JAN 25 FAMOUS MUSICIANS WHO NEVER WON A GRAMMY

JAN 25 FAMOUS MUSICIANS WHO NEVER WON A GRAMMY

Don't forget! The Grammy Awards are this Sunday night! It's special, because this year marks the 60th time they'll mess it up. See, music is the toughest genre to judge. Tastes vary and every band has a vocal fan base who believes their music is...like...the best EVER! That said, the Grammy's have a knack for passing up legitimate superstars. Instead, bands like Toto end up winning. Let's look at six surprise losers:

LED ZEPPELIN. Although the band has sold in 200 million albums and has legions of fans, the hard rock legends do not have any Grammy's. In fact, they've never even been nominated for an award. Wow! However, a big part of the band's lure lies in their image as rebels, so this diss has likely helped the group. NOTE: When first heard, Roger Daltry predicted the band would sink like a Lead Zeppelin. The 'e' was dropped so people wouldn't say it as "leed." 

BOB MARLEY. To be fair, there was no 'Reggae' category when Bob released his albums. But other mediums and radio stations nationwide noticed the legend.  His 1975 album 'Rastaman Vibration' was a Top Ten hit. The next year, the Wailers were Rolling Stone's Band of the Year. Yet Bob never won a Grammy or a Billboard Top 40 single. At least his 70 million in album sales netted him one important award: The Jamaican Order of Merit.

KATY PERRY. Usually if you have nine #1 singles and 100 million in album sales...you'll get a Grammy or two. Sorry, Katy! Despite seven attempts, the perky songstress from Santa Barbara still has no stereo trophies to put on her shelf. However, she has fared better in other award shows. She owns a staggering 14 People's Choice Awards.

JIMI HENDRIX. From 1966 to 1970, Hendrix headlined the hard rock movement. Perhaps realizing the mistake made in never nominating rock music's most talented guitarist, Jimi received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1992, twenty-two years after his death. It's ironic because his lifetime was so short: He died at age 27.

SNOOP DOGG. Although the rapper from Long Beach won't have the lasting legacy of the others on the list, Snoop deserves to be in this blog. Why? Simply because no one has been nominated more times and not won. How many times? A staggering sixteen nominations and no wins. Fo shizzle!

DIANA ROSS. Like Snoop, the first woman of pop has been nominated again and again (12 times) and never won. Her first attempt came in 1964 when the Supremes hit "Baby Love" was passed up and "The Days of Wine & Roses" took home the gold. Sigh. At least she was able to pick up her Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014. Better late than never!

Finally, we hope that this year's Grammy's don't mess it up again. This time, it's in the Song of the Year category. With 16 weeks at #1, Despacito is the biggest song EVER on the Billboard charts and should be a shoo-in. But we have a strange feeling JAY-Z will win..

JAN 19 FOURTH LARGEST DIAMOND EVER FOUND IN LESOTHO

JAN 19  FOURTH LARGEST DIAMOND EVER FOUND IN LESOTHO

Big news out of Africa! An enormous diamond was unearthed in Lesotho last week. How big is it? About the size of baseball, weighing in at 6.4 ounces. Here's the amazing part: It clocks in at a whopping 910-carats. In the history books, that's good for fourth place on the list of largest diamonds ever found. (The largest, the 3,106-carat Cullinan Diamond, weighed over a pound. It was presented to Edward VII in 1903. He proceeded to chop it up. It's now littered throughout the Crown Jewels in London.)

Back to the current specimen. Here are some more specifics about the diamond. The rock has a D-color, which means it's a rare, completely colorless diamond. It's classified as Type IIA. Such diamonds have no boron or nitrogen impurities and account for only 1% of all diamonds mined worldwide. The press release by Gem Diamond calls the stone an "exceptional, top-quality find." How much will it sell for? Ben Davis, an analyst for Liberum Capital, estimates it will fetch around $40 million.

What a great windfall for the impoverished nation of Lesotho! Guess again. The Letseng Mine is owned and operated by Gem Diamonds, a London based conglomerate with a net income of £212 million. (Oh, and their stock rose 15% after the find.) Nope, the corporation will sell the diamond and happily pocket every last shilling. Let's face it: Nine of the ten diamonds on the list were found in Africa and taken elsewhere. The Cullinan and three others are from South Africa, while the rest originally lived Sierra Leone, Congo and Botswana.

To be clear: Gem Diamonds does adhere to international regulations with regard to their local employees in Lesotho. However, their track record in nearby Botswana isn't so spotless. Here, the San People (Bushmen) are primarily nomadic. This makes it much easier to construct mines, as the land has no permanent residents and cannot be claimed by the San. Lawsuits are pending. The big problem here is this "business first, people later" attitude toward mining. It wrecks havoc across the continent. Everyone agrees: Blood Diamonds are a shameful smear on the morality of the Western world.

In short, the discovery and immediate removal of the amazing diamond from Lesotho is a sad reminder that the dreaded structure of colonialism is still alive and well in Africa. Whether it's diamonds in Lesotho, oil in Nigeria, natural gas in Niger, cacao in Ghana, rubber in Tanzania or Egyptian cotton, the result is the same. Western corporations still take the lion share of the profits on African commodities today. It only adds insult to injury when a world leader calls these nations "Shithole Countries." When will this degrading cycle ever be broken?

JAN 12 THE BUSIEST AIRLINE ROUTES WORLDWIDE

JAN 12 THE BUSIEST AIRLINE ROUTES WORLDWIDE.

While 2017 will be remembered by hurricanes, wildfires and floods, at least one thing went horribly right last year: It was the first year EVER without any fatalities from commercial airline flights worldwide. Wow! To celebrate the safest method of travel, here are the TOP SEVEN most popular routes airlines fly. NOTE: All are domestic flights.

#7 Los Angeles - San Francisco, USA. 34,897 annual flights. America's sole entry links California's two metropolises. Inside the suburbs of each city you'll find six other airports that fly similar routes. If you add in all the flights between Oakland, San Jose and Long Beach, Burbank, Ontario and Orange County airports, this route would be #1.

#6. Sapporo - Tokyo, Japan. 38,389 annual flights. Two entries on our list connect Japanese islands with Tokyo and Honshu. Although the two islands are connected by the world's second longest tunnel (even longer the Chunnel), the airlines still boast impressive ridership numbers. And...yes...the Sapporo Brewery offers fun tours! 

#5. Rio de Janeiro - Sao Paulo, Brazil. 39,325 annual flights. Ginormous Brazil is the most airline-dependent nation on the list. Roads are few and rails even fewer. Airlines keep the nation going, so it comes as no surprise to see the two metropolises of Rio and Sao Paolo at #5. NOTE: At $88/average ticket price, this is also the cheapest on the list as well.

#4 Fukuoka - Tokyo, Japan. 42,835 annual flights. This route connects Japan's two largest islands, Honshu and Kyushu. Again, a bullet train is also available, but an airplane does the job in two hours, twice as fast as the train. I guess that means planes are faster than bullets!

#3. Mumbai - Delhi, India. 47,462 annual flights. It takes just over two hours to fly from India's

commercial center to the political establishment. With 1.4 billion people to look after, this results in a hundred flights every day. Airline travel is experiencing a boom in India, as constant technological advances cut times and fares. Not so much on the trains, where the same route takes 16 hours!

#2. Melbourne - Sydney, Australia. 54,519 annual flights. Another vast nation heavily dependent on air travel, Australia's top route is now the second most popular on the planet. While the numbers have grown, the airports themselves have not. Congestion leads to delays and this route is second-most delayed on the list (LA - SF is tops with 36% of flights leaving late.) 

#1. Seoul - Jeju, Korea. 64,991 annual flights. The busiest route in the world is surprising. It connects Korea's capital with it's favorite vacation spot. That's right, while the other routes are all about business, this one is all about pleasure. Jeju features beaches, casinos, nature trails and even Loveland, a sex-themed amusement park.
  
  

JAN 4 STAR WARS LOCATIONS YOU CAN VISIT

JAN 4 STAR WARS LOCATIONS YOU CAN VISIT

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the world's top movie for the third straight week! It just passed the $1 billion mark and notched an impressive 96 on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics applaud the special effects and the appealing cast. It features Carrie Fisher's final role and showcases newcomers Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. However, the real scene stealer in the film is Skelling Island, the secret hideaway for Luke Skywalker. Shot by drones in HD, the Irish isle mystifies on the big screen. It's funny, although set in a galaxy far, far away, the eight movies are actually filmed right here on earth. Here are some of the most memorable locations and how to get there.

Skelling Island, Ireland. There are a hundred tiny islands dotting Ireland's rugged Atlantic coastline...but none is more stunning the Skelling. Twin peaks rise 800 feet instantly out of the sea in spectacular fashion. Luke's house is actually the ruins of a 6th century monastery. Horribly worn stairs are still in use. It's difficult to visit...but not impossible. Only a dozen tours from Kerry County are allowed each year. Environmentalists worry about disturbing the thousands of migratory birds who also pilgrimage there.

Onk Jemal, Tunisia. Audiences are first introduced to Luke Skywalker when he was a lonely teen living on the distant desert planet of Tatooine. He lives in a futuristic underground cave. To recreate such a fantastic place, George Lucas filmed in the Sahara Desert foothills in Tunisia. In the thirty years since the original movie, locals have turned the abandoned movie sets into a tourist attraction. They'll rent you robes and light sabres for a small fee.

Tikal, Guatemala. At the close of A New Hope, the Millenium Falcon lands on the jungle moon of Yavin. Here, the Rebels will use an abandoned base to launch an attack on the Death Star. Here on earth, one of the best places for ruins and jungles is found in Guatemala. Tikal, once a thriving Mayan capital city, served as the perfect substitute. While a ticket to see the ruins is a mere $2.50, getting there is expensive. No paved roads serve Tikal, so you must take a flight from Guatemala City.

Hardangerjøkulen Glacier, Norway. One of the most memorable scenes in 1981's Empire Strikes Back is set on the ice planet Hoth. Luke battles the giant mechanical Imperial Walkers.  The only place on earth that could possibly be as cold as the distant planet is Norway. The Imperial walkers were transposed onto footage of the glacier. Good news! Norwiegan Airlines has expanded service to ten American cities, but getting to the tiny village of Finse near the glacier will be difficult. NOTE: Lucas' inspiration for the walkers themselves came from the cranes in the Port of Oakland.

Lake Como, Italy. Although generally panned by the press and audiences alike, The Attack of the Clones did succeed in choosing some stunning locations for filming. Our favorite is Villa del Balbianello, site of the wedding between Anakin and Queen Padme. Getting there easy: Take a simple 40 minute train ride from Milan, then a ferry across the lake.

Redwood Regional Park, California. Not all Star Wars scenes are filmed in horribly remote countries. In fact, the forest planet of Endor is actually in Northern California. Getting to Del Norte is a long, but spectacular drive up Highway 101 from San Francisco. In the Return of the Jedi, the rebels set up camp among the Redwoods and ferns. If you go, try to catch one of the uber-cutesy Ewoks that still inhabit the park.

DEC 20 WHAT IS BOXING DAY?

DEC 20  WHAT IS BOXING DAY?

Across America, people look at their December calendars, anxiously counting down the days to Christmas. Afterward, we look at the day after the holiday and we see in the box...next to the number 26...the odd entry: BOXING DAY (UK, CAN, AUS). Americans scratch their heads and wonder what this holiday means. We asked our British friends about it...and guess what? Most people in the UK don't know what Boxing Day means either. This sounds like the perfect topic for a blog.

Before we start, let's clarify what Boxing Day is not. It has absolutely nothing to do with the sport of boxing. (You don't love people on the 25th, but then sock them in the face on the 26th.) Most people think the term derives from 'boxing' up used wrapping paper, unwanted gifts and discarded fruitcakes for the rubbish heap...but that's not the case. Nor does it have anything to do with horse racing, Premier League Soccer, cricket or jumping into frozen lakes.

Nope, according The Guardian the origins of Boxing Day "lie not in sport, but in small acts of kindness." During the Middle Ages, parishioners collected money, gifts and food for the poor in alms boxes during the Christmas Mass. These were then opened by the poor the next day. During the Victorian era, the process was expanded. Although the domestic staff of large manors had to work on Christmas Day, they were given the next day off for their own families. Before leaving, servants, maids and cooks were given extra wages, gifts and food in fancy boxes.

During the Victorian Era, there were thousands of manors with tens of thousands of people working in them. Not surprisingly, the day evolved into an important event for a large percentage of the British population. Boxing Day became an official bank holiday in 1871. Since then, the holiday has been celebrated in a variety of ways. Since the help was gone, aristocrats went hunting or to the race track. This expanded into the soccer and rugby leagues. Today, Boxing Day matches are now a fixture on the sports calendar.

These days, Boxing Day has an entirely new purpose. Gone are the traditional trips to church to give boxes to the poor. Nope! Today, Boxing Day is the busiest shopping day of the year in the UK and Canada, with billions of pounds in retail sales. In fact, it is just like Black Friday in the US. Stores ceremoniously open their doors at 5am, welcoming in a mad rush of consumers clamoring for bargains. Sigh. Let's just hope people take their purchases from Oxford Street home, put them in a fancy box and give them to the homeless.

DEC 15 WATER WAR BETWEEN EGYPT & ETHIOPIA

DEC 15  WATER WAR BETWEEN EGYPT & ETHIOPIA

The Egyptian government is worried. No, it's not about the Muslim Brotherhood. Nope...It's not another attack on Coptic Christians. And it has nothing to do with Jerusalem becoming the capital of Israel. Nope, today, the political ministers in Cairo are worried that the Nile River will dry up. Since 95% of the population lives in the Nile River Valley, this means 85 million lives are in danger!

Why do Egyptian ministers think the Nile River will dry up? Because 1,500 miles upriver, the Ethiopian government is busy building the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). It's now 70% completed and will be operational next year. Once done, it will be Africa's largest, producing 6,000 megawatts of power. Today, only a third of Ethiopians have electricity, so this is really quite an accomplishment.

This is exciting news for Ethiopia...a nation previously only known for drought and starvation. But downriver in Egypt, concerns are high. See, Addis Ababa has been a bit hush-hush on the nuts and bolts of the dam. The Ethiopian government raised the $5 billion to build it without foreign help, so the outside world has little idea of what's going on. We do know it will take ten years to fill a reservoir that will bring the power. Cairo worries about these projections as well as the safe maintenance of the flow of the world's longest river.

As any History Teacher will tell you: Egypt is the 'Gift of the Nile.' However, the annual flooding went away decades ago. The High Aswan Dam opened in 1965. Since then, the Nile flow levels are controlled...so the Nile won't dry up anytime soon. However, the flow will be cut by 25% beginning soon. This will mean less water and power in the long run. That's why Egypt is demanding a Pan-African committee to be formed to look deeper into the environmental affects of the GERD before any operation.

While this conflict may seem odd and insignificant, expect many more to pop up in the future. Simply put: Fresh water reserves cannot keep up with the world's rapidly expanding population. Across Asia, disputes rage. Turkey wants to control the Euphrates, putting Iraqis at risk. Thailand is angry with Laos for their dam on the Mekong. And in the Americas there's the Colorado River dispute. Americans drink every drop before it gets to Mexico!

DEC 9 STILL NO NATIONAL ID CARD FOR AMERICANS

DEC 9  STILL NO NATIONAL ID CARD FOR AMERICANS

Americans have many norms that confuse people in other countries. For example, we insist on having ice in our beverages. Americans think coins are basically worthless, and only to be used as 'spare change' for the homeless. We wear shirts with words on them: "I'm with stupid." But perhaps the most confusing thing Americans do is use a driver's license for all personal identification.

See, in the other 242 nations on earth, the government issues standard, uniform identification cards for all her citizens. (Note: These are not to be confused with a passport, which is for international affairs.) Now, when you need ID for a credit card or alcohol purchase in any nation other than America, a federal ID card is the main form of identification. Weird, huh? Anyhow, this difference becomes apparent when Americans try to check into hotels overseas. Desk clerks cannot figure out what driving a car has to do with renting a room.

This was all supposed to change back in 2005 when Congress passed the REAL ID ACT. After the horrific 9/11 attacks, it was brought to light that the Saudi terrorists all used driver's licenses from various US states in preparation for the onslaught. With so many different IDs, it makes it difficult to keep tabs on the people we need to be keeping tabs on. People like TSA officers really need to see, instantly, more information than a state issued driver's license can provide.

Sadly, after multiple failures to pass, a watered-down version of the REAL ID ACT ended up becoming a law in 2005. Instead of issuing all citizens a national ID card, individual state driver's licenses will still be used to board a plane. However, the government is requiring that states adhere to stricter codes and regulations to insure TSA agents get the information on passengers they need. So residents of twenty states, including California and New York need to go to a DMV to get a new card. But don't rush. This week, Congress extended the deadline to October of 2020 to get the new, enhanced driver's license.

You might have noticed I only used the term "American" in this blog when referring to people. But, in actuality, we are the UNITED STATES of America. Maybe this driver's license issue is one of the last remaining instances when state's rights being placed ahead of federal rights. Come to think of it...Maybe our nation would be better off with more regional government. We'd really love to see 50 individual currencies as well!