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Tag Archives: rock
BURNING BRIGHTLY: American Aquarium
The world seemed like it was on fire. His entire band quit on him. He was contending with being a new dad. So B.J. Barham decided he was up to the challenges—literal, existential, logistical, emotional—and created the album of a lifetime.
BY JOHN B. MOORE
Last year BJ Barham, frontman for the North Carolina Americana outfit American Aquarium, was set to head out on the Lower 48 Tour – a wildly ambitious trek that would see him hitting up at least one show in every state (sans Hawaii and Alaska). And then his band quit.
Every single member. And all at once.
He understandably felt blindsided. What was the point now?
But just a few weeks after absorbing the psychological blow of having all five members of his band walk out at the same time, his wife gave him some frank advice: "You can either bitch about it or you can change it."
And that statement become the overarching theme of Things Change, his latest record and easily, with little room for argument, his best collection of songs to date. (Amen. That goes for everyone else here at BLURT, too. – Ed.)
Oh, and he did embark on that exhaustive tour, solo, a little over a month after the dissolution of that version of American Aquarium.
Just a week before the June 1 release of Things Change, with a brand-new band and a new baby at home, Barham was kind enough to talk to Blurt, revisiting the great exodus of 2017, discussing the new record and the politics and optimism that are woven into the new music.
BLURT: I've been looking forward to interviewing you for a while now and thought I lost the chance when it looked like the band was broken up. So, I guess, thanks for keeping it together?
BARHAM: Ah, man, I am way too stubborn to give up.
Let's talk about what happened with your band. You've said that everyone just left. Was that a surprise to you or did you see it coming?
It was a surprise because I didn't expect it to come when it came, and it all happened at the same time. I've had over 30 members of this band since 2006. It's been a lot of turnover, but I've been pretty lucky to keep a core of the band for the last eight years, but I've never made the same record with the same band back to back; every record has had either someone quit, or someone replaced, so I'm used to turnover. If it had been one person, it would have been a regular day at the office. If it had been two that would have been a little harder… but, I had five guys walk into a room and all quit. It was a mutiny aboard the ship. All the signs were there, I just ignored them. It was just general unhappiness.
We all started this band when we were in college. We wanted the same things, we wanted to tour everywhere, we wanted to play music for a living. We believed in this awesome plan, but over the course of nearly a decade people's interests and people's lives change and they go in different directions. What they used to be in love with they no longer care for and what they used to believe in has changed. By the end of that Wolves tour, it got to be that the show was the least important part of the day to those guys. They were worried about what they were going to do before the show or after the show. Those 90 minutes on the stage, that I still wake up in the morning for and live for, became an afterthought for them. And when they quit, I had about two or three weeks of sulking and then my wife said, "You can either bitch about it or you can change it." And that's one of the central themes of the record.
I went out and I got lucky. I was on the Lower 48 Tour and ran into a mutual friend from Austin and he said "Hey man, I heard about the band quitting. Can I put a band together for you?" I said, "Sure man, whatever," and he put together just a crack band of guys that have been doing this for 10, 20 years. I fly into Texas for that first rehearsal and everyone knew every single song from start to finish. We took this thing on the road last fall as a trial run to see how we do with each other and it went gangbusters. It was amazing. We went to the studio and made a record together and things went great. (Below: the smoke-colored vinyl LP version of the album.)
This new record, the first track ("The World is on Fire") grabs you right away. You didn't waste any time getting in to what you wanted to discuss with this album.
Every artist says this about every new project because we're vain immature children, but I feel like this is the best thing I have done so far. And a lot of friends who are honest with me – the ones who would tell me "this one sucks" or "good luck trying to get this one going" – everyone has been super supportive. I think creatively and musically we took a step forward with this one and I think that's all you can ask for as an artist; make the thing that you put out better than the last thing and I think we did that this time.
As a father, "The World is on Fire" really struck a chord with me. You realize whatever is going on right now doesn't just affect you, but your kids as well.
Exactly. That's where that third verse really came from. That song was such a progression of 2017 for me simply because I wrote that first verse the day after the election, just anger fear and I had so many questions. I had no idea how to explain what I just watched. I put it aside because I didn't want this record to be about fear, to be about hate because every other thing that has changed in my life since Wolves (his 2015 album) has been pretty positive so I didn't want to write a record around this. I wrote the second verse after I had been on tour for a while and talking to people at the merch table after the shows – people from the left and the right and people who didn't vote – and I regained a lot of faith in humanity. I realized not everyone is a bigoted, misogynistic hatemonger, but some people are in just desperate situations and the right has done nothing for them and the left has done nothing for them and they voted for a wildcard. I started to become a little more empathetic and just to listen to others instead of just pointing my finger at them and telling them why they were wrong or why they were right. I think this last election is the result, the epitome of people just wanting to be heard.
I had no chorus and two verses at this point and just sat on it for a while. During that tour me and my wife realized we were having a child and that just immediately changed my perspective. No matter how much my generation does to fuck things up, we've still got hope in that next generation. As long as a majority of us teach (our children) to be good, honest people we have nothing to worry about and that's where that third verse came from. Don't just bitch and complain about change, do something and inspire that change. Once we finished that song it was a no brainer that it would lead off the album. Some records warm you up, but this one gets it going right out of the gate.
Jason Isbell's last record was probably his most political one so far. The same with Superchunk and just about any band that's known for thoughtful lyrics putting out records since the last election. Was there any part of you that was nervous about alienating fans by talking about these issues?
Of course. I think anybody would be. You're talking about alienating up to half of your audience, so you have to approach the topic intelligently; you have to approach the topic conversationally. You can't come out and say you are all a bunch of fucking idiots. They'll turn the radio off and throw out your records and say, "fuck that band!" But if you come at it with the attitude, "Hey man, we both love NASCAR, we both love fried chicken, we both love college football. I just want to know why you feel this way about this thing." Letting folks know we're the same people, we come from the same places. We disagree on this one thing, so how can we have an open dialogue about it. If anybody listens to this record and walk away thinking, "man, he's way too political" then they're missing the point. That first song isn't about politics at all. It's about finding hope in dark situations.
I don't care what area of life you want to apply that to, but it should affect every American right now. And the third song, "Tough Folks," if you walk away from that thinking, "Man, that's just about his politics, he lost it," then you're not listening to the song. That's a song about perseverance, hard work; that's a song that says no matter how bad today is you can work yourself out of it. I think people from both sides should be able to get behind both of those themes that run through this record.
So, have you thought yet about how you go about introducing these songs from the stage yet?
Yeah, of course. We've played them live a few times and I just let everybody know this is a song about finding light in darkness, this is a song about not giving up hope, this is a song about either complaining about your situation or changing your situation. This whole record is a living tangible testament about a guy who was at rock bottom last year when my entire band quit. I could sit at home and complain about it, writing mean songs or I could pull my bootstraps up and keep this thing going and try to be positive, try to fix this fracture in our country. To a lot of people who listen to these records, politics may just be the one thing that's different. I just want to make people aware that we may be way off base on this one thing but think of the hundred other things that we are right beside each other on.
There are a lot of mainstream country artists that aren't speaking out and I can understand that because for the longest time I didn't speak out because I thought people would judge me for it, but I think I'm approaching this record with almost a humble approach. We all grew up the same, I'm just trying to figure how we all grew apart. That's the hope of this record, that people hear it and try and start a dialogue about it. Try and heal a fracture.
There does seem to be an optimistic thread that runs throughout the record. And I don't know if that's because you're a new dad.
You know, I spent years of my life complaining and blaming all of my problems on other people and this record, more so than any I've written before, is me saying most of the problems I've seen in my own personal life, I'm going to take responsibility before and write just as honestly about how I've messed up my life just as much as I think others might have. It's harder to take blame than to just put it on someone else. I think it's a mix of me being married, me having a new child and me just growing up.
I just turned 34 and I'm looking at where I am now compared to where I was three years ago when we recorded Wolves. It's night and day.
American Aquarium are currently on tour. More details at their Facebook page or the official website.
This entry was posted in Artist, Artist Interview, North Carolina Music and tagged american aquarium, americana, b.j. barham, new releases, politics, rock on June 9, 2018 by Fred Mills.
Fred Mills: Old Loyalties, New Music, and Boise's Like A Rocket
For a music journalist, there's no better feeling than finding out your initial instincts were correct. Meet one of Idaho's best bands.
BY FRED MILLS
Musically speaking, Idaho tends to ping the national radar only occasionally; for the indie-rock milieu, Josh Ritter and Doug Martsch (Built to Spill) are probably the best-known Idaho native sons. Yet the state does in fact have a thriving music scene, with plenty of bars and breweries on hand to play host. You can count Boise's Like A Rocket among the extant talent, championing regional breweries and arriving soon with their third full-length, High John The Conqueror.
The trio— guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Bobby "Speedy" Gray, bassist Andy Cenarrusa, drummer Max Klymenko—powers straight outta the gate with raucous, roots-rock raveup "Ain't It All A Work Song" (it's below, and also at their Bandcamp page for purchase as first single from the album), sending a sonic statement from the get-go they are here to kick up some dust and kick some ass. Sinewy yet deeply melodic Americana is the name of the game, from the twangy, Georgia Satellites-esque "Follow Me Down (to the party by the river)" and slide guit-powered stomper "The Devil of T.V. Paul's" to the straight-up country rock of "Tuxedo and Anna Leigh" and lovely, Latin-infused cowboy ballad "Magdalena."
Ain't It All A Work Song by Like A Rocket There's also the album's psychological centerpiece, "Dark Blood." Following the stage-setting, 30-second title track, a rippling acoustic guitar instrumental, this rumbling, brooding blues unfolds as a fatalistic tale of mortal sin and retribution: the former, at the hands of Gray's haunted protagonist; the latter, courtesy album namesake High John, a living, breathing hellhound on the singer's trail. Classic blues imagery abounds—roosters that are crowing, muddy waters that keep flowing, slaves on the block, "Tarrytown," ropes dangling from trees—as Gray, voice framed amid a steadily rising chorus of snarling psychedelic guitars and tense martial percussion, realizes his time is near ("Brother, dear brother, take my fine young wife/ 'cos I got a meeting comin' with High John's knife"). It's a masterful performance, part Steve Earle, part "Sympathy"-era Stones, part Robert Johnson, all Like A Rocket.
As a band, this is a fluid, flexible beast, shifting easily between multiple styles while maintaining a taut, focused core. (A perfect example of this style-shifting is "Cry Baby Cry" which, with its low, echoey, shantylike vibe, initially suggests classic cosmic twang; but as the tune progresses, it ascends and turns anthemic, a marriage of gospel-inspired vocals and power pop guitars.) With songwriter Gray as their not-so-secret weapon—he seems to have absorbed a lifetime's worth of influences yet instinctively knows when to put them on display and when to deploy them subtly, and nuanced—the three men also demonstrate a collective gift for arrangements that allows them to transcend the physical limits of a "mere" trio.
Ultimately, with High John The Conqueror, Like A Rocket is—pardon the painfully obvious cliché—clearly poised to take off.
Full disclosure: For yours truly, there's a bit of a personal connection here. During the mid/late '80s, in my capacity as music editor for a Charlotte, NC, alt-weekly, I covered Gray's early band, Helpless Dancer, on multiple occasions, and I instinctively gravitated to their glammy, hard-edged brand of power pop. (I still own a 45 they released during that time.) Their fan base was broad, and devoted. By that point Gray was already a scene veteran with serious chops he'd honed as a teenager touring as part of a gospel group, and after Helpless Dancer he wasted no time in forming a terrific post-punk group dubbed The Dollmakers. After I moved to the Southwest, however, I lost tabs on him, so to not only discover his current outfit now, many years later, but also learn that he made a similar move westward, also in need of a change of scenery, not long after I did makes for an oddly satisfying bit of synchronicity.
See, I've always felt that time and distance shouldn't diminish memories or undermine old loyalties. Support the home team, so to speak. Here in 2017, I frequently encounter favorite musicians from back in the day who are still making stellar art, and in a weird way, having that type of insider knowledge about their backgrounds seems to subtly enhance my appreciation of their current efforts. It's not necessarily a matter of comparing one incarnation to another one, but rather of having something relevant in common, and I'd reckon anyone can identify with that.
To all the rest of you, there's plenty about Like A Rocket that, if you have an appreciation for honest, well-wrought, immensely tuneful American rock 'n' roll, you'll be able to identify with. Crank up the stereo (you can get a quick taste at the aforementioned Bandcamp page, including a five-song EP, Raucous, comprising additional material cut during the album sessions) and make up for lost time—just like I'm doing now.
Fred Mills is the editor of BLURT magazine and Blurtonline.com
This entry was posted in Blog and tagged americana, beer, bobby gray, boise, charlotte, dollmakers, helpless dancer, idaho, indie rock, like a rocket, new albums, rock, roots music on June 3, 2017 by Fred Mills.
Fred Mills: One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Pleasure
Ye Olde Blurte Editore reflects on his 1987-92 musical romp across the Charlotte, NC, skyline…
Sweet memes are made of this: I recently met a fellow North Carolinian who, it turns out, was living in Charlotte during part of the same time I lived there. We apparently did not know each other, but we did have a mutual friend, photographer Don "Bongo" Swan, who passed away in 1995, so it was natural to share stories with one another. Don was loved by pretty much everybody in Charlotte, and I had the good fortune of working with him on numerous occasions in my capacity as Music Editor for alternative newsweekly Creative Loafing. The conversation left me feeling more than a tad nostalgic, so I did a search online and found a story I wrote for the Loaf in 1997 to mark the paper's 10th anniversary. Rereading it now, a lot of memories came back, including plenty of Don. He took the photo pictured above, in case you were wondering, of my editor John Grooms, the Domino's pizza noid, and me as we took part in an attempt to land the Guinness Book record for "most guitarists playing 'Louie Louie' at the same time," go figure. (Somewhere in my files I also have the original image that Don gave me. I need to get that framed.) So at the risk of seeming hopelessly self-indulgent, I thought I'd republish the article here for posterity. Let me just add – this one's for you, Bongo.
Rock through the first five years
Charlotte music from 1987-1992
If, as historians advise us, eras have their defining moments, then so, too, do smaller periods contain their own seeds of identity and character.
Looking back at the first five years of Creative Loafing, during which I served as the paper's music editor, I get the sense that there were a number of "defining moments." Viewed as separate points on a time line or as linked incidents on a continuum that has now stretched to 10 years (and counting), these moments do seem to paint CL in a myriad of hues and shadings. Put metaphorically, if Charlotte's daily newspaper is black and white (and, like the musty joke adds, "read all over"), then this city's alternative weekly is as colorful and rich in depth as a Hockney painting. And at times, suitable for framing.
One such event that will always represent, to me at least, what CL — as an alternative to the mainstream — was all about transpired in January of 1990. For weeks Charlotte had been fudging its undies over Tom Cruise and the filming of Days Of Thunder at the Speedway. The Observer in particular was a lighter shade of brown at the time, logging the star's real and imagined movements around town as if he were Mother Teresa touring local leprosy wards. Imagine the chagrin, then, of the daily paper when we reported from the front lines and even buttonholed Cruise for an exclusive interview.
Seems that the Belmont Playboys got the wrap party gig, and the band smuggled me in as their roadie. I duly reported the arrival of Robert Duvall, Johnny Cash, June Carter Cash, Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, not to mention the impromptu jam session involving the Playboys and the Duvall entourage (Cash was particularly smitten by the band's version of his "Rock & Roll Ruby"). More importantly, and sensing my duty as a journalist, I engaged Tom Cruise for our "exclusive interview." The entire interview went thusly: "What did you think of the Playboys, Tom?" "Man, they were rockin'!"
Yessir, Creative Loafing (not to mention its worldly music critic) had finally arrived into high society. Of course, we had to come through the back door with the servants and hired help, but still …
Damn. Time flies. Here it is, seven years later, and I'm browsing a Tucson record hole when I spot a CD called Wolf Patrol by none other than my ad hoc employer, the Belmont Playboys!
Even though talent naturally rises, it's hard not to feel like CL had at least a small hand in boosting the band's career. One of our prime directives from the git-go was "support local music." Before our first issue was published in April of '87, editor John Grooms and I had lengthy discussions over what role the paper should play with regards to the area's music scene. It had always rubbed both of us the wrong way that the media powers-that-be (including Charlotte's candy-ass radio stations) tended to treat local bands with the same kind of embarrassed condescension usually reserved for that eccentric, flamboyant relative who turns up tipsy and in a feather boa at the family reunion. To that end, we set out to champion our rock 'n' roll underground — what the hell, let's crash the party and get drunk with the rest of the freaks! — and challenge the rest of the populace to keep up with us.
A poorly kept secret around the Loafing office is that Break, the entertainment tab started up in 1987 by the Observer in order to complete directly with CL for advertising revenue (let's face it, it sure wasn't for prestige), tried to hire me as a music writer. As the editrix schmoozed me over instant coffee and stale donuts, I inquired as to the level of music coverage Break had in mind.
"There's a Billy Joel show coming next month to the Coliseum. I think our readers would enjoy a 750 word profile on the man."
When I mentioned that Antiseen and Fetchin Bones had gigs coming up too, I was met with a blank look. 'Nuff said.
I'll admit it, we were as arrogant as we were hip. Case in point: taking it upon ourselves to paint Charlotte's Springfest celebration in its true colors — a crashing bore or a yuppie circle jerk — we proceeded to muscle a local rock and blues stage into the annual goings-on for a couple of years. When Springfest organizers tried to water down our efforts, we opted out entirely and put on our own Nightfest (the name we judiciously picked over "Counterfest" and "Screw You Springfest") in '90, staging bands after sundown in three clubs during Springfest weekend. The idea seemed to fly despite some territorial pissing among competing club owners (don't ask), so in '91 we put the call out en masse and wound up with three nights, seven clubs and 27 local acts. The entire spectrum of Charlotte talent was showcased: folk, blues, heavy metal, alternative, punk, psychedelic, etc.
And whether or not any of the bands and performers went on to bigger and better things isn't the point — what matters is that someone was taking local talent seriously, not as minor league players. (You want serious? Seven months later CL threw its weight behind striking members of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and helped put together a fundraiser for the out-of-work musicians. The sight of our beloved Spongetones onstage, backed by seven string and three horn players, as they played a dead-on set of Beatles songs was one of the best Christmas presents we ever received.)
Nowadays, of course, judging by the club ads and CL "Soundboard" listings, it seems that on any given night of the week you can catch a reasonably hot gig. But for those with short memories, let me assure you that there was a point in time when Charlotte's idea of a thriving club scene meant folksingers doing Kenny Loggins and Eagles covers, blues bands who performed entire sets sitting down, and multiracial reggae-cum-fusion outfits listlessly jamming on Fridays after five on the watering holes' outside decks.
Likewise, 10 years ago it was simply not an option for a local band to release a CD; I recall a Major Event being defined as so-and-so putting out a three-song demo cassette, and when a regional compilation like Statements Vol. 1 or Metal Mythos appeared in the stores, declaring a civic holiday was in order.
So even though the term "thriving" is relative (and probably cyclical as well), Charlotte would be a far poorer community had it not been for the efforts of a small but dedicated network of musicians, club bookers, fanzine editors, record store owners, independent label and recording studio heads, even the occasional radio visionaries (you may all turn in the direction of Spindale and genuflect). I'd like to think that CL helped transform the scene — oh, screw modesty, I know we did, as anyone who's ever turned to the "Music Menu" or filled out a ballot for our annual "Best of Charlotte" knows.
Defining moments aren't necessarily positive in nature. Sometimes they can be downright notorious. (Just ask people who attended the dung-flinging '87 appearance at the Church of Musical Awareness by punk nihilist G.G. Allin.) No recounting of our first five years would be complete without mention of the Great GWAR Obscenity Bust in September 1990. The incident has long since passed into the realm of rock 'n' roll lore, and the band itself has even been immortalized in song and on video the night when Charlotte vice and ALE agents, acting on a "tip" provided by scanning the CL Music Menu concert preview, raided the 4808 Club and toted vocalist Oderus Urungus and his two-and-a-half foot long penis (in two separate paddy wagons) off to jail.
Not to romanticize the event unnecessarily, but a bit of local innocence was lost that night as well. 4808 had long gotten up the noses of local authorities anyway, staging all-ages punk and hard rock shows right in the heart of the downtown area. (Unlike the Milestone Club, which garnered some negative reactions over the years but was "lucky" enough to be located across town on the other side of the tracks, so to speak.) So hosting GWAR, with the show's explicit, if cartoonish, sexual content, simply blew out the fuses, and when the dust cleared, 4808's owner had been charged alongside the band with disseminating obscenity, ultimately getting his beer license revoked. The club closed, and Charlotte seemed just a little less friendly a place to be for working musicians. Maybe the arts community too; is it my imagination, or did a theater production have a similar clash with the prevailing Bible Belt mentality around here less than a year ago?
In my own arrogance, it was a rude awakening. I actually believed it was my duty to further the subversive agenda of latex-covered, heavy metal practitioners of sodomy and ritual disembowelment. Antiseen's as well.
Ah well. In the words of CL's staff photog at the time, the late Don Swan, "Fuck 'em, man."
People and personalities also defined the paper and its first five years. Too many to list here, including the bums who entertained us with their grunts and moans of alcoholic lust as they previewed skin magazines at the convenience store across the street from our South Boulevard location. Don Swan, though, was quite the bon vivant, and I was proud to have worked with him on assignments. In 1995, John Grooms called me with the news that Don had died and asked me to pen a brief remembrance for the paper's farewell to him. The first thing that came to mind was of one night when Don and I were covering the Scorpions at the Coliseum. I made the observation that "there's something kinda weird about a 40-year-old man dressed in spandex and wiggling his butt and making goofy faces." Don thought for a second, then turned to me and stated matter-of-factly, "Yeah, but I bet he gets laid tonight."
Now that was rock 'n' roll. I would end up naming a kitten I'd adopted around the time Don passed away Bongo, in his honor.
I could produce a laundry list the length of Oderus Urungus' erstwhile member of moments sublime and surreal that stand out in my mind as significant during my tenure at Creative Loafing. Come to think of it, I already did, in the April 18, 1992, fifth anniversary issue.
But overall, what the experience meant to me was being able to treat music and music culture with the kind of respect, passion, and yeah, adolescent irreverence that I thought it deserved. I mean, what could be more pointless yet life-affirming than spending weeks debating behind closed doors with Grooms, then proudly writing a cover story called "The 100 Greatest Intro Guitar Riffs Of All Time"? Or heading south to the Gaffney Peachoid with Swan and Grooms, to help break the record for most people playing the three chords from "Louie Louie" over and over?
When I surrendered my duties at this paper in '92 to move to Tucson I received two retirement gifts. One was a lifetime (theoretically) gratis subscription to Creative Loafing. Reading it from afar, I'm proud to have watched it grow in size, scope, and just plain huevos.
The other gift was a colorful T-shirt custom-designed by none other than Rene Escarcha, aka Renelvis, aka the only known Charlotte-based Filipino Elvis impersonator. Displayed on the back of the shirt is the music column I wrote in which CL "discovered" Renelvis during his residency as the floor show of a local Chinese eatery — clearly, in tone and texture, one of the paper's singular defining moments.
I can't think of a more appropriate way to sum up five years worth of rock 'n' roll memories. See the concert, get the T-shirt.
This entry was posted in Blog and tagged alternative newsweeklies, belmont playboys, charlotte, creative loafing, don swan, gwar, rock, tom cruise on October 12, 2016 by Fred Mills.
John B. Moore: Shovels & Rope
"It's your job just to go out there and throw your punches": the sonically pugilistic Americana duo shows its moves to the BLURT braintrust.
The Americana duo Shovels & Rope is an anomaly in music these days: a critically-hyped band that actually manages to live up to all of the effusive praise.
Charleston-based husband and wife team Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst originally had no intention of combining forces, both seemingly content as separate solo acts. But a couple of fortuitous gigs in which each act served as the other's sideman, years ago at a North Carolina club, got the pair thinking about the benefits of combining forces. Three albums (including their latest, 2014's frankly amazing Swimmin' Time, released on the Dualtone label), a handful of awards, and millions of fans later, Trent and Hearst are still living up to the hype.
The two took some time recently to talk to BLURT about the band's beginnings, making a documentary and holding their own at festivals.
BLURT: I'm sure you've heard this question a lot over the years, so I apologize for you having to hear it again: You both started out as solo musicians; how did you decide to come together as a band?
TRENT: We had made a record while we were still very much doing things on our own and that record ended up being titled Shovels & Rope, so it was already like we had a toe in already. We hadn't planned on every being a touring act or anything, but people would respond to that in a way that was different to the way they responded to the other things we were doing. At some point, there was one specific weekend when I had a gig in Charlotte at a club called the Evening Muse and Cary was my back up for that gig, and the very next weekend she had a gig at the same place and I was her sideman. It just seemed ridiculous at that point – we could probably put on one pretty good show between the two of us. We could actually stay out on the road for a while if it was both of us doing it together.
How much did that change the way you go about writing your music? Obviously when you're solo you don't have to run a song by anyone else to get their buy in.
HEARST: It doesn't change the way we write together, but sometimes Michael will write by himself and sometimes with other band members; I, 99% of the time, wrote by myself and so before we started touring really hard we co-wrote the first Shovels & Rope record together – he brought in some songs and I brought in some songs… When we started touring together, we'd spend all of our time together and realized it was fun to write together. We still write separately and together for records.
Do you ever feel you have to stand up for a song that the other one doesn't like?
TRENT: Usually one of us is standing up for a song that the other person wrote, that they don't really like,
HEARST: That's exactly right.
TRENT: We'll have a very honest conversation with each other: "You have to show me all of them, even the ones you may not think are any good." A lot of times, it's those (songs) that end up striking a real chord with the other person and end up turning into special songs.
I love my wife dearly, but could never imagine working a job with her every single day. Being married and in a band together, did you ever have a discussion up front on how to make it work?
TRENT: We thought the exact same thing, so don't count yourself out.
HEARST: Yeah, it wasn't either of our ideas as the ideal thing to do, spending that much time together.
TRENT: But it has actually worked out and we give each other space when we need it. At this point, I can't really imagine doing it any other way. But at first, we were both like "no, we shouldn't do this." It took a minute before we both came around to the idea, primarily because we'd both been doing our own thing for so long that it would be weird to go in with someone else, especially your spouse… It's been great.
HEARST: Ever since we got married, and we'd been together a real long time before that, we've been traveling ever since our honeymoon. We've been on the road ever since, so we honestly don't know any different.
Can you talk a little bit about the documentary, The Ballad of Shovels & Rope?
HEARST: The documentary is a super precious, awesome experience that we cherish. We're also humbled by watching ourselves. I think some people really love to see themselves on camera and neither of us, even someone who is as big a ham as I tend to be, neither of us really love to watch ourselves when that deep dark mirror is shining back on you. You say stupid things and don't realize it until afterward.
TRENT: The way it all came about in the first place, when we first decided we were going to do this, that we were going to be a band called Shovels & Rope, we heard about these guys and did some live videos with them, so that we would have something to put on our website so that we could get gigs. We spent a day with them and just made all kinds of videos. A couple of weeks later they called us back and had this idea that they wanted to do a documentary about us. We didn't have anything going on at the time. Nothing.
They just sort of wanted to document the way a family band was just working, how we did our thing. It was supposed to a couple of months and then it ended up lasting a year and then two years. Things just kept popping up. They ended up following us around for about three years when all was said and done.
HEARST: Yeah, we really became great friends with them… the fella that produced it ended up becoming our manager during the course of making the documentary. Those guys are great artists and we had a really great time working with them… We'll be so gratefully to have this looking back 40 or 50 years. We'll be able to prove to our grandchildren what we did.
So is this just the first step on your path to a reality show?
HEARST: Oh yeah (sarcastically). It'll be called Take My Eyes Out with a Dull Spoon.
You guys have a very packed summer, based on your tour schedule. You're also playing a lot of festivals. Do you enjoy those are or they kind of a necessary evil at this point?
TRENT: It's just different and every festival is different from each other. The smaller ones definitely feel a little more special. The big ones can be such a spectacle, there's so much going on and so many people, I sort of feel like it's harder to connect than if you're playing in a club. You're also playing to all these other bands' audiences as well as your own. Whereas headlining show all of those people are there to see you.
It's a neat opportunity, it's just a little different.
HEARST: It's trial by fire. You're standing before the gun line and you give everything you have and you only have half the time to do it. Thank you Cleveland!
Have you ever had the situation where you're playing to a crowd and you guys just don't fit it?
HEARST: Oh yeah! But I will say that we've also played in front of crowds that we don't necessary get into, but I will argue that we hang pretty tough. We've never gotten the idea that anybody is like "I hate this band. Get them off the stage." People will let you know that they like you and they'll also let you know that they're just waiting for the band you're opening for. That's ok. That's just part of the game. It's your job just to go out there and throw your punches.
TRENT: We've got to go all 12 rounds.
Photo Credit: Molly Hayes
This entry was posted in Blog and tagged americana, blues, duo, indie, rock, shovels & rope on August 18, 2015 by Fred Mills.
John B. Moore: Andy Gill of Gang Of Four
Though down to only one original member, the legendary UK post-punk band remains as complex and powerful as ever. "We are a vibrant, dynamic, evolving project," declares guitarist Andy Gill.
The wildly influential post-punk band Gang of Four have been written off before. They first called it quits in the '80s and again in the late '90s. But when vocalist and co-founder Jon King decided to leave the band recently, it seemed like the final chapter. The group was beginning work on the follow up to 2011's Content at the time.
But Andy Gill, guitarist/vocalist and King's partner since day one, simply saw the departure as an opportunity to reinvent the band's sound. Soldiering on, he called in a handful of musicians to help take turns on the mic, including Alison Mosshart from The Kills, Robbie Furze from The Big Pink, Gail Ann Dorsey and Herbert Gronemeyer. Japanese guitarist Hotei put his mark on a song as well.
The result can be heard on the new What Happens Next (Metropolis), a complex and powerful entry to Gang of Four's already storied musical canon. Gill, preparing for the band's U.S. tour, spoke recently about the record, opening Gang of Four up to others and the group's future.
BLURT: This is your first record without Jon on vocals. Did you consider singing all of these songs yourself or auditioning full-time singers as a replacement?
GILL: Well I always sing on a number of songs on any Gang of Four album and one of the favorite Gang of Four formats is where there is a back-and-forth between different voices; so there are different voices, sometimes a narrator who have a dialogue or one comments on what the other is saying. But at no point did think I would do all the singing.
I had wanted to do a record for some time that involved collaborations but that didn't fly with Jon King, so with this record it seem natural to do the collaboration thing. And yes, it did cross my mind that I might have to do a bunch of auditions for the main singing role.
As I worked on the early songs on this record, I wanted someone who would come and sing them, initially I thought as demos, and I asked my manager for ideas. Gaoler [John Sterry] just popped down to the studio one day, I had never met him, to give me a hand singing my vocals in a better way – for quite a long time he was a session singer for me. As I got to know him better, I liked him more and more, and I really liked his voice and it seemed to be a natural thought to maybe try doing a gig with him. We did a little semi-secret gig in London at the Lexington and it went very well; we've now been all over the world with him.
It was a pretty novel idea to use an array of different voices – and it worked out very well. How difficult was it to find the right people and lineup everyone's schedules?
I'm glad you feel it worked out well. The process of working with the other individuals seem to happen very simply; the process was quite intuitive for me. It was not thought out. I had done a little bit of work with the Kills in the studio and Alison (Mosshart) just sprang to mind when I was thinking about someone to sing "Broken Talk." She was very happy to come down to the studio and sing a couple of the songs.
I loved that song "Dominoes" that the Big Pink did a few years back. I got in touch with Robbie Furze and asked him if he wanted to sing on this track I was working on and he came down to the studio a few times and sang this wonderfully hard edged, "geometric" vocal
Gail Ann Dorsey is a very old friend and she of course has been in different Gang of Four lineups over the years as a bass player. She is a fantastic musician and a great, great singer. The song she sings on, "First World Citizen," was simply crying out for her voice.
Herbert's [Gronemeyer] a friend – I've known him at least 20 years – Anton Corbijn introduced us back then. I was talking to Herbert about the new record, I guess 18 months ago, and he wondered if I would like him to sing something on it. The particular thing that he does that I really love are the rather 'angst' melancholy ballads. I knew I had to write a song which could incorporate that particular aspect of his character so, more than any other track, it really had to be tailor-made and I can tell you it was difficult. I had to work at that and I went down a lot of blind alleys until I came up with the music of the dying rays. It was quite an extraordinary experience hearing him sing it as I had heard it in my head – only, better than I had heard it in my head.
Tomoyasu Hotei is Japan's biggest rock guitarist; he spends quite a bit of time going round Japanese stadiums. Anyway, he's always been a big fan of my guitar playing and we got to know each other. Eventually, we decided to write something together. The opening riff of "Dead Souls" is pure Hotei.
Was it odd to be working on a Gang of Four album without Jon?
Jon can be an absolute genius when it comes to lyrics, but I didn't feel he had been bringing a whole lot to the records for some time. After Content was released, we had only done a few gigs at the point when Jon signaled it was over for him; he wanted to focus on his advertising career. As I began working on this new record, I felt reinvigorated and seized the opportunity to reimagine Gang of Four from the ground up. To an outsider, the writing process would have looked little different: I've always written and produced all the music, with Jon coming in with some of the lyrics, and I always wrote Gang of Four lyrics too, about half of them. But right from the first song I began to interrogate everything I was doing more rigorously and take creative inspiration more widely. What Happens Next is very obviously a Gang of Four record but I found myself approaching it with the energy and daring of a first album
I read somewhere where you also let go of the reins a bit on this one and rather than handling everything yourself – from writing to mixing – you worked with others. What brought about that decision?
I think it makes so much sense to have some kind of producer or co-producer helping with the process, that's why everybody does it! When I am songwriting in the studio it often just seamlessly morphs into recording the final master, which I think is the main reason that in recent years I've not worked with a co-producer; at what point do you bring someone in? This time I did get someone in to have, in a way that kind of role; Joshua Rumble, but it wasn't till quite late on in the record. I did really want to have somebody else mix it and I think Simon Gogerley did a fantastic job and I'm really pleased I went with that decision to use him
Gang of Four has been cited by many, many musicians over the years as a major influence. What is your reaction when a band calls out your guitar style or songwriting as inspiration?
I'm grateful for the good things that other artists that I respect enormously say about me and the band, it's kind of them. Gang of Four is a vibrant, dynamic, evolving project, and the band is continuously picking up new and younger audiences. I think it's partly to do with the bands that have been influenced by Gang of Four in the first place – it was bands in the '80s and '90s like Red Hot Chili Peppers, R.E.M. and Rage Against the Machine and Kurt Cobain. But then there was a new and younger set of bands like Bloc Party, Futureheads, Franz Ferdinand that were always name checking Gang of Four – and that draws a younger audience towards the band which I'm glad about. Over the last year I've been really interested in what St Vincent is getting up to and so I was completely surprised, and delighted, when she recently named me as her favorite guitarist.
Have you ever been surprised by some of the bands who cite you and Gang of Four as an influence?
No not really. I tend to like, to a greater or lesser extent, the bands that have been influenced to whatever extent by Gang of Four or in particular by me as a guitarist and songwriter. There are plenty of bands that I really don't like at all and none of those have even the tiniest bit of tasty Gang of Four influence in there
Do you see Gang of Four continuing to make music after this record?
Absolutely. There are one or two collaborations which are in the works now and the next record already has five or six fairly advanced songs done.
Are you working on any other projects?
What has happened with this record and the previous record, Content, is that I get to a point where it becomes obvious that unless I work 100% full on at the record it just won't get finished. But once that process is over I become a little more open to working with other artists who interest me.
Gill photo by Tom Sheehan; band photo by Leo Cackett. Below: vintage GoF from 1983.
This entry was posted in Artist, Artist Interview and tagged andy gill, gang of four, postpunk, rock on April 26, 2015 by Fred Mills.
Fred Mills: George Clinton & the Birth of Funkadelic
Once upon a time, in a funky galaxy far far away, there was… Funkadelic. Years later, in April of 2002, a future BLURT editor would talk with the legendary founding member, George Clinton, about how the group came to be and the circumstances surrounding debut album Funkadelic, released in 1970. The interview was conducted via telephone from Denver one evening following a Clinton recording session and was subsequently published in Detroit's Metro Times newspaper. What follows below is an extended version with additional interview content never before published.
"If you will suck my soul
I will lick your funky emotions…" (- from "Mommy, What's A Funkadelic?")
On the eighty day God inhaled deeply and, amid a bloozy haze of Hendrixian goo, fuck-throb bass, nappy harp gulps and lysergically altered vocals, created Funkadelic.
By 1970 the age of Aquarius had been machine-gunned by Manson, Altamont, ghetto riots and the squirrelly little cocksucker they called Tricky Dick. That year would generate its share of not-insubstantial missives — Band of Gypsys, Morrison Hotel, Fun House, Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus, etc. — but perhaps no other LP captured the underground vibe quite so perfectly as Funkadelic's self-titled debut.
Funkadelic was the brainchild of George Clinton, a North Carolina-born, New Jersey-bred leader of doo-wop outfit The Parliaments who'd moved to Detroit in '64 to work for Motown's songwriting factory while trying to land a deal for his group. Eventually the Parliaments did taste success with their 1967 soul hit "(I Wanna) Testify," but ironically, Clinton was about to get his consciousness raised. Scarred by the New Jersey and Detroit riots of '67, seared by Jimi Hendrix's super spade psychedelia, and smarter by at least a barrel-hit or two of orange sunshine, he began plotting a musical agenda that was uncompromising, asymmetrical, and thoroughly freaky.
"Yeah, it was all of that," says Clinton now, with a knowing chuckle. "See, we was leaving Motown. 'I Wanna Testify,' you know, after having been singing for years, just about the time we got our first hit record the whole industry was changing. So we had to make a quick turnabout 'cos the rock 'n' roll was coming out again – which was the music I had listened to in school. Blues was my parents' music. So I had to go through that again, you know? We just said, well, we'll do the music that was the nasty music I listened to in school. We'll do that funky music, we'll do that nasty music!"
This was born Funkadelic. Recruited into the fold – the Parliaments at the time included vocalists Clinton, Fuzzy Haskins, Grady Thomas, Calvin Simon and Ray Davis, plus guitarist William Nelson – were guitarists Eddie Hazel and Tawl Ross (changing instruments, Nelson became "Billy Bass"), organist Mikey Atkins and drummer Tiki Fulwood. Nelson came up with the dead-on descriptive name "Funkadelic" for their so-called "nasty music," and soon enough the band had its mojo working in earnest on the Detroit scene, sharing management and concert bills with the Amboy Dukes, Stooges and MC5. (Clinton: "We all had the same agency, Diversified Management Agency, DMA. It was called 'The Bad Boys Of Ann Arbor.' We all played, tried to get John Sinclair out of jail…")
Although the group's original home Motown was still pretty conservative at this point, Detroit circa '69 was decidedly not. Clinton recalls having "the best of both worlds" for the band, booking the Parliaments one night in a soul palace like the Twenty Grand and Funkadelic the next night into the rock venues of the day – the Birmingham, the Palladium, Grande Ballroom. (In fact, a powerful document of the era exists by way of '96 CD Funkadelic Live, recorded in Rochester, Michigan, on Sept. 12, 1971.)
Soon enough the newly-christened Funkadelic went into the studio to record for upstart label Westbound Records, founded by Detroit record distributor Armen Boladian. Prior contractual problems, in fact, actually prevented the Parliaments from recording under their name at the time. As Clinton explains it, "We couldn't record as Parliament so we started freakin' out as Funkadelic, dropping acid. The first album, two days, really, just went in the studio and stayed in there for two whole days. We took all the vamps and things we did on the stage and just went from vamp to vamp, did everything we could think of."
The debut Funkadelic single "Music For My Mother" was released that summer, followed by "I'll Bet You" (an old Parliaments track funked-up and rerecorded) with both 45s doing respectably on the R&B charts. But early the following year Funkadelic appeared in stores as Westbound #2000, and the group became an underground sensation.
Clinton, operating in a songwriting and production capacity (he also sang lead vocals on two cuts), had marshaled his funkateers along with several moonlighting Motown session players to commence broadcasting directly from the freak zone. Any doubts as to whether the Clinton crew had turned on and tuned in were dispelled by Funkadelic's opening cut "Mommy, What's A Funkadelic?," all nine bluesy, sensual, LSD-gobbling minutes of it:
"I am Funkadelic, dedicated to the feeling of good
Let me play with your emotions, for nothing is good unless you play with it
Fly on baby
It's called Funkadelic music
It will blow your funky mind."
Explains Clinton, "The concept would become 'free your mind and your ass will follow,' like the second album says. Because we were late in the psychedelic thing, we had to do it twice as much as anybody else had did it. We had to overdo it because we was late! Because, you know, Jimi Hendrix, when he was Jimmy James and the Flames, with King Curtis, the Isley Brothers – once we heard those things [with him], we said, 'Aw shit. We's late. Let's catch up!' When we played with the Vanilla Fudge one time, we heard the sound: 'Okay, that's what it is!' Went out and bought a whole ton of amps and just turned 'em up and played the blues, played funky grooves, and talked shit! [laughs]
"Eddie had learned guitar pretty good, the blues. And [as the main songwriter] I was just humming in the microphone and they would play, following basically whatever I was humming. [Goes "mmmm-muuumm-hmmmm"] We'd just let 'em trip, and the engineers would freak it out. People like Martha and the Vandellas would come by and we'd have them in the background singing, and they didn't know what they was singing! They was like, 'What the hell are y'all doing?' We were playing our ass off!"
The man ain't kidding. From the aforementioned "Mommy…" and the jazz-blues psychedelic chain-gang grooves of "Music For My Mother" to the freaked-up soul of "I Bet You" and the wigged-out sassy funk template "I Got A Thing, You Got A Thing, Everybody Got A Thing," Funkadelic broke significant new ground. By today's digital standards it may sound primitive, yet its raw immediacy and head-warping sonics outweighs any technical considerations. (Clinton: "One [radio station] said, 'If you would take the airplanes out of your songs we could play 'em!' You know, all the tape loops and [mimics weird sound] 'mmwwhhmm'!")
Lyrically, too, there was an undeniable cohesiveness afoot that, intended or not, marked Funkadelic as a concept album whose signifiers planted open-minded listeners squarely at the intersection of Woodstock Ave. and Watts Blvd. Clinton's proto-raps in both "Mommy…" and its album-closing counterpart "What Is Soul" were both slyly subversive and funny as a muhfuh, particularly the former's autobiographical thrust ("I recall when I left a little town in North Carolina/ I tried to escape this music… But I had no groove, hehhehheh…") and the latter's itemizing of what exactly constitutes "soul" ("a hamhock in your cornflakes… a joint rolled in toilet paper… rusty ankles and ashy kneecaps… Soul is you, big mama!").
Meanwhile, "Music For My Mother" is a narrative about consciousness raising in which the protagonist hears "something like raw funk" while traveling down South and, in the aftermath of this revelation, is left triumphantly and defiantly chanting, James Brown-style, "Say it loud! I'm funky and I'm proud!" And in "I Got A Thing" the combined counterculture/black power interface is made explicit: "You don't drink what I drink/ You don't smoke what I smoke/ You don't think like I think/ You don't joke like I joke/ Everybody got a thing/ When we get together, doin' our thing/ In order to help each other/ In order to help your brother."
Clinton acknowledges that his early schooling as a songwriter for Motown came in handy when it came time to craft his conceptual piece. "In the very beginning, yeah, I was writing at Motown first and they was like very strict of how lyrics had to be, to make sense and tell stories and things. By the time we started doing [Funkadelic] it was puns and nonsensical, stream of consciousness – we'd do all of that and it was very intentional. Even if a song started off like that, I would make it general, with the population, into our people or a very feeling type thing, where you could emotionally feel it. We did a few of 'em like that, you know, love songs. But mostly it was like – just funkin'! We was in love with the funk at the time. Very stream of consciousness. A lot of it had to do with the fact that we was stuck on 'stupid' and we would try trickery! [laughs]
"Basically, I was talking about doing a concept that would last from then on, you know, right 'til now, today. That we was gonna embrace the funk the way rock 'n' roll had been embraced, and we was never gonna change it. No matter what the industry, which was always changing the names – R&B, to 'urban,' all of that. We did funk and we kept it that way! Right through to the Parliaments, the Mother Ship and all of that. But right from the very beginning, we started off – because Jamerson and them, you know, Motown, they called us 'The Young Funk Brothers' – Billy, Eddie, Tiki, Bernie, Tawl… you know what I'm saying? The Young Funk Brothers. So we kept it like that. The concept of funky music as the thing.
(Concept or not, some of the folks involved with the first couple of Funkadelic albums didn't necessarily get with it, for as Clinton points out engineers Russ and Ralph Terrana didn't want their names listed on the records and would soon move over to the presumably saner territory of Motown where they became the label's main engineers. Likewise with some of the studio musicians the group enlisted: "They didn't want to be connected with it because it was so crazy! They was going on out and saying, 'I hate that!'")
Just to place the album in its proper context: it would be another year before Marvin Gaye released What's Going On or Sly & the Family Stone issued There's A Riot Goin' On. In short, the revolution wasn't gonna be televised – it was about to be funkadelicized.
In his 2001 consumer-guide encyclopedia Funk, journalist Dave Thompson rates Funkadelic a "10" and describes it as "a shattering blend of R&B sensibilities and acid soaked rock effects. The production treats the studio like one giant toy box and the feedback is a living creature. Play it loud." Likewise, author and noted funk deejay Rickey Vincent, in his 1996 book also called Funk (which contains a foreword penned by Clinton), calls the album "a blues-rock classic that serves to introduce the Funkadelic concept with perfect clarity… [It captures] the gritty realism and urban blight of black rock in 1970."
It didn't matter if you purchased your albums from a shiny suburban record mart or out of a dusty bin tucked away in the corner of some urban wig store. Funkadelic, from the mysterious record sleeve depicting a lone black face kaleidoscoped into eight stoned stares to the brain-waffling, stanky matrix of sound within, made the connection regardless of race, creed, size of bellbottoms or kink of hair. Yours truly, an aspiring young teenage hippie exiled deep in the redneck south, was so seared by the album that I can still conjure up every telltale ka-chunk of the eight-track tape's channel changes as I listened to it over and over while sprawled across the front seat of my mom's old blue Buick.
As both the Thompson and Vincent funk books point out, the album also extended its reach into the hip-hop era. While most observers are quick to cite Parliament or solo Clinton tracks (say "woof!" if you haven't heard an "Atomic Dog" sample) as rap DNA, Funkadelic's influence is undeniable. The Beastie Boys and Ice-T sampled "I Bet You"; De La Soul and Kool G. Rap tagged "Mommy…"; and a zillion rappers including 2 Pac, The D.O.C. and Ice Cube have leaned heavily on "Good Old Music."
It's the equivalent of a classic jazz album, providing inspiration to generation after generation of musicians who find themselves (not just) knee-deep in its hypnotic grooves, irresistible beats, whacked-out vocals and expansive arrangements. It's also every bit as classic a soul record as platters cut a half-decade earlier, telling a story via edgy, athletic vocal performances. And like the most groundbreaking psychedelic tomes, it has the capacity to peel back one's inner eyelid, shove the listener through the looking glass and allow one to view the world through altered-state refraction.
George Clinton's subsequent, estimable exploits and accomplishments aside, this album was a genuine vehicle towards enlightenment. Funkadelic might've titled its next album Free Your Mind… And Your Ass Will Follow, but anyone who heard Funkadelic first had already been delivered.
This entry was posted in Blog and tagged '60s, '70s, funk, funkadelic, george clinton, parliaments, psychedelia, rock, soul on January 7, 2015 by Fred Mills.
A Blurt Boot Video Exclusive: Simon Bonney & Bronwyn Adams (Live NYC) 5/14/2019 WARSAW
Filmed by Jonathan Levitt. Check out Bonney's latest record "Past, Present, Future" http://smarturl.it/SimonBonney
A Blurt Boot Exclusive: Psychedelic Furs "Only You and I" (Live Costa Mesa CA 7-19-18
Tribute: Tony Kinman (R.I.P.) and Rank And File - Video from "Long Gone Dead"
Blurt Audio Exclusive: Thin White Rope "The Fish Song" (from 2018 remaster of The Ruby Sea
Blurt Audio Exclusive: Thin White Rope 1982 4-song demo (w/Scott Miller)
Blurt Audio Exclusive: Dadalon - "D Major," from the NYC jazz duo's forthcoming March album.
A Blurt Boot Exclusive: Chuck Prophet, Stephanie Finch & The Mission Express - Tom Petty's The Waiting (San Francisco Oct. 6, 2017)
Blurt Video Exclusive: Twinkle Star "Wasting Life Together"/"Release Yourself"
MUSIC FOR THE EARS / MOVIES FOR THE EYES
MOVIE THOUGHTS
Join our man in the balcony, Daniel Matti, who knows of what he views. Go HERE to read the latest reviews and updates. Most recently: Top 10 Films of 2017, including The Disaster Artist, Good Time, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
THE BLURT JUKEBOX
Fred Mills: Why Greta Thunberg Is Also MY Person of the Year
Fred Mills is the editor of Blurt. He may or may not be named Time's Person of the Year some day. [...]
OK Millennial
By Fred "Boomer or Whatever" Mills Wuz listening to NPR's usually-delightful/insightful Miche[...]
Video Premiere: New Duncan Imperials "Hunny Bunny"
One of our fave, longest-running, indie outfits returns with a lascivious, blinded-by-science [...]
The world seemed like it was on fire. His entire band quit on him. He was contending with being [...]
Michael Toland: ROCKIN' IS MA BUSINESS - Blurt's Rock & Roll Roundup Pt. 5
Fred Mills: 10 Records, 10 Days
What records have had the greatest impact on YOUR life? Here's 10 of mine. By Fred Mills I[...]


Very recently Chennai Traffic has become a nightmare. From anywhere to anywhere during daytime nowadays takes nothing less than 45 minutes. Today I started from Asian Printers (near Royappetah Hospital) at 8.15PM and reached my house at West Mambalam at 9.15 – can you believe it, it took me 1 hour for a journey that should've taken me 15-20 minutes even during peak hours. I was spending nearly 40 minutes of this around Panagal Park. It is the scene every day and Chennai Corporation doesn't seem to be doing anything about it, though they made empty announcements. Media is abuzz that the reason why nothing is done around Panagal Park is due the undue influence of all the commercial establishments there, who don't wish the problem to be fixed. If the problem gets fixed it will mean people spending less time in the area and eventually less business. I don't understand the logic, if you solve the traffic problem here, you will have more people coming and hence more business. But who said everything in India and our politicians do things with logic.


An updated CFP for the next annual meeting of NASPH at Goucher College, September 14-16, is available here. The due date for submission is June 15. Please notice that the confirmed invited speakers include Walter Brogan, Theodore George, Anne O'Byrne, Bret Davis, and Omar Rivera. There will also be special session on hermeneutics and democracy organized by Darren Walhof.


This session wants then to encourage studies devoted to demonstrate the added value of the introduction of specific observations and/or data analysis methods within the t-DASH and StEF perspectives. Therefore studies based on long-term data analyses, including different conditions of seismic activity, are particularly encouraged. Similarly welcome will be the presentation of infrastructures devoted to maintain and further develop our present observational capabilities of earthquake related phenomena also contributing in this way to build a global multi-parametric Earthquakes Observing System to complement the existing GEOSS-EPOS initiative.
To this aim this session is not addressed just to seismology and natural hazards scientists but also to geologist, atmospheric sciences and electromagnetism researchers, whose collaboration is particular important for fully understand mechanisms of earthquake preparation and their possible relation with other measurable quantities. For this reason all contributions devoted to the description of genetic models of earthquake's precursory phenomena are equally welcome. Selected papers will be proposed for publication in a dedicated Special Issue of an international (ISI) scientific journal.


Chefs from the area's top restaurants prepare small plates of their culinary specialties, while select restaurants partner with distinguished wineries and breweries for special Pairings—gourmet multi-course meals, served on-site in a casual, yet intimate, "bar top" setting for an additional fee. Advance reservations are recommended.
Esteemed culinary experts offer free seminars, hands-on workshops and demonstrations on the Meijer Food Stage. Complimentary beverage seminars, held classroom-style, give attendees an in-depth look into the world of wine and craft beverages such as cider, beer and spirits.
The expanded RendezBREW area, in the Grand Gallery, features coffee, teas, cordials and desserts creations. Grower's Champagne Pairings are held at select times on Friday and Saturday, in the balcony overlooking the ballroom. The popular Riverfront Market provides countless holiday shopping ideas—including gourmet specialty foods, gifts and accessories, like wine racks and wine coolers.
New this year is a 3-Day Pass. At just $40, this multi-day ticket allows individuals to make return trips to experience even more of what the Festival has to offer. Tasting Tickets of 50cent denominations are used to purchase all beverage and food offerings.
For additional details, to make reservations for Pairings or the Champagne tastings, or to purchase advanced tickets—including the 3-Day Pass—log onto GRWineFestival.com.


As a volunteer-led organisation, the work Bristol Women's Voice does, cannot be achieved without the support, experience, time and commitment given by our volunteers, and we greatly appreciate all you do. We ensure that the time you spend with us is an enjoyable experience, and we support you to learn new skills that will help you in your future work and life.
Bristol Women's Voice has a number of projects that offer a variety of rewarding volunteering opportunities and we would love you to work with us.


Open Screening has been great fun in 2018! Here are some of the artists who have participated, and their works. Thanks to all artists, filmmakers, and attendees!
This entry was written by Tim, posted on September 8, 2018 at 7:46 am, filed under blog. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment.


Height: 12cm or 4 1/2" Pattern.
Unique Features: Jointed head & wired ears!
Rufus is a delightful little puppy and the perfect companion for your bears. He has a jointed head and wire in his ears so they can be posed in cute positions.
The kit contains: Pattern, mohair, head joint, sew in eyes, flocked safety nose, mouth thread and ear wire.


text:
Producer Organisations may save our dairy farmers
posted by Clyn Gallagher | February 11, 2015
This week saw the release of the official figures on the impact of the Russian imports ban, and they make for grim reading. The sharpest drops in EU value are fruit, vegetables, and dairy products; cheese is down 19.4%, with butter faring slightly better at 9.5%.
It's another blow to dairy farmers, as if the need for last month's special hearing on prospects for the dairy sector didn't already show that shady practices and difficult market conditions aren't confined to Scotland.
Published in the Caithness Courier 11 February 2015
Overproduction is causing an imbalance between supply and demand; while the milk market's global demand is rising 2% per year, production is rocketing ahead with an increase of 5% a year. But the Commission won't reconsider its decision to eliminate quotas and is instead pinning its hopes on increased demand in East Asia, with the Medium Term Outlook for dairy farmers predicting profitable, stable prices from 2016.
Bear in mind that, of three significant price drops in the past six years, the most recent was due to slowing world demand, and you can see why I'm suspicious of such blind optimism.
I covered supply-chain bullying in my last column but it's worth mentioning the commonplace 'pay to stay' and retrospective discounting again in the context of First Milk's recent decision to give themselves an interest-free loan in January, when they told farmers to expect a two-week delay in payments. But what's the alternative? If First Milk goes bust, all those farmers lose their buyer.
Voluntary measures are not enough. The NFUS has tried for years to get the milk industry to accept a formula for fair milk prices relating to market conditions but the loss-leader war between supermarkets has blown this to pieces.
So we turn to the Milk Package, which states Member States have the right to make written contracts between farmers and processors compulsory, of minimum duration, and with fixed prices. In the UK, around 85% of dairy farmers have signed up to the Voluntary Dairy Code, which allows farmers to leave a contract on three months' notice. But the dairy code only applies to producers and processors, not retailers, and doesn't cover prices. Only 3% of milk producers are direct suppliers to retailers, so the Groceries Code Adjudicator doesn't have much sway either.
But, to me, the more interesting part concerns the Producer Organisations.
Producer Organisations (POs) must now be formally recognised by Member States for the planning of production and coordination of supply. In addition to this, POs can negotiate collectively for contract terms, including price. In France, almost 90% of the annual marketable volume of recognised POs is negotiated collectively. Farmers have traditionally eschewed collective action but attitudes have to change in this world of the modern supply chain and the retail juggernauts.
Formed by the producers, the PO would optimise production costs, stabilise producer prices, and respond faster to changes in the market. One example that springs to mind is Fresh Growers Ltd, best known as the PO that brought Chantenay carrots back to the UK and which now supplies over 90% of the domestic Chantenay market. By working together, they managed to access markets that would have been unavailable to individual producers.
No farmer should be paid less than the cost of production, and if collective action is our best option, then let's go for it.
Supply chain Food and Drink Agriculture

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The property has a living space of 61 sqm which consists of 2 bedrooms with air conditioning, one bathroom with floor heating and an open plan living area with an american kitchen.
Additionally there are a terrace of 9,76 sqm, a rooftop terrace of 22 sqm and a garage of 75,44 sqm. The apartment is completely equipped with high quality materials and offers a large communal pool.
Enjoy the breathtaking sea views and magnificent sunbathing from the large terrace, in one of the best climates in the world.
The villa is located in the exclusive area of Loma Dos, Arguineguin and is about 0,5 km from the nearest town and its shops away. The nearest beach is also approx. 0,5 km away and the airport of Gran Canaria is about 43 km away.
In the harbour local fishing boats and tourist ferries lie side by side, and the area has several beaches, supermarkets, all necessary services and the very popular Anfi complex. Kilometres of beachfront walkways and mountain treks invite to hikes at your pace, and the Atlantic Ocean sunsets are an unforgettable display of brilliant colours.
Arguineguín has improved its infrastructure in the last years, while retaining the traditional and old village character.
I'm interested in: Luxury apartment with stunning sea views in Arguineguin (Objekt-Nr.70312).


text:
The Burden Of Proof Is On Theists
"Why don't I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this."[i]
- Ricky Gervais
The idea of the burden of proof in a criminal court is that the prosecutor has the responsibility to prove the person they're charging with a crime is actually guilty. If someone is accusing you, they must prove it beyond a reasonable doubt and you're assumed to be innocent until they do. You don't even have to testify in your own defense. For your protection, the accuser has the burden of proof.
In a civil law case, the standard of proof is less. The plaintiff (accuser) only has to prove that it's more likely than not that you're at fault. The threshold of the burden of proof is lower, but they still have to prove their case.
In a debate (an organized argument) there is also the idea of the burden of proof. The person arguing for a change to the status quo (the way things are) must prove there is a need for change and that their plan for change will work. However, in a debate, the person arguing against change had better say something because silence is seen as forfeiting the argument. The one arguing for change technically has the burden of proof, but if you're silent they'll win.
Who has the burden of proof about God?
When it comes to the question of the existence of God, who has the burden of proof? Ricky Gervais, the actor, sees nothing morally "wrong" with believing in God. He sees it as harmless.[ii] However, he places the burden for proving God exists squarely on people who do believe it.
Gervais is not alone. For decades, philosopher Antony Flew contended it was people who believe in God who must prove God's existence. However, he went one step further by claiming the non-existence of God must be the assumed starting point.[iii]
Many atheists then add to this challenge the following idea from an essay published by W.K. Clifford in 1879:
"To sum up, it is wrong always and anywhere to believe anything on the basis of insufficient evidence"[iv]
So, the general idea is that people who believe in God must prove God's existence and the evidence must be overwhelming. And, if they can't provide overwhelming evidence, atheism is true!
Wow. Where shall we begin?
1. The starting point – the presumption of atheism as true hardly seems to be in the spirit of an honest search for truth. Saying that "I'm right unless you prove me wrong" seems a bit odd. If the view that God exists is a hypothesis, the view that God does not exist is also a hypothesis. Only saying "I don't know" (an agnostic view) is not a hypothesis and requires no evidence.
2. The need for evidence – the need for evidence to establish a belief seems to be a valid requirement. However, what type of evidence and how much may depend on what you're seeking to prove. Matt McCormick, a philosophy professor, rightly says that if atheism or theism make the most sense, it will be in light of many disciplines – not just science.
"So ultimately, the adequacy of atheism as an explanatory hypothesis about what is real will depend upon the overall coherence, internal consistency, empirical confirmation, and explanatory success of a whole worldview within which atheism is only one small part. The question of whether or not there is a God sprawls onto related issues and positions about biology, physics, metaphysics, explanation, philosophy of science, ethics, philosophy of language, and epistemology."[v]
- Matt McCormick
One of the reasons why intelligent people may disagree about the existence of God is that it's a big subject. You can't just do a simple lab experiment and prove or disprove it. The existence or non-existence of God will make sense in light of everything.
Can a coherent case be made for God?
Can a compelling case be made for God's existence? Can we look at a wide range of disciplines and reasonably conclude God exists? Based upon the conclusions of prominent former atheists, it seems so.
Francis Collins, the Head of the US National Institutes of Health, concluded that God exists while studying medicine. Compelling factors for him were moral law, the big bang, mathematics, and the order and expansion of the universe.[vi]
Edward Feser, a philosophy professor, changed course and accepted the existence of God after pondering philosophical arguments.[vii]
Alister McGrath, who holds a PhD in molecular biophysics, saw science as unable to answer questions of meaning and purpose. After exploring the philosophy and history of natural science and what Christianity actually teaches, he concluded God does exist.[viii]
Ian Hutchinson, a plasma physicist and former head of nuclear fusion research at MIT, concluded that God exists while studying at Cambridge. Especially important to him were morality and the historical evidence for Jesus.[ix]
Allan Sandage, one of the greatest astronomers of the 20th century, concluded that God exists at the age of fifty. For him, the mystery of the universe's existence could only be answered by God.[x] He saw the big bang as a miracle.[xi]
Antony Flew, the atheist philosopher who placed the burden of proving God's existence on theists also changed his mind. For him, it was science – the big bang, fine-tuning, laws, language and purposeful information in DNA, and purpose in nature.[xii]
Will we find God only in a test tube or a lab experiment? Likely not. What kind of proof are we seeking? Would God be evident in the origin, intelligibility, structure, laws, complexity, and beauty of the universe? Would God be evident in the languages of mathematics and DNA? Would God be evident in purpose, value, meaning, and morality? And, what about consciousness and love? Do these things make more sense with or without God?
Evidence for God abounds. Yet Carl Sagan, an agnostic, suggested that even if God had written the Ten Commandments in large letters across the surface of the moon, people would still look for another explanation.[xiii] Are we actually looking for truth or are we merely seeking to justify long-held positions?
Is it only about winning a debate?
If we are all genuinely searching for truth, it makes sense to pursue truth fairly and honestly. Perhaps that way, when we do claim to find it, others will listen.
About Ricky Gervais:
Ricky Gervais is an accomplished English stand-up comedian, actor, writer, director and producer. His comedy is often highly provocative and satirical. He is outspoken in his atheism and is a critic of religion when he sees it as imposing beliefs on others. However, he sees nothing "wrong" with belief in God.
Copyright 2022 by Patrick Prill
Photo purchased from iStock.
[i] Ricky Gervais, Why I'm an Atheist, The Wall Street Journal, December 19,2010, https://www.wsj.com/articles/BL-SEB-56643 [ii] IBID [iii] Antony Flew, Atheistic Humanism (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1993), 17-38. [iv] William Kingdon Clifford, Lectures and Essays, (London, England: MacMillan & Co., 1879), 186. [v] "Atheism" by Matt McCormick, The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISSN 2161-0002, https://www.iep.utm.edu/, May 28, 2020. [vi] Francis Collins, The Language of God, (New York, NY: Free Press, 2007), 30, 67, 71-75, 93. [vii] Edward Feser, The Last Superstition (South Bend, IN: St Augustine's Press, 2008), 7. [viii] Alister McGrath, The Twilight of Atheism (Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2004), 178. [ix] Ian Hutchinson, Can A Scientist Believe in Miracles?, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2018), 5-6. [x] Sharon Begley, Science Finds God, 1998, https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/newsweek/science_of_god/scienceofgod.htm [xi] Greg Easterbrook, Meaning Makes a Comeback, in the collection edited by Russell Stannard, God For The 21st Century, (Radnor, PA: Templeton Foundation Press, 2000), 33. [xii] Antony Flew, There is A God, (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2007), 98, 107, 111, 114-115, 124-126, 128-129, 141-145. [xiii] Carl Sagan, The Varieties of Scientific Experience, (London, England: Penguin Books, 2007), 167.
Matt McCormick
How is there something rather than nothing?
My Identity Grants Me Rights
"Religion Deserves To Die!"


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The dictionary defines interest as a charge for a loan, usually a percentage of the amount loaned. Sounds simple enough, and it would be if that was all there was to it. The method used for accruing interest on a savings account is different from the calculations used to figure interest on a Visa or Master Card. And when it comes to mortgage loans, the interest rates are entirely different.
Savings, CD, money market and other programs offered by financial institutions use low basic types of interest; simple and compound.
Simple interest is exactly what the name implies. A predetermined percentage (usually somewhere around .5 to 1 percent) of the principal (money you deposit) is added to your balance annually.
Compound interest works the same way, except that the balance is figured by adding the principal to the interest already accrued. So each year, as your balance goes up, the amount of interest you receive goes up as well.
There are variations of compound interest, as well. Interest can be calculated yearly, bi-yearly, quarterly and even daily. Each of these methods provides slightly different amounts of interest, which, over a period of time, can really add up.
Credit cards use an annual percentage rate or APR to calculate the interest rate charged on your monthly outstanding balance. APRs can vary widely depending on the lender. The following is a list of various kinds of APRs and how they are used.
Variable APR: the rate will adjust up or down depending on a variety of things, the market, your balance, etc.
One or several of these types of APRs may be used on any individual credit card. A close examination of the fine print on a credit application will disclose this information.
Yes, it's boring. Yes, it's hard to understand. Yes, a lawyer probably wrote it. But in order to protect yourself and stay aware of what interest rates you could be charged, you should check your bills each month. Keep a record of the APR each credit card company is charging you each month. If it goes up for some reason, you many want to look into paying it off or transferring the debt to a lower interest card.
Sometimes picking a mortgage is tougher than picking a mate. It doesn't help that lenders often market comparable interest rate loans with different catch phrase names. Below are the five basic interest-type mortgage loans and a brief description of how they work.
Fixed: This is the most stable of the interest rates. It is guaranteed to remain the same regardless of whether the market goes up or down.
Variable: This rate is tied to the market. If rates in general go down, your rate will go down. If rates go up, however, be prepared to pay more.
Discount: This rate gives you a special lower initial rate for a limited amount of time before the rate returns to normal.
Capped: This loan has a limit to how high it will be allowed to rise over a certain period of time, thus giving it some degree of reliability.
It may take some time and a little research to shop and compare interest rates, but in the long run, you can be assured that your efforts will pay off. For a free online quote go to our home loan center.
« Back Next »What Is Long-Term Care Insurance?


text:
Timothy Weah, né le  à New York, est un joueur international américain de football qui évolue au poste d'attaquant au LOSC Lille.

Il est le fils de George Weah, footballeur lauréat du Ballon d'or 1995 notamment passé par l'AS Monaco, le Paris Saint-Germain et l'AC Milan avant de devenir président de la République du Liberia le .

Biographie

Jeunesse
Timothy Weah naît le  à New York aux États-Unis, troisième enfant de George Weah et de sa femme Clar Duncan, après son frère aîné , né en 1987 et également footballeur professionnel de 2010 à 2016 et passé par l'équipe réserve du PSG en 2013-2014, et sa sœur Tita.

Carrière en club

Débuts et formation
Tim Weah fait ses débuts sportifs au Rosedale SC, un petit club de Queens. Il joue dans plusieurs clubs de Floride, dont le West Pines United FC, après un déménagement avant de revenir à New York. À 10 ans, il rejoint l'académie de BW Gottschee dans laquelle il est capitaine de son équipe. À 13 ans, il rejoint les jeunes des Red Bulls de New York mais n'y reste qu'un an, avant de rejoindre l'Europe.

Après un essai passé à Chelsea en été 2013, il retente sa chance en Europe en prenant part à un tournoi à Sens, sous les couleurs de Toulouse. De nombreux recruteurs l'observent et il tape finalement à l'œil  du Paris Saint-Germain qui finit par l'engager chez les jeunes. Par la suite, il signe un contrat d'apprenti et fait ses débuts avec les U17. Auteur de performances remarquées, il met un triplé pour l'un de ses premiers matchs en championnat et un quintuplé lors d'une rencontre de l'Al Kass Cup. Le , le PSG remporte le Championnat national U17 face à l'AS Saint-Étienne, performance rééditée l'année suivante face à l'AS Monaco. Avec les U19, en , il inscrit un triplé en Ligue de la jeunesse de l'UEFA face au Ludogorets Razgrad.

Professionnel au Paris Saint-Germain
Il signe un premier contrat professionnel de trois ans avec le Paris Saint-Germain le .

Le , Weah fait ses débuts avec l'effectif professionnel du Paris Saint-Germain, lors de la victoire sur le terrain de l'ES Troyes AC, pour le compte de la  de Ligue 1. Il remplace à la  Giovani Lo Celso et déclare après la rencontre être « fier de jouer pour [son] club de cœur ». Il se procure une occasion face au gardien en 1 contre 1.

Le , il remplace Ángel Di María contre le FC Metz pour son premier match au Parc des Princes. Il se procure encore une fois une grosse occasion face au gardien. Puis, le , il fête sa première titularisation avec Paris face à Caen.

Le , Thomas Tuchel le fait jouer en équipe première contre le Bayern Munich lors d'un match amical au cours duquel il marque un but. Lors du Trophée des champions, il inscrit le troisième but parisien contre l'AS Monaco (victoire 4-0 du PSG).

Le , il marque son premier but en Ligue 1 contre Caen lors du premier match de la saison (victoire 3-0 du PSG). En manque de temps de jeu en octobre, il envisage un prêt lors du mercato hivernal suivant.

Prêt au Celtic FC
Le , en manque de temps de jeu, il est prêté pour six mois sans option d'achat au Celtic FC qui évolue en D1 écossaise. Sous les ordres de Brendan Rodgers, il retrouve Odsonne Édouard et doit compenser la perte de Moussa Dembélé, parti à l'Olympique lyonnais lors du mercato estival. Il déclare alors qu'il est motivé par les comparaisons avec son père. Pour sa première apparition sous le maillot des Celtic, il marque le troisième but de son équipe le  contre Airdrieonians, en coupe d'Écosse (3-0). Le , il fait gagner son club contre St Johnstone après être entré en jeu à la place d'Odsonne Édouard, distribuant une passe décisive et marquant un but (victoire 0-2).

Weah inscrit quatre buts en dix-sept matchs sous le maillot du Celtic avant de retourner à Paris à l'issue de la saison.

Transfert à Lille

Le , Timothy Weah signe un contrat de cinq ans avec le LOSC Lille. Le  suivant, il est titulaire lors de la première journée de championnat contre le FC Nantes (victoire 2-1). Fin août, il subit une déchirure musculaire aux ischio-jambiers et il est éloigné des terrains pendant six mois. Il retrouve la compétition le  lors de la réception de l'Olympique de Marseille (défaite 1-2) où il entre en jeu à la , mais se blesse de nouveau à la cuisse droite. Il est opéré dix jours plus tard par le professeur Lempainen, ce qui met un terme à sa saison (il n'aura joué que 84 minutes en tout). Le , il est sacré champion de France avec le LOSC.

Carrière internationale

Équipes jeunes
Timothy Weah est sélectionnable avec les États-Unis, le Liberia, la Jamaïque et la France au niveau international. Approché par la Fédération française de football, Weah choisit de représenter les États-Unis.

En , Timothy Weah est sélectionné avec l'équipe des États-Unis des moins de 17 ans pour participer au championnat de la CONCACAF des moins de 17 ans, qui se déroule au Panama. Remplaçant lors de la plupart des rencontres, il dispute six rencontres, inscrit deux buts contre Jamaïque et Cuba et délivre deux passes décisives. En finale, face au Mexique, il entre en jeu et s'illustre en étant passeur décisif six minutes après son entrée. Les Mexicains finissent par remporter la compétition aux tirs au but. Avec cette même sélection il participe à la Coupe du monde des moins de 17 ans qui se déroule en Inde en . Lors du mondial, il dispute cinq rencontres et inscrit un triplé face au Paraguay. Les jeunes américains se hissent jusqu'en quarts de finale, en étant battus par l'Angleterre.

En , il est sélectionné avec l'équipe des États-Unis des moins de 20 ans pour participer à la coupe du monde des moins de 20 ans, qui se déroule en Pologne. Lors du mondial, il joue cinq matchs et inscrit deux buts contre le Qatar et l'Équateur. Les jeunes américains se hissent jusqu'en quarts de finale, en étant battus par l'Équateur.

Équipe des États-Unis A
Le , il est convoqué pour la première fois en équipe des États-Unis par le sélectionneur national Dave Sarachan, pour un match amical contre le Paraguay. Le  suivant, il honore sa première sélection contre le Paraguay. Lors de ce match, Timothy Weah entre à la  de la rencontre à la place de Marky Delgado, et le match se solde par une victoire 1-0 des Américains. Il devient par ailleurs le premier joueur américain né dans les années 2000 à disputer une rencontre internationale.

Le , il inscrit son premier but en sélection nationale à l'occasion d'un match amical face à la Bolivie (victoire 3-0).

Le , il est sélectionné par Gregg Berhalter pour participer à la Coupe du monde 2022. Pour son premier match dans la compétition, il inscrit un but lors du match nul (1-1) de son équipe face au pays de Galles.

Statistiques

Statistiques détaillées

Liste des matchs internationaux

Buts internationaux

Palmarès

En club
 Paris Saint-Germain
 Championnat de France
 Vainqueur : 2018, 2019
 Trophée des champions
 Vainqueur : 2018
 Celtic FC
 Championnat d'Écosse
 Vainqueur : 2019
 LOSC Lille
 Championnat de France
 Vainqueur : 2021
 Trophée des champions
 Vainqueur : 2021

En équipe nationale
 États-Unis
 Ligue des nations de la CONCACAF
 Vainqueur : 2020

Avec les États-Unis des moins de 17 ans, il est finaliste du Championnat de la CONCACAF des moins de 17 ans en 2017.

Références

Liens externes

Joueur de soccer international américain
Joueur du Paris Saint-Germain
Joueur du Celtic FC
Joueur du LOSC Lille
Naissance en février 2000
Naissance à New York

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Amnesty International: Russia is last in tolerance for refugees
Monday, May 16, 2016 1:08:05 PM
According to a survey by Amnesty International, almost two-thirds of Russians are opposed to the settlement of refugees in the Russian Federation.
The Head of the Amnesty International representative office in the Russian Federation, Sergei Nikitin, reported at a talk at the anniversary conference of the Moscow Helsinki Group that "a statistical review by Amnesty International about the attitude of authorities and population toward refugees from other countries will be released in a week. Russia is in last place there. 61% of the population is opposed to the fact that refugees, people who escaped from war and trouble, were accepted," Interfax reported.
He noted that the human rights situation is deteriorating in the world and that the authorities of many countries consciously violate international law. "Russia is only part of this common challenge," he added.
Last week, the Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Nikolai Patrushev, stated that Ukrainian refugees complicate the criminal situation in the Southern Federal District. In particular, he stated that the increase in the number of conflict situations is due to the influx of migrants.
"The presence of almost 73,000 unemployed refugees from Ukraine complicates the criminal situation," Patrushev noted during the Security Council's retreat in Astrakhan.
Russia, Refugees, Amnesty International
Please visit out Twitter account for updates on the situation in Ukraine.
Kremlin complains 'friendly countries' are refusing to do business with Russia
Kyiv: the war will escalate in coming months
Austria and Hungary have agreed to not provide military assistance to Ukraine
Kyiv confirms Ukrainian offensive on Kreminna and Svatove has been temporarily stopped
Ukrainian Foreign Minister: in the first round of shipments, Kyiv is expected to receive between 120 to 140 Western tanks
Strategic bridge destroyed by Ukrainian HIMARS strikes near occupied Melitopol
German Chancellor Scholz promises to continue talks with Putin
Media: U.S. along with another country are behind drone attack on Iranian weapons production facilities
Media: Despite sanctions Russia continues using Dutch microchips in production of its weapons
Belgium to deliver its largest military aid package to Ukraine
Ukrainian Ambassador to France: Kyiv will receive 321 tanks from the West
Kyiv: advanced anti-drone systems have been deployed in Ukraine
Kremlin blocks access to CIA and FBI websites in Russian territory for 'spreading fake information'
Russian missile attack on Kyiv fails, all missiles and drones shot down by Ukrainian Air Defense
Media: out of 50,000 Russian inmates recruited by Wagner PMC, only 10,000 remain on the front lines in Ukraine
Lithuanian Foreign Minister accuses Germany of fearing consequences of a Russian defeat
Air defense systems deployed near Putin's residence on Lake Valdai
Poland warns Germany it will create a coalition of countries ready to send tanks to Ukraine
Russia warns the West of 'horrible war' if Ukraine continues to be supplied with weapons
Defense Minister Reznikov: Ukrainian tank crews begin training on German Leopard 2 tanks as discussions about their delivery continue
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I've always wondered what being an adult feels like, and even though I am past eighteen, I still don't feel like one. When you are a kid, you think that when you hit eighteen, you immediately become old and boring. The thing is, I've grown to think that adulthood is a scam. Taxes, laundry, a job you don't like, an inexistent love life, and a lifelong supply of bitterness. Yet, I look around me and you, adults, are everywhere, with your serious faces, your crushed hopes and absence of friends. Here and there, a child survives in a body too big for him. He'll have a smile on his face, he'll say hello to strangers and still put clothes without checking if they have been ironed correctly, or if the colors match. But those children disguised as adults are a rare thing, and here you are. And I don't want to be like you.
And I can't help wonder : What kind of deal did you sign with the devil that keep you going through this poor excuse of a life ? Or do you all think you are martyrs, hoping for bliss when you'll join the afterlife ? And I can't help but ask : When do you become like this ? Is there some kind of secret ceremony, a cult we, children and teens, don't know about ? When do you abandon your dream to become an astronaut ? When do you start telling stories to children even though you don't believe them ? When do you stop laughing at the rain, fierce against the crying sky ? When do you stop talking to your friends about your new crush and just wonder what gift you'll have to bring this time, to be proper ? Why in hell do you care for your children, yet you forgot how to take care of yourself ?
And believe me, I am at a loss, but more than that, I am mad. Each day that passes, you create the world we live in. You leave us as a legacy global warming, and corrupted old politicians. You hope we'll become like you, so we'll fit in the system you helped to sustain. We'll become boring and old and we won't live our lives for ourselves anymore, just like you. But I don't want to be like you.
Because you see, I became an adult too young. I still don't know how to do laundry or pay my bills, but at seven I knew not to bother Mummy when she was sad, to help Daddy when he was mad. At thirteen, I suppressed all the anger bubbling in me because of the injustice of this world. I stopped talking about the mean kids at school even though I still didn't really understand why they thought being mean was cool. At fifteen, I hid my tears from everyone because adults didn't cry.
Because you see, I wanted to be an adult so bad, to be able to take my life in my own hands and be respected. I wanted my opinion to matter, I wanted to change the world. And people don't take you seriously when you are nothing but a child. I wanted to become an adult because I wanted my ideas to matter, only to realize that becoming an adult meant to abandon your big ideas because you couldn't fight the system. I wanted to be an adult so bad because I had dreams, but dreams are nothing but illusions you need to get rid of, even Plato said it. I wanted to become important but adults are only shadows of what they could be because they don't have the time to be themselves anymore. When you ask them why they are not happy, they'll answer that it's because of the system, that this is how life is. Harsh, cruel, unforgiving, unfair.
But don't you realize that you create the system ? That you lead your life ? You're nothing more than us children, in the end. You blind yourself with pretty pictures of what should be and what should not so you won't have to deal with the apocalypse we are all patiently creating, day after day. So I want to scream. I want you all to laugh at the sky again, and feel the raindrops fall on the tip of your tongue, because that is real. I want you to get drunk again and see the world through a prism of pretty colors, because in a way, that is more real than the constant state of hangover you stay in. I want you to shake the rules, to scream at what you don't like and make faces at people you don't like, because at least, that is real. I wish I could tell you to love again. I wish I could tell you to believe again. I wish I could show you the way to the real world, but I can't. Because I'm just a teen with big ideas but no knowledge of the world. Because children should respect their elders. Because children want to change the world, but their words have no meaning, no importance.
So I'll become an adult like you in hope you'll listen to my voice without me throwing a tantrum. And I guess it doesn't really matter if I lose myself in the process because self knowledge is not something you need to succeed. I guess it doesn't really matter if my dreams die and I forget why I'm here anyway, and no, I won't go outside when it's raining, because I can't miss work because of a cold. I'll become an adult to finally lead the way to the real world, and I guess it doesn't matter if in the end, I can't even remember what freedom tastes like, if I forget what reality looks like. I'll become an adult like everyone else, and I guess it doesn't matter.
Mais. Mais c'est triste ? Pas dans le sens triste/pleurer, mais plus dans le sens triste/je ressens la même chose et ça me serre le coeur. Je ne sais pas quoi commenter d'autre, le rythme est bien, le vocabulaire est parlant, c'est très fluide à la lecture ! Je vais aller lire tes autres textes (rapidement si possible ^^), bisous !
De tout les articles que tu aurais pu lire, tu as choisi un des seuls en anglais ? T'es un peu bébête louloute !