Just because it's Friday...

Here's some Joe Cartoon lunacy!
Enjoy!

Les Paul - Electric guitar pioneer 1915 - 2009

One of the pioneers in music has passed away.

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Les Paul, who invented the solid-body electric guitar later wielded by a legion of rock 'n' roll greats, died Thursday of complications from pneumonia. He was 94.

According to Gibson Guitar, Paul died at White Plains Hospital. His family and friends were by his side.

As an inventor, Paul also helped bring about the rise of rock 'n' roll with multitrack recording, which enables artists to record different instruments at different times, sing harmony with themselves, and then carefully balance the tracks in the finished recording.

The use of electric guitar gained popularity in the mid-to-late 1940s, and then exploded with the advent of rock in the mid-'50s.

"Suddenly, it was recognized that power was a very important part of music," Paul once said. "To have the dynamics, to have the way of expressing yourself beyond the normal limits of an unamplified instrument, was incredible. Today a guy wouldn't think of singing a song on a stage without a microphone and a sound system."

"Without Les Paul, we would not have rock and roll as we know it," said Terry Stewart, president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. "His inventions created the infrastructure for the music and his playing style will ripple through generations. He was truly an architect of rock and roll."

A tinkerer and musician since childhood, he experimented with guitar amplification for years before coming up in 1941 with what he called "The Log," a four-by-four piece of wood strung with steel strings.

"I went into a nightclub and played it. Of course, everybody had me labeled as a nut." He later put the wooden wings onto the body to give it a tradition guitar shape.

In 1952, Gibson Guitars began production on the Les Paul guitar.

Pete Townshend of the Who, Steve Howe of Yes, jazz great Al DiMeola and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page all made the Gibson Les Paul their trademark six-string.

Over the years, the Les Paul series has become one of the most widely used guitars in the music industry. In 2005, Christie's auction house sold a 1955 Gibson Les Paul for $45,600.

Guitarist Joe Satriani called Paul "the original guitar hero," saying: "Les Paul set a standard for musicianship and innovation that remains unsurpassed."

In the late 1960s, Paul retired from music to concentrate on his inventions. His interest in country music was rekindled in the mid-'70s and he teamed up with Chet Atkins for two albums. The duo were awarded a Grammy for best country instrumental performance of 1976 for their "Chester and Lester" album.

With Mary Ford, his wife from 1949 to 1962, he earned 36 gold records for hits including "Vaya Con Dios" and "How High the Moon," which both hit No. 1. Many of their songs used overdubbing techniques that Paul had helped develop.

"I could take my Mary and make her three, six, nine, 12, as many voices as I wished," he recalled. "This is quite an asset." The overdubbing technique was highly influential on later recording artists such as the Carpenters.

Released in 2005, "Les Paul & Friends: American Made, World Played" was his first album of new material since those 1970s recordings. Among those playing with him: Peter Frampton, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Richie Sambora.

"They're not only my friends, but they're great players," Paul told The Associated Press. "I never stop being amazed by all the different ways of playing the guitar and making it deliver a message."

Two cuts from the album won Grammys, "Caravan" for best pop instrumental performance and "69 Freedom Special" for best rock instrumental performance. (He had also been awarded a technical Grammy in 2001.)

Paul was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2005.

Paul was born Lester William Polfuss, in Waukseha, Wis., on June 9, 1915. He began his career as a musician, billing himself as Red Hot Red or Rhubarb Red. He toured with the popular Chicago band Rube Tronson and His Texas Cowboys and led the house band on WJJD radio in Chicago.

In the mid-1930s he joined Fred Waring's Pennsylvanians and soon moved to New York to form the Les Paul Trio, with Jim Atkins and bassist Ernie Newton.

Meanwhile, he had made his first attempt at audio amplification at age 13. Unhappy with the amount of volume produced by his acoustic guitar, Paul tried placing a telephone receiver under the strings. Although this worked to some extent, only two strings were amplified and the volume level was still too low.

By placing a phonograph needle in the guitar, all six strings were amplified, which proved to be much louder. Paul was playing a working prototype of the electric guitar in 1929.

His work on taping techniques began in the years after World War II, when Bing Crosby gave him a tape recorder. Drawing on his earlier experimentation with his homemade record-cutting machines, Paul added an additional playback head to the recorder. The result was a delayed effect that became known as tape echo.

Tape echo gave the recording a more "live" feel and enabled the user to simulate different playing environments.

Paul's next "crazy idea" was to stack together eight mono tape machines and send their outputs to one piece of tape, stacking the recording heads on top of each other. The resulting machine served as the forerunner to today's multitrack recorders.

In 1954, Paul commissioned Ampex to build the first eight-track tape recorder, later known as "Sel-Sync," in which a recording head could simultaneously record a new track and play back previous ones.

He had met Ford, then known as Colleen Summers, in the 1940s while working as a studio musician in Los Angeles. For seven years in the 1950s, Paul and Ford broadcast a TV show from their home in Mahwah, N.J. Ford died in 1977, 15 years after they divorced.

In recent years, even after his illness in early 2006, Paul played Monday nights at New York night spots. Such stars as Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler, Bruce Springsteen and Eddie Van Halen came to pay tribute and sit in with him.

"It's where we were the happiest, in a `joint,'" he said in a 2000 interview with the AP. "It was not being on top. The fun was getting there, not staying there — that's hard work."

Let's face it, without him, Rock and Roll would not exist! All hail Les Paul!

Here's Les Paul with Mary Ford in 1955 playing "How High the Moon". He was a guitar player extraordinaire!



This video is from August 14th, 2006 at the Iridium Jazz Club in NYC.



May he rest in peace!

"Walking Dead" comic coming to TV!

Great news for us fan boys!

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – In its biggest development deal to date, cable network AMC has acquired the rights to Robert Kirkman's popular comic book "The Walking Dead" for a potential series.

Frank Darabont ("The Shawshank Redemption") is on board to write, direct and executive produce the project.

"Dead" chronicles the months and years after a zombie apocalypse, when a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, travel in search of a safe, secure home. The comic explores the challenges of life in a world overrun by zombies. Over time, they grow willing to do anything to survive, and interpersonal conflicts sometimes present a greater danger to their survival than the zombies who roam the country.

"Walking Dead," a monthly black-and-white comic book, has been a hotly sought-after property since it was published in 2003 by Image Comics. Darabont originally developed the project several years ago under his deal at NBC. It landed at AMC after a healthy bidding war.

This is one of the best horror / action comics in recent years. I hope they give it the proper treatment.

The $35,000 Penis Enlarger!

Now, this is a novel way to spend $35,000. on a sex toy.

MONTREAL, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the world's wealthiest Saudi Arabian businessmen recently placed a custom order for what is now considered the world's most expensive male enhancement device. Made of solid 18kt gold, this adult novelty product is reminiscent of the goods made for dictators, tyrants, and the oil rich of the world.

X4 Labs, a Canadian medical device manufacturer, was selected as the developer of this somewhat unorthodox request and will work alongside Montreal custom jewellers to put together the "Rolex" of male novelty devices . Typically, a medical traction device retails for between $200 to $400, however; this custom male enhancement device will reach over a $35,000 price tag. The order includes a bezel set with over 40 full cut diamonds, several rubies and a completely solid gold structure.

Company representatives have indicated that the identity of the Saudi Arabian national would not be revealed. Frank Clementine stated - "Our customers are always granted the utmost privacy, however; we are extremely pleased to have been selected to develop this device." It is uncertain as to whether this will become a trend, however; X4 Labs does intend on continuing to provide qualified patients and/or customers with the ability to custom design their male novelty devices.

Product coordinator Matt West is convinced that there is a demographic that is willing to pay for lavish medical devices for their private areas. "Whether it be dictators, politicians, oil rich middle easterners, or successful businessmen, they are willing to pay good money to spoil themselves." There is something tremendously selfish about the male ego, and subsequently orders for $35,000 may become the norm for companies like X4 Labs.

Defying the ongoing economic crisis, $35,000 shows that some are still able to afford the lavish purchases of the rich and famous. This male health accessory is the most expensive traction device ever produced and will likely become a historical bench mark for the adult novelty industry.

While Saudi Arabian laws prevent the import of adult novelty products, the X4 Labs device is actually a medical device that is FDA Registered as well as CE Certified. The X4 Labs device has also been adopted by doctors in the United States, Canada, and Europe. This delivery will also be made using an insured armoured transport to ensure the safe and secure arrival of the rather expensive male enhancement device.

Now you know where your gas money is going!

And the Box Office Champion this week is...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A new action movie based on the "G.I. Joe" line of toy soldiers crushed enemy forces at the worldwide box office during the weekend, ending the three-week reign of the sixth "Harry Potter" fantasy.
"G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" sold about $100.3 million worth of tickets, distributor Paramount Pictures said on Sunday.
The three-day take of $56.2 million from the United States and Canada ranks as the fourth-highest August opening ever, and comes after the $175 million effects extravaganza had been besieged by bad buzz for months.
The foreign component of $44.1 million -- from 35 markets comprising 75 percent of international sales -- was led by South Korea ($5.6 million). The film opened at No. 1 in two countries not exactly favorable to American militarism, China ($4.8 million) and Russia ($4.6 million).
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" earned $31 million worldwide, taking its total to $816 million. The North American total of $274 million was bolstered by a fourth-place $8.9 million weekend. The film was released by Warner Bros. Pictures, a unit of Time Warner Inc.
Besides "G.I. Joe," other new entries in North America included Columbia Pictures' Meryl Streep culinary offering "Julie & Julia" at No. 2 with a tasty $20.1 million, and indie producer Relativity Media's horror-thriller "A Perfect Getaway" at No. 7 with just $5.8 million.
Last weekend's North American champion, the Adam Sandler comedy "Funny People," slid to No. 5 with $7.9 million, taking the 10-day total for the $75 million comedy to a disappointing $40.4 million. The film was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric Co.
"G.I. Joe" stars Channing Tatum and Marlon Wayans as two young soldiers recruited by the international G.I. Joe military force to help save the world. It was directed by Stephen Sommers of "The Mummy" fame.
BAD BUZZ
While based on the venerable Hasbro Inc action figures, the film tips its hat to the multilateral series of dolls relaunched in the 1980s rather than the American-oriented military heroes coveted by boys in the 1960s and 1970s. (G.I. is a generic term for U.S. soldiers.)
Given the wide awareness of the brand, fans were underwhelmed by a trailer that premiered in February during the Super Bowl football championship, the most-watched television event of the year in the United States.
Paramount opted not to screen the movie in advance for critics, a gambit often reserved for box office clunkers. In the end, reviews were predictably bad but not as bad as those for such recent releases as "G-Force" and "The Ugly Truth."
"I think it plays to real people," said Don Harris, executive vice president of distribution at the Viacom Inc-owned studio. "They check their disbelief at the door and have a good time with the movie."
Surveys indicated the film played best in the American heartland -- anywhere "east of Beverly Hills and west of Manhattan island," Harris said. It also was especially popular with Hispanic and black moviegoers, he said.
Overall, male moviegoers accounted for 60 percent of the audience, with an even split either side of 25 years.
Based on the film's better-than-expected $22 million opening on Friday, Paramount had forecast a $60 million weekend. But Saturday sales fell more steeply than expected. Harris said he was not troubled by the decline.
The record for an August opening was set in 2007 by "The Bourne Ultimatum" with $69.3 million, while "Rush Hour 2" kicked off with $67.4 million in 2001, and "Signs" with $60 million in 2002. All ended up with more than $220 million.
Columbia Pictures offered some effective counter-programing with "Julie & Julia," which pulled in older women. Streep plays Julia Child, while Amy Adams stars in a parallel story as a young woman who seeks to replicate the noted TV chef's culinary exploits.
"We're finding that men love it too," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at the Sony Corp-owned studio.
He expected the $38 million film, which was directed by Nora Ephron ("Sleepless in Seattle"), to simmer in theaters for some time.

The destruction of Democracy in Puerto Rico.

The plutocracy that is the government of Luis Fortuño has destroyed all the institutions that protects and helps the people of PR. Today the turn to be dismantled and given to the rich and powerful to dispose of is WIPR, the governments own network.
Dozens of employees were fired as of Friday. Some of them were from the news department.

Here Gloria Soltero, fired from her job after 15 years as anchor, voices the opinion of the staff that was let go.
This went live on the 6 O'Clock news last Friday.

Bride wears a 1.3 mile long wedding dress!

More fun and lunacy from China...

A Chinese bride has attempted to break the world record for the longest wedding dress by walking down the aisle in a 2,162m-long (7,083ft) gown.

Lin Rong's dress was made for her by her husband-to-be, Zhao Peng, and his family in eastern Jilin province.

It took their 200 wedding guests three hours to unroll the fabric and decorate the train with 9,999 silk roses.

Mr Zhao's mother said she knew her son was trying to express his love, but she thought the dress was a waste of money.

"I do not want a cliche wedding parade or banquet," China's Xinhua news agency quoted Mr Zhao as saying.

So instead, he decided he would use his nuptials to challenge the current wedding dress world record of 1,579m (5,180ft), set in the Romanian capital, Bucharest, on 1 April 2009.

Mr Zhao enlisted most of his family to pitch in with his idea, bringing materials, choosing patterns, making silk roses and stitching on jewels on the day, Xinhua said.

His aunt, who conveniently is a dressmaker, had agreed to make the design.

And Mr Zhao's feat did not end once he had tied the knot.

After the event, he cut the dress down to 1,984.1022m, to represent his bride's date of birth, and added 608 crystals, one for every day they had dated.

Mr Zhao said he had submitted his attempt to Guinness World Records in London and would also be sending video footage.

"Both the length of the dress and the number of silk roses pinned on the wedding dress can make history," he said, but added that it did not matter to him whether he was successful or not.

The whole effort cost Mr Zhao about 40,000 yuan ($5,800; £3,470), but his schoolteacher bride was reported to have "laughed and cried at the romantic gesture".

Mr Zhao's mother appeared less impressed.

"It is a waste of money in my opinion," she told Xinhua.

"Though I understand that he wants to show his love on the big day."

The Chinese. Ahh! You have to love them!