Freedom in the United States - 2011

Good that some people do realize what's going on in the US.

"Again, when we abandoned our principles in order to use force against terrorists and drug dealers, the answer to the question, What are we defending? started to change.
The original answer, ostensibly, was, "We are defending the peaceful and law-abiding citizens of the United States, their principles, and everything America stands for."
 
Then after a while it became, "We’re defending the current population of the country, but we can’t defend the principles so much anymore, because they weigh us down in the fight against a ruthless enemy who must be stopped at all costs."
 
Then finally it became this: “We are defending ourselves, against the citizens who insist on keeping their rights and their principles.”


http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/uc-davis-pepper-spray-incident-reveals-weakness-up-top-20111122

Steve Jobs

I am a nerd
don't want to be and I tried
All of that pretence vanished
the night Steve Jobs died.

Superheavy - might be interesting...

Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, all in one band..?

I have to check this out...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperHeavy

XKCD at its most effective

LoL!     XKCD

Travel music - what's on my smartphone

 

Obviously it changes over time but after about three months of smartphone this is what I came up with.,



ABC - Lexicon Of Love
Adam F - Colours
Alan Parsons Project - I, Robot
Alan Parsons Project - Pyramid
Alan Parsons Project - Turn Of A Friendly Card
Alan Parsons Project - Eve
Alan Parsons Project - Eye In The Sky
The Bangles - Greatest Hits
Bruce Cockburn - Anything Anytime Anywhere
Bruce Cockburn - Further Adventures Of
Camel - Breathless
Camel - Camel
Camel - Mirage
Camel - Moonmadness
Camel - Rain Dances
Cat Power - Jukebox
Chris DeBurgh - Spanish Train And Other Stories
Coldplay - The Singles 1999-2008
Compilation - 70ies
Compilation - 80ies
Various - It's Only Rock 'n Roll But We Like It
Various - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Creedence Clearwater Revival - The Very Best Of
David Bowie - Best Of Bowie
David Bowie & Tin Machine - Tin Machine I
Dire Straits - Dire Straits
Easy Stars All Stars - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Dub Band
Easy Stars All Stars - Dub Side Of The Moon
Elbow - Seldom Seen Kid
Elmore James - The Best Of The Modern Years
Elvis Costello - The Very Best Of
Genesis - Trick Of The Tail
Genesis - Selling England By The Pound
Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice
George Michael - Older
H2G2 - Tertiary Phase(Radio Play - The Hitchhker's Guide To The Galaxy)
Hall & Oates - Big Bam Boom
It Bites - The Tall Ships
Jazzanova - The Remixes 1997 - 2000
Jim Croce - The Best Of
Jimi Hendrix - Various
Kate Bush - Aerial
Kate Bush - Director's Cut
Kate Bush - Hounds Of Love
Kenny Rankin - Silver Morning
King Crimson - Discipline
Klaatu - Hope
Leftfield - Leftism
Linda Rondstadt - Simple Dreams
LTJ Bukem - Earth Volume 1
Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Favourites
Marillion - Script For A Jester's Tear
Massive Attack - Mezzanine
Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell
Michael Sembello - Bossa Nova Hotel
Mozart - Concerto For Piano And Orchestra No. 24 & 25
Nirvana - Nevermind
Paul McCartney & Wings - Wingspan
Peter Gabriel - PG II(Melt)
Peter Gabriel - PG III(Security)
Peter Gabriel - So
Peter Gabriel - Us
Phil Collins - Face Value
Pink Floyd - Animals
Portishead - Dummy
Portishead - Portishead
Queen - Queen I
Queen - Queen II
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack
Queen - News Of The World
Radiohead - Hail To The Thief
Me(honestly) - The Legend Of K'Arg
Rory Gallagher - Rory Gallagher
Rush - 2112
Santana - Guitar Heaven
Scritti Politti - Cupid & Psyche '85
Seasick Steve - Dog House Music
Seasick Steve - I Started Out With Nothing And I Still Have Most Of It Left
Seasick Steve - Live At Reading Festival 2008
Son House - The Original Delta Blues
Spinvis - Dagen Van Gras, Dagen Van Stro
Spinvis - Spinvis
Steely Dan - Citizen Dan(Box Set) - Disk III
Steve Miller Band - Fly Like An Eagle
Sting - Dream Of The Blue Turtles
Supertramp - Surely
T-Bone Walker - The Best Of T-Bone
Tangerine Dream - Ricochet
Tears For Fears - Sowing The Seeds
The Blue Nile - Hats
The Fixx - Reach The Beach
The Police - Favourites
The Sex Pistols - Never Mind The Bollocks
The Tubes - Remote Control
Thin Lizzy - Johnny The Fox
Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman
U.K. Danger Money
U2 - The Joshua Tree
Ulvaeus Anderson Rice - Chess
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Van Morrison - Inarticulate Speech Of The Heart
Van Morrison - Moondance
Wishbone Ash - Wishbone Ash
Yes - Close To The Edge
Yes - The Yes Album

Anarchy in the UK

An excellent article from The Huffington Post about about the riots in England.
  
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/stephen-brewer/london-riots-britains-soc_b_921830.html

Serious shit from tv series - part I

General Fitzwallace:

"We measure the success of a mission by two things: was it successful and how few civilians did we hurt. They measure success by how many. Pregnant women are delivering bombs! You're talking to me about international laws? The Laws of Nature don't even apply here!"

Preparations For The Return Of The Live Experience...

So after a hiatus of a few years(!) I want to go out and play live again. Found some other musicians who are prepared to join me on stage. We are now building the set list for future live gigs. The concerts will be based on an unplugged set up but we have already strayed from The True Path... ;) The instruments that we will use now consist of drums, percussion, acoustic bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and piano. And maybe, JuuuUUusssTT maybe I can get my girlfriend to join in on transverse flute for 'Duncan' otherwise I'll have to bring the smallest synthesizer I have(that would be a very rare Roland JV30) and play it with my right big toe. My girlie loves Paul Simon though, so perhaps we stand a chance of convincing her to play along.

We hope to start somewhere in September or October 2011.

The set list so far :

- Bruce Cockburn - If I had a rocket launcher
    
- Cat Power - Rambling (Wo-)Man

- Chris Cornell - Billie Jean

- Crowded House - Weather With You

- Jim Croce - You Don't Mess Around With Jim

- Jose Feliciano - Light My Fire

- Melissa Etheridge - Bring Me Some Water

- Paul Carrack - Dedicated

- Paul Simon - Duncan

- Razorlight - America

- Rory Block - Lovin' Whiskey

- Supertramp - Give A Little Bit / The Logical Song

- The BeeGees - Staying Alive

- The Church - Under The Milky Way

- Tracy Chapman - Mountains O' Thing

- Timmie Thomas/Sade - Why Can't We Live Together

HYGNFY joke causes 'uproar'

Well they can all go and stick their 'uproar' up their collective asses.
       
‘The Independent described the Dostoevsky metro station as the Mecca for suicides. Not to be confused with the Mecca of suicide bombers – which is Mecca.’

Anger at HIGNFY joke - video


Just one thing to the complainers in question : Pfffffrrrrrttttttt. Get.A.Life.

Current Music List updated

Current Music List updated.

(Just to lazy to do it frequently!).

Apologizing with one's middle finger

"We would like to apologize for the fruity language used by punk rock godfathers Genesis".

BBC presenter Jonathan Ross' less than genuine Live 8 apology after Phil Collins had sung 'and though she will fuck up your life' on 'Invisible Touch'.

Oh noes...!!!

And here I was, thinking I had suffered enough as a teenager...

Needless to say, say it anyway...

   

    

    

  
  
It's been a bit quiet around here recently. Don't have any real 'inspiration' so no urge to write new stuff for my blog.

I have also activated my Facebook-page. I can remember joining Facebook years and years ago but I never did much with it. I had my weblog and also was quite suspicious about privacy issues on Facebook. That must surely have been clairvoyance... ;)
 
Let me see; after the last non-lyrics entry our town was shook up by that young idiot shooting down people at the local mall. I really don't have anything to add to that which has already been said so I won't even try.
       
Also we were having trouble with our one remaining cat, who turned out to be pregnant but from a still born kitten. She had to be operated on and I must say that the vet did an excellent job as always.
We are now looking for a kitten to keep Katie company. Not only did she lose her offspring but she(we) also lost her older brother about 7 weeks ago, so she is feeling somewhat alone.
    
As for the rest: I 'rebuilt' my acoustic guitar; new strings, a good clean-up and check-up, that sort of stuff. The neck of my guitar had been slightly twisted by natural causes(it is after all over 30 years old) so it was hard to play in tune across the whole neck. High notes would tend to be off key a bit. It was the reason I did not play for some time(years). So I was really delighted to find that the neck has 'twisted back'. It may be the influence of the weather and the storage cabinet, I don't know. What I do know is that I can now play nicely in tune up to at least the 9th fret. Which is more than enough for me as I don't really do acoustic solo's.

I also bought a digital guitar tuner which brings me to the next subject :

I got myself my first Smart Phone. I used to work with an old Palm Treo that a friend gave me. About a week ago I decided to, for the first time in many many years, treat myself to something new. I am now the owner of an HTC Incredible S with 8GB storage(though that will be 16GB later this month). An excellent phone, I can recommend it. Especially the sound is crisp and clear, which is what you want when you're hard of hearing.

In fact; the audio applications are quite good and I found what I consider to be the best one : 'PlayerPro'.

(The content displayed in this picture bears no relation to my own collection)

The player itself is quite good but it has one brilliant extension; a DSP-pack that comes with it for free. It includes a 12-band equalizer as well as a pre-amp and a bass-booster. Very good value for money as the whole application costs about 2 euro's...

 

     

     

What does this phone have to do with buying a guitar tuner?  Well of course I went to the Android Market to see what they have on offer, and I found a really excellent guitar tuning application for free.

 
 
It is better in quiet circumstances than in a smokey and noisy bar so I will keep the separate hardware tuner for live purposes. Still; it works beautifully and is incredibly sensitive.

And as for the rest; we are just surviving here.

  

Sometimes one should not aspire to greater things than just be.

Good lyrics

I have often told you stories
About the way
I lived the life of a drifter
Waiting for the day
When I'd take your hand
And sing you songs
Then maybe you would say
Come lay with me love me
And I would surely stay

But I feel I'm growing older
And the songs that I have sung
Echo in the distance
Like the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be...
A soldier of fortune

Many times I've been a traveller
I looked for something new
In days of old
When nights were cold
I wandered without you
But those days I thougt my eyes
Had seen you standing near
Though blindness is confusing
It shows that you're not here

Now I feel I'm growing older
And the songs that I have sung
Echo in the distance
Like the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be...
A soldier of fortune
Yes, I can hear the sound
Of a windmill goin' 'round
I guess I'll always be
A soldier of fortune

Good lyrics for late at night when your knee is killing you

Here comes the helicopter -- second time today
Everybody scatters and hopes it goes away
How many kids they've murdered only God can say
If I had a rocket launcher...I'd make somebody pay

I don't believe in guarded borders and I don't believe in hate
I don't believe in generals or their stinking torture states
And when I talk with the survivors of things too sickening to relate
If I had a rocket launcher...I would retaliate

On the Rio Lacantun, one hundred thousand wait
To fall down from starvation -- or some less humane fate
Cry for guatemala, with a corpse in every gate
If I had a rocket launcher...I would not hesitate

I want to raise every voice -- at least I've got to try
Every time I think about it water rises to my eyes.
Situation desperate, echoes of the victims cry
If I had a rocket launcher...Some son of a bitch would die

A work in progress...


Mayonnaise


The acid stench is revolting
and the factory is ablaze
There on the floor were every day
she closes pots of mayonnaise

When she quits around five fifteen
And leaves for home for the day
6.000 pots of mayonnaise
sit neatly in their trays

Out of breath and a bit smelly
She reeks of sweat and vinegar
In a hurry to the station
to catch the Intercity train

If that train is not delayed
she arrives six twenty eight
Because the offices close early
She had to stand up all the way
  
She eats her food without tasting
Tonight they're having leek
She gets the chips,
and automatically
adds mayonnaise...

That night she skips her dance class
Too tired she doesn't want to go
She browses through the lady's mag
there's nothing there she wants to know

Her husband has no news today
She goes to bed not too late
She is in bed around eleven
Tomorrow is an early day

The train, the time-clock , the canteen
The loo-break once an hour
And all the while
6.000 pots of mayonnaise
saved from going sour

She always closes the same number
She's good at the assembly line
Once a month a bit worse
because the loo breaks take more time

09/04/2011 - Target

Uptown - downtown
No one's fussy I'm a target
Black, white - day, night
No one's fussy I'm a target

Some people say I'm crazy
Walking in this neighborhood
Say you can't be too careful
But that won't do no good

I'm no one special
But any part of town
Someone could smile at me then
Shake my hand then gun me down

Uptown - downtown
No one's fussy I'm a target
Black, white - day, night
No one's fussy I'm a target

Some people say I'm crazy
Living in this crazy town
I say maybe you're just lazy
Got to either swim or drown

I know what I'm doing
I'm happy day to day
But then something happens
Takes my nerve away

Uptown - downtown
No one's fussy I'm a target
Black, white - day, night
No one's fussy I'm a target

Friday's lighter side

Stuff with a lighter touch that I found on the web.

 
  Naked Man Shoots SWAT Robot With AK-47

Aussie scientists test first space beer

Man tries to light hearing aid (huh?)
(also read Mr. Mast's comment!)

The cook has lost it!

Aww.... what a nice little Kanga!

Essential Beer Update!

Baby they should name a Hurricane after you...

Introducing; The Beer Bike

Oh.My.God.The.Germans!

And one more update because it's just too weird to let go...

Enjoy...

A brilliant extension to solve a problem...

Regarding the impending shutdown of the American government here is an article that I really enjoyed.

"If we are indeed fated to have a government shutdown, then it should not just be the 800,000 federal employees who bear the brunt. We should also have a Shutoff, under which all legislators in Congress, as well as the president himself, have their pay, pension contributions, health insurance, travel expenses, accommodation perks, and all their myriad other benefits suspended for the period of the shutdown.
   
If the rest of government is shut down, so should they be. If the president wants to use Air Force One during the Shutoff, he should be expected to pay for it himself, as he's not our responsibility as a government employee during a shutdown.
   
The speed with which this draconian but eminently logical and fair provision will concentrate all politicians' minds onto coming up with a deal would, I suspect, be astonishing."

Sigma 3

Still,  very intriguing. I'm going to keep an eye on this story.

Water, water, Oh Lovely Pure Sparkling Water!

Decided to go take it easy for a while. No more 'extreme beering' in the cafe for now, no more super late nights, just a bit of relaxation and some guitar rehearsals at home.

Quote of the week

"In his indispensable book “America Alone,” Mark Steyn records how British Gen. Sir Charles Napier handled India’s tradition of “suttee” — the practice of burning widows to death in their husband’s funeral pyre. He told the locals:
     
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: When men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."

I must have broken a million G-strings...

I have not made music for quite some time. Focussed much more on the DJ-ing and on discovering music that I had missed over the years. Especially the journey into very old Blues was enlightening; from Blind Willie Johnson via Elmore James to the modern bluesmen, it's a very logical progression once you take the time to listen to all of it.
So now I want to actually finally definitely really pick up the acoustic guitar again. And I break a string in the first 5 minutes. I guess strings that are older than 5 years are no good anymore...

Oh well, it's a good excuse to go check out the new local guitar shop.

Goodbye Quark

After having been with us for 11 years and three months, one of our two cats(Quark) wandered off some 18 or 19 days ago. We received word yesterday that he was found - dead - on the 10th of March, so I guess it didn't take him long to go.
  
We would have liked to have him around for a little while longer, but I guess as the Great Kurt Vonnegut said; 'So it goes'.

There's a feeling I get when I look to the sky

as if you are there watching, somehow you hear every word

You were with us for a while, it was such a short time

But we told you we loved you, hoping somehow you heard

We hope you heard.

Blatant Self Promotion - Chapter 425

I found this one picture of me at a Karaoke(or rather a 'Live Singing Contest'). ONE decent picture!

Djezus, it ain't easy to put me on celluloid and make me look unlike a complete dork...

The Church Of The Poisoned Mind

Somebody over at TMZ tried to make a point. And succeeded...

Exit Liz; Why Martha! Your Sunday chapel dress!

Elizabeth Taylor, wife of the late great Richard Burton, dies age 79.

Martha: I swear, if you existed, I'd divorce you.

Martha: Look, sweetheart, I can drink you under any goddamn table you want, so don't worry about me.

Martha: I hope that was an empty bottle, George! You can't afford to waste good liquor, not on YOUR salary!

Martha: You make me puke.

George: That wasn't a very nice thing to say, Martha.

George: Martha, in my mind you're buried in cement right up to the neck. No, up to the nose, it's much quieter.

George: You take the trouble to construct a civilization, to build a society based on the principles of... of principle. You make government and art and realize that they are, must be, both the same. You bring things to the saddest of all points, to the point where there is something to lose. Then, all at once, through all the music, through all the sensible sounds of men building, attempting, comes the Dies Irae. And what is it? What does the trumpet sound? Up yours.

Martha: George and Martha: Sad, sad, sad.

Church and State

The separation of church and state does not seem to be garantueed any longer in the USA.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/did-shariah-law-just-work-its-way-into-a-florida-court/

YES! There are still people who can be annoyed by bad lyrics!

Straight from the heart, I must say.

Why some songs are worse than other bad songs...

"Baby, baby, baby ohh

 Like baby, baby, baby noo

 Like baby, baby, baby ohh

 I thought you'd always be mine"

Indeed... hmmmm....


Or this little world famous 'gem' ;


"Imma be, Imma be - Imma imma Imma be/ Imma be, Imma be - Imma imma Imma be/ Imma be, Imma be - Imma imma Imma be/ Imma be be be be Imma imma be/ Imma be be be be Imma imma be/ Imma be be be be Imma imma be"


(I could go on, but I'll spare you.)

Going back a bit.

Just went back from Windows 7 to Windows XP. Windows 7 just asks too much of my old faithful PC(Pentium IV - 1GB - onboard sound and video, no cards whatsoever).

Still... while 'nicing up' the new installation I managed to find a stunning NASA background.

What would Richard Feynman do?

An excellent link I received from a friend.

Don't fuck with scientists!

What would Richard Feynman do?


PS. And for an encore Dr. Feynman once again...

Read of the week - Long and interesting.

The most extensive article I have ever read about Scientology. Very interesting reading...

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/02/14/110214fa_fact_wright?printable=true&currentPage=all

Build a better mousetrap... Internet in Egypt.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-02-01/egypt-protests-hackers-work-to-get-demonstrators-back-online/?cid=hp:mainpromo4

This is an interesting read about 'mesh-networks'. Basically these are networks that cannot be physically blocked.


"The product they’ve been working on is a mobile router, small enough to fit into a backpack. “You could have a number of these routers in backpacks or in cars moving around the city or mounted on rooftops—and with these you could create a kind of secondary Internet, one that would not be blockable,” he says."


Not just interesting because of what is happening in Egypt, also because we hear more and more about companies and providers who talk about restricting the internet or make it multiple speed(depending on how much you can pay). It goes against everything the internet ever stood for but fear not; somebody is building a better mouse...

Lyrics of the week; It Bites - Oh My God

Oh My God - It Bites

             

Oh my God, the genius of it all

The way the words spit from my mouth

I'm self-assured and meaninglessly bored

and all these things straight through your heart

So when you talk to me there's nothing left to say

And only one thing can remain, so please refrain 'cause

I'm so wrapped up in writing words for you

(I got your words I got your words, I got your words, I got)

I'm so strung out that nothing else will do

(I got your words I got your words, I got your words, I got)

Oh my god, how boring I've become

I'll say this again and again

I'm self-obsesses and tedious at best

I'd wish this on no one but you

And when I talk to you I find it hard to say

You're wasting all these words again, I feel ashamed now

I'm so wrapped up in writing words for you

(I got your words I got your words, I got your words, I got)

I'm so strung out that nothing else will do

(I got your words I got your words, I got your words, I got)

Hoping these letters will carry you through in the old dramatic way

And I still recall as I bury the wall

It's a gentle reminder there's always the time to go sailing

Hey, you've got yourself to blame

And these promises spoken, like hearts will be broken

I' wrapped around your finger, your words still mean something to me...

I'm so wrapped up in writing words for you

(I got your words I got your words, I got your words, I got)

I'm so strung out that nothing else will do

(I got your words I got your words, I got your words, I got)

Copyright (c)2008 - It Bites

The Last Of The Super Villains!

Well, not really...

"JANUARY 6--A Minnesota man is facing felony charges after police discovered that he had retrofitted a vibrator, turning the sex toy into a homemade explosive device."

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/bizarre/man-busted-building-vibrator-bomb

Good speech. Quite 'Presidential'.

Obama gave a speech for the people killed in Tucson last week. Good speech, emotional but with quite some depth.

http://nationaljournal.com/whitehouse/president-delivers-message-of-hope-in-tucson-after-massacre-20110112

Now reading... Kurt Vonnegut - previously unreleased

I found a 'new' collection of short stories by my favourite non-SF writer Kurt Vonnegut. It's called 'Look at the Birdie' and it contains a number of short stories from his early writing years. None of the stories were previously published. Which makes me wonder which publishers were asleep at the while at the time.
Some stories are better than others. Recommended; 'The King and Queen of the Universe'.

This is Humanism at it's finest.

Welcome To The Cruise

This is a very old song dating back to the 70ies. It was written and performed by Judy Tzuke(born Judie Myers) from London, who at the time was one of Elton John's proteges. Mrs. Tzuke still performs regularly. She wrote many more great tunes but this one sticks out in my mind like a huge cliff. Great voice, sung just desperate enough, great arrangement, what more does one want. And it keeps haunting me...

Welcome To The Cruise - Judy Tzuke

Don't want no darkness in my days, I've got to tell you that
Don't want no clouds to fill my skies, no more goodbyes
I know that this time you have come to me, and run in on me
Good love is running in on me
Don't try to take my time, don't question what is on my mind

Welcome to the cruise
Love come down and run in on me
Welcome to the cruise

No words from me will change your ways, I want to tell you that
Nothing that I see will change your days, nothing will change
'Cause I know this time you have come to me, come to run with me
I know that you will run with me.
Don't try to dim my eyes, don't ever try to live my life

Welcome to the cruise
Come on down and run in with me
Welcome to the cruise

Don't want no darkness in my days, I've got to tell you that
Don't want no clouds to fill my skies
Don't want the earth, no crooked lies,
Don't want the night,
No more goodbyes...