A slow stretch

Hmm, two straight days and no non-rock star rock stars to be found. Perhaps I've done my job too well.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Today's rock star is:

Albert Einstein, Theoretical Physicist
"'Einstein's personality, for no clear reasons, triggers outbursts of a kind of mass hysteria,' the German consul reported to Berlin as the great man made one of his rock-star visits to New York."
New York Times

In an article in the New York Newsday, some guy named Todd Shapiro says "I feel like a rock star - people are stopping me in the street and thanking me for opening a shoe store." I'm sorry, Todd, you just can't claim yourself a rock star. That's like trying to give yourself your own nickname. As far as this blog is concerned you are not a rock star.

Sunday, April 8, 2007

Today's rock star is:

Jimmy "Moose" Wallace, High school football coach, South Carolina
"Moose Wallace was Lewisville's head football coach and athletics director. He was like a rock star to the fine folks in the Richburg area."
The Herald (Rock Hill, South Carolina)

For the first time, I could not find an image for a rock star. I guess this Moose Wallace is a bit of a recluse, a Sly Stone sort.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Today's rock stars are:

Clinton Kelly, Television personality
"Practical advice delivered with snark has given Kelly rock star status among fans of the U.S. version of What Not to Wear, a fashion makeover show that began in Britain"
St. Petersburg Times

Rahul Gandhi, Parliament of India
"With state elections to start Saturday, his part rock star, part royalty road show raced through the heart of Uttar Pradesh this week in an effort to raise party morale."
New York Times

Friday, April 8, 2007

Today's rock stars are:

Daisuke Matsuzaka, Pitcher, Boston Red Sox
"He was a rock star in spikes -- and spiked hair -- all spring in Florida, but Thursday was the first real test of whether all the hype was justified."
Hartford Courant

Mei Lan, Panda Bear
"Alas, that's been our experience over the past few months with Mei Lan, Zoo Atlanta's baby panda rock star, who somehow prefers sleep to media attention."
Atlanta Journal Constitution

Since when have rock stars been so irresistibly cute and cuddly?

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Today's rock stars are:

None.

All my searches turn up negative today. The only rock stars mentioned today are actual rock stars--Keith Richards is getting a lot of press this week--and that's it. As usual, I take Friday and Saturday off and come back with a triple update on Sunday. There's bound to be a relief pitcher or a city councilman somewhere rocking out by then.

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Today's rock stars are:

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, Professional Golfers
"They are the rock stars, and everyone else is just playing in the band."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor, New York City/U.S. Presidential Candidate
"'We'll see whether they're really interested in courting this constituency or whether they think this rock-star treatment' Giuliani receives on the campaign-trail will carry over, Scheffler said recently."
Newsday

Chefs
"In an age where chefs are celebrities and a regular TV gig turns the classically trained and mere personalities alike into culinary rock stars, the shortage of chefs of African descent is noteworthy if only by their striking absence. "
Chicago Sun-Times

Rudy Giuliani remains the only Republican rock star presidential candidate. I don't know what this means, but it may be significant.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Today's rock stars are:

Grant Hill, Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley, former Duke basketball players, 1991-1992.
"Grant Hill, Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley were rock stars in Durham just like these Gators are."
Hartford Courant

One last college basketball rock star here and then we can put it to bed for another year. It's time to move on to Major League Baseball rock stars.

And speaking of rock stars in sports, I found this little nugget during my daily search for the phrase "rock star." Registration for the Uganda soccer tournament, the Kakungulu Cup, ended this week. This tournament is open to all soccer clubs from professional to amateur, and, according to AllAfrica news, the lower-division teams registered this year include "Biharwe, Malaba Strikers, Kalububu Kobs, and Rock Stars." There's no doubt in my mind who I'm rooting for in the 2007 Kakungulu cup.

Monday, April 2, 2007

Today's rock stars are:

Bill Gates, Chairman, Microsoft
"Bill Gates first visited Vietnam a year ago, when thousands of young Vietnamese greeted him like a rock star at a university where he spoke."
Associated Press

Theo Epstein, General Manager, Boston Red Sox
"They have a general manager, Theo Epstein, who is the closest thing you'll find to a front-office rock star."
Boston Globe

Arnold Schwarzenegger & Fabian Nunez, Governor and Speaker of the Assembly, California
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez received rock star-like affection worldwide for their work on landmark greenhouse gas legislation last year."
San Francisco Chronicle

There are more rock stars in business, sports, and politics than there are in pop music.

Sunday, April 1, 2007

Today's rock star is:

Peter Dundas, Creative Director, Emanuel Ungaro
"Last week, Dundas was treated like a rock star in Los Angeles."
San Francisco Chronicle

BUT NOT
Christopher Dodd, U.S. Senator, Connecticut/Presidential Candidate
"He isn't married to a former president, never won the vice presidential nomination and is no rock star."
Los Angeles Times

We have yet to find out what these sort of not-rock star mentions do to one's career. What is interesting is that only politicians seem to be singled as not rock stars.You never see a human interest story about a popular chemistry teach or local canoe builder go out of its way to say its subject is not a rock star.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Today's rock star is:

Henry VIII, Former King, England
"It seems almost a no-brainer to turn the early days of Henry VIII's 16th century court into a sleek, well-produced soap opera. After all, it's a story with intrigue, philandering, death - and a virile, young rock star of a monarch."
St. Petersburg Times

If you ask me, Hans Holbein painted a terrible likeness of Jonathan Rhys-Meyers.

Friday, March 30. 2007

Henry VIII, Former King, England
"Bergin says, 'Henry was the rock star of his time ... with garments cut close to the body to accentuate his physique. He was the Mick Jagger of his day.'"
San Francisco Chronicle

David Carr, unemployed quarterback
"He arrived in Houston a rock star. Carr, the No. 1 pick in the 2002 draft, had the total package: good looks, a beautiful wife, a nice-guy personality and talent."
Houston Chronicle

A guy who couldn't even keep a job with the Houston Texans gets the same metaphorical treatment as the man who created the Church of England.