SW called presidential candidate Barack Obama "a combination of Martin Luther King and JFK", a pretty impossible review to beat. Of Amy Winehouse he said "She reminds me of a young Etta James. 'Rehab' is a very good song. The CD ['Back To Black'] was good, my daughter turned me onto it." Hopefully we'll all get to indulge in Amy's talent for five decades of touring as well.

(Where we are now..the intersection of music, politics, history and culture: From left to right- Stevie Wonder, Barack Obama, Martin Luther King, John F Kennedy, Amy Winehouse, Etta James)

Scoopit!

Adam is a regular reader of Jake Tapper's Political Punch blog. Tapper is a senior political correspondent for the American ABC Network.

Having seen the coverage on the NZ news of Obama's Berlin speech, Adam was impelled to post this item, which is a copy of Tapper's recent post.

Having to listen to some middle aged man gush 'Obama is my new Messiah' on the 6 O'Clock news was the most vomit inducing utterance Adam has heard in a political context for some time. i
It transcended even Winston "I know nothing' Peters.

The reason why Adam has posted this in full will be obvious once you read it.

Just Hours Later, Obama Campaign Uses Berlin Speech to Raise Campaign Cash

July 24, 2008 7:35 PM

Shortly after 6 pm Central time -- just a few hours after Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, gave his speech in Berlin, which his campaign insisted was not political -- his campaign manager, David Plouffe, sent out a fundraising solicitation using the speech to raise campaign cash.

"As you may have heard, Barack has been in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia this week," reads the email, with a big red "DONATE" sign. "Today, he spoke in Berlin, Germany. In a city where a wall once divided the free from the oppressed, he talked about tearing down the walls that divide all peoples so we can address our common problems -- the threats of terrorism and nuclear weapons, global warming and genocide, AIDS and poverty. Watch Barack's historic speech and share it with your friends."

The letter offers a link to the video and asks recipients to please "forward this email to your friends, family, and colleagues."

This is certainly going to be used as ammunition for those critics who wondered about the true purpose of this "non political" trip.

- jpt

UPDATE: The Obama campaign takes issue with my description of its email with its big, red "DONATE" button as a "fundraising soliciation." The campaign, which has raised more money through the internet than any other campaign in world history, says the purpose of this email, the "DONATE" button notwithstanding, was for folks to see the speech and share it with their friends.

(When you click on that DONATE button, I might add, you're taken to this webage which reads: "Make your donation online...Make your donation using the secure form below...$25 $100 $500 $2,300
$50 $250 $1,000 Other: $ ...Credit Card: Visa MasterCard American Express Discover...Donating Offline: If you would prefer to contribute by mail, send a check to: Obama for America, P.O. Box 802798, Chicago, IL 60680...Donating Monthly: Click here to make a recurring donation....Americans Abroad: Click here to make a donation.)

The campaign calls the above blog entry "misleading." You be the judge.

Greg Wallace

As Adam has pointed out previously Obama is a product of Illinois politics.

Note how Obama has tried to market the trip as non-political. This is not credible.

Note also this extract from a piece from the Huffington Post, which is generally considered extremely pro-Obama:-

The campaign received 200 requests for press seats on the plane.

Among those for whom there was no room was Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent of The New Yorker. The campaign, which was furious about the magazine's satirical cover this week, cited space constraints in turning him away.

Hell, to this reader this sounds like utu plain and simple. Utu - a Maori concept for payback, revenge -which could be described as an obligation to undertake payment upon others for a wrongdoing.

Wow. So it's gonna be like that, is it? Retribution for unfavorable coverage is a chilling thing to contemplate — literally, as in, it carries with it the very real risk of chilling bold, outspoken coverage. Whatever one thinks of the New Yorker cover — that it was clear satire that clearly lampooned ridiculous rumors, that it went way overboard, that it was a comedic misfire — a robust press can't operate under threat of reprisal for unwelcome items.

Yes, I know, it happens every day (and, some would argue, pretty much every day of the last eight years). Even so, it sends a clear — and worrisome — signal from the Obama campaign: If we don't like it, man, will you know it. (And presumably it will hurt, like being excluded from The Trip Of The Century is surely meant to do.) Adulatory Rolling Stone covers beget adulatory Rolling Stone covers — with interviews, and that goes double for Newsweek (that's literally; yesterday on Reliable Sources, Howie Kurtz counted five of them). But otherwise, should the media fear a freeze-out?

(I should note here, too, that the media is not exactly freewheeling in how it covers Obama — early on in the primary campaign I noted that people were more careful when writing/speaking of Obama, and over the ensuing months we saw clearly how quickly the outrage-tripwires were triggered when people misspoke, or "misspoke").

This item demonstrates the 'care' that some media have exercised around Obama. In the Obama campaign's instance 'mis - speaking' would appear to constitute not enunciating the gospel according to Obama - ie not parroting the party line.

George Orwell would be so proud of Obama.

This man and his campaign play hard ball politics successfully, that is why they are ahead.

He is no saint or god like creature sent to deliver us to the promised land.

He is a Chicago politician.

Scoopit!

***

Well I was born in a small town
And I live in a small town
Probably die in a small town

~ as performed by John Mellencamp

***

Ah, small town Americans with their guns and their religion. Antipathy for those who aren't like them. Kansas values and American traditions...a speech on patriotism. What else can Senator Obama do to win over those precious working class folks that gave him the voting finger during the Democratic primary? Oh, oh, I know this one, pick me, pick me. Senator Obama can express his shame for those who aren't bilingual. He can make fun of the very people he's trying to appeal to in front of his base:

"I get embarrassed when Americans go to Europe and the only thing they can say is merci boucoup."

Well I'm sorry Senator Obama for lacking in the French language. Perhaps my high grocery bill and the $175 bucks I spent on gas keeps me from cracking open the old Rosetta Stone:

"How can you say that immigrants have to speak English when they come to America? Americans need to learn Spanish."

Well America's primary language is English Senator Obama, I mean that's the unifying language...you know? Isn't Obama all about unity?

I want to apologize to all of Senator Obama's worldly supporters. It seems you care about what the world thinks of America and her dumb citizens more than you care about what we think of each other as Americans and how we treat each other. I guess us small town folks are too inept to carry on a decent conversation. I mean all we do is shoot r guns and we cluuuuutch ar babbles, yehaww heuck, heuck.

You know it wasn't what Senator Obama said that offended me, it was the fact that he's trying to relate to middle America in one breath, and in the other he's insulting them. And of course the media didn't report this because well, they agree with Senator Obama. They think middle America is racist, inept, small minded bunch of rednecks that don't have a clue.

Just when I was about to commend Barack Obama for acknowledging the fact that the interview with Access Hollywood was a mistake, and it was, he turns around and makes these condescending remarks about yep you guessed it, small town Americans. You know what? Who cares if we can't speak Spanish or dazzle the Europeans with our skills in the French language.

We're too busy living OUR OWN lives the way WE want and we're too busy trying to make OUR lives better for our families and for ourselves.

....Elitist much, Senator?

....Git er dun?

***

The London Golf Golf Club in Kent hosted the European Open this week, and Ross Fisher absolutely dominated with an amazing 4 days of golf, with Thursday and Friday offering superb conditions for golf, Fisher set the course record on the opening day with a -9 under par.

The weekend proved difficult with terrible conditions, with English rain and wind in full force, however, the 27 year old Englishman Fisher showed pure class and ended the day with a 68, 7 shots ahead of Sergio Garcia, on 20 under par for the 4 days to take home the trophy and £400,000.

This win is Fisher's 2nd victory on the European Tour, Fisher said "They say the second win is harder. I might have made it look easy, but it certainly wasn't.". If he continues to play like he did this weekend, there is no doubt that Ross Fisher will again lift more trophy's.

Top Left Hand Golf Finishes:

Lefthand golfer Richard Green, from Australia finished a disappointing T65, with an 83 on Sunday, Green was sitting T27th after Saturday, but fell to the weather conditions.

Brought to you by : LefthandGolfers.com

3/4 di Ebd saranno alla data di Ravenna, chiunque voglia fare due chiacchere si faccia vivo!

Però ho come il presentimento che qualcuno ancora non li conosce: é il nuovo gruppo del cantante dei The Saddest Landscape, (che continua ad assicurarmi non si siano sciolti) ormai in giro da un paio d'anni. Emo/Screamo disperato con testi stra-maledettamente tristi e da uomo zerbino, ma a tutto ciò già vi aveva preparato il gruppo sopracitato. Dunque se siete persone serie verrete a vederli; gruppi del genere normalmente dopo qualche anno sentono l'irrefrenabile istinto di doversi sciogliere, ed é già un evento che passino pure per il nostro paese.

E' uscito da pochissimo il nuovo disco, We Aimed Straight Down, dunque sarà un'occasione per poter mettere le mani su questa bellezza:

Ecco a voi sprovveduti il primo lp ed un paio di split. Non ho voglia di mettere altri link, ma con la funzione cerca potrete trovare trovare la recensione dello split con i Sofy Major.

Building Monuments for Survival

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=F8JYE7L5

Her Breath on Glass/Championship

http://www.mediafire.com/?dz5m6mdcg09

Her Breath on Glass/Danse Macabre

http://rapidshare.com/files/42854078/her_breath_on_glass___danse_macabre.rar.html

Matteo

*M.I.A. has cancelled her European tour. Possibly to plan her wedding.

*The Times on Lil Wayne: "He often raps about smoking dope and swigging cough syrup."

*Bonaroo has a site set up to help mobile festival goers access info easily. [largehearted boy]

*Fashion(?): Punk rock belts for children. I'll be honest with you. I don't know what punk rock means.

*A collection of goods made out of repurposed vinyl records: bowls, bracelets, coasters.

*More Andrew Kuo stuff from the New York Times: On music festivals.

*Nooka is putting out a glow-in-the-dark watch to celebrate Kanye's Glow in the Dark tour, which is in Minneapolis tonight. [crave]

*One Laptop Per Child: Teaching the world to sing? "TamTam, a piece of software that allows children to create their own music, is central to the OLPC educational mission." [work]

*Remember when Qtrax, the free, legit P2P music site, tried to launch in January and it turned out they didn't have deals with any labels? They're ready to launch again.

*Lily Allen has been posting fairly heavily on her blog lately. Unquestionably frightening, but on the plus side, she makes the listenerd look almost literate.

*Local (kinda): The Hold Steady is streaming their new album, Stay Positive, on their MySpace page. MySpace. Quaint!

Photogalleries are at these links:

• Soulcraft MySpace profile - CLICK HERE
• Strength Approach MySpace profile - CLICK HERE

Some new stuff available on our webstore, including the new Iron Age 7" which is simply amazing, out on Dead & Gone records. Lot of more stuff has been added to the store, anyway it will be soon moved to another website, as Soulcraft Webstore will collaborate with Power-Load, webstore run by Countdown Records. Some news concerning D&G Records: pre-orders are up for the new Deal With It record "End Time Prophecies", which is going to be the "Alpha Omega" of our millenium. The band uploaded three new songs on their MySpace profile that are pure insanity, CLICK HERE to listen to them. Here's how the label describes the band's new record: "We're happy to announce that we're taking pre-orders for 'End Time Prophecies' which is a record we're really proud to be releasing. Deal With It has poured everything into this record and they have produced something we have never heard from a UK band. This record is a representation of a whole lot of effort, conviction and passion.

They have created a record which honours the memory of old New York hardcore and its mythos but have stamped it with their own distinctive mark. Bleak riffs marry bleaker lyrics which spit out a scornful wake up call reflecting current planetary chaos. 12 tracks which hit hard but also have something definitive to say - a real rarity in today’s hardcore climate of posturing, jealousy and whinging. Fans of 'Alpha O' Cro Mags, The Icemen and Breakdown will get a buzz out of this.

To cap it all off the LP features artwork from Ed Repka (Megadeth, Nuclear Assault etc) which perfectly encapsulates the vision of singer Mike. Sweet huh?"

So don't waste your time and rush to www.deadandgonerecords.com to pre-order your copy and get the chance to enter a draw to win a test press of "End Time Prophecies"...

Now playing:

• Oasis - (What's The Story?) Morning Glory
• Digitalism - Idealism
• Danny Diablo - Thugcore 4 Life

Well, I thought this album was going to be quite upbeat, I don't know why. I guess from 'What's a Girl To Do', I thought that was downbeat. This is a very mellow album. There are beautiful textures, the rhythmic side is there just not as full on as I had expected, very subtle and a great mixture of sounds. Combined with a beautifully, almost elegant voice, this album is a great listen and one that won't bore over time.

The themes explored in the lyrics are often about love and all that lark, which, being a man can be a bit much but at the same time you get the message. You don't even need to listen to what she's saying, just listen to the music and the voice. It's heartwarming and fascinating.

The album opens subtly with 'Horse and I' and never really lets up in it's underhanded means of evoking passion and calm. There are of course the obvious radio friendly tracks that do try to break the mould but they only succeed in making this album more enjoyable. From my post the other day, 'What's a Girl To Do' and 'Prescilla', are these tracks. Really catchy tunes with great melodies and brilliantly executed percussion. Now I'm not saying the percussion here is the best ever, it's far from it in terms of virtuosity, but it's perfect for the music. You really don't notice how good it is unless you listen for it.

The piano work is on a par with the percussion, again it's not mind blowing, but it's perfect. It sits right between the percussion and Khan's beautiful voice. This is highlighted on tracks such as 'The Wizard' and within a beautiful string arrangement on 'Bats Mouth', perfectly executed songs.

The album ends on a strange note though, almost psychadelic. It's mostly soft piano and vocals but has a period of messy, noisy, screeching guitars and excited vocals.

I've been pleasantly surprised with this album, not what I was expecting at all. A brilliant debut, calm, emotional and beautifully crafted. Can't wait to see the live performance tomorrow night, almost wish I was going tonight!

Bat for Lashes are supporting Radiohead on their European tour. Dates and venues can be found here. ]]> http://laurina.wordpress.com/?p=913 Thu, 05 Jun 2008 01:08:08 +0000 laura http://laurina.wordpress.com/?p=913

I chatted to ... J O H N    C O R A B I 

This has to be one of the best days of my life !

After a magnificent sing-along with Stephen Pearcy during the gig ( R A T T ) , I managed to rescue John's pick and not only...

After the concert I spoke to ( mighty ) guitarist ( singer and song-writer ) Mr John Corabi.

He was standing outside the Astoria by himself. I went totally emotional ! He is such a huge star for me : fantastic voice, charming personality and now I can say amazing attitude ! ! 

We spoke about the gig, the tour, Europe, cheese and wine, Italy and Calabria, London  pubs, design, his solo project and the possibility of his come-back at the end of th year with his own album... I soooo hope so !

At one point, this drunken dude, dressed as if he was going to a ballroom dancing class ( !! ), even went up to John and asked for a cig, ignoring who he was talking to... and Corabi didn't even raise an eyelid (even if - later - he referred to him as a wanker, ahah!) ; and I was standing there in disbelieve !

Well, emotions emotions emotions...

Such a good good nite...

I'm so glad Corabi is not up his own ass as many rockstars are nowadays. It was such a surprise to see one of my idols being so sooooo friendly. I feel like I'm in HEAVEN !

Well, if I can take off this smile from my face I'll probably be able to get some sleep before the morning, lol

THE PEOPLE
20 Jun 2008 - THE PEOPLE @ Theatre der Welt Halle, Germany
21 Jun 2008 - THE PEOPLE @ Theatre der Welt Halle, Germany
27 Jun 2008 - THE PEOPLE @ Theatre der Welt Halle, Germany
28 Jun 2008 - THE PEOPLE @ Theatre der Welt Halle, Germany
SOS
2 Jul 2008 - SOS @ Theatre Garonne Toulouse, France
4 Jul 2008 - SOS @ Theatre Garonne Toulouse, France
5 Jul 2008 - SOS @ Theatre Garonne Toulouse, France

CINEMA FURY
10 Jul 2008 - CINEMA FURY: THE IMITATION München, Germany
11 Jul 2008 - CINEMA FURY: THE IMITATION München, Germany

KJ Choi tees off before a large gallery of supporters.

Peter Bjorn sizes up a putt.

KJ Choi entered the tournament ranked fifth in the world, the greatest Korean to have ever played the game.

2007 British Open Champion Padraig Harrington.

Paul McGinley, who featured on three consecutive Ryder Cup championship teams.

British, European and American shipping companies proliferated. A typical voyage from London to Sydney via the Suez Canal took 6 weeks. From 1960 onwards the Orient Line flagship ‘Oriana’ with her operating speed of 27 knots cut the voyage from Southampton to Fremantle to 21 days.

If you took the ‘Oriana’ from Naples to Fremantle, travelling to Naples and on to your eventual destination from Fremantle by rail or by air it was possible to complete a journey from London to a major city in Australia or New Zealand in 16 – 17 days.

The passenger base was mainly the immigrant trade to Australia and New Zealand with young Australians and New Zealanders on working holidays to Britain and Europe filling the berths on the return voyage. Other passengers included tea and rubber planters and their families on leave from India and the Far East, businessmen, civil servants, embassy and military personnel and some tourists. The England and Australian touring cricket teams were regular passengers as well as a sprinkling of aspiring pop stars, actors and sundry VIP's.

A popular way for Australians to tour Europe was to travel by ship to Naples then overland visiting a number of European countries on a ‘whistle stop’ coach tour that finished in London 3 weeks later, just in time to rejoin their ship for the return voyage after her 2 week UK turn-around. That ‘trip of a lifetime’ could take 3 months to complete.

The Orient liners (t-b) Orontes, Oronsay and Orcades at Piermont, Sydney c. 1960

Americans toured in a similar way, using the fast trans-Atlantic liners to reach Europe. These tours were very popular and provided the storyline for the 1969 Hollywood movie – “If it’s Tuesday – then it must be Belgium”.

In the mid 1960’s the tourist trade expanded and ships began taking Australian and New Zealand passengers across the Pacific Ocean to Canada, the west coast of the USA and Acapulco calling in at Fiji and Hawaii on the way. An alternative route was north to Japan through French Caledonia, the Philippines, and Hong Kong. Occasionally a round-the-world voyage would be completed with a transit through the Panama Canal and a trans-Atlantic crossing.

Passengers, even those on £ 10 immigrant tickets, slept on comfortable beds in private cabins, could take a bath or shower whenever they wanted, enjoyed 3 good meals a day and had the opportunity to visit ashore in ports of call along the way. A full program of entertainment was provided including the latest movies and passengers had the use of various public rooms, a library, open decks and a swimming pool for recreation and relaxation.

The only occasional discomfort might be a rough transit through the Bay of Biscay or the Great Australian Bight and mid-summer passages through the Red Sea particularly on the older, non air-conditioned ships.

One mantra was drilled into all ‘passenger facing’ crew in the liners of the past – ‘the passenger’s ALWAYS right’ and even though they might not have been, you made damn sure that they thought they were.

That mantra was picked up and used for a song in Noel Coward’s 1961 Broadway musical ‘Sail Away’.

The service and hospitality, the comfort and facilities that ships passengers were used to then has, I’m sure, transcended to the huge holiday cruise ships of today.

Today’s airline passengers however – even those traveling First or Business Class – experience nowhere near the comfort and relaxation that an immigrant passenger enjoyed in a liner all those years ago.

The majority of airline staff strive to be courteous and accommodating and some airlines are much better at doing it than others. But when you are surrounded by 200-300 Economy Class passengers all tired, irritable, uncomfortable, cramped, sweaty, smelly and quite unable to do anything about those conditions for 11 hours or so on a long-haul flight then you can be forgiven for wondering whatever happened to ‘the passenger’s always right’.