The Music: Koinonia, Celebration;
Released in November 1984, and recorded in Stockholm and Gothenburg the March before, this was released originally in Europe then Japan, then finally, the ‘states. I happen to have a copy from Japan still on Wax. THe band included Alex Acuña,who until a few months before had been playing with Weather Report. and Justo Almario, who played with among other people, Latin jazz great Mongo Santamaria… as music director, no less.
As individuals, these guys have put together literally thousands of albums between them, having been first caliber studio types for years and years. Collectively, the sound is rather like earlier Spyrogyra, but with more of a experimental edge to it, and certainly not afraid to get into the Latin funk, as they do on “Countin’ the Cost”, which is a favorite of mine. Almario shines with a great sax sound on “Pilgrim’s Progression”
Some of their later work, on subsequent albums, went into vocal tracks, which really didn’t fit with the groove… and they lost the edge before it really had the chance to catch on here in the states. Sad.
You’re going to have a nasty time finding this album, I think. It’s out of press, and I’ve never I’ve never seen a CD copy. but if you can find it, grab it. It’s worth it.
* This presidential election, seems to be surrounded by incidence of cancer. First, we see where Edwards and his wife show up in the news. Now suddenly, we see where Matt Drudge is making note of an additional spot on John McCain’s forehead. Hotline, bounces in, and as usual is skeptical of the new media, being themselves very much a part of the old media… (One wonders why they bother with a website!)
Suddenly, Drudge has sophisticated image capturing software and a detailed obsession with the nooks and blemishes on Sen. John McCain’s head? Nah. This is a tasteless bit of oppo sent Drudge’s way by an overconfident opponent of McCain’s who wants to exploit McCain’s vulnerable political status right now by forcing the campaign to answer questions about his age and health.
If you think about it, this is the second time in just about as many days that we’ve been hearing stories where Matt Drudge gets used as a punching bag…. With accusations against him that are so marginal has to be laughable. Why, it’s almost as if there’s some kind of PR campaign against him. (As if there hasn’t been a concerted effort on the part of the mainstream media to silence that particular voice, for as long as he’s been online!)
Joyner pipes in, and says;
Drudge is an annoying propagandist, to be sure, but touting controversial issues is what he does for a living. Further, it’s not unreasonable to be curious about the health of a 70-year-old man who has had skin cancer on three separate occasions, let alone one who spent five years being tortured by the Viet Cong.
Quite true. And that is quite a reasonable attitude. But I have to tell you, that Hotline’s response seems to signal at least one if not two things things that we should be paying attention to:
As someone who’s been reading this kind of thing for a few years, it strikes me as a large possibility that what they’re really annoyed about is that the “opponent of McCain’s who wants to exploit McCain’s vulnerable political status right now by forcing the campaign to answer questions about his age and health.” didn’t send the slight peice to THEM. The reason of course, is that Drudge , for whatever else you may argue he is, is certainly more effective than spreading that kind of message.
The second possibility is that we have a number of closet McCain supporters at Hotline? It would certainly explain their response in sharper focus.
Personally, I like John McCain, far less than I like Matt Drudge particularly as regards how much or how little I trust each. But in truth, I really can’t stand either one of them. Sitting back and simply watching, seems the best policy.
Regardless, this comment of Hotlines would seem to me their “jump the shark” moment.
* Speaking of Edwards, Hume says tonight:
The outpouring of sympathy for John and Elizabeth Edwards following news her cancer has returned has benefited Edwards’ presidential campaign in more ways that just a bump in the polls. It has also swelled the campaign’s list of potential financial contributors.The Washington Post reports that well-wishers who sent notes to the Edwards’ via their Web site were added to the campaign’s e-mail data base and promptly sent solicitations for money.
And now, just tonight, we hear that the cancer that she has is far more treatable, than was thought prior to the point in time the all this happened for the Edwards campaign. Like I said, gang, not so very long ago, a miracle cure is going to show up, and it was even sooner than I figured. Apparently the sympathy ploy has had as much effect as it’s going to for now… so off the table it goes. Like fishing in a barrel, predicting this stuff is.
* The message from the Iranians, to the remainder of the world, given the release of the fifteen British hostages, is rather load, and rather simple; kiss our ass, and we may not kill you today. This is not exactly Britain’s finest hour. And I’m still unconvinced that there was not a good deal of threats behind the scenes making this happen. So is Captain Ed.
If one believes the Iranians blinked, that probably came from the significant amount of military assets the US began deploying in the Gulf over the last two weeks. The US conducted war games within sight of the Iranian military, a none-too-subtle reminder that America had the firepower to make life uncomfortable for the Iranians, even if they thought the UK did not. With many believing that George Bush wants a reason or even an excuse to go after the Iranian mullahcracy before he leaves office, the incident seemed too provocative by half, especially for more cautious Iranians.
I think ultimately, it was the firepower deployment that got them released.
Tags: BitsBlog, Nightly Ramble
