Thursday, 10 March 2011
Why is vinyl special to you?
Interviews of people at a record fair in Eugene, Oregon. They discuss why vinyl records are important to them.
via
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Faust to play Melbourne
Melbourne International Jazz Festival
The Forum
Fri 10 June at 8.30pm
Arguably the most significant of all Krautrock groups, legendary German band Faust's influence continues to reverberate across the generations. 2011 is the fortieth anniversary of the band's formation and they continue to perform around the world, resisting easy categorisation and demonstrating the same curiosity and cacophony that so entranced audiences upon their debut.
As a founding member noted in 1973, "The idea was not to copy anything going on in the Anglo-Saxon rock scene – and it worked." They weren't just empty words – the band's '71 debut, Faust, was issued on clear vinyl in a transparent sleeve. It set the tone for their career of uncompromising innovation. They are unselfconsciously avant-garde, wrestling tone and rhythm to create astounding noise.
An enduring influence on countless artists from the British punk and new wave scene onward, don't miss this night of divine sensory overload. Faust make their Australian debut as guests of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
Facebook a top cause of relationship trouble, say US lawyers gu.com/p/2njv6/tw ho hum, makes a change from spreading syphilis I suppose
For football fans in Grozny, it's just like watching Brazil. No, really
Kadyrov (centre), taking on Brazilians Ronaldao and Andre Cruz, enjoys a flourishing reputation in Chechnya. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters
There were burly toughs in Russia tracksuits, elders in lambskin hats and thousands of young men in black jeans and coats shouting "Chechnya! Chechnya!"Grozny's Dynamo stadium was packed to bursting as Ramzan Kadyrov the 34-year-old strongman who is head of Chechnya, led his team on to the pitch for a bizarre match against an all-star team from Brazil.
Kadyrov's side, apparently a motley collection of overweight and greying Chechen bureaucrats spiced up by the presence of Terek Grozny's coach, Ruud Gullit, and a couple of Russian supersubs, took the field against altogether more formidable opponents: a collection of Brazilian World Cup winners from 1994 and 2002, including Romário, Bebeto, Cafu, Dunga and Denílson.
The match was a stunt organised by the attention-hungry Kadyrov, who enjoys a flourishing personality cult in this southern Russian republic, and an attempt to portray Chechnya as stable and safe from insurgent violence that plagues Russia's northern Caucasus region.
The former separatist rebel, who switched sides and became the Kremlin's stooge in the region, has transformed war-torn Grozny into a smart, modern capital, but he is accused of crushing all political dissent and targeting civilians in his fight to quell an Islamist insurgency. Last year, he praised people who fired paintballs at women not wearing Islamic headscarves and called human rights campaigners "enemies of the people".
He now wants Grozny added to Russia's list of 13 host cities for the 2018 World Cup.
Fears of a militant suicide bombing at the stadium were high, and an entire neighbourhood around the ground was cordoned off by military trucks. Spectators had to go through two metal detectors and three bag checks to get into the stadium.
In the stands, support for Kadyrov was predictably high. Ali Geldibayev, 26, who runs his own business selling window blinds, said: "It's only down to Ramzan that this we're seeing this amazing match.
"He is our everything. Take Ramzan away from the Chechens and there is nothing left. I would give my life for him right now, Allah be praised." His friend Khalid Khantemirov, 24, an oil worker, added: "With Ramzan we have unity and pride. He is our leader, our hero."
Brazil, in their traditional yellow and blue, started in style, stroking the ball around and scored within three minutes. However, Grozny, in blood red, struck back, and the game was level at 2-2 after the first-half of 25 minutes.
All attention was on Kadyrov, a well-built figure in tracksuit bottoms, who effected the role of a goal-hanging centre-forward. Both teammates and opponents seemed keen to give him the ball, but his early efforts bore little fruit. He had one penalty saved and put another spot-kick past the post, before scoring his first goal with a tap-in.
The second half started cautiously. Among the spectators was Khamzat Dzhabrailov, 54, a former Soviet middleweight boxing champion who used to spar with Kadyrov when the latter was a teenage pugilist, said: "The Brazilians are afraid to play strongly because Ramzan will break their necks if they win."
The second half progressed with a flurry of goals, one struck by Grozny's undisputed penalty-taker – Kadyrov – from 12 yards. Zetti, who played in goal for Brazil in the early 1990s, artfully dived under the shot. At the final whistle, though, it was 6-4 to the Brazilians who, despite valiant efforts, could not hide their superiority.
Tom Parfitt @'The Guardian'
Israeli TV Accuses New Egyptian PM and FM of Anti-Semitism
New Egyptian PM Essam Sharaf (PNN Archive)
On Wednesday Israeli media attacked Essam Sharaf, the new Egyptian Prime Minister, calling him “an enemy of Israel” and accused him and Nabil Arabi, the new Egyptian Foreign Minister, of anti-Semitism.
Israeli television channels 10 and 7 and the Israeli newspapers Ma’ariv, Yediot Ahronot, and “The Marker”—a subsidiary of the larger, left-leaning Ha’aretz newspaper—all carried stories about the new Egyptian government to be headed by Sharaf. The new PM’s position regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—that there should be no cooperation between Egypt and Israel until it is resolved—led Israeli commentators to describe him and Arabi as anti-Semites.
Commentators on Israeli TV said Sharaf and his government represented “a danger to Israel and reconciliation [with Egypt]” and were “no friend to Israel.” Sharaf was also described as a “revolutionary” man who gained his legitimacy from the Egyptian people.
Sharaf’s intentions toward Israel were certified, according to channels 10 and 7, by his choice of Foreign Minister Nabil Arabi—known for his “deep hatred of Israel and its policies” when he was a judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Arabi opposed Israel’s construction of the wall on Palestinian territory and described it as an “apartheid wall” and “a crime that needs to be punished.”
Israeli television recognized a “great degree of fear” in Tel Aviv regarding Sharaf and his new government, saying that Israelis would look anxiously on the next few weeks to see how Egypt would handle its economic agreements with Israel—including the practice of selling Israel cheap natural gas.
@'PNN'
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