In Your Eyes

This Week's Show: In Your Eyes

Musician and human rights activist Peter Gabriel is empowering people to document human rights abuses in their own backyards and bring them to the world's attention. After achieving fame as a singer, Gabriel helped set up Witness, a Brooklyn-based organization that trains human rights advocates to use video cameras, provided by the group, to document abuses around the world. Their motto: 'See it, film it, change it.'

"It was clear that where there was footage, where there were photos, it was a great deal harder to bury stories," Gabriel told NOW. David Brancaccio spoke to Peter Gabriel on a recent trip to Washington D.C., where he was lobbying members of Congress to do more to end human rights abuses in Burma using Witness video as his weapon.

Human rights themes can be found in some of Gabriel's earliest hits, such as the track "Biko", a homage to the anti-apartheid, South African activist Stephen Biko, who died in prison in 1977. Gabriel was enlisted by fellow musician Bono in 1985 for Amnesty International's human rights tour, which Gabriel describes as an amazing emotional and educational experience.

"One of the things that shocked me on that tour was that people could not only suffer … but that their stories could be really effectively denied, buried and forgotten," Gabriel said. Inspired by his father and his experiences with Amnesty International, Gabriel co-founded Witness, in New York, back in 1992.

Witness-sponsored videos have shined light on human rights abuses in over 60 countries on issues ranging from forced labor in Burma to the neglect of juveniles held in California's prison system. And the videos have made a difference. After the California legislature viewed the Witness-back video "System Failure: Violence, Abuse and Neglect in the California Youth Authority," it introduced legislation to tackle some of the problems exposed.

Are we bearing enough witness to the world? Next time on NOW.

Tony Levin is ace of the bass

(And he can sing, too, in case you didn't know)

Maybe it's his distinctive look and bearing — the chrome dome and martial mustache that wouldn't be out of place on a Prussian officer, along with an onstage intensity that's forced many a vocalist to work that much harder for the spotlight. Or, perhaps it's his toy box of custom-crafted bass guitars and his vanguard virtuosity on the Chapman Stick, a device that appears more of a weapon than an instrument — one that can be plucked, slapped and bowed to produce a range of sounds limited solely by the globally grounded consciousness and intergalactic imagination of its master.

Whatever the reason, Tony Levin stands as a real pop music anomaly: the "sideman" as star-quality attraction in a field where the bass player has more often than not been the sole reference point of sanity on the stage (see the late John Entwistle). This month, the side-star shines once more, with a new CD ("Resonator," on the Narada label) and a new tour that returns the Tony Levin Band to The Saint in Asbury Park on Thursday.

Since his inauspicious recording debut on a 1962 disc by the Greater Boston Youth Orchestra, the sought-after studio man has backed many of the most stellar names in rock (John Lennon, David Bowie, Paul Simon, Stevie Nicks and Pink Floyd, to name a few) as well as not-rock (Burt Bacharach, Cher, Karen Carpenter, Chuck Mangione and even the cast of "Sesame Street"). To followers of that exhilaratingly arty strain of rock known as progressive (or "prog"), the Levin legacy is rooted within his tenure with King Crimson, as well as his long recording and touring association with Peter Gabriel.

Two of Levin's bandmates from the Gabriel days, drummer Jerry Marotta and "Synergy" synthmeister Larry Fast, play prominent roles in Levin's current project. They're joined by Todd Rundgren band veteran Jesse Gress on guitar — as well as by the latest addition to the lineup, brother Pete Levin on organ and piano. With guest appearances by Crimson's Adrian Belew and Toto's Steve Lukather further seasoning the sonic stew, the "Resonator" disc spotlights a subset of Levin's skills that might surprise the casual fan — namely, eight of the 10 tracks are full-blown songs.

"Fashioning a vocal album wasn't the hard part; it was moving from a back-up vocalist — as I am with Peter Gabriel and King Crimson — to lead vocals," Levin said from his home in Woodstock, N. Y. "That's why the project took over a year . . . mostly I was improving my vocal technique." While a more vocally oriented project (with one notable exception being a furious take on the Khachaturian classic "Sabre Dance") might seem a deliberate departure from the band's calling-card strengths, the bassman emphasized that "calling it "songs' maybe implies a gentler album than it is . . . I think the music is still in the progressive rock vein that my last album (the live "Double Espresso') was. "I've introduced some deep ideas with the lyrics — often with some humor or irony — in a way that is, I hope, unique, and sounds like Tony Levin."

Given that each of Levin's solo and partnership projects carries its own distinct sonic stamp (the man has dabbled in jazz both traditional and transitional; traveled the world to record with folk musicians on nearly every continent, and made a very unique album inside a cave in the Catskills), the question naturally arises as to exactly what fans can expect to hear at The Saint stopover. According to Levin, it's a group-oriented set that not only draws from the group's recent works, but also includes tributes to King Crimson, Gabriel, Genesis and other cornerstones of the band's collective background.

"I put together my set based on the kind of shows I like to see," Levin explained. "I enjoy hearing new music, but also the familiar pieces I might know from a band. "And then there are the "surprises.' With four singers in the band, we can now do occasional barbershop quartets! And then there are the kazoos. I'd better leave it at that." Thursday's show represents an encore engagement for the artist who's gigged extensively at such Shore-area venues as Asbury Park's Convention Hall, Holmdel's PNC Bank Arts Center and Red Bank's Count Basie Theatre. "I've played the Shore with other groups too, from rehearsing there with Richie Sambora to playing with bar band Uncle Funk," added Levin. "It's well known to be home of serious rock fans, and an especially receptive place for progressive rock."

Culling his road-tested memory for a peculiarly Asbury anecdote, the globetrotting musical adventurer recalled "approaching the pier in Asbury Park, in a van with all of King Crimson in it, rolling the window for directions, and a rambunctious fan recognizing us and shouting, "Hey, are you guys — — — — psyched, or what!' "I don't think Robert (Fripp) and Bill (Bruford), the British contingent of the band, ever forgot that!"

TONY LEVIN "Resonator" Narada Jazz

Bassit Tony Levin's new release features "What Would Jimi Do?" a Hendrix tribute in which guitarist Jesse Gress nearly kisses the sky, followed by a rhythmically stampeding progressive rock version of Khachaturian's "Sabre Dance," complete with a Ventures-like surf guitar interlude. The former tune laments the sorry state of rock radio, while the latter flamboyantly underscores one of the more appealing things about Levin: He loves to indulge his offbeat enthusiasms.

Not that this comes as much of a surprise. Best known for his work with King Crimson and Peter Gabriel, Levin has always gravitated toward the fringes of prog-rock and pop. But now he sounds more willing than ever to stretch out -- as a player, singer, composer and arranger.

Like guitarist and fellow traveler Adrian Belew, who has a fireworks cameo on "Throw the God a Bone," Levin has chops to spare and isn't shy about displaying them. Yet here his sense of whimsy is almost as evident as his low-end virtuosity on electric bass and Chapman Stick. Indeed, "Resonator" resonates with a playful spirit, thanks to a curious series of self-penned tunes, delightfully arranged vocal harmonies and the contrasts created by McCartneyesque piano ballads, orchestral weaves, funk romps and psychedelic flashbacks. Mind you, not all the tracks bear close scrutiny. At times, Levin's brand of wordplay is more silly than witty. But his eagerness to entertain listeners, not just dazzle them, is never in doubt.

Mike Joyce

Dome sweet dome?

The Millennium Dome looks as space-agey as you can get, squatting on the Greenwich peninsula in east London like some recumbent alien mothership. It is a spectacularly iconic structure, and an unmistakable landmark from the air - and on the East Enders title sequence - an eighth wonder of the world to outshine that other dome, the one which Sir Christopher Wren set atop St Paul's cathedral three centuries before.

Yet it has also become known as possibly the world's most spectacular white elephant, bringing in the new Millennium with rows over its £789 million cost (£628 million of which was covered by National Lottery funding), over its content, and over what should happen to it when the last spent Millennium fireworks finally flopped out of the sky. The largest single-roofed structure in the world, the Millennium Dome would become, according to Tony Blair, "a triumph of confidence over cynicism, boldness over blandness, excellence over mediocrity". Instead, despite the hype, the fireworks, the stage show devised by Peter Gabriel, and the building's undoubted presence, the Dome became known as "Tony's Tent", a science-fiction folly that has lain largely unused, costing the taxpayer more than £30 million to maintain since it closed at the end of 2000. Since then, it has hosted only a handful of sporting or music events, not to mention Christmas 2004, when it was adopted as a temporary shelter for the homeless....

Frankfurt Musikmess 2006

The evening before the gates officially opened at Musikmesse, Peter Gabriel, the talented eclectic rock musician, songwriter, video artist and former Genesis frontman, was awarded the 2006 Frankfurt Music Prize. Nearly everyone is familiar with Peter's hits like "Biko", Sledgehammer", "Red Rain" and 'Big Time'. His videos are regarded as milestones in pop culture.

Gabriel was awarded the honor because of his creative work, his stunning performances and his sponsorship of talented young musicians that have laid the groundwork for the future of rock and pop music. The jury has honored him as one of the leading musicians on the European rock music scene, and also for his artistic and social commitments.

Bass instincts

Former Eastman student and King Crimson member Tony Levin returns to his roots

Bassist Tony Levin has worked with Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, John Lennon, James Taylor and Pink Floyd. He plays Saturday at Milestones.

Tony Levin has played bass at some pretty impressive events. He performed with Paul Simon at Jimmy Carter's inauguration. He played with Peter Gabriel at the concert at Wembley Arena celebrating Nelson Mandela's release from prison. He's toured Africa, Asia, and South America. He just returned from a week in Moscow, where he played Russian folk songs with a Russian singer.

All of those shows were memorable for Levin. However, a concert doesn't have to attract huge numbers of people or hold some symbolic importance for it to have special meaning for him.

"On any night a concert has the potential to strike that special chord, for both audience and performer, when you know what is happening will resonate beyond a way you can describe it, and you'll always remember it," Levin says in an e-mail interview with City in advance of his performance in Rochester this week. "We musicians treasure those nights as much as audiences do."

That's not to say Levin hasn't cherished sharing the same stage or recording studio with legends like Simon, Gabriel, John Lennon, James Taylor, Pink Floyd, and King Crimson. He definitely has. And such work with so many music giants has made him one of the most respected and in-demand session bassists in the world. But Levin has also carved out a niche as a unique solo artist in his own right, and continues doing so through his current spot on the Narada Records roster.

His latest CD, Resonator, represents both a return to the familiar and a pushing of musical boundaries: the album has echoes of prog-rock titans like Gabriel and Crimson, but it also features Levin's first foray into lead vocals. The album features guitar work from celebs like Crimson mate Adrian Belew and Toto's Steve Lukather, as well as a supporting cast that includes other top-notch session musicians like drummer Jerry Marotta and keyboardist Larry Fast, both of whom have also played with Gabriel.

"This album is a departure for me from the instrumental albums I usually do," Levin says. "It's got a lot to say, in my opinion, and the message is accompanied by excellent musicianship. The songs range in subject, but most are looks at our complex life in this new 21st century, and some of the conflicts --- like between science and religion --- that I find both humor and depth in."

When Levin performs at Milestones on April 15, the show will mark a sort of homecoming for the bassist: he spent six years in the 1960s studying at the Eastman School of Music and playing in the Rochester Philharmonic, experiences that impacted him greatly

"The music I learned wasn't literally useful later on in the rock world, but the more important things --- attitudes about music and about professionalism --- were ingrained in me there and have helped me adapt to a lot of varied musical situations," he says. "The players I met were excellent, and I learned from making music with them."

At Eastman Levin cultivated his love for classical composers like Bach and Mozart, figures he says were huge early influences on him, but he also was influenced by Rochester musicians like Chuck and Gap Mangione and Steve Gadd. As far as the rock world goes, Levin says he was greatly impacted by his time in King Crimson, where he learned volumes from guitarist Robert Fripp and drummer Bill Bruford.

Levin says he continues to learn about music, and himself, every time he picks up his bass even though he himself has influenced countless young bassists. However, he eschews praise that ranks him as one of the best bassists in rock history.

"I don't like the label 'best' about music," he says. "There is so much great music being made by a lot of people, bassists included, and even the slightly less great --- the very good stuff --- has a lot of value. I prefer to try to be moved, and maybe be inspired, by any great music or art."

By Ryan Whirty

Gabriel highlights struggle against Myanmar military

Yangon, Apr 06: Singer and human rights activist Peter Gabriel used his celebrity status to highlight the plight of the Myanmar people.

Founder of WITNESS, a nonprofit human rights group, Gabriel hosted an event on Capitol Hill to press politicians in Washington to pass the poor human rights record of Myanmar's military junta to the United Nations Security Council.

Witness, which donates video cameras to human rights groups to bring stories and images to the world, compiled a film documented by people in Myanmar. Gabriel presented the film titled 'Always on the Run: Internally Displaced People in Karen State' produced by WITNESS, a partner organisation on Burma Issues, which details the experiences of people forcibly displaced by the junta military in Myanmar.

"If we can use some of the footage that our partners have created to campaign and we think we should and there needs to be action and there needs to be action now," Gabriel said ahead of the event. Myanmar's military ignored a landslide election victory in 1990 by the National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi and has continued to rule the country with an iron fist.

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi has been in jail or under house arrest since May 2003 and the United States and others have consistently called for her release. United States Senator Mitch McConnell, who has been leading the campaign to refer Myanmar to the UN Security Council said the regime can be compared to countries like Iran and North Korea, if only it were to be seeking nuclear capabilities.

"If this regime were about to get nuclear weapons I think it would have a lot more interest around the world because this is in every respect a pariah regime just like Iran and North Korea have become," said McConnell. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently urged China and India to put more pressure on Myanmar's junta military to put a halt to human right violations.

Rice also said that countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) should do more to push for freedom in its fellow member, formerly known as Burma. Rice said she brought up Myanmar at every meeting she had with officials from China and India, adding that President George W. Bush did the same.

The United States has imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Myanmar, including a ban on most imports, and Rice has told senators they would not be relaxed until the government changed its ways.

Senator, rock star appeal for Burma

WASHINGTON The senator wore a gray wool suit and shiny dress shoes. The rock star wore a casual button-up shirt, wool vest, cargo pants and black boots. They sat side by side on folding chairs in a basement room in the U.S. Capitol, and watched "Season of Fear," a short documentary about the plight of Burmese peasants under attack by the nation's military junta.

A nonprofit co-founded by Peter Gabriel, Witness, produced the video. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., introduced the video and congratulated Gabriel, who had big hits with Genesis and as a solo artist in the '80s and '90s. "I can't even get a visa (to visit Burma), but having a song banned ... is quite an honor. Obviously, you're getting their attention," he said.

McConnell recapped the history of Burma's military junta, including the long imprisonment of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. "We are all here repulsed by everything we know about this regime," he said. "The world community needs to get a lot more concerned than it has been."McConnell and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., were co-sponsors of the bill in 2003 that levied sanctions against Burma.

Peter Gabriel urges more Myanmar action

WASHINGTON - Musician Peter Gabriel and Sen. Mitch McConnell joined forces Tuesday in demanding stronger action by the United Nations against atrocities they say are being committed in Myanmar. McConnell, a leading Republican, said that misrule by the junta that governs Myanmar, also called Burma, "threatens the entire region, and the world community needs to get a lot more concerned than it has been." Gabriel praised U.S. sanctions against Myanmar's military regime and emergency relief efforts to help thousands of Burmese displaced inside their country.

These efforts, he said, "make the U.S. one of the few countries in the world willing to step up to this challenge." McConnell said that a rare U.N. Security Council briefing last year on the political and social deterioration in Myanmar is "not nearly enough, but at least it's a start." Gabriel and McConnell want the United Nations to pass a binding resolution demanding change in Myanmar, where the generals have kept pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in detention for 10 of the last 16 years. She is among some 1,100 political prisoners.

Peter Gabriel speaks at US Senate

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Peter Gabriel will make a personal appearance before the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, April 4th, as a representative of the human rights group Witness, which he co-founded. Gabriel will screen the video "Always On The Run: Internally Displaced People In Karen State, Burma," which was made by a Witness affiliate, and there will also be discussion about the human-rights abuses that continue in Burma. The event will take place in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., starting at 3 p.m., and the public session will be hosted by Senators Dianne Feinstein and Mitch McConnell, who've authored the Burmese Freedom And Democracy Act.

While there, the musician will also push lawmakers to support a United Nations resolution condemning Burma's human rights record.

Bassist's touch resonates on new CD

Shaped by tongue and lips as much as by the years he has performed with the likes of Peter Gabriel and John Lennon, a tender song rises from the vocal chords of Kingston resident and bass player Tony Levin — a tender song about an ape.

The vocal inflections of "Fragile As A Song" recall the way Randy Newman wraps his personality around every syllable he sings. This song also recalls a trip Levin took to the University of Georgia, where he joined Gabriel in a musical session with a Bonobos ape named Panbanisha that used advanced communication skills to play the keyboard.

"I knew something very unusual was afoot when we walked into the facility," Levin said. "Peter said, 'Panbanisha, this is Tony, he's going to play bass with us today.' "

Worked with Bowie, Floyd

"Fragile As A Song" is one tune on the new Tony Levin Band CD "Resonator," which is released today. The man who has played bass with King Crimson, David Bowie and Pink Floyd will celebrate his latest project Wednesday evening with a "playback" party at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock, where the CD will be played and sold and band members will be on hand to chat with fans and sign CDs.

"My solo career is a career, but it's not my only career," said Levin, whose past work earned him a Grammy nomination. "Most of what I do is be a backup bass player to other people and I love doing that. That gives me the freedom in my solo career, I can do what I want."

The songs on "Resonator" shift from flat-out funk to Crimson-esque chord changes and Beatles-like ballads with lyrics that Gabriel might be jealous of. Joining Levin in the studio and on the road for upcoming shows are his brother Pete on keyboards, Jesse Gress on guitar, Larry Fast on synthesizer and Jerry Marotta on drums. Pete Levin has played with Miles Davis; Gress has played with Todd Rundgren; and Marotta and Fast both played with Levin in Gabriel's band.

"He's like the quintessential person you'd want to be working with and kind of look up to and want to be there to influence you to some degree in many ways," Marotta said of his friend of many decades. "He's a real thinker."

"Resonator" represents Levin's first stab at writing lyrics and singing. He is not the kind of songwriter to sit down and write, but opts instead for keeping journals while on tour.

"Science and religion — those for years have been inspiring me to express my ideas about conflicting directions this amazing century is taking in," he said. "I process my ideas through my musical sense and come out with song lyrics that are hopefully unique to me."

Tommy Keegan, who has hosted different bands that included Levin at Keegan Ales brewery in Kingston, said, "as a person, he is so reserved ... soft spoken and just an all-around great guy." Keegan Ales is sponsoring Wednesday's event.

That soft-spoken guy, it seems, is equally at home playing hockey arenas or the local brewery.

"I understand when I'm performing in Madison Square Garden with Peter or in Keegan Ales, I'm knowing that years later, a lot of us in the room will remember being part of that experience," he said. "I'm very tuned into that."

Peter Gabriel pour Pannella ?

Il participera au travers d'une liaison téléphonique depuis Washington, à la manifestation de fermeture de la campagne electorale des radicaux- socialistes Italiens, le 6 avril prochain en place Navona à Rome. Etonnant, non ?

http://www.tgcom.mediaset.it/politica/articoli/articolo303709.shtml

Peter Gabriel per Pannella

Il cantante appoggia la Rosa nel Pugno

Peter Gabriel fa il tifo per la Rosa nel pugno di Emma Bonino, Marco Pannella ed Enrico Boselli. L'ex leader dei Genesis, infatti, ingaggiato dalla Fifa per l'organizzazione della cerimonia d'apertura dei mondiali di calcio tedeschi del prossimo giugno, parteciperà con un collegamento telefonico da Washington, alla manifestazione di chiusura della campagna elettorale dei radical-socialisti il 6 aprile prossimo in piazza Navona a Roma.
Clicca per ingrandire

Gabriel, purtroppo per i suoi fan numerosissimi anche in Italia, non sara' sul palco, dove invece si alterneranno, oltre ai vertici della Rosa nel pugno, anche molti artisti e cantanti, da Eugenio Bennato a Dolcenera, da Marco Masini ad Andrea Occhipinti, dal dj Claudio Coccoluto a Marco Bellocchio.

Peter Gabriel mit Frankfurter Musikpreis

Cliquez ici pour voir la video

Lemur

Peter Gabriel's song "Shock the Monkey" was originally titled "Shock the Lemur".

Some of you are probably wondering how we've been limiting ourselves to a single picture of an animal per day here on the site. Well, we've been trying to control ourselves, but those days of restraint are over.

Today we present to you belgianchocolate's photostream on Flickr. Her photos of the fauna in Madagascar are just incredible and in no way related to the piss poor CGI movie of the same name.

The picture above is a lemur, a primate that lives only on the island of Madagascar.

Bonus Lemur trivia: Peter Gabriel's song "Shock the Monkey" was originally titled "Shock the Lemur".

Theatre Review: More Trouble in the UK

Our search for fine British plays continued on the North Side where we took in a timely neighborhood drama and a comic slice of life.

Osama the Hero, Dog & Pony Theatre

“We do what we’re told, told to do.” – Peter Gabriel

A community on edge from a terrorist threat and a fear mongering media goes ballistic when a bomb detonates in Mark’s (Brian Rickel) garage, killing his wife. Gary (Jarrett Sleeper), an awkward high schooler suspended for calling Bin Laden a hero to his followers, is kidnapped by Mark’s neighbors Louise and Frances (Lois Atkins and David Gray), who tie him to a chair and then, along with Mark and his friend Mandy (Kim Purdy), force him to confess or face their wrath. As Sleeper plays the scene, we truly believed he was innocent and no one else cared to believe him.

What followed was some of the most disturbingly well-staged violence we’ve seen in a long time, a moment where playwright Dennis Kelly and director Krissy Vanderwarker pinpoint the psychology of misdirected rage in the name of national and international security.

Too bad Kelly structures the rest of the play in more static monologues, confessionals, and petty squabbles, staged claustrophobically by Vanderwarker. We reach the climactic struggle familiar with the characters but not terribly invested in anyone. Louise’s stubborn ethical relativism and Mark’s arrested development and frightening pathos were excellently played. They, and these issues, deserve to be part of something bigger.

Satire: Fruitcake Wishes and Sledge Hammer! Dreams

Walking around Sea World one day, I saw a woman in the worst getup ever. Black shirt, hot pink lycra/spandex capris, and black heels. I was suddenly struck with a horrifying clichéd '80s flashback. Ugh. Shudder. From there, I was transported instantly to a recurring dream I've had for almost twenty years.

You see, I have this nasty problem. Whenever I hear Peter Gabriel, I'm sucked into this whirling vortex of every kind of terror involving David Rasche sex. Tell me you've seen those three words (David Rasche sex) together before. Please. Please?

Sledge!It's always the same scenario. I'm lying in bed. As I begin to drift off into a sweet sleep, I become aware of a presence in the room. My eyes open and I see David Rasche, naked, carrying his gun. He slides into bed next to me..."put your mind at rest," he whispers. I sit bolt upright. He says, "you could have a steam train, if you'd just lay down your tracks. You could have an aeroplane flying, if you bring your blue sky back." I'm so tired that it sounds rather sweet, lyrical even. I can't really protest.

He sets the gun off to the side, leans in close to me, nuzzles up to my ear and says, "you could have a big dipper going up and down, all around the bends. You could have a bumper car, bumping this amusement never ends."

My mind reels. Somehow, his movements are sensuous and the sound of him speaking is as smooth as can be. Thus, he becomes that big dipper, going up and down, and around my bends.

He continues to sing to me, in Peter Gabriel's voice, "show me round your fruitcage, 'cos I will be your honey bee. Open up your fruitcage where the fruit is as sweet as can be." So I open up my fruitcage and let him go to work on the sweet nectar the little honey bee's craving.

I'm getting into the delicious sensations that he's dishing out. I've forgotten the '80s haircut and the silly tie he has on. Yeah. He was naked except for that tie.

Getting more and more turned on, I feel my excitement building. "I've been feeding the rhythm - going to feel that power, build in you. Come on, come on, help me do...yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I've been feeding the rhythm I've been feeding the rhythm - it's what we're doing, doing all day and night..." he croons.

He moves away from my "fruitcage" and stands beside the bed. I ask where he's going. He merely points to the door. I ask, "Will you be coming back? How will I be able to find you?" And he sings, "all you do is call me. I'll be anything you need."

"But, what do I call you?" I ask."Sledge Hammer!" he replies. And he's gone.

I'm left with a quivering body, horny and aching for more. I am lost in a world of turquoise, neon pink, and lots of tall hair. I can still hear his words. I seek satisfaction, as he's left me hungering for more..."oh won't you show for me and I will show for you. Show for me, I will show for you." Oh, I'll show him!

Twenty years of this, people. Anything that evokes a massive '80s flashback brings this all rushing back to me.

I want to be your sledgehammer why don't you call my name oh let me be your sledgehammer this will be my testimony I want to be your sledgehammer why don't you call my name you'd better call the sledgehammer

There's no denying the terrible love/hate relationship I have with those memories. There are days when I pray for 42 episodes of sitcom fulfillment. I have been known to crave a ration of Rasche.

You know, my birthday is coming up soon. Maybe two seasons of some comedic cop video is in order.

My therapist really loves that new car of his.

"Crooked Teeth" video is a Peter Gabriel homage

Death Cab for Cutie weathers their major label transition with grace

(...)

It sounds fine! So, the "Crooked Teeth" video is a Peter Gabriel homage [after his video for "Sledgehammer"]. Who in the band is the big prog fan?

Chris [Walla, guitarist/keyboardist] is the biggest prog fan. He's like a library of prog bands. I didn't realize in the world how many members of King Crimson have been all over the place. He's always, "That's a Robert Fripp thing." [But] I'll give a lot of credit to Ace Norton, the guy who directed the video. He came up with the concept, put it all together. We just sort of read the treatment and we were like, "That's great! Let's totally do that."

This video is part of Directions. What was the genesis of that project for you guys?

It was an idea that I actually had with one of my friends, Aaron, who I had grown up with. We came up with this idea and brought it back to the band, and said, "Hey, would you guys be into this if we could get it together?" and everybody seemed pretty excited about it. There's actually thirteen total videos. Eleven for the record and then we made two videos for two B-sides. [For] all thirteen videos we ended up hand-picking the director and treatment we really liked. We are so incredibly proud and happy of how the videos have come out and how the project has taken shape.

Death in the desert

Here is another example of our steady march of progressive degradation in Iraq.

by Allen L Roland

http://www.opednews.com

"The fact is that every war suffers a kind of progressive degradation with every month that it continues, because such things as individual liberty and a truthful press are simply not compatible with military efficiency:" George Orwell - Homage to Catalonia

Here is a short must see 5 minute flash presentation written by Chris Floyd with haunting music by Peter Gabriel & Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and brilliant flashwork by Richard Kastelein ~ which records a recent criminal and inhumane act of murder committed by the United States military on March 15th, 2006 ~ just another example of our steady march of progressive degradation in Iraq....

This comes on top of a report in the online edition of Time magazine that U.S. Marines went on a rampage in the village of Haditha and deliberately slaughtered 15 unarmed Iraqis in their homes. The Iraqis were still in their bed clothes, and 10 of the 15 were women and children.

The Marines turned in a false report that the civilians were killed by an insurgent bomb. But the evidence of wanton carnage was too powerful. Pressed by Time's collection of evidence, U.S. military officials in Baghdad opened an investigation. Time reports that "according to military officials, the inquiry acknowledged that, contrary to the military's initial report, the 15 civilians killed on Nov. 19 died at the hands of the Marines, not the insurgents.

The military announced last week that the matter has been handed over to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which will rightfully conduct a criminal investigation.

Please watch this moving and powerful video presentation ~

Allen L Roland

Click here to view : http://isahaqi.chris-floyd.com/

Peter Gabriel to end humand rights abuses in Burma

Legendary Musician and Activist Peter Gabriel to visit Washington, DC to Urge UN Security Council Resolution, End to Human Rights Abuses in Burma

For Immediate Release: March 23rd, 2006
Contact: Jeremy Woodrum, (202) 223-0300 or Matisee Bustos (718) 783-2000 ext. 306

(New York and Washington, DC) -- Legendary musician and activist Peter Gabriel will visit the U.S. Senate on April 4th to host a film screening and discussion on the need for continued support in ending egregious human rights abuses in the Southeast Asian country of Burma, where more than a million people have been forcibly displaced and the “modern-day slavery” of forced labor prevails.

Gabriel plans to press for U.S. leadership in passing a UN Security Council resolution on Burma. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Mitch McConnell (R-KY), the authors of the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act, will host the event. The event, on Tuesday, April 4th at 3:00 pm in room SC-4 of the U.S. Capitol Building, is sponsored by WITNESS, the nonprofit human rights organization founded by Gabriel, and the U.S. Campaign for Burma. The event is open to the public.

“It is long overdue for the UN Security Council to respond to the deepening crisis in Burma," said Gabriel, "we need people of conscience to act now."

Gabriel will introduce the video “Always on the Run: Internally Displaced People in Karen State,” produced by WITNESS’ partner organization Burma Issues, as well as recent footage and testimony showing the increasingly desperate situation inside eastern Burma. Representatives from WITNESS and U.S. Campaign for Burma will be available to answer questions on the situation.

“Always on the Run" captures the fears and hopes of people caught in one of the world's most serious humanitarian crises—forcible displacement in eastern Burma. Over the past decade, Burma's dictator Than Shwe has destroyed 2,700 villages in a brutal anti-insurgency campaign that has left over half a million people homeless in the country's eastern jungles and forced millions to flee the country. Child mortality and malnutrition rates in eastern Burma are now comparable to those among internally displaced persons in the horn of Africa.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights and General Assembly have passed 28 consecutive resolutions condemning the atrocities. Instead of honoring these nonbinding UN resolutions, soldiers of Than Shwe's military regime continue the onslaught—in the past few weeks thousands more persons have fled their homes in fear to hide in the jungle, or cross into neighboring Thailand.

Concerned about the situation in the country and its impact on regional peace and security, the UN Security Council considered Burma for the first time in history in an informal briefing on December 16th, 2005. South Africa’s Nobel Peace Prize recipient Desmond Tutu and former Czech president Vaclav Havel have launched a global campaign for the Security Council to go further and pass a formal resolution demanding change.

The video offer insight into just one of the reasons UN Security Council action is merited. Reports make clear that the ruling military junta has engaged in a deliberate policy to repress the democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the world’s only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient; and that it also conducts a scorched earth policy against ethnic minorities that includes the destruction of food storage, production sources and even entire villages.

Additionally, the military junta (considered one of the world’s most brutal military regimes) has forcibly recruited 70,000 child soldiers—more than any other country in the world—forced millions into what the International Labor Organization calls “modern slavery,” and locked up over 1,100 political prisoners. ##

Death Cab For Cutie ‘Crooked Teeth’

Death Cab For Cutie release their new single ‘Crooked Teeth’ on 10th April 2006 through Atlantic Records.

'Crooked Teeth' will be available on 7 Inch Vinyl (In the form of two limited editions) and on CD. The single is taken from their recent album ‘Plans’, the Seattle quartet’s fifth album, recorded over 28 wintry days in early 2005 and released in August of last year.

The video has an unusual and innovative style not much seen since it was used in Peter Gabriel's famous 'Sledgehammer' video.

To view the video for 'Crooked Teeth' simply click the links below:

Windows Media Player - Broadband / Dial-up

Real Player - Broadband / Dial-up