In Early November, 40-year old Gabriel Gomez, half-brother of Sandra Rosas, who was wife of NEW Los Lobos singer/guitarist Cesar Rosas, was found guilty of her murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. While her husband was on tour with his band, Sandra was reported missing by her daughters from their East Los Angeles home late on October 23, 1999. The front door of the home was found open and the family's van missing, only to turn up abandoned days later with blood traces of both Rosas and Gomez discovered inside by authorities.

Gomez, described by prosecutors as someone who preyed on the generosity of his sister, was found guilty of kidnapping and murder even though Rosas' body had yet to be found. And while Gomez' lawyers denied the charges by arguing there was insufficient proof that the kidnapping and murder ever even took place, after being found guilty Gomez led deputies to a suburban road in Santa Clarita where a shallow gravesite was found containing remains that were later identified through dental records as being Rosas.

While advanced decomposition of the body will make it difficult to determine the exact cause, the death will still be ruled as a homicide giving the circumstances surrounding the case.

Newspaper Editor Fired over Deftones Photo

Nora Garza, an editor for the McAllen, Texas daily newspaper The Daily, was fired from her position in October for running a photo of the Deftones in which singer Chino Moreno is wearing a sweatshirt with "fuct," the name of a Los Angeles clothing company, spelled across the front. Garza claimed that when she used the photo for a preview of the band's Halloween show in McAllen she didn't give it much thought, assuming the letters on Moreno's sweatshirt were a brand name (which they were), focusing instead on the photo's artistic qualities. The photo, which is the band's Maverick Records publicity photo, shows the band standing in front of a sunset.

But Garza's supervisors didn't see it the same way after the paper received several calls from local readers who were offended by Moreno's sweatshirt and fired Garza, who had been at the paper for two years, for running a photo that featured "obscene language." "I don't use that language, and that's why I never interpreted it as an obscene word," Garza said.

Frontman Moreno responded by saying, "For one, it's not obscene language. Two, it's just silly. If they went to grammar school, they know the word's spelled wrong. It's pretty hilarious other than a lady losing her job."

In an effort to help Garza, who has a husband and two children, pay bills, both the Deftones and Fuct have donated $5,000 to the former editor. "It's just sad that you can open up the front page of the paper and see slain bodies and people being shot, and somebody has a word that resembles a bad word on a sweatshirt, and they've gotta make a big deal. I don't understand what people are thinking," commented Moreno.

U.S. Congress Approves National Recording Registry

In November, the U.S. Congress approved establishing the National Recording Registry, a new national registry underneath the Library of Congress that will be responsible for preserving culturally significant sound recordings. The board to supervise the new registry's establishment will be appointed by the Library of Congress, and the NRR will also have its own seal.

We at Earpollution are a bit confused by the creation of a library to preserve culturally significant recordings. We thought Paul Allen had already cornered the market with his Experience Music Project.

David Bowie to Allow Songs on My.MP3.com

In another technology-embracing first for the Thin White Duke, David Bowie announced recently that he will allow his fans to access his entire music catalog via MP3.com's My.MP3.Com. Using MP3.com's Beam-It software, Bowie fans can upload the Thin White Duke's CDs for free to a My.MP3.com account, where they can again download individual tracks or entire albums for play from any computer with an Internet connection. Says Bowie: "It's an amazing testament to the net that MP3.com technology allows someone to have their record collection at their fingertips wherever they are in the world. The days of traveling with CDs in hand are beginning to grow short."

Over the past year, MP3.com has been settling legal claims made by major record labels over the copyright infringement of its My.MP3.com service. Bowie joins over 100,000 other artists and labels in allowing the inclusion of their music on MP3.com.

Judge Rules eBay Not Liable for Bootlegs

San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stuart Pollack threw out a lawsuit to stop bootleg sales on eBay that was brought on by a Grateful Dead fan who was hoping to stop the sales of illegal band recordings at the online auction house. The judge based his dismissal ruling on the Communications Decency Act, which does not allow online service providers to be held liable for the speech of others. Other courts have made similar rulings regarding service providers and online content. eBay's attorneys say the company routinely pulls down auctions when they receive complaints from copyright or trademark holders whose trademarked rights are being infringed upon. "We are trying to hold eBay responsible for its auctioning conduct, not for the speech of somebody else," stated attorneys. "[The ruling allows eBay] to continue to operate our business and not fear facing liability at every turn."

Nuclear Blast's American Reactor Shut Down

One of Earpollution's favorite metal labels, Nuclear Blast, recently announced that it was shutting down its American operations. The cause for closure happened when Nuclear Blast was recently licensed to Century Media Records. While Century Media announced that the deal was a "strategic alliance," those faithful and fearless metal mavens at Nuclear Blast confirmed that their New York and Philadelphia offices would be immediately closing, with the staff staying on through the end of the year to tie up loose ends.

Earpollution wishes our best to Nuclear Blast's Liz and Paula in whatever they choose to pursue next. Thanks for the music!

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Pitchsifter's Jon Clayden on tour in Europe sporting his fav eP shirt.
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Lenny Kravitz Detained by Police as Suspected Bank Robber

Lenny Kravitz, in Miami recording new material, was walking with his trainer to a neighborhood gym on November 24 when he found himself surrounded by both local police and a canine unit, who handcuffed and questioned him regarding a bank robbery that had just taken place. According to Miami police, Kravitz fit the description of the bank robber. Even though he repeatedly identified himself to police, Kravitz was cuffed and questioned until a bank employee informed police Kravitz was not the suspected robber. Kravitz, who was unsure if he should consider the detainment as racial profiling as the officers were Latino, questioned why officers handcuffed him in the first place after they repeatedly said to him that he was not under arrest.

Ol' Dirty Bastard Arrested at Philly McDonald's

In the ongoing soap opera that is the life of Ol' Dirty Bastard, the rapper was apprehended November 27 in the parking lot of a south Philadelphia McDonald's after being a fugitive for a month--which included an appearance at a Wu-Tang Clan show in New York the week previously. ODB, who has been in and out of jail and rehab for numerous drug-related offenses, had been living in a Pasadena rehab center after serving six months in jail for a probation violation, when he fled. After three weeks on the lam, the rapper then appeared onstage with the Wu-Tang Clan in New York in front of a stunned audience and then left as mysteriously as he appeared. One week later the manager of the Philly McDonald's summoned police to the restaurant to break up a crowd, not knowing that ODB was at the center of it. When police arrived, ODB was signing autographs and when first approached, thought the police were fans as well. When ODB quickly realized who they were, he tried to flee to his car but was apprehended.

The rapper, who last year appeared in numerous courts answering to charges of crack cocaine possession, terrorist threats, illegally wearing a bulletproof vest and stealing a $50 pair of shoes, among others, was not immediately charged with a crime.

Lennon's Bricks Up for Auction

Bricks from the house that John Lennon grew up in under the guidance of his Aunt Mimi are being auctioned off on NBC's John Lennon auction site between November 14 and December 4. It all began when the home's current 88-year old owner agreed to allow NBC into the home to film a movie about Lennon as a teenager. When the crew knocked down a brick wall to make more room for cameras, the first thought was to throw the bricks in the dumpster. Then Michael O'Hara, the show's producer, thought: "Hold on a minute. We wereover budget and I thought, 'here's an opportunity to generate some revenue.'" The bricks were removed, documented and put online at NBC for sale to the highest bidder.

As of press time, the current bid on a single brick is $350.

George Harrison's Attacker Found Not Guilty--Harrison Screams "Hare Krishna!"

Michael Abram, a 34-year old father of two, thought he was "on a mission from God" when he attacked former Beatle George Harrison and his wife inside their Oxfordshire mansion last December. Abram smashed a kitchen window and Harrison went down to investigate when the noise awoke him and his wife. Abram stood holding a seven-inch knife, shouting, "You get down here, you know what it is!"

Harrison tried to distract Abram by shouting "Hare Krishna! Hare Krishna!" but that (rightly so) only infuriated Abram more--he then attacked Harrison, stabbed him repeatedly and left Harrison with a collapsed lung. "I vividly remember a deliberate thrust of a knife, and I could feel the blood entering my mouth, and hear my breath exhaling from the wound. I believed I had been fatally stabbed," said Harrison, whose wife tried to help her husband by striking Abram with a brass poker, and then with a table lamp after Abram knocked her to the floor. Abram then tried to strangle Harrison's wife with the lamp's cable, but police arrived on the scene in time to stop the attack.

Charged with two counts of attempted murder, Abram was recently found not guilty by reason of insanity. Suffering from a "complex delusional system," Abram told psychiatrists he thought Harrison was "an alien from hell" and his former band "witches flying on broomsticks from hell." He was ordered by the court to be detained in a psychiatric hospital "without time restrictions."

Craig Young
Editor, Earpollution