Posts by Mike O'Connell
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(our west island cousins) Straylia
Rawshark
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Hard News: Friday Music: Memories of a…, in reply to Alan Perrott,
He was quite something on the keys that Ian McLagan. Here's a Guardian obituary. And here's but a small sample of his pedigree, right from the intro in this version of my Small Faces' fave, Tin Soldier:
The backing singer on that recording is PP Arnold. The link with McLagan and the Faces continues with PP Arnold who did the first recorded version of Cat Stevens' First Cut is the Deepest:
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Hard News: Friday Music: Memories of a…, in reply to Russell Brown,
Talking of party things, any report on Lawrence Arabia's Hits of the 60's last weekend? He's doing 70's Hits tomorrow I gather. I can imagine Eno's Needle in the Camel's Eye will feature which he did at the Wunderbar last month. And wouldn't the Saints' Know Your Product be cool - he has a horn section, of sorts!
Meanwhile, Dictaphone Blues will be in party mood at the Darkroom tomorrow night with release of Mufti Day. I'm intrigued to see the red vinyl. The River Jones play support.
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Golden Dawn...tomorrow night Lawrence Arabia plays The Hits of the 60s. Something for everyone!
Rumour has it via Kiwi FM that Connan Mockasin is in town and will join the line-up. Pity I won't see that one. Love to hear any reviews and/or pics.
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Hard News: Prague, in reply to stephen walker,
When I think of Prague, I'm reminded of the Daniel Day Lewis 'doctor-turned-window cleaner' character in The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
At least, what it was. I was fortunate to get there in Sep 1989 when the country was still Czechosolvakia - or the CSSR - Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. I recall seeing one or two people being dragged off by the thuggish police in Wenceslas Square. It was full of hustlers and it was in the days when the visa required £10 compulsory exchange per day at an extortionate rate for the local krona.
But it was fun dealing with black marketeers who would give you 4-5 times the 'official' rate if you needed topping up. Trouble was, there was not much to spend it on after accommodation; and worse, I didn't drink pilsner in those days so it was difficult getting rid of the bundles of small change notes!
If anyone is heading to Prague, I can well recommend the Red Chair Hotel in the heart of the old town. And if time permits, the stunning World Heritage town Český Krumlov in south Bohemia beckons, once the temporary home of the at times notorious Austrian painter Egon Schiele - who was turfed out by the locals for his 'alleged employment of the town's teenage girls as models'!
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It was plenty loud, but at times the bass was overwhelming
Ditto the Chc show which I attended. I can’t recall any reggae act I’ve witnessed being that bassy. Like Vector, ASB Arena not the best sound quality. Relatively speaking, one could hardly hear Yumi Zouma in support but they nevertheless packed a lot of intensity into their half hour set.
A coupla a days prior to Lorde, Lawrence Arabia was in town – albeit a much smaller venue (!) – highlights (of an excellent show anyway) were storming versions of Bowie’s Let’s Dance and Eno’s Needle in the Camel’s Eye
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Hard News: Friday Music: There have been…, in reply to Alan Perrott,
Anika Moa? Too young, and too few wrinkles?! She certainly has a pedigree.
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…but I have a beer-appreciation appointment in Europe and that’s where I’ll be.
Lucky you – viel Spaβ! Is this guy, Conrad Seidl aka the Beer Pope (from Vienna) part of it? He’s been a beer judge I note for the NZ Beer Awards in the past.
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Legal Beagle: Terrorism is already illegal, in reply to simon g,
...and if I say went to Lebanon to fight for Hezbollah to stop ISIS infiltrating the border (as they already have done), does that make me a terrorist? Who would be the greater terror threat here say? There are so many intricacies in this nest of Middle East vipers: Shia v. Christian, Shia v, Sunni, Sunni v. Sunni, Sunni v. Kurd, v. al-Nusra Front vs. Syrian Army, etc, etc. Without referring back to the letter of the law, who defines what a terrorist organisation is? What about 'state sponsored terrorism'? Does that count? Is that also defined – or is there a neat exclusion clause for nation states?
Arguably that's what Israel has delivered against Gaza with 2,000 odd dying. What if I had been fighting for Hamas to repel Israeli 'terror' and later returned to NZ - would I be detained at the airport? If the unfortunate Guy Boyland (the Israeli Kiwi who died in that conflict had survived and returned to NZ, would he be interned as a criminal? Or given the ‘celebrity’ treatment by our mainstream journos for his stories on the front line against the Hamas terrorists? I wonder not!
And gosh, are the Russian mercenaries in eastern Ukraine also terrorists? They've labelled the Ukrainian army ‘terrorists’. What if NZ citizens originally from Fiji were to return to take up arms in Fiji to turf out Bainimarama, a leader our government would probably like to see the end of ? To me the lines are blurred about who the terrorists really are, whatever the conflict.
Robert Fisk in his Independent columns writes probably the most insightfully and clearly on the Middle East conflicts.
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I've just dug this out - has anyone seen Work is a Four Letter Word?
... A true British drug, pop-film rarity! David Warner and Liverpool beat girl Cilla Black star in this delightfully-absurd account of a young man called Valentine Brose who is on a mission to grow a crop of psychedelic mushrooms to promote bliss for the overworked masses of Great Britain!
Ha! The title song is also a Smith's cover from 1987.