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Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Sparks Fly: Ron and Russell Mael, beach boys of lotusland, get ‘MAD!' on their latest album
Ron and Russell Mael are that rarest of all breeds, the Los Angeles native. The brothers came of age in the 1960s on L.A.'s Westside — decades before it was '310' or west of the 405 Freeway — because the north/south artery hadn't yet been built. A sporty upbringing of beach volleyball, AM radio tuned to 93 KHJ, and Palisades High School football (for Russell) belie the intellectual cool-cult status the band has held for decades. A status, that in the last few years, after making eclectic, uncompromising and witty albums since 1971, is morphing into something approaching mainstream recognition. The Maels credit the newfound momentum to cinema, specifically the 2021 Edgar Wright documentary 'The Sparks Brothers' and 'Annette,' a film that opened Cannes in 2021 which found the creator-brothers joyful on the red carpet with director Leos Carax and stars Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard. Up next? A 'half-musical' with John Woo ('Face/Off'). If the musicians' visibility and viability has shifted, Sparks' music remains inventive, brainy and flamboyant pop, often born of sunshiny moments and wistful memories that wend their way into lyrics. But it's hardly nostalgia. 'Perhaps in the themes,' says Ron, 'but in a musical sense, we really try to avoid nostalgia completely.' 'JanSport Backpack,' is a yearning tune with harmonies and a hazily poignant emotional tone akin to the Beach Boys —another band of Westside brothers and musical observers of youth culture. If the narrator laments the JanSport Backpack girl walking away, the love interest in 'My Devotion' has '[her] name written on my shoe,' as Russell sings. 'Maybe it isn't so much nostalgic,' Ron said. 'In some ways, we matured, in some we haven't, so we're still kind of living in an era of writing somebody's name on their shoes.' One tune is a surprising almost-love-letter to a fixture that's the bane of many Golden State warriors' existence — and satirized aptly on the 'Saturday Night Live' sketch 'The Californians': The 405 Freeway. 'I-405' is a frenetic, driving, cinematic journey that perfectly captures the drama and beauty roiling underneath bumper-to-bumper frustration. 'You kind of think of the I-405 in a negative way, because you think of being stuck on it. Everybody has their horror stories about it,' says Ron, perched next to his brother in the lounge area of Russell's bright recording studio, surrounded by the coolest pop culture tchotchkes and collectibles imaginable. 'One time when I was up at the Getty Center, and it was starting to be dusk, with the cars moving it seemed, in its own weird, L.A. kind of way, romantic. Almost like our equivalent, if you really stretch it, to the beautiful rivers in Europe and Japan,' Ron says. 'That was kind of the starting point for the song. If you look at it from a distance, there is kind of a beauty, and I think that's one of the keys to Los Angeles. You have to see things that you kind of think of as mundane in a slightly different way. Like, you go to Europe and things are obviously Art. Period. But here, a car wash or something…' '…We're big fans of supermarkets,' Russell chimes in. 'When they go away, it's kind of sad. Even department stores now are almost becoming a relic of the past. It's like a ghost town in the Beverly Center. All that's going to be gone at some point soon.' If not by gentrification and L.A.'s habit of eating its own, then natural disasters. The Jan. 7 Palisades fire burned part of Ron's high school, and the entirety of the home they lived in with their mother after their father's passing, on Galloway Street in the Palisades. Nearly every house in the entire neighborhood — the Alphabet Streets, a working-class enclave when the Maels lived there — was reduced to a pile of rubble. 'They had some of those aerial shots where they made the grid of the names of the streets, and it was gone. It's hard to comprehend, it was real suburbia there,' says Russell, 'and flat, so you think, 'well, surely that can't burn down.'' Slightly east of the 405, the Maels attended UCLA when culture was at a tipping point. Ron saw some of Jim Morrison's 'kind of impressive' student films at the school, and the brothers recall that, 'UCLA, at the time, had this amazing booking policy; you had Jimi Hendrix and Alice Cooper and Mothers of Invention, Canned Heat. It wasn't considered such a big deal. Just, 'Let's go see that person.' Now you have to go online and mortgage your house to go to see anybody,' says Ron. 'We always loved that kind of music,' adds Russell, 'but we never thought that we would ever be, you know, professional musicians. It's just that was the music that we really loved.' That said, by the age of 5, Ron was taking piano lessons and giving a recital at the Women's Club of Venice, near where the Mael family then resided. At Paul Revere Junior High, Russell won first place at a Shakespeare Festival for his sonnet recitation. Post those halcyon days, the brothers began delving into music together. Russell's powerful, at times operatic, vocals and energetic stage presence proved the perfect foil for Ron's distinctly quirky mien and adroit facility with words and keys. 'I don't know if you go as far as to call it a band,' clarifies Ron. 'It was an attempt at being a band. We played at some dorm thing at UCLA once.' 'We also played a pizza place in Westwood,' Ron remembers. 'Shakey's Pizza,' Russell adds with a laugh. 'We were top-billed that night. Yeah, free pizza. We did the local Westwood circuit and then when we got somewhat better we started playing the Whisky a Go Go a bunch. We were officially Sparks then.' The Sunset Strip, past its Doors days and with hair metal far on the horizon, wasn't especially welcoming to Sparks, though [Whisky founder] Elmer Valentine 'irrationally loved our band,' says Ron. 'The audiences, when they showed up, they really didn't like us and we were really way too loud. But he kept booking us. We would support people like Little Feat.' The L.A. Times reviewed that 1973 show, with critic Richard Cromelin noting that Sparks' 'highly stylized attitude is not complemented by the necessary abandon.' That observation may ring true for some, but for Sparks, ultimately that 'abandon' wasn't and isn't necessary. The energy of beguiling songs like 'Angst in My Pants' and 'This Town Ain't Big Enough For the Both of Us,' belted out with Russell's ebullient, pitch-perfect vocals, carry the always dynamic live show. Over the last four years, the Maels are glad to shake the long-held best-kept-secret tag, grateful to 'Annette' and 'The Sparks Brothers' for the boost. 'They kind of attracted people who were coming to us from the film area; they didn't know about the band. It's a new, younger audience, really diverse,' Russell says. The lineup's last few albums are the most meaningful to that sector. 'Going back to say, [1974's] 'Kimono My House,' for them, it's not meaningful in the same kind of way as somebody who was there at that time,' the singer says. 'It's really healthy that their focal point isn't like the 'golden era of whenever' that might have been the '70s in London or the '80s in L.A. or any point in between.' New eyes on the band have elicited a seemingly increased enthusiasm and energy that's perhaps unexpected from seasoned septuagenarians. Unlike the Gallaghers, the Davieses, and many other brotherly duos in rock, the Maels present a united front. If the brothers are coy and circumspect about their personal lives, their working relationship is slightly less obtuse. Slightly. We're in the room where their latest, 'MAD!,' (released Friday) was created, and while the album credits both with lyrics and production, Ron is the main wordsmith. There's seemingly not much back-and-forth on the lyrical themes or specifics. 'I hear about it on the day it's time to start singing,' says Russell. 'There's a 'here's your lyrics, sir.'' That said, Sparks' seeming manifesto, 'Do Things My Own Way' which starts the album, is clearly a statement of the duo's longtime purpose, Russell singing, 'Unaligned / Simply fine / Gonna do things my own way.' So would it ever be 'our own way'? The Maels laugh. 'Not as long as I'm writing the songs,' quips Ron. 'Good question, though,' says Russell with a smile. ''We witnessed the breakup of Sparks,'' Ron says with a laugh. 'On the 'Greatest Hits' album, we can do a version that's 'ours.''
American Press
03-05-2025
- Business
- American Press
End of tax season signals retirement for local couple
End of tax season signals retirement for local couple Published 8:44 am Saturday, May 3, 2025 By Ashlyn Little Best Tax Systems has closed its doors for the last time after 28 years in business. Owners Joseph and Annette Park have been providing the community and outlying areas with their tax expertise since establishing their business in 1998. Email newsletter signup The Parks, who live in Moss Bluff, said their business at 2315 12th St. has served as more than an office for the many who have been employed there, with the complex providing spacious living areas, a kitchen, multiple bathrooms and bedrooms for late nights during tax season. The couple said they would move in every year after Christmas and move back to Moss Bluff on May 1. The space gave employees and the owners a home away from home without having to commute back and forth during the work week. Annette Park she started her career working for H&R Block when manager Jim Anning needed a helping hand. 'I was doing payroll in the beginning,' she said. When Anning left the business, Annette said she followed him and joined him at the address where Best Tax Systems would later be located. When he retired in 1998, Annette bought the building and opened Best Tax Systems. 'Jim was such a good person to work for, I just hoped I was as good a boss as he was to me,' she said. Joseph Park — who was working full-time at the Alcoa aluminum plant in Lake Charles — would work part-time in the evenings alongside his wife for the next 10 years. In 2008 he retired after 30 years at Alcoa and worked full-time with Annette. 'She's the boss!' Joseph said laughing. 'She does it all, even the cooking!' 'I'm the best boss he's ever had,' Annette added with a smile. 'Marvelous' is the word the Parks both used to describe working together for all these years. 'The best part about working together is all the time we've spent together,' the couple said. When asked if the couple had any advice they'd like to give couples considering starting a business together they jointly said, 'It's usually a large investment and a hard thing to get around because it's a whole different situation — it changes your lifestyle.' 'You have to get along and you have to be dedicated because there's no clock,' Joseph added. Hurricane Rita brought on hard days and nights for the business. 'Joe was working out of the kitchen because it was the only room that wasn't destroyed; there was no heat, nothing, and we had a table and chair and people were still coming to us,' Annette said. When repairs were being made to the business, the Parks bought the music store next door — which had lost its roof during the storm — and combined the two buildings into one large office. The Parks said their business also gave them many travel opportunities. 'We've taken lots of trips for IRS classes, we've enjoyed our training sessions in Maryland, Las Vegas, California and more, but Las Vegas was our favorite because of all the shows,' Annette said. She would also take her office staff at the end of each year for a trip of some kind —one time they even went on a cruise to Mexico. The Parks said they're going to miss the community they've built for themselves, including all their employees and clients. 'That's been killing me the most because they're not just clients after 28 years, I've watched these people grow up,' Annette said. 'We were going to retire last year but decided to wait, now our customers are more prepared and so are we.' Annette and Joseph said they have big plans for retirement. They will be going on an Alaskan cruise this summer, then Texas to visit their daughter and attend their granddaughter's graduation. Afterwards they are looking forward to spending more time with their family and friends and being home in Moss Bluff. 'I'm looking forward to working in my flower beds and watching my flowers grow,' Annette said. Featured Local Savings
Times
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Winnipeg, Adelaide, Malaysia — meet the fans on Wrexham pilgrimage
Wednesday morning in Wrexham; it is four days since an event of global significance took place here. And, yes, I know you're thinking that 'global significance' sounds plain daft when attached to the 3-0 scoreline of a football match, but charmingly and very strangely, it actually isn't at all. Between the station and The SToK Racecourse Ground, where this global happening took place, there is a Premier Inn where I am having a morning cuppa with Mel and Annette Glover, 61 and 57, from Fallon, Nevada, who are talking me through why it is that they felt they needed to be here. They start by explaining their emotional connection — yes, between Nevada and this working-class town in north Wales. They were here last week for a day, too. 'We liked it so much,' says Mel, 'we decided we had to come back.' Perfect bookends to their holiday. It was in between that Wrexham beat Charlton Athletic 3-0 to secure their third successive promotion, this time from League One, an unprecedented achievement that produced outlandish pictures of celebration that included their Hollywood owners, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, pulling pints in The Turf, the pub beside the ground. Mel and Annette watched from a pub in Ellesmere. 'We decided not to get tickets,' Annette says. 'We were worried about being typical pushy Americans and taking tickets from the locals.' I tell them they are very respectful. 'So are the people here,' Mel says. It all started when Mel heard about the documentary series, Welcome to Wrexham. Annette thought it was probably not for her but said: 'I'll watch an episode with you.' And now? 'We've watched the whole thing twice.' And now Wrexham have won promotion (a concept Americans struggle to understand) to the Championship, which Annette says she finds somewhat bemusing too. Why? 'Because the names are funny. Everyone says we want to get to the Premier League, but 'the Championship' sounds better than 'the Premier League'. ' At least they have the ultimate souvenir, which is a selfie with Wayne Jones, the publican of The Turf, one of the lead characters in the Disney+ documentary. 'We wanted to have a beer and a burger in The Turf,' Mel says. They enjoyed it so much they went back for more of that, too. After saying goodbye, I bump into Luke and Moraid from Winnipeg, Luke proud in his Wrexham shirt, wheeling their bags back to the station. They had also got a selfie with Jones. Jones reckons he does up to two dozen such selfies daily. Most memorable was the group from Malaysia who flew in, arrived 40 minutes before kick-off, saw the game and flew straight home again. Luke and Moraid had also thought long and hard about going to the Charlton game. Moraid was doing the London Marathon the next morning and they finally conceded it was mad to do both. So next time they will come for a match. 'I wanted to experience the things I've seen on TV,' Luke says. 'It [ Welcome to Wrexham ] paints the community in such a positive light, right? A kind of a working-class town, maybe down on their luck a bit, the power of sport uniting people.' Luke and Moraid were similarly conscious about the impression they might make here. 'You know: 'These wankers are only here because of the TV show, they don't really care'. Right? But everyone was just so positive and happy and proud. 'We went to a restaurant last night and they specially made Welsh rarebit for us, because I was like: I'm in Wales, I want try Welsh rarebit.' And thus did our conversation segue to the Winnipeg Jets, their local ice hockey team and finally, for the first and surely last time ever, I heard someone manage to squeeze the names of Wayne Gretzky, the GOAT of ice hockey, and Paul Mullin, the out-of-favour Wrexham striker, into the same sentence. The thing about these such apparently random interactions is they are actually two-a-penny here in this town. Remember, this is midweek, between games, and there is literally nothing happening. Yet, in The Turf at lunchtime are a family from the Netherlands, another from Adelaide and Jennie and Ross Adams, a retired couple from Redcliffe, north of Brisbane. 'Our daughter used to come round to our place to use the washing machine,' Jennie says. 'She'd put it [ Welcome to Wrexham ] on and say: 'Come and have a look at this'. ' That is why they finished up here. This is all anecdotal. The document that establishes conclusively that the 3-0 win against Charlton was a global event is the visitors' book in the club shop. Sometimes they arrive here by the coachload and there in the book are their names and addresses, hundreds of them each month, from almost all round the world. Principally Americans, then Aussies and Canadians, heaps of Scandis and middle Europeans. 'You've warmed many a cold Wisconsin night,' wrote the group from Sturgeon Bay. 'Thank you. Go Dragons!' And this from John, from Connecticut: 'This team formed a relationship with my father that I never had. Thank you.' Most conspicuously absent here are visitors from the Far East. The documentary has yet to be marketed there with appropriate subtitles, but that is now inevitable. Nevertheless, the club's latest accounts show that Wrexham is now making more revenue from overseas than from within the UK. The statement in point is the stadium's name sponsor, SToK, being a product (coffee) that you can't even buy here. It all feels very giddy and unreal but also incredibly fortuitous. The documentary obviously markets the club globally, but no one could have guessed at — and certainly not budgeted for — the club's revenue being built on this free-spending super-fandom subculture that stretches from Redcliffe to Winnipeg and that has persuaded overseas companies to come in as sponsors. You get the impression, too, that the cocktail here, the feeling, if you like, is all quite fragile. The club has grown exponentially, it has climbed through the leagues and you have different groups — die-hard fans, new fans, overseas fans and Hollywood owners — who could easily start pulling in different directions. And let's not completely swoon here. Not a single penny from the documentary goes to the club; that is all owned by Reynolds and McElhenney. Nevertheless, they are both such regular and wholehearted visitors here that natural, initial suspicions have dissolved. The tone they have set in the documentary also seems crucial to maintaining the ecosystem: it's not about them, it's about the club, the town, the history and the blue-collar integrity of the people you feel they have come to love. And maybe that is just a story they've written and cleverly plonked themselves into the middle of. But that would make them unfeasibly cunning con men. Either way, they have achieved something preposterous; they have persuaded millions around the world that Wrexham is somewhere you go to on a pilgrimage and that you come here behaving like you are on sacred ground. The hosts of the podcast Fearless In Devotion did a live recording last week and there was a New Yorker in the audience who was on his ninth visit. People come to Wrexham wanting to take them out, buy them food and be sponges for their knowledge. Explain to us, they say, the anecdote about the robin mascot who cycled round the pitch on a rusty bicycle. Some tell them that, were it not for the kids in school, they'd move here. 'It's very important, to overseas visitors, that you enjoy their company too,' Tim Andrews, one of the hosts, says. 'I've noticed that they really feel like there's a certain stigma attached where people think they are just here as tourists.' All of which makes Wrexham seem, for now, strangely special, certainly unique, impervious to the tugging strains of the big time. And that will all be put to a greater test when they go up to the next level, when they will have to spend more and be even more commercially orientated. Yet hopes still thrive. No one here thinks the Premier League is round the corner, but they do believe it is just about in sight. Even if the Championship does sound more important.
Fashion Network
02-05-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
Footwear brand Anaar steps into handbags
Footwear label Anaar has expanded its product range with the launch of its debut handbag collection and 'Anaar Dazzlers,' a series of mobile chain slings designed to combine craftsmanship with functionality. Known for its fusion style footwear, the brand now aims to bring the same playful aesthetic to its accessories. 'Anaar has always been about embracing style with purpose, and this new collection of handbags and Dazzlers is the perfect extension of that vision,' said Anaar Footwear's founder Tanushri Biyani in a press release. 'Our new launch is designed to complement the modern woman's spirit bold, timeless, and unapologetically unique- making every piece a statement of craftsmanship and elegance.' Anaar's maiden accessories collection includes two key handbag styles- the Slingette and the Annette. The Slingette features a sculpted heart-shaped design inspired by the language of love, intended to balance charm with a bold edge. The Annette, shaped like the letter 'A', reflects individuality with a structured silhouette, wearable both as a sling or handheld. Anaar has also introduced its 'Dazzlers,' ornate mobile and handbag slings made from materials inspired by Indian handicrafts. These include options such as the Seaside Dazzler, Polkita Dazzler, Dramanama Dazzler, and Firefly Dazzler, each designed to add a festive touch to weddings and celebrations. The Anaar handbags and Dazzlers are now available on the brand's direct to customer e-commerce store. The label also counts brick and mortar outlets in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, according to its website.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Where to get your democracy sausage on election day
Many voters are facing a bigger question than policies announced by Labor, Liberal, Greens or Independent. They're wondering where they can find the best democracy sausage on election day. While democracies around the world face mounting threats, Aussie voters generally approach polling booths with a light heart. And they're rewarded for their efforts with the chance to support a local community group by purchasing a snag with white bread, onions, and tomato sauce. Or controversially, maybe even mustard, barbecue sauce, or worse still, plain. "I think it's lovely that the focus on election day in Australia is often where can I get my democracy sausage? And the kind of the freedom to vote is safely and easily is taken as a given," Democracy Sausage website founder Annette Tyler told Yahoo News. Annette and a small group of friends have been maintaining the Democracy Sausage website since 2013. Today, it lists over 900 locations where voters can find themselves a snag. So if you're wondering where to find a tasty feed on election day, all you need to do is click here. 'The one thing that brings everyone together is the democracy sausage,' she said 'For a lot of people, a big part of the tradition is that you go vote, and then get a sausage.' The Democracy Sausage website continues to be run on a shoestring budget by Annette and her mates. But it's got fancier over the years, and it now includes other offerings like cupcakes, vegetarian food, bacon and eggs, coffee, and halal. There's also a handy column showing which locations are wheelchair accessible. The team don't own the slogan democracy sausage, and have never sought to commercialise it. But they do offer merchandise now that's sold at a price that covers the costs of production. This year, in what must be one of the first times a food company has released election-themed produce, Masterfoods will be providing its own brand of democracy sauce at some polling booths. 'That's an independent thing. They did let us know about it,' Annette said. 'But our principle is generally to stay non-partisan and to avoid commercial entanglements.' Urgent $6.2 million plea to protect iconic Aussie island from invasive 'killer' Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's rogue AFL act Albanese accused of signing endangered species' 'death warrant' Over the years, politicians have been roasted over their clumsy attempts to eat sausages. There's one famous shot of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton eating a Dagwood dog at the 2022 Ekka show in Brisbane that often does the rounds on social media. And a couple of years ago, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's aids tried to shield him from the cameras using his jacket, but it didn't stop photographers from getting a short clip of him wolfing down his snag. But for Annette award for the most disastrous attempt to eat a sausage still goes to a now retired former Prime Ministerial hopeful. 'Nothing is ever going to eclipse Bill Shorten, right? That's an all-time classic,' she said. 'I feel like after that, they've all been trained in eating democracy sausages.' Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? 🐊🦘😳 Get our new newsletter showcasing the week's best stories.
