It's always fascinating to wonder about the future meanderings of people who have impacted this remarkable world. In its never-ceasing attempts to bring further understanding to matters great and small, Future Press again presents a look at what might very well happen since what we have already witnessed is, well, staggering.
New York Feb 13, 2011…Capping a remarkable comeback, megastar Ron Blagojevich has won the Big Four Grammy Awards including one for his unique album, “Kipling Really Rocks.” Set to music recorded in 1993 by Kurt Cobain and discovered last year in an orange crate believed to be among the late musician’s last living room furniture, the epic Kipling poems enabled the former Illinois governor to further cement his hold on a world gone Blago mad.
In addition to his Album of the Year victory, Blagojevich won Grammys, awarded by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, for Record of the Year, Song of the Year (a surprise win for “A Lunge at Grunge”) and Best New Artist Who Had Never Ever Recorded Before--a first time achievement in the 53-year history of the event.
For Blago, as he is affectionately known, it was the culmination of media stardom attained while currently serving 18 months of a 10-year prison sentence at Illinois Stateville Correctional Prison. In accepting the award (Spoken Category) for “Kipling Really Rocks,” Blogo recognized the role played by Shelby “Groove” Shellak, describing him as a “recording industry giant.” According to the once-reviled former governor, it was Shellak who made recordings of Blago’s readings of the long-revered but dated British poet later matching the outpourings with Cobain’s artistry. According to Shellak, “we added a whole bunch of drums in that salute to Kipling--a sound greater than a Hawaiian band interpreting the music of Samoa.”
It was Blago who also revealed while accepting his awards that a major motion picture is in the early planning stage when he emerges from prison--as early as three months. It’s working title: “Doing Time and Loving It.” Consideration, according to cinematic insiders, is being given Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin who has tested for the key role of a madcap flutist who has trouble determining whether she wants to concentrate on music, continue her governorship, or run for the Presidency of the U.S. Early word on the script is that it is heavy on psychology and the value judgments and challenging decisions made each day by state governors.
Initially shunned by prospective employers while awaiting trial on felony charges, the scandal-tainted Democrat had built name recognition keyed to 187 TV interviews conducted in five whirlwind days of January, 2009. The massive publicity campaign, dependent solely upon the spoken word and terminated by what the Mayo Clinic described as a severe case of “non- tetanus” lockjaw, was characterized by late-night TV’s David Letterman as “consisting of more words than the combined total of all the filibusters conducted in the U.S. Senate since the devious parliamentary device was created in 1841.”
In retrospect, the Letterman appearance was the highlight of Blago’s campaign to right what he described as “just one big misunderstanding.” Commenting about three former Illinois governors with corruption convictions, Letterman joshed: “Is this just part of the oath of office that you guys take?” Replied Blagojevich: “Unlike those, I’ll be vindicated,’ as the audience broke up.
Blagojevich is believed to be the only person achieving redemption while in prison by way of acclaim as a recording star. Further atonement has been achieved by Blagojevich’s wife Patti, famed for her colorful vocabulary as she joined her husband in a taped attempt to strong-arm the Chicago Tribune into firing unfriendly editorial writers. In a touching Emmy moment available on U-Tube as this is written, Blago is shown in his Emmy acceptance speech making reference to his wife’s rehabilitation made possible by coaching TV anchors, reporters and commercial actresses all too often cast because of their looks. “Not long after the trial, I began realizing that far too many people on TV have shi….I mean really bad voices and I decided to do something about it.” A rumor suggests that voice coach Patti Blagojevich has been working with TV pitchman Billy Mays in what is, apparently, a failed attempt to take some of the irritation out of his voice.
Underscoring the Blago story is that Americans have a particular fondness for the rehabilitation of fallen heroes. New York marketing genius Charlie Tubthumper is quick to liken Blago’s success to homemaking diva Martha Stewart whose insider trading resulted in a prison term and who has successfully resumed her career. “The idea of a governor, convicted of attempting to sell the former Senate seat of a newly elected President and then achieving redemption by winning four Grammys, is breathtaking.”
Blago’s tremendous Grammy victories are considered possible preludes to such additionally significant awards later this year as the Pulitzer and the Nobel Peace Prizes, a subject paramount in Katie Couric’s recent report, dropped with apparent indifference, into Hugh Hefner’s “The Girls Next Door” on the E Channel.
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