Randy "The Unit" Johnson Turns Pro Again For Soundgarden!

Randy Johnson, left; Chris Cornell, right, just in case a few of you really have been living under a rock for 20 years.

From SPIN Magazine:

"BIG UNIT, BIG SHOW"

"Photographers working the pit for Soundgarden's comeback set at the recent Lollapalooza festival in Chicago were joined by a very special, if unexpected guest: Baseball legend Randy Johnson, aka "the Big Unit," a veteran of 22 seasons in the big leagues, with 302 career victories, five Cy Young Awards as the game's best pitcher, and a World Series ring with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001.

"Soundgarden, old pals of Johnson's from his days pitching for the Seattle Mariners in the late-'80s and '90s, invited the 6'10" hurler to hang out with them at Lollapalooza, and Johnson brought along his camera gear to document the band's big night.

"Here, Johnson shares his favorite shots from the gig, and tells SPIN.com about how he met Soundgarden—SPIN's current cover stars—back in 1989 and ended up in their Lolla entourage this year."

Interview by Peter Gaston

The 46 year-old catches some air...

Chris Cornell. Yes, he's singing "Jesus Christ Pose"

[Nancy:]

I've been dying to see what Randy's pics looked like. He filmed the Vic show, partly in front of us--while I was thinking, "They couldn't have hired a shorter videographer?" and one of my companions was saying, "Hey, that guy looks just like Randy Johnson!" to which we rolled our eyes. Oops. Sorry, Arthur. Randy also took some GREAT shots at Lolla for Spin Magazine. My favorite is actually one of Matt:

My personal drumming inspiration, Matt Cameron, last seen signing my Lolla Mag in 1996 at a gas station outside of the Gorge at George in WA. The pen he used had a pic of a little Siamese cat taped to it. Luckily, he didn't notice.

SPIN: "Johnson was stoked to share his photos with the band, after Lollapalooza. "Everybody in the Soundgarden camp has liked them," Johnson says. "I sent them to Kim, and he sent them to [drummer] Matt [Cameron] and [bassist] Ben [Shepherd]. And they all liked the shots. I think it was maybe something more than what they expected, which is a compliment to me."

Cameron might even use some of the shots for an upcoming drum endorsement, Johnson said."

Kim Thayil

BACK IN 1989...

"... Randy Johnson got traded from the Montreal Expos to the Seattle Mariners, right around the time the Emerald City was giving birth to some of the '90s biggest bands, including Soundgarden.

"'I listened to all types of music, and obviously when I got to Seattle I was very much aware of the music scene there,' Johnson recalls. 'And Kim [Thayil, Soundgarden's guitarist, pictured above] is a very familiar face with the black beard. I saw him on the big screen in the KingDome where we were playing a baseball game that night, so I figured he must be a baseball fan.'"

Kim Thayil on left, Ben Shepherd on right. Our "team" was down in front of Ben and had a blast with him!

"'I made my way to a Soundgarden concert that year while the baseball season was still going. And I met their manager at the time, whoever that was [This is a hysterical pot-shot if you know the history of Chris or the band--Nancy], and I just explained who I was,' Johnson says.

"'My name's Randy Johnson and I play for the Seattle Mariners. I saw Kim Thayil on the Jumbotron and I'd like to invite him to come down to the ballpark and take some batting practice if he wants.'

"'I left my number, and within a couple of days he got back to me and I arranged him and, actually he brought Ben Shepherd, the bass player, down with him to the dome, and they took batting practice and had a good time.'"

"REUNITED"

"After retiring from baseball in 2009, just after notching his 300th career win as a pitcher—a milestone only 23 other players have achieved—Johnson returned to Seattle at the start of the 2010 season to be honored by his former team. It just so happened that Soundgarden was about to end their retirement at the exact same time.

"'Kim had asked me to come down to a studio where they were rehearsing,' says Johnson. 'And this was several days before they did that unannounced first show of theirs at the Showbox in Seattle. Unfortunately, the day before they played that show, I had to leave to go to Japan, so I wasn't able to make it, but I watched them rehearse one night in Seattle and got caught up with all them, told them all good luck.'

"'Kim told me shortly after that visit that they were going to be doing Lollapalooza and headlining, and I told him that I'd like to come,' Johnson says. 'My schedule worked out great—I flew from Baltimore to Chicago the morning of the Lollapalooza show, hooked up with Kim and his girlfriend, put my suitcase down, and drove over to the venue with those guys and hung out, said hi to a lot of people, and then took pictures.'"

Bravo, Baseball Legend!!

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If I've told you once...

...I've told you a thousand times. Ross Halfin takes the best rock pictures out there, period. Who else (behind a lens) can get a look like this out of a Cornell portrait?



No one I know...




June 13, 2009 Download Festival




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Dear FB: Salaam means PEACE in Arabic

Letter to one of several friends who could no longer find me on Facebook and feared I had unfriended her:

Dear L___ ,

Sorry to scare you--I've had a few e-mails...

I suspended the entire account due to the hate-posts I was getting or reading on other friend's pages. I was just so tired of the Obama-bashing and then when the mosque/Muslim hate started going, I was so upset I had to leave. It was either that or unfriend 90% of my friends--mostly for what THEIR friends were saying. I couldn't let it roll off my back any more.

The final breaking point was when one woman equated people that would go to the mosque proposed near ground zero as "the same as letting sex offenders set up practice next to an elementary school." I nearly threw up when I read that. So now Muslims that had NOTHING to do with 9/11 and just want to worship God are not only automatically terrorists but also sex offenders and, in another comment by someone else, Nazis?

After 25 years of studying Middle East and American history, 15 years of studying Arabic, a year of living with these wonderful, caring people in Cairo, and all the Arab-American friends I have (on FB also) I couldn't stand it. It has become a platform of ignorance and hate, and it broke my heart.

I still get hate e-mails from my blog, which is where I took refuge with my opinions, but they are only a few a day and I can handle them better.

I didn't cancel FB entirely--I just have to wait till this blows over and figure out how to handle friends I love that have all Muslims confused with 11 sick-ass men that were not in ANY way religious. They may have called themselves that, but no Muslim I have ever met considers them anything but hate-filled crazy men--NOT Muslims.

We have Christians commit mass murders all the time in our country but we do not fear Christianity (well, I do) but the fear of Muslims is being exploited by the press and by campaigners to an extend that I had to almost completely isolate myself.

Tomorrow, for example, I am going to dinner with relatives who are right-wing religious Republicans. It's hard enough for them that my dad is a gay activist--though they treat him with complete respect. You know me, I plan to wear my white tee that has the huge word "peace" on it--in Arabic.

So if you need me I'll be on e-mail and my blog. I just can't take the hate and misinformation anymore. I just didn't want to keep finding out the hard way which of my friends were racists. I've spent my entire adult life fighting those stereotypes with school and personal experience, but in the end, the opposition overwhelmed me. Now they can hate without me constantly commenting on it.

You can see, I'm obviously still worked up about the whole issue (since I can't block the news) so that is why FB was not the place for me anymore.

I did announce it before I left but once I suspended it, people can't see me and just think I unfriended them. In fact, this was the only way I could think of to save those friendships.

Love you,

Nancy

Salaam means peace in Arabic. In case anyone wondered. And no, the person modeling this t-shirt was not be-headed by extremists.

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Hottest Act of 2010--We Salute You!

Chris Cornell at the beginning of the Lollapalooza set, Aug 8, 2010.

Chris Cornell at the end of the Lollapalooza set, Aug 8, 2010. Can you spot the differences?

'Twas a hot motherfucker out there Sunday night...

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Yes!! But my neighbors would NEVER agree...

This pic is 2 yrs old and funny. Can't see concrete anymore...

Franklin considers 'natural lawn' idea
By Tom Kertscher of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Aug. 18, 2010 5:46 p.m. (26) Comments

Franklin - The Common Council might allow residents to grow "natural lawns" - those containing "common species of grass and wild flowers native to North America which are designed and purposefully cultivated to exceed 12 inches in height from the ground."

The council has asked the city Environmental Commission to examine the issue. The commission is scheduled to discuss the matter Aug. 25.

Residents would have to apply to the city to have a natural lawn and get consent from abutting neighbors - unless the resident could show the city that the lawn would be screened by an "opaque fence or row of continuous shrubs," according to a memo from a city planner.

Let 'em grow!!!

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Right Turn w/Layne Staley (AIC), Chris Cornell and Mark Arm of Mudhoney

A.K.A. Alice Mudgarden

Inside always trying to get back inside
But it's so hard to penetrate pig-thick skin
I'm 'bout as low as I can get
I'd leave but I can't forget
Still I wonder why it, it ain't right?
It ain't right, ain't right, it ain't right, yeah
'Bout as low as she can get
She'll leave me but she won't forget
And she wonders why she ain't right?
She ain't right, ain't right, she ain't right
Now we're as low as we can get
Can't leave and can't forget
We ain't right, we ain't right, not right, we ain't right
Well it's hard to believe that somebody tricked you (Well it's hard to believe that somebody tricked you) (Ain't right)
When you can see you were only high (When you can see you were only high) (We ain't right)
It's all up to you so you gamble (It's all up to you so you gamble) (We ain't right)
Flat on your face and into the fire (Flat on your face and into the fire) (We ain't right)
Well it's hard to believe that somebody tricked you (We ain't right)
(Well it's hard to believe that somebody tricked you) (We ain't right)
When you can see you were only high (We ain't right) (When you can see you were only high)
It's all up to you so you gamble (It's all up to you so you gamble) (We ain't right)
Flat on your face and into the fire (Flat on your face) (It's all up to you so you gamble) (We ain't right)


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Are we having fun yet? Comments on "The Anti-Social Network"

Anonymous commenter "K":

Nancy,
Posting anything political on FB is not going to win many friends. Political nonsense is divisive and if there were consensus, then we probably would be living in a dictatorship, something I'm sort of opposed to, and offended by, being an American. When someone posts a benign comment, it's best to take it that way versus turning someone's commentary into a hate-fest. I neither hate Muslims nor any religion, regardless of whether I call myself a Christian. It seems that for all the painstaking defense of other religions, Liberals have taken to criticizing Christians at every turn as fanatical. Actually, I don't care because it's kind of amusing, to be quite honest. But to some, who aren't able to see the hypocrisy, it is offensive. And yet, no one seems to care. When I complained about an exhibit at a local gallery which displayed Christ with someone urinating on him, I was told that free expression is "artistic". And though you might be one of those who believe that as well, it's actually quite sickening and would not be tolerated if it were anyone else's religious symbol. So, I'm glad that there are people like you who are out there defending other religions, but actually, this country was built on the foundation of Christianity and so be it. For those that want to join other religions or no religion, there are ways to do that and still respect the majority who are Christian.

There is nothing inherently wrong in being a Christian. Fanatics are present in every religion (and political party)and so is hypocrisy. Enjoying political commentary whether it be Glenn Beck or Jon Stewart does not inherently make you a "hater" or "fanatic" or "anti-social". You cannot defend someone's rights only when it is convenient to your belief system. Everyone has the right to believe what they wish.

As for my suggestion which you found "physically sickening", it really was a benign comment. Being a horse lover, it might be hard for you to pass a slaughter house for horses everyday or a battered Women's shelter next to a prison. These might be emotional issues for you. Other people too, have valid emotions that should be respected. At what point do we decide whose emotions are to be respected? I vote for those who are citizens of our country.

I have found, that Liberal ideology is really a lack of the human experience. Gun control for instance, might make sense when you listen to the Liberal dogma, but when you are being held at gunpoint by a stranger, you might wish you had a gun. To suggest though, that your opinion on any matter is the correct one, is one of egocentricity. An opinion is based on whatever nonsense you listen to as well, whether it's Michael Moore or any network news that presents illegals as "victims". Regardless of whether people want to flee their country, there are legal processes and it would be illegal in any country to sneak in and collect benefits, not just ours. Having an opinion that all illegals should come in freely might be interesting fodder for discussion but regardless it is against the present law, despite the current president.But that's a whole other discussion.

August 18, 2010 1:36 PM

My response:

To my anonymous friend K,

I strongly recommend you start your own blog.

Comparing law-abiding Muslim worshippers to sex offenders still makes me physically ill. These people have NOT committed any crime, and wish only to exercise their right to freedom of religion, in a mosque that was there before 9/11 even occurred. THAT--freedom of Religion--is what America was founded on--not Christianity. We got sick of being pushed around by the Church of England and therefore founded our own country (on Native American lands) to do so. So we had to kill a few Indians--it was worth it. They were Luddites, really.

Finally, this political discourse is as much nonsense as a debate over the constitution. I will continue to work to destroy appalling stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims as long as I live, just as I do for gays (oh no, more sex offenders!) and other groups maligned due to lack of education in this country. I'm not doing it to win or keep friends. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do, and I'll do it alone if it comes to that. That does not bother me in the least.

August 18, 2010 7:37 PM

Muslims do not equal sex offenders. Just wanted to repeat that, make sure we're clear on that one. Thanks. Read more!

Comments from Aug 17: News Outlets Split

This Ground Zero worker, Bob Pernal, is NOT the anonymous commenter, as far as I know. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Anonymous commenter:
I've been to the WTC, there were no strip joints next door despite what libs want to use as an excuse.

My response:
Well, we knew you might get suspicious, so a few weeks ago we rushed up there and created a few building facades to make the article appear more convincing. But you're too clever for us Libs! Getting the businesses listed in the NYC Yellow Pages at such late notice cost us a small fortune, but we used all our hoarded welfare payments and made it happen!



From FACT CHECK: Islam already part of WTC neighborhood

THE FACTS:

No mosque is going up at ground zero. The center would be established at 45-51 Park Place, just over two blocks from the northern edge of the sprawling, 16-acre World Trade Center site. Its location is roughly half a dozen normal Lower Manhattan blocks from the site of the North Tower, the nearest of the two destroyed in the attacks.

The center's location, in a former Burlington Coat Factory store, is already used by the cleric for worship, drawing a spillover from the imam's former main place for prayers, the al-Farah mosque. That mosque, at 245 West Broadway, is about a dozen blocks north of the World Trade Center grounds.

Another, the Manhattan Mosque, stands five blocks from the northeast corner of the World Trade Center site.

To be sure, the center's association with 9/11 is intentional and its location is no geographic coincidence. The building was damaged in the Sept. 11 attacks and the center's planners say they want the center to stand as a statement against terrorism.

[Scary Muslim!] Guests listen as President Barack Obama speaks at an iftar dinner, the meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk fast for Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan, in the State Dining Room at the White House in Washington, Friday, Aug. 13, 2010. For over a billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time of intense devotion and reflection. Obama emphasized the American tenet of religious freedom just as New York City is immersed in a deeply sensitive debate about whether a mosque should be built near the site of the World Trade Center that was destroyed during the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Don't Laugh

Pygmy Jerboa after the leap...

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Soundgarden in SPIN--"Full Access"

Photo by Francesco Carrozzini

Soundgarden: Alive in the Superunknown By David Peisner

This is one of the best in-depth articles I've seen in a long time. Extensive quotes from Ben, who's been having shit for luck; Kim, who likes to sleep as much as I do; Matt, who confirms his loyalties to Pearl Jam; Chris, who speaks the least but, as usual, speaks honestly; and surprisingly, Susan Silver, Cornell's ex-wife and ex-manager.

The most interesting part was that Cornell's January 1 tweet:

"The 12-year break is over and school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!" was actually misinterpreted as a reunion announcement for the band.

"As Thayil tells me later, 'We're not the Knights of the Soundtable, that was our fan club. We were just re-upping it with the new website. But the rumors generated offers. The demand was overwhelming. I wouldn't say we acquiesced, but we kind of warmed to the idea.'"

And thank God for that.


Cornell and Matt with SG at Lollapalooza

As far as this fan is concerned, I'm grateful for anything that comes along, and most certainly for the once-in-a-lifetime moments, from the rail at Lollapalooza, where Laurie and I played with a very outgoing Ben Shepherd from the stage above--to the intimate (and slightly bone-crushing) gig at the 1400-seat Vic Theatre, also in Chicago.

Anything else is just icing on the cake. Read more!