Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
Former pro surfer known for riding huge Pipeline waves dies in shark attack
A well-known Hawaii lifeguard who was killed in a shark attack while surfing off Oahu’s North Shore was a former professional surfer with acting credits to his name, friends and associates said Monday.
Tamayo Perry, 49, was killed Sunday near Goat Island, Shayne Enright of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department said in a statement.
It’s not known if Perry was the first professional surfer to be killed in a shark attack, since the definition of a professional in the sport can be blurry, said Brendan Buckley, the editor of Stab Magazine, a website devoted to surfing.
“But in terms of a high-level surfer that people around the world know and respected, he’s the first that I’m aware of,” Buckley told The Associated Press Monday from his office in Portugal.
Perry and his wife, Emilia Perry, operated the Oahu Surfing Experience, offering surfing lessons. According to his biography on the business’ website, he surfed professionally for over 15 years, highlighted by winning the Pipeline Master trials in 1999.
The Pipeline off Oahu’s North Shore is famous for creating a tube that surfers ride for as long as they can. But it’s also the most deadly wave in the world, killing some of the world’s best surfers, Buckley said. Surfing it became Perry’s specialty, he said.
Surfers either focus on competitions or what they can do outside of those meets.
Perry “was never like somebody that was going to contend for a world title,” Buckley said. “He was more of the type to just kind of hunt down big, crazy waves and have that documented.”
“For a while, he was one of the top, top, top people out there,” Buckley added. “He got some of the craziest waves of his era. He was insanely respected by obviously everybody there and everybody around the world for what he did.”
Perry said on his website that he took to heart lessons learned from a near-fatal accident while surfing the Pipeline years ago.
“The lessons I’ve taken from that event have inspired me to my goal of instilling proper surf etiquette and safety into those whom I teach,” he wrote.
Emilia competed as a professional bodyboarder in western Australia before moving to Hawaii when she was 18. She and Tamayo met when she was bodyboarding out to a Pipeline wave.
“A few years later, I picked up a surfboard, we got married and there was no turning back,” she wrote. “The vast amounts of ocean knowledge that Tamayo has ingrained in me over the years is priceless.”
Tamayo Perry began his career as a lifeguard on the North Shore for the City and County of Honolulu Ocean Safety in July 2016, Enright said.
Perry’s other passion was acting. He had several small roles credited to him on the film website www.imdb.com, including playing a buccaneer in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” in 2011. That same year, he appeared in an episode of the television series “Hawaii Five-0.” He was also in a couple of national commercials.
“When I’m not acting, I’m still quite a character, so there’s always a ton of fun to be had,” he said.
Honolulu Ocean Safety and the city’s fire, police and emergency medical services departments responded to Malaekahana Beach on Oahu’s North Shore just before 1 p.m. Sunday after a caller reported seeing a man who appeared to have suffered shark bites, Enright said.
Lifeguards brought Perry to shore, where he was pronounced dead, Enright said.
Ocean Safety personnel posted shark warnings in the area following the attack, Enright said.
Honolulu Ocean Safety Acting Chief Kurt Lager said Perry was “a lifeguard loved by all.”
“Tamayo’s personality was infectious and as much as people loved him, he loved everyone else more,” Lager said at a news conference.
“Tamayo was a legendary waterman and highly respected,” Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said, calling Perry’s death “a tragic loss.”
The last fatal shark incident in Hawaii was Dec. 30 when a man surfing off Maui was attacked about 150 yards (137 meters) from shore.
Graceland steward Jack Soden among nine named to Memphis Music HOF
MEMPHIS, Tenn. | The Memphis Music Hall of Fame inducted its inaugural class of 25 luminaries at a rousing ceremony 12 years ago, honoring legends spanning generations and genres, from Elvis Presley to ZZ Top to Three 6 Mafia.
In later years, dozens of other musicians who recorded, taught and performed in Memphis secured their place in the Hall of Fame in this cradle of blues, soul and rock ‘n’ roll — Justin Timberlake, Tina Turner, Carla Thomas, to name a few.
This year, it will be inducting its 100th member of the Memphis music landscape with a class of nine, including soul singer Wilson Pickett, rapper, producer and songwriter Jazze Pha, and Jack Soden, who teamed up with Elvis’ former wife Priscilla Presley to open Graceland as a tourist attraction in 1982. That was five years after the singer and actor died in Memphis at the age of 42.
Today, Graceland, Elvis’ former home-turned-museum, is an American tourist mainstay, annually drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors to this city by the Mississippi River.
In the hall’s announcement of its 2024 class, it noted that Soden in 1981 was hired “to plan and execute the opening of Graceland to the public, despite recommendations that it be sold to avoid bankruptcy.”
Graceland has evolved from a museum on the 13-acre property where the house sits to a sprawling entertainment complex that features a soundstage, exhibition space, restaurants and a 450-room hotel.
All under Soden’s “watchful eye,” the Hall of Fame said in a news release.
“Under Soden’s leadership, Graceland has kept Memphis’ music profile strong with an annual economic impact of $200 million,” the news release said.
By the early 1980s, Graceland had become a burden on Presley’s estate, which faced high estate and inheritance taxes. Accountants and bankers wanted to sell the home, but Priscilla Presley thought that opening the house to tourists could solve the financial problems while keeping Elvis’ legacy alive. She received a $500,000 investment and, with Soden, visited other tourist attractions — Hearst Castle, Will Rogers’ home, even Walt Disney World — for inspiration.
Graceland opened for tours on June 7, 1982. They sold out all 3,024 tickets on the first day.
“We had no idea whether 30 people were coming, or 300, or 3,000 that first day, Fortunately, it was the latter,” Soden told The Associated Press in a 2012 story about Graceland’s 30th anniversary.
Since it opened, Graceland has helped keep the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in the consciousness of fans, along with new releases of compilations of his music, constant pop culture references and films such as “Elvis” in 2022 and “Priscilla” a year later.
Soden thanked the Hall of Fame in a statement provided to The Associated Press.
“It is an honor to be selected to join such a distinguished group of talented singers, musicians, and pioneers who created Memphis’ rich legacy of music,” Soden said. “Music is the soul of Memphis and draws millions of visitors from about the world each year who want to immerse themselves in the story — from Graceland to Beale Street and everything in between.”
Soden joins Pickett, who recorded “In the Midnight Hour” at Stax Records in Memphis. Stax is known for producing some of soul music’s most lasting and seminal hits, including Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay,” Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man,” Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” and “Green Onions” by Booker T. and the MGs.
“Wilson Pickett’s career exploded when Atlantic Records sent him to Memphis,” said Jeff Kollath, Executive Director of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. “Working with Steve Cropper, Eddie Floyd, and others, Pickett found his voice and became a Southern soul standard-bearer.”
Along with Jazzy Phe, the other 2024 inductees are soul singer James Carr (“Dark End of the Street”); pop group The Gentrys (“Keep on Dancing”); opera singer Kallen Esperian; Southern soul keyboardist and songwriter Spooner Oldham; singer-songwriters Rhodes, Chalmers, Rhodes; and Kevin Kane, longtime head of Memphis’ tourism bureau.
They will be honored at a ceremony on Sept. 27 in Memphis.
Alec Baldwin’s attorneys ask
judge to dismiss
the case against him
SANTA FE, N.M. | Defense attorneys for Alec Baldwin are seeking to scuttle an involuntary manslaughter trial against the actor-producer in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer during rehearsal for the Western movie “Rust.”
Baldwin’s lawyers argue in a motion seeking to dismiss the charge that the firearm in the shooting was heavily damaged by FBI forensic testing before it could be examined for possible modifications that might exonerate the actor.
New Mexico Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer is scheduled to hear arguments Monday. Baldwin’s trial is scheduled to begin next month.
Baldwin’s attorneys contend that authorities took what they described as the most critical evidence in the case — the firearm — and destroyed it by striking it with a mallet as part of a forensic analysis.
During the fatal rehearsal on Oct. 21, 2021, Baldwin was pointing the gun at Halyna Hutchins on a movie-set ranch when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza, who survived. Baldwin says he pulled back the gun’s hammer but did not pull the trigger.
Prosecutors plan to present evidence at trial that they say shows the firearm “could not have fired absent a pull of the trigger” and was working properly before the shooting.
Defense attorneys are highlighting a previously undisclosed expert analysis that outlines uncertainty about the origin of toolmarks on the gun’s firing mechanism.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty to the involuntary manslaughter charge, which carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison.
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted in March of involuntary manslaughter for her role in the shooting and was sentenced to 18 months in prison. During the trial, an FBI expert testified the gun was fully functional with safety features when it arrived at an FBI laboratory. The expert said he had to strike the fully cocked gun with a mallet and break it for the gun to fire without depressing the trigger.
On Friday, the judge denied prosecutors’ request to use immunity to compel testimony from Gutierrez-Reed at Baldwin’s trial. Her statements to investigators and workplace safety regulators will likely feature prominently in Baldwin’s trial.
Further testimony could be limited by the armorer’s reluctance to testify, and the judge said Friday that other witnesses can fill in most of the gaps if Gutierrez-Reed doesn’t testify.
Also during Friday’s hearing, Marlowe Sommer ruled against a request by defense attorneys to dismiss the trial because they said Baldwin had no reason to believe the gun could contain live ammunition and wasn’t “subjectively aware” of the risks.
Last year, special prosecutors dismissed an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin, saying they were informed the gun might have been modified before the shooting and malfunctioned. But they pivoted after receiving a new analysis of the gun and successfully pursued a grand jury indictment.
Music record labels sue AI song-generators Suno and Udio
BOSTON | Big record companies are suing artificial intelligence song-generators Suno and Udio for copyright infringement, alleging that the AI music startups are exploiting the recorded works of artists from Chuck Berry to Mariah Carey.
The Recording Industry Association of America announced the lawsuits Monday brought by labels including Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Warner Records.
One case was filed in federal court in Boston against Suno AI, and the other in New York against Uncharted Labs, the developer of Udio AI.
Suno AI CEO Mikey Shulman said in an emailed statement that the technology is “designed to generate completely new outputs, not to memorize and regurgitate pre-existing content” and doesn’t allow users to reference specific artists.
Shulman said his Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup tried to explain this to labels “but instead of entertaining a good faith discussion, they’ve reverted to their old lawyer-led playbook.”
Udio didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier said in a written statement that the music industry is already collaborating with responsible AI developers but said that “unlicensed services like Suno and Udio that claim it’s ‘fair’ to copy an artist’s life’s work and exploit it for their own profit without consent or pay set back the promise of genuinely innovative AI for us all.”
AI has been a heated topic of conversation in the music industry, with debates ranging from the creative possibilities of the new technology to concerns around its legality. In March, Tennessee became the first U.S. state to pass legislation to protect songwriters, performers and other music industry professionals against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. Supporters said the goal is to ensure that AI tools cannot replicate an artist’s voice without their consent.
The following month, over 200 artists signed an open letter submitted by the Artist Rights Alliance non-profit calling on artificial intelligence tech companies, developers, platforms, digital music services and platforms to stop using AI to infringe upon and devalue the rights of human artists.
—From AP reports
