Another pleasant valley Sunday...

... somewhere, anyway. Looking out the sliding glass door in the kitchen, it seems sort of cloudy here. I'm not of a mind to go outside and look, though. I mean, it was 79⁰ when I left the bar at 1:15ish last night, so I'm gonna stay inside and soak up every bit of Willis Carrier's brilliant invention that I can.
And maybe do some laundry. 

You do you, though. If that means going outside, have at it. While I have air conditioning in my little office at work, the part of my work area where I physically operate the CNC is open to the shop and, let's just say 'warm' even in winter. And I don't care for heat. Or sunlight, really.

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I'm not, particularly, a country music fan. I mean, I dig the older stuff (Patsy, Hank Hank Senior), but (and I know I've posted about this before), the "new" poppy country of the past 20 some-odd years just grates on my ear holes. That said, there are some "modern" artists that I still enjoy (Mary Chapin Carpenter and Dwight Yoakam spring immediately to mind, as well as George Strait) and consider myself a fan of. 

And I guess we can add Garth Brooks to that list, especially after reading that his new Nashville bar (called 'Friends in Low Places', of course) opening this summer will have a very "Rob-like" policy that welcomes everyone- except assholes.

Brooks told a panel discussion at Billboard Country Live he wants the bar to "a place (customers) feel safe in... a place where (they) feel like there are manners and people like one another." Brooks added the bar would be serving "every brand of beer," alluding to the recent "controversy" surrounding the transphobic boycotting of Bud Light after the company enlisted transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney for a marketing campaign.

Brooks continued, "Our thing is this: if you (in) this house, love one another. If you’re an asshole, there are plenty of other places on lower Broadway."

In 1992, We Shall Be Free, that openly condemned homophobia and racism. He called it "easily the most controversial song I have ever done. A song of love, a song of tolerance from someone who claims not to be a prophet but just an ordinary man,” in the album The Chase's liner notes. "I never thought there would be any problems with this song. Sometimes the roads we take do not turn out to be the roads we envisioned them to be. All I can say about We Shall Be Free is that I will stand by every line of this song as long as I live. I am very proud of it."

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A second woman has come forward to accuse Jimmie Allen of sexual assault and filed a lawsuit against the country singer. 

In her complaint, the woman added that Allen secretly filmed her during sex, and that she had filed a police report. The suit alleges that "Jane Doe" was randomly approached by Allen on a plane last year, and the country singer pursued her and engaged in daily communication over the phone. She agreed to meet the signer in in Las Vegas where she says was sexually assaulted, and noticed his phone hidden "in a closet", where it had been recording her without her prior knowledge. The suit alleges battery, assault, invasion of privacy, and emotional distress, and names Allen, his bodyguard at the time, and the bodyguard's employer. 

That suit, filed Friday in Tennessee federal court, comes less than one month after Allen was accused of rape and repeated sexual abuse by a former member of his management team. Those initial allegations resulted in Allen being dropped by his publicist and suspended by his label, agency and management.

An attorney for the woman who filed the suit said they'd been approached by other women who claimed Allen had sexually assaulted them, as well, and expected those women would file their own lawsuits.

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The Sun is reporting that bassist Bill Wyman will appear on the upcoming album from the Rolling Stones. The paper says he joined the band at a Los Angeles recording studio recently at the invitation of Mick Jagger. The as-yet-unannounced album is said to be a tribute to the late Charlie Watts.

An anonymous source told The Sun "Bill ... always loved Charlie... so he couldn’t say no." Wyman's last appearance on a Stones' album was 1989's Steel Wheels, and he left the band in 1993- though he reunited on stage with Jagger, Watts, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood for a 50th anniversary tour in 2012.

The Stones’ new album will also feature drum parts recorded by Watts before his death, as well as contributions from surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

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Heart's Wilson sisters are reported to be working together again after a series of ups and downs that saw them have a number of falling outs and reconciliations in the seven years since their last album (2016's Beautiful Broken). 

In a recent interview with New York's 102.3 WBAB, Nancy Wilson said she and sister Ann were "writing new music" and, when she was finished with her current solo tour, she would "dig into" that endeavor, along with others.

She added that she was glad to be working with her sister again. "It’s been a really nice kind of rediscovery of our relationship, working on music together again. So, yeah, I’m really happy about that."

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This has to be one of the dumbest (and best examples of "no shit") headlines I've ever seen (and that is really saying something): Amy Schumer Dropped Out of Barbie Movie Because Original Script Wasn't "Feminist" Enough

Also- not to knock on Schumer's looks or anything, but... she resembles Barbie about as much as I resemble... well, Barbie.

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Brazilian singer/songwriter Astrud Gilberto has died at age 83.

Gilberto became an overnight superstar in 1964 after appearing on husband João Gilberto's bossa nova album with saxophonist Stan Getz, Getz/Gilberto performing on the song The Girl From Ipanema.

The song was already a hit in South America when picked for the album, but producer Creed Taylor thought the duo could expand the record’s appeal by including both Portuguese and English language vocals. In a 2002 interview posted on her website, Astrud remembered her husband saying he had a surprise for her at the recording studio.

"I begged him to tell me what it was, but he adamantly refused, and would just say: 'Wait and see ...' Later on, while rehearsing with Stan, as they were in the midst of going over the song..., João casually asked me to join in, and sing a chorus in English, after he had just sung the first chorus in Portuguese. So, I did just that. When we were finished performing the song, João turned to Stan, and said something like: 'Tomorrow Astrud sing on record… What do you think?' Stan was very receptive, in fact very enthusiastic; he said it was a great idea. The rest, of course, as one would say, 'is history.'"

The album went on to sell more than two million copies and the single is one of the most covered songs in modern music history, ranking just behind The Beatles' Yesterday. It also netted the 1965 Grammy Record of the Year and garnered Astrud nominations for Best New Artist and Best Vocal Performance. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Latin Grammy in 2008, but had retired from music in 2002-  dedicating her later years to animal rights activism and a career in visual arts while living in New York City where she was sometimes called a recluse. 

She told an interviewer she didn't think artists had "any moral obligation to satisfy the curiosity of journalists, fans or any members of the public about their private lives, or anything else that does not have any direct reflection on their work. My work, whether perceived as good, bad, or indifferent, speaks for itself."

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Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness has been diagnosed with tonsil cancer and is currently recovering from surgery, halting the recording of the the band's latest album and postponing the band's scheduled tour, which was to kick off at the end of this month. 

In a statement released last week, Ness said he was diagnosed "(in) the midst of pre-production... (but) was feeling well enough to continue with recording in the studio up until the very day before surgery. The band and I were so inspired and excited to lay down these tracks, which by the way sound f-ing AWESOME!"

He added that he would undergo radiation therapy three weeks after his surgery and "that should be the last therapy I need The team of doctors are certain that once finished with this course, I will be able to start the healing and recovery process. We expect a full recovery enabling me to live a long and productive life."

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Update: It's raining here, and there's a thunderstorm. Except for the accompanying sinus headache, that's a pleasant Sunday for me.

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Birthdays this week include: 

June 11: Jackie Stewart (84); Adrienne Barbeau (78); Frank Beard of ZZ Top (74); Graham Russell of Air Supply (73); Donnie Van Zant of .38 Special (71); Johnny Neel of The Allman Brothers Band (69); Joe Montana (67); Hugh Laurie (64); Gioia Bruno of Exposé (60); Bruce Robison (57); and Peter Dinklage (54)

June 12: Bun E. Carlos of Cheap Trick (73); Junior Brown (71); Timothy Busfield (66); Meredith Brooks (65); Scott Thompson (64); and Robyn (44)

June 13: Malcolm McDowell (80); Dennis Locorriere of Dr. Hook (74); Howard Leese of Bad Company (72); Richard Thomas (72); Stellan Skarsgård (73); Ally Sheedy (61); Chris Evans (42); Kat Dennings (37); Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen (37); and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (33)

June 14: Marla Gibbs (92); Rod Argent (78); Jim Lea of Slade (74); Will Patton (69); Boy George (62); and Steffi Graff (55)

June 15: Noddy Holder of Slade (77); Russell Hitchcock of Air Supply (74); Steve Walsh of Kansas (72); Terri Gibbs (69); Julie Hagerty (68); Courtney Cox (59); Ice Cube (54); and Jake Busey (52)

June 16: Billy “Crash” Craddock (84); Eddie Levert of The O’Jays (81); Tom “Bones” Malone of The Blues Brothers (76); Gino Vanelli (71); Garry Roberts of The Boomtown Rats (69);  and Daniel Brühl (45)