay? Fine by Me." After the girl wore the shirt, several other students took up the message, writing the words on their skin. School administrators immediately patrolled the cafeteria, ordering students to wash the ink off their arms and hands. (Advocate)


  • I Feel for Her: Music legend Chaka Khan will join the cast of Broadway's "Color People Purple." Let's hope her son doesn't murder anyone in the audience. (AP)


  • Separate and Not Equal: A commission created by lawmakers to examine the effectiveness of New Jersey's civil union law has been told that it is a sham leaving same-sex couples and their children with virtually no protections. The state Supreme Court ruled last year that same-sex couples must have the rights as opposite-sex married couples but left it to the legislature to decide whether that should be done through marriage or civil unions. This is why we need to call it something that everyone understands: marriage. (365Gay)
  • 4 comments:

    Wayne said...

    My first concert? My mom took my sister and me to see the Spinners and the Sylvers at the band shell at the Michigan State Fair in Detroit in 1977; and then a few days later she took us to see Pat Boone and his daughters. I was 10...what could I do?

    However...the first concert I attended solo, as a teenager, was "A Day at the Park"...

    Ministry, A Flock of Seagulls, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, the Fixx, and the Police.

    Comiskey Park, Chicago, 1983.

    My friends and I thought we were SO cool by injecting vodka into oranges!

    Ahhhh...good times, good times.

    Moose said...

    Love the 212, bro...but the Chaka comment was cold as ice. Damien was arrested, but all charges were dropped. Lot more to the story apparently than ever hit the press.

    TJ said...

    Sad and as dating this is my first concert was the virtually unknown ZZ Top and Foghat. I was a bit of a rock and roller.

    Anonymous said...

    The Go-Go's was my first concert too. The "Talk Show" tour, with INXS opening. There were many punkers in the audience, freaks, and I remember wanting to follow them home so they could adopt me.

    Chaka Khan was my 2nd concert, and Pat Benatar my 3rd.