Worlds colliding again

I wrote about worlds colliding the other day, and then Hillary decided to mix politics and The Sopranos in a new video just the day after! Read more in Washington Post and The New York Times. Don’t miss the new video, featuring Hillary’s husband Bill and ”Johnny Sack” from The Sopranos.

But after meeting with Robert Kuttner (yes, the man who co-founded American Prospect) at Arenagruppen yesterday I am even more convinced that Al Gore should and will run. Gore was right on the major issues 15 years ago (globalization, sustainable development, open economy and strong welfare) and he has been re-born after quitting politics. And is Bloomberg entering the race? If so, remember that Ross Perot took more votes from Bill Clinton then we would like to remember.

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Thanks to a friend I have been listening to Regina Spektor all morning, website with music and even the game ”Spektris” here.

US vacation 3: The streets of Baltimore

Nobody has done for my appreciation and almost love for the music also known as Americana, than my friend Jeff from Texas. When we were students at SAIS in Bologna, Jeff gave me my first issue of the magazine No Depression. Every once in a while he brought me a new cassette (this was before the iPod, kids) with music played by bands like Uncle Tupelo, Whiskeytown, and Golden Smog.

Last week, Emma and I visited Jeff and his wife Holly in their wonderful new house outside Baltimore, Maryland (thanks Lukas for the ride up). We had a nice barbeque on their back porch, but before going to sleep Jeff and I had to go down to his basement and listen to music for a few hours. Jeff mixed some tunes on a CD for me and as I listen to the songs now, memories of our journey from Washington DC to his family in Houston, Texas right before Christmas 2002, as well as our most recent session in the basement, come right back. And yes, his dog Hondo (the best dog in the world) was with us both times.

Some of the music I am listening to tonight include songs by The Minus 5, Big Star, The New Pornographers, and the classic band Pavement. Great stuff, thanks Jeff, and we need to talk music again soon. For example, both Golden Smog and Wilco have new albums out this month...

[Photos of Jeff and Lukas; Emma and Holly, and Hondo]

Elections coming up in Britain

Labour will face tough elections on May 3rd (Local government elections in England; Parliamentary and local government elections in Scotland; Assembly election in Wales). Therefore I was glad to read (in The Guardian) that cool Labour is still mixing politics and music:

Dave Rowntree may be better known as the bespectacled one from Blur, but the drummer has gone from Blurite to Blairite after announcing he will be standing as a Labour party candidate in a council by-election this May.

Spurred on by a "sense of dissatisfaction" among Westminster residents, the long-term Labour supporter has decided to stand as councillor for the Marylebone High Street ward where he lives, despite it being a traditionally Tory stronghold.

"I'm a Westminster resident, and my experience of living here is that it all looks lovely, there are hanging baskets everywhere, but you only have to scratch the surface to see that actually there's a lot of deprivation and inequality". [...]

Standing on a redistributive platform, he'll put people "ahead of big business and ahead of property developers". "We [Westminster] are a very, very rich area, one of the richest in the country, and yet nine of our wards are amongst the poorest in the country. I think someone needs to do something about that, take some action." [...]

So, remember Westminster residents with a copy of Parklife: vote Dave Rowntree on Thursday 3rd May.

More about the elections here, and don't miss Labour-TV! And if you have forgotten about Blur, this is how it once began.

“We’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.”

The 49th Grammy Awards have been handed out, and one of my absolute favorite bands won in all the five categories where they were nominated. The New York Times reports:

The Dixie Chicks took home Grammys for the top three awards: record, song and album of the year. Their “Taking the Long Way” (Open Wide/Columbia) won best country album and “Not Ready to Make Nice” also captured best country performance by a duo or group with vocal. That song is an unapologetic response to the furor set off in 2003 when the band’s lead singer, Natalie Maines, made an off-the-cuff antiwar remark to London concertgoers: “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas.”

Since I love this kind of music and the state of Texas, but not the President of the United States, a few worlds collide in a great way when I listen to the Dixie Chicks. “Not ready to make nice” is a great song, but I think “The long way around” is even better [listen to them both, those were YouTube links for ya].

Big congrats, Dixie Chicks!