Harvey Korman 1927-2008

Harvey Korman was a comedic genius. I grew up watching the Carol Burnett show with Carol, Tim Conway, and Harvey. There were many, many unforgettable scenes over the years. Some of the best moments happened when one of the threesome would crack-up one of the others. Watching them try and hold it together in order to finish the scene was ridiculous.

very sad - he was greatness

Korman, an Emmy-winning comedic actor best known for playing the self-described "luminous second banana" for a decade on television's "The Carol Burnett Show" and for starring in such Mel Brooks films as "Blazing Saddles," has died. He was 81.

Korman, who had undergone several major operations, died Thursday at UCLA Medical Center of complications from an abdominal aortic aneurysm that ruptured four months ago, his daughter, Kate Korman, told The Times.

With a knack for physical humor and oddball accents, Korman was a master sketch comic who did his best-known work on Burnett's variety show beginning in 1967 in an ensemble that included Tim Conway.

"It's a 45-year friendship," Conway said. "It was a great ride; we worked together probably 30 years, plus the Burnett show, which was about as good as it gets."

Mel Brooks called Korman "a major, major talent, and he could have very easily have done Shakespearean drama. That's how gifted and talented Harvey was. . . . I loved working with him."

Conway said Korman had "a complete understanding of comedy and comedy timing."






Kobe
Kobe was unbelievable again,” Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. “When his team couldn't score, he just took over and made some great shots. He proved he's the best player in the league.”

Said Walton: “Some of those plays down the stretch were like, ‘Thank God he's on our team.'”

For the second time in the series, the Lakers overcame a huge deficit to beat the Spurs. They trailed by 17 points early in the second quarter, but Bryant helped cut into that with seven points in the last 3:38 of the quarter.

“We wanted to cut the deficit to a manageable (amount) by halftime,” Bryant said. “And in the second half, we stepped on the gas.”

Once the Spurs had been left in his fumes, Bryant met with his most famous irritant, Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, after the game. Bowen's defensive tactics had drawn sarcastic comments from Lakers coach Phil Jackson throughout the series and had caused Bryant to throw up his hands at the officials more than once, but there appeared to be no hard feelings when the series was over.

“There is a tremendous amount of respect for one another,” Bowen said. “I said he deserves all of the things he's received this year.”



I guess the Detroit Press is bored with the Cup Finals
Can you identify the following eight Red Wings by just their pearly whites?



Sir Paul teams up with Dave Grohl
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl is to join Paul McCartney onstage at the former Beatle's Liverpool gig this weekend (June 1).

The two frontmen will team up at Anfield Stadium gig on Sunday, held as part of the celebrations for Liverpool's European Capital Of Culture accolade.

It is not yet known which song the two will collaborate on.




Sonic Youth was (and probably still is) a very underappreciated band in the music scene of the late 80's-early 90's. They often are forgotten among the more popular bands of the Seattle scene. Yet, almost every group lists them as an influence.
Sonic Youth bio

For almost 30 years, Sonic Youth has been one of the most influential and innovative bands in the rock topography. The band’s story is fully being told in the much-deserved biography, Goodbye 20th Century (Da Capo). Author David Browne, who has followed the band since Bad Moon Rising appeared on his desk as a promo in 1985 and interviewed the group on several occasions, said Sonic Youth was open to being the subject of a biography. “They said, ‘Sure, whenever you want to talk to us, let us know,’” recalls Browne. Browne not only talks to all four members of SY at length, but many of the artists, musicians and actors whose careers were fostered by the band as well. “The interesting thing about the Sonic Youth story to me, outside of their music and career, is that they’re probably one of the most influential bands in rock history but not in the normal way you measure influence,” says Browne. “Their influence is in that you can make this weird music and make a career and sustain yourself, but also in the way you see the impact of the people they’ve brought along.” That includes former collaborators like director Spike Jonze, artists Raymond Pettibone and Richard Prince and actress Chloe Sevigny. They also mentored artists like Nirvana and Beck.

Steve Tyler's strange trip into rehab?




Interesting story on David Byrne
The project Mr. Byrne has created with support from the public-art organization Creative Time is a kind of twist on the projects Creative Time has brought into being since it started helping artists use the city as a canvas in 1974. Often the organization finds dilapidated, neglected, historically rich buildings, and artists create installations inside, as the British artist Mike Nelson did last year when he turned a wing of the Essex Street Market on the Lower East Side into a dimly lighted labyrinth. The ferry-terminal project, called, appropriately enough, “Playing the Building,” opens at noon on Saturday.

But in the case of Mr. Byrne — a founder of the Talking Heads who has been a visual artist as long as he has been a musician and producer — the Beaux-Arts terminal itself has become the installation, or at least a stunning, 9,000-square-foot part of it that once served as a soaring waiting room for passengers who came there to board ferries bound for South Brooklyn. The building has been one of those glorious Manhattan antiques caught in a decades-long time warp, not used for major ferry service since 1938. Plans to have it house everything from a children’s museum to a dance troupe to even Creative Time’s offices have fallen through over the years, and now a developer has been chosen to rehabilitate the terminal and build a hotel atop it.

At least for the next two and a half months, though, the building will simply serve as a gargantuan cast-iron orchestra. Besides being fitted with several motors, which produce the bass sounds by vibrating a set of girders that once supported a stained-glass skylight in the 40-foot-high ceiling, the organ is attached to a pump that blows air through a tangle of hoses. These hoses snake into the huge room’s old water and heating pipes and conduits, making primitive flute sounds. And then there are more than a dozen spring-loaded solenoids, attached like woodpeckers to the columns and even to a linebacker-size radiator that emits a surprisingly sonorous tone when struck in just the right place with a metal rod.

Greg is not happy...again

IRVING – Dallas Cowboys outside linebacker Greg Ellis will not participate in the last day of organized team activities today because he's upset with his repetitions being reduced in practice, sources said.

Ellis missed the first two days of OTAs this week and doesn't plan on coming back to practice at Valley Ranch unless he gets more repetitions.

More Cowboys
Last week, the Cowboys told Ellis some of his practice time would be reduced to give 2007 first-round pick Anthony Spencer more time on the field. The Cowboys like Spencer's speed and intelligence, and coach Wade Phillips praised his performance in practice Wednesday. But Phillips said Ellis remains the starter.







Detroit papers are happy the Pens won?

Pitts take









Spurs need help from above

Stars resign Daley

I still believe Daley might be better as a forward. He can really skate. As a defenseman, he is not great with the puck and has not exhibited a ton of hockey smarts.

This is a bunch of money for a 3rd line d-man. At least he is young.

Terence Newman on Roy Williams (4:30 mark he speaks about Roy).

Tampa Bay newspaper on Josh Hamilton



This is getting ridiculous. He makes the cover of SI and "breaks out" of his longest RBI dry spell of the season - all of four games. He now has 58 RBIs in 53 games.

Welcome

This is my first attempt at blogging. I hope to comment on many things. Though, I am more inclined to speak on sports and music. Let's just hope I can manage to write something fairly stimulating.