Wizard of Oz returns to cinemas

Judy Garland (l) was 16 years old when she made the film A digitally restored version of 1939 Hollywood classic The Wizard of Oz is to open in UK cinemas next month. Working from the original three-strip Technicolor negatives, experts at the Warner Bros studio have removed dirt, dust, debris and scratches. The result, according to the British Film Institute, boasts "amazing image clarity and breathtaking colour". Based on L Frank Baum's 1900 novel, the film stars Judy Garland as a farm girl transported to a magical kingdom. Winner of three Academy Awards, it opens in 40 cinemas across the country on 15 December. Lavish costumes The three-strip Technicolor process - which combined three strips of coloured film - yielded excellent colour quality but was expensive and difficult to handle. That, combined with the lavish sets and costumes, swelled the budget to a then enormous $2.7m. Judy Garland was 16 years old when she won the part of Dorothy - a role she won after MGM decided Shirley Temple's talents were not extensive enough to do it justice. Wicked, a musical based on the witches in The Wizard of Oz, is currently running in London's West End.

E' morto Philippe Noiret monumento del cinema d'autore - Spettacoli & Cultura - Repubblica.it

PARIGI - E' morto oggi, dopo una lunga malattia, il grande attore francese Philippe Noiret. Lo ha annunciato il suo agente. Aveva 76 anni. Fra i tanti ruoli della sua lunga carriera (130 film in cinquant'anni), all'insegna della grande qualità, al pubblico italiano sono particolarmente cari quelli del proiezionista di Nuovo Cinema Paradiso, regia di Giuseppe Tornatore, e di Pablo Neruda nel Postino di Massimo Troisi.

Nato a Lille in Francia il primo Ottobre 1930, Noiret studia ecitazione con Roger Blin, quindi entra al Théatre National Populaire (TNP) di Jean Vilar, dove lavora per una decina d'anni, coltivando parallelamente il cabaret assieme a Jean-Pierre Darras.

Il suo esordio al cinema - nel 1956, in La pointe courte di Agnes Varda - ha un sapore del tutto occasionale; ma trascorsi altri cinque anni, la sua figura comincia ad apparire con frequenza via via crescente sugli schermi del cinema francese, seppure ancora in ruoli secondari. Nel 1960 è lo zio di Zazie in Zazie nel metrò di L. Malle, nel 1961 recita in Tutto l'oro del mondo di René Clair, nel 1965 è in Parigi brucia? di
Clément (per citare i nomi più noti).

Nel 1969 è accanto a Michel Piccoli in Topaz di Alfred Hitchcock. Ma la vera popolarità arriva negli anni 1970, quando interpreta uno dei quattro amici che vogliono suicidarsi a furia di cibo e sesso in La grande abbuffata di Marco Ferreri (1973), con il quale gira l'anno seguente Non toccare la donna bianca. Sempre nel 1974, sostiene con successo il ruolo drammatico offertogli da Bertrand Tavernier in L'orologiaio di Saint-Paul, riconfermando le sue capacità interpretative l'anno successivo nel Giudice e l'assassino e Che la festa cominci, ancora di Tavernier.

A partire dal 1975, quando recita in Amici miei di Mario Monicelli, la sua carriera si divide tra la Francia e l'Italia. Nel nostro Pese, infatti, nell'arco di tre lustri interpreta diversi film d'autore, a partire dal Deserto dei tartari di Valerio Zurlini (1976) per arrivare a Dimenticare Palermo di Francesco Rosi (1990), passando per I tre fratelli di Rosi (1981), Speriamo che sia femmina di Mario Monicelli (1986), La famiglia di Ettore Scola (1987) e Nuovo cinema Paradiso di Giuseppe Tornatore (1988).

In patria continua la collaborazione con Tavernier in Colpo di spugna (1981) e La vita e niente altro (1989). E anche dagli anni Novanta in poi la sua carriera continua a non conoscere sosta, sia in patria che all'estero. Sul piccolo e sul grande schermo.

Ma basta già questo lungo elenco di film per comprendere la portata del suo contributo al cinema. Che adesso, con la sua morte, è in lutto. Tra i commenti più toccanti quello del novantunenne Mario Monicelli: "Era una razza d'attore in via di estinzione, che purtroppo sta scomparendo in tutto il mondo - dice il regista - di grande qualità, che veniva dalla vecchia scuola e dal teatro. Ed è stato anche un grande amico dell'Italia. In tanti film italiani interpretò i nostri personaggi con grande disinvoltura e verità".

Monicelli ricorda di aver avuto con Noiret "rapporti non solo di lavoro: eravamo amici. Ancora mi ricordo quando lo chiami per Amici miei per fargli interpretare un caporedattore della 'Nazione', un toscanaccio che lui riuscì a rendere credibile".

Latin Stars Unite for Broadway Cares AIDS Benefit

The worlds of latin music and Broadway are set to unite again at BB Kings Blues Club and Grill on Monday November 20th for the latest edition of "An Evening of Latin Rhythms", a one night only event benefiting Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS.

Broadway legend and Kennedy Center Honoree Chita Rivera will be joined by two time Emmy Award winning actor / writer John Leguizamo and a host of Latin American stars of stage, screen, television and music. Scheduled to appear are Broadway's Tony Award winner Wilson Jermaine Heredia and Daphne Rubin Vega from the original cast of RENT, Natalie Toro, Allen Hidalgo, Wilson Cruz (LOGO TV's Noah's Ark), Justina Machado (HBO's Six Feet Under), John Herrera (The Times They Are A-Changin'), Saundra Santiago (The Sopranos), Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Nilo Cruz, the "Grand Dame of Telenovelas Lupita Ferrer and an ensemble of nineteen Broadway and award winning professional Latin ballroom dancers.

Grammy Award winning trombonist - Jimmy Bosch will be just one of the band of All Star Mambo and Salsa musicians. The evening's music will be orchestrated and conducted by four time Grammy Award winner and Academy Award nominee Ray Santos who will helm the evening's musical journey that will span the jazz and mambo hits of the "Palladium era" through the Cuban "Salsa invasion" of the 1950s and 60s that continues to influence today's biggest Latin recording stars.

"Latin Rhythms"' director and choreographer, Richard Amaro (last seen on Broadway in Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life), conceived the series of "Latin Rhythms" events as a way to celebrate the modern roots of a multi-cultural and multi-racial body of work that spans five decades and continues to blend culture, music, and dance today.

The event is produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) who distributes funds year-round from events like "Latin Rhythms" to AIDS service organizations across the country combating AIDS in Hispanic communities, such as Hispanic AIDS Forum in Manhattan, La Familia Unida AIDS Outreach Project in the Bronx, Casa Betsaida in Brooklyn, Project VIDA in Chicago, International AIDS Empowerment in El Paso, and Bill's Kitchen and Centro de Interrencion e Intergracion Paso a Paso in Puerto Rico, and many others.

"Latin Rhythms" will take place at BB Kings Blues Club and Grill on Monday November 20th.

Gli anglicani aprono all'eutanasia "Prevalga la compassione cristiana" - esteri - Repubblica.it

LONDRA - La pietà cristiana contempla - in alcuni casi - l'eutanasia. Lo dice la Chiesa anglicana, che per la prima volta si apre alla possibilità dell'eutanasia passiva se si tratta di neonati con gravissimi e irrimediabili handicap. E spiega che è possibile che "ci siano situazioni in cui per un cristiano la compassione debba prevalere sul principio secondo cui la vita va preservata a tutti i costi".

La questione è diventata di nuovo di scottante attualità in Gran Bretagna una settimana fa, quando una prestigiosa associazione di ginecologi e ostetrici britannici - il Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - ha proposto l'eutanasia (in qualche caso persino attiva) per i bambini che vengano alla luce con devastanti invalidità e che siano quindi condannati ad una vita vegetativa e spesso di grande sofferenza.

Per ginecologi e ostetrici il problema non è soltanto di astratta natura morale: l'accanimento terapeutico su casi più o meno disperati porta ad un ingente spreco di risorse preziose e limitate che sarebbero molto più utili se dirottate verso la cura di bambini risanabili. Poi, a sorpresa un vescovo anglicano di spicco, il reverendo Tom Butler, a capo della diocesi di Southwark, ha fatto sue parecchie delle preoccupazioni e delle raccomandazioni del Royal College, che da più parti è stato accusato di avere una visione nazistoide della vita e di voler sopprimere i portatori di handicap.

In una lettera a una commissione indipendente di bioetica che deve pronunciarsi su questa delicatissima e controversa materia e formulare nuove direttive per i medici (il 'Nuffield Council on Bioethics'), l'alto prelato afferma che "in alcune circostanze può essere giusto fermare o togliere una cura, sapendo che è possibile, probabile o anche certo che ciò provocherà la morte".

Il vescovo formula quest'approccio non a titolo personale, ma a nome della chiesa anglicana. Non precisa quali siano le circostanze 'eccezionali' in cui si può praticare l'eutanasia passiva, ma insiste sul tasto che la decisione va presa "con reticenza", quando tutte le altre possibilità siano state esplorate e scartate. Che cosa fare dei neonati con pesanti handicap (in genere si tratta di prematuri) è un tema particolarmente sentito in Gran Bretagna per via di un'aspra battaglia giudiziaria per mantenere in vita una bimba che oggi ha tre anni, Charlotte Wyatt, nata prematura di tre mesi.

Alla nascita Charlotte pesava appena cinquecento grammi. I genitori sono riusciti a farla mantenere in vita nonostante il parere negativo dei medici, che non volevano farlo a qualsiasi prezzo. Malgrado i grossi danni al cervello e ai polmoni Charlotte è sopravvissuta, in stato vegetativo e alimentata artificialmente. Nel frattempo i genitori si sono separati e hanno lasciata in ospedale la figlia per la quale si sta adesso cercando una famiglia disposta all'adozione. In Olanda, il Paese europeo dove più si pratica l'eutanasia, i bambini che nascono con un anticipo superiore a 25 settimane vengono lasciati morire.

Londra, scoperto un nuovo Caravaggio abbandonato nei depositi come una copia - Spettacoli & Cultura - Repubblica.it

LONDRA - Per oltre un secolo era rimasto in un deposito della Royal Collection. Ora si scopre che quel quadro non era semplicemente la copia di "La chiamata di San Pietro e Sant'Andrea", bensì un dipinto originale del XVII secolo di Caravaggio.

Il quadro comprato in principio da Carlo I, fu reso irriconoscibile dallo sporco e dai segni del tempo e venne preso per una semplice copia. Ma il professor Maurizio Marini propose il restauro dell'opera e da qui la nuova verità sul dipinto.

Il quadro, olio su tela, misura 140 cm per 160 cm e verrà esibito il prossimo anno alla Queen's Gallery presso The Art of Italy a Buckingham Palace dal 30 marzo 2007 fino al gennaio 2008.

Vocalist Audrey Silver Appearing At Sweet Rhythm Tuesday, December 5th sets at 8pm and 9:30pm

Vocalist Audrey Silver

Appearing At

Sweet Rhythm
  88   Seventh Ave. South
   (bet. Grove & Bleecker)
        212-255-3626
http://www.sweetrhythmny.com/

Tuesday, December 5th
sets at 8pm and 9:30pm

Jon Cowherd - Piano
John Hart - Guitar
Joe Fitzgerald - Bass
Anthony Pinciotti - Drums

link to website:
http://www.audreysilver.com

"... A sincere, multi-talented singer and an intelligent entertainer with class and vibrant originality.  You will love her lyrical style... and luxurious voice.  This woman is on her way to stardom."
New York Monthly Herald, May 2006

"Her voice rings true, with lovely tone and fine diction. She seems to pick the right tempo for each song she chooses. The ballads don't just die there— they move! And most of all, when there is a tempo, she swings!!! I dug it. You'll dig it too."
– Bob Dorough, Singer/Pianist

"Audrey Silver has that rare quality of light infectious swing that lights up her tall willowy persona."
– Mark Murphy, Vocalist







 

Patti Austin to perform at Koger Center

COLUMBIA — She made her debut at the Apollo Theater at age four and had a contract with RCA Records when she was only five. Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington have proclaimed themselves as her godparents.

By the late 1960s Patti Austin (pictured) was a prolific session musician and commercial jingle singer. By the 1980s she was signed to Jones’ Qwest Records and she began having hits. She charted 20 R&B songs between 1969 and 1991 and had success on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, where she hit number one in 1981 with “Do You Love Me?’

The album containing that hit, “Every Home Should Have One,” also produced her biggest mainstream hit. “Baby, Come To Me,” a duet with James Ingram, peaked at number 73 on the Hot 100 in early 1982. After being featured as the love theme in a prominent storyline on the soap opera “General Hospital,” the song re-entered the pop chart in October and went to number one in early 1983.

In 1991, she recorded the duet “You Brought Me Love” with openly gay music legend Johnny Mathis, which was received with critical acclaim. That same year she was invited to be a guest on a Johnny Mathis television special that was broadcast across North America.

Coming up in November at the Koger Center, the jazz, R&B and dance music diva will undoubtedly take Columbia by storm.

Long a friend of the LGBT community, Austin was endeared to queer fans with a number of dance music classics that kept gays and lesbians hoping on dance floors throughout the ’80s.

BBC NEWS - 'Only 50 years left' for sea fish

'Only 50 years left' for sea fish
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website


There will be virtually nothing left to fish from the seas by the middle of the century if current trends continue, according to a major scientific study.

Stocks have collapsed in nearly one-third of sea fisheries, and the rate of decline is accelerating.

Writing in the journal Science, the international team of researchers says fishery decline is closely tied to a broader loss of marine biodiversity.

But a greater use of protected areas could safeguard existing stocks.

"The way we use the oceans is that we hope and assume there will always be another species to exploit after we've completely gone through the last one," said research leader Boris Worm, from Dalhousie University in Canada.

"What we're highlighting is there is a finite number of stocks; we have gone through one-third, and we are going to get through the rest," he told the BBC News website.

Steve Palumbi, from Stanford University in California, one of the other scientists on the project, added: "Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the ocean species together, as working ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood."

Spanning the seas

This is a vast piece of research, incorporating scientists from many institutions in Europe and the Americas, and drawing on four distinctly different kinds of data.

Catch records from the open sea give a picture of declining fish stocks.

In 2003, 29% of open sea fisheries were in a state of collapse, defined as a decline to less than 10% of their original yield.

Bigger vessels, better nets, and new technology for spotting fish are not bringing the world's fleets bigger returns - in fact, the global catch fell by 13% between 1994 and 2003.

Historical records from coastal zones in North America, Europe and Australia also show declining yields, in step with declining species diversity; these are yields not just of fish, but of other kinds of seafood too.

Zones of biodiversity loss also tended to see more beach closures, more blooms of potentially harmful algae, and more coastal flooding.

Experiments performed in small, relatively contained ecosystems show that reductions in diversity tend to bring reductions in the size and robustness of local fish stocks. This implies that loss of biodiversity is driving the declines in fish stocks seen in the large-scale studies.

The final part of the jigsaw is data from areas where fishing has been banned or heavily restricted.


These show that protection brings back biodiversity within the zone, and restores populations of fish just outside.

"The image I use to explain why biodiversity is so important is that marine life is a bit like a house of cards," said Dr Worm.

"All parts of it are integral to the structure; if you remove parts, particularly at the bottom, it's detrimental to everything on top and threatens the whole structure.

"And we're learning that in the oceans, species are very strongly linked to each other - probably more so than on land."

Protected interest

What the study does not do is attribute damage to individual activities such as over-fishing, pollution or habitat loss; instead it paints a picture of the cumulative harm done across the board.

Even so, a key implication of the research is that more of the oceans should be protected.

But the extent of protection is not the only issue, according to Carl Gustaf Lundin, head of the global marine programme at IUCN, the World Conservation Union.

"The benefits of marine-protected areas are quite clear in a few cases; there's no doubt that protecting areas leads to a lot more fish and larger fish, and less vulnerability," he said.

"But you also have to have good management of marine parks and good management of fisheries. Clearly, fishing should not wreck the ecosystem, bottom trawling being a good example of something which does wreck the ecosystem."

But, he said, the concept of protecting fish stocks by protecting biodiversity does make sense.

"This is a good compelling case; we should protect biodiversity, and it does pay off even in simple monetary terms through fisheries yield."

Protecting stocks demands the political will to act on scientific advice - something which Boris Worm finds lacking in Europe, where politicians have ignored recommendations to halt the iconic North Sea cod fishery year after year.

Without a ban, scientists fear the North Sea stocks could follow the Grand Banks cod of eastern Canada into apparently terminal decline.

"I'm just amazed, it's very irrational," he said.


"You have scientific consensus and nothing moves. It's a sad example; and what happened in Canada should be such a warning, because now it's collapsed it's not coming back."

Pedaggio per entrare in centro con l'auto a Milano si comincia da febbraio - cronaca - Repubblica.it

MILANO - Partirà dal prossimo 19 febbraio la prima sperimentazione italiana di "pollution charge", la tassa antinquinamento imposta a chi entra in automobile in un centro urbano. A fare da apripista sarà Milano, dove per accedere all'area compresa all'interno del tracciato ferroviario sarà necessario pagare un pedaggio compreso tra i due e i dieci euro. Il provvedimento, ampiamente annunciato e anche contestato da diverse categorie, è stato ufficialmente inserito nel "piano di mobilità" cittadina 2006-2011 consegnato agli assessori con tanto di tariffe e regolamento.

Se in Italia si tratta di una prima, non è così all'estero dove esperienze simili sono state adottate con successo a Oslo, Londra e Stoccolma. A differenza delle altre metropoli del nord Europa, Milano ha stabilito di introdurre un tariffario proporzionale al livello di inquinamento dei veicoli che saranno suddivisi in 5 diverse classi.

Quella che prenderà li via il 19 febbraio sarà una prima fase sperimentale. L'area cittadina sulla quale varrà il ticket si estende su circa 60 chilometri quadrati, pari al 33% del territorio comunale, e interessa una popolazione residente di 774 mila abitanti, il 59% del totale dei residenti nel comune di Milano. In questa stessa area, così "limitata" rispetto alla popolazione residente, entra invece circa il 65% dei veicoli dei non residenti.

Per quanto riguarda i residenti e domiciliati a Milano, avranno l'opzione di acquistare un pass annuale, a tariffa agevolata rispettivamente di 40, 100 e 200 euro per i veicoli di Classe 3, 4 e 5. La fascia oraria di applicazione prevista è tra le 7 e le 18 di tutti i giorni feriali. Dal 15 ottobre la "pollution charge" sarà applicata a regime e incrementata, sia per quanto riguarda il prezzo che le categorie di automobili.

Secondo il Comune, il controllo degli accessi sarà garantito da "portali elettronici con sistemi video omologati per il riconoscimento delle targhe". Quindi "non vi saranno ostacoli" allo scorrimento del traffico, "non essendoci barriere fisiche" agli ingressi. Inizialmente il ticket si acquisterà con modalità simili a quelle utilizzate attualmente per i parcheggi. Poi dal 15 ottobre 2007 si potranno utilizzare carte a scalare, carte di credito via internet, call center o bancomat, oppure sms (con addebito diretto dell'importo sulla carta telefonica) o contanti presso i punti vendita, come i tabaccai.

L'introduzione della tassa, ha spiegato l'assessore Edoardo Croci, "rappresenta una grande opportunità per ridurre il traffico e diminuire l'inquinamento generando risorse importanti da destinare al potenziamento del trasporto pubblico e al finanziamento di altri interventi di politica ambientale".

Photos of my little niece, Laura

Laura Ottobre 2006

Cina - Nascita di un impero

Sono appena stato a vedere la mostra alle Scuderie del Quirinale, "Cina, Nascita di un Impero", ed è meravigliosa. Consiglio a tutti di andarla a vedere!

 

Oscar Peterson - The Final Concerts

 

The Final Concerts Oscar Peterson Featuring: Oscar Peterson (p), Ray Brown (b), Ed Thigpen (dr) REFERENCE: 69208 BAR CODE: 8436028692088 PRICE:  12.45 € The May 29, 1965 concert marks the final performance of the finest piano trio in jazz history, featuring pianist Oscar Peterson, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Ed Thigpen. The quartet performed eight outstanding tracks, which included five modern jazz standards and three original Peterson compositions - "The Smudge", "Lovers Promenade" and "Children's Tune". This edition also includes the outstanding London, October 1, 1964 concert featuring the trio in full swing on five modern jazz standards and four more Peterson compositions including: "Hallelujah Time", "Place St. Henri", "Nightingale" and "Reunion Blues". Tracklisting : 1. Younger Than Spring Time 2. Misty 3. Django 4. Smudge 5. Autumn Leaves 6. Moanin' 7. Lovers Promenade 8. Children's Tune 9. Hallelujah Time 10. Con Alma 11. Waltz for Debby 12. Cubano Chant 13. Yours Is My Heart Alone 14. Place St. Henri 15. My One and Only Love 16. Nightingale 17. Reunion Blues

Ike Turner - Risin' with the Blues

Zoho Roots Is Pleases To Announce Their Second Zoho Roots Release:

Ike Turner
Risin' with the Blues
Zoho Roots 200611
Street Date: September 14, 2006

There is no denying Ike Turner’s place in musical history. While the general public may know about his heyday with the Ike & Tina Turner Revue during the ‘60s (a meteroic rise to fame that peaked with their early ‘70 hits “Proud Mary” and “Nutbush City Limits”), only hardcore Ike fans and jump blues enthusiasts are aware of him spearheading the formative years of rock ‘n’ roll with the 1951 hit “Rocket 88”(cut in Memphis by his Kings of Rhythm but issued on Chicago’s Chess Records label under the name Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats). Few know of Turner’s role as a kind of super talent scout of the South during the 1950s for both the Chess brothers of Chicago’s Chess Records or the Bihari brothers of Los Angeles’ Modern/RPM Records. Fewer still know of Ike’s participation on several early ‘50s RPM recordings by B.B. King (including his piano accompaniment on King’s 1951 hit “Three O’Clock Blues” and his 1952 followup “You Know I Love You”), his playing second guitar on classic 1958 Cobra sessions for Buddy Guy and Otis Rush (including Rush’s signature pieces “Double Trouble” and “All Your Love (I Miss Loving)”), or hammering the 88s behind the likes of Howlin’ Wolf, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Little Walter, and Willie Dixon during the 1950s.

While playing as a house pianist in West Memphis "blacks only" blues clubs, Ike often snuck in a young white truck driver to sit next to the piano to study Ike's boogie style and dance moves: that kid was Elvis Presley.

In the 1960's, Ike's influence on several of the most recognized names in Rock continued: Janis Joplin sought Turner for vocal coaching, and a young Jimi Hendrix played in Ike's Kings of Rhythm for a time. As a teenager, Bonnie Bramlett was briefly a member of the Ikettes, prior to starting her own rise to stardom a few years later.

In retrospect, Ike’s early innovations seem to have been overshadowed by his notoriety in later years. Following the breakup of Ike & Tina in 1976, Turner entered a dark period of self-imposed exile marked by his heavy cocaine addiction. “I just went into a 15-year party,” is how he put it. The ‘90s were further marred by his incarceration for cocaine possession at the outset of the decade and the public besmirching of his name by the 1993 movie What’s Love Got To Do With It?, which portrays Tina’s take on their tumultuous 18-year relationship. But like the mythical phoenix, Ike would eventually rise from the ashes of his fallen career and begin life anew.

With 2001’s triumphant Here and Now, one thing was eminently clear: the swagger was back in Ike Turner’s stride. That comeback album took critics by surprise,
proving that, at age 70, he still had plenty of fire left to give. The album received a GRAMMY nomination for "Best Traditional Blues album" in 2001, and a 2002 W.C. Handy Blues Award in 2002.

On Risin' with the Blues, the R&B icon and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer takes the intensity level up a notch or two with typically slashing-stinging guitar work, rollicking boogie woogie piano flourishes and some of the nastiest, rawest, most potent vocals he’s ever summoned up in a fabled career that dates back more than 50 years.

“All my life I was afraid to come out front and sing,” says the longtime bandleader who throughout his career stood behind a dynamic front person, whether it was Jackie Brenston, Billy Gayles or Clayton Love in the early years or Tina Turner during the ‘60s and ‘70s. “I don’t know whether I was too bashful to sing it myself on stage, I just liked it better in the background.”

Ike is in the background no more. Throughout Risin'with the Blues, he wails with ferocious authority as the vocal front man while wielding a wicked ax and pumping the piano keys with the energy of a man half his age. On an ultra-funky update of Hound Dog Taylor’s “Gimme Back My Wig,” he snarls his way through the humorous lyrics while on a powerful horn-fueled reading of Eddie Boyd’s “Five Long Years” (retitled here as “Eighteen Long Years” to commemorate the span of Ike’s marriage to Tina), he screams with cathartic abandon. On the infectious shuffle blues “Tease Me,” Ike gets downright menacing, then turns around and delivers the country flavored ballad “A Love Like Yours” with rare poignancy and emotional depth.

Turner cuts a wide stylistic swath on this powerhouse outing. There are bits of jazz extrapolation here in his instrumental “Mix It Up/Jazzy Fuzzy” and also on a faithful reading of Horace Silver’s “Senor Blues.” The urgent “I Don’t Want Nobody” is a dance floor number coming directly out of the Zapp-Bootsy Collins playbook while the (country blues) gospel flavored “Jesus Loves Me” has Turner testifying with evangelistic zeal. As he says of that confessional offering, “Behind all the crap that they said I been through, it’s like, ‘You can call me a bad boy, but when you get to calling me a bad boy, Jesus loves me anyway.’ And that’s the truth.”

On a rousing rendition of Louis Jordan’s 1946 hit “Caldonia” (cut when Ike was an impressionable 15-year-old growing up in Clarksdale, Mississippi), he pays tribute to a jump blues hero of his youth. “That’s my favorite guy, Louis Jordan,” he says. “I grew up with his music -- all those tunes I heard on the jukebox like ‘Caldonia,’ “Let The Good Times Roll’ and “Choo Choo Cha Boogie.’ That was a golden era, man! I was born in 1931 so I came up with all those great tunes by cats like Joe Liggins (1945’s “The Honeydripper”) and Jimmy Liggins (1947’s “Cadillac Boogie”), Roy Brown (1947’s “Good Rockin’ Tonight”), T-Bone Walker (1947’s “Stormy Monday Blues”) and Amos Milburn (1948’s “Chicken Shack Boogie”). That was my music, man! And when I finally formed the Kings of Rhythm, we were doing our own versions of all that stuff, just trying to put our own twist on it.”
Elsewhere on Risin' with the Blues, Turner’s guitar stings with a vengeance on “Rockin’ Blues,” he belts out vocals in robust style on “Goin’ Home Tomorrow” (a New Orleans flavored stroll reminiscent of Earl King’s “Those Lonely, Lonely Nights”) and digs into some downhome fingerstyle blues guitar work on the humorous “Big Fat Mama.” The funky instrumental “Bi Polar” showcases both Ike’s guitar and piano prowess while the organ-fueled closer, “After Hours,” is an Erskine Hawkins slow blues that highlights Ike’s soulful restraint on the ivories.
“Everything you hear on this record comes directly from the heart, man,” maintains the man who has been firmly rooted in the real-deal for over 50 years. “This whole album is about feeling.”
Amen to that. -- Bill Milkowski

Bill Milkowski is a regular contributor to Jazz Times and Jazziz magazines. He is also the author of “JACO: The Extraordinary and Tragic Life of Jaco Pastorius” (Backbeat Books) and “Swing It! An Annotated History of Jive” (Billboard Books)


Label Website: www.iketurner.com/

ZOHO™ is distributed by Allegro

Zoho Media contact:
Jim Eigo Jazz Promo Services T: 845-986-1677 /

E-Mail: jazzpromo@earthlink.net

Jazz News: Monterey Jazz Festival Announces 2006 MJF County High School All-Star Band

Jazz News: Monterey Jazz Festival Announces 2006 MJF County High School All-Star Band: "Monterey Jazz Festival Announces 2006 MJF County High School All-Star Band
Posted: 2006-07-20


MONTEREY JAZZ FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2006 MJF COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL ALL-STAR BAND
EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS, CULTURAL EXCHANGES AND PERFORMANCES HIGHLIGHT TWO-WEEK TOUR OF JAPAN, JULY 25 - AUGUST 7

TOUR STARTS WITH PERFORMANCE AT THE NATIONAL STEINBECK CENTER IN SALINAS, JULY 24


Monterey, California; Since its inception in 1958, the Monterey Jazz Festival has invested its proceeds in education, providing a series of innovative music programs for young people. Over $500,000 is invested annually in the MJF's year-round jazz education programs, funded through a combination of Festival ticket revenue, grants, corporate sponsorship and individual contributions. The MJF investment in jazz education has paid off handsomely--recognizing, rewarding and nurturing the best and brightest young jazz musicians in the country.


In addition to the Monterey Jazz Festival's Next Generation Jazz Orchestra (which performed at the Jazz Standard in New York City, the International Music Festival in Dubrovnik, Croatia, and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia, Italy from July 9-16, and will appear at the 49th Annual Monterey Jazz Festival) the Monterey Jazz Festival has announced the members of the 2006 MJF County High School All-Star Band, the best and brightest student musicians from the Festival's home county.


Directed by renowned saxophonist and flautist Mr. Paul Contos, the 21-member MJF County High School All-Star Band features the finest young jazz musicians from high schools throughout Monterey County. Participants in the 2006 MJF County High School All-Star Band hail from the Monterey, Gonzales, Carmel, Everett Alvarez, Pacific Grove, Salinas, Palma/Notre Dame, Santa Catalina, and York High Schools, representing the cities of Monterey, Carmel, Salinas, Pacific Grove and Gonzalez. The students provide a glimpse into the future of jazz, and will partake in the festival's unique and exciting educational programs.


Since its creation, the MJF County High School All-Star Band has participated in a series of international concerts and cultural exchange programs, and will return to Monterey's sister city of Nanao, Japan from July 25 to August 7, 2006. Seven public concerts and workshops with Japanese high school students are scheduled at schools in Nanao, Senzoku University in Yokohama, the Tomisato Jazz Festival, and the Monterey Jazz Festival in Noto.

“This tour is an amazing experience for the students of Monterey County to participate in a unique cross-cultural program,” said Dr. Rob Klevan, Education Director for the Monterey Jazz Festival. “The exchange of knowledge and the experience of the tour will have a life- long impact on the students, not only broadening their musical horizons, but also expanding their knowledge and understanding of different cultures. Music is a universal language, and the tour will stay with the kids forever.”


Prior to their departure on the tour of Japan, the MJF County High School All Stars will perform on Sunday, July 23 at 7 PM at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas. Tickets are $10, and advance purchase is recommended. Please call (831) 775-4721 for more information.


With educational programs such as the MJF County High School Honor Band, the MJF County Middle School Honor Band, and the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, the Monterey Jazz Festival continues to change lives through jazz education and spread America's original art-form, jazz, from Monterey to the world.


The Monterey Jazz Festival's Jazz Education Programs are made possible in part through the generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Monterey Jazz Festival Commissioned Artist Program, the Monterey Jazz Festival Artist-in-Residence Program, the NEA/Jazz Masters on Tour Program, Verizon in partnership with Arts Midwest, and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through a grant to Chamber Music America. The Monterey Jazz Festival is also proud to thank the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and many other generous grantors and individuals who support MJF's year-round youth jazz education programs.


The 2006 MJF County High School All-Star Band


Director
Mr. Paul Contos

Saxophones
Corey Watkins - alto, Monterey High School
Chris Lopez - alto, Gonzales High School
Emily Neff - tenor, Monterey High School
Kevin Call - tenor, Carmel High School
Kyle Murchison - baritone, Carmel High School

Trombones
Dakota Bell, Monterey High School
Davis Giedt, York School
Zachary McDaniel, Salinas High School
Kristen Rosa, Everett Alvarez High School
Justin Widmar (bass), Carmel High School

Trumpets
Daniel Bean, York School
Karl Gramespacher, Monterey High School
Conor Jones, Carmel High School
Kari McLaughlin, Palma/Notre Dame High School
Andrew Shepherd, Salinas High School

Rhythm
Emily Intersimone - piano, Santa Catalina School
Zach Parkes - bass, Carmel High School
Brice Albert - guitar, Monterey High School
Patrick Daniel - drums, Pacific Grove High School
Ross McCafferty - drums, Carmel High School
Sam Skemp - vocals, Monterey High School

Star Trek: Animated - Official Announcement, EXTRAS!!! & Package Art (WAAAY DIFFERENT Than Early Art!)

Star Trek: Animated - Official Announcement, EXTRAS!!! & Package Art (WAAAY DIFFERENT Than Early Art!)



The other day we had the official announcement that Paramount would release Star Trek: The Animated Series - All 22 Episodes of the Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek. This 4-DVD set arrives on November 21st, in a spiffy package (see below) for just $35 SRP. We've already listed the confirmed extras that you can be sure to find on this release, but here they are again:

• "Drawn to the Final Frontier - The Making of Star Trek: The Animated Series"
  
• "What's the Star Trek Connection?"
  
• Photo Gallery
  
• Show History
  
• Wallpaper
  
• AIM Icons
  
• Text Commentaries by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda ("Yesteryear," "The Eye of the Beholder," "The Counter-Clock Incident")

Notice, though, that the announcement said "confirmed extras". Not necessarily the complete list, then? Right you are! Because we've gotten word from folks in-the-know that more bonus material is on the way, and some of it's just been recorded, or about to be recorded!



TVShowsOnDVD has learned that Interviews and Commentary Tracks with the people behind the scenes of these animated adventures are being produced! Filmation's Lou Scheimer is part of this, and so is Director Hal Sutherland. Associate Producer/Story Editor/"Yesteryear" Writer D.C. Fontana is also supposed to be involved, we hear.



And YOU willl hear from Russell Bates and David Wise, the Peabody Award-winning Co-Writers of the episode "How Sharper Than A Serpent's Tooth". Writer David Gerrold is also going to be found on these DVDs, talking about his episodes "BEM" and the Cyrano Jones sequel, "More Tribbles, More Troubles". We've also heard that Judith and Garfield Reese-Stevens (Enterprise Writers/Co-Producers, and also Co-Authors of The Art of Star Trek) may also be on hand, to discuss their perspective on the show's place in Trek history. It's also possible that Walter Koenig himself (who did NOT voice act in The Animated Series, but rather was the Writer of the episode "The Infinite Vulcan") might make the scene.



Anything we sound unsure of, treat it as a rumor. There's only a few of those names that we're absolutely sure about. The rest are "maybes". If we get a definite list, we'll be back to provide it to you.



Scheimer and Gerrold also did some misc. voice acting on a few of these episodes, so keep a sharp ear out for them! Also, don't forget that the second-season episode "The Practical Joker" was the very first time we saw the "recreation room", which was the first ancestor of what became TNG's "holodeck". In case you don't remember, McCoy and Sulu and Uhura got trapped in there, in a number of changing dangerous conditions, including a blizzard! It's all part of the complete Animated Series DVDs! Here's another look at the packaging:

14. Rendere accessibile tutto il sapere - I Barbari - Repubblica.it

14. Rendere accessibile tutto il sapere - I Barbari - Repubblica.it: "14. Rendere accessibile tutto il sapere

di Alessandro Baricco


O almeno non è tutto il sapere. Per quanto derivata, spesso, da una certa incapacità a usare Google, è un'obbiezione sensata: ma non illudetevi troppo. Pensate che non sia stato lo stesso per la stampa e Gutenberg? Avete in mente le tonnellate di cultura orale, irrazionale, esoterica che nessun libro stampato ha mai potuto contenere? Ci pensate a tutto quello che è andato perso perché non entrava nei libri? O a tutto quello che ha dovuto semplificarsi e addirittura svilirsi per riuscire a diventare scrittura, e testo, e libro? Eppure, non ci abbiamo pianto troppo sopra, e ci siamo assuefatti a questo principio: la stampa, come la rete, non è un innocente contenitore che ospita il sapere, ma una forma che modifica il sapere a propria immagine. E' un imbuto dove passano i liquidi, e tanti saluti, che so, a una palla da tennis, a una pesca o a un cappello. Che piaccia o no, è già successo con Gutenberg, risuccederà con Page e Brin.

Dico questo per spiegare che se qui parliamo di Google non stiamo parlando di una robetta curiosa o di una esperienza come un'altra, tipo il vino o il calcio. Google non ha nemmeno dieci anni di vita, ed è già nel cuore della nostra civiltà: se tu lo spii non stai visitando un villaggio saccheggiato dai barbari: sei nel loro accampamento, nella loro capitale, nel palazzo imperiale. Mi spiego? È da 'ste parti che, se c'è un segreto, tu puoi trovarlo.

Così diventa importante capire cosa, esattamente, fecero quei due che nessuno prima aveva immaginato. La risposta giusta sarebbe: molte cose. Ma è una, in particolare, quella che, per q"

Rare Concerts Bring 'Jazz Icons' To Life

Rare Concerts Bring 'Jazz Icons' To Life: "Rare Concerts Bring 'Jazz Icons' To Life
Louis Armstrong

July 18, 2006, 2:15 PM ET

Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Rare concerts from jazz legends Thelonious Monk, Count Basie, Art Blakey, Chet Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones, Buddy Rich and Louis Armstrong will be released for the first time on DVD Sept. 26 via Reeling in the Years Productions and TDK Recording Media Europe S.A.



The shows were filmed in Europe between 1957-1978 both in TV studios and traditional concert venues, and in many cases, have never been broadcast, even in excerpts. They are being issued under the heading 'Jazz Icons,' with distribution by Naxos of America.

Among the highlights of the first batch of titles are a 1958 show with Blakey and a lineup of his Jazz Messengers that only played together for six months, Fitzgerald concerts from 1957 in Belgium and 1963 in Sweden, Monk shows in Norway and Denmark from 1966 and two Jones concerts from 1960, featuring an 18-piece band.

Baker is featured in a 1964 performance for Belgian television and a 1979 performance in Norway, while the 1959 Armstrong show is one of his only known complete filmed performances from this era."

"From an educational standpoint this series is a gift to our culture," Jones says. "I'm honored to be a featured part of it, but I'm more thrilled just to sit down and watch it with my grandkids."

Comedian Dave Jory's favourite gadget is his Sony MZ-810 MiniDisc recorder.

A lot of comedians, especially when they are starting out, like to record their gigs to listen to them later. I bought mine about three years ago.

It cost me $700. A lot of comics were using old micro-cassette recorders, so I thought a MiniDisc was cutting edge.

Unfortunately, they were like Laser Discs (remember them?). No one uses MiniDisc. Even the Amish consider MiniDisc technology "quaint".

But it cost me so much and the sound quality is great, so I'm sticking with it until it decides to stop working. Unless Antiques Roadshow offers to buy it from me first.

Is your MiniDisc like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 3 - obsolete?

Arnie's problem in Terminator 3 wasn't that he was obsolete. It was that nobody wants to see a 60-year-old muscleman walking around with no clothes on.

Where does old technology go to die? There must be somewhere all those old Commodore 64s and Ataris ended up?

They might just be landfill. But it's more likely that they're somewhere plotting to destroy mankind and take over the planet. That will be the real rise of the machines.

Describe your weirdest gig.

I was hired as the comedian for this girl's 30th birthday. It was a very small party, only about 10 guests, in a little flat. I remember the TV was on in the background. There was no stage and no microphone, so I just stood next to the couch and everyone stared at me while I did my act for 20 minutes. There was a smattering of applause, the birthday girl paid me and I left.

Julie Hardy at Cornelia Street Cafe, Tuesday, July 11th

On Tuesday, July 11th, sets at 8:30 & 10:00pm, Brooklyn-based vocalist and composer, Julie Hardy brings her quintet to Cornelia Street Cafe as a part of the Gnu Vox Music Festival. Hardy is preparing to record her second CD with the recording label Fresh Sound New Talent out of Barcelona, Spain and is currently the only American singer on this label. This evening she will present new pieces including original music and covers of old standards and pop songs. The vocalist will be accompanied by a band of up and coming New York jazz artists; Sam Sadigursky, tenor and soprano saxophone; Randy Ingram on piano, Matt Clohesy on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums.



As the only American vocalist currently signed to Fresh Sound New Talent records, Julie Hardy is well on her way to becoming one of the most important voices of the modern jazz scene. Hardy's debut CD, "A Moment's Glance" was released in April 2005 to critical acclaim. This innovative record combines fresh interpretations of standards and pop classics with sophisticated original compositions, and showcases Hardy's diverse talents as an improviser and an interpreter of lyrics. She is joined by Rob Stillman, tenor saxophone and Randy Ingram, piano. Ben Street, bass, and Adam Cruz, drums (of the Danilo Perez trio) round out the ensemble.

Last year Hardy released "A Moment's Glance" to a full house at the Jazz Standard in New York City. She was also selected to perform at the Diet Coke Women in Jazz Festival at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Hardy grew up in Fremont, New Hampshire and holds a Masters degree in Jazz Performance from the New England Conservatory of Music. In 2002 Hardy was one of two vocalists in the nation invited to participate in the Jazz Academy Snowmass in Aspen, CO directed by Christian McBride. The following year Hardy was chosen to attend the Betty carter Jazz ahead program where she performed her original composition at the Kennedy center in Washington, D.C.

This year Hardy has been acknowledged for her talent as a composer by receiving the 2006 ASCAP Young Jazz Composers Award for her composition "No Turning Back" which is featured on her recent Fresh Sound release.

Cake...

La nuova frontiera del femmini­smo passa per il diritto delle donne ad avere un orgasmo». È la convinzione di Emily Scarlet Krarner e Melinda Gallagher, rispettiva­mente 28 anni (laureata in Studi fem­minili alla Columbia) e 38 (master alla New York University in Salute pubblica e sessualità), amiche d'infanzia. fondatrici di un movimento che, partito dalla Grande Mela, si sta espandendo, da San Francisco a Londra. La loro associazione si chiama Cake, "torta", che nello slang newyorchese è sinonimo di vagina. «Tutto è comincia­to nell'estate del 2000». racconta Melinda. «lo ed Emily, sedute su una pan­china, stavamo discutendo di sesso e della mancanza di spazi, nella società, che consentissero alle donne di parlare dei loro desideri, di confrontarsi, impa­rare, convincersi, per esempio, che un rapporto sessuale non finisce quando lui raggiunge l'orgasmo, ma quando viene anche lei. Cosi, abbiamo deciso di fare qualcosa. All'epoca Internet sta­va esplodendo, e abbiamo cominciato creando un sito (www.cakenyc.com) e organizzando incontri (di recente Kra­rner e Gallagher hanno anche pubbli­cato un libro, A piece of Cake. Atria books, Simon & Schuster, ndr). Poi ci è venuta l'idea dei party: va bene ritro­varsi intorno a un tavolo, ma se si fa qualcosa di divertente si attirano di si­curo più persone».
Così è stato: dalle venti simpatizzanti che si aspettavano alle porte della di­scoteca affittata per l'occasione, Emily e Melinda si son ritrovate circondate da oltre duecento donne. Tutte entusiaste. Da allora. Cake organizza workshop, le­zioni di sesso, incontri di vario genere e un party al mese. In cui si parla di tut­to. E si mette anche in pratica qualco­sa: si guardano film porno per far sco­prire alle donne che la stimolazione vi­siva può essere eccitante anche per loro, si esaminano i vari sex toys sul mer­cato e chi vuole li può testare; si parla di depilazione intima; si spiega che co­s'è l'eiaculazione femminile e si assiste a una dimostrazione pratica. Insomma, si mette da parte ogni pu­dore: «Tutte devono sentirsi a proprio agio, in un ambiente accogliente, che non le giudica», spiega Emily. «La vita delle donne, nella quotidianità, è fatta per lo più di accettazione. Forse la no­stra generazione sta davvero facendo scoprire al mondo l'esistenza di una sessualità precisa, che deve emergere, e di cui dobbiamo essere libere di par­lare. Quando ci riuniamo, ci sono così tante cose di cui le donne vogliono di­scutere! Orgasmi, partner, percezione del proprio corpo, fantasie sessuali (e le donne ne hanno tantissime)... Non c'è mai un attimo di silenzio». Ma è durante le feste che si assiste a quella che le fondatrici di Cake defini­scono una vera e propria liberazione della femminilità. «Ogni evento ha un tema diverso», spiega Melinda, «ma l'obiettivo di tutte le serate è celebrare la sessualità femminile in modo interat­tivo. Non si fa sesso in pubblico, asso­lutamente, e i nostri party non hanno niente a che vedere con gli scambi di coppie. Diamo alle donne la possibilità di esplorare diversi aspetti del sesso at­traverso un argomento specifico, che può essere lo striptease, la lap dance, la stimolazione visiva, l'esibizionismo... Il nostro motto è: vieni in discoteca, di­vertiti, eccitati e il resto fallo a casa. Non sono sex party, ma sexy party». I maschi sono ammessi solo se accom­pagnati da una donna che garantisca per loro e che faccia parte dell'associa­zione. Cento dollari per l'iscrizione an­nua. Ma per essere ammesse, bisogna anche scrivere qualcosa di sé che ab­bia a che vedere col sesso. Le socie sono 500. 25 mila le iscritte alla newsletter. «Cerchiamo», spiega Melinda, «di portare nel gruppo uomini illumina­ti e intelligenti. Alcuni sono l'intratteni­mento stesso della serata: spogliarellisti, ballerini, ragazzi assoldati per esse­re l'oggetto sessuale delle donne in sa­la. Poi ci sono i mariti o i conoscenti. Qualcuno incoraggia le amiche timide, altri vengono per divertirsi, imparare, ballare con le mogli e spogliarsi con lo­ro sul palco (mai completamente, però, sia chiaro: niente nudo ai Cake party). Non si può celebrare la sessualità fem­minile ignorando gli uomini». Aggiunge Emily: «Poi c'è la comunità gay, che ha una vita notturna attivissima e alternati­va, molto esplorativa nei confronti del sesso. Che non pensa, però, alle esi­genze delle donne etera». Le ragazze che frequentano i party so­no entusiaste. Erica, 20 anni, fotografa e studentessa universitaria, lo confer­ma: «Non me ne perderei uno per niente al mondo. Il clima è di diverti­mento e provocazione, si respira aper­tura mentale, c'è intrattenimento. Si percepisce davvero uno spirito comu­nitario. Di solito, alle feste nei club, ti senti un po' osservato. Tutti sono trop­po preoccupati di essere fichi, di fare le mosse giuste, di essere vestiti alla moda. Non c'è dialogo, nessuno parla realmente con nessuno, trovi gente che si ubriaca da sola in un angolo...
Ai party di Cake questo non succede. Ci sono tante altre donne, spiritose e attente, con cui chiacchierare, e poi i ballerini e le ballerine, e a volte perfor­mance impreviste, per esempio spo­gliarelli, scenette bondage... Una ra­gazza una volta era immersa in una pi­scina di plastica, e giocava con le bolle di sapone insieme al pubblico. La cosa più folle che ho fatto? Coccole di grup­po con 4 persone allo stesso tempo. Ma niente di sconvolgente. Anche per­ché la filosofia non è la trasgressione, ma il gioco alla scoperta di se stesse».
Dominique, di origini italiane, ha 29 anni, lavora per un'or­ganizzazione no profit e alle feste va con il marito: «Ho scoperto il mio lato esibizioni­sta, e sono diventata una bal­lerina fissa per Cake. Compro i costumi, invento coreogra­fie, do sfogo alla creatività fa­cendo cose sempre diverse. Gelosia tra me e lui? Nessu­na, siamo una coppia aperta, lo sono bisessuale, e a volte frequento altre donne; la stessa cosa la fa mio marito. Quella di ballare, essere sexy e intratte­nere gli altri con la fantasia, e senza mai essere volgare o esagerare, è una sfida che mi piace. Sì, lo so, molte donne hanno problemi con la sessualità, o addirittura non hanno mai avuto un orgasmo. Sono donne che non san­no esplorare, che non sono abituate a dire al partner cosa vogliono. Cake ti incoraggia a entrare in contatto con i tuoi desideri e il tuo corpo, a parlarne con il tuo uomo, ad ascoltare altre don­ne e imparare da loro». Tutte felici? Non proprio. Le femmini­ste sono furiose: tanto per cominciare, sostengono che non si debbano guar­dare i film porno, perché sviliscono la donna. Poi, che le ragazze, esibendosi ai Cake party, si trasformano in oggetti sessuali. Infine accusano Emily e Melinda di essere novelle Hugh Hefner, il fondatore di Playboy, e di sfruttare il lo­ro genere per fare soldi. Le due non si scompongono: il porno esiste e non lo si può negare. Cake cerca di fare in modo che l'industria dell'hard rispetti le attrici e prenda in considerazione i desideri del pubblico femminile. «Le accuse sulle donne oggetto sono anacronistiche, non tengono conto del­le fantasie delle ragazze di oggi (età media delle Cake-girls: 20-39 anni, ndr)», osserva Melinda. «Tanto per co­minciare, conduciamo noi il gioco, de­cidiamo che cosa succede, cosa ci piace e cosa no. Molte amano salire sul palco, esprimere la sessualità attraverso uno show, perché negarglielo?». «Le battaglie delle femministe», con­clude Emily, «non si possono fermare agli stupri e alle quote rosa. Ci dev'es­sere parità nel piacere. Poi va tenuta in considerazione l'evoluzione della ses­sualità femminile. Al di là dell'esibizio­nismo, per esempio, c'è un trend deci­samente crescente: quelle che, pur non essendo gay né bisex, vogliono provare a fare sesso con un'altra don­na. Per il gusto di sperimentare. Sotto l'etichetta di etero c'è molto di più, ignorarlo fa male alle donne, le reprime invece di liberarle».
E i maschi, che dicono? Osservano e si costruiscono un bagaglio culturale da condividere con altre compagne, perché un mondo di sesso migliore è possibile. «E poi», osserva uno. «è sempre meglio che stare a casa a guardare la tv».

NOW PLAYING... Walter Wanderley "Batucada"

Track Listings
1. O Barquinho
2. On The South Side Of Chicago
3. Batucada
4. It Hurts To Say Goodbye
5. Os Grilos
6. Minha Saudade
7. E Preciso Cantar
8. So, What's New?
9. Wave
10. Ainda Mais Lindo
11. Ela E Carioca
12. Jeqibau

Now Playing...John Klemmer - Involvement

Track list:

1. Passion Food
2. How Deep Is the Ocean?
3. Will 'n' Jug
4. Stand in the Sun
5. My Blues
6. You Don't Know What Love Is
7. Later With Them Woes

Recorded when he was just 21 and virtually unknown outside Chicago, these sessions served notice that John Klemmer was a saxophonist to be reckoned with -- a young man with, as Down Beat put it, "the mature musician's disdain for the empty gesture" whose music was "direct, intense, and together."

Recorded June 1967 at Ter-Mar Studios, Chicago

Original recordings produced by Esmond Edwards


Personell:
John Klemmer Tenor Saxophone
Jodie Christian Piano
Sam Thomas Guitar
Melvin Jackson Bass
Wilbur Campbell Drums

Verve Release Program

Verve Release Program



Verve has had much success in bringing back titles that either had been deleted from its catalog or were never-before-available and making these titles available as digital-only tracks and albums. Verve and Rhapsody are making this exclusive content available in response to consumer interest.

"Today's consumer lives an on-demand lifestyle and The Verve MusicGroup is thrilled to have Rhapsody embrace the delivery of out-of-print music to meet the consumer demand for it, " says Ron Goldstein, President and CEO of The Verve Music Group. "Verve can now achieve the full potential of its amazing catalog by re-releasing these classic recordings in the digital space."

The program will launch with 28 titles. These titles, which arecurrently unavailable for purchase anywhere in America, will be released to Rhapsody beginning on May 23rd and will be available exclusively through the service for three months. Consumers will be able to stream, download, or purchase these classic recordings via the Rhapsody service as well as transfer them to compatible portable devices. Rhapsody and Verve will support this exclusive relationship with a variety of album features and promotions as well as outreach to core music audiences. "We're very excited to be adding nearly 30 out-of-print titles from Verve Records to Rhapsody, " said Tim Quirk, GM of Music Content and Programming. "Rhapsody's infinite shelf space means there's always room for more great music from influential Verve artists such as Art Blakey, Ella Fitzgerald, and Oscar Peterson."

Verve titles coming to Rhapsody through the program include: Albert Mangelsdorff, Jaco Pastorius, and Alphonse Mouzon "Trilogue" (Live), Alphonse Mouzon "By All Means", Anita O'Day "Anita", Art Blakey "The Complete Art Blakey on EmArcy", Art Tatum "I Got Rhythm Vol. 3 (1935-44)", Baden Powell "Estudos", Ben Sidran "I Lead A Life", Ben Sidran "Puttin' In Time On Planet Earth", Ben Sidran "The Cat In The Hat", Ben Webster and Don Byas "Ben Webster Meets Don Byas", Bill Evans "Symbiosis", Clark Terry "Clark After Dark", Dexter Gordon and Slide Hampton "A Day in Copenhagen", Don "Sugar Cane" Harris "Fiddler On The Rock", Don Ellis "Soaring", Duke Ellington "Collages", Ella Fitzgerald "Songs In A Mellow Mood", Freddie Hubbard "The Hub Of Hubbard", George Duke "I Love The Blues, She Heard Me Cry", Helen Merrill and Ron Carter "Duets", Jean-Luc Ponty "Sunday Walk", Joe Henderson "Mirror Mirror", Marlena Shaw "Out Of Different Bags", Monty Alexander "The Duke Ellington Songbook", Oscar Peterson "Bursting Out With The All-Star Big Band", Stephane Grappelli and the Diz Disley Trio "Violinspiration", The Eddie Davis-Johnny Griffin Quintet "Tough Tenors - Again N Again", The Jan Hammer Trio "Maliny Maliny".

Google unveils calendar service

By Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY

Hoping to beef up the underperforming online calendar market, Internet search giant Google late Wednesday introduced a calendar service notable for easy-access sharing among friends and family.
Unlike popular online calendars from AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft's MSN, Google's calendar allows multiple people to layer information, so that Mom, Dad and the kids can all see their combined events on one page.

With AOL, Yahoo and MSN calendars, information can be e-mailed to family and friends, or posted online at a Web address, but not easily combined. Microsoft's Outlook, hugely popular with businesses, offers shared calendars, but companies must pay hefty server fees for the feature.

Google product manager Carl Sjogreen says the company added calendars to its arsenal of consumer services because Google users "wanted to see a new approach to calendars. Our mission is to organize the world's information, and one piece of information people care about a lot is what they're doing every day."

Google's calendar is ad-free, but the company hopes to profit by having users spend more time with Google, where they will see ads on other pages.

MSN and Yahoo calendars also are ad-free, while AOL's is ad-supported.

Allen Weiner, an analyst at research firm Gartner, says Google Calendar is "the first major calendar innovation in years. Google has created a very simple platform that allows a lot of user collaboration."

According to market tracker Nielsen/NetRatings, none of the three big free calendar Web programs have extremely high usage. AOL is first, with 2.9 million users in March, to Yahoo's 2.4 million and MSN's 1.3 million.

JupiterResearch analyst David Card says the online calendar programs don't get more traction because, "They're too hard to use. There are too many steps and clicks to make."

Google's challenge is "teaching consumers how to use the program and show them why their calendar is easy," he says.

Google's calendar is free and open to anyone with Internet Explorer or Firefox Web browser. Users need to sign up for a free Google account if they don't already have one.

People who have a Google Gmail e-mail account get an extra feature not normally found in calendar programs. If an e-mail suggests "meeting Wednesday at 9," or something similar, the information can be added to the calendar with one click from the e-mail program.

Gmail is still technically in "beta" test mode, but anyone can sign up by providing their cellphone number to Google.

New calendar events can be created with fewer steps than competing programs, and they can be dragged and dropped to new spots on the calendar.

While Google puts a new face on calendar programs, it lags behind Yahoo and AOL in allowing users to sync information to portable devices such as cellphones and personal digital assistants.

Google says it will add sync functionality in the coming months.

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Joe Pass, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen - CHOPS




1. Have You Met Miss Jones
2. Oleo
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4. 5 Pound Blues
5. Come Rain Or Come Shine
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8. Old Folks
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10. In Your Own Sweet Way

At last, movies to keep arrive on Net

By Saul Hansell
The New York Times

Published: April 2, 2006, 8:50 PM PDT



Six major studios on Monday plan to begin selling movies over the Internet that buyers can download and keep for watching at any time.

Until now, the only downloads the studios have offered have been online rentals, which can be watched only for a 24-hour period--an idea that has not caught on with consumers. But the high prices and technological limits of the new permanent downloads suggest that they may not be an instant hit.

New movies will cost about $20 to $30 to download; older titles will cost as little as $10. The downloads will be available on the same day that the DVD is released--quicker than rentals, which are put online about 45 days later and cost $2 to $5.

The studios hope that more people will want to own digital copies of movies, just as more people pay to download songs than sign up for online music subscription services that require a monthly fee. Download sales have been discussed for several years in Hollywood, but the studios have been spurred to action by the success of television programs sold through Apple Computer's iTunes Music Store.

"The Internet has really come of age now, and it is a viable method of distributing our content," said Rick Finkelstein, the president of Universal Pictures, a unit of NBC Universal, who noted that the studio's sales through iTunes have been much greater than he expected. Moreover, Universal's research showed that the majority of those downloads were watched on computer screens, not video iPods, indicating that people are willing to watch video on their PCs.

Starting Monday, nearly 300 films will go on sale through Movielink, which until now has been largely an online rental site. Movielink (owned by Warner Brothers, a unit of Time Warner; Sony Pictures; Universal; MGM; and Paramount, a unit of Viacom) will offer films from all of its owners and from 20th Century Fox, owned by the News Corp.

Another movie site, CinemaNow, will start selling downloadable versions of about 75 movies from Sony, MGM and Lions Gate, which owns a large stake in CinemaNow. Curt Marvis, the chief executive of CinemaNow, said he was talking to other studios about selling downloads.

Apple, Amazon.com and other online retailers are also busily trying to cut deals with Hollywood to sell downloads, according to several studio executives. In general, the studios want to make downloads available on largely the same terms, in as many places as possible.

"We are talking to a lot of people, and hopefully our movies will be on many other sites shortly," Finkelstein said.

For now, these movie downloads are a bit cumbersome, and the studios have limited the way they can be watched. A movie will need about 1 gigabyte of hard-drive space and will take an hour or two to download using a high-speed Internet connection. CinemaNow will allow the movies to be played only on a single computer. Movielink will allow the movie to be copied onto a DVD, from which the movie can be downloaded to two other computers, but it cannot be played on a conventional DVD player.

Nor can the movies be copied to Apple's video iPod or the much less popular handheld video players that use software from Microsoft. The studios expect to permit downloads to portable devices later this year.

For now, it is difficult but not impossible to watch the downloaded movies on a television. Some computers, like those using Microsoft's Windows Media Center, are designed to be connected to a television in the living room.

When Movielink's customers rent movies, only about 15 percent watch them on a television, said Jim Ramo, Movielink's chief executive. A third use a laptop computer, and the rest use a desktop computer.

"Fixing the 'last 10 foot' problem of getting the TV set connected to the Internet is starting to happen this year," Ramo said, referring to the resolution of technical hurdles.

The downloads do not include the bonus features, like deleted scenes and filmmaker interviews, that often accompany DVDs.

Industry executives say these limitations will dampen the appeal of downloads, particularly because the services must compete with chain stores and Web retailers that often discount DVD's to below their wholesale cost to attract shoppers. Such low-priced items are known among retailers as "loss leaders."

For example, "Memoirs of a Geisha," from Sony, will cost $19.99 to download from CinemaNow and $25.99 from Movielink. As a DVD, by contrast, it is priced at $16.87 at Wal-Mart. "King Kong," from Universal, which will cost $19.99 from both download services, is being sold on DVD for $14.96 by Amazon.com and $13.99 by Circuit City.

"They are giving the consumer less and charging more for it," said Warren N. Lieberfarb, the former president of Warner Home Video and now an entertainment technology consultant. "To me this really stacks the deck against mass consumer adoption."

One major advantage of sales over rentals online is that the studios would be free to sell a much greater proportion of their film library because there would be less conflict with the exhibition contracts between the studios and the TV networks. Online rentals are limited to the period when movies are on cable pay-per-view services, which is generally for a few months starting 45 days after the DVD is released.

Some studios, including Warner and Universal, plan to withdraw some movies from online sales in the period that they are appearing on pay TV networks like HBO.

Marvis of CinemaNow said he believed the studios had set their price for downloads too high.

"Customers expect prices to be cheaper online than in a retail environment, whether that is for diamonds or cars or airplane tickets," he said. He predicted that the studios would quickly improve the features and lower prices to appeal to consumers.

Why Sony Should've Put Its Weight Behind Hi-MD

By Thom Holwerda

Currently, .mp3 players are all the hype. Everyone has one, and if you don't, you're old-fashioned. I do not have an .mp3 player. I tried to have one, but for various reasons it did not please me. I'm a MiniDisc guy. I've always been. MiniDisc has some serious advantages over .mp3 players, whether they be flash or HDD based. Note: Sunday Eve Column.



First of all, MiniDisc players are much more sturdy than HDD players. You have to treat HDD players with a lot of care, because dropping one kills the harddrive easily. MiniDisc players, on the other hand, can be dropped down stairs, or while riding your bike, and they still work mighty fine (I know this out of experience). They will even survive a bath of Coca Cola (don't ask, but I have experience with that as well). Try bathing your EUR 330 iPod in some Coca Cola.

This durability of course extends to the discs themselves. They are completely enclosed in a hard, extremely durable plastic cover. They are also quite small, measuring only 5x72x68mm. You can play tennis with them, throw them around, yes, even run a bike over them: they'll survive.

Secondly, MiniDisc offers unlimited storage space. The new Hi-MD format offers 1GB per disc (which can add up to 45 hours of music on one disc)-- and a disc only costs a few Euros. This in essence gives you unlimited storage space, but of course it does come at a certain cost, because you have to carry those MDs around. But seeing many just use their music players to commute or during some running through the park, 1GB should be enough. Now, compare that to say, flash players which have limited storage space, and storage space you need to update every time you want to listen to different music. And even though HDD-based players offer a lot more space, this space is, in the end, limited too. And as mentioned above, they are much more fragile.

An interesting plus to Sony's new Hi-MD format is that it's completely backwards compatible with the previous MD standards (MD, MDLP, and NetMD). In fact-- formatting an ordinary MD using the Hi-MD filesystem actually doubles its original capacity from 170MB to 305 MB!

Another huge advantage over .mp3 players is MD's recording capability. Portable MD recorders aren't called recorders for nothing: you can record at any time, any place, any way you wish. Digitally via optic cables or USB, or analog via a microphone (whether built-in or external) or analog cables connected to i.e. an old tape deck. This is a major advantage, and one of the reasons why MD is often associated with field recording.

Lastly, portable recorders have an extremely good battery life. My lower-end recorder, for instance, plays back for 30 hours using only one AA battery.

Now, a common and valid complaint about MiniDisc was that they were tied to Sony in that you were forced to use Sony's ATRAC format and SonicStage software. And I am putting it mildly when I say that SonicStage is a complete pile of steaming crap. But, an update to Sony's Hi-MD line-up last year added .mp3 support for Hi-MD: 2nd and 3rd generation Hi-MD recorders you buy have support for .mp3 files. However, a major malfunction remains: SonicStage. Even though each Hi-MD player can be used as a mass storage device under windows, Linux, OSX, and even BeOS, you cannot just drag/drop .mp3s onto it. You are forced to use SonicStage. Apple may force one to use iTunes to transfer songs to iPod, but at least iTunes is not a steaming pile of crap. And of course SonicStage is only available on Windows, not on OSX or Linux (Sony did announce Mac support for its upcoming high-end Hi-MD recorder, I can't wait for prices on that thing).

Another complaint that often reared its head was MD's lack of capabilities for storing non-music data. Besides the utterly failed MD-Data experiment Sony conducted in the '90s, MDs could never store data, like flash/HDD .mp3 players could. This has been fixed too: Hi-MD allows you to store any type of data on both Hi-MD discs as well as old MDs (with the mentioned storage capacities). As said, Hi-MD recorders act as ordinary mass storage devices, so any OS with drivers for that will work fine with Hi-MD recorders.

And now the ever important aspect of price. Before the .mp3 player revolution, MDs only competitors were CDs and before that, tapes. Technologically, they both do not stand a chance. However, they of course were much more popular because they were a hell of a lot cheaper: my first portable MD recorder cost a staggering Fl. 499,-, which is EUR 225. Portable CD players at that time only cost about Fl. 100,- to Fl. 200,- so you can understand how expensive MD recorders were.

Today, this has changed. My Hi-MD recorder (the MZ-NH600 model, so with the input jacks) only cost me EUR 150,-, which is not a lot of money when compared to higher-quality .mp3 players (yes, MiniDisc has always been and always will be a high-quality device. MD users expect that quality).

Given the above advantages, it is a complete mystery why Sony is not putting its full weight behind the MiniDisc format. No, instead of just using an existing, proven technology to power its highly successful PSP, they created a whole new standard altogether, which probably cost them a serious amount of research and thus money. Using Hi-MD in the PSP would have meant a serious push for MD. Sony has even made digital cameras which use the Hi-MD format, but none were ever released to the public. Recently they did release a portable Hi-MD recorder with an integrated 1.3MP camera, but I've never ever seen one in the wild (I'd kill for one).

My take on Sony's refusal to market Hi-MD properly is that Sony somehow seems to think it needs to create a HDD-based .mp3 player to compete with Apple's iPod. Now, I think that that is a pointless battle: you won't beat Apple in its current winning mood. Forget it. It ain't gonna happen. And, Sony's success with this competition kind of supports that claim. If you can't win from Apple on Apple's turf-- then try to beat them on your own turf.

So, what should Sony have done? They shouldn't have made any attempts at making flash or HDD based .mp3 players. They have a very strong technology with Hi-MD and they should've been using it whenever they could. They should've made the lower-end Hi-MD recorders a bit more stylish (historically, only the high-end MD recorders look sleek), should've created a good marketing campaign emphasizing MD's strong points, and they should have increased availability, and most of all: they should've ditched SonicStage, and they should've allowed people to just drag/drop songs onto their recorders.

Now, it's all too late. I'm afraid MiniDisc will slowly but surely die out-- and that will leave me and all of MD's die-hard fans who supported the platform since day one without portable music.

--Thom Holwerda

Japan Launches Free Digital TV Broadcasts for Mobile Phones

TOKYO Apr 1, 2006 (AP)



Digital TV broadcasts for mobile phones equipped with special receivers began in Japan's major urban areas Saturday, following several months of test broadcasts.

But finding new phones in stores proved hard as eager consumers have already snapped up the limited number of handsets on the market. Japan's major mobile carriers say sales are good, but have not disclosed numbers.

Japan's mobile TV service is not the world's first South Korea, Britain and several other nations offer a similar service, although with different technologies. Mobile users in some parts of the United States can also tap into digital broadcasts.

But the new service in Japan, which is free, will potentially reach the broadest market yet through the country's terrestrial digital broadcast system, which relays images through the air via TV towers, not satellites.

It also uses broadcasting air waves, rather than an Internet connection, to relay streaming video.

Japan's 90 million mobile phone users already play video games, download music files, exchange e-mail, read news, trade stocks, store digital photos and surf the Web all on tiny handset screens half the size of a business card.

Toshiba began selling the first players using the next-generation HD DVD video

TOKYO Mar 31, 2006 (AP)



Toshiba began selling the first players using the next-generation HD DVD video format Friday, beating the rival Blu-ray disc format to market in a high-stakes competition to deliver theater-quality movies to living rooms.

Japanese electronics maker Toshiba Corp. said its HD-XA1, priced at about 110,000 yen ($936) is the world's first commercially available HD DVD player. The product, which has no recording function, is being promised for the United States in April at about $799.

The HD DVD format, also backed by NEC Corp. of Japan, competes against the Blu-ray disc format, supported by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which makes Panasonic brand products, and Sony Corp.

Both can deliver dazzling high-definition video and can store much more data than today's DVDs, but are incompatible.

Sony has said it will start selling Blu-ray disc DVD players in the United States in the summer but has not announced a date for Japan sales.

Sony recently postponed until November the sale of its PlayStation 3 video game console, which runs Blu-ray discs and was initially promised for spring. Prices have not been announced.

Matsushita has said its first Blu-ray disc player will be available in the United States in September but has not given a date for when it will sell in Japan. The Osaka-based manufacturer said the price was undecided but will be under $1,500.

HD DVD movies are expected to gradually go on sale starting in April in Japan, including "Finding Neverland," Toshiba said, but the selection is initially even more limited than the titles now being promised for the United States. Films available on next-generation video are expected to grow.

HD DVD is backed by Universal Studios and Warner Bros. as well as Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp. Blu-ray disc is backed by Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Apple Computer Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc.

Experts say loyalty to either technology among Hollywood studios is likely to be thin, and studios are expected to come out with content for whichever format proves popular.

E-JazzOnline.com Earns Brubeck Endorsement

E-JazzOnline.com Earns Brubeck Endorsement

E-JazzOnline.com, a new website that launched late last year, has earned the endorsement of Jazz legend Dave Brubeck. The state-of-the-art, not-for-profit site was created not only to promote Jazz music, but to also create a venue for Jazz artists to be seen, heard, sold and hired.



Brubeck states, "With all the changes in the music business in recent years, it is increasingly difficult for musicians ... to find a way to distribute and promote their recordings and to become better known to the general public and to club and concert promoters. Through modern technology E-JazzOnline will offer Jazz musicians a showcase for their work and an opportunity for interaction with their fans and potential employers. On behalf of Jazz musicians everywhere, I wish E-JazzOnline success in this new endeavor that seeks to promote, nurture and preserve America's unique art form."

Jillian Algrin, founder of E-JazzOnline and an advertising and marketing executive, knows the importance of advertising and promotion, as well as CD distribution and sales, in determining the success of a CD or career of an artist. Algrin states that E-JazzOnline (EJO) offers Jazz artists an easy, affordable and interactive marketing and distribution solution to this problem.

EJO-registered artists are featured with photos, bios, CD cover art, achievements, and music samples and given "blog" pages to interact with fans and potential employers. All CDs are sold for $20.00, $12.00 of which goes back to the artist and a minimum of $2.00 of which goes to support the Jazz Foundation of America's Jazz Musician Emergency Fund. Remaining funds are used to maintain and promote the site.

Minidisc Place: Retail Music Industry Battles Extinction

Minidisc Place: Retail Music Industry Battles Extinction

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Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Song Book

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Increasing Google Page Rank from Backlinks

Increasing Google Page Rank from Backlinks

Interesting blog about...blogs!

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CAL TJADER - PRIMO

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Exhibitions in Italy

Wonderful site where you can find all the major exhibitions in Italy.



http://www.informarte.org/portal/modules.php?name=News&new_topic=1

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Bill Evans - The Complete Fantasy Recordings

Given the peerless depth of Bill Evans's work for Riverside in the early 1960s (collected in its entirety on The Complete Riverside Recordings) followed by some similarly stellar outings on Verve (collected on the mammoth 18-CD Complete Bill Evans on Verve), it's understandable that the pianist's work from the 1970s might get short shrift. Understandable, but not justified, as this nine-CD set illustrates. Evans's years at Fantasy brought forth some monuments, including his first session of duets with Tony Bennett. His solo and trio work continues to develop over the course of these sessions, all of them corrected for chronology, ignoring earlier albums' track orders. His group playing also shows development, intensified refinement, and an acute collective sense that seems to grow and absorb whoever is on the gig. Tenor saxophonist Harold Land makes a fine showing, as does the underrated, dynamic duo of Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh. Sure, Evans makes the ill-considered stumble of trying to get a Fender Rhodes to reflect his sense of touch and phrasing, but he shows again and again why he is so magnificent a composer, improviser, and group-leading thinker. As he neared his death in 1980, his flow of ideas seems--at least in hindsight--irrepressible, and for that reason, fascinating. --Andrew Bartlett

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Now listening to...

The Complete Riverside Recordings of Bill Evans

Naturalmente sul mio Minidisc MZ-NH700!

Sony takes MiniDisc to Mac

Sony plans to introduce Mac support for its new MiniDisc Walkman for the first time.


The company took the wraps off its all-new MiniDisc product, the MZ-RH1, this morning. This portable device is being marketed as a mobile recording studio.


Sony plans to make the device Mac compatible, “bringing greater choice in digital audio devices to Mac users”.


The company will release Mac software for the new product in “summer 2006”, it said.


The player can handle audio in the following formats: LinearPCM, ATRAC (ATRAC, ATRAC3, ATRAC3plus) or MP3 format.


It will also record audio, with several built-in features to enhance that use. Users can adjust the mode to reflect what they are recording, which could be a live event, their own ‘jam’ session, or a meeting.

The MZ-RH1 will be available from May 2006 across Europe.

Dio benedica i Minidisc, e soprattutto gli HI-MD...con un solo disco riesco ad andare avanti giorni, e non devo stare a rompere le scatole per farmi portare pile di CD da ascoltare. Menomale che avevo fatto una bella scorta di MD con musica scaricata che non ho ancora mai sentito...
Diciamo che sono stato profetico!!!!!!

Ciao

Ciao a tutti. Grazie ai prodigi della tecninca (ovvero infermieri compiacenti che mi hanno dato accesso al loro PC fisso) ora ricevo tutta la posta di Gmail su Libero, quindi potete scrivermi o al consueto indirizzo (chico75pi@gmail.com) o a questo PROVVISORIO (michelescasso@libero.it).

Miky

I'm not available

Hi to everyone,
due to a severe illness I'm stuck at the ospital. The problem is that I cannot check my email from this PC. So...now you now it.

Miky

Google offers users their own pages on Web

Google offers users their own pages on Web

JOINS OTHER FIRMS IN PUSHING COMMUNITY-CREATED CONTENTBy Elise AckermanMercury NewsGoogle continued its effort to spark more user-generated content, unveiling an online service Thursday for creating personal Web pages and offering 100 megabytes of free storage to people who use it.
Demand for ``Google Page Creator'' quickly swamped the free service Thursday morning, causing it to shut down temporarily.
``We decided in advance to limit the number of page sign-ups in order to provide users with an optimal publishing experience,'' spokeswoman Megan Quinn said in a statement. ``Due to extraordinary demand, we recently reached the limit so we have temporarily paused additional sign-ups.''
New sign-ups would be offered ``very soon,'' Quinn said.
Both Google and Yahoo have been expanding beyond Internet search to develop services and technology that let Internet users create and share their own content online. The field of user-generated content is flourishing with video-sharing services like YouTube and networking sites like MySpace.
On Thursday, some online pundits compared Google's new service to Yahoo's GeoCities, an online community of millions of Web-page-based homesteaders that Yahoo acquired in May 1999.
Both Yahoo and Google also offer social networking services that encourage users to record their connections to one another online.
Last year, Yahoo acquired a popular photo-sharing service named Flickr, augmenting its existing photo sharing and storage services. A few months later, Google launched Google Base, a giant database that it invited users to fill with any kind of content they wanted -- photos, job listings and more.
Google's new Web page service complements Blogger, a free online service that lets people publish regularly updated online commentary.
Designed for use by tech novices, Page Creator offers ready-to-use designs and a what-you-see-is-what-you-get interface. The application is browser-based, which means there is no software to download. The hosting is provided by Google for free and a Gmail account is required.

Presto in arrivo...

Niente film sull'amore tra uomini: la Cina censura il film di Ang Lee

Niente film sull'amore tra uomini: la Cina censura il film di Ang Lee

PECHINO - E' dato tra i principali candidati nella corsa agli Oscar, anche se le nomination per la statuetta verranno rese note solo domani. Racconta l'amore tra due cowboy gay, e per questo ha provocato polemiche anche negli Stati americani più tradizionalisti come lo Utah. E adesso Brokeback Mountain - il film di Ang Lee vincitore del Leone d'oro all'ultima Mostra di Venezia e dei Golden Globe 2006 - subisce anche la censura cinese: le autorità di Pechino, infatti, ne hanno vietato la distribuzione in sala sul territorio nazionale.

A dare la notizia è il magazine americano Variety. E, in un paese come la Cina - abituato a un uso massiccio della censura, abbondantemente applicata anche ai siti Internet - è a rischio la sorte anche di un altro film d'autore: Memorie di una Geisha, regia di Rob Marshall. Altro film al centro aspre polemiche perchè i tre personaggi principali - che nella sceneggiatura sono giapponesi - sono interpretati da attrici cinesi.

Per adesso, comunque, la scure delle autorità colpisce Brokeback Mountain. Non sono note le motivazioni del divieto deciso dall'Amministrazione della radio, dei film e della televisione, l'organismo cinese addetto a controllare la "correttezza" politica e la "moralità" dei film. In ogni caso sulla questione dell'omosessualità, e più in generale su quella delle abitudini sessuali, nel Paese continua a prevalere la confusione. Da un lato, i cittadini - specie quelli residenti nelle metropoli - hanno un atteggiamento molto liberale verso tutti i tipi di comportamento personale; eppure la Cina "ufficiale" continua a considerarsi tradizionalista.

E così, ad esempio, da alcuni anni nelle grandi città esistono locali per gay; nel 2001, inoltre, l'omosessualità è stata cancellata dalla lista delle malattie mentali. Ma poco più di un mese fa la polizia ha impedito la celebrazione nella capitale del primo Festival della cultura omosessuale.

Resta il fatto che, nel caso di Brokeback Mountain e di Memorie di una Geisha, si tratta di una censura esclusivamente riservata alle sale cinematografiche: entrambi i titoli, infatti, sono disponibili in dvd.

E' morta Shelley Winters
l'"altra" bellezza di Hollywood

LOS ANGELES - Si � spenta a Los Angeles, all'et� di ottantacinque anni, l'attrice americana Shelley Winters. Da tempo malata, � morta in seguito a un attacco cardiaco presso il Rehabilitation Centre di Beverly Hills. Gi� lo scorso ottobre era stata ricoverata all'ospedale Cedar Sinai di Los Angeles per un infarto. Shelley Winters, vero nome Shirley Schrift, aveva esordito sul grande schermo negli anni Qaranta, in ruoli da "bionda fatale", prima di rivelare il proprio talento drammatico negli anni Cinquanta. L'attrice era stata sposata, dal 1952 al 1954, con Vittorio Gassman, conosciuto durante una delle trasferte hollywoodiane dell'attore, con il quale aveva avuto una figlia, Vittoria Gina. Dal 1957 al 1960 era stata poi sposata con Anthony Franciosa.

Nata il 18 agosto del 1920 a East St Louis, Illinois, vincitrice di due premi Oscar, come attrice non protagonista nel 1959 con Il diario di Anna Frank, e nel 1965 per Incontro al Central Park, Shelley Winters era una delle star pi� rispettate dell'epoca d'oro di Hollywood. Era stata candidata a una statuetta gi� nel 1951 per Un posto al sole, e lo fu di nuovo, nel 1972, per L'avventura del Poseidon.

Madre di Lolita nel film omonimo del 1962, celebre per aver portato a Hollywood una bellezza non convenzionale, per anni aveva dominato i gossip dello spettacolo con i suoi libri-rivelazione sui vizi dei personaggi del cinema. Oltre sessanta i film girati in circa cinquant'anni di carriera, da quando, all'inizio degli anni Quaranta, aveva tentato la fortuna approdando nella Mecca del cinema, stipulando il primo contratto con la Columbia e dividendo una stanza con Marilyn Monroe. La leggenda vuole che sia stata proprio la Winters a suggerire a Marilyn alcuni "cavalli di battaglia", come reclinare il capo all'indietro, sbattere le ciglia e socchiudere le labbra.

La sua ultima apparizione sul grande schermo risale al 1999, nel film La bomba, diretto da Giulio Base, in cui aveva lavorato accanto al figlio del suo ex marito, Alessandro Gassman. Tra gli altri film girati in Italia, Un borghese piccolo piccolo, con Alberto Sordi, nel 1977.