Neal Grab-bag

A Few Quickies:

Yikes, I'm busy as hell and have no time to write, but here are some little things you should read, look at or laugh at. Or all three.

Local Buzz the Valley cyber-magazine, has a great follow-up article to the TV and magazine coverage I alerted you to the other day about Congressman Richard Neal (above with Hillary). It is also a fine example of internet journalism at it's best, as I noted after the article in the comments section:

Your article is exactly the kind of follow-up to the TV show that The Republican or the local TV stations should have done. In fact, I think it is superior to anything they would have done had they attempted to cover it. Of course I am a frequent critic of the way Neal is covered in the local media. For example, when people like Francis Keough and Ray Asselin went to prison, no mainstream coverage would have led anyone to understand that both were close longtime associates of Neal.

Anyway, this Local Buzz article is exactly the kind of coverage Neal (and all our local pols) should receive routinely, and we would have better local government if they did. It pleases me that first rate journalism such as you have done here puts the lie to the claim that the internet can't fill in for the fading traditional media, which in the case of politicians such as Richard Neal, never did a good job of covering him in the first place.


The Other Richard Neal

By the way, did you know that there is a Richard Neal in England who is famous for making plaster casts of people's bodies?

Richard Neal is one of Britain’s leading life-casters and his work is internationally recognized within this unique art form.

It is held in various private collections in Great Britain, Europe, Canada and the USA and is also represented in the only two Lifecasting museums in America. It can be produced in bronze, gypsum, ceramics and molten pewter with its amazing finish. His work has been described as original, exclusive, stylish, and unique.

His alternative approach to lifecasting, opens up the opportunity to people, who in their eyes, may not be the perfect shape. Richard’s inventive methods, can if required, minutely, delicately, and of course, discreetly, enhance the piece to make them more aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

In other words, he'll fudge it if need be to make things look better than they really are. Hey, maybe there is not as much difference in the two Richard Neals as you might think!

Of course England's Richard Neal is not the most famous plaster caster.

Cynthia Plaster Caster and her partner Diane, known collectively as the Plaster Casters of Chicago, were self-proclaimed groupies who made a career out of making plaster casts of famous rock stars’ dongs and fun bags. The Plaster Casters began their career in 1968 and continue molding today, casting the appendages of musicians like Keith Moon, Jello Biafra and Jimi Hendrix (the largest in the collection). A 2001 documentary entitled Plaster Caster has captured the service provided by these ladies for posterity and Kiss wrote a song about them called, cleverly, “Plaster Caster.”

Hey, a girl's gotta make a living somehow! 

Bo Update

Massachusetts comedy sensation Bo Burnham has a new CD out, with a promotional video that tells you in eight simple steps how you too can be a YouTube star!

 

Death March

I kept hearing about this weird anti-war protest that took place in Northampton last week, with people walking in eerie white masks. Finally a video has surfaced of the solemn procession. 

 

Luke Update

Late yesterday afternoon I stopped into Sam's in downtown Hamp where a newly clean-cut Luke Averill was playing. I don't know who the piano player is.

Today's Video

And here's yet another funny video promoting Bay State homeboy Bo Burnham's new CD.