Monday, November 28, 2011

Olga Bayrack Bloom

Violinist, violist and the creator of the profoundly pleasant Bargemusic classic music series in New York City -- via the New York Times.

Bargemusic from GVP Selections on Vimeo.

George Daniels

Master watchmaker -- via the Economist.

Jeno Paulucci aka Luigino Francesco Paulucci

Food magnate; inventor of Chun King prepackaged Chinese food, and the pizza roll! -- via the New York Times. Thanks to the genius of Stan Freberg, the commercial for Jeno's Pizza Rolls will live forever (see below).

Ruth Stone

Poet -- via the New York Times.

Montserrat Figueras

Soprano who specialized in early classical music -- via the New York Times.

Ken Russell

"It is a pity when one, either through force of circumstance or because one is afraid of being ridiculed by others, won't produce and expose to everyone that little spark of something special which is unique to him alone." -- Ken Russell
Film director -- via the New York Times. One of the strangest and most controversial of the "great directors," his most popular works include "Women in Love," "Tommy" and "Altered States." Most people don't like his work -- it is over-the-top, vulgar, graphic, sexually obsessive, blasphemous, deliberately and gratuitously controversial. Even for those who count themselves as fans, his films are extremely problematic, hit-and-miss.

However, his movies are passionate and beautiful, and contain brilliant insights. It's largely forgotten that he reinvented the documentary film in the late 1950s and early 1960s, using devices such as dramatic reenactments and nonobjective passages set to music. He could do commercial, genre film -- "Billion Dollar Brain" and "Lair of the White Worm" -- but his best good-crazy stuff were hallucinogenic runs at the barriers of good taste and consensual reality. My faves: "Mahler" and "Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World."

Here is a link to a good general introduction to his work on video -- it is neither family-friendly nor safe for work! Of course, how could it be -- it's Ken Russell!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpZagdBC8v8

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Saturday, November 26, 2011

"Michigan Mike" Torpie

Nice photo by Eric Abramson!
Musical entrepreneur; concert promoter -- via the Daily Camera.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Rene Morel

Luthier -- via the Telegraph.

Eva Monley

Legendary film location scout -- via the New York Times. Worked on everything from the Stewart Granger "King Solomon's Mines" to "The African Queen" to "Exodus" to "Lawrence of Arabia" to "Out of Africa" to "Mississippi Masala."

Gregory Papalexis

Frankfurter king -- via the New York Daily News. Owner of the ubiquitous Sabrett chain of hot-dog carts in New York City.

Michael Hastings

Playwright -- via the Telegraph.

Daniel Sada

Novelist and poet -- via the Latin American Herald Tribune.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Paul Motian

Bandleader, composer, and one of the greatest jazz drummers -- via the New York Times. LOVE HIM!


Russ Garcia

Composer and arranger -- via home.nestor.minsk.by.

Paul Yandell

Guitarist -- via premierguitar.com. Worked with Chet Atkins for many, many years!

Paul Thomas

Blues/funk bassist -- via azcentral.com. He played with such names as Bo Diddley, Ike Turner, Carol Fran, Kim Wilson, Pinetop Perkins, Henry Gray, Jimmy Rogers, Nappy Brown, Lynwood Slim, Rick Estrin, Kid Ramos, Junior Watson and Louisiana Red.

J.D. Falk

Anti-spam activist and all-round do-gooder -- via the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group.

Vinette Doree

Advocate for the disabled -- via the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Yvone "Miss Dixie" Fasnacht

Bar owner and musician -- via the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Bruce Kellman

Photojournalist -- via the Tacoma News Tribune. Here's a great quote from him: "When the shutter is open, it's like I hear music."

Bruno Rubeo

Excellent production designer -- via the Hollywood Reporter. For some random reason, here's a fun video of Bruno doing some major-league bargaining with a Shanghai merchant.

Bruno gives a lesson in haggling in Shanghai from Raymond Prado on Vimeo.