I would suggest looking at Tyler Hick's images of Afghanistan in the New York Times and reading Chivers articles. Then, I would suggest writing your congressional delegations, wherever you may be, to tell them that the war will defeat us before we defeat whomever it is that we are fighting.

I just saw that former Yankee Oscar Azocar has died at the age of 45. There were no details about the cause of death. If I find any more information, I will post it.

RIP, Oscar

Unrelated:
http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/830794-man-forced-to-marry-cow-faints-at-wedding

"A teenager collapsed during his marriage to a cow he had earlier been caught having sex with after claiming it had flirted with him.

Unemployed Ngurah Alit, 18, was seen in a Bali paddy field standing naked behind the animal.

He claimed he believed the cow was a young and beautiful woman, and it had seduced him with flattering compliments."

Yeah, happens to me all the time.

[2] Azocar died of a heart attack

[3]

What was Kirstie Alley doing in Bali?

[1] Right On, Mick! 8 years and counting now..

So what do you all think of the vuvuzela's? Must be excruciating to hear live in the stadium for two hours, but if the fans's love it..

[6] They'd turn me into a soccer hooligan.

I damn near want to riot and light cars on fire just suffering through two hours of that nonsense on TV ...

[6] 'Excruciating' is the right word.
Yes, if the fans's love it, the fans's should have it, but we doesn't has to like it.

[7][8] Yeah, it's truly a disturbing sound...good local flavor I guess. Local boys grinded out a victory last night against Cameroon, but forecast is cloudy for their game against the Holland..

[9] I would say they have no chance against the Dutch, but Paraguay picking up a draw against the Italians was almost as long a shot as your guys grabbing a point against the Netherlands.

Hm, that's a little convoluted. I guess it's just my way of saying, you can't predict soccer.

i have quit drums & marimba and have taken up vuvuzela full-time. i am available for instruction, performance, recording and composition.

i figure i'll work about the same amount... : /

(ahem.)

Is it wrong to want to see Brazil stomp North Korea about 15-0 tomorrow?

[10] Yeah, Japan has had mucho trouble scoring goals so if they fall behind even 1-0 it could be over real quick.
[11] Hysterical! i want to get a vuvuzela and play it on a rush hour train here.
[12] Actually, I'm rooting for the oppostie. NK beating Brazil...greatest upset of all time, in any sport?

[13] Yeah, but that would mean rooting for North Korea and frankly, the day hasn't dawned when I'd find myself willing to do that.

[14] Although, I *do* love the fact that the last time they were in the World Cup, in 1966, they beat the Italians and forced them to fly home to a rotten vegetable welcome barrage at the airport.

[14] There's a great documentary film about that (the N.Koreans, not the veggie throwing Italians..though I would happily watch that too.)

Seems ratings for the WC are good in the US? Unfortunately here most of the games are on in the middles of the night.

[16] I think they're decent (no thanks to thelarmis). I've been watching most of the games on ESPN3, which has actually been pretty good streaming quality. It's not too bad when the worst game you'll see starts at 4AM, I remember the South Korean cup being worse, it wake up, watch a game, go back to sleep and then re-wake to get up for work.

That made for some odd nights!

[17] hey, i'm still up at 4am! : )

nowadays, i'm reading my cardboard gods book at that hour...

hey, whaddya know - 2 innings into the west coast interleague games and the blow jays have homered and the hydrox (oreos) are losing.

who said baseball isn't predictable?! ; )

[18] Yes, but you think soccer is boring, so chances are, you're not fueling the ratings at that hour!

=)

[20] oh my god, i think i'm getting unfairly dumped on here! i kinda felt like jon de rosa - who i think is an excellent writer and wonderful addition to the banter staff - was singling me out, too.

i know i'm not the only one, but i just really don't care about soccer. i wasn't just coming out with it, either - just commenting on other posts about it. soccer and the world cup isn't on my radar. i haven't even seen as much as a commercial for or highlight of it. i wouldn't have even known it was the world cup if it weren't for here.

so, "boring" is the wrong word. i just have less than zero interest in it. it's like college basketball to me. or installing kitchen cabinets. or ripping out my eyelashes one by one.

now, if you'll excuse me, i have to go practice...my zuzuvela awaits!!! : )

[3] Ridiculous! EVERYONE in New Hampshire know Cows don't flirt. Sheep... maybe. But never Cows.

[21] You'd dig the drumming by the Ghanaian fans, if you could hear it over the zuzuvela!

I'm catching up on some news, riveting interview here with Stephen Kinzer on BP, Iran and re-imaging the Middle East.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/14/steven_kinzer_on_the_history_of

cult and tokyo - you guys gotta check this out. it's a long vid clip (7.5 mins), but totally worth it. wowie zowie!!!

http://www.spinner.com/2010/06/14/herbie-hancock-space-captain-video-premiere/

[23] oh, i'm sure. i have a wonderful book on west african drumming. it's mostly from ghana and the ewe people. i loves it!!!

Careful .... the "ewe people" got Ross Perot in trouble a few years ago .... :-P

[24] Wow, that was great! As much as I love music, I can only imagine how much better it actually is to play like that!

[27] well, no one can play like derek, oteil, herbie or vincenzo! : )

[24] Well, the song is a bit bollocks, but the Derek & Herbie part of the show is some damn fine stuff.

[29] That's what great players can do for sure though, take a "meh" song and go into outer space with it. Think of Bird and Dizzy playing show tunes!

[29] yeah, i agree. i wasn't familiar with the tune. when i heard about this recording awhile back, i wasn't expecting much. they really did a wonderful job!

[30] Obviously, yes, though what I like about the song is the playing in the part that isn't really the "meat" of the song. From a traditional perspective, most people would be interested in everything *but* the portion that's actually interesting. It's only the improvisation in the break that's compelling, but for most people, that's not even really part of the song at all ...

No fancy video, which is too bad, the JHE played 2 shows that day, the 1st, which was a wet DOG of a show, was the one that was video-taped for Swedish TV, but luckily, both were taped at the soundboard, but my nominee for the best version of "Hey Joe" you'll ever hear ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTnvkRLb5iI

[32] exactly! it's funny - i forwarded the link to my brother and told him to skip the "boring" (there's that word again! i actually didn't use it...) part and go right to the improv and interplay. that's the worthwhile stuff right there!

[33] i played hey joe twice this past weekend...

[34] You erstwhile Mitch, you!

[35] Mitch Thelarmis? No No, it's "Elvin Thelarmis"!

Cult, ever listen to any Don Pullen?

[36] Can't say I'd heard of the name. Looking him up on wiki, I think there's a very good chance I haven't heard anything he's played on.

Recommendations (and what brought him to mind)?

[36] Well, Mitch was often described as being influenced by Elvin, so it's not as far a stretch as you think!

[38] Yes! He had a bit of the whilrwind in him, and Jimi was obviously Trane.

[37] Was listening to a trio album of his called "Random Thoughts" the other night, Lewis Nash on drums I think. Pullen played with Mingus then led a group with Geroge Adams in the 70s, NYC loft scene days. Pretty free but still incredibly swinging. He died in the late 1990s I think..I got three or four of his albums, really digging them.

[39] This. If there was ever a player who managed to take Trane's concept of "sheets of sound" to its technological, musical and logical peak, it was Hendrix. Trane pioneered the concept of "smearing sound" but his instrument wasn't really capable of taking that musical innovation to its conclusion. It's a pity that Coltrane never met Jimi ... though Jimi had contact with Miles, and that would have been an amazing collaboration, it was really Jimi and Trane that would have laid this world to waste ...

[40] Man, I have always thought that too, a perfectly logical pairing! When you listen to Coltrane on something like "Interstellar Space", where he's just putting out laser beams of rythmn through his sax..imagine that with Jimi on Band of Gypsies. We'd have reached the apocalypse..

Whatever happend to old Rashied Ali anyways?