Led Zep: "Piss Off Already..."

The rumors are getting on their nerves.


Like Pink Floyd, the rumors of Led Zep setting aside their issues just won't go away. The latest has them reuniting for a London memorial for Ahmet Ertegun -- who ran their label, Atlantic Records -- followed by a world tour. But singer Robert Plant says it's not true. Speaking at a press conference for this weekend's Rockwave Festival in Athens, where he is performing, Plant said, "If there was one, then there wouldn't be enough doctors to support it!" The last time Led Zeppelin performed was when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995.

Phriday Photo Phinish

World's Oldest Car For Sale

The world's oldest running car is set to cross the auction block in Pebble Beach, Calfornia in August. The catchy-sounding De Dion-Bouton et Trapardoux was built in France in 1884, and amazingly, it's only a three-owner car. Among its many credentials, "La Marquise" is a steam-powered four-wheeled car that is believed to have won the first automobile race. Top speed on the car is a startlingly high 38 miles-per-hour, which must feel decidedly exciting given its primitive construction and solid rubber tires. To reach that heady speed, drivers need to first stoke the car with coal, wood, paper, or other readily combustible materials, and then wait for around a half-hour to generate enough steam for the car to get rolling. The De Dion-Bouton et Trapardoux is expected to sell for between one-point-five- and two-million dollars.

iPhone = $6,000?!?!?

The iPhone could cost you as much as $6,000 for all the bells and whistles.

Read.

Best Five Second Video Ever

Tuesday Rock Roundup

With Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" appearing in the final episode of The Sopranos, followed by the band firing singer Jeff Scott Soto, the rumor mill has been buzzing with reports that former vocalist Steve Perry will rejoin. But Perry says he has "no such plans whatsoever to do that. What you have heard is only a rumor. I'm truly sorry for any disappointment this rumor may be causing." Perry left Journey in 1996 after their reunion album, Trial by Fire.

Eric Clapton has come up with another way to raise money for his Crossroads rehab center on Antigua besides his all-star Crossroads Guitar Festival next month in suburban Chicago. He has teamed up with Fender guitars to create 100 limited-edition Crossroads Stratocaster guitar packages -- 50 guitar and amplifier sets, and 50 guitars without an amp. Both packages will be made available to the public on July 20th. Each guitar bears the "Crossroads Antigua" graphic designed by Clapton, and the amp is modeled after the original 1957 Twin, which Clapton uses. Both packages come with a certificate of authenticity signed by Clapton, along with many extras. The price for the guitar and amp is 30-grand, and the guitar alone will sell for 20-grand.

Lindsey Buckingham's equipment truck was involved in an accident after it left his Spokane, Washington show Friday night, which caused the cancellation of his concert Saturday night in Boise, Idaho. No one was hurt in the accident. Buckingham is in Rapid City, South Dakota tonight...better him than me.

Julian Lennon and Sean Lennon have reconciled after eight years of not speaking to one another.

D-M-C of Run-D-M-C joined Aerosmith on "Walk This Way" Sunday in London. Aerosmith are in Dublin, Ireland tonight.

Jackson Browne is about to start work on a new studio album with his band. But he already has a record in the can. Last year, while touring Spain, he recorded a live album. Browne says he's not sure when the live album will come out, because he's trying to avoid making album after album of older songs. Jackson Browne's last studio album was The Naked Ride Home in 2002.

Bruce Springsteen last week returned to Atlanta, where he's been recording his next album. He's once again working with Brendan O'Brien, who produced Springsteen's 2002 album, The Rising, and 2005's Devils and Dust. Members of the E Street Band have been in and out of Atlanta throughout the year, and word is the album will be out in the fall followed by an arena tour with the E Street Band.

KISS will release KISSology Volume Two on August 14th. The three-disc collection, which covers 1978 to 1992, includes seven hours of live footage; their appearances on Tomorrow with Tom Snyder; an appearance with N-B-C newsman Edwin Newman from 1978; videos; and their unmasking on M-T-V in 1983. The first KISSology was certified six-times platinum.

Jimmy Buffett performed on the Caribbean island of Anguilla in March, and he plans to release a D-V-D of that show in December.

John Mellencamp attended the memorial service for Indiana University head football coach Terry Hoeppner Saturday in Bloomington, Indiana.

The soundtrack to Evan Almighty includes songs by Z-Z Top, John Fogerty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Stone Temple Pilots and others. It will be out on July 3rd.

NEW RELEASES TODAY:

Black Snake Moan DVD
Dead Silence DVD
Shooter DVD
Miami Vice - Season Five DVD
Nick Lowe - At My Age
Steve Vai - Sound Theories I and II 2 CD set
The Charlie Daniels Band - Live From Iraq
Bryan Ferry - Dylanesque
Paul Simon - The Essential Paul Simon 2 CD set
Beastie Boys - The Mix-Up
And one of the coolest punk bands of the 1980s, one of Tommie's favorites from High School, Bad Brains are back with Build A Nation

Eddie Murphy

"Daddy Day Care" is the daddy of Scary Spice's baby. A recent D-N-A test proved that Eddie Murphy is indeed the father of Melanie Brown's daughter, according to Brown's spokeswoman. Murphy dumped Brown during a T-V interview last year and has refused to have anything to do with her or her two-month-old daughter Angel. The results of the court-ordered D-N-A test showed, in the words of Brown's rep, that the baby is "undoubtedly, 110-percent his." That would be Murphy's eighth child -- five with his ex-wife, one each with another pair of former girlfriends.

Heatherless Headlines

Shiftless crooks clutch over stick

Man Sues After Plane Hits Lamborghini

San Francisco bans bottled water for city staff

Man set for execution wants to die laughing

Ex-Marine Teaches Pickpocket a Lesson

Thief asks for "time out" in police chase

Germany imposes ban on Tom Cruise

Officer Loses Job Over Jail 'Sex Show'

Man Gets 10 Years in License Shooting

Headache Sufferer Had Bullet In Head

Researchers Heading To Michigan's Upper Peninsula To Look For Signs Of Bigfoot

Phriday Photo Phinish

Tommie's Favorite Cigars, 1990 - 2007

Goodbye, old friend...

Extremely Rare Photograph

Craig and I, wearing the Cubs gear we promised to wear at a live broadcast, after losing that bet last week. Taken yesterday at Martin's in Granger for the WAOR 95 Days Of Summer.

Tommie's Birthday

Big thanks to Towmaster for bringing in doughnuts (they're too good to spell it the short way) from West End Bakery this morning for my birthday, and to Darlene and Moe for bringing in a fantastic Blue Ribbon-Winning Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Filling. And while I'm at it, my friend Diane brought in some killer homemade cookies yesterday for my birthday. They have FIVE kinds of chocolate in them.

And I'm quitting smoking tonight. Great. I'll weigh a quarter of a ton by next Friday...

9/11 Simulation

Really interesting. Done as part of a study of exactly what happened.

Comedian Darryl Rhoades

Phone the Bone at 254-9999 to see this veteran comic at The Funnybone this weekend.

(Blurry-ass picture taken by the unsteady hand of our man Ozzy)

Game Over

Ragz sent me this earlier this week...looks funny as hell...

Black And White Blood Drive

Picture of the TATB NASCAR Guru Danny Bloss, donating at our event last Friday Morning, the Blood Drive at South Bend Medical Foundation...
Don't forget...due to our fellow Sox fans letting us down and not coming out in force like the Cubs fans did...Craig and I will be in Cubs gear today at the Martins on 23 in Granger. Yes, that new really huge Martins. We'll be out there for the WAOR 95 Days Of Summer, with your chance to win, courtesy of Martins, Budweiser, Eckrich, and WAOR! You will never, ever, have another chance to see us wearing the Cubs.

Nice.

I just noticed my stomach protruding into the top right-hand corner of the last picture on the recipe post below this one. Yeesh...

Cooking For Guys Who Can't

Chef Pat is a little all-over-the-board with his selections today, there's a little something for everyone:

Grilled Chicken Brochette:

Toss these over 8 oz of hot linguini pasta: 2 chopped Medium Tomatoes, 1/2 chopped purple onion, 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil, salt/pepper to taste, 1/4 cup of parm. cheese. For the chicken: marinade it overnight in Zesty Italian Dressing or use Tomato & Herb Pre-Marinade.

Crock Pot Chili:

28 oz Dei Fratelli Italian Tomatoes, 18 oz Dei Fratelli Tomato Sauce, 32 oz Bush Mild Chili Beans, 14 oz Swanson Beef Broth, Carrol Shelby's Chili Kit (to make it as hot as you like), and 2 lb. of ground beef. Brown the beef, combine it with everything else, put it in the crock pot. Add shredded cheese and scallions if you like.

Breakfast Burritos:

Sautee your favorite veggies, wisk 4 eggs with a tablespoon of milk, cook until it's all done. Fold in a warm Azteca Soft Taco Shell. You can even make these the night before, and microwave them later.

Hillary

Hillary Clinton is emphasizing her Mafia connections in a new campaign video -- well, her connections to The Sopranos, anyway. In the ad, which showed up online yesterday, the Democratic presidential candidate is seen flipping through a jukebox in a diner as Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" plays and as Sopranos mob boss "Johnny 'Sack' Sacramoni" walks by the table. In the spoof, Clinton orders carrots instead of James Gandolfini's onion rings, as a disappointed former president Bill Clinton asks, "No onion rings?" Hillary then asks, "Where's Chelsea?" Bill replies, "Parallel parking." The two then discuss the selection of the official theme song of Senator Clinton's campaign, before the screen does a Sopranos-like fade to black. By the way, Canadian songstress Celine Dion's "You and I" is the campaign's theme.

Brad Delp Tribute

The tribute concert to Brad Delp, the Boston singer who killed himself in March, is set for August 19th at the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston. Dubbed Come Together, it will feature a performance by the remaining members of the most recent lineup. The group's Tom Scholz says, "We plan to perform six or seven songs. Mickey Thomas (Jefferson Starship) and Sammy Hagar have all offered to sing in place of Brad. We have also invited [original members] Barry Goudreau, Fran Sheehan and Sib Hashian to join us on stage for the last song, 'Don't Look Back,' which will be sung by Fran Cosmo." Cosmo replaced Delp in Boston in the '80s, but before Delp's death, they'd asked Cosmo not asked to be part of Boston's 2007 summer tour, which has since been canceled. Also scheduled for the show, which is being organized by Delp's son and daughter, are Cheap Trick singer Robin Zander and former Extreme and Van Halen singer Gary Cherone. Proceeds will go to the Brad Delp Foundation, which funds charities that Delp worked with.

Tuesday Rock Roundup

Paul McCartney celebrated his 65th birthday yesterday. His new album, Memory Almost Full, debuts at number-three on this week's Billboard album chart, it's sitting atop digital download charts, and it getting good reviews. Paul, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison will be back in Las Vegas on June 26th for the one-year anniversary of LOVE, the Cirque du Soleil production based on the music of The Beatles.

Now that the long-awaited re-issue of The Traveling Wilburys Volumes One and Three is in stores, Genesis Publications, a high-end U-K publisher, will publish a limited-edition book on the world's greatest super group -- Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty. The book will include numerous unseen photos, and memorabilia from the Harrison estate archives. The text will be drawn from interviews given by the various Wilburys all over the world. It will be published in the fall. Not only is the deluxe reissue of the Wilburys doing well in the States, where it is number-one on I-Tunes, but it's also number-one in England.

Motley Crue dropped a 20-million-dollar lawsuit yesterday on one of their managers, claiming that "greed," "extortion tactics" and bad career advice have cost the band millions and sullied their reputation. According to T-M-Z-dot-com, Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Mick Mars and Tommy Lee claim Carl Stubner and Sanctuary Management Group attempted to pocket revenue generated by the band and forced Lee to into reality T-V projects -- namely the ratings bomb Tommy Lee Goes to College and Rock Star: Supernova -- that were bad career moves, which made Lee look "incoherent, lazy and incompetent" and "a laughing stock." The band wants eight-million bucks for revenue they claim they lost while Tommy was busy with his reality T-V career.

Rod Stewart, dressed in blue pin-striped pants and a white jacket, said, "I do" for the third time Saturday as he wed longtime girlfriend Penny Lancaster on the Italian Riviera. Family and a few friends attended the private ceremony in a 17th-century villa.

Richard Bell, the onetime keyboard player in Janis Joplin's Full Tilt Boogie Band and a member of The Band in the '90s, died on Friday from cancer.

Last week Journey announced that they parted ways with singer Jeff Scott Soto. The band's statement did not include a quote from Soto, who writes on his online blog, "This version [was] released without my involvement. Mine will be out soon." In an interview with The Show Buzz, Journey keyboard player Jonathan Cain says, "We just wanted to move in a different direction sonically. We're interested in our legacy right now. We want to sound like our records and we want to sound like the 65-million units that are out there." Ironically, the singer Soto replaced last year, Steve Augeri, sounded very similar to Steve Perry, the singer of Journey's biggest songs. Meanwhile, former Journey singer Steve Perry has collaborated on some songs with the band Guff for their album, Symphony of Voices, in stores next Tuesday. He also produced and sings on the song "I Can See It in Your Eyes."

IN STORES TODAY:

Bridge to Terabithia DVD
Reno 911!: Miami DVD
Picket Fences - Season One DVD
Bon Jovi - Lost Highway...featuring guest spots from country artists LeAnn Rimes and Big and Rich, was produced primarily in Nashville. Jon Bon Jovi is well known for writing big rock anthems, but with everything that's happened with the band recently -- including Richie Sambora's divorce from wife Heather Locklear and the death of keyboard player David Bryan's father -- Bon Jovi wrote songs based on more personal experiences.

- and -

The summer of 1967 produced some of the legendary hits of the decade. The period beginning with Monterey Pop saw rock broaden its formula with such unique hits as Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade of Pale," The Spencer Davis Group's "Gimme Some Lovin'," "The Letter" from The Box Tops and "Heroes and Villains" by The Beach Boys. They're among the 40 songs in the Time Life box set Summer of Love - The Hits of 1967, which goes on sale today. The set divides the music into "F-M" and "A-M" discs, representing the change that started sweeping radio that year. The second disc, reflecting what was then called "underground" radio, features The Byrds' "So You Wanna Be a Rock and Roll Star," Cream's "I Feel Free" and Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company's "Down on Me." Cuts by Traffic, Vanilla Fudge and Jefferson Airplane also signify the more experimental direction some artists began to take -- especially as San Francisco emerged as the year's new capitol of pop culture. The third disc is an hour-long D-V-D -- an episode from the acclaimed 1990s History of Rock and Roll T-V mini-series that spans the period between Monterey Pop and Woodstock. There are performances and interview clips with such legends as The Doors, Janis Joplin, Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane, Carlos Santana and Graham Nash

Heatherless Headlines for the week

Inmate Demands Refund for Milkshake

Toddler Served Margarita in a Sippy Cup

Woman Wins $29,000 for Topless Stroll

Moscow world's most costly city

No-touching policy could land students in detention for hugs, high-fives

Customer Gets Charge Out of Lap Dances

Police: Man Robs Bank, Waits For FBI

Mom Gets Jail Time For Not Enrolling Daughter In School

Bakery Offers Paris Hilton Cupcakes

Bandit Steals Beer Using Fake Leg

Followup: Feces Parking Ticket Proves Costly

Golfer's Attempt To Get Back On The Fairway Sparks Fire

Phriday Photo Phinish

Black & Blue Blood Drive Info

Call 234-1157 or visit Give Blood now dot com.

The Police Escort is on the streets now!

Win 2 tickets to The Police at Wrigley Field July 6, plus an overnight stay at a downtown hotel & $95 spending cash!

Just look for The WAOR Police Escort around town - Get the Police Code – And enter that 4 digit code!

Then starting Monday at 7:20, listen every hour, if you’ve broken the code and we say your name… You have 9 minutes & 53 seconds to get in on our new hotline (574) 25-95-95-3 to get qualified! The Code changes every Monday, so you have to keep finding the Escort to win!

If you can’t find the car, go to MichianaAutoMall.com every weekday between 1-2PM to get the Code! Plus, every weekend The Police Escort will be on a car lot near you with a “Special Weekend Police Code” – Enter THAT code and you could be instantly qualified on Monday’s Tommie and the Bartender!

Get the Weekend Code, this weekend, at Suzuki of Elkhart on West Bristol!

The WAOR Police Escort Brought to you by MichianaAutoMall.com & 95.3 WAOR!

Street Kids Softball (adults)

Get more info and register your team at College Football dot org.

Video of last night's National Anthem...

...shot by The Beloved Kim, can be found here.

TONIGHT

God Help us: Tommie is singing The National Anthem at tonight's game against Fort Wayne at The Cove. Get tickets. Many tickets. Fresh fruit optional, and discouraged.

Shortcakes On The Blacktop

• The Cathedral Church of St. James
• 117 N Lafayette, South Bend
• Tomorrow (Wednesday) 11A to 5:30P
• $5 gets a strawberry shortcake (homemade cake), fresh strawberries, ice cream, and whipped cream
• Delivery available for orders of five or more between 11 and 2 tomorrow
• Pre-order by calling 276-4878 or 904-2087

Carl Lewis Anthem

Dear God no.

Tuesday Rock Roundup

Earlier this year Don Henley said the new Eagles album would be out this month. That's no longer the case, and during his show over the weekend in Atlantic City, New Jersey, he said it will now be out on October 30th. A spokesman for Henley had no comment. The Long Road Out of Eden will be the Eagles' first studio album since The Long Run in 1979, and it will be available only through Wal-Mart.

Genesis started their Turn It on Again tour last night in Helsinki, Finland. Their first tour with Phil Collins in 15 years was a two-and-a-half hour affair that not only featured some of their biggest hits -- "Invisible Touch," "Follow You Follow Me" -- but also some album cuts like "Duke's Travels" and "In the Cage." And for those longtime progressive Genesis fans they went as far back at 1973 for "Firth of Fifth" and "I Know What I Like" off their Selling England by the Pound album.

John Mellencamp will perform at this year's Boston Pops Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular with the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra. The show, live from Boston, will be broadcast on C-B-S at 10:00 p-m. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry performed on the show last year. Mellencamp was in New York yesterday with Willie Nelson to announce this year's Farm Aid, which will be held on Randall's Island in New York.

John Fogerty has finished his new album and it's scheduled to be out this fall. Revival is his first studio album in three years and it contains 12 new songs, including one titled "Creedence," which, along with the album title, is a reference to his former band, Creedence Clearwater Revival. Fogerty plans to support the album with a tour that he plans to undertake later this year, following his summer dates. He starts a European tour on June 22nd in London with North American dates in late July and early August.

Gene Simmons is publishing another book. Gene Simmons: The Art of War is, according to his website, "a modern updating of the work widely regarded as 'The Oldest Military Treatise in the World.' This revision of the landmark work brings a present-day focus to the principles of strategy, tactics, maneuvering, communication, and supplies discussed in Sun Tzu's The Art of War." Simmons' book is scheduled to be published on November 1st through Phoenix Books. I won't be buying one, because some books don't need to be updated by pudgy rock stars.

NEW RELEASES TODAY:

The re-release of the two albums by the Traveling Wilburys -- George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne -- is in stores today. Rhino has combined Volume One and Volume Three along with bonus material and re-issued it as The Traveling Wilburys Collection. It comes in four configurations -- a standard C-D package; deluxe edition; vinyl; and digital. The Volume One disc contains two unreleased tracks -- "Maxine" and "Like a Ship." Volume Three (there was no Volume Two) comes with "Runaway," a U-K B-Side to "She's My Baby," and "Nobody's Child," the title track for the Nobody's Child benefit album put together by Harrison's wife Olivia. The third disc, a D-V-D that comes with all the releases except the vinyl, contains five videos and a documentary with unseen footage.

The Rolling Stones new D-V-D, The Biggest Bang, is out today. But like their Four Flicks D-V-D in 2003, this one will be available only at Best Buy stores. The four-disc set contains two complete shows -- one from Rio de Janeiro's famed Copacabana Beach in front of two-million people, and the other is from Austin, Texas. There is also footage from their appearance at the Super Bowl; their club show in Toronto following rehearsals for the tour; as well as gigs in Shanghai, Buenos Aires and Japan. There are also rare, never-released tracks -- including "Get Up, Stand Up" and "Mr. Pitiful," plus duets with Dave Matthews, Bonnie Raitt and Eddie Vedder.

ALSO:

Ghost Rider DVD
FBI thriller Breach DVD
Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls DVD
Deadwood - The Complete Third Season DVD
Diagnosis Murder - The Second Season DVD
The Office - Seasons One and Two DVD
Walker, Texas Ranger - The Complete Third Season DVD. It may contain the episode, Craig, that will change your life forever...

Times Change

Was just sitting here at my desk, still seething over the finale of The Sopranos.

I ranted at length about it on myspace (where I put all my unimportant thoughts) but I'll sum it up like this:

In the grand scheme of things, it was the kind of ending you'd expect from a clever writer/director/producer like David Chase. It throws off the shackles of convention and makes you draw your own conclusion. Fine, ok, I get that. But it isn't what he was building up to, and the last episode was pretty much crap because of it. He switched horses mid-race, and we all got trampled. David Chase is an ass.

I was looking at this picture from Season One. Consider everyone on it, L to R:

Dr. Melfi: Snapped and kicked Tony out of her office in the next-to-last Episode.

AJ: was all over the finale, and still isn't interesting, presumed alive.

Livia: Dead of old age, Season 2 (or 3, I forget), one of the best characters the show ever had.

Meadow: the one person we have hope for, presumed alive.

Carmela: just a sad, sad character who tries so hard until it becomes too difficult, presumed alive.

Tony: appears to have beaten the New York Families, presumed alive.

Christopher: dead, earlier this season, at Tony's hand.

Silvio: in a coma, dead for all intents and purposes, next-to-last episode.

Big Pussy: dead, end of season two, at Tony's hand.

Paulie: went through different levels of betraying Tony over the years, friend of his Dad's, now a Captain.

Uncle Junior: nuttier than a snickers bar, but alive.

There's so much to say about that finale, but I'm not going to repeat myself here. I just find it interesting that the core characters, above, went through so many changes over 7 (let's be honest) seasons.

Heatherless Headlines

Woman Fakes Abduction To Get Out Of Date

Ohio charter school serves gin to 6th-grade graduates

Wis. Robber Steals Whiskey, Lettuce And A Thermometer

Police: Butts Swiped Toilet Paper From Court

Burger King, McDonald's Launch Spam War

Trial In $54M Pants Suit Begins

Teen Dials Wrong Number, Gets Arrested On Drug Charges

Man Sits Down Outside Bank After Allegedly Robbing It

Politician Offended by Landfill Ice Cream

Officer Shot by Gun Kept Under Pillow

Jumping Sturgeon Injures Woman In Latest Flying Fish-Related Mishap

Phriday Photo Phinish

(found at Perez Hilton)

One Weird Ass LOCAL Story

(as reported in the South Bend Tribune)

Semi-truck takes man and wheelchair for a ride

PAW PAW, Mich. -- A 21-year-old man was taken on a wild ride Wednesday afternoon when the wheelchair he was in became attached to the grille of a semi-truck and was taken four miles down a highway at about 50 mph.

The man, whose name police did not release, was not injured. The driver was unaware he was pushing the man, according to a news release from the Michigan State Police.

Authorities began receiving calls about 4 p.m. that the semi was traveling westbound on Red Arrow Highway, just outside of Paw Paw, with the wheelchair.

"You are not going to believe this, (but) there is a semi pushing a guy in a wheelchair on Red Arrow Highway," an unknown caller told the Michigan State Police.

Police at first believed the calls were pranks. But when troopers responded to the Ralph Moyle Trucking Co. at 39269 Red Arrow Highway where the semi had come to a stop, they noticed the wheelchair with the man sitting in it, still attached.

"It was quite a ride," the man reportedly told police.

"The man spilled his soda pop, but he wasn't upset," Sgt. Kathy Morton of the Michigan State Police said. "Thank God the semi didn't go on (Interstate) 94,"

This Just In...Fox News Channel Reporting

BREAKING NEWS

9:19 am (24 minutes ago)

PARIS HILTON REPORTEDLY FREED FROM JAIL AFTER CUTTING DEAL; SOCIALITE ONLY SERVED THREE DAYS OF 23-DAY SENTENCE

Jimmies Softball!

Sierra, Sarah, Megan, and the rest of the Jimtown Softball Team are going for the State Title this weekend! Get out and support 'em! The ladies stopped by for a visit this morning...hear it here and here. Remember ladies...you promised us cookies if you win!

You can't go see John Osborn.

He has no gigs coming up in the near future. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Cero. But whenever the big acts come to The Funny Bone, he opens up for them. So he must be pretty funny. And he does do every Thursday or so at The Bone, so, I guess there's that.

You can hear him, though, here, from our discussion this morning. If enough people like him, maybe someone out there will give him a gig somewhere. Before he ends up playing dress-up with his daughters at home.

Cooking For Guys Who Can't Cook

Pat's cookin' up big happy plates of Summer!

Ribeyes for breakfast? MAN we love it when Pat visits! Here's his recipe for this:

Pat recommends 4 to 6 minutes per side over hot coals, and in honor of the WAOR 95 Days Of Summer Weber Grill Giveaways, he used the Weber Steak Seasoning.

Also, each of our winners for the WAOR 95 Days Of Summer (brought to you by Martin's, Budweiser, and Eckrich)...wins a case of 72 Eckrich Sausage Links. So, Pat did some of those up on the grill as well.

For a side, Pat whipped up some Garlic Mashed Potatoes (Tommie's favorite kind...they were even a little lumpy, like he loves 'em...). Boil cut and peeled potatoes, smash 2 garlic cloves with a garlic press, add 3 tbs of butter and 3/4 cup of milk...blend it all together. He also recommends Spice World preminced garlic if youd rather go that route.

Happy grilling! And remember to join us at neighborhood Martin's stores every Thursday afternoon for your chance to win with the WAOR 95 Days Of Summer!

Olympic Logo Freakout, Part II

A flashing animated version of this ungodly monstrosity (which we still say resembles a swastika) has been removed from an official Olympic website.

Why? Because it's blamed for causing seizures, Pokemon-style...

Here.

2,100 Year-Old Melon Found

And it's NOT in the back of my fridge...

June 1, 2007 — Archaeologists digging in western Japan have excavated what they believe to be the oldest remains of a melon ever found, an official said Friday.

Based on a radiocarbon analysis, researchers estimate the half-rounded piece of fruit to be about 2,100 years old, said Shuji Yamazaki, a local official in the city of Moriyama.

The remains are believed to be the oldest of a melon that still has flesh on the rind, Yamazaki said. Previously, the oldest such find was believed to be remains found in China that date back to the fourth century A.D., according to local media reports.

The melon might have been so well-preserved because it was in a vacuum-packed state in a wet layer below the ground, an environment hostile to microorganisms that might otherwise have broken down the remains, Yamazaki said.

Melon seeds have been often found in archaeological digs around the country, but researchers rarely find the remains of melon flesh, Yamazaki said.

Moriyama is about 205 miles southwest of Tokyo.

One Weird-Ass Story

Private Heads For Iraq With New Mother-In-Law As Platoon Sergeant

ALBANY, Ore. -- Pvt. Duncan Schneider has more reason to behave himself in uniform than most other members of the military -- his platoon sergeant is also his mother-in-law.

This morning's Rainbow

Tuesday Rock Roundup

Drummer Stewart Copeland is not happy with the way the second Police show went last Wednesday in Vancouver, Canada. On his blog, he writes that things got off to a rough start when he missed the cue on the opening song, "Message in a Bottle," and it all went downhill from there. He says at the end of "Synchronicity" Sting did a "big leap for the cut-off hit, but he gets the footwork just a little bit wrong and doesn't quite achieve lift-off. The mighty Sting momentarily looks like a petulant pansy instead of the god of rock... It usually takes about four or five shows in a tour before you get to the disaster gig. But we're The Police so we are a little ahead of schedule... Funny thing is, we are enjoying ourselves anyway. Screw it, it's only music. What are you gonna do?"

U-2 is in Africa working on songs with producers Daniel Lanois [pr: lan-WAH] and Brian Eno [pr: EE-no]. The band has set up a studio in Morocco's medieval city of Fez, where the guys have been writing and recording from morning till night for the past couple of weeks. No word on what the songs will be used for, but according to their website, Bono, The Edge and company are "on a roll and the ideas are coming fast." U-2 is a little familiar with Morocco, having filmed the video for "Mysterious Ways" there in 1991. U-2's last album was 2004's How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.

Genesis will start their Turn It on Again reunion tour a week from tonight in Helsinki, Finland, and they're hoping to make it a complete concert experience for their European fans. Following the lead of The Who, the Allman Brothers and other bands, Genesis will make each show on the European tour available on C-D, recorded right off the soundboard. You can either purchase each two-disc set individually or as a complete 23-show box set. No word yet if they'll do the same when the tour reaches North America on September 7th in Toronto.

Queen has topped yet another poll. Rolling Stone has named the greatest tracks on the worst albums, and Queen's collaboration with David Bowie on "Under Pressure" from their Hot Space album was number-one. "This Is England" from The Clash's Cut the Crap album was second, followed by The Who's "Eminence Front" from It's Hard. Other classic rock acts to make the list include Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Elton John.

The List:
1)"Under Pressure" Queen - Hot Space
2) "This Is England" The Clash -Cut The Crap
3) "Eminence Front" The Who -It's Hard
4) "Brownsville Girl" - Bob Dylan - Knocked Out Loaded
5) "Hallo Spaceboy" - David Bowie - Outside
6) "Kill Your Sons" - Lou Reed - Sally Can't Dance
7) "2000 Light Years from Home" - Rolling Stones - Their Satanic Majesties Request
8) "Goin' Home" - Neil Young - Are You Passionate
9) "Song for Guy" - Elton John - A Single Man
10) "Don't Look Back" -- Boston- Don't Look Back

Former Styx singer and keyboard player Dennis De Young has a new album. 100 Years From Now will first be released June 19th in Canada, where Styx had some of their earliest success.

New In Stores Tuesday:

Creepy ghost movie The Messengers DVD
Eddie Murphy's unnecessary Norbit DVD
Rescue Me - The Complete Third Season DVD

And a ton of albums:

Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full (which I reviewed last week here)
Marilyn Manson - Eat Me, Drink Me
Chris Cornell (former Soundgarden/Audioslave) - Carry On
Bruce Springsteen - Live In Dublin
Poison - Poison'd
Tesla - Real To Reel

(the last two are cover albums of each band's favorite songs from the old days)

Kansas Interview

Hear it here. Phone conversation with Richard WiIlliams (no relation) of the band Kansas. Coming to a Venetian Festival near you in July.

Make sure you keep it here for tickets, because as always...WAOR is your source for the seats that matter...

Something you need to know about on Tuesday...

National Hunger Awareness Day is tomorrow.

Our thanks to Robin Fuller from The Food Bank Of Northern Indiana for stopping in Monday to fill us in.

Be on the lookout for the convoy tomorrow on Western! Tommie will be driving the Prowler in it!

Another Heatherless Headline Followup:

TV kidney competition was a hoax

A Dutch TV contest that purported to show a dying woman choose a patient to receive her kidneys was a hoax. The "donor" in the show was in fact an actress - though the three people vying for an organ were real patients in need of a kidney transplant. The three knew that The Big Donor Show, which aired on Friday, was not real. The producers say it was made to highlight the shortage of Dutch donors. "We have only done this cry for help because we want to solve a problem that shouldn't be a problem," a producer told a news conference after the show. Dutch Culture Minister Ronald Plasterk hailed the show as a "fantastic stunt".

Heatherless Headlines

Grads Lose Diplomas Because Of Fans At Ceremony

Follow-up: Pig Was a Monster, but He Wasn't Wild

Fly Causes Car Crash, Power Outage

More Than Ton Of Pot Found In Load Of Candy

Man Sues Over Long-Lasting Erection

Parking Attendants Get Pulled Over

It was 40 years ago today.

On this date in 1967, the people of Merrie Olde England were able to go to the store and buy a brand new album from The Beatles called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. A day later, it was released in the US.

Sgt. Pepper was a departure for the moptops, an homage of sorts to The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds. The Rolling Stones would do a similar project a few months later with their highly underrated Their Satanic Majesties Request, and by then, The Beatles would have taken things a step further with Magical Mystery Tour. 1967 was an amazing year for music. And through the grace of my job, I only half-missed it by being born in 1970.

Sgt. Pepper was the first album to feature a gatefold sleeve. Somewhere, my parents still have a copy on vinyl. It's in pristine-ish condition. It still has the un-punched-out punchouts of the glasses and medals and other cardboard detritus it shipped out with.

No matter who's compiling the list, it has to appear in the Top Five Most Important Classic Rock Albums Ever Recorded By Carbon-Based Lifeforms On This Or Any Other Planet. They don't record stuff like this anymore, so pull this bad boy out this weekend, toast its 40th with some sort of appropriate beverage, and give it a nice listen.

If you can do so on vinyl, more the better.

And while listening, please try to not think about the horrible movie that shares its name. The one not even Aerosmith could save...

Phriday Photo Phinish