Matthew Fleischer

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Tookie and the Death Penalty

Matthew Fleischer
In the nearly two years since the execution of Crips founder turned Nobel Peace Prize nominee Stanley “Tookie” Williams, the lethal-injection procedure that took his life has been declared unconstitutional by a U.S. district court, and the executions of California’s 667 condemned men and women have been temporarily stayed in......

Best Place to Sing Karaoke and Pick Up Chicks With Mr. Belding

Matthew Fleischer
It’s after midnight at Dimples karaoke bar, and you’ve just witnessed a second group of incoherent college girls stumble through a vodka-tonic-infused version of “My Humps.” As you sit waiting for your tab, silently longing for the day when Fergie finally gives up music to make snuff films, a familiar......

Most Fabulous Dance Club Masquerading as a Tough-Guy Dive

Matthew Fleischer
It’s Sunday night outside a bar called The Study, and a large man with a teardrop tattoo is eyeing me suspiciously. Sunk 20 yards off Western in the middle of a bleak parking lot, The Study has all the makings of a great dive bar: dilapidated front; worn-down, ’70s-style sign;......
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Death and Girl Talk

Matthew Fleischer
F ?or two months, Gregg Gillis lived the wild life of a touring musician. Now he was about to meet a fiery end on the tarmac of Dallas Love Airport. The 25...

Children of the Revolutionary

Matthew Fleischer
On the night of March 30, 1974, Watani Stiner and his brother George hugged their mother and stepfather good night, trying to hide the fact that this might be the last time they would ever see each other. In only a few hours’ time, Watani and George would either be......
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Live in LA: Femi Kuti at the House of Blues, July 20

Matthew Fleischer

Half-way through Femi Kuti’s first song of the night, the powerful “Truth Don Die,” a strange realization hit me -- Femi’s wearing Tevas. For some reason, seeing the heir to a revolutionary musical legacy, and a virtual legend himself, in Tevas struck me as eminently amusing and I spent the next few minutes devising marketing strategies for the Teva Corporation.

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Femi Fatale

Matthew Fleischer
It would seem a daunting task to step out of the shadow of a man known to his fellow countrymen as “the black president.” But Femi Kuti, son of Nigerian Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti, has managed to embrace his father’s legacy while rising to stardom in his own right. Combining......
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The Dating Game

Matthew Fleischer
For some people, there’s nothing more arduous than hearing a friend drone on and on about his or her bad relationships. For Jon Huck, though, it’s the stuff of inspiration. “I was spending a lot of time with a particular group of friends — all of whom had broken up......

Daddy From Hell

Matthew Fleischer
{mosimage}For Gabriel Goillen, night manager of Mel’s Drive-in on Highland Avenue in Hollywood, the events of May 13 still don’t register. Goillen was working the night that police say Angela and Michael Sheridan, a young couple, murdered guitarist Rod Poole in the parking lot of Mel’s.Despite the viciousness of the......

New Orleans Jazzfest: Scenes From a Recovery

Matthew Fleischer
At Evelyn’s Place in New Orleans’ French Quarter, change comes reluctantly if it comes at all. The walls and ceiling are covered in a dusty collection of novelty flags and global currency that have dulled and molded over time into a ubiquitous shade of pale brown. At the center of......