Retro: Kimmer |  |
- HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!!!!
- THE HOWLING DIABLOS AT THE EMERALD THEATER!
- NAIAS (DETROIT AUTO SHOW) 2011 POSTER CONTEST WINNERS!
- FRANK NITTI: TRUE STORY OF THE ENFORCER
- CANYON OF DREAMS: THE HISTORY OF LAUREL CANYON CA.
| Posted: 31 Dec 2010 08:50 PM PST   Here's wishing you more happiness Than all my words can tell, Not just alone for New Years Eve But for all the year as well.  |
| THE HOWLING DIABLOS AT THE EMERALD THEATER! Posted: 31 Dec 2010 01:46 PM PST  THE HOWLING DIABLOS The Emerald Theater 31 North Walnut Street Mount Clemens, MI 48043-5610 (586) 913-1920  |
| NAIAS (DETROIT AUTO SHOW) 2011 POSTER CONTEST WINNERS! Posted: 31 Dec 2010 10:35 AM PST  12th Grade Award, 3rd Place Alyssa Shirkey William D. Ford Career Technical Center  11th Grade Award, 3rd Place Stephanie Miller Careerline Tech Center  Grand Prize Chairmen's Award Reid Dickson 12th grade Stoney Creek High School All the winners are in the slide show. These kids really are fantastic! North American International Auto Show  |
| FRANK NITTI: TRUE STORY OF THE ENFORCER Posted: 31 Dec 2010 07:16 AM PST  Frank Nitti was born in Sicily in the 1880s. He emigrated to New York City after the end of World War I, and later moved to Chicago, where he set up business as a barber, with a profitable sideline as a small-time jewel thief and fence. Nitti built an extensive network of associates in the Chicago underworld, and eventually came to the attention of Chicago crime boss John "Johnny The Fox" Torrio.  Frank Nitti Under Torrio's successor, Al Capone, Nitti's reputation soared. Nitti ran Capone's Prohibition-busting liquor smuggling and distribution operation, importing whiskey from Canada and selling it through a network of speakeasies around Chicago. Nitti was one of Capone's top lieutenants, trusted for his leadership skills and business acumen. Frank Nitti Part 2 Frank Nitti Part 3 Frank Nitti Part 4 Frank Nitti Part 5 In fact, Capone thought so much of Nitti that when he briefly went to prison in 1929, he named Nitti as a member of a triumvirate that ran the mob in his place. Nitti was head of operations, with Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik as head of administration and Tony "Joe Batters," "Big Tuna" Accardo as head of enforcement.  Frank Nitti Despite the portrayals of Nitti in movies and TV, Nitti was more about brains than brawn. Though I loved the scene in the 1987 Untouchables film... It was pure fiction. Nitti committed suicide... he wasn't tossed off a sky scraper.  Despite his nickname "The Enforcer", Nitti used Mafia "soldiers" and other underlings to commit violence rather than do it himself. Not that Nitti was averse to using firearms - he had, in earlier days, been one of Capone's most trusted personal bodyguards - but as he rose in the organization, his business instinct dictated that he must personally avoid the "dirty work" - that was what the hitmen were paid for. In 1931, both Frank Nitti and Al Capone were convicted of income tax evasion and sent to prison. However, Nitti only received an 18-month sentence while Capone was sent away for 11 years. Nitti was not a troublesome prisoner, but he found the year-and-a-half confinement in a cell horrifying because of the closed-in space. When Nitti was released in 1932, the media hailed him as the new boss of the Capone Gang.  Hollywood Nitti In 1943, Nitti was indicted for extortion. The Outfit was accused of trying to strong arm some of the largest Hollywood movie studios, including MGM Studios, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, and RKO Radio Pictures. The studios had cooperated with The Outfit to avoid union trouble stirred up by the mob. At a meeting of Outfit leaders at Nitti's home, Underboss Ricca angrily blamed Nitti for the indictments. Ricca said that since this had been Nitti's scheme and that the FBI informant, Willie Bioff, had been Nitti's trusted associate, Nitti should take the fall for the Outfit and go to prison. A severe claustrophobic as a result of his first prison term, Nitti dreaded the idea of another prison confinement. It was also rumored that he was suffering from terminal cancer at this time. For these or other reasons, he ultimately decided to take his own life.  FindaGrave.com Nitti shared breakfast with his wife in their Riverside, Illinois home at 712 Selborne Road. As his wife was leaving for church, Nitti told her he planned to take a walk. After his wife left, Nitti began to drink heavily. He then loaded a .32 caliber revolver, put it in his coat pocket, and walked five blocks to a local railroad yard.  Two railroad workers (William F. Sebauer and Lowell M. Barnett) spotted Nitti walking on the track of an oncoming train and shouted a warning. They thought the train hit him, but Nitti had managed to jump out of the way in time. Then two shots rang out. The trainmen first thought Nitti was shooting at them, but then realized he was trying to shoot himself in the head. The two bullets went through his hat. Nitti finally sat on the ground against a fence and, with the railroad workers watching from a distance, shot himself in the head. Frank Nitti died on an Illinois Central railroad siding in North Riverside, Illinois on March 19, 1943. He should have hired one of his own hitmen... Resources: Worldlingo.com/Frank Nitti Frank "The Enforcer" Nitti The Real Frank Nitti Read More on RK Mickey Cohen: LA Confidential Sam Giancana and Phyllis McGuire Infamous Hit on Joey Gallo Spilotro Brothers Not Killed in a Cornfield Mob Museum in Las Vegas Mob Scene Gallery NYC  |
| CANYON OF DREAMS: THE HISTORY OF LAUREL CANYON CA. Posted: 31 Dec 2010 05:00 AM PST  The Doors Last year I received this huge book in the mail for Christmas from my pal Heather Harris. She sends me the absolute coolest stuff! This year I was in a reading jag and pulled this giant book off the shelf and read every word in it. Canyon of Dreams by Harvey Kubernik, looks like a "coffee table book" but it is not! It is packed full of stories on the life and times of Laurel Canyon from the 1920s until present. This book was addictive. After reading one story I just moved to the next one and so on. Fascinating behind the scenes look at Hollywood and the music business. So interesting I give it 5 stars! Laurel Canyon was a huge foundation of art and music. Just like the famous sounds coming out of Detroit, Philadelphia, and New York, Laurel Canyon was a very unique enclave tucked up in the hills around Los Angeles where the biggest party started.  Canyon of Dreams So many bands lived, partied and created legendary music from Laurel Canyon. Groups like The Doors, The Turtles, Canned Heat, Monkees, Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Eagles, Sonny & Cher and Carole King all cultivated their phenominal music in this L.A.-based musical celebrity community.  Jackson Browne Just like the amazing collaboration between musicians from my favorite Detroit bands, the Laurel Canyon bands interacted with each other, joining, quitting and rejoining each other's bands. All of course with high drama and lots of party favors to boot. Canyon of Dreams is a fantastically illustrated inside look at over 75 years of music and the unbelievable culture of Laurel Canyon, California.  The Monkees Written by Harvey Kubernik the ultimate insider who knows them all, Canyon of Dreams traces the history of the canyon and its enduring legacy. The only thing I would like to add to Harvey's book is a dvd tour of Laurel Canyon. Wouldn't that be fun? This video below shows Laurel Canyon but I would love a guided tour. Read More on RK Retro Favorite Books Deniz Tek, Jimmy Recca, and The Godoys Meet Heather Heather Harris Photographs James Williamson *New Avengers Book  |
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