Posts Tagged “Bruce Springsteen”
Currently listening to KINKFM.com (Kink 1400)
My friend Menachem Luchins aka Nuke got a new writing gig at eGO.com - a blog that provides daily questions and comments for discussion and debate. All the discussion, articles and quotes will be centered around eGO.com’s seven principles. Read about it here.
A post on 8asians.com about noodles caught my attention:
Even though Southern California is a melting pot of different cultures and deliciously diverse dining, the ways of the yummy Asian noodles might be lost on lawmakers. Kim Tar noodle factory has been in business for 25 years, supplying restaurants and markets with fresh rice noodles. But, a state law requiring refrigeration of noodles is threatening the life of these Asian noodles. Thankfully, some wise Asians are gathering their forces to fight the man who is trying to keep our noodles down. What I love even more than the fact that they are going to rally for the noodles is that they are planning a press conference at a restaurant in Monterey Park! (I grew up a stone-skip away from Monterey Park and still enjoy delectable Asian cuisine in MP.)
Health officials are standing their ground saying this is a matter of public safety and that “ethnic foods are not treated differently than other foods.” Newsflash health officials — Not all foods are created equal! If it’s customary for rice noodles to be stored at room temperature — and they have been for thousands of years — then storing them in the fridge doesn’t suddenly make them safer to eat! In fact, putting rice noodles in the fridge can ruin them! Asians noodles are not like other pastas. Leave our noodles alone!
Whoever is trying to impose those laws on noodles obviously doesn’t know anything about them. On the upside LA Times reports that the WIC nutrician program’s food vouchers now enables women and children to buy themselves fresh fruit and vegetables. Isn’t that grand?
Another study finds no difference between children raised by gay or straight adoptive parents. DUH! And in the meantime the authors of “And tango makes three” finally have a baby of their own.
Earlier this week Bruce Springsteen debuted a new song, called “Wrecking Ball” at Giants Stadium. Listen to it here. Serena Ryder is currently touring the US with NeedToBreathe, and popped into a studio in Charlottesville for an interview and a couple of songs. Listen to it here. And in the meantime rocker Melissa Etheridge is contemplating using her celebrity to form a high-powered lesbian coalition, made up of fellow famous gay rights activists.
I’m thrilled actress Ming-Na plays an out lesbian Asian-American in Stargate Universe. Read about it here and here. Let’s hope her character has at least a half decent storyline.
This is what Ming-Na had to say about the part: “I’ve never played a gay character, and for me that was such an incredible challenge. And I said, “As long as you write her with absolute depth and she’s well rounded, and there’s no stereotypes, and she’s a real person — then yes, let’s go for it.” Being an Asian woman in this business, I have had to deal with a lot of adversities…So I relate a lot to Camille’s character, because I think being a woman who’s also gay in an environment where she has to be the head of a department - she’s an IOA officer, head of the human resources department, and she is in charge in a man’s world. So it’s a really great challenge.”
No Comments »
Let me start off this post with two recent interviews with Terry Moore in which he talks about Strangers in Paradise and Echo. This one’s interesting for Francophones as it is in French, and in this interview Terry also discusses translating his works to the big screen.
Late last night I found this article on scholars (!) studying Bruce Springsteen - who celebrated his 60th birthday earlier this week - at a weekend event. As a fan I would have attended it if I could, but the idea of actual scholars studying the man… Wow.
Another article that caught my attention was one on US spoof shows. I’m all for that as it shows people’s obsession with celebrities on one hand, and it also shows how ridiculous celebrities’ lives are; just because Britney and Paris are famous doesn’t mean they’re flawless and their lives are automatically more interesting than our own. (Think about it: whenever they screw up, it’s in front of the entire world - and I don’t envy them for that!) I can’t wait to see an episode of “Popzilla”. The article reminded me of a long running BBC show called Spitting Image (I think it was aired in the 80s and 90s) where -British- politics got spoofed. I was a little too young to get all the jokes, but I can imagine it certainly gave the Brits food for thought. I just occurred to me: remember the Genesis video to “Land of confusion“? Those were all Spitting Image puppets!
Staying on British soil: actor Colin Firth has won an award for his portrayal of a gay professor in “A single man”, directed by fashion designer Tom Ford. (Colin got the cute guy in “Mamma Mia!”) I like Colin. He seems like a down to earth kinda guy to me.
In the meantime Iran - amidst all the controversy of another nuclear plant (I do NOT like their President, let’s get that straight) - may allow trans marriages, according to this. Let’s just wait and see, eh.
Also late last night, as I was surfing the web, I noticed just then my Flemish friend Michael Vincent gave me credits on his site. (Check it out; it certainly is worth it.) Wow; I only helped him translate some pages into English. Nothing major. Thanks, dude 
No Comments »
Saturday, May 30. I had been looking forward to this day from the moment it was clear The Boss was going to play Pinkpop.
Just to get this straight: the name “Pinkpop” has nothing to do with the color or gay pride, but all with the Dutch word for Pentecost - “Pinksteren”. The 3-day festival is traditionally (2009 marked its 40th birthday) held over Pentecost weekend (including Monday).
UK band Noisettes kicked off the day, and they did sound like a party band with their upbeat songs. Other bands that played were King of the Day, Just Jack, Dr. Lektroluv, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes (who also did some hilarious renditions of “Desperado” and John Denver’s “Country roads”), Elbow (despite some really good songs, I got bored after about half an hour), Chris Cornell (his new stuff doesn’t appeal to me at all - I’ll remain a Soundgarden fan - but he still has one of the best voices in rock music. And the fact he’s also good looking - mom noticed this too - is a bonus. I saw the drummer and one of the guitarists strolling the area afterwards, with security), and The Killers (mom and I watched them while we relaxed in the late afternoon sun).
The Boss started on time, with 60,000 people (most of them fans) eagerly waiting. He’s clearly happy to be here, the weather’s been wonderful the entire day (I returned home with a significantly darker skin), and he and the E Street Band launch into Badlands. I wondered who the young dude playing drums was; it certainly wasn’t Max Weinberg. And the lady taking Patti Scialfa’s place isn’t his wife, but Sister Susan (with the E Street Band since the Seeger Sessions, if I recall correctly). His site posted the set list earlier today:
Badlands
Out In The Street
She’s The One
Outlaw Pete
Radio Nowhere
Working On A Dream
Seeds
Johnny 99
The Ghost Of Tom Joad
Raise Your Hand
From Small Things
Trapped
I’m On Fire
Thunder Road
Waiting On A Sunny Day
The Promised Land
Lonesome Day
The Rising
Born To Run
Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out
Land Of Hope And Dreams
American Land
Glory Days
Dancin’ In The Dark.
The Boss had his ceremonial speech during “Working on a dream” and treated the audience to a couple of sentences in Dutch (watch the video - it was aired on Dutch TV, as were “Badlands” and “Born to run”). “From Small Things”, “Trapped”, and “I’m on Fire” were all requests by the audience (like they’ve played The Clash’s “London Calling” and “Mony mony” by Tommy James and the Shondells in the US). It turns out the young man with the pretty hair is Max’s 19-year-old son Jay. Without being biased, I can say that even before The Boss introduced him to the audience I was impressed by his drumming skills; Jay is doing a really good job filling his dad’s shoes. Lucky dude!
Brandon Flowers, The Killers’s singer, got invited back to the stage to sing “Thunder Road”. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him that shy. A little girl got to sing the chorus to “Waiting on a sunny day”, encouraged by The Boss. She got a huge cheer of the crowd at the and, and I’m sure she’ll never forgot that moment. And a lady carrying a huge sign that said “Dutch Courtney Cox” got pulled on stage at the end of “Dancing in the dark” for a dance with The Boss Awesome, eh!
My mom recognized most of the songs and had a great time watching Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. She thought it was super cool to see a 59-year-old man entertain such a diverse crowd (I’m sure he won over new heart that night!). The younger crowd and non-fans were half expecting to hear “Born in the USA” but I knew better: The Boss was here to party. He was scheduled to play till 22:30 hrs, but I knew he wasn’t going to stop then. I was right. The party went well into overtime and nobody seemed to mind (not even the organizer of this anual event; there’s no denying it is special to have The Boss celebrate a festival’s 40th birthday).
This time I didn’t have goosebumps like the last time I saw them play (December 2007), but I had a lump in my throat making singing along a hard task. I certainly hope this wasn’t my last Springsteen concert!
No Comments »
When I was in NYC last year I really wanted to see the original Giants stadium before it was going to be torn down. Alas, with time not exactly being on our side and too many things my friend Tweety and I wanting to see/do I didn’t get to see it. Now Springsteen, who’s played it many times, is going to say his goodbyes to the stadium. Less than a week to go till my next Springsteen concert Woo-hoo!
In the meantime Iggy Pop is planning on reforming The Stooges! Looks like these dudes will rock till they drop as well.
FYI: an interesting article on Yahoo reminds us all that there is no such thing as “deleted” on the internet. And in the meantime president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad of Iran ordered a Facebook block, weeks before nationwide elections. Yup; it’s the ignorant dude who claims that homosexuality doesn’t exist in his country.
Three US service members recently discharged (or facing discharge) under the military’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy share their stories in the media to highlight the reality facing gay and lesbian members in the US military. Read more here. And read here how the White House was called out on aforementioned policy.
May 21st marked the 30th anniversary of San Francisco’s White Night riots, which happened after a court handed down the most lenient sentence possible to Dan White (voluntary manslaughter) for the murders of Harvey Milk and George Moscone.
Singapore had its first-ever public gay rights rally, which they named “Pink Dot”. Apparently, it was something of a success. Watch a clip here.
Meanwhile, in another part of Asia Indian actress Neetu Chandra apparently caused quite a scene during a photo shoot.
Read about it here. Did you catch the “… The whole group of men suddenly started feeling ignored…”?! God forbid a bunch of gorgeous women ignore a couple of men.
A new documentary, “Straightlaced”, about the pressure to conform to gender roles in American high schools will have its premiere on Tuesday, May 26 at Hunter College in NYC. This is the trailer. It sure looks interesting to me!
Also defying traditional gender roles is a young Russian women appealing a ban on female metro drivers. I hope she wins the appeal; I think it’s time Russia joined the 21st century for real.
Yesterday was finally the day to get another tattoo (I’d made an appointment about a month ago). No pics yet, but I’m planning on posting some next week. In the meantime, enjoy NCIS’s Abby asking Gibbs for advice for a new tattoo 
No Comments »
Frankly, I don’t care much for football - unless I get to play myself. I really wanted to see Springsteen. Then after the umpteenth commercial break it was finally Boss Time!
He kicked off his (very short) set with “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out”. “Born to run”, “Working on a dream” (with a gospel choir) and “Glory days” (in which he changed all the baseball references into football references) followed.
He obviously enjoyed what he was doing; the look on his face when he slid across the stage and ended up crotch first in a camera? Priceless. And those twelve minutes were over way too soon…
Yesterday I mentioned singer/songwriter Julie Neumark, and how I sorta chickened out on saying “Hi” to her. I figured she’d be on Facebook, too (she is). So I sent her a message telling her I enjoyed her performance and that I liked her rendition of The Verve’s “Bittersweet symphony”. She replied:
Yes, that was me opening for Beth  I am so glad you enjoyed the performance and next time, please come to say hi to me!! I am not scary at all, promise!!
We had such a wonderful time in Holland and cannot WAIT to come back! Thank you again for your support.
Cheers,
Julie
No Comments »
My friend Sacha told me this morning - and I had a little trouble grasping the news: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band will play Dutch music festival Pinkpop on Saturday, May 30. Yes, that right, the Boss plays a festival!
No Comments »
(Reuters) Bruce Springsteen will release his 24th album on January 27, a disc he and the E-Street Band hurriedly recorded during breaks on their tour last year, the veteran rocker said on Monday.
“Working on a Dream” marks the follow-up to “Magic”. Both albums were produced by Brendan O’Brien (who also worked on AC/DC’s recent chart-topper “Black Ice“).
“Toward the end of recording ‘Magic,’ excited by the return to pop production sounds, I continued writing,” Springsteen said in a statement. “All the songs were written quickly, we usually used one of our first few takes, and we all had a blast making this one from beginning to end.”
Part of the title track aired on Sunday during the halftime break on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Springsteen premiered an acoustic version of the song last month during a campaign rally for President-elect Barack Obama in Columbus, Ohio.
The album features two bonus tracks, “The Wrestler” (from the upcoming Mickey Rourke film of the same name); and “A Night With the Jersey Devil” (a Halloween track that was made available for free online).
Guess who’ll probably buy the album?
No Comments »
|
Entries (RSS)