as we take a brief moment away from the chaos...
from daily mail:
It is an eclectic – and sometimes eccentric – record collection, spanning Caribbean steel bands, Rodgers & Hammerstein showtunes, Canadian yodelling and Paul Simon’s pop hit You Can Call Me Al. But they were all favourites of the Queen Mother, revealed today as the contents of her private music library is made public for the first time. There are fewer than 100 albums in the collection she kept at her Highland holiday home, the Castle of Mey, but they betray broad, and sometimes surprising, tastes. Alongside the expected classical works, and timeless folk music, the collection also includes the wartime speeches of Winston Churchill, an album of lute music and comedy LPs by Tony Hancock and The Goons.
And although former aides say the Queen Mother was no particular fan of pop music, she was an avid listener of Terry Wogan’s Radio 2 breakfast show... But despite her aversion to modern music, Paul Simon’s acclaimed 1986 album Graceland, which featured a range of African musicians and contained the hit You Can Call Me Al, was apparently a particular favourite. The list of much-loved albums at Mey includes a number of performances by Noel Coward, comedy sketches by Peter Sellers, episodes of BBC radio comedy Hancock’s Half Hour and the soundtracks to both Oklahoma! and, appropriately enough for the wife of a Monarch, The King And I.
related media/memes updates:
'the new production code':
mgm scrubs china from 'red dawn' remake*
'red dawn' take two: from wolverines to wimps*
flashback:
'red dawn' remake starts shooting in michigan*
michael moore's approval rating lower Than bush's during last month of presidency*
neil diamond, alice cooper, love, tom waits, dr. john inducted into rock n roll hall of fame*
bono & spielberg up for gorbachev awards*
'the graduate's katherine ross wins restraining order against daughter*
labour researcher married in las vegas, the very secretive mrs banksy?*
michael gough, alfred the butler in batman, dies at 94*
psychedelic icon owsley stanley dies in australia*
nate dogg, west coast gansta/funk rapper, dies at 41*
video:
joe morello, legendary 'take five' drummer with dave brubeck quartet, dies at 82*
from examiner:
Martin Luther King’s family and his attorney, William F. Pepper, won a civil trial that found US government agencies guilty in the wrongful death of Martin Luther King. The 1999 trial, King Family versus Jowers and Other Unknown Co-Conspirators, is the only trial ever conducted on the assassination of Dr. King. The King family’s attempts for a criminal trial were denied, as suspect James Ray’s recant of what he claimed was a false confession was denied. King’s family and Mr. Pepper allege that Dr. King’s speech calling upon America to end the Vietnam War, Beyond Vietnam: A time to break silence, and his plan for a 500,000 camp-in for Washington, D.C. in the summer of 1968 were a threat to dominant and fascist political factions within US government.related updates: why is the fbi still hiding info about assassination of mlk? & a stolen painting, the murder of mlk, the fbi ... and steven spielberg
china may end the one-child limit
from press tv:
China, worried about an ageing population, is considering how to waive the one-child policy while keeping family-planning policies altogether... The rules are privately detested by most Chinese, and have been criticised abroad.US & china navies talk joint drills
from ap:
The Chinese and U.S. navies may hold joint drills within the year as part of efforts to build stronger ties despite recent tensions and lingering mistrust... U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she raised the need for greater military transparency in a meeting Tuesday with Chinese Foreign Ministry Yang Jiechi in Beijing.china in olympics pollution drive
from bbc:
China has announced unprecedented measures to cut air pollution during this year's Olympic Games. Starting this weekend, a new standard for car emissions will come into force in Beijing. Some areas surrounding the capital have also joined in efforts to help reduce air pollution... China hopes such drastic measures can reassure foreign delegations that there will be no heavy pollution to harm their athletes.uk director's olympic role unease
from bbc:
Steven Spielberg's resignation from the Beijing Olympics because of China's policy in Sudan has put pressure on others associated with the event. British director Daryl Goodrich, who has just made a promotional film for the Olympics, admits he now questions his involvement in the games.
from hollywood reporter:
Remember Clean Flix? It's the Utah-based DVD business that was a favorite of conservative politicians and an anathema to the studios because it edited feature films to remove or alter content deemed inappropriate.
The company's activities sparked a number of lawsuits, including one huge one filed by 16 prominent directors, including Steven Spielberg and Robert Redford, and entertainment studios such as Disney, Sony, Universal, Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox. In 2006, Hollywood won its copyright claims against Clean Flix and the company recently shut down, supposedly due to the industry's legal force.
Well, cover your eyes for this story. Clean Flix founder Daniel Thompson has just been arrested and is accused of having sex with underaged girls. And according to the Salt Lake Tribune, the "booking documents state Thompson told the 14-year-olds that his film sanitizing business was a cover for a pornography studio." Police found a "large quantity" of porno movies inside the business, "along with a keg of beer, painkillers and two cameras hooked up to a television." Thompson has been released after posting $30,000 bail.
We wish we could edit that story out of our heads.
from press tv:
Hollywood and Israel join hands to blame Iran for masterminding the Lockerbie disaster in a new cinematic adaptation of the event.
The film will be based on a book by Juval Aviv, the former Israeli secret agent and a top investigator for Pan American during the Lockerbie inquiry.
According to the Scotland on Sunday website, Flight 103 which will hit the market on Jan. 24th, 2008, accuses the Iranian and American secret services of involvement in the incident.
The former Mossad agent has negotiated the film rights with a number of high-profile Hollywood directors including the acclaimed Steven Spielberg, who had hired him as a consultant in 2005 for his award-winning film Munich.
Lockerbie is a town located in south-western Scotland, which is internationally known as the wreckage site of the Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed on Dec. 21, 1988 as a result of a terrorist bombing.
In 1991 Libyan intelligence agent, Abdelbaset ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was charged with planting the bomb and was sentenced to life imprisonment in Jan. 2001.
Steven Spielberg is a prize-winning American filmmaker, who is famous for international box office hits such as Jaws, E.T, and Jurassic Park.'the maltese double cross'from hemar enterprises:
Investigation into the downing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Produced back in 1994, this film raises serious questions about what really happened.
do you know the truth about lockerbie?
from robert fisk:
After writing about the "ravers" who regularly turn up at lectures to claim that President Bush/the CIA/the Pentagon/Mossad etc perpetrated the crimes against humanity of 11 September, I received a letter this week from Marion Irvine, who feared that members of her family run the risk of being just such "ravers" and "voices heard in the wilderness". Far from it.
For Mrs Irvine was writing about Lockerbie, and, like her, I believe there are many dark and sinister corners to this atrocity. I'm not at all certain that the CIA did not have a scam drugs heist on board and I am not at all sure that the diminutive Libyan agent Megrahi – ultimately convicted on the evidence of the memory of a Maltese tailor – really arranged to plant the bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 in December 1988.lockerbie lawyers demand secret foreign evidence
from reuters:
Lawyers for a Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie airline bombing demanded access on Thursday to evidence from an unnamed foreign state which they believe could undermine the case against him...
Media reports had suggested the missing document, which has never been shown to the defense, was supplied to the prosecution by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and its disclosure could help clear Megrahi, serving a life sentence in a Scottish jail.
