In recognition of the tragic deaths of WWE superstar Chris Benoit and his family, Frank151 decided to do a little investigative journalism, and apparently professional wrestling is the most dangerous form of sports entertainment. According to Gary Will’s Deceased Pro Wrestlers webpage, many of the athletes involved in pro wrestling die young. Until visiting Gary Will’s website we had no idea that Bam Bam Bigelow had died earlier this year. Check out the site for more comprehensive info - Deceased Pro Wrestlers - A tribute to Mat Stars of the Past

The ongoing saga of the Bong Hits 4 Jesus court case, has finally reached the Supreme Court, and the verdict is in. The Supreme Court has ruled 6-3 against students rights to free speech when it comes to advocating illegal drug use. The case was filed by a student who had been suspended for 10 days after displaying a banner that read “Bong Hits 4 Jesus”. The student claims that the banner was a “joke” and he didn’t intend to promote drug use (yeah right). In dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens said, “This case began with a silly nonsensical banner, (and) ends with the court inventing out of whole cloth a special First Amendment rule permitting the censorship of any student speech that mentions drugs, so long as someone could perceive that speech to contain a latent pro-drug message.”  He should have just made a sign that read “Waterpipe Hits 4 Jesus”. [full story via CNN]  

Mark Ronson’s new album gives quite a bit of insight into his ever-apparent English accent. English exports Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen shine on this disc. In fact, it’s full of cover tunes soaked in many London-esque flavors. Hints of English style Oi! and Ska music even pop up in the backing layers. The music is true R&B music though. R&B the way the Beatles were R&B (see the track “Amy” featuring Kenna). It’s full of live instrumentation, and smooth groove. NYC mainstay Santo Gold (AKA Santi White) makes a guest appearance too, in a psychedelic-stew called “Pretty Green”. It all feels like a rainy, misty London romp, which is a nice fit. The production is stellar, with many styles apparent, and very few boundaries un-crossed. Mark’s last album proved he can make very good Hip-Hop music, and this one proves he can make very good music, period. Ronson shows, once again, he’s not all celebrity, he’s actually a major talent.

In celebration of the No Mas x Puma ‘Lottery’ sneaker release, No Mas and, you guessed it… Puma, will be staging a retrospective NBA draft on Wednesday, June 27th at 7pm (the night before the official NBA draft). The event, which will be held at 31 West 19th St, will give attendees the chance to select and take home an original No Mas portrait of their favorite first rounders from 1985 to 1995. Study up on one-time “Torture Chamber” NBA player and Forbes.com “#1 Manager in Sports” Kevin McHale before arriving. More details below.

The novelist, journalist, critic and political and cultural commentator is regarded as one of the most admirable and influential English-language essayists of the 20^th century. Highly political and critical of Stalinism and totalitarianism in general, Orwell is best known for the novels “1984� and “Animal Farm.� You’ve probably seen “Animal House,� too but that has nothing to do with George Orwell. In celebration of Mr. Orwell’s birthday, we have selected some of his many memorable quotes.

“Big brother is watching you.�

“In a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary act.�

“War is a way of shattering to pieces… materials which might otherwise be used to make the masses too comfortable and… too intelligent.â€?

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.�

“Men can only be happy when they do not assume that the object of life is happiness.�

Sunday, June 24th, 2007
12pm - 6pm
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center
22-25 Jackson Ave. (at 46th Ave.)
Long Island City, NY 11101
www.ps1.org

The illustrious Martha Cooper (the first lady of Hip-Hop photography) stopped by the Chop Shop today. Much respect must go out to this woman right here, indeed. Go buy her book “The Hip-Hop Files” now.

These days, we all just need to laugh a little bit….

RIP JOHN BELUSHI

“This is not hot.  MADD is disappointed that Paris Hilton is not accepting the consequences for her serious actions.  MADD believes everyone convicted of drunk driving should be held accountable and receive an alcohol ignition interlock device on their vehicle.  A person typically drives drunk nearly 100 times before they are arrested, so being lenient with “first-timeâ€? drunk drivers does society more danger in the long run.  A 5000-pound vehicle in the hands of a drunk driver is a weapon.” - Glynn R. Birch, MADD National President

True, think about it, do you really want Paris Hilton driving around drunk? There are a million people who we would rather trust driving drunk than Paris. It’s good that Mother’s Against Drunk Driving are putting her on blast. The best part about the whole media frenzy around Paris Hilton in jail, is that you can just hop on the bandwagon and cash in. Like these people selling the Free Paris t-shirt or these people selling the Don’t Free Paris t-shirt.  Then you have these directors over at OMovies, they supposedly already got 6 million hits from their video Paris In Jail, so we decided to hop on that bandwagon too. America is great because you can get rich on other peoples mistakes.