Fun With Insomnia Blog

Paul J. Reed Jr., a retired political lawyer and political insider who had been active in 3rd District politics during the 1950s and 1960s, died Aug. 27 of heart failure at the Oak Crest Village retirement community.

The former North Baltimore resident was 91.

Mr. Reed, the son of a plumber and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised in East Baltimore.

He was a 1938 graduate of Polytechnic Institute and earned his law degree in 19ȉ from what is now the University of Baltimore.

He enlisted in the Army in 1942 and, after serving as a combat officer in Europe, was assigned at war’s end as a prosecutor and later a military judge in Frankfurt, Germany. He also oversaw the operation of the U.S. Army jail in Frankfurt-on-Main.

Discharged with the rank of captain in 1946, he returned to Baltimore and established a general law practice and became active in 3rd District Democratic politics.

He ran in 1951 for the City Council and lost. But he rose through the political ranks, serving as acting chairman of the Maryland delegation to the 1956 Democratic Convention held in Chicago.

Mr. Reed lost a bid to become City Council president to Thomas J. D’Alesandro III by a single vote in a nonpublic council election in 1962.

Mr. Reed, who was aligned for years with political bosses Willie Curran and James H. “Jack” Pollack, enjoyed the role of political insider.

An article in 1965 in The Evening Sun described Mr. Reed as “a cool and unexcitable personality perfectly fitted for behind the scenes political juggling,” and a “political operator in the grand Baltimore tradition [who] admits a liking for anonymity.”

He explained his role in the article as one “who helps people get elected.”

Mr. Reed managed George P. Mahoney’s 1966 losing campaign when former Baltimore County Executive Spiro T. Agnew was elected governor.

In 1969, then-Mayor Thomas D’Alesandro III appointed Mr. Reed to the Baltimore City Jail Board, and the following year, he was named board president.

He resigned the post in 1972, and H. Mebane Turner, who was president of the University of Baltimore, was named his replacement by then-Mayor William Donald Schaefer.

Gov. Marvin Mandel later appointed him to the Governor’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, and the old Supreme Bench of Baltimore City appointed him a special commissioner.

Mr. Reed, who was a co-founder in 1955 of the Baltimore chapter of the Society of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick, served as the group’s counsel for many years and was president from 1977 to 1978.

Mr. Reed retired in 1990. He enjoyed sailing and fishing from his 31-foot Bertram and spending time at a second home in Ocean City. He was a golfer and a member of the Country Club of Maryland. His wife, the former Dolores O’Brien, died in 2009.

Mr. Reed was a former parishioner of the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.

A Mass of Christian burial was offered Aug. 30 in the chapel at Oak Crest Village, where he had lived since 2007.

Surviving are a son, James D. Reed of Timonium; four grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Another son, Paul J. Reed III, died in 1976.

fred.rasmussen@baltsun.com

Political insults continue but dueling is outlawed in North Carolina.

A Sept. 5, 1802 duel between a political lawyer and a former state governor, both New Bern men fighting on home territory, was reenacted Monday at New Bern Academy not far from the site of the original duel. The law banning the practice was enacted just two months later.

About 300 people took part of their Labor Day – this one in pleasant sunshine and low humidity – to watch the Tryon Palace-sponsored event at the corner of New and Hancock streets, just down from the spot former Gov. Richard Dobbs Spaight and political lawyer John Stanly Jr. dueled.

The present building for New Bern Academy, on whose lawn the reenactment was held, has been there since 1810. It was a new building for the first school chartered in North Carolina for which the N.C. Assembly levied a tax for its support in 1766.  

Spaight, who also served in the General Assembly and Congress, said Stanly “injured my character” with the publication of an attack on his character and voting record. The actions came at the end of a controversy in which Spaight, played by Jeff Bockert, was accused of switching to the Jefferson Republican Party only in name.

The men facing off continued to throw accusations at each other as they prepared for the duel and were asked by the doctor attending to ensure fair play if their guns were loaded.

Spaight, played by Jeff Bockert, shouted to Stanly, played by Matt Arthur, �€œnot as much as you shall be.” 

Paul Switzer, acting as the doctor, asked if they were ready to “count off to 10 paces and turn and cock your weapons,” then advised that law and custom allowed them to stop before shots were fired and apologize and “the gentlemen’s honor may be restored.”

Stanly barked �€œnot while the dog lives” and the battle continued with an admonishment that “the field of honor must not be uncivil.”

They paced, faced and fired, reloaded, and repeated the actions three times.

“This is insane,” Ken Sewell, dressed in period costume and accompanied by his wife Pam also in early 19th century attire, shouted from the crowd. “Three shots have been fired. Is that not enough to restore honor?�

It was not. A fourth shot fired the bullet that pierced Spaight’s chest that narrator Kim Bennett said was “a mortal wound” that sent the former governor back to his Clermont Estate just outside New Bern to die.

Stanly was charged with homicide but the charges were excused and a law was passed in November 1802 that prohibited anyone taking part in the duel from holding office or making a profit in the state. If a duel is held in which anyone was killed, the law said that duelers and their seconds could be hanged without benefit of clergy.

Stanly still had two brothers killed in duels in other locations, one in Virginia over a piece of cake tossed on someone’s party coat and another in a sword duel in the West Indies.

As for the Labor Day entertainment, Ethan Poppe of Greenville, seeing it for the first time, said “It was pretty good.”

Trisha Gable of New Bern, whose brother Chris loves all kinds of reenactments and the Fife and Drum Corps that performed, said “I had a lot of fun.”

Pam Sewell said her husband has been a reenactor since 1970 and “I wound up catching it from him�€ because she sees it as a way for people to better understand history. “It makes it more interesting.�€

Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sbook@freedomenc.com.

Svaty Hostyn, South Moravia, Sept 4 (CTK) – Hundreds of former Czech and Slovak political prisoners commemorated their dead and executed friends at the place of pilgrimage at Svaty Hostyn Saturday.

“There were more than a quarter million of political prisoners in then Czechoslovak Republic,” Prague Archbishop Dominik Duka who celebrated a mass at Svaty Hostyn said, adding the number afflicted by the regime was even higher if family members are counted.

“It is necessary to prevent by one’s life, by one’s behaviour what leads to the emergence of totalitarian regimes that can create a privileged political lawyer that then irresponsibly controls all the others,” Duka told CTK.

The event, that was also attended by 20Ǡ pilgrims, was organised by the Czech Confederation of Political Prisoners of which Duka is also a member.

Duka, 67, was imprisoned at Plzen-Bory in 1981-82 for his activities in the Dominicans’ order, samizdat activities and cooperation with other countries.

It is a voluntary organisation that associates political prisoners of the former Communist regime in Czechoslovakia.

Its deputy chairman Frantisek Sedivy said about 2400 former political prisoners still live in the Czech Republic.

The about 4000 members of the confederation also include the wives and children of the former political prisoners.

Kool Rock-ski is a member of the legendary hip hop group, The Fat Boys. TheCelebrityCafe.com’s Julian Brentlinger spoke with Kool about his hip hop past and the current music scene.

TheCelebrityCafe:When was the moment in your life that you knew that you wanted to do music?

Kool Rock-ski: My mom played a whole range of music, including country. She played a lot of James Brown and Elvis and hip hop captivated the urban area at the time. The Sugar Hill Gang came out with Rapper’s Delight. Kool Moe Dee’s words in Treacherous Three�™s “Feel the Heartbeat” were inspirational and crazy. Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message” was incredible. Right then, everyone wanted to get into hip hop.

TCC: What artists/bands inspired you growing up?

KR: Fantastic Romantic Five, Treacherous Three, Kurtis Blow, James Brown, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Elvis Presley (especially his song “In The Ghetto”).

TCC: How did you, Prince Markie Dee, and Buff Love a.k.a The Human Beatbox meet?

KR: We grew up together on the same block in Brooklyn, NY. Mark and I met first, we were like 9 years old. He had just moved in during a huge snowstorm. He lived down the block. I didn’t meet Buff until I was in my teens when I was like 13 years old. Buff and I became best friends in like a month. We were inseparable. We went to the same High School together. We started rapping when we were about 14. One day when we were playing in this huge lot, there was like five us and I was rapping Treacherous Three’s song “Feel the Heartbeat” of course, and that was the first time I heard Buff beatbox and it blew everybody away and we couldn’t even believe it so we dug into his pockets to see if he had anything.

TCC: When did you guys come up with the name “The Fat Boys”?

KR: Our manager came up with the name. We were originally called The Disco Three at first.

TCC: What inspired you and “The Fat Boys” to openly sing songs about eating food and being fat?

KR: Our Manager and Kurtis Blow who produced our first record chose us to rap about this. They wanted us to be fun. We originally wanted to rap about the street life. Kurtis Blow didn’t like how we were originally cursing in our verses.

TCC: How was it like living in the fame for you and The Fat Boys?

KR: We were just humble and regular guys. We wanted to have a normal life. We didn’t want all the limousines and we appreciated everything we had so we wanted to take care of our families first. We were fortunate for what we had.

TCC: Who were the most interesting musicians/artists you have met and/or collaborated with?

KR: Our album Crushin’ soldŅ million copies, and when we went to the 1993 Grammys, we sat behind Liza Minelli while we were watching Michael Jackson���s performance of “Man in the Mirror”. When one of the ceremonies was coming to an end, we were asked to close the show. We were closing out the show singing the song “Runaround Sue” with Dion and the Belmonts. Dion liked what we were doing with his song, putting a little hip hop into his song. Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston were watching us not too far from the stage. Well after the song, Michael Jackson when up to us and tapped us. He shook our hands and told how proud he was of us. The he told us “You guys work so hard, Every time I turn on my TV, you guys are on the TV. You guys are unique and I want to work with you guys.” And we were like â€�What?” And nothing ever transpired after that, our manager didn’t really chase it for some pretty odd album reason, I don���t know why.

TCC: How did you feel about Michael Jackson passing away?

KR: He inspired everyone. He rearranged R&B with Off The Wall. He totally inspired us. Thriller blew us away. I was about 14 when Thriller came out. Man in the Mirror proved who he was. He cared too much about others. One of the best entertainers period!

TCC: What was it like filming Krush Groove?

KR: Krush Groove was fun. We were at home in New York. They would pick us up every morning and drive us to the set. We were young then, we were like 16. We, Run DMC, and LL Cool J were on that set everyday and it was just mayhem. Originally the movie was mostly supposed to be about Run DMC, we were just supposed to have a small part, but the director, who also directed Car Wash started telling the producers that he wanted us more in the movie so they started writing us more and more into the movie. We had a lot of fun though. It wasn’t the best acting movie. Krush Groove told the story how to make a hip hop record, how the record was promoted, and how shady the industry really was and it told the truth of hip hop. It had all the people that were hot at the time. We, LL Cool J, Run DMC, and Kurtis Blow were in it. I always wished Whodini was in it.

TCC: What was your favorite song that you and the Fat Boys did?

KR: “Can You Feel It?” It had that calypso of hip hop and R&B. Kurtis Blow was at his best producing is. We wrote it in like 5 minutes. It was a real ‘quick wit’ song.

TCC: After Buff Love passed away, how was the musical chemistry between you and Prince Markie Dee?

KR: There wasn’t much because Buff and I were working on our end for a Fat Boys reunion album. At the time Prince Markee Dee was out of the group. The stuff that Buff and I were doing before he passed away was just phenomenal. We were getting asked to put it out over and over to put it out. We were just doing it for fun. We were getting older and learning more about the music. Once Buff passed away, I lost the love for the music and at that time. I just didn’t want to do anymore music, I completely shut down. I fell back from the music scene, period.

And at that time, the media was blowing things out of proportion which was giving hip hop a bad name. You can’t say that on the TV that there is something wrong with hip hop because they are always going to try to prove you wrong. They weren’t giving guys like us, Run DMC, or LL Cool J the bad name; they were giving the originators like Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Big Daddy Kane, KRS-One and Public Enemy a bad name. There was a time when there were lyrics in hip hop, these guys had lyrics. Today there are no lyricists. There are guys like Jay Z and Eminem out now who are good lyricists, but these guys can’t do it alone. The sad part of it all is that today people don’t want to hear the conscience rap about putting the races together or about putting the whole community together. They want to show the stupidity part of it of a damn rapper singing “Stanky Leg” or some crazy stuff like that. So that’s what really gets you pissed off about it.

TCC: How is your relationship with Prince Markie Dee today?

KR: We’re cool. Were doing a show September 5th in Detroit, MI. It’s our second show. We communicate over time. We’re trying to do a reality show. We might be doing it real soon to look for a third member to our group.

TCC: How do you feel about the hip hop scene back then?

KR: I lived and ate hip hop. I loved R&B too. Listening to Public Enemy, KRS-ONE, Eric B & Rakim, LL Cool J, Ultramagnetic MCs, whoever was out. People accepted it for the art. Not much money in it for some of the artists. Hip hop was about putting on a good show and competing in a fun way, not in a deadly way. Back then it was just fun. Everybody was just doing their own thing. ‘Innocent battles of love and fun to accept each other in the hip hop life.’

TCC: How do you feel about the hip hop scene today?

KR: Hip hop is just a label now. KRS-One said it best, “Rap is what you do, hip hop is what you live”. It’s rap today, not hip hop. They are living the culture of rap to be successful. We are not living in a rock and roll generation anymore. Most of it today is overproduced music, there are no lyrics. You know, a lot of rap today on TV is showing the money, the gold teeth and gold chains, and even women in these sexual ways that women really shouldnâ��t be shown. Times change, you have to change with it, but you don’t have to degrade the human race while times are changing. There are no more female MCs or rappers. Back in the day there was Salt N’ Pepa, Antoinette, Moni Love and MC Lite who was an incredible lyricist. Now we have none of that, there are no values in rap anymore.

It’s like walking into a war zone right now. Everybody is just throwing grenades at eachother. The media is setting up a scheme or something of a bunch of nobodies and each person is copying what the next person is doing. And that’s why when Eminem and Jay Z drop their new albums, they are so successful because no one wants to hear the crap that’s out now. These guys are still in there thirties or something and are still at the top of their game. That just shows you that these guys are still important to the world of hip hop. Even Dr. Dre who is about 45 years old is about to drop an album and people are still anticipating his album. That should just give some kind of indication that there is something wrong with hip hop when people are anticipating a guy who hasn’t dropped an album since 2001.

TCC: What newer hip hop/rap artists/groups do you enjoy listening to today?

KR: I like The Black Eyed Peas early stuff. I like Jay Z and Eminem. I don’t listen to new music much. I used to listen to Soundgarden and Live back in the day.

TCC: What do you think of newer artists like Lil’ Wayne?

KR: Honestly, I can’t recite one rhyme Lil’ Wayne has ever written. I can’t understand what the hell he is saying. It sounds like he is spazzing out every time he raps. I can’t get into it. I mean I have nothing against him, I just can’t understand what the hell he is saying. He has used that auto tune to death. I thought that thing had ran its course, but he’s still using it. I mean jumping on stage with a guitar doesn’t make you a damn rock star. Somebody needs to tell him that. Getting on stage with an electric guitar playing a couple of notes or chords doesn’t make you a rock star, your kind of degrading rock to be honest. I think he should to stick to what he is good at. I am tired of rappers singing too.

TCC: I personally really enjoyed your latest EP “Party Time”, especially the track â€�We Can Talk”. Which track on “Party Time” is your favorite?

KR: I did 20 songs but only put 4 on the EP. “Gotta Love It” and “We Can Talk” are my favorite tracks. I regret autotune for “Playing With Yourself.” I am sick of autotune. It’s about time for it to get the hell out of music anyway. I think it has pretty much ran its course.

TCC: Which track seems to be everyone’s favorite so far?

KR: I think “We Can Talk.”

TCC: Are you touring now?

KR: I think I’m gonna do a European Tour overseas before the end of the year. Ideally 15 shows to promote my EP.

TCC: Will you and Prince Markie Dee ever make a comeback tour or a new album?

KR: We may do a couple of singles. We’ll see.

TCC: What advice do you give any artists/bands that dream to be successful with their music?

KR: Be original. Don’t let the record companies pick what you should put out. Stay together. Don’t try to do something you normally wouldn�™t do. Look at the music industry. You’re the cash cow to them. They want the next hot thing. Learn to keep your distance. Be aware of your surroundings. Women and Clubs will always be there. Have fun but always sleep with one eye open.

By Ian Youngs
Entertainment reporter, BBC News

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I Am Kloot’s John Bramwell (left) and Elbow’s Guy Garvey discuss the Mercury Prize

After Elbow won the Mercury Music Prize in 2008 they were supposed to get straight to work on a follow-up to capitalise on their success.

Instead, they put that to one side to produce fellow Manchester band I Am Kloot. The resulting album has been nominated for this year’s Mercury – and Elbow singer Guy Garvey and I Am Kloot frontman John Bramwell explain how it came together.

Reaching the top floor of the 170-year-old former mission building that Elbow call home, the stereotype of the small, sterile recording studio is immediately shattered.

To walk across the cavernous room, you must carefully pick your way between dozens of speakers, microphones, stands, drums and guitars that are strewn about, as well as cables snaking around the room, and buckets and towels catching leaks from the roof.

“In this room we have five or six drum kits, nine or 10 guitar amps, three pianos, two electric pianos, a Hammond organ, any number of percussion instruments,” Garvey explains.

“There’s a really pretty odd album little thing called a Sounder. It was £50 from the window of Cafe Pop [in Manchester]. It’s an electronic keyboard that makes a weird repeating noise. Things you can blow. An accordion. And lots and lots of microphones.”

The loft, which is Elbow’s headquarters at Blueprint Studios, Salford, has the air of a teenager’s bedroom that got out of hand.

“And this is a bar,” Bramwell chips in.

“Oh and there’s a bar in the room, yeah,” Garvey continues. “It was very handy after Christmas – there was a huge party here and they left a lot of stock in the bar.”

Next door is a smaller room where Garvey’s bandmate and co-producer Craig Potter is hunched over a computer. On the wall is a whiteboard where Elbow will, eventually, write the names of all the tracks on their new album.

For now, about half of the spaces remain empty. (“We’re a bit behind schedule now as it goes,” Garvey admits.)

Garvey and Bramwell, who met 18 years ago when Garvey got on stage to play harmonica with Bramwell, make a fine double act.

They did not become firm friends until a decade ago, when Bramwell was booking bands for Manchester’s Night & Day venue and three members of Elbow worked at the nearby Roadhouse.

“When we’d finished work we’d come over to Night & Day and pretty much end up round the same bar every night,” Garvey says.

The friendship led Garvey to produce I Am Kloot’s debut album, the excellent, overlooked Natural History, which was released in 2001, just as Elbow were taking off.

But aside from short bursts of touring, the two bands never managed to synchronise their schedules in order to work together again – until I Am Kloot’s new album, Sky At Night.

“With the strength of songs on this record, it was impossible for us not to be involved,” Garvey says. “We made the time.”

Kloot have gathered a cult following since Natural History, but Bramwell speaks of being “very very broke for years” and recording their last album in three days “because we had so little money”.

Sky At Night, though, is their first top 40 album and has brought more acclaim and sales than any previous release.

The pair describe an intuitive studio relationship and a democratic process where all of the band’s ideas would be written on a whiteboard (Garvey admits he is a “stationery fetishist”) and tried out.

Garvey played good cop – “bouncing off the walls, keeping everybody buzzed up”, as he describes it – to Potter’s perfectionist taskmaster.

“I’ve definitely learned over the years from different producers,” Garvey explains. “It’s important that you enjoy as much of your life as possible, that’s a personal rule of mine. The best production experiences I’ve had have been the most fun.

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Watch Elbow’s reaction to winning the Mercury Prize in 2008

“The worst experiences have been when whoever’s at the helm is pretending they’re a magic man and they’re going to sort your life out. Smoke and mirrors, not showing you how you’re doing something. It’s nonsense.

“What you need to know is that who’s in charge of the recording loves your songs and keep reminding you why your songs are good. Hopefully that’s what I did with Kloot.”

Bramwell concurs and describes Garvey as “inspirational”.

“It’s a question of keeping momentum and keeping freshness,” he says. “And Craig is incredibly meticulous and able to keep concentrating on something.

“Sometimes you could spend a whole day and not see Craig’s face because he’s sat looking at the machinery and might not even turn around for a good three or four hours.”

Garvey picks up the theme: “He’s sparing with his words, Craig. For instance he used fruit instead of words on a few occasions.

“I’d be three floors downstairs having a smoke with the lads, and if this went on for too long and he was bored of waiting, he’d find an orange. I don’t know where these oranges were coming from, but I’d get an orange on the top of the head, which meant ‘back to work’.”

There were drawbacks to recording in such a large space amid organised chaos.

“If Pete was recording a bass track and a certain note made something rattle, finding that rattle could take half an hour because there are so many things that could rattle,” Garvey recalls.

“So Craig and I would run in with strips of tape while Pete played this note continuously for half an hour.

“Some of my favourite moments are John, Pete and Craig all sat at pianos, all playing the same riff at the same time, with the microphone at the other side of the room, at Craig’s behest.

“But it’s a sound that you couldn’t have got if you’d tried to do it digitally.”

In this case, organised chaos has proved to be the most productive kind.

The Mercury Prize winner is announced on Tuesday. Watch live coverage of the ceremony on BBC Two at 2ᎈ BST.