Live 8 notes:
First off, imagine being a kid and watching live aid on TV and just totally assuming that if there ever is another one, you're going to be playing it, because after all, you are a rock God, and you just know that when you grow up you're going to be playing at live aid if they ever have another one. now imagine flashing forward twenty years. there's another live aid, you're all grown up, and you're still sitting in front of the TV with your friends watching live aid. Don't mind me, I always take large daggers and stab them into my heart just for the fun of it.

So this is the record of where the ambassador is now. here. at this time. and I know there are tens of thousands of bands and artists all over the world who are thinking the same thing. but it still sucks ass and is a great big reality check and wake up call. You gotta just keep going. as an artist, no matter what the medium, you just keep doing it because that's what you do. but it still is not without its inherent pain when you aren't as celebrated and filthy rich as you assumed you would be one day when you were a wee little lad sitting on the living room floor watching the big kids perform on TV. o.k. next.


Live 8 this year was effing awesome. hands down. It was history. And went off without a hitch except for MTV getting in the way. what a line up. this thing was put together brilliantly. But the MTV coverage of live 8 was so bad that we ended up turning it off. It was just awful. Forget that the hosts/commentators were ignorant smiling puppet jack-asses. That's not a big deal; its expected that they just keep making one dumb irrelevant and redundant comment after another because that is the nature of MTV now, even in high school that was the nature of MTV. But there would be some awesome performance happening right behind them on the stage, but they would focus on these two smiling jackass commentators talking to each other for ten minutes about nothing. They would say ‘there is just so much good music happening here right now...’ and you would hear the music in the background coming from the stage. But they wouldn’t show it and you would be fuming what the fuck is wrong with these people??? why aren't they showing us the great music??? it was crazy. our favorite exchange of the day was this: “and over 11 million people are logging on to the website and signing this petition and I bet there are people signing that just aren't in Philadelphia.” “yes, I bet you're right. no truer words have been spoken” says the guy and you wonder who are these morons? Where did they get them from? and why are they on our TV?

It was frightening how idiotic it was. I don't know if we just woke up one day and realized that we had outgrown MTV or if MTV just got dumber or what. but anyway forget about all that, PINK FUCKING Floyd GOT TOGETHER AND FUCKING JAMMED FOUR SONGS. WHAT A TREAT. FUCKING A WAS THAT GREAT OR WHAT?! THEY SOUDNED AWESOME. ROGER WAS RATHER A ROCK STAR POSER WASN'T HE, BUT IT WAS ALL IN GOOD FUN. God IF THEY FUCKING TOUR... THE LAST OF THE GREAT ROCK BANDS ALL STILL ALIVE AND ACTUALLY ABLE TO PULL IT OFF. This was IT for live 8. this was the “queen moment” if you will.

The “cause” notes:
What about poverty in America? Why should we share our supposed money – I didn't think we had any – to help other countries half way around the world when there are plenty of people here in America who are starving. What money do we have here that schools all over America can’t even afford text books and libraries and auditoriums.... Natalie Portman and Dave Matthews came on and talked about how important it is for us because we are so rich to share all of our money with poorer nations.... and I was just sitting there thinking quietly,,, are they just so removed from America that they don't know how fucking poor people have it here still? what money? again, what fucking money are they talking about? does no one know what a deficit is? or what a national debt is? do none of these well intentioned but misinformed people understand that we are not in the black, that we are in the red? That we are more in debt now as a nation than we have ever been in the history of our country? that we don't have any money? that we are IN FUCKING DEBT?! That we cannot afford to feed our own people here who are hungry, or house the homeless, or that our prison systems are overcrowded, or that forty percent of the population doesn’t have health insurance?!!! I mean, what the fuck is going on here??? its like some kind of mass hypnotic delusion that everyone is living in. they think we are rich. And yet we are in debt and way behind the eight ball. Fucking crazy.



And I'm not saying that it wasn't a good idea. I mean fucking a it was a great idea. it was a miraculous idea. It was a brilliant idea. it was well as Chris martin maybe the greatest event in history. A good cause and a good time. all I'm thinking here is do we really have all this extra cash here in the states? and if we do, why do we still have all these supposed “lack of money” problems here? something doesn’t make sense.



[I sponsor two poor children through the save the children foundation. And I have for about four years now. trust me, it isn't easy when you are trying to live like a millionaire on a starving artist income. But I could do more if I just wasn't so addicted to over spending. Even when it sucks to do it, I force myself because I figure if I cannot at least do that when I'm spending five fucking dollars on a coffee from Starbucks then I'm a royal asshole. Still I'm a royal asshole for not sponsoring more kids and foregoing the five dollar coffee. But that's America. That's the twisted thing we have going here that the rest of the world loves and hates so much, capitalism at its finest. Can’t feed the hungry and homeless but can afford eleven dollar drinks at a happy hour or five dollar smoothies from jamba juice everyday. A weird phenom for sure. So anyway that's not my point. My point is that my kids were from Brasil. But then one day I was talking with the lady on the phone and she told me that I could change that if I wanted to, to some American children. And I said well we don't have starving children in America. And she said sure we do. plenty of them. there are rural parts of America that are just as poor as Brasil or Africa... and I was like what the fuck? So there it is. lets clean up our own backyard first before we go tackling the neighbors back yard.... starving children in America? Can you even fucking believe it? crazy I know. makes me feel so confused. And then we have these poor entertainers coming on TV telling us to share some of our wealth with Africa... it just isn't congruent. Something is off. It just doesn’t make sense. That's the point.]

last screening: constantly watching the performances on aol. Check it here: http://music.channel.aol.com/live_8_concert/london_philly_toronto


Current spin: Alizadeh, Musique Iranienne. This is one of the most famous Taar players in iran. Beautiful music. old world. tears at your heart.