Andy Sellars

• 2012-01-30

  Mayor Kevin White

  Music fans should remember the late four-term Mayor of Boston for when he stopped a riot in the city surrounding a major concert. Twice.

  • First in 1968, when James Brown was slated to play the Garden on the night that MLK was assassinated. Cancelling the concert would have meant a riot. Having the show go on also would have meant a riot. So instead, White negotiated a settlement whereby the show would go on, WGBH would broadcast the show live, and fans were encouraged to watch from home. Thousands complied, the riots were averted, and Brown gave one of his most famous performances of all time. 
  • Then in 1972 White did it again. The Rolling Stones were slated to play the Garden to support Exile on Main St. The tour was mismanaged disaster on many fronts,  and the night before the Boston show Mick & Keith were arrested in Rhode Island following an altercation with a photographer. Stories conflict as to whether White convinced the Rhode Island State Police to release them or whether he personally bailed them out, but either way he sprung Mick & Keith, got them a MA State Police convoy up to Boston, and got them on stage.

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  artoftherecordstore:

  You’re blowing my mind right now, Barry.

  Source: artoftherecordstore

• 2012-01-18

  Golan v. Holder

  The Supreme Court examines copyright and free speech, says “nothing to see here,” and moves on.

• 2012-01-17

  

  Outside of America, the term “Budweiser” can alternatively refer to the Anheuser-Busch beer we all know and love stateside, or beer brewed in the Czech town of Ceske Budejovice, or “Budweis” in German. (“Budweiser” means “from-Budweis.”) For decades Budejovicky Budvar has been selling a beer with the descriptive “budweiser,” and has been embroiled in litigation with Anheuser-Busch over the use of the term, which you can read about here. Budvar’s beer is sold as “Czechvar” in the United States.

  Image and story come from Foley Hoag’s Trademark and Copyright Law Blog, which also mentions that A-B has been buying up the IP rights of local breweries in Budweis, including Budejovicky Mestansky Pivovar. This is probably an attempt to remove the descriptive use of “budweiser” entirely.

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  The Obama administration has told a federal judge that Baltimore police officers violated the First, Fourth, and Fourteenth Amendments by seizing a man’s cell phone and deleting its contents. The deletions were allegedly in retaliation for the man’s use of the phone to record the officers’ arrest of his friend. According to the Maryland ACLU, this is the first time the Obama Justice Department has weighed in on whether the Constitution protects citizens’ right to record the actions of police with their cell phones.

  — 

  Timothy Lee, Obama administration says Constitution protects cell phone recordings, Ars Technica.

  (The government’s brief can be found here.)

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  [Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

  sunsetslave:

  I made Jackie record a demo of her song for the Empire. The future holds toy piano and new takes of things but you should have a listen. It’s a good place to start.

  Long live the Empire.

  Source: sunsetslave

• 2012-01-14

  The passage into public domain of Joyce’s major works has been talked up in certain quarters as though it were a bookish version of the destruction of the Death Star, with Stephen Joyce cast as a highbrow Darth Vader suddenly no longer in a position to breathe heavily down the necks of rebel Joyceans.

  — Mark O’Connell, Has James Joyce Been Set Free?, New Yorker

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  “The one with CREEP!”

  Source: artoftherecordstore

• 2011-12-17

  andy_sellars: It's really, really not OK. RT @jilliancyork: Dear Congress, It's No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works http://t.co/DEJJZAqG

• 2011-12-15

  andy_sellars: RT @freepress: RT @darrellissa : We will webcast #SOPA debate/vote today live at 10 AM EST at http://t.co/BkI5jHRb. Please RT.