Photo by Jeanne RiceSo what's with the rumor that Scott Weiland is negotiating a deal with Linda Jemison that would give the Stone Temple Pilots front man a financial interest in Linda's Doll Hut? We were embarrassed to ask, but we did it anyway. "I've never even met Scott Weiland," said Linda, not making us feel any better. "I don't know how rumors like that get started." We were about to launch into a profuse apology, but Linda continued. "Well, someone I'm working with is a friend of Scott Weiland," she acknowledged, "so maybe that's how the rumor got started." And that gave us time to think of another question: Is Linda considering sharing ownership of her cozy Anaheim roadhouse with anyone? "W-e-l-l, possibly," Linda responded slowly, "but it's nothing I would be willing to comment on." But Linda's so darn outgoing and nice that it's hard for her to say, "No comment," which sounds so insulated and terse; she just couldn't leave it at that. "I will say that I'm looking to improve the club, but I've done nothing right now," she said and then broke into a giggle. "How's that for a compact quote?" For the moment, great, although it certainly seems to suggest there's more to come. "When anything happens," Linda promised, "you'll be the first to know." We still don't know how rumors like this get started, but we can see why they don't die. (Dave Wielenga)
ROCK & JOCK SCHLOCK
As if the world needed yet another awards show, along comes the ESPN Action Sports & Music Awards, which were presented at the Universal Amphitheater on April 7 and broadcast on the all-sports-all-the-time cable network April 10. Award shindigs these days, though, are more and more about marketing and less and less about giving accolades to art, and this inaugural ceremony was all that. The awards themselves were pretty much interchangeable. Snowboarding Artist of the Year went to NOFX, while Skateboarding Artist of the Year went to Eminem, which struck LowBallAssChatter as being a bit odd. Does this mean that if we skate to NOFX instead of Eminem, we're not cool anymore? Motocross Riding Artist of the Year went to the precocious toddlers of Linkin Park, which was really strange—who the hell could hear anything, let alone music, whilst launching themselves above dirt jumps on a motorcycle? Or is this more like music to watch motocross by? The hoity-toity-named Artist Contribution Award went to Metallica because, well . . . they're old, so why not? Possibly senile, too, as this quote from former Brea-Olinda High School student James Hetfield attests on the whole action-sports/rock & roll connection: "I think there are parallels, as in we're going where we're not supposed to be—beyond the limits. I feel a lot of the people out here ignore the rules of what should be. We're all connected in that way." So, too, are Napster users of course, but apparently, James forgot about that connection. (Rich Kane)
