HOT
Another Door Closed
Social media sites got a boost of credibility this week when “rumors” that The Doors’ keyboardist Ray Manzarek had died turned out to be true (he was 74 and died from bile duct cancer). It may be a first. Enough celebrities (Eminem, Gotye, Ludacris and many others) have “died” on Twitter (sometimes repeatedly), many users’ default reaction is to assume the info is false. Manzarek’s death reports were met with skepticism, with some online sites reporting them a hoax, saying the rumors began based on a Facebook post of unconfirmed origin. Legit confirmation — beyond, “The guy I buy weed from knows Ray’s chef’s gardener’s wife’s ex-husband’s estranged nephew and he swears it’s true!” — eventually came to fruition.
R.I.P., Mr. Manzarek.
WARM
Papa Founded Rolling Stone
While perhaps a talented guy, there had to be some fake-cough-disguised “Bullshit!” murmurs amongst employees at RollingStone.com when they were told that the new head of the site’s editorial operations would be Gus Wenner, the 22-year-old son of Jann, publisher and founder of legendary music mag, Rolling Stone. Just about six years ago, according to Gawker, Wenner was a struggling intern at the company, joining other publishing-star hopefuls like Max Spielberg and Evan Springsteen (yes, they’re the sons of who you think they are). The nepotistic internships were probably easier for co-workers to swallow; it’s not every day you get to yell at the The Boss’ kid — and “the boss’ ” kid — for messing up your Starbucks order. In publishing, it’s not who you know, it’s who your mom once had sex with.
You probably can't get work at Rolling Stone this easily anymore:
COLD
Virtual Reality Bites
We’re getting a little bit closer to the first all-holograms-of-dead-performers music festival. “I See Dead Peoplepalooza” inched closer to reality when it was announced that this year’s Rock the Bells Hip Hop festival would feature two special performances … from beyond the grave (insert spooky laugh). A “virtual” Eazy-E is reportedly joining his protégés in Bone Thugs N-Harmony, while Ol’ Dirty Bastard was slated to join Wu Tang Clan on stage, though a “cease and desist” order filed by ODB’s widow may squash those plans. Hopefully ODB-ish comes through — it will allow scientists the opportunity to examine whether holograms are able to get drunk and/or high and arrive late (if at all) to their jobs.
Conan did it first:
