the arts, in many forms

The quote from Nietszche pretty much sums it all up.  I've often said that marijuana & music are two common denominators that I've seen universally unite people of ALL backgrounds.

Movies transcend our lives, taking us to places we've either never been or to which we long to return.  We'll offer our thoughts on classic movies we can't get enough of as well as offerings currently in theaters.

Live music, particularly on a local level, brings us to life!  There's something about the energy of a crowd and the power musicians have to captivate while they entertain.  

Nothing quite like having a book to keep you company, huh?  Words on a page open up worlds that most of us never knew existed.  Getting lost in 500 pages of Keith Richards' autobiography filled my soul.

We are currently looking for contributors for our Television section.  If you watch current programming or binge watch series at a time and would be interested in providing feedback, we'd love to have you on our team.  Please email mrpaglia@gmail.com for more information. Thank you. 

The first I'd ever heard of Too Short was when I was deployed to Saudi Arabia.  My soldiers were over the moon excited about a new rap artist, who's 1990 release "Short Dog's in the House" was available in our mobile PX.  For as much rap music as I'd consumed up to that point in my life, I didn't give Too Short a shot.

My experience with rap music in 1990 was still relatively limited; I listened to RUN D-M-C and my brother turned me on to artists like Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow and LL Cool J, and I absolutely adored the Beastie Boys.

It wasn't until I was stationed in Texas (of all unlikely places) that I began to truly discover the genre.  My soldiers introduced me to Public Enemy - Welcome to the Terrordome - and I really never looked back.  While living in the Lone Start State surrounded me with country music (with which I also became enamored), leading a platoon of mostly African-American soldiers encouraged me to identify more with them and a culture that truly opened my eyes.

In its infancy, satellite radio was a mystery to me.  I knew that it was commercial free and that it offered a limitless base for content, but the details of the medium didn't matter much.  It wasn't until Howard Stern announced his departure from terrestrial radio that I became interested. 

To say that I was enthralled would be an understatement; from the moment I first tuned in I was hooked.  Sirius used to have a station - Channel 12 - called Super Shuffle, that was maybe the most eclectic mix of music I'd ever heard!  One minute you'd hear Prince and then the next song would be Frank Sinatra, followed immediately by Motorhead.  Crazy good stuff.

Even though I roamed around the channels from time to time, I pretty much only listened to Howard.  

Two elements I loved about Sirius early on were the ability listeners have to pause live content and the ease of taking my receiver with me everywhere I went.  Unlike traditional AM/FM radio, I never had to worry about losing Howard on 105.9 The X after I passed through the first set of tunnels on the Turnpike.

From the years 2006-2020, Howard Stern was satellite radio for me.  His interviews were amazing, his staff was dysfunctional at best, and Stern possessed a world view to which I could relate.  He recommended a fellow named Dr. John Sarno, whose book "Healing Back Pain:  The Mind/Body Connection" absolutely changed my life. 

After Covid hit, however, I soured on Howard.  His shows in the spring of 2020 rang hollow, and the disjointed nature of him trying to broadcast from mulitple locations never really hit home for me.  So I quit Howard, and SiriusXM.

Because my 2023 KIA Forte came with free SiriusXM, I started to listen again, not to Howard (at all), but to the entire offering.  I shouldn't have been, but I was amazed with the music channels, with so much content that I couldn't imagine ever having time to listen to even a portion of it.

As you may imagine for a 58 year old, I gravitate toward 70s on 7, 80s on 8, and of course Classic Rewind.  Deep Cuts always has some amazing tunes that, quite frankly, I often forget I know, while a station like Pearl Jam Radio offers absolutely limitless content.

The only complaint I've ever really had about the medium is some of their on-air talent.

Satellite radio's main attraction for me (other than Howard) has always been commercial free music programming.  There's a definite benefit of having one song after another blend in to each other without having to hear a vapid DJ blather on and on about nothing.

That said, I've never been a fan of SiriusXM on air "personalities" like Madison, who can't hear enough of her own voice.  It'd be nice if she actually had something constructive and creative to say, but she doesn't.  Alan Hunter doesn't either for that matter.  Too much hot air.

And then I discovered Rock the Bells. 

Rock the Bells is a channel on SiriusXM dedicated to LL Cool J, and features rap artists and songs from the earliest days of the genre to right now.  Although I stick to a dozen or so regular channels, RTB is easily one of my favorites.

I've been able to hear great older rap songs like "Jam On It" and "Rock the Bells" as well as be introduced to artists I'd heard of but never really heard, like Wu-Tang Clan, Slick Rick, and my current favorite, Ice Cube.

For me, the artists with dedicated shows on RTB - save for Roxanne Shante - are breaths of fresh air, offering insights into the evolution of rap music.  Yesterday, on "Salute the Sample", LL, Greg Nice, and DJ Z-Trip were playing and admiring The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and singing George Martin's praises.  Great entertainment!

And then there's Too Short, who's weekly offering "Don't Stop Rappin'", is as creative as it is raw & real.  Each week's theme varies, and Too Short tends to draw everything together by weaving simply enthralling stories about his life.  He punctuates poignant memories with just enough profanity to keep it both interesting and humorous.  Too Short always seems to recognize everyone who has helped him get to where his is today.

Although I'm still not as familiar with his music as I should be, Too Short is one personality with whom I'd like to share some time ... and maybe a cone or two!

Gazarik offers a look into the New Kensington mafia, their stranglehold on the Kiski Valley during the early part of the Twentieth Century, and their involvement in a harebrained plot that involved stealing military weapons and selling them to Fidel Castro, who was leading a revolt of Cuba.

Gazarik does an impeccable job of painting a picture, recalling not only the affairs of the mafia in New Kensington, but also the major impact that Alcoa had in shaping that community and the entire Pittsburgh region.  Like so many blue collar towns, New Ken was shaped by industry, with their residents relying on the jobs and the life that those jobs helped them to create. 

Anyone who grew up in southwestern Pennsylvania in the 1930s through the 1960s probably knew a mafioso or two since "The Mob" ruled with an iron fist in many, many communities, operating behind the scenes and fronting legitimate businesses to launder their money.  New Kensington, in those days, was run by the Mannarino family, specifically brothers Sam and Kelly. 

From the Publisher: “Western Pennsylvania’s New Kensington was in the grips of Mafia control throughout the 1950s, with a bevy of bookie joints, gambling casinos and brothels. An outgrowth of the Pittsburgh mob, New Kensington’s Costa Nostra ordered a group of Mafiosi to break into a National Guard station in Ohio and steal a shipment of weapons. The guns were destined for Fidel Castro, who was waging guerrilla war in Cuba. The Pittsburgh Mafia was hoping to get on Castro’s good side if he won the war to secure the reopening of gambling casinos. From a daring heist in Canada to Swiss bank accounts and CIA informants, this infamous gunrunning scheme was a high-speed saga of international intrigue. Join author Richard Gazarik as he presents a harrowing historical narrative of the criminal underworld of Western Pennsylvania.”

Although Monessen is mentioned several times in a few chapters, Gazarik makes no actual ties to Hugo Parente (a legitimate mobster) or the Motown Mafia and the gunrunning.  The author does a magnificent job referencing former local publications like The Charleroi Mail and The Monessen Independent, the two publications that would eventually merge to become The Valley Independent.

I've heard it said that Hugo Parente was Monessen because he worked with so many regional and national "politicians" to get shit done in our city.  Parente, it's been said, was unwielding in his power, crushing any opponent who tried to stand in his way.

While it all sounds so romantic, my conclusion is that Hugo Parente, to put it mildly, wasn't such a good human being at his core.

One former leader of our community, a person I held in very high regard, told me a disturbing first-hand account of what kind of guy Parente really was.  It sickened me to my stomach.

You keep all those notions about how great things were when the mafia ruled relentlessly; I'll remember them as immature punks, who would have rather bent the rules to suit their fancy than to play by them like the rest of us.  

From IMDB:  Lightning and Thunder, a Milwaukee husband and wife Neil Diamond tribute act, experience soaring success and devastating heartbreak in their musical journey together.

Directed by Craig Brewer ("Coming 2 America", "Black Snake Moan", "Hustle & Flow"), based on a 2008 documentary of the same, and starring Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman at their absolute best, this two hour and thirteen minute film moves quickly, always keeping the audience on the edge of our seats.

In and of itself, "Song Sung Blue" has nothing to do with Neil Diamond.  That said, it features a few of Diamond's lesser known songs, all of which are brought to the screen in exceptionally soulful ways thanks to the unforgettable performances of Hudson and Jackman.  One of my favorite inclusions has to be "Holly Holy", which takes on an entirely different meaning when performed via karaoke in a Chinese restaurant!

From the moment she appears on the screen, Kate Hudson had me hooked.  She came across, in both looks and attitude, like just about every mom I knew in the late '80s and early '90s.  Her exuberance for life is overshadowed only by her desire to help Hugh Jackman's character, Mike, succeed.

Hudson's Claire is a strong, confident woman, whose life - like the movie itself - is a continuous rollercoaster ride,  She weathers every storm and shines on like a diamond.  I expect that Hudson will be nominated for many, many awards in 2026.

While Michael "Christopher" Imperioli and Fisher Stevens (remember him?) excel in their performances as Mark Sharilla and Dr. Dave Watson, respectively, it was two actors I don't know who really did it for me.

Ella Anderson as Clair's daughter Rachel commands attention on the screen.  She pouts and preens at times, but once her character begins to develop, Anderson truly shows her acting chops. As with all the other characters, Rachel must navigate life while her mother struggles to do the same.  She must be both daughter and sister, all the while trying to figure out her own crazy existence.

The real scene stealer, however, is Mustafa Shakir, who portrays "Sex Machine", a James Brown interpreter, who makes the absolute most of every minute he's on the screen.  Shakir, a relative newcomer who lists 56 acting credits on IMDB, possesses Brown's presence and swagger impeccably, and made me wish that he'd have had at least a couple more scenes.

My wife & I have sat through very few movies that offer the type of emotional ups and downs that this movie does.  In addition to hooking me right from the opening scene, "Song Sung Blue" has more than a few moments that shook me to my core.

One minute Mike & Claire are being joined on stage by Eddie Vedder, then, in an instant, their lives are turned tumultuously upside down.  Then there's hope, which quickly fades, only to return once again with the promise of brighter days.

Through it all, however, each character develops in such a way that I couldn't help falling in love with most of them, leaving me with a real sense of family as I walked out of the theater.

Although I don't give stars or thumbs up, I'd go to see this move again in the theater.  It moved us that much.  Do yourself a favor and give it a try.