Robben Ford Discussion

[Bluelobster]

Living next to Cannes i used to hang on a lot in the film festival, if you can't go to the "official" one ,you can watch a lot of movies anyway : off festival, quinzaine des realisateurs, un certain regard ........ at a real fair price , and if u know how to behave u can watch a lot of commercial movies for free in town .
By now i don't go for it anymore, i can't watch movies from 18PM to 4AM,
getting older.
Anyway i enjoy looking daily TV reports.
So, what a surprise to watch Michael Moore winning PALME D'OR 2004, for his last movie FARENHEIT 9/11.
Even if Quentin Tarrentino was President of Jury.
I am so happy in general , this guy deserve it . And i am so glad , I mean
G.L.A.D to be french (thanks Elizabeth).
I think we are squirrelish , this is not even a movie , it's a documentary , but in a way we had to do this.
It's obvious that the last work of Michael Moore will be know by the whole world.
He was crying on stage and dedicated his award to all the dead guys abroad.
this was an off music topic
Blob

[edpesco]

well blob, I'm really curious about the reactions you will get on this

[elizabeth]

et des Francais...moi, je les prefere toujours.
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www.elizabethgage.com

[roadwarriorfortheblues]

Disney may have blocked its subsidiary Miramax from distributing Fahrenheit 9/11, but there's nuthin' they can do to stop the impassioned Todd Rundgren from bringing much of the same information, in musical form, to the people on his Liars Tour, which I saw Friday night.

Todd is furious about lies and how much dishonesty we have accepted in our daily lives. This is the central theme of his new cd, also titled "Liars."

On the cd, Todd sings and plays all the music, with the exception of two solos. On tour, with a wonderful band that included Kasim Sulton (bass & keys), John Ferenzik (keys), Jesse Gress (guitar & keys), and Prairie Prince (drums), this cd comes to life with as much meaning as a Cannes' Palme d'Or winner.

The band is amazing and they collectively do a great job carrying the theme. The costumes were great -- the show opens with each band member was dressed in various holy attire (I would gladly confess to Father Sulton any day ). The second costume change had the band dressed as pimps (read as politicians). Jesse Gress had a wonderful raspberry suit, matching hat and pink converse hightops ! I loved Jesse's playing, especially on a couple blues & jazz-swing songs -- a Green Onions jam was extraordinary. This tour is timely and inspiring.

On stage, each musician played inside their own high intensity (cool-burning) LED light chamber, constructed in the shape of a church (this tour isn't just about government lies!). The stage was barren, except for flat panels, positioned in front of each light chamber. The sound of the instruments was outstanding (the sound of the vocals was a bit muffled). This tour debuts an amplifier free sound system (developed by Todd) that uses digital modeling to emulate the sounds of traditional amps. A laptop pc & a smaller tablet replaced all the other equipment normally used on stage. There were no amps, racks or floor monitors anywhere on stage. All the equipment for the entire band is transported in a single trailer attached to their tour bus.

I think Todd and the band played almost every song from the new cd. They also played a few other gems... While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Want of a Nail, Hello It's Me (and did I already mention Green Onions ? ) I really enjoyed this tour, and I highly recommend it to any other diehard Todd fans, or any gear heads that have an interest in the future of sound & lighting technology, or to anyone and everyone else that is angered by all the damned liars in this world.
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Travelling by train of thought

[Bluelobster]

Great report R.Warrior, i am going to check this CD definitively.

[BlueRunner]

Sorry, but I'm just not a big Michael Moore fan. Haven't been since he showed up at the '03 Academy Awards, and decided to keep his hat on while receiving his Oscar. If you don't respect someone who invites you to something, then politely decline. Just don't go.

While I can appreciate folks who take strong positions, the concept that those "other" people you disagree with must be liars is really a sign of laziness. A lot of what is really nothing more than opinion or faulty analysis these days gets criticized by the opposition as "deceit," "lies," etc. by opponents who don't want to do their homework and come up with alternative analyses. And it's going on from all parts of the political and social spectrum.

"President Bush lied to the American people about Iraq." Baloney. If for the past year the Administration had been claiming that we had no troops in Iraq and that Saddam was still in power, now THAT would be a lie. But the Administration told everyone up front what it was doing, and on what basis. Rather than yelling "Liar, liar, pants on fire!" a lot of knowledgeable and hardworking analysts pointed out that the WMD intelligence was faulty, and that the concept that upon ousting Saddam the three major factions of Iraq who have hated each other with a vengeance for centuries would somehow unite and throw rose petals at the feet of U.S. soldiers was bone-headed wishful thinking. Some of these analysts actually supported (and continue to support) the invasion and occupation, while others have staunchly opposed it. But at least they've done their homework. My impression of Michael Moore is that he doesn't do all that much homework. He relies on the easy manipulation of limited information to get in entertaining cheap shots.

We have a local left-leaning underground newspaper that every year runs an article about "The Top Ten Censored Stories the Government Didn't Want You to Hear About." And every year when I read the article, all ten of the supposedly "hidden" stories are stories I've already read or heard about in detail. Sometimes in small publications, sometimes in the Wall Street Journal. Sometimes on CNN, and sometimes on a call-in show on Pacifica Radio. But what's really interesting is that each year, not ONE of the stories has been one that the local undergound newspaper had published. It's as if they'd rather sit on the story all year so that at the end of the year they can yell and scream about how "the government" has "hidden" the story, than break the story when they get it and try to get people to stand up and do something about it.

Having flown through the airport in Paris a few years ago while the new terminal was being built, I was saddened to learn yesterday about the roof failure and resulting deaths and injuries. As an example, however, were the engineers and contractors who built the facility and told everyone it would stand up "liars"? Or did they simply make a mistake, relying upon faulty information and analysis. No doubt the people who Moore has skewered in his documentaries have made big, big mistakes. But when mistakes are made the only meaningful response is to analyze what went wrong, do what needs to be done to make sure it doesn't happen again, and if those who made the mistakes should be held civilly or criminally liable, make sure the justice system does its job. And if they're elected officials, make sure they don't get re-elected. Exaggerating and defaming for entertainment's sake is not a meaningful response.
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- BlueRunner

[Bluelobster]

Hi again, , Edpesco was nosy about reactions here we are .
You know Bluerunner , Hitler & Goebbels used Movies to state their nasty thinking, i don't think M.Moore is from this "family"...
How funny you are way more frenchie than some i know , the fact that this guy didn't take his baseballcap off must not blind you on his work ( i mean do you really like F.Zappa).
Then to make a long story short :

Really , you know we are supposed to be FRANCAIS, a little country with ONE very large city , PARIS.
So an airport is like a way to show to the world how smart you are ?
You get me .
At this point , when you do a job like this : You Can't Do a Mistake , it's not even possible to think about it . Or you think about money or personal intrests , therefore you don't have to work there.
I am glad to share these altered arpeggios of thinking anyway.
Blob