MADE IN THE WAR ZONE - the weirdest CD ever!

NOW AVAILABLE ON EBAY FOR $9.00
(larger view)

Soundtrack for the soon-to-be-released film:
POWWOWIRAQSI:
Music in the Age of George the Unready

"MADE IN THE WAR ZONE"

This new CD from composer anonyMoses Dave Beckwith may well be, as some have said, "the weirdest CD ever!" Not sure. Haven't checked them all. But it is sufficiently weird, and spans a vast range of styles...from classical to industrial to rock to progressive to opera and more.

This is a one-of-a-kind CD that pays tribute to those who have sacrificed their lives for the war and current occupation of Iraq.

The CD opens with a piquant prayer (Prayer 1), then is followed by an astonishing piano rendition of the tragedy of 9/11...which happened to be witnessed by the composer. The piece, called "Prelude to September 11" starts out depicting the evening and wee hours of 9/10. As the night wears on, there are glimmerings of Gershwin and the decadence that was all to change in a few horrible hours. Then, as morning arrives, the piano takes on a determined relentlessness that ends in a fiery, explosive conclusion.

After a few moments of silence, comes the banging of the drums of war. "Banging the Drums", a powerful song with the first hints of war, signals the reorientation of America toward revenge, retaliation and war.

"Ululations and Warnings" represents the cries, ululations and warnings that also rally the warring parties.

This is followed by "Iraqalypse", a musical rendition of the march on Baghdad. Bombs and gunshots are heard in the distance...and foreground. And this is followed by "Drums of War" also known as "Mission Accomplished". It is a bombastic piece with orchestra, tympani and other percussives.

"First battle" is the first battle after the mission was accomplished, and the war became an occupation. The composer makes use of the "rock" format to convey the drive and almost rote mechanicality of this first taste of battle. But things get out of hand, and before long things are "Out of Control". Better buckle your seatbelts for this one!

As the storm passes, we hear the chanting of "Jihad". As a student of Indo-European languages, the composer was able to contruct an original language to convey some of the emotional aspects of the Iraqalypse. It is songs like this which have given rise to the notion that the composer and singer is "the male Lisa Gerrard". (I guess someone had to be!) Very strange! Play it sped up and you will laugh your arse off!

"O God!" represents the inner life of the soldiers. Thoughts of home, loved ones, girls...intermingle with the sound of guns and bombs and fear.

"Weenie" is a bit of comic relief featuring a guest singer who wishes to remain anonymous.

"Take THIS out" is the first rap/hiphop song and has some great rhythms and syncopations. A great dance tune!

"Nightmare 9" is the "Revolution #9" of the CD, and represents the dreamlife of the soldiers. Very very strange indeed!

This is followed by "Heaven", "a symphonic soothing". Music is indeed the great healer.

"Desert Nights" or "Desert Knights" is a representation of a battle that shatters the dreams and the peace, fought under the blanket of night.

"Angels in the Machinery". After a brief respite, the battles continue on...

"Admonition": The drowned-out voices of admonition.

"Tolling of the Bells" is a funereal lamentation and tolling of the bells for all those who have fallen. Beginning with piano, it tranforms into harp, strings, choir then the tolling bells.

The CD ends with a reprise of the prayer.

BUY IT NOW!

Israel to change named to Goliathland

Nukes aren't slingshots.

Letterman Classic Latenight: Anne Hathaway, Jim Gaffigan, Dashboard Confessional

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway (actress) (born 1982), American actress
Anne Hathaway (Shakespeare) (1556-1623), wife of the playwright

Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, New York to what she has described as a "solidly upper-class family".[1] Her father, Gerard Hathaway, is a lawyer, and her mother, Kate McCauley, is an actress who inspired Hathaway to follow in her footsteps;[1] her maternal grandfather was Joe McCauley, a Philadelphia radio pioneer. Hathaway, who has Irish ancestry on her father's side, grew up in the Catholic religion with what she describes as "really strong values",[1] and wanted to be a nun during her childhood.[2] She shares her name with Anne Hathaway, the wife of playwright William Shakespeare.
Hathaway grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Millburn High School, and also spent several semesters studying at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, before transferring to New York University.

Methinks Mr. Letterman has a crush on the young princess...

Jim Gaffigan

Gaffigan Quotes:

"I watch a lot of TV, I drink a lot of coffee, but you know what's really addictive? Heroin."
"You ever read a book that changed your life? Me neither."
"My wife's gotten really lazy, or as she calls it, 'pregnant.'"
"It's good to be back in New York. I have lived here ten years. I'm originally from Indiana. I know what most of you are thinking: Indiana: Mafia. But the fact of the matter is where I grew up there was something very similar to the Mafia: 4-H."
"There's a different kind of pride where I'm from. It's not like, 'We're from New York; we're tough,' or, 'We're from Texas; we like things big.' It's more like, 'We're from Indiana and... we're gonna move!'"
"I love how New York is so multicultural. I wish I was ethnic, I'm nothing. Because if you're Hispanic and you get angry, people are like, 'He's got a Latin temper!' If you're a white guy and you get angry, people are like, 'That guy's a jerk.'"
"Actually, the reason I look like this is because my father was from Sweden, and my mother was Elton John. He was a very good mommy!"
"Isn't it strange, when you're single, all you see is couples, and when you're in a couple, all you see is hookers?"
"I was looking at a box of hot pockets and they have a warning on the side. It's like 'Warning! You just bought Hot Pockets! Hope you're drunk or heading home to a trailer! You hillbilly, enjoy the next NASCAR event!'"
"I only dated one Asian girl, but she was very Asian. She was a panda."
"It would have been hard to get Jesus presents back then. 'Cause whatever you got him he'd be like'Oh, pair of socks , thanks. You know I'm dying for your sins right? Yeah, but thanks for the SOCKS. They'll go great with my sandals, what am I , German?'"
"Lean Pockets, I don't even wanna know what's in those. I wonder what the directions are on a box of Lean Pockets: 'Remove from box, place directly in toilet.' Flush Pocket!"
"I'm not a strict vegetarian. I do eat beef and pork. And chicken. But not fish 'cause that's disgusting! How do you know when fish goes bad? It smells like fish either way! 'Hey this smells like a dumpster, lets eat it!'"
"There is the vegetarian Hot Pocket for those of us who don't want to eat meat, but would still like diarrhea."
"What was the idea behind Hot Pockets? Was there a marketing meeting somewhere, 'Hey I got an idea: How about we take a Pop-Tart and fill it with really nasty meat? You could cook it in a sleeve thing, and you could dunk it in the toilet.'"
"My wife always wants me to go to confession - don't get me wrong, it's not as if I don't enjoy lying to a holy man."
"How'd we come up with the robe? Was some guy just like, 'Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't we make a coat out of a towel? You can have a little belt that goes around. You could dunk the belt in the toilet! Have a toilet belt.'"
"Ever eat so much you feel sick? Isn't that the best?"
"I'm blind, bald, and pale. I'm like a gigantic recessive gene."
"Ever go to IHOP? I don't know why they call it IHOP. When I leave there I don't ever feel like hopping. They should call it, 'I barely move.' 'I need a wheelchair.'"
"I have trouble even remembering the prayers...Our Father, Who Art in Heaven without the approved written consent of Major League Baseball."

Bush is Over...(if you want it!)

Huffington Post has a new and useful service.

With one click, you can print out a nice poster based on the words of John Lennon and the deeds of George W.

(Thanks to Rabatuban for the alert.)

Pigboy hates queers

Pigboy

Manly Man for Jaezus, the knucklehead Hagee, is one of the busiest politicians in Jesusland. I frankly think God hates his guts for lying so goddam much.

And who is Pigboy spouting hate about now? The Supreme Court, Democrats and Homosexuals.

I'm sorry but this politician's brain died many years ago, and all he can do is replay the same old tapes.

Why do Christians lie so much? Hell, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Taoists, Hindus and the other major religious types rarely ever lie. But Christians like on cue, and for the goofiest of reasons.
And do it day in and day out, or at least every Sunday.
I suspect Christians are just as ashamed of me as I am of them. Fact is, the Presbyterian Church I attend is not eaten up with the Mammonism, politics and bigotry...thank God. If you suspect you are being handed a plate of politics disguised as religion, you may want to take a Sabattical and think with your own head for a while. There is a lot of BS out there, mostly on TV and radio. Don't settle for this. Your mind is your own.

When will Christians demand more truth and integrity, and less spouting of the Republican talking points? Granted, when you are getting all that "faith-based initiatives" moolah to spout the points, it must be hard to turn down...that is if you really do serve Mammon...which they do.

Tarheel Tavern 70 is up at My Blue Puzzle Piece

...and it is most excellent indeed! Check her out!

People who think flag-burning is an important issue have low IQs

There is no greater proof of a lack of ideas and vision than bringing up the tired and worn-out antiquated non-idea of banning flag-burning.

Ask these low IQs what they think of map-burning, and you will see their vacuousness race to the surface.

Shun these buffoons.

Net Neutrality discussion this morning

9:00 AM
Net Neutrality discussion.
WFAE - 90.7 FM
Mike Collins Show
Guest: Scott Huffman, President/CEO WebKorner Internet Services

Listen HERE.

You may email your questions to:
charlottetalks@wfae.org

Life: It's quality not quantity

"Who wants to live forever?" - Queen

The British philosopher, Queen, once asked the age old question, "Who wants to live forever?", and the answer, as it turns out, is a fellah from Fuquay-Varina named Larry. But after seeing "An Inconvenient Truth", even Larry is beginning to have his doubts.

It is not good to live forever, and do not attempt to try it at home, especially if you live in a trailer. Hell, look at Aaron Spelling! He has some pretty nice digs, and yet he died. Unless the whole thing was a media stunt cooked up by NASA or PETA in order to bring The Love Boat back. But fact is...the Love Boat IS back, and we are on it. It is the Peace Train we are not on. And this is troubling, at least to Cat Stevens. Dog Stevens, however, is ebullient, but he is one of the famous Dogs of War we read about on the backs of cereal boxes. There are no Dogs of Peace, only Cats of Peace...and they are napping.

So don't go and try to live forever. After a few centuries you will begin to smell.
Instead, be content to live NOW, which is, of course, a show created by Bill Moyers, who knows how to live in the brief time he has been given.

Until the Supreme Court reverses the decision, it is still Quality, not Quantity...so seek quality in the life you have. I have, and can report that I am well on my way to having one hundred dollars. American!

Life is good. Well, at least I can pretend it is. In reality it is no bowl of cherries; no walk in the park. Perhaps realizing this helps us to let go when loved ones do leave us. Until then...

Love everything that breathes.


Back to you, Dan.

John Edwards, "The Real Deal", lays out his vision at National Press Club

My conscience and intuition tells me there are only two people who deserve to be at the top of the Democratic Ticket, and indeed, the United States of America. One of them is Al Gore, the other is John Edwards.

Here is one reason why Senator Edwards should be our leader. He is one of the ones we've been waiting for.

The Deadly Lies of the Bush Administration : The Smoking Guns

Dick Cheney: The Dark Side
"Darkening of the Light"

If you happened to miss this important documentary, there is still a chance.
FRONTLINE can be seen and discussed by following THIS LINK.

Living Systems (Paperback) - Now only 275.00!

Book Description
This book has some of the characteristics of an encyclopedia. It presents and analyzes many diverse facts about cells, organs, organisms, groups, organizations, societies, and supranational systems, but it integrates all this knowledge into a single conceptual system. The book is a presentation of the state of current knowledge in all of the sciences relevant to these seven levels of living systems. It also provides a theoretical integration and a methodological approach to quantitative basic research, and how applied research and development can arise from this.

LINK

"It is one of the most important books of the 20th century and, if attention is paid, will be an important guidebook to the 21st."

On Net Neutrality

Tell Congress to Support the Internet Neutrality Act of 2006

The Next Big Fight Over Media Ownership

Salon.com Exclusive: AT&T may be hiding a second NSA domestic spying operation in St. Louis

NYC

Central Park


2nd Avenue


The Dairy, Central Park


View from the Dairy

What Is Conservatism and What Is Wrong with It?

Q: What is conservatism?
A: Conservatism is the domination of society by an aristocracy.
Q: What is wrong with conservatism?
A: Conservatism is incompatible with democracy, prosperity, and civilization in general. It is a destructive system of inequality and prejudice that is founded on deception and has no place in the modern world.
MORE

New York City

Park Avenue, NYC


Plaza Hotel, From Central Park


"Grow Life"


Anonymoses (detail)

Dick Cheney: The Dark Side : FRONTLINE tonight!

On September 11, 2001, deep inside a White House bunker, Vice President Dick Cheney was ordering U.S. fighter planes to shoot down any commercial airliner still in the air above America. At that moment, CIA Director George Tenet was meeting with his counter-terrorism team in Langley, Virginia. Both leaders acted fast, to prepare their country for a new kind of war. But soon a debate would grow over the goals of the war on terror, and the decision to go to war in Iraq. Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and others saw Iraq as an important part of a broader plan to remake the Middle East and project American power worldwide. Meanwhile Tenet, facing division in his own organization, saw non-state actors such as Al Qaeda as the highest priority. FRONTLINE's investigation of the ensuing conflict includes more than forty interviews, thousands of pages of documentary evidence, and a substantial photographic archive. It is the third documentary about the war on terror from the team that produced Rumsfeld's War and The Torture Question.

Tamara Beckwith








Detail from "Creation" by anonyMoses

POWWOWIRAQSI - War Music in the Age of George the Unready

Click to enlarge