Koko Taylor 1928-2009
The powerful blues singer Koko Taylor, who died yesterday after complications from surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding, never seemed particularly torn between the demands of Saturday night and Sunday morning. As she told Ben Manilla in Dan Aykroyd’s Elwood’s Blues, “Everyday I’d look forward to that 15 minutes on the radio listening to the blues. My…
‘Maybe So, Maybe Not’: A Phish Film
The past eight years have been rough on me, you, and pretty much everyone else – certainly not excluding our rock buddies Phish. But even the most skeptical fan couldn’t help but feel very optimistic on the evidence of last night’s solidly satisfying show at Jones Beach. Man, those cats can wail. And while the…
Obamas Bring Back the Arts With a Night on the Town
One of the more refreshing aspects of Barack Obama’s new message is his acknowledgement that even in times of financial crisis, we cannot let the arts fall by the wayside. Over the weekend he and Michelle Obama even practiced what they preached by taking in Joe’s Turner’s Come and Gone, a play about the experience…
New Orleans Shall Rise Again
Actor-author-musician-radio-host Harry Shearer, AKA Spinal Tap’s Derek Smalls and the voice of at least a dozen of your favorite Simpsons characters, has been a dripping faucet of bad news about his half-time hometown of New Orleans ever since, as he always puts it, “the failure of the federal levees” in 2005. In his latest Huffington…
RockforLife’s List of ‘Pro-Abort’ Bands
Like HeadCount, the right-to-life group RockforLife seeks to engage young people in politics through music. And while RockforLife condemns the murder of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller, who was gunned down Sunday while serving as an usher in his Kansas church, on its website, the organization still provides an alphabetized list of “pro-abortion bands.”…
The Great Music Bailout
Forget the greed on Wall Street. A new study indicates it may simply be the downloading habits of the average peer-to-peer user that toppled the global economy. According to a report commissioned by the Strategic Advisory Board for Intellectual Property, illegal file sharing in Britain costs the country 12.5 billion pounds ($19.4 million) and at…
Intentions Clear
Health food could potentially reach new heights of popularity with an everyday tool some companies currently use: positive intentions. Organic and fair trade products have definitely been making a strong presence in recent years, but some companies go one step further. They use music, prayer, words, and symbols as a means to connect positive and…
‘You SCOTUS ‘Cause You Ain’t Us’
Much has been written about the politicization of the confirmation process since Tuesday’s nomination by President Obama of 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor for appointment to the United States Supreme Court, in Justice David Souter’s soon-to-be-vacant slot. As HeadCount’s legal intern, I wish to correct a few misconceptions: 1) Just as the…
Hitler Orders a DMCA Takedown
Electronic Frontier Foundation chairman Brad Templeton’s version of Hitler going batshit in Downfall (Der Untergang) is not only one of the funniest takes on the ubiquitous YouTube phenomenon, it’s also a comedy tutorial on what is and isn’t allowed under the Digital Management Copyright Act (DMCA) and the provisions of Fair Use. After you watch…
‘You Are Brilliant, And the Earth Is Hiring’
Best-selling author, entrepreneur, and environmental activist Paul Hawken gave an incredible commencement address to the University of Portland’s class of 2009 on May 3. It’s both a call to action and a heartfelt message to anyone who believes that change is possible. There is invisible writing on the back of the diploma you will receive,…