Un bloc de Brian Cutts amb música, llibres i algun que altre comentari sobre les Terres de l’Ebre o l’actualitat ..... music, books and the odd comment on current affairs, or local news and events in southern Catalonia.
Un altre resumen personal de la situació actual a Catalunya,
pels que parlen anglès ... i la cançó, pos, si apreteu les semblances podriem
dir que parla d’algù que havia tingut por a parlar fins ara però per fi vol
explicar-ho tot al món....
....
Regular
visitors to the blog will be wondering why Brian hasn’t been rabbitting on
about the Catalan independence movement for some time. Well, firstly, time is
short, and secondly, I would not wish to bore you with a mono-themed blog –
but, anyway, it’s time for a quick update.
As you
should know (by clicking here), 1.5 million people marched for Independence on
11th September which led the Catalan PM to call elections. His (winning)
party, and the second-placed party in the elections, have a clear objective of
holding a referendum on this issue. Together with a couple of smaller parties,
maybe 75% of MPs believe a referendum should be held, and the government is
committed to holding it in 2014.
Meanwhile,
in Madrid, they insist this would be illegal and anti-constitutional, and that
they’d probably not allow it and Catalonia would lose all its current
autonomous powers, as well as other nasty things which may or may not happen –
prison, military threats etc.
Catalonia
insists that it will try to get Madrid to agree to the referendum, but if they
don’t, then legal support from international legislation will be the way to
move forward.
And as many
experts have said, the top and bottom of it is; how can a people be denied the
right to have a democratic peaceful say on their own future, especially after
such wide and deep support has been shown?
What will
happen? Who knows! It seems like the plans for the referendum are still on
track, though maybe not at the front of the government’s mind at present as it
is struggling to deal with recession, no cash to pay for its obligations (public
servants and services being cut right, left and centre), plus numerous cases of
corruption. Maybe these cases will all be proven, but it seems like Madrid has
had a hand in many of them coming out to public knowledge just now .... so,
interesting situation!
The song,
at a (drastic) push, you could find a weak link today as she sings of someone
losing their fear to speak out ....
Another one of those posts where the song speaks for itself. Sweet Dancer, a poem by W.B.Yeats, set to music by the Waterboys for their 2011 "An Appointment with Mr Yeats" LP.
The girl goes dancing there
On the leaf-sown, new-mown, smooth
Grass of the garden;
Escaped from bitter youth,
Escaped from out of her crowd,
And her black cloud.
Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer!
If men come from the house
To lead her away, please do not say
That she is crazy;
Lead them gently astray;
Let her finish the dance,
Finish the dance.
Ah, dancer, ah, sweet dancer!
Continuant amb el tema d'ahir, ara tenim una peça de la decada que ens faltava - 1900-1909. Com que Scott Joplin va escriure la musica al 1899, i va morir al 1916, sembla ser (amb 5 minuts de google) que aquesta gravació és de la decada en questió. Bona musica !
...
Following on from yesterday's post, here's a piece from the 1900-1909 decade (probably).
Gràcies a que algú ha estat comptant, ja podem oferir les
estadistiques de quines decades és la musica que he posat al blog en aquests gairebé
4 anys que funciona ....
19th Century / Segle 19
2 temes = 0.3% del total
1920-29
2 = 0.3%
1930-39
6 = 0.9%
1940-49
12 = 1.7%
1950-59
36 = 5.1%
1960-69
144 = 20.5%
1970-79
123 = 17.5%
1980-89
149 = 21%
1990-99
62 = 8.8%
2000-2009
125 = 17.8%
2010-now
41 = 5.8% and counting ....
Conclusions: jo sempre havia pensat queels 60 havia sigut la meva decada, i que era
el moment de l'historia amb la millor musica, però veig que, per poc, he posat més fato dels
80 – senyal que la musica que t’acaba marcant és aquella que t’agafa en el
moment d’adolescencia (en el meu cas al 1980 vaig complir 13 anys), quan vius
la musica més intensament, i hi dediques una gran part del dia, i dels teus
(pocs) diners. També es confirma que els 90 van ser la meva decada “perduda”
musicalment. Vaig aterrar a Tortosa al 1988 i vaig estar 4 anys només amb un
Walkman, fins que vaig decidir comprar una maquina de reproducció que valia la
pena. Però, entre les aventures de la “nova vida” que experimentava, i el fet d’estar
fora de l’actualitat musical – sense noticies d’Anglaterra (no hi havia
internet), i sense tenir controlat quines revistes o mitjans de
comunicació seguir aquí, pos, el temps i energia dedicat a la musica van tenir un
baixon. La musica post-2000 no és que m’agrada ni més ni menys que l’anterior,
però simplement pel fet de voler estar a l’actualitat, sembla que ara els
numeros tornen a pujar.
També tinc una laguna dels primers decades del segle XX.
Aixi, per a anar millorant, aquí tenim una cançó de Irving Berlin de l’any 1915
cantada per Fay Compton un any despres.
....
In the
table above you can see which time-periods the songs I’ve been posting over the
last 4 years have come from. Interesting as it shows, that despite my belief
that “the 60s were the best”, I’ve actually played more stuff from the 1980s.
Just goes to show that the music you listen to (or get obsessed by) in your
teens, is the music that will always be with you. I was 13 in 1980, so just
entering “obsession-time”! The 1990s were my “lost decade” from a music point
of view. Just landed in a foreign country (Catalonia), I had no internet, no
decent music system, and little knowledge of musical sources (back in the UK I
knew which TV, radio, magazines to follow to keep up to date) – plus, new
adventures were taking over my life. With my life now more settled, post-2000 I
am now back in a mild obsession phase, and long may it last!
I can also
see I’m missing music from the 1900-1920 period. So, to balance things out, let’s
hear this Irving Berlin piece, sang by Fay Compton back in 1916 ...
Quan va sortir la
confessió sorpresa (no!) de Lance Armstrong, tenia ganes d’escriure un apunt
sobre el cas. Però ara han passat un parell de mesos i ja no tinc ganes de
perdre el temps amb ell. Anava a dir que, val, segur que ell no és l’únic ni el
primer ni l’últim en prendre alguna cosa per a ajudar-los a millorar el
rendiment – però mentre les normes són les que són, o juguem amb les normes o
no juguem. No es pot ensenyar als joves des de ben petit que fer trampes està
bé , i sobretot si no t’enxampen – un exemple que podríem passar als
futbolistes i comentaristes de TV3 també. Ja ho aprendran de gran. Anava a dir
que no tinc cap simpatia cap a ell, sent un multi-millonari com és, ni en la
forma que ell mateix ha tractat a la gent que si que han confessat abans d’ell,
o li van sospitar d’ell, despedint-los, fent-los “bullying” etc
En fi, si d’aquí
2 anys li perdonen i torna a participar professionalment en qualsevol esport,
pos, un altre clau en el taüt de la poca dignitat que li queda al món de l’esport.
Però, com deia,
no parlarem de Lance sinó d’un ciclista que si que sembla ser un petit-heroi per a mi –
i no només pel possible (no pots posar la ma al foc per ningú avui en dia, però
si ho hagués de posar per algú, seria per ell) fet que no pren res, sinó pel
seu caracter, humil, sencer, educat, i sobretot, “mod” :) Bradley Wiggins,
guanyador del Tour de France i d’Or a les Olimpiades de Londres, és tot un
personatge. Aquí el tenim a la radio amb Paul Weller, ModFather, i després
tocant la guitarra amb Paul, una cançó dels The Jam, That’s Entertainment.
...
I was going
to write about Lance Armstrong when he confessed (surprise? No!), but time has
passed and – why bother writing about cheats? Why waste time explaining that,
OK, maybe everyone is on something, but that still doesn’t make it right?
Sportspeople are supposed to be examples for kids, for God’s sake, and the
message we get from these fools is, it’s OK to cheat kids, and especially if no
one finds out! Are we supposed to feel sympathy for this multi-millionaire who
has cheated his way to success, and stepped on anyone in his way; threatening,
bullying, firing, anyone who suspected him or wanted to go clean?
No, I won’t
waste my time.Let’s concentrate on a
cyclist who is in my good books. As of now he’s seen to be clean. But more than
that, he’s also seen to be a good, down-to-earth, decent, witty, guy who loves
Mod Music (and who happens to have a Knighthood). So, let’s hear it for Bradley
Wiggins, Olympic gold medal and Tour de France winner. Here he is on the radio
with the one and only Paul Weller – Modfather – talking about their shared love
of music. And then on stage with the great man himself, playing old Jam hits.
Don’t get much better than that, does it Wiggo?
Al 1989 el
semi-final de la Copa FA de futbol a Anglaterra es jugava al camp de
Hillsborough, Anglaterra – a uns 15 km de casa dels mons pares. Van morir 96
persones, tots fans del Liverpool FC. La versió primera de la noticia culpava
els “hooligans”, dient que havien entrat al camp de males maneres, forçant la
porta. Pocs dies després el diari sensacionalista (i el diari més llegit d’Anglaterra)
The Sun reforçava aquesta versió i afegia detalls – que els propis fans de
Liverpool havien robat carteres als cossos morts que estaven estirats
en el camp, que els havien orinat damunt, que havien atacat a la policia i als
del servei d’ambulancies. Que estaven tots borratxos i per a civilitzar... en
fi, un munt de calumnies que quadrava perfectament amb l’imatge que alguns
volien vendre sobre la gent de ciutats com Liverpool (ciutats post-industrials al nort, amb tothom a l'atur vivint "gràcies" als diners de la seguretat social i, segons el govern, vivint del xollo...).
Poc a poc, les
families de la gent que hi va morir han anat esbrinant les veritats i buscant
justícia. Després de molts anys de campanya i lluites politiques i legals, van
aconseguir que el govern obres una investigació als fets. Un primer informe l’any
després de la tragèdia ja explicava que la culpa principal estava en uns fallos
de la policia, i finalment al 2009 el govern va autoritzar la publicació de
milers de documents secrets i la formació d’un comite de investigació ja
definitiva. Al 2012 van publicar els resultats.
Sembla ser que
aquell dia, el partit estava a punt de començar i encara no tenien tots els
aficionats de Liverpool dins de l’estadi. La policia va obrir una porta ampla de sortida
per deixar-los entrar en massa, en comptes de la típica entrada controlada d’un
en u. A més a més, els van indicar d’entrar una secció de l’estadi que ja
estava ple – recordeu que en aquella època als estadis la gent estava de peu i
no tenies un lloc teu sinó era com entrar en un concert dels Sex Pistols –
sense cap agent de la policia controlant la situació. Van entrar-hi massa gent, i la
policia encara hi enviava més gent, estaven com a sardines i davant tenien
aquelles tanques terribles que ficava per a que la gent no podia saltar al
camp. Van morir aplastats. Fallo de la policia. A més a més, segons l’investigació,
ja des de primer hora la policia va intentar amagar el fallo, inventant la seva
versió, canviant els escrits (169!) dels testimonis, donant instruccions al seus
agents de la versio del que “havia passat” que podien donar, i filtrant la seva versió manipulada a uns
politics del partit Conservador, qui després ho van passar al The Sun. Des de
llavors que ningú a Liverpool compra aquest diari.
Per fi, ara el
govern ha demanat disculpes, i The Sun també (d’aquella manera), i s’ha buscat
responsibilitats dins del cos de policia.
Les families han
anat recollint diners tots aquells anys per cobrir la seva campanya i per
ajudar les families més afectats. L’any passat alguns dels cantants més grans de
Gran Bretanya es van ajuntar amb el nom del Col·lectiu per a la Justicia, i van
gravar aquesta cançó (dels Hollies) que va arribar a numero 1 de ventes al
nadal passat. La podeu comprar per iTunes (aqui no val descarrega gratis!). Una
bona causa. I si no sabeu que vol dir "spine-tingling" en anglès, esteu a punt de saber-ho ....
Aquí al Wikipedia alguna cosa
en castellà, però val la pena llegir la versió completa en anglès. (he afegit una llista de qui participa en els Comentaris)
....
In 1989 96
Liverpool fans were crushed to death in Hillsborough football stadium.
Immediately it became “known” that it was all the fault of crazy drunken
hooligans who still needed civilizing. It was just so easy to put it down to
those no-good-for-nothing unemployed rude and rough folk from Liverpool
(especially as 4 years before, their fans had been responsible for another
football tragedy in Brussels). The Police Inspectors were more than happy to
put the blame on the fans, and the same week, Britain’s top-selling newspaper
(some still call it that), The Sun, claimed some fans had pickpocketed the dead
corpses of their fellow fans, others had urinated on them, attacked the police,
attacked the ambulance service and so on ....
...
however, a first governmental inquiry the following year soon laid the seeds of
doubt. They suggested the police were actually to blame, for directing far too
many fans into one area of the standing-room-only sardine tins known as
enclosures. This, and the fencing around it, led to the crushing of the fans.
The victims’ families continued pressing, though, for a further inquiry, one
which would get to all the truth and put names and faces to whoever was to
blame. Eventually in 2009 the government agreed to open up thousands of
confidential documents to a new independent inquiry. The results came out last
year.
It seems that, as kick-off was approaching, and all the fans were not in
the stadium, the police opened the main exit gate and sent all the fans in “en
masse”. They did not control the numbers or a correct distribution of the fans.
Just hours after the disaster, the policebosses were already “selling” their version of events (overrun by hooligans) to wash the blood
off their hands, and in following days instructions were given to police
officers as to what to say when asked, and 169 witness statements were
manipulated so as to hide the police force's faults, and lay the blame on the
fans. The nonsense published in The Sun was actually “leaked” by the police to
a Tory MP who then called the Sun’s editor .... anyway, the findings of this
report came out and at last the families can rest knowing their fathers,
brothers, sons and daughters have had their names cleared. David Cameron issued
an apology as did The Sun (in a way) and some police bosses have been blamed,
though 25 years after the event, few are still in the force.
The
families have funded their campaign and raised money to help those families
with problems through various channels. At Christmas 2012, many top singers and
groups came together to sing this song, which made number one, and made many a
spine tingle, and still does .... Still available to buy on iTunes (no illegal
downloads please!). (now with list of artists added in Comments)
