Russia’s Putin says Syria violence could hit ex-Soviet bloc | Reuters

Russia’s Putin says Syria violence could hit ex-Soviet bloc | Reuters.

US leaker Snowden ‘wears disguise, in danger’: lawyer – FRANCE 24

 

US leaker Snowden ‘wears disguise, in danger’: lawyer – FRANCE 24.

How the U.S. Narrowly Avoided a Nuclear Holocaust 33 Years Ago, and Still Risks Catastrophe Today | Democracy Now!

How the U.S. Narrowly Avoided a Nuclear Holocaust 33 Years Ago, and Still Risks Catastrophe Today | Democracy Now!.

LINKS

 

“Command and Control.” By Eric Schlosser (Penguin Group USA)

“Nuclear weapons: an accident waiting to happen” by Eric Schlosser

News from The Associated Press

 

News from The Associated Press.

Democracy Now: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Democracy Now: MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2013

Democracy Now -_- September 23, 2013

 

REGINA SPEKTOR SONG and LYRICS: “CALL THEM BROTHERS”

REGINA SPEKTOR LYRICS

 Send “Call Them Brothers” Ringtone to your Cell 

“Call Them Brothers”
(feat. Only Son)

That’s it, it’s split – it won’t recover
Just frame the halves and call them brothers
Find their fathers and their mothers 
If you remember who they are

Over and over they call us their friends
Can’t we find something else to pretend?
Like nobody’s won and we’re safe at the end

In the darkness the film machine’s spinning
So let’s leave it on
We’ll be out in the street 
before anyone knows that we’re gone

That’s it, it’s split, it can’t recover
Just frame the halves and call them a whole
And chip at the bricks and fill up your pockets 
With the pieces of the wall that you stole

The hunt is on, everyone’s chasing
Everyone’s chasing a shot
A shot rings out, nobody wants it
Nobody wants it to stop

That’s it, it’s split, it won’t recover
Just frame the halves and call them brothers
Find your fathers and your mothers
If you remember who they are
If you remember, if you remember,
if you remember who they are

 

 

Regina Spektor – Interview (There is a lot for every ear, in this interview!)

Regina Ilyinichna Spektor (Russian: Реги́нa Ильи́нична Спе́ктор, IPA: [rʲɪˈɡʲinə ˈspʲɛktər]; /rɨˈdʒiːnə ˈspɛktər/; born February 18, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Her music is associated with the anti-folk scene centered on New York City‘s East Village.

Regina Spektor
Regina Spektor playing an electronic piano in 2006
Background information
Native name	Regina Ilyinichna Spektor
Born	February 18, 1980 (age 33) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Origin	New York, U.S.
Genres	Anti-folk, indie folk, baroque pop,jazz, indie pop
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, record producer
Instruments	Vocals, piano, guitar, bass guitar
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Sire/Warner Bros. Records
Associated acts	Only Son, Sondre Lerche, Ben Folds, Kill Kenada, The Strokes,Dufus
Website	http://www.reginaspektor.com
Notable instruments
Steinway & Sons piano Epiphone Wildkat guitar

Regina Spektor – Samson – The culture Show

REGINA SPEKTOR LYRICS

 Send “Samson” Ringtone to your Cell 

“Samson”

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth
I have to go, I have to go
Your hair was long when we first met

Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
He ate a slice of wonder bread and went right back to bed
And history books forgot about us and the bible didn’t mention us
And the bible didn’t mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the stars came fallin’ on our heads
But they’re just old light, they’re just old light
Your hair was long when we first met

Samson came to my bed
Told me that my hair was red
Told me I was beautiful and came into my bed
Oh I cut his hair myself one night
A pair of dull scissors in the yellow light
And he told me that I’d done alright
And kissed me ’til the mornin’ light, the mornin’ light
And he kissed me ’til the mornin’ light

Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
Ate a slice of wonderbread and went right back to bed
Oh, we couldn’t bring the columns down
Yeah we couldn’t destroy a single one
And history books forgot about us
And the bible didn’t mention us, not even once

You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first

Celtic Woman – Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring

 

Emmanuel Chabrier: L’ Étoile – Overture

Emmanuel Chabrier: L’ Étoile – Overture
Joseph Peyron, Lina Dachary, René Lenoty, Claudine Collart, Jean Christophe Benoit
Emmanuel Chabrier : L’ Étoile (1957), Volume 1

1. Emmanuel Chabrier: L’ Étoile – Overture

 

Franz Liszt – Tasso, Lamento e Trionfo

Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811 — July 31, 1886) was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.

Liszt became renowned throughout Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age and perhaps the greatest pianist of all time.

Tasso, Lamento e Trionfo.

Franz Liszt composed his Tasso, Lamento e trionfo (Tasso, Lament and Triumph) in 1849, revising it in 1850-51 and again in 1854. It is numbered No. 2 in his cycle of 13 symphonic poems written during his Weimar period.

Liszt’s first sketch for this work is dated August 1, 1849. He had heard the principal theme for Tasso in Venice, Italy several years earlier, however, using it in the 1840 version of his piano piece “Chant do Goldolier” in Venezia e Napoli. Liszt completed the 1849 verion of Tasso as an overture in two sections, giving it to August Conradi to orchestrate. This version was performed in Weimar, Germany on the centennial of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe‘s birth as an overture to his drama Torquato Tasso. Liszt later corrected Conradi’s score and had Joachim Raff produce a new score in 1850–51. Liszt then revised this score extensively, adding a central section. This version was performed on April 19, 1854 in Weimar, conducted by Liszt.

Conductor: Michel Plasson
Orchestra: Dresdner Philharmonie

 

Busch String Quartet, Mozart String Quartet in E flat major K.428 (Columbia, 5-15-1942) (a very special musical treat!)

In celebration of the 100 anniversary of the founding of the Busch String Quartet (formed in 1912), one of the great ensembles in the history of recorded Classical music, here is their 1942 New York recording of Mozart’s String Quartet in E flat major, K.428 (one of the six string quartets dedicated to Haydn).

Members of the Busch String Quartet:
Adolf Busch (first violin)
Gösta Andreasson (second violin)
Karl Doktor (viola)
Herman Busch (cello)

The following biography comes from allmusic.com (with additional information from The Strad, March 2012):
“The Busch Quartet was one of the most outstanding string quartets in the first half of the twentieth century. The early version of this group was founded in 1912 as the Vienna Konzertvereinsquartett, with Adolf Busch as leader and first violinist, but the outbreak of war in 1914 ended this group. Even before demobilization was declared in November 1918, Busch founded a second quartet under his own name, holding over cellist Paul Grümmer from the earlier group. In 1921 violist Karl Doktor, also an original member, likewise rejoined, and Swede Gösta Andreasson, one of Busch’s students, accepted the second chair. This became the Busch Quartet of the 1920s, and there would be only one more overall change in the group when Grümmer retired in 1930 — he was replaced by Adolf Busch’s younger brother Hermann Busch. The “fifth Beatle” of the Busch Quartet was pianist Rudolf Serkin, who joined them in quintet literature such as Schubert’s Trout. 

The quartet’s recording career began in 1931, but Hitler’s rise to power in 1933 led the members to scatter. At first, Busch resettled in Basel in neutral Switzerland, and the group resumed its activities, including making some more recordings in London. Ultimately, Busch relocated to the United States when the Second World War appeared imminent, and the Busch Quartet made its final recordings for Columbia Records in New York. The Busch Quartet disbanded in 1943-4 when Doktor’s health began to fail. After two years of disbandment, the Busch brothers started again with new players of the inner parts, Ernest Drucker (replaced by Bruno Straumann in 1947) and Hugo Gottesmann. In a final performance in Vermont in 1951, Philipp Naegele stood in for an ailing Gottesmann. The end came with Adolf Busch’s retirement at the end of 1951 – he passed away six months later.” 

The Busch Quartet recorded all of the late quartets of Beethoven and all of best-known chamber music of Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms — this was before the development of the LP record. When Serkin joined them and additional parts were filled out by friends and other musicians, the group became the Busch Chamber Players, and in this configuration recorded the first complete set of J.S. Bach‘s Brandenburg Concertos in London in 1935. “

Quotation: John Filson about felicity

Felicity, the companion of content, is rather found in our own breasts than in the enjoyment of external things; And I firmly believe it requires but a little philosophy to make a man happy in whatsoever state he is. This consists in a full resignation to the will of Providence.

John Filson (1747-1788)

Today’s Birthday: SUZANNE VALADON (1865)

Suzanne Valadon (1865)

After a fall from the trapeze ended her career as a circus acrobat, Valadon modeled for many of the major impressionists. Encouraged by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Edgar Degas, she began painting and became known for her intensely personal works, including landscapes, nudes, and portraits featuring vibrant colors with heavy black outlines. Valadon was the mother of painter Maurice Utrillo. Somewhat eccentric, she kept a goat at her studio, claiming that it served what practical purpose? More…

 

This Day in the Yesteryear: MERCHANT ROYAL SINKS, TAKING CARGO OF GOLD AND SILVER WITH HER (1641)

Merchant Royal Sinks, Taking Cargo of Gold and Silver with Her (1641)

A holy grail of marine salvage, the wreck of theMerchant Royal, one of the most valuable of all time, has eluded treasure hunters for centuries. When the leaky, 17th-century English merchant ship sank in rough weather in the vicinity of the Isles of Scilly and southwestern England, she took with her a fabled cargo of gold, silver, and precious gems worth over a billion dollars today. Among the riches lost in the wreck was the money to pay whom?More…

 

Hideous Blobfish Voted World’s Ugliest Animal

It is relatively easy to rally support for cute and cuddly endangered creatures like pandas, but what about those animals that are not quite so pleasant to look at? In an effort to bring attention to some of “Mother Nature’s more aesthetically challenged children,” the Ugly Animal Preservation Society hosted a contest to select the world’s ugliest creature. Despite stiff competition from the kakapo, axolotl, Titicaca water frog, and proboscis monkey, the aptly named blobfish—which bears some resemblance to the Star Wars character Jabba the Hutt—claimed the title. More…

 

The Nice Guy

In pop psychology, the nice guy is an adult male who is friendly yet unassertive in relationships with women. He gives emotional support, avoids confrontation, puts others’ needs before his own, and generally treats women well. Despite these good qualities, many women, even those who claim to want a nice guy, actually choose to date men who are less considerate, likely because they are attracted to the overt sexuality of such “jerks.” Who first used the phrase “nice guys finish last”? More…