tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post1288874250411813200..comments2023-11-03T06:02:02.128-07:00Comments on By Ken Levine: What do JFK, Jerry West, Elmer Bernstein, and Canned Heat have in common?By Ken Levinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17305293821975250420noreply@blogger.comBlogger20125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-10118466531625157222016-03-26T12:13:37.844-07:002016-03-26T12:13:37.844-07:00Geez, what's with the Canned Heat Hate? A nic...Geez, what's with the Canned Heat Hate? A nice rockin' group.mikenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-43507339069964349692016-03-25T12:11:57.770-07:002016-03-25T12:11:57.770-07:00Canned Heat recorded a single with the original Ch...Canned Heat recorded a single with the original Chipmunks in 1968:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g45i9RFvHss<br /><br />Of course, Ken, I've been waiting for years for you to provide just such an opportunity as this post to share this on your blog.Greg Ehrbarhttp://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/category/animation-spin/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-81216627588699380172016-03-25T09:09:04.061-07:002016-03-25T09:09:04.061-07:00I was at the first Wall show. Had 9th row center s...I was at the first Wall show. Had 9th row center seats. They were far better than my friends who were 2nd row center. The stage was so deep they could not see it all. We ALL thought the fire was part of the show. I remember Gilmore and Waters dodging the falling flames of curtain. I also saw U2 4 times there, 2 81 Springsteen shows, last weeks St. Patricks show, Neil and Crazy Horse, and the Who a few times. Greatest "arena" venue for music. Like a mini Forum, which is way too big. Staples is ridiculous. Saw Bruce open it in 99. Worst music venue ever.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03312730555199361581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-9430581468400185672016-03-25T09:02:17.269-07:002016-03-25T09:02:17.269-07:00Ken,
I got home late last night, and just caught...Ken, <br /><br />I got home late last night, and just caught a really cool feature piece on CSN Chicago on how the whole Chicago Bulls' player intro with Alan Parsons' Sirius developed. WLS's Tommy Edwards came up with it, and then Ray Clay did it during the Michael and the Jordanaires run in the 90's.bensonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-19404643282564624952016-03-24T20:34:30.324-07:002016-03-24T20:34:30.324-07:00Like Hollywoodaholic, I too saw Pink Floyd perform...Like Hollywoodaholic, I too saw Pink Floyd perform The Wall at the Sports Arena in 1980. It was actually the last time I was there because shortly after that I moved to San Francisco. I was at the first show. After the first song they shot off fireworks. One of the embers landed in the curtain that was rolled up above the stage. As the show went on the curtain started to smolder and fiery bits of it floated down and the musicians had to dodge them. The giant schoolmaster puppet had fiery eyes and was "looking" in the direction of the curtain so a lot of the audience thought it was part of the show. During the part with the sexual flower they finally stopped the show. The fire department brought down the curtain and put out the fire. It took about 20 minutes to clear the smoke out of the arena, wind back the animation, and restart the show. <br />So sorry to hear they are tearing the old place down. iamr4manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03886388328762709050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-40518317789160193672016-03-24T15:35:23.471-07:002016-03-24T15:35:23.471-07:00"I saw Three Dog Night and once went to a Can..."I saw Three Dog Night and once went to a Canned Heat concert."<br /><br />Too bad TDN was never selected to the R&R HOF. Cory Wells and Jimmy Greenspoon are both gone. They deserve to be in it.<br /><br />"In the ‘80s the Clippers arrived and called the Sports Arena their home.I got season tickets and saw many horrible losses."<br /><br />You ever sit through a 9-73 season like I did with the 1972-73 Sixers? I wasn't in the stands, but watched enough uninspired ball on TV to suffer as much as the people paying to watch it. Amazingly, more than 40 years later, the Sixers are trying not to repeat that feat. Sitting at 9 wins with 10 games to go in the season. <br /><br />"I began trying to launch my sportscasting career so would go to Clipper games to practice announcing basketball. It was great. I had entire sections to myself. No one around for sixty rows."<br /><br />A guy I went to high school with did that at Flyers games. He talked me into doing "color" a couple times. I was horrible. There wasn't a cliche I didn't use. Unfortunately, the stands were packed and everybody heard my bad commentary - and let me know it was bad. Fortunately for my school chum, he only got better - he's now the Sixers play-by-play announcer.<br /><br /><br /><br />MikeK.Pa.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-42761168858378327572016-03-24T15:27:29.639-07:002016-03-24T15:27:29.639-07:00"The only good thing about the Ice Capades fo...<i>"The only good thing about the Ice Capades for me was that on CHEERS when we were looking for something for Eddie Lebec to do after his NHL career was over, I remembered that ice shows employed lots of former hockey players."</i><br /><br />Well, here's another good thing about the Ice Capades. They gave my my grandfather employment. When he left MGM, he worked for a while for the Ice Capades, building sets. (And as a kid, I did enjoy seeing the Ice Capades on Grandpa's free tickets.)<br /><br />The first time I ever saw a real circus in person was the Ringling Brothers Circus at the Sports Arena. So while I never saw a basketball game, or any other sports event there (Except for one fake sports event I'll explain in a moment), that is where I saw Emmett Kelly work live.<br /><br />I'm in the crowd watching the climactic fight in <i>Rocky II</i>, and that sequence was shot in the LA Memorial Sports Arena. So for me, it was the soundstage where I worked on the largest movie I've ever worked on. I met Burgess Meredith there. But I've never been back there since that shoot, 37 years ago.D. McEwannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-52547651513986418012016-03-24T15:01:33.096-07:002016-03-24T15:01:33.096-07:00Just heard the shocking news about Garry Shandling...Just heard the shocking news about Garry Shandling's death. That's so incredibly sad.<br /><br />Ken, did you know him?<br /><br />This is turning into a really awful year for celebrity deaths.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-47643176277665195582016-03-24T14:58:23.215-07:002016-03-24T14:58:23.215-07:00Comedian Garry Shandling died at an L.A. area hosp...Comedian Garry Shandling died at an L.A. area hospital on Thursday ... TMZ has learned.<br />The 66-year-old star was not suffering from any illness ... as far as we know ... so, it appears this was sudden. A source connected to Shandling says he was healthy and speaking to people on Thursday morning.<br />Our source says there was a 911 call from "The Larry Sanders Show" star's home, and he was transported to the hospital. We're told Shandling was alive when he arrived at the hospital.<br /><br /><br />Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2016/03/24/garry-shandling-dead/#ixzz43rOCYbhRemilynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-382358085687212752016-03-24T12:46:16.481-07:002016-03-24T12:46:16.481-07:00Hi Mr Levine, I'm a long time reader but a fir...Hi Mr Levine, I'm a long time reader but a first time commenter.<br />I was wondering if you have seen 11.22.63 (the James Franco TV adaptation of the Stephen King novel) as there is a nice M*A*S*H reference in episode 2.ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14104719032655778922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-76954407420842025302016-03-24T12:38:35.224-07:002016-03-24T12:38:35.224-07:00The most memorable birthday I had was the weekend ...The most memorable birthday I had was the weekend when I turned twenty and through two different sources I saw Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band at the L.A. Sports Arena twice within 48 hours. And on a side note, as far as I'm concerned, as far as I can see, no-one can touch the irreplaceable Chick Hearn for his exciting, exacting play-by-play, his honesty and his playfulness.Still not so Younghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10496820131174550381noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-22230682915816510022016-03-24T12:36:08.011-07:002016-03-24T12:36:08.011-07:00I never understood why they didn’t change their na...<i> I never understood why they didn’t change their name. The franchise was originally in Minnesota where it made more sense. The only lakes I had ever seen in Los Angeles were trout farms. </i><br /><br />Still beats the Utah (nee New Orleans) Jazz. When you think about it from a demographic standpoint, that's even funnier than the Albuquerque Isotopes.J Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15175515543694122729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-54256991832200985182016-03-24T12:27:51.673-07:002016-03-24T12:27:51.673-07:00Canned Heat still exists, with their original rhy...Canned Heat <a href="http://www.cannedheatmusic.com/" rel="nofollow"> still exists</a>, with their original rhythm section.Todd Everetthttp://toddeverett.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-84962203532241944332016-03-24T11:09:22.831-07:002016-03-24T11:09:22.831-07:00Several years ago, the SciFi Channel aired old epi...Several years ago, the SciFi Channel aired old episodes of <i>V</i> from the 1980s, which I would watch for kitsch value. There were some scenes where characters were hiding out in a basketball stadium with a really run-down look and odd lower seating area. I remember thinking it looked like the kind of decrepit, out-of-date place where film companies are allowed to shoot just before it's torn down. Now after seeing the photos in the farewell stories over the past few days, I realize those scenes where filmed at the Sports Arena.Andy Rosenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-48369534550823990512016-03-24T10:48:00.473-07:002016-03-24T10:48:00.473-07:00Ken, are you going to try to cash in on the 1.5 mi...Ken, are you going to try to cash in on the 1.5 million that the State Department is offering for a TV series to combat terrorism?MikeNnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-56962625720218627072016-03-24T10:36:18.244-07:002016-03-24T10:36:18.244-07:00I was in L.A. for the 1984 Olympics, and the creak...I was in L.A. for the 1984 Olympics, and the creaky wooden Sports Arena was home base for volleyball and sundry other events. It really is/was a testament to old school gymnasiums. Even the "luxury boxes" had wooden benches.Howard Hoffmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05377628524697677407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-57902209494809937532016-03-24T09:59:26.698-07:002016-03-24T09:59:26.698-07:00Who are people who've never been in my kitchen...Who are people who've never been in my kitchen??Ralph C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12488657064245017543noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-2068592746096326682016-03-24T08:53:05.965-07:002016-03-24T08:53:05.965-07:00In 1980 Pink Floyd put on the concert for their al...In 1980 Pink Floyd put on the concert for their album "The Wall," which was such an elaborate $8 million show that they only staged it in two locations: L.A. Sports Arena and Nassau Coliseum in New York. I was lucky enough to see the show at the Sports Arena, which was spectacular, featuring 30 foot high puppets, floating pig, crashing airplane, and a 200 foot by 60 foot high wall. And Donald Trump had nothing to do with it.Hollywoodaholichttp://www.hollywoodaholic.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-68247854631004847372016-03-24T08:42:03.986-07:002016-03-24T08:42:03.986-07:00I've been watching Cheers during lunch here in...I've been watching Cheers during lunch here in the forest for the past couple of weeks (thank you Netflix) and coincidentally just yesterday saw "Death Takes a Holiday on Ice" where Eddie LeBec, the ice show penguin, suffers death by Zamboni. I didn't realize it before but I think that was the network debut of Thomas Hayden Church who you used later in Wings (when you nearly strangled him). Funny episode!Barefoot Billy Alohahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04586870309250699505noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19336675.post-66028679071703704242016-03-24T07:16:56.183-07:002016-03-24T07:16:56.183-07:00I feel your pain. You have the Los Angeles Memori...I feel your pain. You have the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, I had Shea Stadium.<br /><br />She was a dump, but she was our dump.dgwphotographyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17457021093344362212noreply@blogger.com