Bruce Springsteen: Radio Nowhere

The first single from Bruce Springsteen’s forthcoming album ”Magic” has been released and you can download it through different newspapers (Expressen in Sweden). However, we live in the YouTube-age and there you can already listen to the song, see videos that folks have put together, and listen to a cover by one of these men with a guitar, recording themselves in the bedroom.

I like the single – Radio Nowhere – because it is three minutes of simple, straight Bruce Springsteen rock. However, this one will not be a classic. Maybe a 6 on a scale from 1 to 10. It is not a few minutes of pure rock that blows you out of your shoes, like ”Roulette”, ”Where the bands are”, ”Loose Ends” and other wonderful Springsteen-songs from the late 1970s (to be found on the box-set Tracks, for example).

But there is a new album coming and the rumor says that Bruce Springsteen and the E-street Band will play in Stockholm on December 10th. That will be a great warm up for Christmas.

The CNN/YouTube Debates

I spent two hours watching the CNN/YouTube Debates the other night (you know, the debate when the Democratic presidential hopefuls answered questions submitted by “ordinary” voters through YouTube. The Republican debate will be held on September 17). If you are interested in politics I recommend you to see it, I was positively surprised. Here are my main conclusions.

1. I liked the format with the personal questions posed through YouTube. Yes, I know CNN edited the process by selecting the questions, but when “real” people ask about loved ones who died in Iraq, or family members who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, you get another level of reality into the debate. The possibilities that Internet and new technology bring continues to change the political landscape.

2. However, it was somewhat difficult to see the person who posed the question on the YouTube-clip, at least if you downloaded the debate from CNN’s website. And some additional information about the background of the people posing the questions would have been appropriate.

3. The debate was too long. 90 minutes would have been enough.

4. From a political point of view Hillary Clinton showed that she is by far the most competent contender in the race; I think she won the debate clearly. Joe Biden is impressive when he speaks about foreign policy; as soon as he opens his mouth you can hear that he knows what he is talking about. If he wasn’t from such a Democratic state [Delaware] he would be a perfect running mate. Morevoer, Barack Obama is a fantastic candidate, but in this debate I think Hillary Clinton was much stronger (also from a rhetorical point of view).

5. From a strategic point of view, one of my early predictions still holds: Barack Obama is one of Hillary Clinton’s biggest assets, since he is taking a lot of attention from other serious male contenders (John Edwards, notably). As it looks now, Hillary Clinton has a clear lead in the race. But Al Gore might still jump in. Barack Obama is a star candidate who has raised a lot of money. John Edwards is running strong in Iowa and New Hampshire.

If you like American Politics, you will have a wonderful time all the way till November 2008.

Independence Day

It’s Fourth of July and a perfect day to be confused.

On the one hand, I started the day by listening to the song “Independence Day” by Bruce Springsteen (YouTube here) and ended up thinking of the Fourth of July in 2002, when I sat on The Mall in Washington DC and discussed the values of the Declaration of Independence versus terrorism with some friends. As y’all know, I admire the US of A in many ways and if you understand Swedish, you have to listen to this hilarious radio-program about two guys driving through the US in their early twenties (Filip Hammar & Fredrik Wikingsson som sommarpratare, lyssna här, hur kul som helst).

On the other hand, we have had an administration (George W. Bush et al) for six and a half years; an administration that has disrespected the values of the Declaration of Independence, notably through the ”war on terror”, the infamous war in Iraq, but also nitty gritty dirty GOP-politics, like the recent pardoning of the felon Lewis ”Scooter” Libby. For a summary of how Bush betrayed what I think America stands for, watch this YouTube-clip: ”Abba explains the War”. [Thanks, Lane]

In short, a big hurray for what the US of A ought to stand for, including HBO, Sopranos, The West Wing, Springsteen, Clinton, Al Gore, JFK, RFK and MLK, Ani DiFranco etc etc. And a major ”nay” to US imperialism and the current administration; remember to always stay out of the Bushes.

New Apple product: the iRack

What would happen if the Bush administration got all mixed up with Apple and Steve Jobs? Maybe a new product, the iRack!? Check it out here, hilarious. [Thanks for the link, Anso]

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Had a Tom Waits morning on YouTube and found some totally brilliant clips from a show once broadcasted on Italian Rai Due (!?). Downtown Train, and (Looking for) The Heart of a Saturday Night, and Jersey Girl in amazing versions. Enjoy, folks.

Hang in there, Finnish comrades

Parliamentary elections in Finland on Sunday and early this morning I got this text-message from my friend Esa:

”2 days left and polls suck. Center party leads by 1%, we come as 2nd and the right 0,7 behind and on the rise… Doesn’t look too good, but we will work as hard as we can.”

So, maybe we shouldn’t expect a social democratic PM in Finland anytime soon, but let’s hope that the fuzz about the TV-commercial will galvanize the blue-collar base. And don’t miss the SDP-commercials on YouTube (here, and here, and here). Hang in there, Finnish comrades. Work hard, they are just a little bit ahead!

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Our own congress starts tomorrow Saturday. I will try to blog a little in English, but things will be hectic. When the delegates, guests and others arrive in the morning, they will get a copy of Aktuellt i Politiken (in its new layout) in their hand. Feels great to modernize the party newspaper on the historic day when will elect a fantastic woman – Mona Sahlin – as our party leader. Our website will not be totally re-done yet, but there will be some new content during the weekend.

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Just a quick note: Don’t miss that Zapatero, Bush, and Giuliani all have problems.

Miliband on YouTube

As you probably have heard, the Blair Government is moving forward with a new Climate Bill. In order to spread the word, the Secretary of State for Environment David Miliband [blog here, Wikipedia here] is also presenting the Climate Bill on YouTube. Check it out, and take a good look. If it won’t be Brown, or if Brown messes up, David Miliband might soon be heading a Labour Party close to you.

Who will be the first Swedish politician to present a new policy proposal on YouTube?

Wag the dog

According what I have heard, a lot of newspapers tried to get a comment from Fredrik Reinfeldt all Sunday. The reason is “Nannygate” and the new allegations suggesting that Reinfeldt’s nanny was not allowed to work in Sweden when she lived in his home and worked for the municipality of Täby (where Reinfeldt’s wife used to be in charge of things).

The day after (yesterday), we got another set of “news” about the so called ”tsunami tapes”. Wag the dog, anyone?

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Today on YouTube: What’s good (from ”Magic and loss” with Lou Reed). ”What’s good – life’s good – but not fair at all” (full lyrics here). For all of us who knew IB.