Pardoning Jim Morrison

It appears that Florida may pardon Jim Morrison for his indecent exposure conviction.  Governor Charlie Crist is strongly considering revoking the conviction.  Never underestimate the power of a fan.  According to CBS News:  The issue was brought to Crist's attention by Dave Diamond, a Doors fan from Dayton, Ohio, who wrote the governor last month.  There doesn't seem to be any hard evidence that Jim actually did expose himself.  He alluded it to it from stage.  The alleged incident happened on March 1, 1969 at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove.  Jim was appealing the conviction and decided to move to Paris to get away from it all. He died before his appeal would be heard.  Here is an account from a 16 year old who attended the trial.  Interestingly this is posted on the website for the Washington Squares, a band that was omnipresent in New York in the 1980's. Not sure what the connection is.  Of note:  their photo gallery is great fun.   

Handyman Vanilla Ice

House Flipper/Rapper         Photo:  DIY Network

The rapper Vanilla Ice (Robert Van Winkle), known for the song Ice Ice Baby (he sampled the Queen/Bowie song Under Pressure) is now a house flipper.  He's got his own show, The Vanilla Ice Project debuting on the DIY network on October 14th at 9pm.  He's been buying, fixing up and selling houses since 1998.  The first episode reveals his work on a house in Florida.  Read about it here. Who knew?

When he's not renovating, he's touring, with dates in the US as well as South Africa where he's on a bill with MC Hammer.