Multimedia freelance journalist. Lead Music Writer & Assistant Editor for Technorati. National Music History Examiner. Certified Google Creator Academy Alumni 2013. Join me on YouTube Interviews From The Edge or G+
Interview with Madlife lead singer Angry Phill
New album Angry Sonnets for the Soul on RBE/ Fontana
MADLIFE set to play Rock Hard at the Park with Korn and Five Finger Death Punch.
08.26.2011 - Post Falls, ID (Spokane) - Greyhound Park.
Visit http://madlifeofficial.com/ for tour dates and information.
"Art of Dying is one of the fast-rising, break-out bands who will be making a major impact on radio and the coming summer tour season. "Die Trying," the first single release, is currently ripping its way upwards on Active Radio and expectations are high for the rest of the album, Vices and Virtues.
Vices and Virtues, produced by Howard Benson (Papa Roach, Three Doors Down), is Art Of Dying's first album on the new Reprise imprint, Intoxication Records, which is the label creation of Disturbed's David Draiman and Dan Donegan.
There has been talk of Intoxication Records for a long time; a very cool concept from Disturb's veterans to take all that they've learned during their phenomenal music careers and use it to build a label supporting hot, new talent. The only thing that seemed to stall the project was finding the right band to launch the label.
Disturbed lead singer David Draiman said of signing Art of Dying, Intoxication Record's first band, 'In years of searching for a band to begin the saga at Intoxication Records, we finally found the fiercely talented boys of Art Of Dying; delivering uncompromising, harmony filled anthemic rock moments, fused with the right amount of attitude. They won over our fans time and time again, and we are betting that they will win over the world.'
Art of Dying is vocalist/lyricist Jonny Hetherington, guitarist Greg Bradley guitarist Tavis Stanley, bassist Cale Gontier, and drummer Jeff Brown. Check out ArtofDyingMusic.com or MySpace.com/TheArtofDying to learn more about Art of Dying and for tour updates." Read more --> http://technorati.com/entertainment/music/article/art-of-dying-debuts-vices-and/#ixzz1TLSYftke ART OF DYING - DIE TRYING - Official Music Video
Here's the Huckabee Dumond story as told by one of the rape victims, the murder victims family and the parole board.
I'm still reeling over Huckabee's win in Iowa. Thank God New Hampshire seems to have more sense. This guy is not only a menace to his own political party, but to Christians and evangelists everywhere.
Ann Coulter doesn't like Huckabee... at all!
Even FOX news doesn't like Mike - And they obviously don't believe his spin on the Dumond parole case.
I don't know what the religious right is thinking in pushing this nomination. This is, without doubt, a party disaster in the making. The Willie Horton case destroyed Michael Dukakis' bid for the presidency. I can only imagine the draconian reaction that awaits Huckabee for the Wayne Dumond travesty.
If you aren't familiar with the story you should make yourself familiar with it. Recently the Huffington Post published the letters that Dumond's victims sent to Mike Huckabee begging him not push for Dumond's release from prison. Including a letter he received from a women who Dumond had raped, with a butcher knife against her throat, while her 3 year old daughter lay in the bed next to her.
In 1985 Wayne Dumond was convicted and sentenced for the rape of a high school student. That student happened to be a distant cousin of Bill Clinton. Mike Huckabee began a personal crusade to get Dumond released from prison. He didn't believe the victim because she was a Clinton relative. He ignored all of the evidence and even told the victim to her face that he didn't believe her.
Victims of Dumond sent letters to Huckabee, then Governor of Arkansas, begging him not to allow the early release of this convicted rapist, but Huckabee continued to pressure the Parole Board for his release. He firmly entrenched himself with the Christian Right who had gotten him elected and, with support from Christian Radio talk show host and Baptist Minister Jay Cole (an old family friend), Huckabee (also a former Baptist Minister) pushed aggressively for Dumond's release. In Arkansas the Christian tabloids had determined for themselves that the case was not about getting justice for the rape victim, but for the victimizer, due to the fact that she was from a powerful and loathed family.
The woman who wrote to him about being raped with her daughter in the bed even went so far as to tell him that she feared that Dumond would rape again, but that next time he would leave no witnesses. Many of his victims wrote that they feared that he would not only rape again, but that he was capable of committing murder.
Huckabee, according to former Aides and members of the Parole Board, continued to push the Board for Dumond's early release. The parole board sent him letters from at least one of his victims expressing their reluctance to release Dumond early, yet Huckabee hammered on. And the radio talk show host continued to spout 'Clinton Conspiracy' theories. And the Christian tabloids continued their campaign to free this poor man, Wayne Dumond, who had been victimized, railroaded, by a powerful and elitist family.
Mike Huckabee's response: "There's nothing any of us could ever do. None of us could've predicted what [Dumond] could've done when he got out."
Pardon me sir. That prediction was made. It was made in the letters you received from his victims and it was made by the jury that found him guilty and put him behind bars to keep society safe from him.
This is Cheyenne's friend Lona singing 'Beautiful' at the International School of the Arts. She tried out for American Idol, but was declined because she's British. Music was the one constant and passion that defined their relationship. Two girls who sang beautifully together. With Lona's passing Cheyenne seems to have lost her desire to sing. For Now. I hope it will return soon. I miss hearing her singing as she walks through the house.
I don't want to talk much about the last post. I'll just say that the Candlelight Memorial went well, as contradictory as it feels to write that. There's more to be done. Viewing tonight at her home and Funeral on Tuesday. I'm busy making slideshows out of her pictures with her friends. Her family has turned over more than 1300 photographs of her and her friends for me to make memorial videos for them and for her friends to use on MySpace, Facebook and their blogs. It's heartbreaking work. But, being a mother myself, I understand how important it is to them that their daughters memory carries on.
We'll have something to share soon.
Cheyenne says 'Thank You' for your well wishes. She can't seem to say more at the moment.
Dance me to your beauty with a burning violin Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in Touch me with your naked hand or touch me with your glove Dance me to the end of love Leonard Cohen
I was conjuring a perfect date night and this is what I came up with. A candlelit piano bar. A great bottle of House wine. A slow grind in the shadows to this song. And kisses that burn themselves onto your lips memory, so that you can still feel them hours later.
I've been a fan of The Dresden Dolls for a long time. I even had 'Coin Operated Boy' on the sidebar for a bit. And anyone who has been reading here for a while also knows I'm a huge Leonard Cohen fan. So just imagine my excitement when I ran across Amanda and Brian doing this song by Cohen live at Webster Hall in NYC.
A Dresdenian wet dream!
***And a special request to Amanda, Chelsea Hotel #2 (You know you want to)
She'll be playing solo at the Mercury Lounge on E.Houston St. on July 27th. I want so badly to be there. They were last here at The Variety Playhouse in October.
There's a special connection that happens when you come across someone who enjoys the same things that you do. A kind of psychological, kinetic collision. The result looks something like this. Rocky Horror meets Bob Fosse.
And a word of Thanks: I received this in an email from a friend.
Rodney Show'em (Not Work Safe)
I'll let him identify himself if he feels it's fitting. He sent it to me to lighten my mood in the midst of all of the stress and I have to admit, it did lift my spirits greatly! There's nothing like seeing people exposing themselves to show their patriotism to remind me why I'm glad to be an American.
And to PT. Thank you so much! I received it. I almost cried with gratitude. You're wonderful!
This has been another Musical Monday sponsored by WDKY London.
"So Two cheers for Democracy: one because it admits variety and two because it permits criticism." E.M. Forster
O sent this video to me. We sat on the phone and laughed our asses off. Aside from the fact that we're both huge Abba fans, we also both have a very cynical view of American politics. My view is that of a disenfranchised American, whilst her view is more along the lines of a British expat. Between the two of us we find humor in the ridiculousness of it all.
It's been an absolutely beautiful week. The sun has been shining with just enough of a breeze to keep the humidity at bay.
I was thinking today about the things I miss most about summer. I think riding is the thing I miss most. There's just something intoxicating about feeling the rumble of the engine between my thighs and the wind blowing through my hair.
I miss riding along the coast and watching as the sea rolled in against the rocks whilst our knees nearly kissed the pavement in a dance; two bodies in unison, moving together. The pull as speed and gravity kept us tightly bound to one another.
I miss driving through small towns, the children running to the curb to wave their hellos at the two strangers making their way through sun-dappled streets on a loud bike that they could hear coming from far off in the distance. The Eastern Seaboard is laden with Crabhouses just begging us to stop in for a bite. We'd sit at picnic tables covered in newspaper and crack crabs, laughing and planning where to head next.
The future was just around the next bend and we couldn't wait to get to it. I miss the open road and I miss the bliss that we silently shared in our close quarters. I miss feeling at peace and at the same time feeling as one with the world around me.
