Go to a Zephyrs game tonight — and you could make history.
Singer-songwriter Chubby Checker will celebrate 50 years of the Twist, a dance craze he sparked with his 1960 hit of the same name, by leading the crowd in the dance to break the world record for the most people doing the Twist at the same time. The Guinness Book of World Records currently lists the record at 1,700.
The Zephyrs vs. the Albuquerque Isotopes game starts at 7 p.m.
Checker also will perform a concert Saturday, Aug. 14, at the Sigur Civic Center (8245 W. Judge Perez Drive, Chalmette) to benefit the Tower of Lights Project, which seeks to install lights on the 540-foot Port of St. Bernard Tower as a way to show thanks to the volunteers who have helped St. Bernard Parish’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina and the levee failures.
Tickets are $40 each and are limited to 3,000. Doors open at 6 p.m., the Chalmette High Jazz Band plays at 6:30 p.m. and Checker takes the stage at 8 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at any A-1 Appliance store.
Checker made “The Twist” popular as a song and a dance by touring heavily in support of his recording, starting in 1959. On Sept. 19, 1960, it was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 list. It took that position again on Jan. 13, 1962 — the first time a single topped the charts in the United States at two separate times. The Fat Boys featuring Chubby Checker re-recorded “The Twist” in 1988, and it reached No. 1 in Germany and No. 2 in the United Kingdom. Rolling Stone has ranked “The Twist” No. 451 on its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list.
Checker made the song his trademark, but he didn’t write it. It was originally released in 1959 by Hank Ballard and the Midnighters, with Ballard receiving writing credit.

First came Drew Brees gracing the cover of the video game Madden NFL 2010 and now there is this YouTube clip of the Saints repeating as Super Bowl Champions in the video game, complete with victory parade and trip to the White House.
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Now, as my Saints preview illustrated, Who Dats may not be stressed out about the Saints’ upcoming season (at least not compared to years past) so this may be but a blip on people’s radar, but isn’t this city all about superstition? Last year, as my hometown Redskins floundered and the Saints piled up wins, I would spitefully (and drunkenly) make ridiculous predictions about the Saints winning it all, much to the chagrin of every Who Dat (I’m surprised I never got punched). But now the Saints are champs and Brees is on the cover of Madden and there’s a digital celebration of their upcoming repeat.
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How times change.

These weekly posts are intended as an episode-by-episode guide to the many psychological ailments, drunken gibberish, senseless actions, Bourbon Street mixed drinks and other embarrassments on MTV’s The Real World: New Orleans.

It contains spoilers — and who cares? You stopped watching this show several years ago — but also a lot of information that might help viewers of the series come to terms with their outrage over the cast’s cultural vandalism of New Orleans (and what was once a really lovely Uptown house), and also the bleak, black future of our society.

The emotional trauma caused by the show admittedly makes such coverage an overwhelming task, so posts may be supplemented by information culled from Wikipedia, WebMD and un-scientific polls of nearby Gambit staffers. Readers are also encouraged to submit any comments that may help us make sense of this wreckage.

The Superbowl provided a reprieve from the show’s typical antics and — dare I say it? — some really lovely moments that conjured good memories. But the game was only staving off the inevitable, and eventually we were subjected to the show’s usual horrors. This week on As the Real World Turns …

WWOZ. The New Orleans radio station has seen hosts the likes of John Sinclair, Dr. Michael White, Ernie K-Doe … and now Ashlee and Preston. With strong qualifications such as “communication major who likes the sound of her own voice,” our housemates waltz into the station’s French Quarter offices hoping to host their own radio show. And since the city lacks any knowledgeable sources in regards to “Saints fandom,” these sports historians hope to provide us with exactly that. Just like those busloads of Lutheran children, Ashlee and Preston have been sent here to serve this city. But instead of cleaning playgrounds or rebuilding Hurricane Katrina-damaged homes while wearing fluorescent L.L. Bean backpacks, they want to provide us with the knowledge of the Saints exclusive to 23-year-old communications majors from Massachusetts whose past work experience likely includes part-time jobs as T-shirt folders at Hollister. Thank God for them.

In their first assignment, the intrepid reporters were sent to interview dogs at the Barkus parade. But they seemed to have a little trouble with the simple voice recorders WWOZ provided, and Woodward and Bernstein would later discover that they weren’t recording anything the entire time. Great.

The Avenue Pub. Neighborhood dive-turned-foodie and service industry destination, top five in Gambit’s 2010 Top 50 Bars … and also, I’m about 98 percent certain it houses the public bathroom in which Jemmye and Knight had sex. Although the two live together, and therefore have ample time to shack up in the hot tub or atop piles of Mardi Gras beads, they insisted on contaminating this fantastic bar because they spotted “a nice bench” in the bathroom. If anyone can prove the bar is, in fact, not Avenue Pub, please let us know immediately. Or else, to paraphrase Gambit editor Kevin Allman, the bar’s fish sandwich will never be the same again. And I will forever resent The Real World for that.

Read the rest of this entry »

So Lebron James goes to the Miami Heat, Chris Paul is tangentially related to all those shenanigans and now the Hornets have “mutually” parted ways with GM Jeff Bower because New Orleans and Bower “weren’t on the same page” about Paul’s future with the franchise (even though Bower had insisted that they were).

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Gee, where have we heard all this before? With two years left on his contract, Paul has made it very clear that he wants the Hornets to compete. Anyone who thinks he’ll stay with a less-than-playoff-caliber roster is out of their minds. I’m on the record as saying Paul is not the type of player to quit on his team. And then Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo! Sports decides to throw a possible wrench in that theory with this remarkable story.

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Photograph by Jonathan Bachman

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The story focuses on James’ off-season (and not-so-subtley hints at his petulant immaturity), but there is one passage that will be of great interest to Hornets fans:

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Within days of the season’s end, James and Carter traveled to Winston-Salem, N.C., for the birthday party of New Orleans Hornets star Chris Paul’s(notes) young son. With James on the premises, rules for the toddler’s birthday party included no photos, no video.

James was close with Paul, and free agency and the possible connecting of the players’ futures did come up in conversation. Paul was unhappy with the Hornets, and frustrated to see so many of his Team USA teammates on championship contenders and playoff teams. James and Carter long had been trying to recruit Paul to their LRMR marketing company and the Rose/Wesley/CAA cluster for his contract representation.

As a prelude to Paul eventually going into business with James, Wesley began working the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets to get them to try and trade for Paul with the strong suggestion that it could deliver James in free agency. Both tried, both failed.

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This, of course, confirms two things we already know. 1) Chris Paul is not happy playing on a mediocre team in New Orleans and 2) The Hornets are not willing to give up CP3. But this article also gives us insight on to the inner-workings of the new NBA economy. Lebron James may or may not be a lazy Mellennial who would rather join his ubber-talented buddies to form a dynasty than try and win titles by himself. But James realizes that he is part of a young and up-and-coming NBA class of superstars that essentially can decide their own fate.

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Chris Paul may or may not heed many lessons from this summer. If Carmelo Anthony goes to New York to join Amar’e Stoudemire, it could be a foregone conclusion that Paul is on his way to the Big Apple as well. That is, unless, the Hornets throw in a game changer. Bower never made a splash as much as he quietly filled in the gaps to the Hornets roster. If the Hornets can lure some serious talent to the Big Easy, they may still have a shot at keeping Paul in the long term (though it’s not like their recent signings are indicative of a spending free-for-all).

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The nature of the NBA is this: players have more power than ever before. The lessons of Beijing in 2008 is that many NBA players, despite their outlandish egos, truly can get along with each other. The younger talent also have come to recognize that no one player wins titles alone.  Larry Bird had Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish. Magic Johnson had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy. Hell, even Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen. And one thing we’ve realized is since “His Airness” retired is that there we have not seen another incarnation of Michael Jordan (even Kobe Bryant had to lean on Pao Gasol, Lamar Odom, et al..).

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Never have the NBA’s best players had the opportunity to truly decide where they get to play and define their legacies. The Celtics and Lakers relied on great front offices to assemble their rosters. The Bulls, meanwhile, are still desperately looking for the combination that will repeat their past titles. Chris Paul and the Hornets are at a similar stage as Lebron was with the Cavaliers two years ago. Even if the new Hornets G.M. assembles a roster that wins the most regular-season games in the next two years, there’s no guarantee that Paul re-signs. Not with the possibility of teaming up with Stoudemire and Anthony in Madison Square Garden. Not with knowledge that, as one of - if not the - best point guards in the NBA, Paul can decide where and with whom he can play.

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Again, this isn’t saying that Paul leaving New Orleans is a done deal. But the fact remains that the nature of the current NBA is against team loyalty, as players realize their leverage in free agency and the possibility of winning with peers they’ve grown to befriend and admire, it’s up to front offices across the league to make accommodations for the stars they want and try to build around that, or else be left by the wayside foolishly bemoaning the lack of loyalty from their multi-millionaire employees.

The ESPYs were tonight and ESPN.com is saying that the Saints “stole the show” by winning “Best Team” and with Drew Brees winning “Best Male Athlete.” Brees thanked his wife, coach Sean Payton, his offensive line and “Who Dat Nation” and entire city of New Orleans broke out into a spontaneous mid-summer Mardi Gras (or something).
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Brees also won the coveted “Best NFL Player” and “Best Championship Performance” trophies, the awards that truly define great players and whose histories line the walls of the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Don’t let anyone fool you, these awards mean something. It’s a time for the common fan to vote on which athletes that have already won trophies in their sports (by actually playing them) deserve more trophies, and which athletes that didn’t get trophies by playing sports are lucky enough to get some trophies anyway.

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Or not. I don’t think any athlete takes getting an ESPY seriously. But I bet they get some serious awards show schwag and it’s a chance to canoodle with celebrities, so I guess it’s all in good fun (though from recent viewings, I’d say the ESPYs are decidedly un-fun). It was funny that one year, though. Good times.