It was on this date in 1962 that the only succesful escape from Alcatraz ever took place. By successful, of course, I mean that they actually got out of the prison. It is believed that they died while in the bay, though a few years ago MythBusters recreated the escape, and were able to do so. Each and every year, in honor of the escape, there is an Escape From Alcatraz triathlon in San Fran that includes a swim in the San Francisco Bay (which is currently a brisk 56 degrees.)

Spike Lee went after Clint Eastwood this past week for not having any black people in his two movies about Iwo Jima. Of course, the first film was about the 6 soldiers who raised the flag (none of whom were black) and the 2nd movie was about Japanese soldiers who fought at Iwo Jima (Spike might be surprised to discover that very few Japanese soldiers were black). Is Spike also upset at Steven Spielberg for not using enough black actors in Schindler’s List? While the lack of roles for black actors is troubling, it is kind of moronic of Lee to go after the guy who directed Bird, about Charlie Parker, and who is currently doing a movie about Nelson Mandela (as Eastwood himself said, “I’m not going to make Nelson Mandela a white guy”).

After Eastwood answered back to Lee’s salvos, and told Lee to shut his face, Lee said, “First of all, the man’s not my father and we’re not on a plantation either.” Needle scratches record. To go with Godwin’s Law, there should be a Spike Lee law, that every argument with Spike Lee will come to a screeching halt when Lee accuses his opponent of being a modern day slaveholder. And just to show what a classy guy he is, Spike ended his tirade with:“Even though he’s trying to have a Dirty Harry flashback, I’m going to take the Obama high road and end it right here. Peace and love.” Wow, comparing him to a modern day slaveholder and then ending the argument on his terms. What a creep.

SeeqPod – Playable Search
A few weeks ago, I did my top songs about the rain. Well, now all anyone can think about is the heat. Qualifications for these songs were rather strict: They had to actually be about temperature, not about a hot girl (eliminating songs such as Hotter than Hell by Kiss and Hot Child in the City by whoever the hell did that song), about how hot a person finds themselves (This is Why I’m Hot), or about an indistinguishable “it” whose origins we are unsure of (Drop It Like It’s Hot). OK, so Hot Stuff about Donna Summer isn’t really about the temperature but she got a pass because she her name has the word “Summer” in it. And I guess Heat Wave is technically about love, but there was no way that song wasn’t making the list. Let me know if I missed anything: