Saturday 29 August 2009
They're back
When Larry David approached Jerry Seinfeld about the "Seinfeld" cast reuniting on HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" this season, one thing the revered comic did not say was "whatever."
"The idea of working with Larry was just too overwhelmingly appealing to me, and ['Curb'] is such a great show," Seinfeld told Entertainment Weekly. "There was a little part of me that said, 'Do we really want to tamper?' . . . But to hell with it. How much damage can you really do?"
Fellow alums of the long-running NBC sitcom, Jason Alexander and Julia Louis-Dreyfus signed on immediately, EW reports in its coming cover story.
But Michael Richards was still sensitive to public exposure after the 2006 incident when he let loose with racial slurs during a stand-up set at L.A.'s Laugh Factory.
"It was kind of like I had open-heart surgery," he says. "I'm kind of grateful that I blew it because it let me step into another place with myself and the world around me."
Ultimately, he was game.
"I just knew we'd get the job done. If we're all in place, it's going to happen."
Seinfeld says: "It was kind of nice to soothe him a bit, and bring him back to the place that he always felt so good in."
The story line starts in episode 3, airing Sun. Oct. 4 at 9 p.m., and is sprinkled over five of season's 10 episodes. Larry recruits the cast for a "Seinfeld" reunion as the actors play versions of themselves preparing for the reunion show.
David's only disclosure?
"Larry attempts to get Cheryl back, and the 'Seinfeld' reunion figures prominently in that."
On "Curb," the cast gives David heat for a finale that many fans hated. The real David says: "I realize that many people had problems with [the finale], but I thought it was good. I thought I made one mistake: I wouldn't have them being so cavalier when they saw the initial mugging. I would have them be more cowardly than cavalier."
Producers hunted down the sets for Seinfeld's apartment and the Monk coffee shop. Both had to be spit and polished. New fixtures, like a refrigerator, were added since the old one was missing as was Seinfeld's front door.
But the familiar environment helped the cast get in the mood. The first scene they shot had them trying on their old characters.
"Just before we shot that scene, I said to Jerry and Julia, 'I don't know if I can be George. I haven't tried him on for awhile, ' " says Alexander.
"And it was freaky how it just came right back out."
Friday 28 August 2009
Phillip Garrido's bizarre 'Voices Revealed' blog
Phillip Garrido, the man suspected of abducting Jaycee Lee Dugard and keeping her prisoner for 18 years, believes that he has God-given powers to speak in an "unearthly" language used by angels.Voices Revealed
Scroll down for the disclaimer which includes this...
No comment!
Thursday 27 August 2009
Hey Yoo! WTF?
Yoo: No treaty.
Cassel: Also no law by Congress. That is what you wrote in the August 2002 memo.
Yoo: I think it depends on why the President thinks he needs to do that.
Hyperdub's 5th anniversary (tracklist) NB: New Burial track!
The London-based dubstep label Hyperdub is now old enough to get into kindergarten. Over the past five years, Hyperdub has put out records by a hell of a lot of that genre's greatest artists, including Burial, Kode9, Joker, Zomby, Darkstar. And the forthcoming 2xCD comp 5: 5 Years of Hyperdub will collect both new and/or classic material from all of them, plus tracks from kindred sprits such as Mala, Martyn, and Flying Lotus. And yes, to answer your question, that means a new Burial song. It's called "Fostercare". Get ready. (That's the 5 album cover above.)
5 is due October 19 in the UK and the very next day in the U.S. This summer and fall, Hyperdub is putting out a series of 12" singles featuring new material from many of Hyperdub's artists. The first disc of 5 will collect all those tracks, with some bonus jams. The second disc, meanwhile, will function as a sort of greatest-hits, collecting older joints like Burial's "Distant Lights", Joker's "Digidesign", and Kode9 and the Spaceape's remix of the Specials' "Ghost Town". Tracklist below.
CD1:
01 King Midas Sound: "Meltdown"
02 Kode9 & the Spaceape: "Time Patrol [ft. Cha Cha]"
03 Darkstar: "Aidys Girl's a Computer"
04 Samiyam: "Roller Skates"
05 Flying Lotus: "Disco Balls"
06 Black Chow: "Purple Smoke"
07 Burial: "Fostercare"
08 Cooly G: "Weekend Fly"
09 Zomby: "Tarantula"
10 Martyn: "Mega Drive Generation"
11 LV: "Turn Away [ft. Dandelion]"
12 Mala: "Level Nine"
13 LD: "Shake It"
14 Quarta 330: "Bleeps From Outer Space"
15 Ikonika: "Sahara Michael"
16 Joker & Ginz: "Stash"
CD2:
01 Kode9: "9 Samurai"
02 Burial: "South London Boroughs"
03 Kode9 & LD: "Bad"
04 The Bug: "Money Honey Remix [ft. Warrior Queen]"
05 LV: "Globetrotting [ft. Erol Bellot]"
06 Burial: "Distant Lights"
07 Kode9 & the Spaceape: "Ghost Town"
08 Kode9 & the Spaceape: "Fukkaz"
09 Samiyam: "Return"
10 Darkstar: "Need You"
11 Zomby: "Spliff Dub (Rustie Remix)"
12 Ikonika: "Please"
13 Zomby: "Kaliko"
14 2000F & J Kamata: "You Don't Know What Love Is"
15 Joker: "Digidesign"
16 Quarta 330: "9 Samurai (Quarta 330 Remix)"
@ 'Pitchfork'
A tribute
How true
"War with Iraq before a genuine attempt at inspection and disarmament, or without genuine international support -- could swell the ranks of Al Qaeda sympathizers and trigger an escalation in terrorist acts."Full Transcript here.
Argentina’s Supreme Court ‘legalizes’ marijuana (The Argentine Post)
If Cheech & Chong were here, they’d grab a bong and celebrate. Argentina’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously that it is unconstitutional to punish adults for consuming marijuana as long as doing so doesn’t put anyone else at risk.
As the court itself recognized, its decision “implies legalizing the drug.”
But for anyone hoping this would turn Buenos Aires into a kind of Amsterdam 2.0, that’s not going to happen. The court limited the scope of its ruling to low-level private consumption.
That means you shouldn’t expect to see Marijuana Shops popping up alongside regular coffee joints. Anyone interested in buying pot will still have to go underground to do so.
Technically, only Congress can legalize the consumption of drugs, per se, but the court’s move is significant. It strikes down part of an earlier law that arguably allowed for penalties against personal use. Congress could follow the court’s lead and pass legislation formally legalizing personal consumption.
The court also called on the government to crack down on narco-trafficking and implement programs to prevent people, especially kids, from becoming addicted to drugs.
The court based its ruling on three factors:
1) According to the constitution, “each adult is sovereign when it comes to making free decisions about the style of life he or she wants to pursue, without the state intervening…” (Article 19 of the Constitution.)
2) “You can’t penalize private conduct that doesn’t hurt third parties.”
3) Private conduct is “licit,” except when it constitutes a concrete danger or causes damage to goods or the rights of others.
In other words, keep it to yourself, and if nobody and nothing gets hurt or damaged, you’re legal.
Legal scholars and supreme court justices (individually) have long maintained that the personal consumption of drugs (even cocaine) is legal under Argentina’s constitution.
Courts have frequently ruled against attempts to penalize personal possession. Despite this, law enforcement officials in various parts of the country have at times arrested and persecuted individuals for the personal use and transportation of drugs.
Argentina is not a major drug producer or exporter. But in recent years the country has become a key gateway for the transportation and triangulation of drugs produced in elsewhere in Latin America for export to the US and Europe. Drug enforcement officials say that most days at least one flight out of Ezeiza contains a drug smuggler.
Link: A summary of the Court’s ruling (from the court itself, in Spanish)
Link: Slightly Outdated World Marijuana Legality Map
Link: “Up In Smoke” Cheech & Chong Trailer
Link: Marijuana Dictionary
Vale Edward Kennedy
The Kennedy brothers have left an enduring legacy in the annals of American politics and historyVeteran US Senator Edward Kennedy, the brother of former President John F Kennedy, has died at 77, after a long battle with a brain tumour.
He became a Democratic Massachusetts senator in 1962, replacing his brother when he resigned to become president, and was re-elected seven times.
Senator Kennedy was a dominant force in US politics for almost 50 years.
ON THE PASSING OF SENATOR EDWARD M. KENNEDY
Blue Heron Farm
Chilmark, Massachusetts
I wanted to say a few words this morning about the passing of an extraordinary leader, Senator Edward Kennedy.
Over the past several years, I've had the honor to call Teddy a colleague, a counselor, and a friend. And even though we have known this day was coming for some time now, we awaited it with no small amount of dread.
Since Teddy's diagnosis last year, we've seen the courage with which he battled his illness. And while these months have no doubt been difficult for him, they've also let him hear from people in every corner of our nation and from around the world just how much he meant to all of us. His fight has given us the opportunity we were denied when his brothers John and Robert were taken from us: the blessing of time to say thank you -- and goodbye.
The outpouring of love, gratitude, and fond memories to which we've all borne witness is a testament to the way this singular figure in American history touched so many lives. His ideas and ideals are stamped on scores of laws and reflected in millions of lives -- in seniors who know new dignity, in families that know new opportunity, in children who know education's promise, and in all who can pursue their dream in an America that is more equal and more just -- including myself.
The Kennedy name is synonymous with the Democratic Party. And at times, Ted was the target of partisan campaign attacks. But in the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle. His seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth, and good cheer. He could passionately battle others and do so peerlessly on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear, and yet still maintain warm friendships across party lines.
And that's one reason he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy.
His extraordinary life on this earth has come to an end. And the extraordinary good that he did lives on. For his family, he was a guardian. For America, he was the defender of a dream.
Wednesday 26 August 2009
Boy's Own
Thicker than 3 Blue Peter annuals
Buy it @ DJ History.
Download FREE 44 page sample here. (PDF)
(Bugger! I used to have a Blue Peter badge somewhat ironically for a drawing that I did of a duck-billed platypus that was shown on the programme when I was about 7 and I cannot for the love of me remember when/where I lost that...1978/79?/ Who knows!)
Crossed wires from the Tories?
UK Shadow home secretary Chris Grayling has likened some cities in the Britain to inner-city Baltimore as portrayed in cult TV series The Wire.@ 'BBC'
Full marks to the Channel 4 presenter when she says to Grayling that in episodes of 'The Wire' when they decided to legalise drugs in 'Hamsterdam', the policy seemed to be of benefit to the community.
More on David Sylvian's new album 'Manafon'
relating to David Sylvian's forthcoming (14-09) new album.
Link to 'Exile' at the BBC
Click to enlargeIn case you were wondering, it concerns the banning of 'legal highs' in the UK where I had this to say:
"So they go back to taking drugs that you have deemed illegal and just tell me again, how many people die of alcohol related causes each year?"
New twist in Semenya gender saga
Tests have revealed Caster Semenya's testosterone level to be three times higher than those normally expected in a female sample.@ 'BBC'
There is excellent reporting on this saga here:
The Science of Sport
(and do check other posts at this blog as well as the comments. Invaluable.)
As Ross Tucker(one of the blog's authors) commented a short time ago:
"...This has become a political platform, and the pretense of "support" for Caster Semenya has long fallen by the wayside. It is quite clear that the support of athletes and of victory is conditional on that support providing a political voice to those who have agendas to push. It has become a fiasco, and Semenya is in the middle.
Very sad."
What Amy got up to at the weekend
After joining The Specials for 'You're Wondering Now' & 'Ghost Town' then as the 'NME' reports on her appearance with Pete Doherty:"The initial stumble on stage induced cheers from the crowd, camera-phones flaring up to capture the appearance on wobble-vision. A few words in the Babyshambler's ear, a bit of a smooch, then off. And that was that – a bit of a bonus. Until 'Time For Heroes', near the end of the show, when she ambled back on in a bit of a state, plonking herself down on Adam Ficek's drum riser, seemingly oblivious to the surely eardrum-stretching thump-thump going on a foot to her right. Then up again, hugging Pete and pawing at him, urging him to play a guitar solo. "Guitar solo!" she exclaimed. He didn't play a guitar solo, eventually clasping his palm over her gob to muffle her then ship her off stage. She looked pretty pissed, but then again, the rest of us were too. I guess the difference is if we YouTube search our own names the morning after we don't get the privilege of reliving it over 90 different angles. Thank the lord for small mercies. A festival moment! At V!"
Tuesday 25 August 2009
There's always a good time to use a Taser
Image and Trailer via The Agitator
If you find torture porn on family programming disgusting, please contact Discovery Viewer Relations or write via snail mail to:
Discovery Communications
1 Discovery Place
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Or tweet @tlc_pr
Via 'Mutate!'
Pirate Bay closed after Swedish court decision
The Pirate Bay has apparently already relocated and is back online.
