desdemona

no, I think initially they were, but the eastern block started using professional athletes and it's what it is today.

I'm hearing where alot of professional athletes are declining the invitation to the olympics, I noted some NBA stars, I can't believe they're turning down this honor, is it because it doesn't pay? Should the Olympics be for amateurs anyways, they seem to be the only ones that have their heart in it. Any thoughts?

Fans couldn't help but be curious last fall when Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel strode onstage to open their reunion concerts with the song Old Friends. By Kathy Willens, AP Old friends, yes. But still friends? The boyhood chums have been famously estranged through the years, the classic example of a duo that made sweet music onstage and hit sour notes when the lights went down. Now, however, "my friendship with Artie is back to where it was when we were 12 years old," Simon told The Associated Press. "We're laughing and kidding around all the time. It's a lot of fun." Agreed Garfunkel: "We are remarkably like brothers in our musical calling and our senses of humor." Good vibes. Without them, Simon & Garfunkel probably wouldn't be going out on the road again this summer, starting June 10 in Albany. The $64.5 million in ticket sales for the first leg of the Old Friends tour probably helped their mood, too. They may be friends again, but that doesn't mean they always see eye to eye. In the course of two interviews, they disagreed on whether Simon & Garfunkel has a recording future, a touring future beyond this summer and whether a change in their show for Europe was politically motivated. Last fall, during the song America, a video montage ran on screens behind the two singers, showing images of the nation during the past 40 years. That will be either changed or eliminated when the tour moves to Europe. "It's what an artist does when he feels the name of his country speaks too loudly and too provocatively (that) it pushes the music aside," Garfunkel said, somewhat cryptically. He wouldn't comment further. Simon said it will be altered to be more appropriate to Europeans. "It's not a political statement," he said. "It's a geographic reality." The singers' repertoire is kept strictly to the Simon & Garfunkel recordings, except for Simon's early 1970s solo recordings Slip Slidin' Away and American Tune. Trying to balance the duo material with more solo work would have been too difficult, Simon said. "It's particularly appropriate now to stay locked into a time capsule, because it has a lot of resonance," he said. "The power of the elapsed time adds emotion to the songs. A lot of these songs, even back then, were dealing with the passage of time." Simon was in his early 20s when he wrote a line in the song Old Friends about being 70. The idea that he's performing the song at age 62 "is still shocking to me," he said. Simon spoke from his office in the Brill Building, a legendary location for songwriters during the 1960s. His walls were covered with old posters and album covers, along with the New York Yankees fan's impressive collection of baseball memorabilia. Garfunkel talked at his three-story apartment off New York's Central Park, shortly before leaving on a trip to continue a walking tour of Europe. Preparing for the show was difficult in an odd, unexpected way, Simon described. For most people, their memory of Simon & Garfunkel is two singers, one guitar. But the old recordings usually had full bands. The challenge was being true to the fans' memories yet updating the sound. The duo travels with a seven-piece band. The tour gave Simon a greater appreciation for what Garfunkel's voice meant to his music. "The sound of the two voices is unique," he said. "The fact that the Everly Brothers are part of the show really connects us to our beginnings. Just the fact of duo singing is a powerful thing. It's gone." Between the Everly Brothers, Simon & Garfunkel and John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles, the sound of two voices blending to make a sound distinct from each alone is a powerful thing, he said. It sounds shocking today because no one is doing it, he said. "I find Paul at his absolute best," Garfunkel said. "He is a benign papa, with that same considerable talent and a beautiful work ethic. I love people who respect their work." Seeing the duo isn't a cheap date. The average ticket price for a Simon & Garfunkel show last fall was $136.90, well above the industry average of around $50, according to Pollstar magazine. "It's a hard subject," Garfunkel said. "It puts me on the defensive. I didn't make the ticket price. I'm involved in it, my profit is related to it. Am I squeezing the American people? Well, if they show up and say we're happy to buy your ticket price and come see the show, who am I to say you shouldn't be happy?" read the entire article here: http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2004-0...garfunkel_x.htm

welcome doggod1232005, have fun, hope we hear from you :)

I'm in ohio too rainbowman, NE about an hr east of cleveland

Clear Channel Communications Inc., the biggest owner of U.S. radio stations, agreed Wednesday to pay a $1.75 million fine to settle indecency complaints related to shock jocks such as Howard Stern. Clear Channel faces a $1.7M fine due to programs like Howard Stern's. Published reports have indicated that the fine would be the largest ever leveled by the Federal Communications Commission. Clear Channel (CCU: up $0.04 to $38.02, Research, Estimates), which has run afoul of indecency limits previously for the antics of disc jockeys, also agreed to take steps to prevent further such incidents. The San Antonio, Texas-based broadcaster said it would enforce a "responsible broadcasting" plan for at least three years, and act to discipline employees who violate FCC rules in the future. "It was a tough negotiation, but a fair resolution," Andrew Levin, executive vice president and chief legal officer at Clear Channel, said in a statement. "We didn't agree that all the complaints were legally indecent, but some clearly crossed the line and for those we have taken full responsibility. No broadcaster has taken stronger steps to ensure its broadcasts comply with the law and we intend to keep it that way." read the entire article here: http://money.cnn.com/2004/06/09/news/fortu...dex.htm?cnn=yes

Beatles Said to Be in Online Song Licensing Talks Tue Jun 8, 2004 08:17 PM ET By Sue Zeidler LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Representatives of the Beatles are in discussions with various online music services about licensing their songs for distribution on the Internet, people familiar with the discussions said on Tuesday. The Beatles have been one of the biggest holdouts in releasing their catalog for sale online, and the lack of such mega-hits as "Let it Be" and "Yesterday" has been cited as a major weakness for fledgling, Web-based music stores. Negotiators for the Beatles have talked with several companies, with a particular emphasis on Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) MSN, which is expected to open an Internet music store late this summer, people familiar with the talks told Reuters. "MSN is working very closely with the music industry to build a top-quality music service for consumers, which includes providing a wide selection of music, but has nothing specific to announce at this time," said a Microsoft spokesman. The discussions by the legendary group were first reported by CNET on Tuesday. Sources familiar with the matter said the current round of talks is being steered by the Beatles' representatives rather than their record label, EMI Group Plc. (EMI.L: Quote, Profile, Research) . Representatives of the band's two surviving members, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, could not be immediately reached for comment. EMI owns the Beatles' master recordings and would be involved in any final agreement, the sources said. The label has been trying to urge the Beatles for years to grant permission to distribute their songs online. "We think it would be great if the Beatles decided to make their music available on legitimate music services," said EMI spokeswoman Jeanne Meyer. read the entire article here: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t...storyID=5376876

welcome BioHaz, :D

written during the vietnam war but mostly about the protests against it, this was regarding the democratic convention in Chicago, I'm thinking 1968, not sure, will have to look it up. Chicago/We Can Change the World Graham Nash Though your brother's bound and gagged And they've chained him to a chair Won't you please come to Chicago Just to sing In a land that's known as freedom How can such a thing be fair Won't you please come to Chicago For the help we can bring We can change the world - Re-arrange the world It's dying - to get better Politicians sit yourself down, There's nothing for you here Won't you please come to Chicago For a ride Don't ask Jack to help you Cause he'll turn the other ear Won't you please come to Chicago Or else join the other side We can change the world - Re-arrange the world It's dying - if you believe in justice It's dying - and if you believe in freedom It's dying - let a man live it's own life It's dying - rules and regulations, who needs them Open up the door Somehow people must be free I hope the day comes soon Won't you please come to Chicago Show your face From the bottom to the ocean To the mountains of the moon Won't you please come to Chicago No one else can take your place We can change the world - Re-arrange the world It's dying - if you believe in justice It's dying - and if you believe in freedom It's dying - let a man live it's own life It's dying - rules and regulations, who needs them Open up the door We can change the world

Being Dick Cheney [2 June 2004] by David Sirota There are moments in the life of every politician when the public gets an unfiltered glimpse of the person behind the platitudes. For the first President Bush, it was cameras catching his wonderment at a supermarket scanner. For Mike Dukakis, it was his bobble head impression in the tank. And for Bill Clinton, it was his pained effort to define what "is" is. But we are rarely treated to the morsels Vice President Dick Cheney recently served up. By the time he had finished a trio of public statements, Cheney confirmed our worst fears that he has become totally divorced from reality. First, Cheney held up Fox News Channel as the pinnacle of objective reporting. Despite the brazen sensationalism and hard-right tilt that have made Fox the laughingstock of American journalism, Cheney last month told thousands of Republican Party loyalists that he "ends up spending a lot of time watching Fox News, because they're more accurate" than any other media outlet. Of course, just last year, a University of Maryland study found that Fox may well be the most inaccurate news organization in America. The study found, among other things, that 80% of Fox viewers held at least one major factual misperception about the war in Iraq — a far higher rate than viewers of any other network. A few weeks later, Cheney cited Wal-Mart as "one of our nation's best companies" (Whitehouse website, May 2004), ignoring its poverty-level wages, mistreatment of workers, and repeated violations of environmental law. He claimed the company "exemplifies some of the very best qualities in our country — hard work, the spirit of enterprise, fair dealing and integrity." He failed to mention the 60 federal complaints against the company for workplace violations, Wal-Mart's decisions to lock workers into stores, and charges that it doctored hourly employees' time records in order to skimp on wages. Instead, he parroted the Wal-Mart executives who are bankrolling the Bush-Cheney campaign, calling for "litigation reform" and saying the problem afflicting America is pesky workers who have the nerve to challenge corporate malfeasance in court. Finally, amidst increasing US casualties and international uproar over prisoner abuse in Iraq, Cheney said "Donald Rumsfeld is the best Secretary of Defense the United States has ever had." (CNN.com, 9 May, 2004) The statement effectively endorsed Rumsfeld's failure to plan for post-war Iraq and dishonest statements about Iraq's (still non-existent) WMD arsenal. It also undermined Bush Administration apologies for the Abu Ghraib situation by giving a public vote of confidence to the same Defense Secretary who supported the brutal interrogation tactics. As shocking as these declarations are, they are really no surprise in the context of Cheney's past public statements. For instance, early this year, Cheney cited a document previously discredited by the Bush Pentagon as the "best source" of information about a Saddam-Al Qaeda link (none have ever been proven). And Cheney continues to trumpet his former oil company Halliburton as a beacon of corporate ethics, even as the company bilks taxpayers and mistreats US troops in Iraq. (CBSNews.com, 12 December 2003 and Truthout.org 12 March 2004) But while these out-of-touch comments evoke jokes about spending too much time in a secure undisclosed location, they also illustrate something far more serious: the man who in one instant could be president has lost all touch with reality. His judgment is so severely impaired that he relies on Fox for facts, Wal-Mart for economics, Halliburton for ethics, and Don Rumsfeld for security. Cheney's psychological profile has become suspiciously similar to your "crazy Uncle Ned" — a man you don't want anywhere near your family. And yet, just one heartbeat separates Uncle Ned from all of our families. read the entire article here: http://www.popmatters.com/columns/sirota/040602.shtml

Clemons says 'I do' to new Boss Maybe a few bars of The Boss' Tunnel of Love would be appropriate for the "Big Man," Clarence Clemons, who once again is a married man. Saturday the Singer Island resident married Dr. Meng Yanhong in Fushun City, China, the bride's home town. Although she's a Chinese citizen, Gina, as she is known to friends, actually lives in Dublin, where she operates a thriving clinic for traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture and massage. They met in Dublin last year during the European leg of Bruce Springsteen's tour and corresponded throughout the year. Finally, Clarence could wait no longer and returned to Dublin on St. Patrick's Day. After a week, they were "head over heels for each other," Clarence's manager Steve Schwack said, but the sax man had to return to the States to finish his own tour. On May 9, he flew back to Dublin, this time with a ring. After a gig in Monte Carlo on May 18, they flew 24 hours from Nice, by way of Copenhagen, to China, where Clarence asked Gina's father for her hand. Now the immigration process begins, as Gina, 31, must wait about six months for her green card. However, she has obtained a tourist visa to The Bahamas, where the couple will begin their honeymoon on July 6 at Atlantis. http://www.palmbeachpost.com/accent/conten...3142ac0070.html

Mother, mother There's too many of you crying Brother, brother, brother There's far too many of you dying You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today - Ya Father, father We don't need to escalate You see, war is not the answer For only love can conquer hate You know we've got to find a way To bring some lovin' here today Picket lines and picket signs Don't punish me with brutality Talk to me, so you can see Oh, what's going on What's going on Ya, what's going on Ah, what's going on In the mean time Right on, baby Right on Right on Father, father, everybody thinks we're wrong Oh, but who are they to judge us Simply because our hair is long Oh, you know we've got to find a way To bring some understanding here today Oh Picket lines and picket signs Don't punish me with brutality Talk to me So you can see What's going on Ya, what's going on Tell me what's going on I'll tell you what's going on - Uh Right on baby Right on baby --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New biography explores singer's 'Art, Loves & Demons' Marvin Gaye's voice was a remarkably versatile instrument, sometimes gossamer, sometimes guttural, always expressive and emotional. It could sound angrily bereft ("I Heard It Through the Grapevine"), fatalistic ("That's the Way Love Is"), rapturous ("You're All I Need to Get By"), carefree ("Too Busy Thinking About My Baby"), sadly perplexed ("What's Going On"), cold-hearted ("The End of Our Road") and -- perhaps most famously -- meltingly, yearningly erotic, as on one of the most celebrated love-man songs ever, "Let's Get It On." Away from the voice, there was the face, handsome and matinee-idol smooth, and the sheer talent. Gaye was a fine drummer, a terrific pianist and a natural arranger, multiplying his vocals to summon forth the doo-wop bands and gospel choirs of his youth. His vocal mannerisms have been widely influential: Listen to a Michael Jackson "hooo!" and you're hearing Marvin Gaye. And yet, as Michael Eric Dyson observes in his new biography, "Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves & Demons of Marvin Gaye" (Basic Books) -- or, as Dyson calls it, a "work of bio-criticism" -- Gaye was a troubled man. His father, a Pentecostal preacher, beat him; an uncle sodomized him, according to the book; he had two messy marriages and lost his great singing partner (and romantic interest, according to Dyson's sources), Tammi Terrell, to a brain tumor; and he was forever torn between sex and God, a duality that emerged triumphantly in his music but sent the singer into a maelstrom of drug abuse. He was a flawed genius. read the article here: http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/0...gaye/index.html

that song always seems to hit home with me, idealism lost with life's struggles I guess, but I think as we progress we tend to strive to get it back.

I really don't care about marc anthony's personal life, but why would someone want to hide the fact that they married? for publicity? and if that's so, then he deserves all the prying questions he gets.

one of my favorite songs from the latter 70's, jackson browne seemed to capture images and life experiences in his lyrics, he was also an activist, in later years he dedicated time to protesting with the "NO NUKES" campaign. THE PRETENDER I'm going to rent myself a house In the shade of the freeway I'm going to pack my lunch in the morning And go to work each day And when the evening rolls around I'll go on home and lay my body down And when the morning light comes streaming in I'll get up and do it again Amen Say it again Amen I want to know what became of the changes We waited for love to bring Were they only the fitful dreams Of some greater awakening I've been aware of the time going by They say in the end it's the wink of an eye And when the morning light comes streaming in You'll get up and do it again Amen Caught between the longing for love And the struggle for the legal tender Where the sirens sing and the church bells ring And the junk man pounds his fender Where the veterans dream of the fight Fast asleep at the traffic light And the children solemnly wait For the ice cream vendor Out into the cool of the evening Strolls the Pretender He knows that all his hopes and dreams Begin and end there Ah the laughter of the lovers As they run through the night Leaving nothing for the others But to choose off and fight And tear at the world with all their might While the ships bearing their dreams Sail out of sight I'm going to find myself a girl Who can show me what laughter means And we'll fill in the missing colors In each other's paint-by-number dreams And then we'll put out dark glasses on And we'll make love until our strength is gone And when the morning light comes streaming in We'll get up and do it again Get it up again I'm going to be a happy idiot And struggle for the legal tender Where the ads take aim and lay their claim To the heart and the soul of the spender And believe in whatever may lie In those things that money can buy Thought true love could have been a contender Are you there? Say a prayer for the Pretender Who started out so young and strong Only to surrender some history of Jackson browne here: http://www.jrp-graphics.com/jackson_browne.html

omg, that's too funny rainbowman,

military madness - graham nash Military Madness In an upstairs room in Blackpool By the side of a northern sea The army had my father And my mother was having me Military Madness was killing my country Solitary Sadness comes over me After the school was over and I moved To the other side I found a different country but I never Lost my pride Military Madness was killing the country Solitary sadness creeps over me And after the wars are over And the body count is finally filed I hope The Man discovers What's driving the people wild Military madness is killing your country So much sadness between you and me War, War, War, War, War, War

Reagans shared one last moment Ex-president, wife shared poignant goodbye, daughter writes Monday, June 7, 2004 Posted: 6:34 PM EDT (2234 GMT) (CNN) -- In intimate contrast to the public remembrances of her father's life, Patti Davis writes in the June 21 issue of People magazine that the moment of Ronald Reagan's death was a quiet and touching lesson in the endurance of love. "At the last moment, when his breathing told us this was it, he opened his eyes and looked straight at my mother," the 51-year-old daughter of the late president wrote. "Eyes that hadn't opened for days did, and they weren't chalky or vague. "They were clear and blue and full of love. If a death can be lovely, his was." Reagan's wife, Nancy -- married to the actor, governor, president and then gentleman rancher for 52 years -- "managed to say to him" that one look was "the greatest gift you could have given me," Davis wrote. 'It will be okay' Earlier, during the painful waiting, Davis recalled holding her sobbing mother close. "My mother is tiny, her weight against me light," she wrote. " ... But her grief is huge and so heavy it pulls on the joints of my body. It will be okay, I tell her, but I have no idea if it will be." Acknowledging that the death of a former president of Reagan's stature would be "a big unwieldy one -- a world event," Davis wrote of preparing to "grab onto the massive grief around us and go home at night to the shape of the grief inside us." But in the end, she wrote, her father's death taught her "that there is nothing stronger than love between two people, two souls." "Love opens eyes one last time, reaches past illness and the dwindling flame of life," she wrote. "It reaches past death and cradles hearts while they weep. It was the last thing he could do in this world to show my mother how entwined their souls are -- and it was everything." http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/07/...avis/index.html

Geez, I hope you're recovering well Joeyz :( miss you, I'm glad you're alive though, I'm sure that doesn't help when you're hurting, but life is full of surprises, what an experience, hope you can move your fingers so you can type, lol We'll be looking for you. ;) remember, it's just a dumb animal

More than 500 soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen crowded around a stage at a U.S. installation to hear country star Toby Keith and 1970s rocker Ted Nugent. "You guys are doing a great job over here," Nugent told the audience Saturday. It was one of several stops in Iraq for the pair, who are visiting Iraq as part of a USO tour. They had previously performed for U.S. service members in Kosovo, Germany and Italy. http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040607/D831R09G1.html

the doors - in concert notice the policeman's head in the forefront

there's probably so many when you stop to think about it, bob dylan and csn&y were famous for them, but there were many others, I thought maybe we could accumulate them here and at the same time analyze if they apply today and if it's true that history really does repeat itself. Bob Dylan Masters Of War Come you masters of war You that build all the guns You that build the death planes You that build all the bombs You that hide behind walls You that hide behind desks I just want you to know I can see through your masks. You that never done nothin' But build to destroy You play with my world Like it's your little toy You put a gun in my hand And you hide from my eyes And you turn and run farther When the fast bullets fly. Like Judas of old You lie and deceive A world war can be won You want me to believe But I see through your eyes And I see through your brain Like I see through the water That runs down my drain. You fasten all the triggers For the others to fire Then you set back and watch When the death count gets higher You hide in your mansion' As young people's blood Flows out of their bodies And is buried in the mud. You've thrown the worst fear That can ever be hurled Fear to bring children Into the world For threatening my baby Unborn and unnamed You ain't worth the blood That runs in your veins. How much do I know To talk out of turn You might say that I'm young You might say I'm unlearned But there's one thing I know Though I'm younger than you That even Jesus would never Forgive what you do. Let me ask you one question Is your money that good Will it buy you forgiveness Do you think that it could I think you will find When your death takes its toll All the money you made Will never buy back your soul. And I hope that you die And your death'll come soon I will follow your casket In the pale afternoon And I'll watch while you're lowered Down to your deathbed And I'll stand over your grave 'Til I'm sure that you're dead.

Hugh Jackman will host the 58th ANNUAL TONY® AWARDS The 58th Annual Tony Awards®, the most anticipated evening in American Theater, will be broadcast live from the Radio City Music Hall in New York on Sunday, June 6, at 8 PM, live ET/delayed PT on CBS. This is the seventh year that the historic Radio City Music Hall is home to the Tonys. Tony Bennett and Mary J. Blige will perform a musical salute to Broadway, while musical performances from nominated shows will include: "Assassins," "Avenue Q," "The Boy From Oz," "Caroline, or Change," "Fiddler on the Roof," "Wicked" and "Wonderful Town." Presenters will include Carol Channing, Sean Combs, Taye Diggs, Edie Falco, Jimmy Fallon, Harvey Fierstein, Victor Garber, Joel Grey, Ethan Hawke, Anne Heche, Billy Joel, Scarlett Johansson, Nicole Kidman, Jane Krakowski, Peter Krause, Swoosie Kurtz, Nathan Lane, Laura Linney, John Lithgow, LL Cool J, Rob Marshall, Dame Helen Mirren, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Anna Paquin, Sarah Jessica Parker, Bernadette Peters, Phylicia Rashad, Chita Rivera, John Rubenstein, Carol Bayer Sager, Martin Short, Patrick Stewart, Sigourney Weaver, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Renee Zellweger. more about the Tony's here: http://www.cbs.com/specials/58tonys/

Actress-singer Jennifer Lopez has married her current boyfriend, salsa singer Marc Anthony, barely five months after breaking her much-publicized engagement to actor Ben Affleck, Us Weekly reported Saturday. The magazine said Lopez, 33, married Latin music star Anthony, 34, at her home in Los Angeles Saturday in front of about 40 guests. Us Weekly said it had pictures of a giant tent assembled on the estate and of guests coming and going among tables covered in white table cloths and flower centerpieces. entire article here: http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/0...reut/index.html