Slash on Allison

Hear, hear.

Whole Lotta Love

This probably won't be up for long. It's Adam Lambert's studio recording of Whole Lotta Love.
Warning: bad guitar solo at midpoint, but just listen through it.

For those of you who don't follow Idol, Adam's performance on Tuesday was the first time that Led Zeppelin had given permission for a song of theirs to be used on Idol. I would love to know, but suppose we never will, if LZ approved it specifically for Adam or if Idol was willing to pay the high pricetag for the song for Adam (and hadn't been willing to for anyone else). Or maybe LZ has come to the realization that exposure on Idol brings sales of the original recordings.

The story of what-is-Idol-to-do-about-Adam's-gayness creeps forward. For the show, he sang the line "WOOOMAAAAAAAAN, you need love". In the recording, he changed "woman" to "baby" and de-emphasized it. (So far this season, he has avoided lyrics with female pronouns or changed them to something neutral.) In the results show Wednesday, when he was asked how he enjoyed Tuesday's performance, Adam said it was a thrill to sing Led Zeppelin and "I liked my outfit". Bless him and that lack of filter.

Buchenwald

LJ, perhaps you could go with Obama to see Buchenwald.

Well done, Mr. President

It doesn't go far enough but, per the WaPo:

President Obama will seek to extend the controversial D.C. school voucher program until all 1,716 participants have graduated from high school, although no new students will be accepted, according to an administration official who has reviewed budget details scheduled for release tomorrow.

Hunting Eichmann

This is the book that has launched my current fascination with Nazi's and death camps. What piqued my interest in reading this book wasn't how Eichmann was captured (even though you know he is, it's still a very riveting and suspenseful event), but tracing his years and journey from post-war Germany to Argentina. Reading about all the "assistance" mid and high level Nazi's got from the Red Cross, the Vatican, and the leaders of several South American countries is just incredible. While one could make an argument that in the period just after Germany surrendered, the world didn't fully grasp what was going on with the camps and the Jews, certainly by the late 40's everyone knew. And once these guys got down to Paraguay and Argentina, they didn't exactly go underground. With the huge German immigrant populations, the support of the governments and what I can only assume was general apathy on the part of Europe and the USA, many of them lived quite openly. Eichmann's children even used his last name! What also struck me was that while some of Nazi's lived a very good life in South America, Eichmann did not. Even when he moved to the outskirts of Buenos Aires, his "house" was basically a small adobe hut with just a few rooms. He worked at a factory and had a very blue-collar lifestyle.

On a separate note, as a big Evita-file, I found it very disturbing to read about the very close ties between the Peron government and Nazi Germany - before, during and after the war. Of course, I will rationalize it by saying that was Juan's doing - Eva I'm sure had no knowledge or part in that policy.

This reads like a non-fiction spy novel, it is that good. The author researched this thoroughly and interviewed everyone still alive. A great read that will keep you up late.

Re: Prez Respect

Slate guy/gal may be right...I have no idea (hope I was clear about that). I didn't mean for it to be so much a post about parties but about the office though the video certainly was. Just seems to me that there has been a decline.

I wish this was the last that was ever heard from Joe the Plumber

Joe Wurzelbacher in Christianity Today: "I've had some friends that are actually homosexual. And, I mean, they know where I stand, and they know that I wouldn't have them anywhere near my children."

Yes, Joe, that's exactly right. There are no heterosexual pedophiles. And all homosexuals are pedophiles.

Re: Presidential respect

I'm sure this won't satisfy all, but a reporter at Slate comments on the habits of reporters standing (and not standing) for the president:

The discrepancy in treatment is all the proof a Republican needs to show that the press shows special deference to the new Democratic president. It's a distorted picture, though. We stood all the time for President Bush. Reporters customarily do so to show respect for the office of the presidency. In the East Room of the White House, we stood not only when the president came in but to ask questions. Some reporters said thank you to the president even before asking their questions. This practice continues under President Obama.

There are different rules for the briefing room though, which is the place both events on the video took place. It's more informal. (CBS's Mark Knoller talked to Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer, who confirmed that no offense was taken when the press didn't stand in the briefing room.) It's not that there is a no-standing policy, exactly, but more that the question is unresolved. The press didn't stand for Bush in February but did when the president visited the briefing room for the last time. When he held press conferences in the Eisenhower Old Executive Office Building, the press did stand. Same with the Rose Garden. (On foreign trips, it was confusing. We stood when the host country's press corps often didn't, but once in Tanzania the roles were reversed for some reason, and the U.S. press had to stand quickly to catch up with the local Tanzanians.)

[Update to add a little more; JUMP]
Why, then, didn't the members of the press stay in their seats when Obama walked in last Friday? Unlike the Bush planned press conference in February, Obama's visit was a complete surprise (you hear fewer clicks because not every photographer is there), which meant the natural instinct to stand when a president enters the room may have kicked in. As you can see from the video, they also ruined the shot, which means standing not only invited grief from conservatives but from their colleagues, too.

Re: Joker One

Update: I saw a Reuters video today in which the author said he still doesn't know whether the Iraq War was successful. The gist was to ask him again in 50 years.

Presidential Respect

There's a clip on youtube showing the press corps standing for President Obama and not standing for Pres. Bush last year. I have no idea if it is true or not but, if true, underscores a trend I've noticed over the last 30 years that I loathe...disrespect for the office.

I'm going from memory here but I think I noticed that it was under the Reagan Administration that the press stopped referring to "the President" and started referring to him as Mr. Reagan, though they certainly still addressed him as, "Mr. President."

It's one thing for bloggers/columnists/talk radio/average joes to refer to the President (or any past president for that matter...if I had a chance to address either President Carter or President Clinton, I'd still address them as "Mr. President") but hearing or reading a straight report that refers to the President as Mr. ___________ bugs the heck out of me. I don't even like it when columnists, etc... don't use the formal terminology.

Shoot, when talking to a retired judge I still address her as "Your Honor."

Maybe I'm wrong but I seem to recall a higher respect for the office in the past.

ACORN Nevada

Nevada AG has filed a complaint against ACORN for voter registration fraud stemming from an incentive system for canvassers that required each canvasser to yield a quota of completed registration cards to keep their jobs and cash bonuses for higher numbers of registration cards. Larry Lomax, a county registrar of voters described: "This is individuals ripping off their bosses because they have quotas to make." From the article:

Officials insisted today that the fake voter registrations did not translate into fake voters making it to the polls.

"This is a case of voter registration fraud, not voter fraud," said Miller. "There is no evidence that there was any voter fraud in the last election."

Here was my take on McCain's allegations about ACORN shenanigans in Florida on October 15, 2008:

ACORN operates on a shoe-string budget and has some lazy employees who have defrauded ACORN by taking a paycheck and not doing their jobs. (By all means, root them out and charge those folks with crimes.) Republicans are trying to use this to delegitimize Obama's win. Here's hoping for victories so resounding that this ploy won't work.

US Nuke Capabilities

This can’t possibly be right, can it? From Frank Gaffney:

Today, in the words of Obama Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the United States is “the only declared nuclear power that is neither modernizing its nuclear arsenal nor has the capability to produce [emph. mine] a new nuclear warhead.”

Not content with the slow demise of America’s deterrent, the denuclearizing Johnnys are making a new push for another arms control initiative – one wisely rejected by a majority of the U.S. Senate a decade ago: the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Ratification would effectively preclude the United States from ever validating its nuclear arsenal via the only tried-and-true means: actual explosive detonations. Even now, thanks to the unilateral U.S. moratorium on such testing adopted in 1992, there are grave and growing uncertainties about the reliability of our obsolescing weaponry.

Humbled

I've finished the third in my War on Terror trilogy. Just finished Joker One. This one about the Marines in Ramadi in 2004. The author was a young lieutenant (with Princeton and Harvard degrees now working for Pepsi in Dallas) who intended the book to be primarily a tribute to his comrades but a bit about his growth as a leader and a bit about faith.

I cried again. While I truly regret not having served, I'm now convinced I'd never have made it. I think I knew that already and didn't want to admit it to myself.

Bear: Age 18.7 months

From dshort.com as of the end of the day Friday, May 1:

Slash hears Adam

After his mentor sessions today with the American Idol contestants, Slash tweets:

Passaggio

From the L.A. Times Music blog on Adam Lambert:

But a very particular gift allows him to go beyond the average show tune belter — or the average heavy-metal squawker. I think this gift puts him in a league with some of the best singers of the rock era. It has to do with the passaggio — his ability to transition from the lower register to that killer falsetto.

A friend who is a singer pointed this out to me (thank you, Erika Gunn!). She noted that many of the vocalists we find most unearthly and stirring can go from their earthy chest voice to the more piercing head voice without stumbling into the weak, constricted zone that often plagues singers as they make the leap. One blogger described it this way: The voice is like a stick-shift car, and the passaggio is the area of shifting, that risky spot where you'd better be both flexible and totally in command.

There's a lot of interesting technical stuff written about the passaggio. I'm no expert on vocal technique, so let me leave my thoughts within the territory I know: the effect of a certain voice on listeners. Lambert's natural range is fairly high — he's a tenor emerging at a time when most rock-oriented singers are baritones, like those kings of the "Idol" jungle, Chris Daughtry and David Cook. (R&B singers are a different matter altogether; the lingering influence of Michael Jackson means that soft, high voices still do well in the field.)

What's most striking about Lambert, though, is way he can linger in between registers without cracking, wavering or producing a "tight" sound. That's why his rendition of "Mad World" struck many as his best performance of the season. It lived in that space. The way Lambert's voice moves gives definition to grace, the way an Olympic skater does when executing a triple toe loop.

This was from April 27, 2009, before Paula compared Adam to Michael Phelps. In our house, we compare him to Lebron James.

[Update 5/4/09: LeBron named NBA's Most Valuable Player. We use the LeBron comparison for Adam because by the time they each came on the scene, they were fully formed, freakishly skilled and in possession of all the intangibles necessary for greatness.]

MasterClassLady.com

In my endless pursuit of all things Adam Lambert, I've been reading Masterclasslady.com, a blog by a voice instructor who, among other things, critiques the Idol performances. Here's what she had to say about Adam's live performance of Feeling Good:

What a performance, Adam! For me, this performance absolutely confirmed the outstanding technical foundation that is at the core of each and every one of your showcases. That feelin’ upper note - perfectly sustained for what seemed like an eternity -was blanket evidence of this fact. That tongue ( how could we miss the tongue?) - was lying flat and relaxed in the front of your mouth, thus freeing any constriction in your throat and adding rise to the soft palate as well.

As a result, you were more than capable of applying strong support from your diaphragmatic muscles when sustaining the “i” vowel in the second syllable of the word “feelin“. And, of course, you made absolutely certain that your jaw was relaxed and free, thus liberating your vocal sound even further so that it could resonate perfectly in your vocal masque.

And that downward vocal spiral after you held this note, flawlessly executed without a breath or even the remotest facial evidence of concern, was testament to your highly refined technical skills. The descending scale was seamless, pure and centered.

It actually reminded me of the technical strength and power of classical artist, Cecilia Bartoli, who is, to my mind, the best classical singer in the world today. I saw her execute the same vocal feat, but, obviously in her case, it was during a classical number. I can’t remember the name of the song, but I do remember the moment and you brought it all back to me with your enormous talent and skill during this week’s Top 5 showcase.

Until you buy it on iTunes...

and until it gets removed from youtube, here's the studio version of Feeling Good:

Chicken Little wing

Here's an amusing mockery of the Chicken Little wing of the Republican party/talking heads:

I think you are understating Obama’s threat to America. John Hawkins makes it clear- Obama is Julius Caesar and he will lead America to ruin! From single handily running all the empire’s major companies and banks, to hating Christians, to the comment at the end about releasing the zoo animals. To do what? Eat the Christians? Mark my words- your children’s children will be Muslims pouring Paul Newman’s spicy Obama dressing on their arugula salads.

I've taken several weeks off from watching/reading any news, so I've got nothing substantive to contribute. There's just too much going on to stay on top of it all. I got overwhelmed and gave up. Will get back to paying attention.

Fear of the [Bush] White House?

From Noonan’s column today:

Republicans are also up against themselves. On Capitol Hill they are up against the Bush era, when through fear of the White House or mindless opportunism they supported things they now decry. It will take them a while to seem credible again. The smarter of them know this. They're waiting for time to pass and a new cliché about them to take hold. Old cliché: "They're not a credible alternative." Future cliché they hope for: "They've learned a lot in the wilderness."

I get the point though I’m not sure how much of it was "fear." Certainly there was plenty of mindless opportunism but fear? Nobody seemed to [update: I'm a dope: too] scared of the White House when the attempt was made to touch the third rail. I’d like to think some of the silence on the things now decried was due to support of a wartime president.

Feeling Good

I highly recommend downloading Adam Lambert's STUDIO version of Feeling Good from iTunes. I guarantee you'll get more than $0.99 worth of enjoyment out of it. (The live performance wasn't great.)

Twitter: Slash

From Slash (from Guns 'n Roses) who's the guest mentor for Idol this week for the final four who'll be singing rock songs:

David Souter

retiring. I'm certainly not broken up but can't help but be concerned about what is about to be foisted upon me.