by princess_jime
Forum: Japanese Actors & Actresses
Topic: Inoue Mao
Mao-chan and nino on the set of the new special: http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d37/Princess_Jime/maomiya1.jpg Credits to http://tieba.baidu.com/f?kz=570882609 I thought I'd post two more pics of mao-chan I had... they're probably already shared on this thread... but it doesn't hurt to see them a...
Topic: ++[Miyavi]++
XD I knew he couldn't be more than that age, I think this is good, an artist who is true to himself (and the public) has nothing to hide. Anyway, news from Tokyograph: Miyavi announces European tour dates Mon, April 27, 2009 (1:19am EDT) Miyavi has announced a new world tour, which will include Euro...
Topic: Gackt
From Tokyograph: Gackt cancels Korea concert Fri, April 17, 2009 (3:08am EDT) Gackt was scheduled to perform a concert in Korea on May 18, but he has now announced on his website that the show has been canceled for financial reasons. He had planned to play at Seoul's Olympic Hall with a setup simila...
I'm here to bring some miyavi news in this forgotten thread :lol :lol :lol :lol From Tokyograph: Miyavi to play in Texas for Anime Matsuri Fri, January 23, 2009 (3:21am EST) Anime Matsuri has announced that its 2009 convention is presenting Miyavi as a musical guest of honor. He will perform a live ...
Topic: Hayami Mokomichi
If he lets it grow more it would be like Eita's Last Friends do...
Stil... michi just makes anything look gorgeous... *dies for him when he laughs out loud*
From tokyograph: Kobukuro sings for Mocomichi drama Sun, September 7, 2008 (1:47am EDT) Popular duo Kobukuro will be in charge of the theme song for NTV's drama series "Oh! My Girl!!" The show was announced last month with actor Hayami Mocomichi in the starring role. The song is called &qu...
From Tokyograph: Mocomichi becomes a TV "father" Mon, August 18, 2008 (2:48am EDT) Hayami Mocomichi will be starring in an NTV drama series this fall, it was learned on Sunday. While the show is currently untitled, it is said to feature the actor in a "father" role. Mocomichi pla...
Topic: [Movie Discussion] Confirmed by TBS Hana Yori Dango Movie
Seirin: Thank you so much for uploading all those videos! It's greatly appreciated! I was thinking too that it'd be great if someone could cut all the flashbacks from the special (I watched it on tvu) and leave only the new stuff... hehehehe, boy am I spoiled or what? :sweat: There was one part in t...
From tokyograph: Suicide Ali, GPKism, LM.C in U.S., Miyavi in Paris Sat, June 7, 2008 (3:05am EDT) Music website JaME has recently reported on a few upcoming overseas performances by visual-kei artists. According to promoter Tainted Reality, Suicide Ali will debut in the U.S. during the November 7-9...
May 9th, '08, 14:46
From tokyograph: Miyavi adds London to world tour Fri, May 9, 2008 (1:13am EDT) Miyavi has scheduled a concert in London on June 25 at the Astoria 2 nightclub. This is the latest addition to Miyavi's highly-anticipated world tour, and is the last Europe show to be announced. Tickets go on sale Frida...
Topic: [Discussion] Last Friends - Nagasawa Masami/Ueno Juri/Eita
My ramblings after having watched episode 4: My fingertips tingle, I want to write so much but don't know where to begin! Ok. Let's begin at the beginning. Michiru: no amount of make up will cover up what he does to you. I've heard that in cases of domestic violence the end of that situation only co...
Topic: [Discussion] Sushi Oji!!
This thread needs love, from tokyograph: The "Sushi Prince" goes to New York Wed, April 30, 2008 (2:18am EDT) ... On Monday, Koichi Domoto attended the American premiere of the "Sushi Ouji!" movie, which was screened at the Walter Reade Theater in New York. The city was an approp...
More gackt news, from tokyograph!: Gackt version of Vocaloid announced Wed, May 7, 2008 (10:40am EDT) Vocaloid, the vocal synthesizer software that features virtual idol Hatsune Miku, is getting a new edition next month with a more familiar face. Called Gackpoid, this version is based on the voice o...
Thank for the links Rooster! I thought I'd post a little rant i had after watching episode 3: What the hell is riika doing? I wonder... sure it was funny at first when she got "the chills" whenever naito would say sweet things to her (or suggest doing more *wink*), but you would think afte...
Apr 23rd, '08, 23:57
From tokyograph: Gackt's Hollywood debut Wed, April 23, 2008 (12:00am EDT) Musician Gackt will act in his first Hollywood film. The movie, titled "Bunraku," is an action film written and directed by Guy Moshe, starring Josh Hartnett and Demi Moore. The film is named after a type of traditi...
From tokyograph: More shows added to Miyavi tour, including Chile, Paris Sun, April 20, 2008 (3:21am EDT) Miyavi has recently added more stops to his upcoming World Tour. He will be playing a show in Chile on May 21 , then in Sao Paolo, Brazil on May 24 . He has also set a date for Paris on July 6 ....
I totally forgot to post this, from tokyograph: Gackt's dog promotes environmental concerns Mon, April 14, 2008 (2:26am EDT) A dog owned by popular musician Gackt will be making its "character debut" as part of a campaign to promote environmental issues. The project's theme is called "...
Thanks for the links Nomanymore! (I was so excited I posted them on my blog...^^U) Kyaaa!!! naito rabu rabu! I liked it a lot! (with subs it will be better... lol) Soshi was so cute eating those pastries at the end. Ooooo... the evil friend... But naito melts my heart... even though he's a robot. I ...
Topic: [Discussion] Attention Please
Anyone has veoh tv installed? cause the second special was uploaded there 3 days ago... raw of course. Watch it here, credits to RuiYorozuka at veoh! While we wait for subs... someone could watch and tell if ryo nishikido acted or not... I can't cause I'm too lazy to install the veoh thing... plus I...
Topic: [Discussion] Around 40 - Amami Yuki, Fujiki Naohito
Count me in on the club for those who are "eager to watch/ incredibly thankful for subs" of this one!!!
There's a teaser video up at the Hanadan website now. We've basically seen it before, but this isn't contained within a television show :-) 33 seconds of awesomeness http://www.mediafire.com/?nin0mmzhono XD Know if I could find that on youtube anywhere? For some reason my GOM won't play it, all I'm...
Miyavi news that might affect you! From tokyograph: Miyavi World Tour dates announced Wed, March 19, 2008 (5:45pm EDT) Concert dates for Miyavi's world tour have been released. United States * 5/14 - Anaheim, CA * 5/16 - Los Angeles, CA * 5/18 - San Francisco, CA Europe * 6/21 - Cologne, Germany * 6...
Topic: The ARASHI thread
About aiba-chan's "accident" (hehehe...) there's lots of VOXs where a clip of it was uploaded, thank you to all!
Here's a link to one of them:
http://abyssinian27.vox.com/library/pos ... ghter.html
Poor "junior"... *laughs uncontrollably nevertheless*
Topic: [Discussion] Nodame Cantabile and also its SP in Europe
OH! I'm not the only one to see the likeness!!??!!! Cool! Hahahahaha, I posted about him on page 52 on this thread... I'll post it again, hehehe: Say... this has nothing to do with nodame cantabile, I but find it gives me the same exhilarating feeling the NC orchestras gave me: A real-life orchestra...
From Tokyograph: Second special for "Attention Please" announced Tue, February 19, 2008 (3:57pm EST) The 2006 Fuji TV drama series "Attention Please" is returning to television for a second special episode. The series starred Aya Ueto as Yoko Misaki, a young woman training to bec...
Topic: [Discussion] Hana Yori Dango Season 2
From tokyograph: 2008 Elan d'or Awards Thu, February 7, 2008 (4:25pm EST) The All Nippon Producers Association held its 2008 Elan d'or Awards ceremony on Thursday. Masayuki Suo's "Soredemo Boku wa Yattenai" was named Best Film, while NHK's "Hagetaka" was named Best Drama. The pro...
I loved the Coffee Prince scene, episode 10... Han Kyul rushes in after having his mind filled with sweet Eun Chan memories, Eun Chan is being all cute trying to fix the mural (very unprofessionally made, IMHO XD ). He can't take it any more. He grabs Eun Chan, kiss, then he says: "Listen up. B...
Forum: International Community
Topic: Spanish D-Addicts
se me hace que quiere decir "gran buenos aires, capital federal", osease: argentina. pero si parece jeroglífico! muajajajaja!
Un dia de estos voy a ver Galileo tambien. jejejejejee. Con respecto a ISWAK 2 (they kiss again), solo he visto el primer capitulo, y es como si no hubiera habido nada de desarrollo, los personajes y las historia siguen siendo los mismos. Lo cual me descepciona un poquito, pero como dije, solo he vi...
I know, it's just that it seemed to me that every time he says it he somewhat thinks of xxx-related things... It maybe just coincidence, I don't know.
Topic: American TV Series ~ What do you think about it?
Boy, we all have similar tastes... :roll :lol :lol :lol 8) My so called life : I want to cry now, seriously, I have the 2002 BMG boxset (cost me an arm and a leg) and now you tell me there's a better boxset out there? :hissy: with tons of extras, a book and such? why oh why did I spend my money? Any...
Topic: [Discussion] Tokyo Tower (2007)
I saw this one in three go's, that is, like a marathon of Tokyo Tower for me, hehehehe, I just couldn't stop. It's that good. Such a touching story of a mother's love. Okan was wonderful, every time she got teary-eyed or cried it killed me, specially because she was such a bright happy woman. Ma-kun...
I finally watched the special last night, words leave me to describe how great it was. LOL! To Siantut: THANK YOU SO MUCH! ] for doing the softsubs! Otsukare-sama deshita! Honto ni! :wub: :thumright: :thumright: :thumright: @ blablabla: I thought the same thing! that jogging trip chiaki made was lik...
Are you referring to: HAN DONG JOON - "너를 사랑해" (I Love You)? this song? You can download that song, and all the other song that are not in the OST here: http://www.dramabeans.com/media-stuff/cp-unofficial-soundtrack/ The amazing Dramabeans posted direct download links on her blog for everything. Ser...
zin1222 , over at the love so sweet forum said that she read in a japanese forum that the "weekly PIA" magazine reported that info: 1. The overseas locations are Hong Kong and Las Vegas. 2. The ending will be Doumyouji's and Makino's wedding. So if someone can get that magazine... heheheh...
Gosh, I totally forgot about the banners I was gonna make, anyway, here to post some news! From tokyograph: Koichi Domoto sings for "Sushi Ouji!" Wed, January 16, 2008 (2:15pm EST) KinKi Kids member Koichi Domoto will sing the theme song for his upcoming movie, "Ginmaku Ban Sushi Ouji...
um.... I'm sorry... I didn't say the hong kong and US overseas location shooting was a rumor :sweat: I just said there were a lot of rumors going around... it was just a meaningless comment, nothing more... I also saw that video with abe tsuyoshi-kun saying the news :lol 8) The other information I p...
Oh! and kikinini posted on her vox: They are asking for position as an extra for "Hanadan Finals!" Ah~, I want to be an extra!!! Outline 1 Shooting Date: 01/14/2008 (morninig through evening) Shooting Place: Tokyo area suburbs Scenes:Journalist and cameramen of scene of press conference O...
Lots of rumors going around... I read the first staff and cast meeting will be held today. The shooting will begin on saturday, 12th. (Yay!!!!!!!!) And Fybabe posted on her blog: hyd uwasa 01/10/2008 uwasa has it that there will be lots of aerial shots in japan and overseas in the movie, and also a ...
Jan 9th, '08, 13:35
I can't resist it.... must. say..... How can a vampire die when he's already dead? XD XD XD XD XD XD XD XD Alright, for real, this sounds like a rather pathetic attempt to get attention, whoever wrote that had a lot of free time on their hands... thanks for posting it though, it made my morning! (so...
From tokyograph: "Atsuhime" opener, "Nodame" SP break 20% Mon, January 7, 2008 (2:28am EST) According to data released by Video Research Ltd., the first episode of the NHK taiga drama "Atsuhime," which aired on the 6th, had viewership ratings of 20.3% (19.8% in the Kans...
Dec 28th, '07, 20:03
From tokyograph: HYD most satisfying drama of 2007 Fri, December 28, 2007 (2:25am EST) Oricon has published the results of its viewer satisfaction rankings for the television drama series of 2007. #1 was "Hana Yori Dango 2," which also ranked highest in the winter survey. It was followed c...
zin1222 over at the Love so sweet forum wrote the following: Re: Jun-Mao On Love so Sweet Part 2.5 « Reply #471 on: Today at 08:44:06 » great news for everyone! hyd movie will be released earlier. originally, it is scheduled to be release in august. but the toho company(the film studio which produc...
Topic: Ninomiya Kazunari
from tokyograph: Oricon: who would you play video games with? Tue, December 11, 2007 (4:32am EST) Oricon conducted a survey of a thousand men and women, asking them which celebrity they would want to play video games with. Otaku (and gamer) idol Shoko Nakagawa easily topped the survey, ranking #1 am...
Dec 5th, '07, 21:13
From tokyograph: Yu Yamada cast as Nodame's rival Wed, December 5, 2007 (3:19pm EST) Actress Yu Yamada has been revealed as part of the cast of the upcoming "Nodame Cantabile" drama special, scheduled to air on January 4-5 on Fuji TV. Yamada plays Son Rui, a Chinese prodigy who becomes riv...
YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! From Tokyograph: "Nodame" SP gets dated Mon, November 26, 2007 (3:10pm EST) Fuji TV held a press event on Monday for the upcoming "Nodame Cantabile" drama special. Titled "Nodame Cantabile Shinshun Special in Europe," it will air in two ...
bmwracer : thank you for all the caps... they're great! Man... I can't wait for the SP... Say... this has nothing to do with nodame cantabile, I but find it gives me the same exhilarating feeling the NC orchestras gave me: A real-life orchestra that kicks ass yo! and they are from my country! Orque...
Nov 21st, '07, 22:33
Topic: Need your help - 10 question poll about jdrama
Re: Need your help - 10 question poll about jdrama
1.How often do you watch jdrama? usually everyday, whenever I get on the internet. But if I'm too busy, weekly. 2. What kind of jdrama do you like? (ex. drama, love, comedy, fighting, relationships, family, law, hospital and so on) I seem to always go for the romantic-comedy. But family oriented sho...
Topic: [Discussion] Yukan Club
LOL! I wanted them to beat the crap out of each other... and they did.
From tokyogrpah: Wentz, Becky to play foreigners in "Nodame" special Sun, November 11, 2007 (3:47pm EST) Eiji Wentz and Becky have been cast in Fuji TV's upcoming "Nodame Cantabile" drama special, set to air for two nights at the start of 2008. Tentatively titled "Nodame Can...
Nov 7th, '07, 19:35
Topic: Kawaii Japanese Name
"Chikuma Katayanagi"
Gosh... that doesn't sound cute to me at all...
I wonder what it means though...
Gackt news! gackt news! From Enterntainment News: Gackt Honors Gundam Creator November 06, 2007 Singer and actor Gackt is to release a full album of songs from the hugely popular "Kidou Senshi Gundam" (Mobile Suit Gundam) anime series. He chose yesterday to make the announcement in honor o...
Oct 31st, '07, 23:01
Immense thank yous to jen for these news!: Posted on 30th, October 2007: Juri and Tamaki just cranked-in for the New Year SP drama [Nodame Cantabile]!!! Yatta!! They are now in Paris, and have started filming!! Here you go! (1) Filming started in Paris from 23 Oct, will end on 10 Nov. (2) More than ...
I hear Nino got a Galaxy Award for his acting in Marathon... omedetou kazu-kun!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.houkon.jp/galaxy/gekkan.html#200709
Thanks to Jen for the news!
I was bored (there's never anything good on my local tv) so I had me a HYD2 marathon, which prompted me to baka thoughts, which resulted in this: A baka Hanadan drinking game! (I'm sure there's tons of these all around the net, one more can't hurt I say) Before having a HYD2 marathon, you must get t...
LOL! you're welcome!
Actually, nino's got two more Cm coming soon:
http://sakura-sake.vox.com/library/post ... -soon.html
Thanks to rion for the news!
All right, since it seems no one posted the "official" news... as yamapinku-rabu said: From Tokyograph: Ninomiya stars in 'Marathon' remake Mon, April 16, 2007 (4:48pm EDT) Kazunari Ninomiya of Arashi will star in a TBS drama special this fall, adapted from the popular 2005 Korean movie &q...
Yatttaaa!!! all right!!! that's great!!! (^_^U I did watch till the end... I just wasn't sure... you never know what might happen in the future... gomen )
Thank you sooooooooo much for subbing sushi ouji!!!!
Well, I finished watching this one with subs by Love Song (you guys ROCK!!!!!!) I gotta say, it surprised me how funny I found it, since I didn't read much reviews, I didn't know exactly what is was about or what to expect, only that it involved sushi (one of my favorite food in the world!), therefo...
isn't that the Arashi Seiki no Jikken Special? anyway, It was great!
JUST thought i'd clear it up but this is a direct quote from Gackt and i think its the hottest thing ever. So here to all you wonderers "Its not that I like men sexually, just that I can admit when they are beautiful. But sexually I need a woman." And this quote makes me melt... "Tea...
Nada que ver con dramas... pero igual:
Feliz 18 para todos los chilenos!!!
"quiero comer curanto con chapalele..." pero me conformo con empanadas hechas en casa, jejejeje, mi mamá hizo el pino, yo hice la masa, quedaron de lujo.
Topic: [Discussion] First Kiss
Etto... does anyone have any theory on the "smiling fat boy" that appears in every episode? I find him incredibly funny, just walking by with that grin on his face... XD XD XD Anyway, yeah, even if the technical details of mio's heart condition are totally fake, the drama is more about the...
From tokyograph: Gackt gets ready to launch in 20 countries Fri, September 14, 2007 (6:32pm EDT) In October, Gackt will be making some of his releases available to 20 countries in North America and Europe. On the 19th, his two DVDs "THE GREATEST FILMOGRAPHY 1999-2006" ("~RED~" an...
From tokyograph: Jrock Revolution announces scavenger hunt Fri, September 7, 2007 (6:27am EDT) Jrock Revolution has announced a new contest: a site-wide scavenger hunt. Participants will have to scour the site to find answers to a list of questions. The first person to compile a complete and correct...
@theedqueen: your avas are fantastic, I took some and will credit for sure when I use them, great work!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Coffee prince love!
I watched a clip of a show the other day with gackt as guest, it was "Domoto tsuyoshi's honest worries"... Gackt was weirdly delicious, as always, and tsuyoshi was hilarious, but anyways, Gackt said about the movie Moon Child: "It's a movie that will make men cry, and women say men ar...
jejejeje... Yo también estoy viendo why why love, pero me voy a reservar mi opinión hasta que termine y la haya visto entera... XD XD 8) Por cierto, también me gustaría recomendar First Kiss, los subs de SARS van por el capitulo 5 (la última vez que revisé), es un j-drama muy, pero, muy bien escrito...
Topic: Avatars & Signature Files - Show Off Yours!!
omg! thank you! I feel honored! :wub: I wanted to make a sig that showed the dramas I specially liked, the ones that I would recommend in a heartbeat, and rather than putting it into words, I wanted images that would make people get piqued and go watch them, hehehehe... but since it's all a suggesti...
saben que deberían hacer todos los canales de tv en latinoamerica (IMHO)? hacer encuestas en los grupos de televidentes de todas las edades y juntar todas las telenovelas más queridas y famosas y sacar ESAS en dvd, sin cortes, con su correspondiente OST además de bloopers, escenas tras bastidores y ...
mayormente, chicas que babean por los papacitos asiáticos que vemos en los drama... o soy solo yo? XD XD XD Yo también estoy viendo Coffee prince, es GENIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! fantastica maravillosa!!! incluso ví los dos primeros episodios con subs en español en VEOH. Hablando de doblajes, a mi la ...
I'm rolling around in warm fuzzy feelings because of this news....
*big sighs*
@ The Pinny Parlour : Tokyo Friend Park is a japanese variety show where people go and compete at various games in order to win many prizes, the HYD special was a show where the cast (that is: tsukushi, the F4 and the makino family) went to participate for promotion of HYD 2 returns, they won a lot ...
Topic: Newspapers Recently calls K-Dramas "Ripoffs"
It's interesting, the same thing happens with telenovelas here in Latinamerica. The current trend is to sell the format of a successful soap to the neighboring countries, let's take "betty la fea" as example: It was a HUGE success (with merchandise like dolls and cartoon spin offs, I've ne...
Chazriel: your avatar cracks me up.


In which I dream of Peter Stampfel
There are few living American musicians whose body of work I revere more than Peter Stampfel, of the Fugs, Holy Modal Rounders, Bottlecaps, and lately a host of bands, from the Velocity Rounders to the Atomic Meta-Pagans to the Worm All-Stars to the Deposit Returners to the Ether Frolic Mob (most of which are sorta technically backing bands, as in Peter Stampfel and..., and some of which feature his daughter Zoe). If I had free tickets to see Bob Dylan, but could pay $100 to see Peter Stampfel across the street the same night, I would pay the $100 to see Peter Stampfel - that's how much I revere him (though in a somewhat irreverent, casual way, but damn does his music bring me joy, you know?). I think I would also (shh) choose Stampfel over Eugene Chadbourne, though part of that is because I have never seen Stampfel and have seen Eugene a dozen or more times. Though I suspect I will in fact never see him perform live, I had the great privilege of interviewing him at some length and have occasionally interacted with him since, and am in the process of catching up on his discography, since it turns out he's been rather crazily productive since that interview, putting out a dozen or more albums since the last one I bought off him (Dook of the Beatniks, from 2009), and collaborating with everyone from Jeffrey Lewis (naturally) to Shelley Hirsch (!!!). You can read about some of these albums on Robert Christgau's site, where it becomes quickly evident that Christgau is a fan of the Rounders and Stampfel too; or you can order the most recent of Stampfel's solo records via Don Giovanni Records, like this one:
Anyhoo, I dreamed of Peter Stampfel last night. I was (in the dream) at a house party in Seattle where Peter was performing. It was very casual - a large living room with a small, relaxed crowd of people. To everyone's surprise, Peter rode in on a horse - a white one - wearing cavalry gear and maybe brandishing a sword, while performing Johnny Cash's "Big River" (which is actually in Peter's repertoire, though the horse-uniform-and-sword stuff is not). This part I mostly emailed to Peter on waking, since I thought it might amuse him; but I didn't tell him the whole dream - that I spent most of the concert distracted by my cell phone, really, really wanting to make a Youtube video of his set but not being able to find the "video" function, because my phone had been updated and everything was messed up; or that after the concert, I bought some records from him, but as I was walking away down the alley behind the building - explaining to a homeless person about Going Nowhere Fast - I realized that I had forgotten to ask Peter to sign my records. That was imperative, so I ran back to the building, got inside, but - before finding Peter, decided I really needed to pee. I went to an elaborately decorated, expansive, kinda like Elizabethan-or-something bathroom and began peeing in the first receptacle that I could, which, alas, turned out to be a small, half-filled, decorative antique bathtub. Why there was water in the bathtub I could not say, but as I stood with a vaulting arch of urine splashing into it, I realized I was probably going to have to find a way to drain the water out of the tub, so no one, like, bathed in my pee. This, alas, would be contemplated by the lack of a drain in the tub - I was going to have to pour it out manually, somehow, and this was going to delay my quest to get my albums signed.
Then I woke up, needing to urinate. I hope Peter Stampfel is still writing his memoirs and that he's included a hilarious anecdote about an enormous booger he had hanging out of his nose at one point, which he posted on Facebook, asking us to support him against his wife's opinion that the story was in bad taste. It was funny! Then again, I just posted about a pee dream.
You can stream the whole, crazed cornucopia of The Ordovician Era here.
WTF: Samsung worldwide blu-ray player crash?
(Updates below).
Okay, so on Thursday around 7pm, I was halfway through watching a blu-ray. Machine - a Samsung Home Theatre J4500 - was working just fine. Then I stopped the movie, did something else, and came back to it around 7:30 - and it was screwed, going through an endless cycle of stops and starts, so that as soon as you powered it on, you could barely get the screen to stay stable, as it immediately started going from the home screen to seeming to select the "photos"option to powering down to returning to the home screen in an endless manic loop, each screen lingering for less than a second. Turning it on and off didn't work. Tried unplugging it, attempted a hard restart (which I couldn't even make happen, as it cycled from screen to screen): the machine seemed to be busted.
I took this for an isolated incident and tried to get a sense of what my options were. I didn't want to have to buy a whole new home theatre system, since, you know, the speakers are all fine and in place. Spent this afternoon making inquiries of Samsung Canada and London Drugs (where Erika and I bought the system, a few years ago). Some suggestions, nothing very exciting.
So I looked online and soon discovered that on Thursday night, my time, apparently all over the world, Samsung players all went on the fritz in exactly the same way. The discussions I've found are most prevalent in the UK, but there are similar reports from Germany, the United States, Brazil, Toronto... a vast number, if not all, Samsung blu-ray players have gone crazy in the same way at the same time.
People are speculating that it's the result of a some sort of update or patch from Samsung that has had unintended effects. I have no idea. Can there be viruses that do this? Some sort of industrial sabotage, maybe from, say, North Korea? I don't understand these matters enough to do anything but speculate. What's most interesting is that the Samsung Canada rep I spent half an hour on the phone with earlier today apparently hadn't heard about this yet.
So hey, folks - is your Samsung blu-ray player on the fritz? Is it on the fritz in the way described above? Welcome to the club. There is apparently a Change.org petition to pressure Samsung into taking action. I have no idea if that's necessary, but it's definitely one way to make sure Samsung knows that there's a problem, here. (They have said that they're investigating, apparently).
I guess it's all for the better I haven't been using streaming sites very much lately, since it may be awhile until I can watch my blu's and DVD's again!
One week later: update:
So I've now written customer service, who didn't let on there was a global problem (though I mentioned it, linking to one of the tech news articles about this crash). With no help there - they just suggested I get it repaired - and no updates on any of the sites I've seen, I called the main Samsung 1-800 line and had a chat with a support person, who sounded maybe like she was in a call center in Mexico. I said at first that I was "one of the people affected by the Samsung blu-ray player crash," and she said she didn't know what I meant; I then explained the symptoms and she told me that, ah yes, she was aware of this problem. (I'm not sure if she had been being coy or thick). After several minutes of delay (where presumably the troubleshooter was going over the script to use), she told me that Samsung was aware of the problem and working on it, that there was no timeline for a fix, and that no one knew what had gone wrong, none of which is new or informative.
End of week one without a blu-ray player. Erika and I are streaming The Man in the High Castle. Should keep us going for awhile. I frankly would be surprised if Samsung actually took action - they're no longer making blu-ray players, so there is no real motivation for them to do anything, except, of course, the suspicion this failure will cast on EVERY OTHER SAMSUNG PRODUCT. I will wait another week or so, then start looking at my other options...
Weeks later still: update #2:
Well, that was unexpected. Took a long time on the phone, but Samsung APPEARS to be doing the right thing - I'm being told to package my player and send it in for free of charge repairs. Haven't gotten it back, haven't even got it packed off, but it's somewhat promising. I kinda expected they'd just blow it off, but I guess the loss to their brand image would have been greater than the cost of repairing players. Anyhow, tentatively optimistic!
Incidentally, I got tired of The Man in the High Castle in Season 2 - it got thin on ideas and big on domestic drama for a bit - but it's really growing on me for Season 3. Optimistic about season 4, too.
Weeks later still: update #3. They sent it back! It works! They actually fixed it! I am impressed. Good job, Samsung!
RIP Aunt Jemima
I was making pancakes recently and wondering about Aunt Jemima.
I have fond brand recognition for Aunt Jemima - it's a product that has been around since my childhood. My parents were more likely to buy the syrup and make pancakes from scratch, but I vividly recall her smiling face on the bottle from back when, kinda like the Quaker Oats fella (same company, by the by). I actually recall being troubled by it, confused by it as a child, though I'm not quite sure I could put my finger on why it was disturbing to me back then.
As a married adult, I generally prefer healthier pancake mixes - Coyote, say - but for Erika, Aunt Jemima pancakes have a comfort-food status, so we've been buying them occasionally. Like I say, I was making some for breakfast last week, while in America people were rioting about systematic racism, and wondering about the brand. How has it gotten a free pass?
I mean, Aunt Jemima looks like she might be a slave. A happy, servile one - a positive image, I guess, if you are a member of the "owner" class, but one that serves as a reminder for most people not only that once in America people owned other people, and had a pretty definite idea what a "good slave" might look like: basically, as far as women are concerned, Aunt Jemima was it.
I figured that maybe there was some history I was unaware of that explained the continued existence of the brand. I mean, I had no idea who the actual person on the pancake box was. I sometimes have an all-purpose Caribbean spice mix on the shelf with the brand Auntie Bev's, and I'm pretty sure I've met the actual Auntie Bev at a Caribbean festival in Maple Ridge, selling her stuff; but I doubted very much that the woman on the box (or bottle) of Aunt Jemima's was, for instance, a businesswoman who came up with a good pancake mix and marketed it. Maybe there was some other excuse for the brand's persistence?
Turns out, no. The history of the character goes back to minstrel shows. The Wiki suggests that the original Aunt Jemima character - not associated with pancakes at the time - may even have been a white man in blackface (!). Even the first actress to play her and lend her face to the brand, Nancy Green, was born into slavery. So there's good reason to view Aunt Jemima exactly as she seems: a racist caricature of an acclimatized, happy slave.
Of course, I read this morning that after 130 years, the brand is finally being retired. Erika and I had a fast pancake breakfast in her honour.
Since Quaker Oats likes to use faces on its products, apparently - I wonder who Aunt Jemima's replacement will be? Will Quaker Oats replace it with a less fraught image of happy servility, like housekeeper Alice from The Brady Bunch, perhaps? That image still speaks of a time - the one we live in, as a matter of fact - when some people have so much wealth they can hire others to do the cooking for them, while other people have so little wealth they might gladly take this job, and find a way to be happy in it. Maybe they would be wise to avoid any class implications, and find a face and name not in any way associated with actual kitchen help...?
Well past time for a re-brand, in any case. Reading about this this morning, I discover there is an actual book on the topic: Slave in a Box: The Strange Career of Aunt Jemima. Or you can just go read the Wikipedia page.
RIP, Aunt Jemima.
Posted by Allan MacInnis at 9:13 AM 1 comment:
Something Something Ostrich: a strange time to be alive
Fauci is quoted somewhere in a headline today observing that people keep saying a second wave is coming while we're still in the first wave... At the same time, almost, as Trump is saying that the increased number of cases is due to an increased amount of testing.
A friend put a comment about that on Facebook - does that mean that if I throw away my bathroom scale, I can eat all the pasta I want? - and was horrified to discover that it drew comments of its own from a FB friend who, apparently, was a previously closeted Trump supporter.
I do not have any love for the man, but dear God, people mocking him for implying that all we have to do is stop testing and the number of cases will go down... he didn't actually MEAN that, did he? People are being unfair here, RIGHT? Please tell me he really isn't THAT stupid, people are just being uncharitable in their interpretations...?
Just now I read a bit of a credible article someone had on Facebook on how Trump might win the next election in the States. Four more years of this? Some people really want that?
(I'm not going to even get into the part about the riots and so forth. Keep that border closed, please, folks!)
Meanwhile, the playground outside my window that for two months was roped off has reopened and is full of kids by day... there are school announcements and children's voices in the playground and the sounds of basketballs bouncing off pavement, while I still work at home during the day because my workplace (also a school, and not for young children) has deemed it unsafe to reopen at capacity just yet.
There's a certain amount of cognitive dissonance created by such things.
And yet, there I am, too - back out in the world, poking about thrift stores that are opened, shopping at record stores... my wife and I have eaten out half a dozen times - like, not on a park bench but inside restaurants... The mall is open again, even though the world is not markedly safer than when it was shut. Sometimes I put a mask on, but more to protect other people, in case I have it, than myself, because I don't think my mask WILL protect me much.
But, like, there's still a virus out there, folks. It's not under control. We may be a bit better prepared to handle it, but... the easing of restrictions does not mean that everything is safe again, you realize?
Like, I feel the strong desire to be back to normal too, but also a fear that that's partially about denial. And the desire for the comforts it affords: something something ostrich. (What was it wendythirteen said on FB - something about "fecal ostriches?" But all in caps, of course). (Wait, no, I remember now, it was "rectal ostriches").
Speaking of Wendy, Mr. Chi Pig was briefly back in the ICU, I gather, by the way. Seems to have stabilized, but no visitors, because COVID.
I see there's a petition that Mo put online pressing the government to allow venues to reopen for concerts. I sure do miss shows at the Rickshaw, but cue the eternal voice of Sir Laurence Olivier in my head: "Is it safe?" I actually am hesitating.
Then on the other hand, I know that there's a show (somewhere - pardon me if I don't say where) this Friday. I might go. I am not mentioning the what or where of it lest it get anyone in trouble, but even without this consideration, I would be tempted to not say or do anything to get other people to go to it, because, for once, I WANT the crowd to be really, really small for this show. (Sorry, gang!). If it's small, it's safe to go, right?
It's a confusing time to be alive.
Tales from the Cave Part Two now online
The Cave sounds like it was a pretty cool venue. Never went there myself, but I've collected stories from people who played the Cave for two features from Montecristo now. Here's part one, and here's part two! Thanks to everyone who contributed (but especially bev davies, Rob Frith and Aaron Chapman).
Scratching a TAD itch: Who the hell was Dick Johnson, anyway?
I interviewed Tad Doyle, of my all-time favourite grunge band TAD, a few years ago for a German magazine; the English version of that article eventually ran on my blog. I knew from the outset that Tad was more interested in talking about Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, so I didn't try very hard to come up with good TAD questions - most of which probably would have been answered in the course of the fairly authoritative Tad documentary, anyhow, or in books like Grunge Is Dead. But if Tad had wanted to talk TAD, I would have surely come around to the question: Who the hell was Dick Johnson, anyway? (And why can't I find his book?)
Understand, I have heard about Dick Johnson in a few places - for example, on the back of TAD's 1989 opus God's Balls, which I have owned in the original a couple of times, and actually presently have three versions of (original LP, the reissued/ remastered LP, and the shortened version on the original pressing of the Salt Lick CD). Flip over to the back cover of that first pressing and read it with me:
I can't track down every reference to Dick Johnson I've heard, but I can say for sure that that was the first: "This record is lovingly dedicated to convicted felon Dick Johnson." And then there's also this fantastic Pussy Galore song, off my first and still-favourite, Pussy Galore album, 1989's Dial M. for Motherfucker, called "Dick Johnson," Whatta song! Whoever this Dick Johnson guy was, he must be pretty impressive to be the chorus of a song that rocks THAT hard, on an album that looks like THIS:
I also had read, back in the late '80's/ early '90's (but before Nevermind broke and ruined it all for me) mention elsewhere about a suppressed book, called something like, Let's Blow Up the Heads of Today's Youth, that was what had gotten Johnson in legal trouble. Someone else I was heavily into back in 1989 - was it on a Sonic Youth lyric sheet, an issue of Forced Exposure, or some other TAD or Sub/Pop related project that I no longer have kicking around? - had quoted from the book, riffing, I gather, on something Dragnet-related, saying "Marijuana is the flame. LSD is the fuse. Heroin is the bomb." Or something like that. There may have even been mention of a Dick Johnson Legal Defense Fund on someone's album somewhere.
But as notorious as Dick Johnson apparently was, at no point in my life have I ever been able to FIND A COPY OF THAT BOOK. And, I mean, I'm pretty good at finding books. I've owned everything from Cormac McCarthy first editions, some worth hundreds of dollars, to signed Patricia Highsmith - or signed Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Paul Bowles, and Charles Bukowski, if you prefer. Even semi-suppressed books like Klaus Kinski's grotesque, rapey memoir, All I Need is Love, or, for instance, Mindfuckers (AKA Mindfucters), a hard to find book about Charles Manson, Mel Lyman, and "the rise of acid fascism" have graced my shelves at various points. Eventually I sold all of that stuff off (or, in the case of Mindfuckers, traded it for a Monkey Warfare "I fuck the man" t-shirt from Reg Harkema, who was doing Manson research for Leslie My Name is Evil.) I wonder if Lemmy ever saw the cover of this book?
But if Dick Johnson ever actually published a book about blowing up the heads of today's youth with drugs, I have never seen it, never been able to find it on eBay, on Abebooks, etc. Occasionally, during those odd nights when I find myself awakened at 3am, and decide to burn off excess brain-energy online before going back to bed at 6am, it's the sort of thing I search for information about. I mean, that's what the internet is for, right? - scratching old itches at 3:30 in the morning? I did a search of Abebooks and Google the other night, in exactly those circumstances, and the only reference to this particular Dick Johnson that I could find was a Pussy Galore interview, where Bob Bert (who also drummed on Sonic Youth's Bad Moon Rising) explains:
Pussy Galore did a tour of the west coast with Tad from Seattle opening on what was their very first tour. They had a friend come along whose job was to find pot in every town and his name was Dick Johnson. I think Jon got a kick out of the fact that his first and last name were both names for a penis. That song is musically based around Neil's killer guitar riff.
That's it, though. No legal defense, no mention of a suppressed book, so... what the fuck?
I wrote Tad. Tad, who still I guess doesn't want to talk about TAD, told his web manager or someone to write me back and put me in touch with Kurt Danielson, former TAD bassist, who could give a fuller answer than he could. There was a tiny bit of back and forth, and then suddenly Kurt was filling in the blanks for me.
Kurt Danielson, 2019, by Alma Saucedo-Valadez
Here is what Kurt wrote back!
Hi Allan,
Well, it's a rather long story, but I'll condense it down into its essential elements. Dick Johnson - aka Rich Johnson - is my former brother in law. He used to be our Squee Master on tour; that is, he was in charge of scoring weed in every town along our tour itinerary. During our first ever tour, with Pussy Galore, Jon Spencer met Dick and admired his name so much that he wrote a song about him, as you know. To build on the myth that was quickly coalescing around the mysterious persona of Dick Johnson, we created a fictional identity for him, including a controversial and transgressive book, and we perpetuated this myth in the Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears documentary, claiming that this non-existent book had landed him in legal difficulty and that all the proceeds from the sale of the DVD would go to his legal defense fund. In reality, Rich is an English teacher and a father, and he has no legal problems stemming from said book, because it doesn't exist.
I'm sorry if the reality of the situation disappoints you, but we simply couldn't resist the impulse to weave a myth around our friend, who is a good-natured fellow, and I appreciate your interest. Many people have wondered about this mysterious book, but you are the only one to have actually formally inquired about it. You deserve kudos for asking, because it was a joke that was meant to provoke discussion, and yet little real discussion occurred at the time the DVD came out, and that surprised us. I'm pleased that someone finally thought enough about it to ask.
As for what I'm up to musically, I play bass in several bands, including Mythological Horses, which worked with Tad as the engineer, producer and mastering engineer on our last record (YYYMF). We'll be working with Tad again for the next record. Another band I play with, Purple Strange (which features Jack Endino, Ron Rudzitis, Matt Vandenberghe and Jared Stroud in addition to myself) just finished a new record that will be available soon (produced, engineered and mastered by Jack and recorded at Strange Earth Studios). Ron and I have another band called Vaporland, which has a CD out already (also on Strange Earth). We're planning another for the near future, and we plan to work with Tad on that one. I also play bass on records by Sky Cries Mary (Thieves and Sirens, produced by Jack) and Nerd Table (Nerd Table vs The Galactic Turkey, mastered by Tad). Those records are out there, on the net, if you can find them.
Cheers, and thanks again for your interest,
Note, Kurt: I'm far from disappointed to discover that this book never existed! I'm totally amused that I have probably, since 1989, devoted at least three hours of my life trying to find it (usually in fifteen minute segments on Abebooks and eBay). And now I learn not only that this is not about my failure to locate a rarity, but that I'm the first person to actually pursue the question!
BTW, if I have this right, Kurt isn't on this Mythological Horses song, but it has a pretty great little rock video. Check it out!
A spring trip to Pitt Lake
Erika and I took a drive this afternoon out towards Pitt Lake. We didn't quite get there - the last leg of the road was fenced off - but we found an access to dykes around Widgeon Marsh. I don't really have anything to say of moment, but we did get some very nice photos of our day. Here are the best of them.
A new profile pic
America is exhausting
I want to write something topical and relevant about what has been going on in the US (or teach a discussion skills class again where we can talk about "Cop Killer"). But I just don't have it in me. I feel like I have to say something, but... errrgh...
People sometimes try to characterize what living here above the United States is like - the most common variant is that it's like having a nice apartment above a meth lab - but it's more tiring than that, because, you know, there are things about the 'States (and plenty of Americans) that I love! I want to see them get through their problems and find a better way, I really do. But every school shooting, every black man shot and killed for some minor infraction...
I mean, re: George Floyd, you know why the officer was kneeling on his neck, right? (Beside being a racist piece of shit, I mean). Floyd had tried to buy something with a bad $20 bill. Here's the thing, though: *I* have tried (unknowingly) to pass a counterfeit bill - a bad ten dollar bill I was given in change at a 7-11 on Granville Street, which I tried, a few days later, to buy a slice of pizza with, not having noticed - as I am sure is the case with the 7-11 clerk, too - that the colours and details were a bit off. No one kneeled on my fuckin' neck for it - hell, the clerk at the pizza place even gave me the bill back, so I could use it my ESL classes as a warning to students. I still even might have it around somewhere (with the word "counterfeit" written across it in red pen, so no one mistakes it for real).
So, I mean, yes, right, black lives matter. It actually, truly needs saying, I guess. Seems like it shouldn't. Seems like it should be, like, "the earth is round" or "gun control is a good idea," or other kinda strangely contentious issues of the contemporary world. Seems like, actually, WE SHOULD BE BEYOND THIS RIGHT NOW, or, well, sorry folks, but America, it seems like YOU should be beyond this now, doesn't it? I mean, what, the LA riots were in 1992, right? (And say what you will about the Rodney King beating - at least they didn't KILL him!).
I mean, yes, I know, First Nations, Canada, etc. We're fucked up up here, too, I don't deny it. But, you know, I can recall two shooting rampages in Canada - one that ISIS-wannabe guy who had previously tried to rob a McDonald's with a stick, and this thing in Nova Scotia. There have probably been others, but there are none in my recent memory, which is quite different from the USA, where you just sort of give up trying to keep count. Another school shooting? Another black man killed by cops for some minor infraction?
And, you know, yes, Chantel Moore. Or Colten Boushie, or Jon Styres, or... It happens here, and if you want to say it's an aberration, then pick a story about white people wanting to build pipelines or flood or mine or log First Nations land. You have a range to choose from, from the Tsilhqot'in versus Taseko mines to the unresolved, ongoing struggles at Unist'ot'en camp to Site C damn to the Trans-Mountain pipeline to... It's all, undeniably, business as usual here in Canada - we have our own stories, our own racism, our own inequities. How does Matthew 7:5 go again? I get it.
But it's just not the same degree of intensity that you see down south, the same degree of outrage. I mean, we riot here over fucking HOCKEY games, folks. As grotesque and trivial as that is, this week I've been thinking fondly about it. How luxurious, how charming, how sweet to live in a country that riots over fucking hockey, like we have nothing more serious to get upset about. Maybe it's just the plank in my eye, but it just seems worse in the United States - doesn't it? And it seems like THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER BY NOW. Should have done something, should have fixed themselves...
Remember when Barack Obama was elected? I went to a fuckin' party to celebrate. There was more than one, I'm sure. I remember sitting there, I think at Cafe Deux Soleils on the Drive, being somewhat puzzled, thinking, why am I at a party to celebrate the election of a president of another country? But I get it now: people thought America had finally fixed itself. Finally, we thought. We don't have to worry for them anymore - they have found the way. How can it have gotten worse since that time? How does a country go from electing Barack Obama - flawed as he is - to electing Donald fucking Trump?
(Please fucking tell me they're not going to re-elect him? They can't, right? [They re-elected Bush]. What kind of psychotic decision-making process does an electorate have to display, here, that we have to actually worry about this possibility?).
It's like some sort of fucking caregiver fatigue sets in for Canadians, like you've got this errant relative that you really want to see get his life together, but who somehow finds ways to fuck everything up. Seeing Obama elected was like seeing a perpetual fuck-up relative clean up, get a job, and get married: finally their life was on track. For a few years, you didn't have to worry about them very much - give or take a few school shootings, the odd targeted overseas drone strike, it was a definite improvement for awhile... Then your relative goes on a meth binge, robs a convenience store, kills a security guard, and you're getting a call from jail...
So I have nothing to say, I'm wiped out. I am going to spend today seeing if I can track down a Velvet Underground CD box set with an awesome 36-minute jam of "Sister Ray" that came out five years ago, that a buddy posted about on Facebook. I'm not even gonna listen to Body Count!
It feels somewhat surreal, even irresponsible, after what we've been seeing all week on the news, to go about ones life like everything is normal...
...except, I guess, for America, this IS normal. How can it be? (And how can it be that it seems to be getting WORSE?).
How did that Clash song go again?
New Bob Mould!
Nice to see Bob get angry again!
Something Something Ostrich: a strange time to be ...
Scratching a TAD itch: Who the hell was Dick Johns...


Eric Robert // South Dakota // 22
Eric Robert posed as a police officer, pulled over an 18-year-old woman and forced her into the trunk of his car. He heard her talking to someone on her cellphone and ended up fleeing, but was convicted and sentenced to 80 years in prison. Eric ended up beating a prison guard, Ronald Johnson with a pipe, killed him and attempted to escape.
https://drinkingthecoolaid.com/
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Erik Robert lived in Wisconsin and was raised by his single mother and he helped raise his younger sister. He had good grades and put himself through college. He had a successful career in wastewater treatment, worked as an emergency medical technician, volunteered in the community and coached a Little League team.
On July 24th 2005, Eric posed as a police officer, pulled over an 18-year old woman and forced her into the trunk of his car. He drove to a remote location and ended up fleeing when he heard her talking to someone on her cellphone. In 2006, he was convicted and sentenced to 80 years in prison.
On April 12th, 2001, Eric was working alone in a part of the prison known as Pheasantland Industries. Inmates are able to work on upholstery, signs, custom furniture and other various projects. He ended up beating a prison guard, Ronald Johnson also known as RJ with a pipe and covered his head in plastic wrap to kill him during a failed escape attempt with another inmate named Rodney Berget. RJ was killed on his 63rd birthday.
Eric put on RJ's pants, hat and jacket and approached the prison's gate. He kept his head down and pushed a cart that had two boxes. Rodney was hiding in one of the boxes. Guards were suspicious as the pair got closer to the gate. A guard approached them, but Eric started beating them. Other guards were able to detain both inmates. Months later, Eric told a judge that his only regret was that he hadn't killed more guards. He pleaded guilty to killing RJ and asked to be sentenced to death. He told the judges that he would kill again. He didn't appeal his sentence and even tried to bypass a mandatory state review because he wanted to expedite his death sentence.
Rodney also pleaded guilty, but appealed his death sentence. Another inmate, Michael Nordman was also given a life sentence for providing materials that were used in the murder.
For religious reasons, Eric spent his final 40 hours fasting, but his last meal was Moose Track ice cream. The 40 hour fast was a metaphor for the 40-day fast of Christ in the Bible. Eric received lethal injection and was pronounced dead at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls. He was the first South Dakota inmate to die under the state's single-drug lethal injection method and he was only the 17th person that was executed in the state since 1877. He was put to death in the prison where he killed the guard. Eric had no expression on his face. The Warden asked if he had a last statement and he said, "In the name of justice and liberty and mercy, I authorize and forgive Warden Douglas Weber to execute me for the crimes. It is done." The drug was administered and Eric began clearing his throat and gasping. Then he snored for about 30 seconds while his eyes were open. He turned pale and eventually went purple and it was over.
When it comes to Rodney, his mental status and death penalty eligibility caused delays in courts. In 2016, he appealed the death sentence, but later asked to withdraw the appeal against his lawyers' advice. He wrote to the judge saying he thought the death penalty would be overturned and he couldn't imagine spending another 30 years in a cage doing a life sentence. He ended up being the second member in his family to be executed. His older brother, Roger, was executed in Oklahoma in 2000 for killing a man to steal his car.
RJ's wife Lynette Johnson witnessed Rodney's execution and said that her husband experienced cruel and unusual punishment, but lethal injection was peaceful and sterile. She says, "What's embedded in my mind is the crime scene. Ron laid in a pool of blood. His blood was all over that crime scene. That's cruel and unusual punishment."
Lynette sized down her husband's wedding ring and wears it next to hers. She also kept his watch, the hands frozen at the time he was attacked and placed in a clear case next to photos above her fireplace.
South Dakota murderer executed by lethal injection for beating to death prison guard with pipe during botched escape
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2218181/Eric-Robert-South-Dakota-murderer-prepares-execution-meal-Moose-Track-ice-cream.html
Eric Robert South Dakota Execution
https://mycrimelibrary.com/eric-robert-south-dakota-execution/
Eric Robert executed at South Dakota penitentiary in Sioux Falls
https://rapidcityjournal.com/news/eric-robert-executed-at-south-dakota-penitentiary-in-sioux-falls/article_79a46871-bcc8-51d9-a988-4ca7b39a9f0f.html
Eric Donald Robert
http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/robert1309.htm


Ex-RNC Chair Rips 'Irrelevant' GOP With Screaming Donald Trump Analogy
"We're just kind of standing in the middle of nowhere with Donald Trump screaming at us," Michael Steele said.
By Lee Moran
Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, on Monday described the current GOP as "somewhat irrelevant in the overall scheme of democracy."
"Because we've taken ourselves so far outside of — it's not even mainstream, we're not even near a stream. We're just kind of standing in the middle of nowhere with Donald Trump screaming at us," he told MSNBC's Chris Hayes.
Steele made the analogy during a discussion about Republican lawmakers spreading disinformation about the Ukraine scandal during the impeachment inquiry against Trump.
He also acknowledged that "we will have to do some serious rebuilding, not just the Republican Party" after Trump leaves office, be it in 2020 or beyond.
"That's the problem for the rest of us as we try to put back in place those institutions that have safeguarded not just our domestic security, but our foreign security as well," said Steele, who served as the RNC chair from 2009 to 2011.
"And it makes it much harder to do when you second guess and doubt everything that you hear, see and read," he added.
Steele, a vocal critic of the Trump administration, last month called out the RNC for bulk-buying thousands of copies of Donald Trump Jr.'s new book.
Check out the full interview above.
On @allinwithchris, @MichaelSteele says "the Republican Party... is somewhat irrelevant in the overall scheme of democracy."
Learn more: https://t.co/I6GgrBp1Lm#inners pic.twitter.com/I2FX43vfet
— 11th Hour (@11thHour) December 3, 2019
Ex-GOP House Member Reveals What Republican Lawmakers Say About Trump In Private
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Donald Trump Politics News Republican Party Michael Steele Republican National Committee


How can Georgian-Abkhaz conflict be settled in the realities of today's world? By Astamur Tania
Abkhaz political scientist Astamur Tania shares his thoughts on Abkhaz-Georgian relations, protracted negotiations, and possible areas of future cooperation.
Article was original published at Abkhazia-inform and translated by JAM-News.
Last year's escalation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, which led to a significant change in the geopolitical situation in the eastern part of the South Caucasus, has once again actualized the issue of unrecognized and partially recognized territories in the post-Soviet space.
For more than a quarter of a century, the countries which, in the eyes of the international community, are viewed as illegitimate descendants of the collapsed USSR, have existed under the status quo formed as a result of hostilities, and it seemed that they would continue to do so for many decades to come.
This was the opinion not only of international actors participating in the long-term process of conflict resolution but also of these countries themselves, accustomed to living with suspended international legal status and all the ensuing consequences.
The absence of hostilities created an illusion of a lasting peace, which suited both the unrecognized states and major world players, whose attention was diverted to solving more pressing international matters.
Naturally, all unresolved conflicts in the post-Soviet space have many features that distinguish them from each other, but from the outside, especially from the point of view of most influential states, they seem almost identical.
This disappearance of the distinguishable features of each of the unrecognized states is largely due to the departure of the conflicts to the periphery of international attention, which was, on the one hand, associated with relative stability, and on the other, with the loss of hope for a speedy resolution of conflicts through negotiations.
Therefore, especially in the light of the recent Caucasian events, it seems appropriate to analyze the current situation and try to think of possible models of the development of events in the zones of "forgotten" conflicts, in particular, the Georgian-Abkhaz one.
Negotiations and their results
The Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, was the only conflict in the post-Soviet space, the resolution of which was dealt with at the highest international level – under the auspices of the United Nations, with the assistance of Russia and with the participation of the United States, Great Britain, Germany, and France as observers.
The situation in the conflict zone was described in detail four times a year in the reports of the UN Secretary-General to the UN Security Council, which resulted in the adoption of two resolutions and two statements by the UN Security Council President every year.
Abkhazia and Georgia which were assigned the status of parties to the conflict during the negotiations, signed many documents, including those that played a significant role in maintaining the ceasefire, returning refugees and solving numerous humanitarian problems.
The UN Human Rights Office was working in Sukhum along with dozens of international and non-governmental organizations which made a great contribution to solving such problems as demining, provision of food, medicine, and essential goods to the population affected by the conflict, rehabilitation of schools, hospitals, transport infrastructure facilities, implementation of projects to support the development of civil society and more.
This assistance was of particular importance in the context of tough CIS sanctions, which limited trade, economic and transport ties between Abkhazia and Russia, as well as hindered the movement of citizens.
Naturally, the relations of unrecognized Abkhazia with international organizations and states that participated in the settlement of the conflict were anything but easy. The main problem and the root of many more issues to come was the international organization's desire to implement all projects with the sanction of Georgia in order to demonstrate the extension of its jurisdiction to the territory of Abkhazia.
In addition, during the first few years after the conflict had ended, humanitarian efforts of the international community prioritized providing assistance to Georgian refugees who returned to the Gal region.
This created the impression of an unequal attitude towards other residents of Abkhazia, including those who were forced to abandon their homes due to the outbreak of the military conflict.
UN representatives on a visit to Eshera during the 1992-93 war. Sergey Shamba on the right.
However, in the course of negotiations and discussions with the participants in the peace process, these problems were resolved, and the whole of Abkhazia began to receive significant volumes of assistance from the international community.
Representatives of the Abkhaz civil society, with the support of international and non-governmental organizations, got the opportunity to implement various humanitarian projects in Abkhazia and participate in conferences and seminars in various European countries as well as the United States.
However, the unrecognized status of Abkhazia and, accordingly, its passports, have always significantly limited the ability of residents of the country to do business, and participate in educational, creative, and other humanitarian projects.
The recognition of Abkhazia by Russia in 2008 significantly improved the position of Abkhazia in terms of ensuring its security, opportunities for the development of trade, economic, educational, cultural, and other ties with Russia which has traditionally been the main partner of Abkhazia, regardless of its state and legal status.
Russia has also financed large-scale projects to restore the socio-economic infrastructure of Abkhazia. These multifaceted interstate relations, which create reliable security guarantees for Abkhazia, are one of the most important differences in the position of Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh, which, in fact, contrary to the perceptions that have been formed over the years, found itself left to its own devices in the course of a short-lived but large-scale military conflict.
The establishment of an official partnership between Russia and Abkhazia also influenced the perception of the conflict in Georgian and Abkhaz societies. The conflict has now receded into the background of the political agenda of Abkhazia and Georgia since the former was finally from the long-standing fear of an external military threat, and the latter abandoned its hopes of military revenge.
At the same time, the topic of the conflict is still used in the internal political discourse, both in Abkhazia and in Georgia, while also playing an important role in the foreign policy and official propaganda of the parties of varying ideological positions.
The image of the enemy, formed over the long years of the conflict, still occupies an essential place in the public consciousness of the parties, while Russia is portrayed as the main hostile force in Georgian political discourse.
+ The EU and the Conflicts in the Eastern Neighborhood: The Case of Abkhazia, by Irakli Khintba
+ Reflections on Abkhazia: 1992 - 2012
+ International Alert: Georgia-Abkhazia on the road to 2020
+ The view from Abkhazia of South Ossetia ablaze, by Paula Garb
+ Abkhaz, Georgian, Ossetian peacebuilders call for an end to Nagorno-Karabakh violence
+ Four Positions on the Recognition of States in and after the Soviet Union, with Special Reference to Abkhazia, by Bruno Coppieters
The events of August 2008, which led to the severance of official relations between Russia and Georgia, as well as the legislation adopted by Georgia on the occupied territories, destroyed the international format of negotiations within the framework of which, at the time, the parties could sign documents on various aspects of the conflict settlement.
This was followed by the actual cessation of discussions of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict on the platform of the UN Security Council, as well as the curtailment of the work of a number of international and non-governmental organizations in Abkhazia.
The full-fledged negotiation process was replaced by the Geneva Discussions, in which Abkhazia and Georgia are not endowed with the status of parties to the conflict, and hence lack the right to sign joint documents.
In addition, this platform, much like the Coordination Council in 1997-2008, does not have permanent mechanisms to promote the settlement and implementation of the adopted joint decisions.
In general, there was a noticeable weakening of the international presence in Abkhazia and, as a result, a decrease in the level of awareness of the international community about the situation in Abkhazia, its positions and interests.
Sergei Bagapsh meets with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Sukhum, June 6, 2008.
Most of the diplomats who have been directly involved in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict for many years are no longer in the service, and now it seems that with their departure the problem of the conflict has disappeared from the actual memory of Western officials and research centers.
The exceptions are several international and non-governmental organizations and experts, whose efforts continue on the informal platforms for discussing the problems of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. Moreover, their work often encounters misunderstanding and criticism within both Abkhazia and Georgia.
Potential for convergence
At the same time, the actual contacts between the Georgian and Abkhaz societies, despite the political stagnation and emerging obstacles, not only did not stop but are expanding. This can, first of all, be observed in the cross-border business, as well as massive visits of Abkhaz residents to Georgia for medical treatment under the programs launched by the Georgian government.
The parties also continue to interact on energy issues and these processes, in part, lead to a blurring of the enemy's image. But the current state of relationships between two parties is far from stable since various issues regularly arise and cause the return of conflict rhetoric.
On the whole, one might get the impression that Abkhazia and Georgia are not interested in cooperation and joint solution to existing problems and only refer to one another to once again reinstate their well-known positions embedded in the foreign and domestic political context.
The fruitlessness and ritual nature of this discourse have long been understood by its participants, but they are not yet ready to act outside their usual agenda. The new authorities of Abkhazia tried to bring a fresh new perspective into relations with Georgia, stating the need for a dialogue on practical issues, but this timid attempt was met with practically no reaction from the Georgian establishment and drew sharp criticism from the Abkhaz opposition.
Of course, two neighboring societies that have lived without proper contact for 27 years, most likely, could have lived in this state for even longer, provided the geopolitical environment surrounding them is static.
But these conditions depend primarily on the major world players.
The situation around Nagorno-Karabakh clearly demonstrated how fragile this long-term "stability" can be. In the agreement signed by Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia, key attention was paid to the issue of resuscitation of communications, which were hindered by the unresolved Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict – and this is no coincidence.
The South Caucasus which, since ancient times, played the role of a bridge between Western Asia and Europe, has not fulfilled this connecting function in full for more than a quarter of a century.
Functioning strategic communications, in particular, the infrastructure of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, are under constant military threat, and Armenia and Abkhazia have essentially become its dead ends.
The economy of Georgia (especially its western part) is also negatively affected by the lack of Transcaucasian communications. It can be assumed that the prospect of unblocking communications in the east of the South Caucasus will bring the issue of unblocking the entire range of communications running through Abkhazia to Georgia and further to Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey back on the agenda.
This would probably be in the interest of influential players in the region such as Russia and Turkey, which have enough leverage over the countries of the South Caucasus to try and remove the barriers that hinder the operation of the communication network.
The intensification of transport, trade and economic ties in the South Caucasus would be in the interests of other world players who would prefer long-term stability in the region.
In connection with the new realities of the South Caucasus, the question arises about the role of Abkhazia and Georgia in the ongoing processes, more precisely, will they try to realize their interests in this disposition, or will they act as objects of big politics of the leading powers?
Naturally, Georgia has incomparably more opportunities than partially recognized Abkhazia, which is essentially a protectorate of Russia. However, it would be wrong to look at Abkhazia simply as an executor of Moscow's will.
It is known that in the propaganda discourse of Georgia and the countries supporting it, Abkhazia is not given an independent significance, it is presented as an "occupied territory" and a "puppet of Moscow."
But at the same time, both in Tbilisi and in Western countries, officials understand very well that despite all the differences in the economic and political capabilities of Russia and Abkhazia, their relations are still of an interstate nature.
This is evidenced by the rather independent position of Abkhazia in the process of forming the Russian-Abkhaz treaty base and in a number of other issues, as well as the fact that Moscow now respects the interests of its partner. Therefore, Abkhazia could act as a subject of possible negotiations on a number of practical issues of regional cooperation, such as the rehabilitation of transport links.
It is important that on this issue, Abkhazia does not come up with an ultimatum position and is able to show flexibility which, in turn, define the extent to which other participants will take into account its interests and try to integrate them into the general context of politics in the South Caucasus.
In this sense, the example of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, which for many years tried to negotiate from a position of strength, but under the pressure of well-known circumstances, agreed to concessions that Yerevan and Stepanakert did not dare to hint about earlier, is very striking.
Aslan Bzhania with the EU delegation on the South Caucasus. Sukhum, October 2020.
The point is not that Russia can "surrender" Abkhazia and allow Georgia to go through with an act of military revenge. This is hardly possible both from the point of view of Moscow's strategic interests and from the point of view of its prestige in the international arena.
However, it seems unlikely that major world players, whose relationships are never static and depend on many global factors, will tolerate the current status quo in the South Caucasus for many more years to come.
An example is the agreement between Moscow and Tbilisi on Russia's accession to the WTO, when Abkhazia and South Ossetia were designated as transport corridors with certain coordinates on the map, in which a Swiss company should exercise control over the passage of goods.
Until now, this mechanism has not been used, but it exists de jure. Moreover, its operation is most likely impeded not by the dull discontent of Abkhazia, but by the deterioration of the general climate of relations between Russia and the West and the package of mutual sanctions that have left Russia virtually outside the WTO.
Conversions are needed
Under the influence of rapid scientific and technological progress, global changes are taking place in the economy, politics, and social structure. Countries that want to survive and remain competitive must create the most favorable conditions for comprehensive modernization.
This applies not only to the leading players but also to small states such as Georgia and Abkhazia. The constant crises that these countries are experiencing are in fact related to the incompatibility of their current models of existence with the ongoing modernization, which is especially important for Abkhazia that has been in isolation for many years, and whose citizens have had limited access to modern education, and participation in the international exchange of ideas and technologies.
In the context of globalization, neither 200,000 nor three million nor even 30 million of the population can significantly influence world trends and make them suit their own interests, they can either participate in the world processes or remain only in the history books.
The problem of small societies lies in their natural fear of facing gigantic transformations that are taking place in the world and inevitably leading to a change in the usual course of life and stereotypes of behavior.
There are, of course, examples when large states created artificial conditions to preserve the traditional way of life of small peoples, taking on the financing of a kind of reservations, as is the case in countries with the compact residence of a small number of indigenous peoples. But it seems that neither Abkhazia nor Georgia, which have sufficiently developed and rooted national projects in the public consciousness, consider such initiatives desirable for themselves.
On top of that, both countries' geographic conditions are not conducive to this, therefore, they have no choice but to ensure the preservation of their identity, while simultaneously participating in the global process of modernization.
In recent years, Georgia has achieved certain successes in this process, although, for obvious reasons, these changes do not cause satisfaction in the society, one part of which is protesting at the slow pace of reforms, while the other comes out with a traditionalist agenda.
In Abkhazia, the situation is somewhat different. Long years of isolation associated with war and sanctions, as well as the deep-rooted fear in Abkhaz society about the prospects of preserving its identity and political prerogatives, objectively contribute to the preservation of the post-conflict model of the state's existence and even the revival of archaic forms of social relations.
Many problems that periodically arise in relations between Russia and Abkhazia are precisely the result of this fear. It can be assumed that similar difficulties would arise for Abkhazia in relations with other states if it were to be recognized by the international community and had to play according to the rules established in the world.
However, such a voluntary rejection of political and economic reforms, under the pretext of preserving the existence of Abkhaz people, in fact, contains much more risks. First of all, the outflow from the country's most promising, educated, creatively, and economically active part of the population will continue.
Sukhum, Abkhazia.
Secondly, Abkhazia will become unattractive for investments, because the investor will not risk investing in a country that lives by its own incomprehensible rules. Thus, the economic stagnation will continue, leading to a decline in the social sphere (education, medicine, culture) and the demographic problems will worsen.
It must be assumed that the Abkhaz elites will make a choice in favor of reforming the country, no matter how difficult and painful it may be. First of all, in order to implement the modernization project, it will be necessary to form a social demand in the Abkhaz society itself, thereby creating new social attitudes necessary to change the current paradigm of existence.
Another significant obstacle to the modernization process is Abkhazia's lack of opportunities for full and direct cooperation with the international community in the humanitarian sphere – science, education, culture. Georgian authorities, following their idea of "occupied territories", are developing diplomatic activity around the world aimed at limiting such ties.
This generates discontent in the Abkhazian society and leads to a deepening of the abyss separating Abkhazia and Georgia, since the widening gap in the standards of building economic, social and political systems will only reduce mutual understanding between the two societies.
What need to be done
Based on all of the above, a model for resolving a set of problems associated with the unsettled relations between Abkhazia and Georgia could be formed around the following principles:
Trust between the parties should be increased to such a level that they are able to commit themselves to various issues. For these purposes, first of all, it is necessary to abandon aggressive hostile propaganda and actions that cause outbursts of discontent in both societies. Examples of such actions are the constant obstacles posed by Georgia to the representatives of Abkhazia in various creative, educational, and other contacts, and, on the other hand, the unreasonable policy towards the residents of the Gal region, carried out in Abkhazia, which actually leads not to integration, but to the alienation of the region. Over the years, the parties have long understood that their actions lead nowhere but to mutual irritation. But by inertia, they continue to annoy each other by any available means.
In order to agree on something, a negotiation format is needed in which Abkhazia and Georgia will be recognized as entities entitled to sign mutually binding documents and be responsible for their implementation, as was the case between 1993 and 2008. A new international format could be constructed on the basis of the Geneva Discussions. However, in order for this to occur, it will first be necessary to abolish the Georgian legislation on the occupied territories, which limits Georgia itself in its possibilities to negotiate with Abkhazia.
The most fruitful direction for achieving progress in the Georgian-Abkhaz settlement seems to be the restoration of communications. This is economically beneficial to all the states of the South Caucasus and such major players as Russia, Turkey, and, possibly, European countries that are interested in the safe supply of hydrocarbons via pipelines passing through the region. The discussion of this issue has been on the agenda of the expert community dealing with the problems of the South Caucasus for several years, and, probably, on this basis, a model can be developed that meets the interests of the parties and can work, despite the complex political context.
The agreements reached between Serbia and Kosovo in terms of transport and energy could serve as a precedent for a possible model for resolving the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict.
It should be understood that not a single settlement model in the region can be implemented without taking into account the strategic interests of Russia, which, as a major military power and the largest economy in the region, will be a significant factor in the South Caucasus, Central Asia and Eastern Europe in the foreseeable future.
Abkhazia, Georgia, and other countries of the South Caucasus will have to form more pragmatic foreign and domestic political attitudes in the coming years, which will allow them to integrate into the process of globalization and remain on the agenda of international politics.