The Black Saint and the Lady Sinner

Go here or here for an account of Christopher Hitchens' debate with George Galloway. Looks like Hitch did well by all accounts. He would be disappointed not to win this debate but apparently appeared surprised with the applause with which his comments were greeted... (courtesy Harry's Place) :

He turns up in Damascus! The man's search for a tyrannical fatherland never ends! The Soviet Union's let him down! Albania's gone. The Red Army is out of Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The hunt persists! Saddam has been overthrown and his criminal connections with him have been exposed! But onto the next! [...] To tell the Syrian people they are fortunate to have such a leader. The slobbering Dauphin who they've got, because he was the son of the slobbering tyrant who came before him! How anyone with a tincture of socialist principle can actually speak like this is beyond me and I hope far beyond you and beneath your contempt. Thank you. (Applause)

(Courtesy Matt C @ Saving the world)

Apologies for lack of posts. Been rehearsing for gigs in Manchester, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Leamington with my old band. Bring on the analogue synth through chorus and distortion pedals (my favourite)....

listening to:

Ahmad Jamal: Cross Country Tour (1958-61)
Mingus: The Black Saint and the Lady Sinner:

a masterpiece of sounds and textures, from the astonishing vocal effects of the plunger-muted trumpets and trombone (seeming to speak messages just beyond the range of understanding) to the soaring romantic alto of Charlie Mariano. Boiling beneath it all are the teeming, congested rhythms of Mingus and drummer Dannie Richmond and the deep morass of tuba and baritone saxophone. This is one of the greatest works in jazz composition, and it's remarkable that Mingus dredged this much emotional power from a group of just 11 musicians