The Official Blog of the Grateful Web

See Emily Die.

On February 18, 2006, Emily Rice had too much to drink and drive. She crashed her car in Denver. The Denver Police arrived, and an ambulance took her to Denver Health Medical Center.

 

Emily told anyone who would listen: the Denver Health Hospital Staff, the Police, and the Denver Prison staff, of severe pain in her abdomen. But with a blood alcohol level of 0.1, they did what they usually do with DUI offenders; they gave her Ibuprofen and stuck her in a Jail cell. Meanwhile, Emily’s lacerated liver and spleen kept bleeding, and as she lay on the floor of the Denver Jail and bleed to death, those charged with protecting and serving the law watched her die.

 

Once Emily died, those charged with making sure Justice is served, served themselves, and edited out the Prison surveillance footage exactly when they discovered she was dead, and the amazement of the idiots we trusted to protect us. The crucial minute was deftly and professionally deleted from the Prison surveillance tape like only real pros could do. Cause when the chips are down, these scum got professional about their own skins, real quick.

 

I’ve was arrested by the Denver Police, spent a night in the same Jail Emily died in. I saw first hand what idiots the Denver Police were, and personally documented it. I went to the Denver Public Safety board and my fight against the bullshit I lived through got the Denver Police Handbook rewritten due to the documented unprofessionalism I witnessed, recorded, and reported. This was the only time in recorded history a civilian forced changes to how the Denver Police conduct themselves.

 

It was not enough, however, to save Emily. Now this 24-year-old woman lies dead under the Earth and the idiots who pretend to protect us still walk around with Badges of Honor.

 

Ever been arrested? No? Proud of that? Don’t be. Get arrested. Go through the system and witness how it works, it’s your tax dollars that fund it. See problems? Report them. Help fix it.

 

For now, we can only pray for Emily and her family.

Barney Moran

Grateful Word

The Bobby Fischer Syndrome

Grateful Websters Dictionary:

Bobby Fischer Syndrome   

–adjective,  , english      /ˈprimɛ ˈdɔnnɛ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[Bah Bee Feh Shur Sin Droh mmm]

1.	When a person of importance or high standing  announces deviance or is associated with deviance

© 2008 Grateful Websters Dictionary

What do you tell your child when a hero they look up to announces he hates them?

How do or should we separate life achievements with life opinions? Without having a final solution, I do the next best thing, label it. I  label this dilemma, "The Bobby Fischer Syndrome."

As a little Jewish boy, I  clearly remember Fischer's win over the dominant Russians. It stands with our moon landing and Olympic hockey team of amateurs beating them Russky's.  In my ignorance and Jewish prejudice, I thought Fischer WAS a Jew. I was spelling it 'Fisher.' And my dentist, Dr. Fisher, was a Jew so Bobby must also be one.

(ADD aside #1: Isn't it crazy we miss an enemy/competitor like the Russians instead of what we fight now?)

I may have heard about Fischer's rants during 9/11, but I was so busy trying to think they did not register. So when his death came over the wire last week I announced "Oh no, my hero", and my friend asked , "Your hero?", reminding me of his anti semitic comments. As an adult, I thought, 'wow, he's nuts.' But if I had heard this as a kid, as many minority kids regretfully hear growing up from presumed heroes, I would have been heart broken.  Minorities like Jews, African Americans, Indians, People from India, Hispanics, Asian and Middle Eastern Americans all share one thing as we try and live the American Dream. We root for America. We teach our children too, and we are crushed when our American 'heroes' announce we are different and not part of the team.

Fischer will remain in my childhood memory as my hero, I am not going back and re-playing that track for that little kid named Barney. Fischer was a genius and turned many of us on to chess. This effect is much more powerful then his crazed remarks, and they came after he exited the spotlight, like Joe Namath's drunken kiss pitch on air.

I forgive Bobby Fischer. Wherever he is now, he is being debriefed.

Barney Moran
Grateful Word

Related Links:
Susan Polgar's list of Bobby Fischer's achievements 

Grateful Websters Dictionary:

Bobby Fischer Syndrome   

–adjective,  , english      /ˈprimɛ ˈdɔnnɛ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[Bah Bee Feh Shur Sin Droh mmm]

1.	When a person of importance or high standing  announces deviance or is associated with deviance

© 2008 Grateful Websters Dictionary

Grateful Websters Dictionary:

Bobby Fischer Syndrome   

–adjective,  , english      /ˈprimɛ ˈdɔnnɛ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[Bah Bee Feh Shur Sin Droh mmm]

1.	When a person of importance or high standing  announces deviance or is associated with deviance

© 2008 Grateful Websters Dictionary

Matty Crine

January 15, 1966 - September 15, 2007

"Whatever you do.... DO NOT mourn me. I had a great life..."

Matty was not real to me, I knew him less then anyone, perhaps, at his services. He was a Spirit from New Jersey, with the ocean breeze salt in your face when you spoke with him. I need to poke him even now to see if he's real, but I cant.

He did exactly what he wanted in life. No detours or lay away dreams for Matty. He died flying, teaching a student how to land and take off, land and take off. After an hour the student made too abrupt a take off turn and they lost control.

Matty Crine and the short time I knew him and now learn more about his life make me ask, 'who is dead?' Not Matty. But maybe some of us, still walking around.

Barney Moran for Grateful Web

Joe Zawinul Passes

                       Morto Joe Zawinul                    

                  

Oggi se n'è andato un altro grande della musica. Il mome di questo blog viene da un disco dei Weather Report intitolato Night Passage. Joe Zawinul era l'anima di questa storica band Fusion. Fu uno dei primi ad introdurre il piano elettrico e le tastiere elettroniche nel jazz.

Read full story on Night Passage Blog.

China bans reincarnation without Government Permission

Aug. 20-27, 2007 Newsweek issue - China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. Full Story [Newsweek/MSN]

Thanks to Veronica who emailed us this story. Got a nugget for Grateful Web? Email Publisher@GratefulWeb.info

Please report to DRV [Department of Reincarnated Vehicles] Prior to use....

Luciano Pavarotti, the 'JERRY' of Opera, passes

The late last century's 'gratest' tenor has passed on. Certainly as Jerry reinvented Guitar, Pavarotti wakened the common man again to the beauty of Opera. Both men grew from humble beginnings to represent a genre of music above all others.

He was my father in law's [Michael DiMuzio] favorite singer. Mike was a burly large Italian Construction foremen, yet often we would catch Mike on weekend afternoons listening to Pavarotti singing  "Nessun Dorma" from "Turandot" by Puccini. As Pavarotti's unique sound and vocal power unraveled Nessun Dorma to its climactic build, we were sure not to bug Mike, but often watched as the huge man went into a womb-like revery. With Pavarotti's passing I was immediately reminded of Mike DiMuzio, and how much our family misses him, too.

It is a signature power of a great artist,  when they sing,  when they die, we get pulled into contemplating our own life and family by their great work. I am sure my example is repeated all over the world for millions of others who listened to, or had loved ones touched by, Pavarotti. Luciano Pavarotti 1935-2007

Barney
Grateful Web

Respects to Hilly Kristal, CBGB's Founder

This Week marks the passing of Hilly. Though he intended CBGB to be a blue grass & country  intimate stage in 1973 when he founded CBGB, he gave a new Genre with a TON of energy it's break, and what guts that took. Strange but fitting both he and Aaron Russo leave us our hot warming globe this August, 2007, as Fixtures and Furniture from 315 Bowery even now are auctioned off.

The heart and soul of pioneers like Hilly and Aaron are not dead, but have moved into today's technology, where inexpensively, music lovers and promoters can begin simply with a site on the Internet, plugging  local, new, experimental and retro music they love instead of the crap pushed out by corporate Amerika.

Talking Heads, Blondie, The Ramones, and many more bands did not have this access or exposure in the 1970's and 1980's, so we take off our hats again this month to a pioneer, Hilly Kristal.

Barney
Grateful Web

Related Respects for Hilly (from PopTartssuckToasted) :

PopTartssuckToasted
Brooklyn Vegan
Gothamist
CMJ
MTV
Pitchfork
The A.V. Club
The Punk Vault
Punk Turns 30
Billboard
NME

Aaron Russo, early Dead promoter, has passed away.

Aaron Russo 2/14/43-8/24/07

 

From Wikipedia.

Born iin Brooklyn and raised on Long Island , producer Aaron Russo began promoting rock and roll shows at local theaters while still a high school student.

Entertainment career

Five years later the twenty-four-year-old entrepreneur opened his own nightclub in Chicago called the Kinetic Playground which became a driving force in the music business, where Aaron helped create the careers of many legendary performers, such as Led Zeppelin, whom he brought to America for the first time. He also promoted some of the Sixties' most successful rock acts, including The Who, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane^[1].

Read full Bio on Wikipedia

Les Williams, Surfer, Cover Surfer on Beach Boys Surfin'USA Album

Les Williams passed away in Hawaii this friday. Though we may have never pondered the identity of the Surfer on this seminal album, Les was a real life person loved and respected by his family and the California surfing community.

We found this story on the San Onofre Surfing Club blog.

In Respose

You may never think to search on “Last Wishes” or “Cemetary” for your whole life. Then it ends, and hopefully someone you love does for you. When I found In Repose through Lijit, I was immediately reminded of my rare but recurring realization how little we contemplate such an important chapter in our and our loved ones lives. The Buddha advised being with a sentient being during their death is a very special gift. In Repose covers this material with great class and empathy.  I find myself drawn into each story, and reluctant to leave the In Repose site once there. THANK YOU.

http://inrepose.typepad.com/in_repose_blog/