Quebec City me fait penser à un enfant orphelin, abandonné par sa mère-patrie, et qui désire avant tout se faire reconnaître et aimer et qui est prêt à tout pour cela. Même à renier sa culture, ses valeurs, et son histoire. Pourquoi Quebec City en est-elle rendue si bas?

Historiquement, quand les Anglais ont pris Québec, en 1759, cela a entraîné la fuite des élites françaises vers la France. Québec s'est donc trouvée isolée, sans élites, et la seule façon pour une grande partie de la population de survivre a été de s'amouracher des nouvelles élites anglophones et d'embrasser cette culture qu'on a appris à considérer comme supérieure. Cet à-plat-ventrisme s'est perpétué de génération en générations, et est-ce si surprenant de considérer que Quebec City fut un des endroits au Québec où les Québécois (francophones) ont voté en plus grand nombre pour le NON en 1995? Est-ce si surprenant de constater que c'est Quebec City qui a voté majoritairement pour l'ADQ en 2006? Et encore Quebec City qui a porté des Conservateurs au pouvoir?

Car Quebec City se fout des enjeux, se fout de la culture (quelle culture?), se fout de tout... Tout ce qu'elle veut, c'est se faire dire qu'elle est spéciale et unique. Elle veut voir Harper venir lui parler à elle et à elle seule (surtout s'il ne va pas à « Mourial » après!) ou Dumont lui chanter ses louanges. Quebec City veut être aimée et c'est tout ce qui compte pour elle. Et ceux qui représentent le gros village doivent agir en ce sens.

En effet, avez-vous regardé l'entrevue de Denis Lévesque avec Paul McCartney? Je l'ai écouté: c'était fascinant. Fascinant de voir un Denis Lévesque agir comme le roi-nègre d'une obscure colonie d'Afrique recevant un roi européen et lui poser des questions du genre: « Aimez-vous Céline Dion? Car nous sommes bien fiers d'elle! » (Et McCartney de répondre: elle vient du Québec?) Ou encore mieux: « Vous ennuyez-vous de votre femme? » (À quoi t'attends-tu comme réponse, le casque? « Non je ne m'en ennuie pas du tout, qu'elle crève en enfer la salope? » Du grand journalisme.) Un sujet devant sa majesté. Un colonisé. J'ai honte d'être Québécois quand je vois ça.

Et à qui avait-on droit en première partie du spectacle de sa majesté McCartney, payée grassement à même les fonds publics? À Éric Lapointe, aux Loco Locass, aux Cowboys Fringants, à Gilles Vigneault? À un hommage à Félix Leclerc? À quelque chose qui nous rappelle qu'on fête effectivement un peuple francophone et une ville francophone. Non. Ce furent les groupes The Stills (imposé par McCartney) et la très anglophile Pascale Picard (prononcer: Péskôôle Païkhôrde ). Nous fêtons le 400e de l'établissement de la première ville francophone en Amérique du Nord et le spectacle est 100% anglophone. Quelle honte! Nous faisons vraiment rire de nous! (Voilà un argument qui pourrait toucher nos amis de Quebec City, pour qui tout ce qui compte est ce qu'en disent les autres... c'est comme ça quand on a peu d'estime de soi!)

Évidemment, les gens de Quebec City se trouvent des arguments pour défendre leur pathétisme culturel et leur à-plat-ventrisme linguistique. Ils accusent Montréal de jalousie, ils se disent ouverts sur le monde. J'ai des nouvelles pour vous, mes amis de Quebec City, mais l'ouverture sur le monde c'est aussi l'ouverture sur la diversité du monde, sur la multitude des peuples et des cultures, des histoires et des langues, des destins et des possibles. C'est tout sauf de se plier à la langue impériale anglaise et de se prostituer en acclamant des Pascale Picard ou des Simple Plan qui sont trop niais pour chanter leur réalité dans leur langue. L'ouverture d'esprit, c'est la volonté d'enrichir la culture mondiale en affirmant haut et fort sa propre culture (sans se fermer à celle des autres) et en n'ayant pas peur de se célébrer soi-même, non pas pour ce qu'on est, mais également parce qu'en se célébrant soi-même on contribue à assurer la diversité des cultures humaines! L'ouverture d'esprit, c'est tout, absolument tout sauf aller se brancher sur un spectacle anglophone et nier ainsi sa réalité.

Contrairement à ce que pensent certains bien-pensants, ce n'était pas qu'une histoire de McCartney et de ses ex-Coccinelles grisonnantes. Ce qui a fait autant réagir les gens (avec justesse!) c'est plutôt parce qu'il s'agit d'un signe supplémentaire du peu de considération qu'a la ville de Quebec City pour notre histoire et du peu de respect qu'elle a pour nous. Elle se fout éperdument de son rôle historique, de sa culture, de sa langue, de ses valeurs. Elle aurait invité Lord Durham à chanter le God Save the Queen si Durham avait été encore vivant. Elle se prostitue, mais c'est nous, notre culture, qu'elle vend ainsi à rabais.

Finalement, puisque tout ce qui compte pour les Quebec-cityois, quelle image a-t-on donné au touriste étranger venu dans la ville? L'image d'un endroit où il fait bon parler anglais, où l'histoire est sans importance, où même les artistes locaux chantent en anglais. L'image d'une ville sans fierté et dont la culture n'est pas différente de n'importe quel bled perdu au Mid-West. Une ville dont les seules particularités sont son architecture et le fait que les nègres locaux vous parlent avec un accent quand ils s'empressent de vous servir dans la langue de Shakespeare.

Et c'est cette ville-là que vous voulez pour capitale dans votre Québec indépendant?

Pas moi. Je crois que la capitale de notre pays doit être une ville qui nous rend fiers, et donc les citoyens sont conscients de leur histoire et de leur rôle dans le monde. Une ville qui nous représente, qui nous donne envie de continuer à nous battre pour protéger notre langue et notre culture. Une ville qui s'estime assez pour voter elle-même pour le pays à créer.

Aujourd'hui, j'ai honte d'être Québécois. Honte d'être associé aux gens de Québec. Honte de ce spectacle aliénant qui transforme notre histoire en une petite parenthèse qu'il faut vite effacer pour s'intégrer au monde... anglo-saxon!

À lire: La petite noirceur

John Lydon as pictured by Dennis Morris

Another article peculated with imperious indifference from a magazine with the by now compulsory preamble by yours truly … This time its the turn of John Lydon (nee Rotten) of the Sex Pistols. Please note that I have also stuck a video clip at the bottom of the page, which was taken from a Sex Pistols documentary discussing the infamous Grundy television interview with the Sex Pistols.

Mr Lydon has spent the better part of thirty years chipping away at all that is held sacred within British society. And, as if you need to be told… he was the figurehead of Britain’s most notorious punk band, he seemed to revel in his notoriety, forever appearing in the press flicking two fingers at all and sundry. The bright spiky hair, the sneer cum snarl, the intense stare and most important of all, the new sound he presaged as lead singer of the Pistols. He and the band were quite simply ground breaking. Being aged 8 when the album ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’ was released, the Pistols also terrified me.

I did not ‘get’ the Pistols until well into the eighties. I was more interested in the sound coming from the Midlands in the guise of the The Specials and The Beat. However, everything comes to those who wait, and although the exact moment in time escapes me, it was no doubt due to the melancholia enfolding me via the Duran Duran and ABC assault on the airwaves, I found myself looking for something different. As such I rummaged through my collection of vinyl and seated amongst Adam and the Ants, Streetsounds Electro and Madness, was 12 inches of fury encapsulated in an equally ill-humoured bile-yellow sleeve. I was about to reintroduce myself to John Lydon’s world.

The infamous bile-yellow sleeve (as designed by Jamie Read) within which was contained twelve inches of fury that, I have to admit, confused and scared the shit out of me!

But why? Apart from the musical flat-line that was Radio 1 and Capitol, I was starting to become ever more politically aware. The miners strike loomed on the horizon. Greenham Common was the scene of fabulously brave demonstrations by women who were ridiculed as lefties and lesbians (the fact that lesbianism was seen as an insult shows the mentality of the time). Unemployment was at a record high. We were celebrating a victory against a military junta in which we had achieved control of a couple of pieces of rock in the South Atlantic. It was those celebrations, the bunting, the military bands, the dreams of empire. It took me back to the Jubilee. It took me back to the time when as a sullen youth I was hauled up to the Mall to celebrate the 25th year of Elizabeth Regina as head of the state. When as she passed me and the cheering throng by, I couldn’t help but feel that she looked bored, that she wanted to be anywhere but in close proximity to her subjects. The first rumblings of my still extant anti-monarchism were stirring.

Never Mind The Bollocks was and is sometimes still ridiculed as the loud screechings and distorted noise assault of a bunch of irrelevant spotty youths. But it was very much the product of its time and with lines like ‘no future’ can also be seen to be prescient. Despite my needing a reintroduction to this seminal work, it is with this album that I can see the foundations laid for my future politicisation.

And of course, John Lydon is pivotal in any discussions of not just the Sex Pistols but the less than United Kingdom of the late seventies. Consider what passes for humour and/or criticism of the Royal family today, acid barbs launched at the monarchy due to their mishandling of the death of Diana. Or, the ridicule that greets Camilla every time she pops her head above the parapet. This is now an everyday fact of life tabloid life. Ignoring Cromwell, it would be fair to state that the seminal moment of anti-monarchism (even if that wasn’t their exact attitude) occurred when Lydon and his cohorts unleashed God Save The Queen. Yet in 1977, people were not quite so ambivalent. Lydon has alleged that his band were subject to threats of violence due to what was perceived by large segments of society horrified at what they saw as the bands treasonous vitriol. That song certainly had an impact on me, it moved me away from the unquestioning adherence to an outmoded system of governance and made me realise that there was so much more than the gaudy frippery and swooning adulation that accompanied every aspect of the royals. It made me understand that I am not less of human being for not having blue blood. They are not better than me. For that alone I thank Lydon.

I opened this article by stating that Lydon seems intent on destroying all that is held dear by the British. But this is not the be all and end all. Most of the areas that he addresses are those that people feel are better treated by being ignored. We need more of his type, the perpetual thorn in the side that he is.

Incidentally, the title for this post, or at least the 'Future Now' bit is also the name of a Peter Hammill album. I mention this, because many punk rockers out there find it hard to accept that Lydon has admitted to being inspired by Mr Hammill. Seeing as Mr Hammill is an idol of mine, whom I adore beyond measure, it gave me the opportunity to crowbar his name into an article, and thus spread the word (no matter how tenuous the connection!)

Pistol Whipping
Record Collector - December 2007

It’s exactly 30 years since Never Mind The Bollocks… ripped everything apart. John Lydon celebrates in his traditional way, by laying into Bono, Sting, hippies… just about everything really. Except David Gilmour. Interview by Elliot Stephen Cohen.

“I think the real story of Johnny Rotten has always been, ‘Where’s ‘is teeth?’ laughs the erstwhile John Lydon, discussing a recent Sex Pistols recording session where they remade a pair of classic songs for a popular video game.“ The big problem for me was I’ve got a tooth missing in the front of my mouth, so you can hear a slight whistle in my voice. However,” he adds, “when I did the original recordings, I had more missing teeth. So, it’s six of one, half a dozen of the other.”Problems, of course, have always been synonymous with Lydon, even years before gaining infamy as the notorious, flame-haired, potty mouthed punk icon who once scandalised a nation.

Born on 31 January, 1956 in London, to parents who’d emigrated from Ireland. At the age of seven, he was stricken with spinal meningitis, a traumatic event which helped shape his caustic ‘me against the world’ attitude.“Listen, I don’t wallow in self-pity,” he explains, but I was in a coma for four months, and after I came out of that, it took me about five full years to regain my memory. I quite literally did not who I was from seven to eight, and when you’re facing that as your future, you cannot tolerate people lying to you. That made me who I am. It’s been a difficult life for me, but it’s infinitely preferable to the utter deceit that goes on out there in the wilds. I’ve proved to myself that there is an alternative.” The illness, besides creating emotional scars, also left Lydon with a slightly bent spine, as well as afflicted eyesight. However, they both later unintentionally became part of the classic Johnny Rotten visual persona.When he joined up with guitarist Steve Jones, bassist Glen Matlock and drummer Paul Cook in late 1975, the teenage Lydon, who was just out for a good time, had no idea that within two years, he would become arguably the most controversial person in Great Britain, at the age of 21.

As the frontman of the most influential punk band ever, Lydon became the poster boy for the movement that shook up a staid, bloated music industry. But the band’s success would prove to be short-lived. Following a disastrous American tour in early 1978, Lydon, and the equally infamous Sid Vicious, who’d replaced original bassist Matlock the previous year, departed, and the band imploded.Although Lydon fell out of the limelight following the group’s dissolution, he has managed to continually reinvent himself enough that his perpetually outrageous outbursts still command media attention. To the general public, he will always be remembered as Johnny Rotten (a name he can’t use anymore as it owned by former manager Malcolm McClaren). However, Lydon has distinguished himself in various musical guises, as the former leader of Public Image Limited, his solo work, as well as dalliances in film, on radio, and most recently as the host of nature-orientated television documentaries.

These days, he’s traded the wild British lifestyles of his younger day for the more domestic tranquillity of a beach home in sunny California. He happily shares this with his wife Nora, mother of singer Ari Up, former leader of the pioneering all-female dub reggae band, The Slits. Hard to imagine, but Lydon is actually step-grandfather to his wife’s two 20-plus grandchildren, whom he cheekily admits “drive me insane”. As to who acts more mature, the grandchildren or Lydon, that’s anyone’s guess.28 October marks the 30l anniversary of the release of one of the most influential rock albums ever, Never Mind The Bollocks… Here’s The Sex Pistols. To commemorate this landmark occasion in music history, Virgin is re-releasing the album in its original vinyl glory, along with replicas of the one-sided 7″ single, Submission and posters that were included the first time around.Additionally, the band’s iconic quartet of singles (Anarchy In The UK/I Wanna Be Mad, God Save The Queen/Did You No Wrong, Pretty Vacant/No Fun and Holidays In The Sun/Satellite) will be available as limited addition vinyl 45rpm singles in heavyweight paper sleeves stamped with the original catalogue numbers. They will, of course, feature the distinctive portraiture of artist Jamie Reid, most notably the God Save The Queen image, which has probably graced millions of T-shirts over the years.

The infamous God Save The Queen artwork by Jamie Read, which as mentioned above has now graced millions of T-shirts. Indeed, I have one myself... seditious rebel that I am!

The Pistols are regrouping for a series of November appearances in London, Manchester and Glasgow, with the possibility of additional dates. RC caught up with him in early October.

Should I be intimidated into not asking something that might accidentally set you off?

No. Not with me. You shouldn’t be intimidated by anybody at all, unless, of course, you’ve done something incredibly wrong to them.

So, has the whole legendary Johnny Rotten sarcastic image been blown way out of proportion?

I try to treat everyone the right way, and I expect the same in others. However, when somebody comes along and stands in my way and just wants to be difficult, well. Then I let them have it. My defence factors come into play. I won’t be brow-beaten down by anyone.

That’s good to know. How did the recordings for the Guitar Hero 3 project go?

Great fun. Wonderful game. Hilarious from start to finish. The shame of it was, when we were originally approached to do it, we were over the moon because I really enjoy the game. It’s great fun. Kids love it, and that’s just up my street. We were originally going to use the original Bollocks masters, but our wonderful record company [Virgin], of course, couldn’t find them. We had to re-record Anarchy In The UK and Pretty Vacant for it. So, whatever money we would have made, just about got lost doing them. But, it was good to do, and highly enjoyable.

You mean no one can locate the original multi-track masters?

Yeah, our record company are wonderful, aren’t they?

Who actually owns the master tapes?

Well, they should be in their hands, but they’re not. Frankly, if we do find them, we’re not returning them, because if they mislay something so precious, it doesn’t bode well for the recording industry, does it? It’s really bizarre how record companies store things. You know, music is very important because it’s history and it dictates social climates. It’s really the greatest way to study culture. If archives aren’t properly kept of these things, well, you know it’s a sorry world, and no, the internet does not do that. I don’t think anything stored digitally is worth tuppence. It’s a load of nonsense. Half the information is missing, and bass definitely gets abused, which is why, as Sex Pistols, we’re releasing Never Mind The Bollocks and the four singles from it on vinyl. We missed vinyl. It’s very peculiar that they claim that they don’t have the masters, and we had to rerecord our own songs for the video game, but yet they have a test pressing of the original vinyl.

How did it feel being back in the recording studio with Steve and Paul for the first time in 30 years?

Great fun. Terrific. Loved it. Whizzed right through it. It reminded me of the first time we went in to record, because it was the same situation of being stuck in a studio. We juts picked up where we left off. It’s not quite like getting back ori a bicycle. It’s a hell of a lot more difficult, believe me.

Glen wasn’t involved in the new recordings?

No, because he was doing some tour with his own band. We all have different projects. We work separately.

There’s no animosity between the two of you?

There shouldn’t be. I was never aware of any. We play a game in the press through the releasing of outrageous insults to each other, but that’s done from our part with a great sense of humour. It’s deeply hilarious. There is an actual audience out there for that sort of stuff. They take it seriously, and they shouldn’t, you know. We live in a world of gossip, don’t we? So, we just slag for it.

So, there were some bad feelings at one time.

That doesn’t mean it stays forever. We’re human beings, for God’s sake. Nobody’s perfect. You must get off this idea that we’re these rigid ridiculous cartoon characters. It isn’t like that. We’re friends, families, with likes, dislikes, loves, hates, all of it. Just because we’re popular, doesn’t mean we’re inhuman.
Right after the Sex Pistols came out, Mick Jagger told the press, “I’d rather be dead than singing Satisfaction when I’m 40,” and John Lennon said he didn’t want to end up like Elvis, singing in Vegas.
And Pete Townshend said, “I hope I die before I get old” in that song. It’s like, they weren’t showing very much foresight, were they? They were ageists.

How do you feel at 51 singing Anarchy?

You must understand, I meant every word when I first sang it, and I still do. I’ve meant every single word of every single song I’ve ever written. These things mean something deeply to me and also to other people obviously, and you don’t ever to take your words back. I stand by what I sing. That’s my life experience, and I’m sharing that with others. Believe me, I won’t get that wrong. If I didn’t believe in those songs now as much as I did then, I wouldn’t still be doing them. It’s not possible for me. Everyone knows me, I know that’s true. The original meanings of the song are still true, but unfortunately some people take the word ‘anarchy’ too literally.

How, then, would you define it?

It’s about how to oppose rules, but the point is that some rules do actually make sense. Not all. Not most, but some do. The one rule I adhere to is “thou shall not kill,” and I don’t kill anything, but I do enjoy a good steak ’cause cows are stupid, and deserve to die. So there’s my imperfection for you. (Laughs)

So, you’re not artificially manufacturing feelings of youthful rebellion or angst; it’s still genuinely out there?

How could you ask that about The Sex Pistols? How can you? Are you ridiculous or what? (Laughs) You can say that about the entire music industry and just about everybody in it. But guess what? The Sex Pistols are different. We just are, and we will never, never, ever compromise that. There’s no need for us to do that. I ain’t Britney Spears. Don’t put me in the same bag, mate. You cannot tar us with the same brush. We’ve been honest for our entire lives and suffered for it. We’ve earned our wings. Next question.

Were you surprised at how quickly the Pistols went from playing small clubs to being front page news?

It was as hilarious to us as it was to the moral powers that be at the time that we became so popular. It certainly wasn’t anything that we went out of our way to achieve. In fact, really, genuinely in our own hearts, we never thought that the Sex Pistols would amount to anything but a good laugh, and well, I’m still laughing. We’ve fought many battles on many fronts in order for the moral majority to realise freedom of expression is a very important part of our culture. The Sex Pistols absolutely, clearly defined that. You take that away and you kill it. But you’re not going to. We grew up in a world of senselessness with all these utter contradictions. The Sex Pistols were literally garbage bags because of what we were force-fed at an early age. We had to fight our way out of it. So for all of those things, we won. That’s what punk is. It fights the shitstem. It clears the bowels.

How would you compare the American Hippy movement of the 60s with the British Punk movement of the 70s?

Oh, I think [the hippies] were more into posing than anything else. Punk comes from the streets. We come from a skinhead culture, a mod culture, youth, council flats, working class, and the kind of gear that would be around that society is what we took.

The hippies were mellower. Their drugs of choice were marijuana and LSD, and their philosophy, however contrived it seems now, was one ‘peace and love’ whereas the punks were fuelled more by harder drugs like heroine, amphetamines, and were more into violence.

Well, that aspect was always there, but while the “Summer of Peace and Love” was going on there were still gang fights in council flats, you know. I’ll tell you, the only true anarchy if you want to see it physically manifested is at an English football match. Watch those two mobs go at each other. There are no rules there.

Swastikas were such a prevalent symbol of the punks. You were once quoted as saying…

Don’t tell me about any of my quotes. I think that anyone who thought we were Nazis would definitely have gotten it all wrong. We were absolutely tearing the symbol to shreds and mocking it. I mean, you know, you put a swastika over a bin liner sewn up with safety pins… How are you going to take that as a threat of Nazism? You understand? At the time the Union Jack was associated with Nazi movements, a movement called the British Movement which was very, very right wing, and we took it back off them. Punk is anti, anti all of that stuff in the most serious way. I’ve got the scars to prove it. And remember, anyone that wears a swastika has to be fully aware that they lost. You’re wearing a loser’s emblem, and if that isn’t sarcasm, I don’t know what is.

But looking at it from the perspective of someone who might have lost family members in the holocaust, couldn’t you see how it could have been deeply hurtful?

Listen, I understand how some people could have been offended. Being offended is a right, but it’s not a privilege that I adhere to. Alright? I’m Irish, and basically the Irish are brought up to take the piss out of ourselves throughout our entire existence. We laugh and dance at funerals and I think it’s a much healthier way of looking at the world. Don’t take yourself too seriously. The reason Nazism rose in the first place, is because people were too busy ignoring it and did not see the threat. It deserved to be brought out and openly rubbished. A lot of these far-fetched extremist right-wing organisations that you see on the Internet now are utterly, completely racist. They must be discussed publicly and brought out, because hate is something you have to attack on a daily basis.

Getting back to hippies, did you see the punks adopting some of the anti-corporate, anti-establishment values?

They really weren’t anti-establishment because all them alleged hippies ended up running record companies and became highly corporate themselves. Because of that, it caused a great deal of trouble for people like me, the Sex Pistols, PiL. There was no real freedom in the hippy movement as far as I’m concerned. It was very, very restrictive. It was all about greed. They made no room for anyone else. As soon as they got their lot, they closed the doors and shared nothing with the rest of us, and that’s why comments by the likes of Mick Jagger et cetera, do not interest me at all. There’s a lot of those people who viewed us with an envious, spiteful eye when we first came out. We never asked them for a favour, and believe me, they never gave us one. That’s why I will never compromise. I’m true to my word, because I know what those people are. They are the enemy. All of them, and I will not join their game.

How are they the enemy, of what?

They lie… about everything. Even the very form of music they present to the public is an imitation of something else. They steal. All of their ideas are from other people. You cannot in all seriousness say you’ve ever heard anything that sounds like the Sex Pistols or PiL or anything I’ve ever done. You have not, because it comes from the heart, and that means there’s no imitation. To me, imitation’s not a form of flattery.

You’ve been very publicly critical of rock stars like Bono for their philanthropic work.

Bono puts his name first and then credits himself for being kind and generous, but frankly all of them, Bob Geldof included, they never, ever put their hands in their own wallets, and all this alleged charity work, none of the money goes to where it supposed to be. It does nothing but bolster their egos. Sting is the same. Congratulatory remarks. You know, he just compliments himself, so I find it all very tedious and boring. Any charity work I do, and believe me, I do a lot, I keep quiet because I do not need the credits. I do it because it’s from the heart, and I mean it. I do not want to be receiving any awards for it. That’s the difference.

Sting actually did raise a good sum of money for a group of Indians living in a rain forest who were in danger of losing their homes after a huge lumber company started cutting it down. However, after he bought the deed for the land and gave it to the chief, the chief went and sold it right back to them.

That’s exactly right. This is what happens in the world. All the do-good intentions that you can bullshit and fluff your way through… [Sting] never considered what the mindset of those Indians was. He was assuming something that suited his own particular attitude, and that’s wrong. If they wanted to sell their land, good! Go ahead and sell it, but don’t be ridiculous enough to expect once they’ve tasted money that they don’t want more. What Sting actually did was destroy their culture by introducing himself to them. The second they’d seen him, they wanted a can of Coca-Cola, a Walt Disney T-shirt, and a radio. Am I right, or am I wrong? Don’t be bringing your idiotic Western hippy philosophy to these people. Leave them alone!

What about John Lennon? Was he sincere?

John Lennon was again, a trained pop star. [The Beatles] started out as a rock’n'roll imitation and covers band. They spent a few years learning their craft before they decided they were original geniuses. There was no great heart in anything they did. It was all a cultivated operation, and therefore manufactured. When it did go silly, my God, they went silly in a big way, with all them bleeding Indian gurus. It was insanity. Money does corrupt. It certainly corrupted them.

Has money corrupted you, John?

Ha! I’ve never had enough to find out… But I’m working on it. Frankly, I’m not the kind of rock star that makes a living out of being a rock star, I do fine and I don’t need more. I’ve never been a greedy person… I don’t drive and my wife has a Volvo. How’s that?

Your contemporaries from the 70s, like Buzzcocks…

Contemporaries of mine, are they? I have nothing to do with them, but they’ve written some fine songs with some really twisty, edgy lyrics. Naught, salty boys, they are. The Clash…Mediocre at best.

A real punk band, or not?

Kind of an amalgamation of left-wing socialist ideology with a need to be famous. Poor old Joe, he shall be missed. He was a good-natured bloke, but he used to say some stupid things. One of them was when they first started, he said his ambition was to be bigger than the Sex Pistols. You have to understand that to me that was an absurd statement, and I never respected him after that.

But he meant it commercially, not artistically?

That’s even worse. That’s not an ambition. That’s a foolish statement. That shows absolutely no dedication to your craft, whatsoever. Unless your craft is indeed making money, at which point do go preaching socialism to me. You know, if your ambition in life is just to fill your coffers, you’re very far from being left-wing.

What do you remember about Johnny Thunders, one of my personal favourites?

Great fun, but the bloke who was the real laugh [in The Heartbreakers] was Jerry Nolan, oddly enough, even though he was riddled with heroin. All of them were, but you couldn’t take the Irish out of him. He knew how to have a laugh. Johnny Thunders was hilarious in the [New York] Dolls and kind of with The Heartbreakers. There was something more stilted in that band. It was more laborious. They lost the sense of fun that the Dolls had.

What did you think of his song London Boys (recorded with Jones and Cook) which was supposedly written in response to New York, and done in his best Johnny Rotten parody?

I don’t think I ever heard it, so it didn’t make much of an impression, did it? To copy someone else’s song with another song, it’s like “Haven’t you get anything better to do?” Look, it’s not the first time I’ve given people material to write on. Neil Young wrote a fine song slagging me off, Rust Never Sleeps. There’s more than few reggae one out there like Johnny Too Bad.

What about the older established bands that were around when the Pistols came out.. Like the Rolling Stones.

They were dinosaurs, just large, arena, concert hall… They were rather selfish about the limelight, and all of them, almost to a man, bitterly resentful about anything new or different. It wasn’t like we really gave a damn about them. I buy their records because I like music, but when I actually got to meet some of these people, I ended really, really despising them.You know, there’s very few who’ve stood out to me as impressive human beings. One of them is David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. A great bloke. Another one is Keith Emerson or Emerson, Lake and Palmer, but at the same time, I have to say that Mick Jagger actually raised some money when Sid got into that disgusting situation after the death of Nancy, because Malcolm was useless.

How about The Kinks?

Oh, Ray Davies, I met him once. He’s a great songwriter, but a very strange person. That record, You Really Got Me, has one of the greatest guitar hooks, but, back to the Stones, Honky Tonk Women ain’t so bad, or Sympathy For The Devil.

Which acts would people be astounded to learn you actually admire and listen to?

I’ve always listened to The Bee Gees. I listen to everything.

Pink Floyd? The band you openly hated on a famous early t-shirt of yours.

I listen to them occasionally. There’s some fine pieces of work from the outfit. I’m not prejudiced in music. No one should be. Chris Isaak is brilliant. For me, he carries on where Roy Orbison left off.

You were a big fan of Orbison’s as a kid?

Yeah, a most amazing voice. I used to think, ‘My God, I don’t stand a hope in hell. I’ll never get there.’ I was right. I never did.

Looking back on your relationship with Sid, was there anything you could have done differently to have saved him from his fate?

That’s a strange word, “relationship”. I think Sid got everything wrong, the poor fool. The whole drug thing that he got involved in showed that all of his moves were foolish, utterly foolish. I don’t think that Sid clearly comprehended how the world worked.

Living only 21 years didn’t give him an abundance of life experience to draw on.

‘Sense me? I was 21 once, and I didn’t die of an overdose. Why should I make excuses for someone else? Yeah, look, I bitterly miss Sid. I do. I will always miss him. He was a highly humorous chap and would always do things in a sarcastic, funny way, but sometimes even that was taken seriously. I mean, I named him Sid Vicious after my hamster. That’s how vicious Sid was. He was basically a weed. A complete wanker. He couldn’t fight his way out of a crisp bag, but that didn’t stop him from being brave.

Sid Vicious (picture by Dennis Morris). According to Mr Lydon, Sid was a very brave complete wanker who coldn't fight his way out of a crisp bag... mmmmm

Brave in what way? Courting death by using heroin, or living recklessly?

No, brave for existing as long as he did. He did his best, but the heroin ultimately got to him. That was a difficult one for him, because his mother was a registered addict, and you know, the pattern was set. It’s a hard one to get out of when it’s introduced into your own home.

On your ill-fated tour of America in 1978, why didn’t Malcolm book the band into place like CBGB’s in New York, which was the American heart of the punk movement, instead of bars in the Deep South where he anticipated trouble?

The tour was ill-fated in one aspect, that we broke up as a band after the final gig in San Francisco. Playing to cowboys in New Mexico was actually wonderful. The whole mythology of the South being ignorant rednecks was bullshit.

But still, you and Sid were attacked, and when the tour ended, you were stranded with no money.

Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that I regretted any of the gigs in the South. I just regretted our bad management. Malcolm tried to destroy what he couldn’t control, and what he couldn’t control, and what he couldn’t falsely take credit for, because no real credit was due to him. Therefore, he did his utmost to be an evil little bastard, and that’s all he is. He’s a spiteful, small minded little mediocre person… in a woman’s coat.

Would the Pistols have made it without his help?

We clearly have, haven’t we?

How did you enjoy doing the recent TV wildlife documentaries on gorillas and white sharks?

I found them to be a trap after a while, because [the producers] wanted me to end up as some kind of nature bunny, forever doing these series on all aspects of wildlife. Biology was my favourite subject when I was young, the great white sharks in particular. Probably something to do with the movie Jaws. So, I enjoyed seeing them and the opportunity of being with gorillas was too good to pass up, but I don’t want to be doing that every bleeding day for the rest of my life. It was just something that I explored and liked.

What’s next? Any recording, book or film projects in the works?

Yes, to all of the above. Even though most people presume I’m a fat lazy bastard that just sits on the couch all day watching TV - which is sort of true - my mind is always working. I like the brain to be constantly agitated. That’s why I could never take a holiday.

As you sang 30 years ago, “I don’t want a holiday in the sun!”

Yeah, well that’s the fun of living in California. It’s not a holiday. I’m living in it. Yes, it’s everything I shouldn’t like, but love. I can stare at the ocean all day long, just knowing there are great whites in there.

Any major regrets about anything in your life?

I have no regrets at all. We’re all going to die sooner or later. This is the only experience any of us will ever have as human beings. There is no afterlife, and it’s nonsense to think that you’ll go on forever. We’re only a small part of the universe, and an insignificant one at that. So, you might as well enjoy yourself while you’re here.

Marele plus o fost, pentru mine, că toate trupele o cântat piesle pe care eu voiam să le aud neapărat. Aşa că am plecat foarte mulţumită de la festivalul ăsta.

Am ajuns vineri foarte dimineaţă, am fost culeasă de pe peron şi am mers direct la cafea. Bucureştiu e un oraş groaznic. M-aş putea plânge un post întreg despre asta dar chiar nu are nici un rost. Sărim peste ce am făcut înafara festivalului propriu zis - pentru că e neinteresant pentru altcineva decât mine - şi trecem la ziua 1 de B'EstFest

Vineri 4 iulie

Voiam să văd Apollo 440, Alanis Morissette şi UNKLE.

Am ajuns pe la 7 şi ceva la Romexpo. Mi-o rupt biletu şi mi-o pus o brăţară roz şi urâtă. Bine că era din material şi nu din plastic. Mi-o plăcut că se mişcau foarte repede la poartă şi nu prea era coadă. Bravo lor.

Până m-am orientat eu puţin m-am trezit cu o ediţie specială Sunete şi un ghid oficial în mâini. Ghidu ăla m-o ajuntat să mă orientez spre scena care mă ineresa. Până m-am dezmeticit am auzit o piesă jumate NSK. Sunau bine, dar nu aveau public tare mare.

Apollo 440 începuseră deja să cânte. Erau pe la a doua piesă. M-am învârtit pe acolo, m-am hidratat, m-am întâlnit cu oameni mişto cu care trebuia să mă întâlnesc. Apollo 440 o cântat bine, solistul era foarte energic şi concertul cred că era mult mai reuşit dacă era la o oră puţin mai târzie. Era prea cald afară, lumea nu era încălzită şi nu se prea mişca. Cam pe la ultima piesă începuse agitaţia. Au cântat piese ultra cunoscute gen Stop the Rock sau Ain't Talking 'Bout Dub plus altele mai puţin familiare mie. Nu mi-o plăcut că parcă erau rupţi din anii '90 (vestimentar vorbind), mai ales că era foarte vizibilă treaba asta. În rest, numai de bine de ei :)

Am trecut la scena din dreaptă să o aştept pe Alanis. N-am fost niciodată fan în adevăratul sens al cuvântului dar tot timpu am ascultat-o cu plăcere. E ok, are muzică şi versuri frumoase, iar unele piese îmi plac chiar mult. Am auzit Ironic, Hand In My Pocket şi Head Over Feet. O sunat curat şi emoţional pe alocuri. Ea o fost foarte enrgică şi vocea foarte curată. Mi-o plăcut de ea :)

O urmat atracţia serii pentru mine, domnii de la UNKLE pe care eu îi îndrăgesc de ceva vreme (cam de când am laut primele contacte cu trip-hopu acu vreo 7 ani). Mă aşteptam la multişor din partea lor, deşi eram sceptică. Pentru că mă gândeam că featuringurile fac multe la ei. Mă bucur taaaare mult că m-am înşelat. O fost DEMENŢI! Extraordinari. O fost dintr-o altă lume, aterizaţi pe scena aia. Unu din chitarişti parcă era titrez. Vocalul era din alt film, erau în luma lor şi ne chemau pe toţi în ea. Am intrat foarte repede în starea respectivă şi am dansat tot, dar absolut tot concertul. La Restless am rămas mută. La fel şi la My Shadow şi la In a State. Pentru mine o fost concertul festivalului. Am plecat de acolo cu genunchii moi şi cu bătăi neregulate ale inimii. Târziu mi s-o stabilizat. Îmi pare rău că nu o fost sonoru mai tare, pentru că meritau să bubuie în tot Bucureştiu şi că nu s-o întors la bis (citeam pe undeva pe net că astea două îs legate una de alta şi că, la rândul ei, trupa o fost deranjată puţin de faptu că nu o avut mai mult sonor; nu ştiu dacă îs doar speculaţii sau nu).

N-am luat aparat foto cu mine că nu am vrut să am responsabilitatea asta şi pentru că era posbili să nu mă lase să intru cu el. O făcut emagicu destule aşa că pun link de la pozele oficiale.

Official pics day one - B'estfest

Sărim iar peste detaliile zilei caniculare.

Sâmbătă 5 iulie

Voiam să văd Manic Street Preachers şi Nouvelle Vague

Din păcate am ratat primele două piese Manic. De fapt le-am auzit dar de la distanţă, că atunci intram. Mi-o fost puţin ciudă, pentru că voiam să aud de aproape Motorcycle Emptiness şi You Stole the Sun From My Heart, dar m-am mulţumit cu Autumn Song şi If You Tolerate This Then Your Children Will Be Next ca piesă de final (asta din ce mi-era mie musai). Mi-a plăcut tare mult. Încă se ţin foarte bine pe scenă, sună deosebit de frumos, şi reuşesc să transmită mesajul pe care îl vor. O fost un concert foarte cald pentru mine (cald as in plăcut, că era cald afară, propriu zis nu mai are rost să zic) şi mi-o plăcut tare mult. M-o luat o nostalgie liceeană foarte plăcută :)

Nouvelle Vague o fost atracţia serii pentru mine. Fetele au fost excelente. Şi atât de diferite. Înger vs drac. Una din ele era super kinky, prin poziţia pe scenă, felul în care cânta, tot. Una părea cea mai cuminte de pe lume. O dat tare bine pe scenă. Şi o cântat mult (bine peste timpu alocat şi menţionat în program). Am auzit piese cu care eram obişnuită: Human Fly, Dance With Me, Love Will Tear Us Apart, Teenage Kicks, Guns of Brixton, Too Drunk To Fuck, Bela Lugosi's Dead şi piese noi: Sweet Dreams, God Save the Queen. Am dansat, m-am simţit bine, mi-o plăcut tare mult. M-o deranjat că o avut vreo 2 sau 3 microfonii. Ce treabă-i asta?

Official pics day two - B'estfest

Bla bla bla până pe la 6

Duminică 6 iulie

Voiam să văd măcar o bucată din Kraak and Smaak, Stereophonics, Róisín Murphy şi Manu Chao.

Am ajuns pe la jumatea concertului Kraak and Smaak. Pe drum îmi zicea vară-mea că e curioasă cum e îmbrăcată tipa, pentru că o văzuse nu cu mult în urmă la BECK’SPERIENCE şi eu glumeam că poate e la fel. Gluma mea s-o cam adeverit, singuru lucru în plus fiind de data asta papucii. O sunat ok, dar nu m-o dat pe spate. Totuşi, nu-mi pare rău că am venit mai repede să-i prind. Tipa avea mişcare scenică ok. Dar eu eram nerăbdătoare pentru următoarele.

Stereophonics o sunat deosebit de bine. Kelly Jones arată wow. Pictures don't do hime enough justice. Şi asta pe lângă că are atitudine pe scenă şi cântă foarte bine. M-am topit de tot la Maybe Tomorrow, una din piesele mele de suflet alltime. Senzaţia o fost întărită de faptu că atunci am reuşit să mă văd cu Cristi, în sfârşit. Mi-o plăcut tare mult băieţii.

Pe miss Róisín Murphy am aşteptat-o 45 de minute. Toată lumea o zis că asta e fiţă şi o acuzat-o pe ea. De fapt căzuse ceva mixer şi până nu o fost rezolvată problema nu s-o putut începe concertul. La bis nu s-o putut întoarce pentru că întârzia Nelly prea mult (fiind pe scene alăturate) aşa că nu o fost vina ei. Cine s-o mai uitat la concerte Róisín şi cine o văzut-o duminică ce show o făcut, poate intui că o interesează cum apare live.

O fost EXTRAORDINARĂ. O schimabat ţinută după ţinută. O fost plină de energie şi vocea i-o sunat perfect. O fost robot prins în corp uman. Instrumentiştii o sunat excelent, la fel şi fetele de la baking vocals, care pe lângă că o completau vocal perfect, o făceau şi cu mişcarea scenică. Excelente fetele. Am fost hipnotizată tot concertul. Un UNKLE în variantă feminină din punct de vedere al senzaţiilor care mi le-o transmis. Nu mă aşteptam să cânte ceva din perioada Moloko, aşa că m-am bucurat foarte tare când am auzit Forever More. La Overpowered am fost ca-n transă. Şi nu doar eu dansam. Toată lumea în jurul meu o făcea.

Unde mai pui că peste toate astea îi şi frumoasă.

În timp ce mai salutam lume pe acolo şi mă pregăteam să mă îndrept spre Manu Chao am auzit-o pe Nelly Furtado cântând I'm Like a Bird, singura piesă care voiam să o aud, de altfel.

Din păcate la Manu Chao eram foarte obosită. Mă dureau îngrozitor picioarele şi nu am reuşit să intru cum trebuie în atmosfera concertului. Am stat foarte cuminte mai la o parte de mulţimea cu mâinile pe sus. Publicu mi s-o părut extraodinar iar trupa de pe scenă o sunat foarte bine şi o făcut o atmosferă tare faină.

Official pics day three - B'estfest

Majoritatea trupelor o promis că se întorc. Se pare că le-o plăcut publicul român care în general o fost foarte receptiv.

Mi-o părut rău că nu am putut vedea Kaiser Chiefs şi chiar Cypress Hill din cauză de suprapunere cu chestii ce mă interesau mai mult. Dar asta e. Mă consolez cu faptu că pe la toate festivalurile mari trebuie făcute alegeri de genu ăsta. Data viitoare!

Marile minusuri o fost căldura foarte mare şi, din punctu meu de vedere, imposibilitatea de-a găsi un taxi care să nu-ţi facă gaură în buget după terminarea concertelor. Aşa am ajuns eu duminică noaptea să mă "plimb" cu o durere groaznică de picioare de la Romexpo la Victoriei. Noroc că noaptea e mai răcoare şi că am avut companie plăcută.

Mai stăteam măcar încă 3 zile :) În ciuda minusurilor o fost un weekend prelungit tare reuşit. M-am întâlnit cu prieteni pe care nu i-am văzut de mai bine de-un an. I-am văzut pe Roxi şi David chiar înaninte să facă marea mutare spre state (vă ţin pumnii). Am cunoscut multă lume frumoasă care până atunci făceau parte doar dintr-o lume virtuală: Dana, Oae, Sociopatul, Vlad şi alţii.

Drumu înapoi nu o fost aşa roz pentru că nu am putut dormi deloc. Am avut şi întârziere. Pe de altă parte, am citit o carte mişto, deci tot nu o fost timp pierdut. :)

Una peste alta, frumos la B'EstFest. Sper să fie aşa şi la anu!

First of all we hear that Gordon Brown has phoned Stephen Purcell, the Glasgow City Council Labour leader, 4 times asking him to stand. Purcell has repeatedly turned the Prime Minister down.

Then, Gordon Brown phones Lesley Quinn, Labour's former Scottish General Secretary, and asks her to stand. Again, Quinn declines the Prime Minister's offer.

The Daily Mail reports that Gordon Brown phoned 4 party loyalists in total asking if they would stand.

These 6am calls have got to stop, Gordon! Caller ID boxes will be bought all over the Barras this weekend!

So Labour introduce their candidate shortlist on Friday:-

George Ryan
Irene Graham
Doug Maughan

with East end councillor George Ryan, the odds-on favourite to be nominated.

However, the councillor does not show up at the selection meeting for "family reasons" and pulls out of the running.

Labour then announce the selection process will now be postponed till Monday.

So that means a weekend of more phoning and pleading for Gordon Brown. Will he yet convince Purcell or Quinn? I very much doubt it.

John McTernan has been suggested by the Telegraph as a potential candidate. Probably his involvement with the cash-for-peerages row rules him out though.

And what does it mean about the calibre of the other two hopefuls on the shortlist? If Labour considered them serious challengers for the nomination then surely the selection meeting should have just continued on Friday choosing either of them.

Will they now stand again on Monday? If they're deemed not good enough on Friday, why would they want to stand on Monday? That's a terrible position to be in, and I think they would both be perfectly entitled to stand down from the selection process too.

And now stories are surfacing about the real reasons George Ryan quit the selection process:-

The internet is awash with rumours that some journalist or other has some dirt on Councillor Ryan.

Perhaps it is related to The Times story of housing benefit fraud claims.

Perhaps it may be the story surfacing on Guido Fawkes site about a run-in he had with a political editor after a Cathcart by-election where the police were nearly called.

Perhaps it may be the story that the councillor is none too impressed with the Union Flag - he deemed sectarian - or the National Anthem God Save the Queen - he deemed offensive. Instead, Ryan wanted the saltire and the Flower of Scotland to be used in their place. Could it be that the councillor is none too fond of the Union between Scotland and England? In which case his nomination would just play into the hands of the SNP anyway. The story is on the BBC and in The Times.

Perhaps it has to do with the GHA and funding. Residents of Glasgow East may not be too keen on the councillor if GHA take over their Local Housing Associations with compulsory purchase orders.

Perhaps it was the fact that Councillor Ryan and 10 other Labour Glasgow City Councillors - including Stephen Purcell, that also may explain his reluctance to stand - are being investigated by the Standards Commission over dodgy dealings in an attempt to obtain the land of Paddy's Market in the East End.

Whatever the reason for his withdrawal, family reasons or not, Labour's Glasgow East campaign is already in disarray.

Details of the real reason the sitting MP David Marshall resigned won't help the perception that the Labour Party is mired in sleaze.

Now the BBC are saying that Margaret Curran, the Baillieston MSP, is intending to stand for Labour as a candidate! That would be unbelievably farcial given Labour's griping about Alex Salmond holding a job in Holyrood and Westminster (though Alex is merely following convention set by Donald Dewar and Jim Wallace, and has announced that he intends not to fight his Westminster seat at next election).

Of course, due to boundary changes at the next Scottish General election, the Baillieston seat will disappear. Maybe this forced her hand.

Fair play to her for offering and trying to pull Labour out of their self-dug hole, but that would just leave Labour open to more ridicule.

What if she was to lose? She would still remain MSP for Baillieston but her leadership challenge would be crushed. She would be seen to no longer have the confidence of the people who elected her in 2007!

Perhaps she thinks that if she managed a good campaign in front of the media then her positioning as potential Scottish MSP leader would be improved. A sort of MSP leadership campaign head-start before the other rivals formally start their bids after the by-election. What does Cathy Jamieson, Iain Gray et al think of this move?

In the meantime, the Solidarity Party has named its candidate for Glasgow East. That honour goes to Tricia McLeish from Shettleston.

Tommy Sheridan had nominated her.

So Tommy Sheridan will not be standing for the Glasgow East constituency. That leaves the SSP and Solidarity splitting the socialist vote as expected, and the two main players, Labour and the SNP free to campaign without Tommy Sheridan's profile stealing the election spotlight.

I'm sure Tricia will do a good job, but I imagine Tommy, as leader of the party, would have collected more votes.

It seems Solidarity would be happy with a SNP win in the election to try and force out Gordon Brown. Tommy Sheridan commented "We have got no problem with the SNP winning this election. Solidarity will be pleased to see the demise of Gordon Brown."

Given the recent polls a lot of people will feel the same way.

The game has an additional feature, national anthems before matches.  If you are playing as Northern Ireland, you may be in for a shock.

Instead of their national anthem "God Save the Queen," UEFA Euro 2008 substituted "The Soldier's Song," national anthem of the Republic of Ireland.

One small mistake for man exacerbates one great political firestorm for mankind.

EA Sports Assign Irish Anthem to N. Ireland (SPORTSbyBROOKS)

setelah gw sempet meringkuk nambru seminggu di rumah gara2x sakit gejala tipes, sekarang saya kembali dengan ide2x brilian dan segar..

well thats it for today ,,,

theres nothing else i can say for now,,!!

piszzzzzzzzzz

Human faith religion starts from the premise of humanity which is more than a physical face and biological organism. It is a wisdom that can only be obtained from the nature of God. It is a stage of awareness where purity of living in the physical senses without bias.  Today the global women health and education crisis is result of Christian ethics of distributing education unequally. Education for the women’s of the world. We know that the "God Save the Queen and Queen Save the World “ The only way we can treat the world phenomena of poverty, population, Health, war, global warming, earth, children and racial issues and many more by educating the Queen. It is time to break the prison camp of Christianity in order to change system of the world leadership and to stop educational discrimination from developed nations. The problem is when someone uneducated and dust colored like me tries to prove something it is called delusion and the same product gets new name and introduced by some privileged member of Christianity  called illusion. The issue we see in many undeveloped nations is that the majority of there best minds and educated people go to the America and European countries for batter life. The undeveloped country gets by one way or other because it must while they live good life comfortably as a modern slave of Christianity. As soon as their successors grow up they will follow them to find best education and work in United State and The United Kingdom. The result of this is that after every twenty or twenty five years undeveloped country goes back to the starting point again this whitish circle of helplessness continues because of Christian ethics of distributing education and keeping educated worker for them self. The easy way to stop vicious circle developed nations must educate citizen of poor and undeveloped countries in order to advance life. It is time to stop educational discrimination for humanity. Thus a free beggar is better then the President of country who is in the prison camp of Christianity. The human faith message of life and spreading the understanding of true human nature can bring peace and goodness in our life and in the life of those who are seeking truth. It is time to introduce human faith religious based on new life shining with light and full of happiness. Human faith is the real message of love and peace in the world. The goal that we set up for human being in their lives is the satisfaction and the moral value by means of which all actions must be measures to save human life. Our vision is to introduce true human nature by mobilizing communities and faiths around the world to improve people’s lives .Our mission is to strength the bond of humanity by introducing human faith religion. The "martial law” such as those operating in dictatorships and monarchies should change their unjust way of monopolizing humanity. It is scares to think that the relationships among people and organizations based on Christian ideology .I would like to request from all these Dictators, Kings, Monarchies, Army Chiefs, Organizations, Government officials, Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Religious leaders to adopt new philosophy of humanity and come out from the prison camp of Christianity .
Human faith method of teaching moral values and humanity can give realistic purpose of achieving complete fulfillment of internal life. The spiritual change from loneness to loveliness is based on love by giving unlimited trust in God (Rab). Human mind is miracle of Supreme Being when we struggle to boil it at luck warm temperature of wisdom to understand fundamental of life by reading (Rabi). The ever lasting stage of satisfaction for mind is to reach Supreme Being before death. The journey of memories can be pleasant with nine affirmations of human faith. We believe that it is time to joggle every conscious to show them that human mind is superior matter not material. The festival of life can be celebrated with wisdom of human faith knowledge once we realize that we all are part of the superior race. It advocates spiritual and moral principles on very high scales for the longest term in human history. Human faith is Adam's monotheistic faith and knows that God is the creator and overseer of the universe at all the time and all matters. It is time to modernize our faith by adopting true faith and educate mankind in accordance with basic principle of life. Our vision is to introduce true human religion by mobilizing communities and faiths around the world to improve people's lives .Our mission is to strength the bond of humanity (Rabi) by introducing human faith religion.

IN GOD (Rib) WE TRUST WE HAVE FAITH IN HUMANITY (Rabi).
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Not once has a group of fans spent hour after hour in a stadium or a city center beating incessantly on drums and playing trumpets to "The Great Escape." There haven't been any rousing choruses of the English standards.

Admit it. Something is lacking without the presence of poor old England, whose national soccer team resembles Charlie Brown's baseballers. It never wins - at least not since the 1966 World Cup - but it always makes a spectacle of itself in falling short.

Without Posh and Becks, Euro 2008 is lacking ... well, spice.

Don't you miss breathtaking daily coverage from the British media on the travails of David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard and the rest of the lads?

And without the WAGS - that's wives and girlfriends, for those unfamiliar with the London tabloids - coverage of players' significant others seems to have ceased. How are we supposed to find out what Victoria Beckham, Cheryl Tweedy, Alex Curran and Melanie Slade are up to? They could have Botox injections or chemical peels, and we might miss it.

The only bit of WAGS news was the marriage of Coleen McLoughlin and Rooney on the Italian Riviera last week, and the post-wedding fireworks in Portofino that rivaled a Fourth of July party. Oh, and that bit in The Daily Telegraph that bookmaker William Hill set 5-1 odds of a divorce within five years.

Think back to two years ago, when paparazzi descended on the spa town of Baden-Baden, Germany, camped outside Brenner's Park Hotel and Spa, and followed the WAGS like scent hounds at a fox hunt - from boutiques to restaurants to Max's night club. Nancy Dell'Olio, then girlfriend of then manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, hung out at Garibaldi's in what appeared to be an attempt to make sure the photographers knew where she'd be.

Eriksson left England to manage Manchester City and now Mexico's national team, his legacy defined before the last World Cup when he told indiscreet tales about his players to an undercover reporter from News of the World who was posing as an Arab sheik. His successor, Steve McClaren, was given a swift boot last November, a few days after England lost at home to Croatia and didn't qualify for the Euros, the first major tournament it failed to reach since the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Michel Platini, elected last year as president of the Union of European Football Associations, is presiding over his first tournament. When asked about England's absence, the former French national team star looked up, and sounded exasperated, as if he had expected the question.

"They had only to qualify on the pitch," he said through a translator. "I do not wish to say that we miss England. The 16 teams that have qualified are the 16 who were the best."

He didn't appear pleased with the increased influence of American owners who have bought English clubs. Manchester United (Malcolm Glazer), Liverpool (Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr.), Aston Villa (Randy Lerner) and Derby (Andy Appleby) all are controlled by Yanks, some purchased in heavily leveraged deals. Platini thinks teams that borrow to spend have an unfair advantage.

"I don't see why Americans come and invest in these clubs unless they thought they could make something," he said.

Borrowing and spending is the American way, and the way to success in the Premier League.

Despite the absence of its national team, there have been a few small signs of England at the tournament.

At the Italy-Netherlands match in Bern, there was a white-and-red Cross of St. George banner put up by a fan. There was another banner along the train tracks in a town between Basel and Geneva.

"Three Lions," the anthem of England when it hosted the 1996 European Championship, was played on the stadium public-address system about an hour before the Switzerland-Portugal game in Basel.

Without England, organizers have had fewer security worries. There aren't thousands of drunken, sweaty fans congregating in train stations after matches, some of them urinating against walls, many chanting: "It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming, football's coming home." (Or, alternatively: "We're going home, we're going home ..." after England's eventual elimination.) And fewer scalpers have been evident.

No, it's not the same.

For some, England will always be the focus.

At The Irish Pub in New York, European soccer schedules are listed on posters each day outside, on the sidewalk of Seventh Avenue. But in the days before the start of Euro 2008, another sign competed for attention.

And what did it say?

That Manchester United plays Portsmouth in the Community Shield on Aug. 10

Three day weekend? Wow, Happy Birthday Queenie...you rock!!!

Winter is now upon us and we are about to embark on three long months of grey, cold and miserable weather. The first round of flu is hitting hard and Melburnians have not seen the sun in days. All we feel like doing is curling up on the couch for a few days and do absolutely nothing...but what about the constant demands of modern daily life?

But wait...it's Queen Elizabeth's birthday! And we all know what that means - LONG WEEKEND! Who said that the monarchy was outdated and irrelevant? Perfect timing, no work on Monday and no need to buy an old lady present...this is so awesome!

And to top it all off, we have eight matches over four days to take in as we signal the end of the first half of the season. We can sense some mid-season reviews on the horizon...unless we just sleep on the couch for three days!

…

TEAM NEWS

• The Roos are down a couple more goal kickers...the last thing you need when facing Geelong.
• Kenny McGregor is the new Brett Burton!
• Sydney make one change for the trip to Perth...shame they didn't name Barry Hall just for laughs!
• Dodgy knee and all, Jono Brown has been named to play against Freo. This guy REALLY wants a five-year deal, doesn't he!
• Colin Sylvia has really big shoes to fill...hopefully those shoes have a bit more protection around the achilles...

…

TIPS FOR GOD SAVE THE QUEEN ROUND

CATS by 24: Chappy is back, Cam Mooney is back...while North have nothing but omissions. Geelong are looking ominous.

TIGERS by 3: Richmond might just pull out one of their bi-annual solid performances against interstate opposition for a rare win!

SWANS by 18: Couldn't they just reschedule this game for a few weeks from now...when Barry Hall is ready to play again?

HAWKS by 41: How will Buddy react to all the carry-on during the week? With another bag of goals, no doubt...

LIONS by 30: Could Brisbane be headed back to the finals? Well, they have a greater chance than their opponents Fremantle...

DOGS by 20: The Bulldogs to stay in the hunt for top spot and more 'what's going on down at St Kilda' articles next week...gee, can't wait!

POWER by 28: Will Chad really chop off his finger? And, if so, will he do it at halftime?

MAGPIES by 55: Unless you are a Magpies fan, might be better off finding something else to watch on your Monday off.

…

Tonight’s action:

Cameron Ling, the King of Geelong, shows off his Order of Australia medal - awarded by the Queen for becoming this country's preeminent redhead.

Telstra Dome, Melbourne - 7:40pm (local): North Melbourne v Geelong (SEVEN)

• North Melbourne will like their chances tonight...because Dean Laidley and Mick Malthouse are mates!
• But with the Cats in full swing, we doubt that this will be a good Friday for the Roos...but they might a Good Friday next year! Prepare for outrage!
• The Roos may also have a little extra cash next year...because the AFL doesn't know how to make alternate jumpers works and poop their drawers whenever Eddie McGuire fires up about it!
• Mark Thompson wants to lower expectations on his side...yet he says the Cats are in better form than last year. Well, they won it all last year and playing better...so how does that whole lowering expectations thing work exactly?
• Matty Stokes thought he was going to fail at AFL level until Cam Mooney sweet talked him...no wonder these two love a good cuddle!

I guess it could be an interesting idea for a television show, not one that I would watch, however.

In one episode, the main character Leon Logothetis meets a choir from America in Venice, and proceeds to sing "God Save the Queen" for them, in exchange for 50 Euros. It's enough to get him on his way to Austria.

It occurs to me, that their generous donation could've been better spent elsewhere. In case you didn't notice, Venice is full of people (including children) begging on the streets for their livelihood. This guy is traipsing around Europe with expensive camera equipment and still begging on the streets. Something is wrong here.

I understand the importance of a plot for reality TV. Or at least the appearance of a plot. But I think this goes way too far.

What do you think? How could this show be improved? Or do you like it as it is?

Tell me about it in the TravelPod travel forums.

See you there!

Louise Brown

TravelPod Community Manager

Diccionario de la Real Academia española

La reina de Inglaterra quiere que su futura nuera trabaje

A.H.Lippincott

Me pregunté si aquí la Reina pasaba tranquilos ratos con sus perros y sus inverosímiles pañuelos intentando parecerse a Helen Mirren, o si en cambio era todo un poco morralla para turistas.

Debido a su accesibilidad al ojo del viajero opto por lo segundo.

Tomado en Windsor en Diciembre de 2007

A.H.Lippincott

Il ne faut peut-être pas pas oublier L'Etranger.

It is, in fact, such an arduous task to win all 3 legs of the Triple Crown that there has not been a winner since the fantastically much-the-best Affirmed in 1978. That was 3o years ago! With all of the care of veterinary medicine, money, mapped out breeding lines and tricks that trainers pull out of their hats, there has not been ONE horse who has been good enough to withstand the grueling task of The Kentucky Derby, followed 2 weeks later by the Preakness Stakes, followed finally 3 weeks later by the Belmont Stakes in my entire lifetime. In fact, since the inception of the Triple Crown, there have been only 11 winners overall. And Saturday was the 133rd running.

It is with all of this in mind that you must understand that horsemen everywhere are foaming at the bit at the possibility of seeing the next Triple Crown Winner in the Derby and Preakness winner and pre-race favorite - Big Brown. He was much the best in the Derby taking the wire by an easy 4 and 3/4 lengths and winning the Preakness by over 5 lengths has already brought whispers of Triple Crown winners to the lips of all who know what it is. The horse demonstrated his unbelievable turn of foot right around the 3/8ths pole where Kent Desormeaux just gave him his head and he opened up about 5 lengths on the rest of the field. He didn't even get stuck.

However, I'm almost certain that Rick Dutrow nor any of Big Browns many owners are daring to whisper such things, even in the sanctity of their homes, tucked away in darkened closets, as horseman are some of the most superstitious folk you will ever meet. I could almost bet that Dutrow isn't going to deviate from his normal pre-race workouts and exercising for Big Brown, even though he's essentially preparing this horse for the literal race of his lifetime. He'll eat the same grain, will get the same amount of hay, will follow the same routines and will get the same pamperings that he always has. I can almost guarantee that Big Brown's groom is gonna rub that horse until his coat shines, and I bet that he's gonna get to run the barn for a few days, too. Peppermints will be flying off the shelves and laughter will fill the shed rows off of such spectacular victory. To an outsider, it will appear "Business as usual" but everyone knows you don't attempt to fix things that ain't broke.

Unfortunately, so much of the superstitiousness is about keeping yourself in check with reality. Too often we have seen tragedy overtake the most resilient at the least suspecting times. There have been many to make it through the first 2 legs of the Triple Crown, only to be denied the Belmont. We've seen Charistmatic snap his leg in 2 places at the end of 131st Belmont Stakes. I watched War Emblem eat track as he stumbled out of the gate in NY in 2002, thus putting him out of the running before he even started. We learned that Funny Cide just wasn't much the best that day in 2003 and we watched in horror as fellow horsemen were accused of denying the Belmont win and subsequently, a Triple Crown Win, to Smarty Jones in 2004, a horse who had won every race he had ever run in, until that day. Not to mention the many horses whose lives have been lost due to broken ankles and broken legs.From Barbaro to Eight Belles, horseracing is a here today, gone tomorrow kind of business, and no one EVER forgets that. You just can't afford to.

In honor of this potential once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and in honor of racing itself, I am hosting a Belmont Stakes party which will be 3 weeks from yesterday at 4pm. Giving us time for festivities, drinking and chow, then race watching, then more drinking, more chow and lots of good times. Grilling, beer drinking, reveling at my newly fenced in backyard and s'mores making are a few of the things that await you. I'm hoping for a Triple Crown win to add to the joyousness of the day, but I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, and I can only hope that Big Brown is much the best on that Saturday afternoon in early June. I do know that it'll be a good time none-the-less. So, for those of you who actually read my blog, consider this your invite. Maybe I'll send out an email, too.

I was cursed DO'H! blessed with a ridiculously text book case of Cancerian astrological qualities. Anything you've ever heard or read about Cancers = ME. I've shared before that I am a religious zealot when it comes to reading my horoscope. I'm like, the Church of Jesus Christ of Ladder Day Saints, if they believed in horoscopes and not Jesus. Ok, so I'm less like The CJCLDS and maybe more like a Pagan or something, but the fact remains that it's not what or who you have faith in, it's just that you have faith. So, with that in mind, may I share with you, my Gospel of the day - my horribly fantastic horoscope:

The boundaries between friendship and romance could be blurred today as Neptune dissolves your 8th House of Intimacy. You are eager to be in a fun-filled social setting now, placing you in close proximity with people you like. Tread carefully, for your emotional needs can lure you into tricky waters.

Had I only READ my horoscope beforehand, I probably never would have responded to that damn text which in turn has given me enough to chew on for the next two days that I'll barely have to eat.

God save the queen her fascist regime
It made you a moron a potential h bomb !

God save the queen she aint no human being
There is no future in englands dreaming

Dont be told what you want dont be told what you need
Theres no future no future no future for you

God save the queen we mean it man (God save window leen)
We love our queen God saves (God save... human beings)

God save the queen cos tourists are money
And our figurehead is not what she seems
Oh God save history God save your mad parade
Oh lord God have mercy all crimes are paid

When theres no future how can there be sin
Were the flowers in the dustbin
Were the poison in your human machine
Were the future your future

God save the queen we mean it man
There is no future in englands dreaming

No future for you no future for me
No future no future for you

Formulaire à joindre pour toute candidature...

You can also buy some “revolutionary” May '68 gadget in Paul Smith boutiques, like candles, key cases, pocket notebooks, et cetera. According to me, this is the negation of the spirit of a season that, for better or worse, changed the world. But this is the spirit of our times, where often the rebels eat caviar and drink champagne.

Apparently she has two birthdays a year, greedy bastard! I wonder what that makes her in Dog years?

Still not to let the opportunity to show my respect of our great maniacal Monarchial institution i invite you to be upstanding and click on this patriotic link 'Me Luds, Laydees Hand Gentlemin, Please be Upstanding for Er Right Royal Highniss the Queen.'

God Save The Queen is licensed under a Creative Commons Reconocimiento-No comercial 2.5 Perú License.

Probablemente sea lo que pasará cuando finalmente Alan Gabriel Ludwig y la señorita Lourdes finalmente se fusionen en una masa amorfa y conservadora. Para variar, lo único que chorreará será mondongo.

Un poquito basado en esto.

The worst aspect of this temporary hirsute-holocaust, in addition to looking like a huge Murray Mint, is that I can feel air. It’s like having a piss outdoors when the wind suddenly licks around ones member and it feels inordinately cold because it’s an unfamiliar state of affairs purely because one doesn’t walk about in the great outdoors with ones cock exposed to the elements, not on St. Georges Day anyway (we’ll come back to him). My face has become sensitive like a vast helmet (as in ‘cock end’, not ‘crash’) if someone calls across the road I can feel their breath on my shorn skin, every pore of my face is aroused by the mildest whiff of a waft, perhaps from under a door, or the tiny beating wing of a yellowhammer, yonder, under the gathering storm clouds of complacency, yeah.

The weather yesterday was the first warm day we’ve had in this country since that odd day at the end of the British Superbike season last October. Of course as soon as there is so much as a hint of heat every fat white underclass wanker in Christendom strips down to their fucking pants and takes it on themselves to wander, slowly, through public places. Tooting yesterday looked like a chessboard, burkha vs. blubber.

Doubtless these flabby tosspots are the same types that bedeck their grotty houses with the cross of St. George, or ‘I am a racist’ flags. (Some) people moan on and fucking on about how we should celebrate St George’s day like the Irish do St. Patrick’s and what have you, but it would be impossible to do this without the whole fucking thing being completely overtaken by bullet headed men getting completely inebriated before singing ‘send the buggers back’ and beating the fucking shit out of each other and whomsoever happened to pass by.

Because it’s very hard to separate the St.Georges Cross with right-wing thuggery, for the time being at least, we’ll just have to accept that we’re not mature enough to have national St Georges Day celebrations, yet…

But there is a solution, a way to claim back the St. George flag for all the decent tolerant English citizens, of which I’m one.

Marketing.

St. George was a Greek speaking Turk, he’s also the patron saint Aragon, Canada, Catalonia, China, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Montenegro, Palestine, Portugal, Russia, and Serbia. Lets tell all those flag waving cunts who crawl out their tax-paid for houses to moan in Ladbrokes, MacDonalds, Weatherspoons etc., about immigration, how it’s their English right to indulge in all-day St. George inspired piss-ups, that their patron saint was a wog… Then the rest of us can enjoy a nice day off with moral impunity.

My ex girlfriend who was Japanese thought this was our national anthem, if only.