#bobby d found not liable

[all-things-de-niro]

Canal Liable for gender discrimination and retaliation

Bobby D not personally liable for either

Chase Robinson not liable for taking his air miles. She wins $1.2 million and Bobby D will likely have to pay her court fees.

Bobby D was not in court this evening when the jury returned it’s verdict

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

I know I do. I will post them in the next few days in a series of posts looking back over the case including the depositions.

[jafreitag]

Grateful Dead Monthly: Academy of Music – New York, NY 3/28/72

Before Europe ’72, there was Academy of Music ’72. Between March 21 and 28, 1972, the Grateful Dead played seven concerts at the Academy of Music in New York City.

That’s the original Academy of Music. It opened in 1854 as a 4,000 seat opera house on the northeast corner of East 14th Street and Irving Place in Manhattan. The Dead didn’t play there. They played across the street at a 3,400 seat movie palace also named the Academy of Music, which opened in 1927.

That’s the latter Academy of Music. It shifted from a cinema toward a concert venue in the mid-60s. The Rolling Stones played there on their first U.S. tour in 1965. Around the closing of the Fillmore East, some eight blocks south and east (if my dodgy NYC geography is correct), the former movie palace was a full-on rock palace, hosting the Allman Brothers Band (8/15/71), Aerosmith opening for Humble Pie and Edgar Winter (12/2-3-71), and the Band (12/28-31/71 – those shows were excerpted for the 1972 live album Rock of Ages and featured in their entirety for the 2013 box set Live at the Academy of Music 1971).

The Academy of Music was renamed the Palladium in 1976. And on 9/20/79, this happened there.

The guitar smash, not the album, obv. #paulsimononftw The venue was converted to a nightclub by Studio 54 guys Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager in 1985. In 1992, they sold it to Peter Gatien, who kept it open until 1997. The last concert at the Palladium was Fugazi on 5/1/97 (Red Medicine tour, I think). It’s now an NYU dorm with a gym in the basement.

The Dead visited the Academy/Palladium twice – once in 1972 and once in 1977. In ’72, they were workshopping material that they would soon take across the pond. In ’77, they were solidifying material that they would soon take upstate for the ne plus ultra. Fun fact, the fourth night of the ’72 run was presented by Hells Angels. Here’s the full poster.

[The lessons of Altamont ’69 apparently had been learned, then put to rest. Quick replay, tho, from less than three years earlier.]

The New York Daily News summarized the run like this: “Seven concerts in one week at the Academy of Music, every one of them sold out within hours, more by ESP than advertising… The week’s series will help finance the Dead’s traveling expenses for a two-month, seven-country tour of Europe beginning Saturday.” That quote appears in an excellent and exhaustive recap of all the shows (and their recordings) by someone called “Light Into Ashes” on the Grateful Dead Guide blog. There, LIA posits:

“Musically, this run falls midway between the honky-tonk vibe of the fall ’71 shows, and the smoother Europe ’72 tour. Probably one of the Dead’s plans for the run, aside from raising money for the Europe tour, was to hone their performances for the upcoming live-album recording – after a two-month break from playing shows together, they would need to get back in the groove! 

People who saw them at the time were probably struck by the changes in repertoire. (They only played two songs that had been on Live/Dead, one time each; few songs from Workingman’s Dead or American Beauty were played at all; and many of their newer songs were not on any albums yet.) Pigpen was also singing and playing more than he had in ’71 (singing five or six songs a night); a new piano player had altered the band’s sound quite a bit; and some unknown longhaired lady would come onstage to sing for a song or two. New Yorkers would also have noticed that the Dead no longer played til dawn, as they had done so often at the Fillmore East!

The average show length was three and a half hours, as they played through most of their repertoire each night. (Any audience members who went to several shows in the run would hear most of the same songs a LOT of times.)”

The Grateful Dead Sources blog has a 1972 newspaper review from Toronto’s Grapevine. Pretty funny, it’s worth a look.

Betty Cantor-Jackson recorded the shows, but the tapes disappeared until some guy from Northern California bought them at an auction in 1987. The tapes sat in his barn deteriorating. When Jerry died in 1995, one of the guy’s friends, who must’ve known a thing or two about the Dead, contacted Dark Star Orchestra’s Rob Eaton. Eaton cleaned and restored the tapes at his own expense, and returned them to the guy.

(^ Rob Eaton)

From LIA’s post, which quotes Eaton from an interview with Katie Harvey:

“‘The collection was really unique. Half of it was Garcia-Saunders from ’73, 74, 75. It was just nothing anybody had ever seen. And all the Academy of Music tapes from the Dead in ’72, which no one had ever heard a tape of: really bad audience tapes were the only thing [from that run], nothing was in the Vault. So I knew it was really important.’

Eaton kept DAT copies of the reels, although the buyer made him sign a contract not to copy or distribute the recordings. ‘He drew up this contract that I was liable for $100,000 in liquefied damages if I released the contents of the collection without his written authorization. And I wasn’t allowed to keep a copy according to this thing. All the copies had to be in his possession. Of course I’m keeping a DAT master of everything I’m doing. I’m not that stupid. I was a deadhead and protecting the music was my first and foremost thought. Legally, I wasn’t really that concerned with it. Because I was sort of in with the Dead office at the time, they found out that I had these. They wanted to get a hold of the guy. So I got them in touch with this guy who wanted a million dollars. They just told him to fuck himself. They came back to me and they go, “Look, we know you’re smart. We know you probably kept a set of DATs. What would it take to get that set of DATs from you?” And I said, “Well, first of all, I signed this contract.”’

But according to Hal Kantor, the Dead’s attorney, ‘He can’t claim rights to what’s on the tape. He has rights to the actual physical tapes, but what’s on the tape is our rights, not his.’ So Eaton copied his DATs (including Dead shows from 1971-76) and gave them to the Vault. And as Harvey writes: ‘They prohibited him from distributing copies because they planned to commercially release the material.'”

Parts of all seven nights in 1972 are scattered across various official releases, but the archivists have unloosed only two complete shows – 3/26 (Dave’s Picks #14) and 3/28 (Dick’s Picks #30). The latter also contains the Bo Diddley sit-in from 3/25, so ECM and I decided to focus on that one.

According to the DP#30 Wiki, the 3/25 show was a “semi-private party” billed as Jerry Garcia & Friends. In reality, it was a GD with the band backing Bo Diddley for the first set, then playing its own second set. The entire show has sound quality issues, but the first set is quite poor. The “jam” is the most notable part. It’s essentially a slower version of the “Hard to Handle” wig-out, and not super interesting.

The Dead opened their set with a couple rarities – How Sweet It is (To Be Loved by You), on which Donna Jean reaches a truly wicked level of caterwaul, and Are You Lonely for Me Baby?, from which Bobby must’ve gotten inspiration for Black-Throated Wind. Are You Lonely was later a staple of Garcia/Merl Saunders sets in ’72-74.

3/28 is better, and offers more typical Dead fare. The first set features an extremely hot China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider duo, and some funny stage banter from Phil Lesh. After the band played Mexicali Blues, some audience members chanted for Alligator. Phil responded, “Hey, for all you Alligator fans out there, we done – ah alright alright alright. We understand that there’s a lot of Alligator fans out there, but we done forgot it, see. And so ah, we’re gonna have to remember it sometime later, you know.” The second set showpiece is an extended version of The Other One that offers a preview of what the band would do in Europe.

Ed reminded me that this show was Pigpen’s last in NYC. And he added that it contains Donna’s first Playing in the Band wail. Awesome. His listening notes are more robust than mine, as usual:

The Europe ’72 tour began on April 7th, but the boys played a preparatory seven-night run at the Academy of Music in NYC in the days leading up to their flight across the pond. 

The festivities open with a rockin Truckin.’ All the first set songs are played with gusto and feeling especially the “new” songs such as Tennessee Jed, Chinatown Shuffle, BT Wind, Mr. Charlie, You Win Again and Mexicali Blues.  After Mexicali, the audience is calling out for “Alligator” and Phil tells them that “we done forgot it.” A rare, mid-set Brokedown follows and it is a pure joy. It just might be my favorite song from the entire first set. Next Time You See Me is perfectly executed. The band tears up Cumberland. Bobby is high in the mix and it is exciting to hear his guitar part. Next, Bobby introduces LLR as a “cryin’ song.” It’s a gorgeous version that has Jerry on pedal steel and Phil on backing vocals.  and China->Rider really stands out. The segue jam in China->Rider is especially interesting as the band seems to struggle at first to find the groove behind Bobby’s solo, then they just roll with it, and then Jerry locks into a cool riff before diving into Rider. The only minor complaint is that after 6 shows, Garcia’s voice is beginning to show signs of strain (You Win Again, Big Railroad Blues and China Cat). 

The setlist for Set II pretty much speaks for itself. Playing in the Band continues to progress. This performance marks the the first time that Donna lends her vocal contributions. The jam section starts off drifty like Veneta with that big psychedelic bubble. By the 6-minute mark Jerry is in full guitar psychosis mode. They cool down into drifting, mournful ribbons of sound only to bring it to another peak around the 10-minute mark before entering the reprise. A few songs later we get a high-energy Sugar Magnolia. Jerry goes nuts on the wah pedal during the coda. Donna has not yet found her way into the arrangement yet). This segues directly into a brief drum intro that leads into a 28-minute version of The Other One. The entry is surprisingly laid back as is the entire performance. By the 7-minute mark there are no traces of the song. The band has entered uncharted territory…deep space. This is pretty experimental stuff…atonal notes and peals of feedback. Things begin to become melodic again at about the 14-minute mark as the band prepares to deliver the first verse but it takes them 2 more minutes to eventually get there and after dispensing with it they return to the same misty pastures where they once were. The concert ends in fine form with their standby crowd pleasing closer of NFA>GDTRFB>NFA. The jam at the end of NFA leading into GDTRFB especially shines. 

The only version of the Sidewalks of New York is just a half-minute tuning.

Here’s the Spotify widget.

I’ll add LMA links at some point.

More soon.

JF

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2Pt9Mye via IFTTT

[jetcolor3-blog]

The view from D.C.

While much of the buzz around the National Association of Realtors’ Legislative Meetings revolved around the fact that President Donald Trump would be the first sitting president to accept the organization’s invitation to address members in their annual pilgrimage to the nation’s capital since George W. Bush in 2006, there’s plenty of news to uncover in this five-day conference.

Setting priorities

Every year at the event, colloquially known as Midyear, NAR sends members and local government affairs directors to meet with their representatives on the Hill to lobby for change, usually with a list of talking points that are important on a national level. This year, three topics topped the list of legislative priorities: flood insurance, opportunity zones and fair housing.

While NAR is most concerned with extending the National Flood Insurance Program’s reauthorization so that transactions aren’t delayed or canceled in flood zones when it expires on May 31, the group is also seeking a longer-term solution and reforms to strengthen the solvency of the program overall.

There were a number of delays in finalizing the rules around Opportunity Zones, an investment incentive created as part of the 2017 tax reform bill, not the least of which was a historic government shutdown. While the Treasury Department released the first detailed look into regulations around the new program last month, they’re still not finalized. And yet, if people who are interested in realizing the benefits of this program haven’t invested by the end of 2019, they are not going to get the full set of benefits, at least under current rules. NAR is requesting an extension of this deadline to account for the delays.

The organization also instructed members to ask their representatives in Congress to support H.R. 5, a bill that passed a full House vote during the conference and is designed to extend Fair Housing rights to the LGBTQ community. The association noted that it’s been ten years since it amended its code of ethics to require members offer equal service regardless of sexual orientation and would like to see federal laws follow suit.

A local flair

Of course, Chicagoland real estate professionals were on hand to speak their minds about these issues and many others. Michelle Mills Clement, CEO of the Chicago Association of Realtors, said she was humbled by the efforts of members who made the trip to Washington. “Our Realtors made every moment count. They met with policymakers, sought counsel from NAR representatives, asked tough questions and strengthened talking points,” she said. “These are the people who are helping to uphold Chicago as the world-class city that it is.”

As a federal political coordinator, Dream Town Realty’s Nykea Pippion McGriff is one of 535 association liaisons acting to connect members of Congress with the Realtor community. In addition to meeting with Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) at Midyear, McGriff is also expected to offer issue updates to the longtime congressman of the state’s first district on a quarterly basis. While it may sound difficult to get the ears of politicians on the national level, McGriff said Realtors come prepared with anecdotes about how policies are impacting homeowners and real estate transactions: “Legislators are happy to meet with us. They are happy that we have specific stories to share that help them tie legislative items to the constituent realities.”

Aside from the national priorities, McGriff said one pressing issue for Chicagoland real estate professionals is the conversation about state and local tax, or SALT, deductions. “It was brought up in almost every meeting I attended. We made sure our legislators know that the current structure does not work for the people of Illinois,” she said.

The future of the FHFA

One much-anticipated meeting at Midyear was with newly appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria. Many have been nervous about Calabria’s criticism of the government’s role in housing finance, especially since the administration announced plans to end conservatorship of government-sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Calabria told Midyear attendees that his intention is to “level the playing field to where all large financial institutions have similar capital.” This will ensure the GSEs “have a good business model because they have good management and good execution — not because they have lower standards than everyone else,” he said.

Calabria also assured the group that he has no plans to change loan limits during his tenure at FHFA and underlined support for the 30-year mortgage, an institutional lending tool of which he has been critical in the past.

The session gave NAR an opportunity to highlight its housing finance reform plan, which proposes transitioning Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac into private, shareholder-owned utilities that would continue to purchase, guarantee and securitize single-family and multifamily mortgage loans.

Associations and health insurance

Executives with NAR and a number of local Realtor associations met with White House officials to advocate for the expansion of Association Healthcare Plans. Earlier this month, NAR sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr requesting the Justice Department better secure national access to AHPs, clear up misconceptions about how they’re applied and defend the Department of Labor’s authority in the matter.

Currently a patchwork of AHP eligibility exists across the country. Some states are enacting local legislation, issuing guidance on the matter or simply conforming with the new Department of Labor rule, but others have conflicting laws or guidance, or are part of a lawsuit to overturn the rule, currently in circuit court. In Illinois, many are allowed to participate in fully insured AHPs and large group plans. This means that Illinois will continue to conform to the Department of Labor regulations until the 2020 open enrollment period. As long as the regulations are upheld by the circuit court, Illinois will continue to follow them, but if they’re overturned by the circuit court, Illinois will either have to stop allowing AHPs or enact statewide legislation to permit such coverage.

What’s keeping NAR lawyers up at night

In a legal briefing for members, Lesley Muchow, NAR vice president and deputy general counsel, told attendees about a number of court happenings that may bear on the business of real estate professionals. She noted a 177 percent increase in litigation around the accessibility of websites under the Americans With Disabilities Act from 2017 to 2018, for example. The Department of Justice has issued a number of consent decrees that make it clear businesses must comply with the government’s Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Muchow suggested Realtors, associations and multiple listing service providers have their sites audited and inquire with vendors about making any necessary updates to avoid being sued.

Also, wire fraud is still a vexing problem for the legal and real estate communities. “From 2015 to 2017, there was a 1,100 percent rise in the number of victims in the real estate industry and an almost 2,200 percent rise in reported monetary loss. The monetary loss in the real estate industry is reported by the FBI to be the largest,” Muchow told attendees. She noted that a case in Kansas last year resulted in a listing broker being found to be 85 percent liable for a buyer’s losses from a wire fraud scam, and having to pay a judgment of $167,129. Quick action is essential in these cases; if reported within 24 hours, “there is some chance the financial institution and the FBI will be able to work together and stop the wire and recover the funds,” Muchow said.

Source: https://chicagoagentmagazine.com/2019/05/22/the-view-from-d-c/