3.13.2003

 
Run to you

This fantastic, heart-warming news was forwarded me by my co-worker Paula. The full story is here. But here's the excerpt:

Girl Emerges from Coma During Bryan Adams Concert
Wed Mar 12, 4:30 PM ET

By Michael Leidig

MUNICH (Reuters Health) - A young woman left in a coma for six years after she collapsed at school has started to respond to the world around her after her mother took her to see her pop star hero Bryan Adams perform live.

Christiane Kittel, now 24, was left in a vegetative state after her collapse on 12 June 1997. Doctors believe her condition was caused by a combination of hot weather, a hereditary hemophilia condition and side-effects of the contraceptive pill.

She had to be resuscitated three times, once at school and twice at the University Clinic in Regensburg, where she underwent surgery before being attached to life-support machines in the intensive care unit.

Later she was moved to the intensive care unit at the Clinic for Neurologic Rehabilitation in Regensburg, where her parents Karl-Gunther and Adelheide Kittel have kept a 15-hour watch by her bedside every day.

Her father, now 55, told Reuters Health: "We did not want her to be alone so we have spent every day by her bedside. We take it in turns, my wife does six hours than I take over for about six hours, there is usually someone there constantly between 5 AM and 8 PM."

"We have never given up hope of seeing our beloved daughter again," he said.

"Bryan Adams was always her biggest hero and she loved his music before she fell into a coma," said his wife Adelheid, 53. "When we heard about the concert in Regensburg we knew straight away that we had to take her there."

A local paper paid for the tickets and doctors arranged special help to get Christiane to the concert, her mother said.

During the concert, Christiane started to move in the wheelchair and was fascinated by the music and the singer.

"I will never forget it, I could have hugged the whole world. When we got back to the clinic she was still animated, and three times she called my name, she said Mama."

I'd like to see Ryan Adams accomplish that.

posted by Anon. 8:41 AM

3.12.2003

 
Happy birthday to

James Taylor. He's 55. Surf on over to the streaming audio of the great Fordham University radio station, WFUZ, which is saluting Sweet Baby James with lots of performances. Including, right as I type this, a live performance.

posted by Anon. 10:11 AM

 
Pass it around

Four times out of five, when someone recommends me a disc and says, you gotta hear this, my response after listening is, um, no, I don't. But a friend mailed me a copy of a disc from 2001 that I hadn't heard -- by an artist I hadn't heard of. I listened to it last night, and it's terrific. It's kinda got a Nick Drake meets Ron Sexsmith feel -- very quiet, very melodic, very pretty.

David Berkeley is his name, and the album has the (unfortunate) title, the Confluence. Pick it up. (You could always order it through the link here.)




posted by Anon. 9:57 AM

 
China rocks!

Why let North Korea hog all the Asian fun?

China is hosting the Rolling Stones in concert! Wheee! But of course, no "opening the doors" would be complete without some "requisite censorship," and so the Chinese have barred the Stones from playing four of their best known songs: predictably, "Let's Spend the Night Together"; less predictably but prominently, "Brown Sugar" -- which really, let's face it, is an enormously offensive song, though with a great lick; "Honky Tonk Women," fine; and "Beast of Burden," which while it has the "make sweet love to me" line, is a very innocuous song...

What's really bizarre here is that evidentally "Start Me Up" has not been axed -- and that song features the line, "you'd make a dead man come." What is going on here, China? Show some backbone and consistency.

More on this here.

posted by Anon. 8:07 AM

3.11.2003

 
Spector and the AP Wire

Okay, now this is fun. AOL Instant Messenger has a news ticker that carries all the AP Wire stories. However, they accidentally have posted a correction today.

Since that link probably won't last too long, here is the correction in its entireity:

AP Kills Rock Hall of Fame Story
The Associated Press
Mar 11 2003 10:29AM
.c The Associated Press

A paragraph on producer Phil Spector in the stories about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction has been killed. Spector has not been charged with murder.

The following versions of the story, slugged Music Rock Hall, must be killed: V8343 at 7:45 p.m. EST Monday , V8466 at 9:36 p.m., V8472 at 9:37 p.m., V8533 at 10:20 p.m., V8660 at 12:23 a.m. Tuesday, V8799 at 2:47 a.m., V9093 at 6:59 a.m. and V9099 at 7:10 a.m.

Make certain the story is not published.

A corrected version of the story will be filed.

posted by Anon. 9:02 AM

3.10.2003

 
We're all in agreementanceness

You know it's gonna be a good week when grammar is in the news. Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit made a little bit of news when at the Grammys he announced that, "I just really hope we're all in agreeance that this war should go away as soon as possible." Many people snickered at Fred's use of the word "agreeance." But lo and behold: Fred was right, after all. Well, at least as of 1714.
posted by Anon. 9:57 AM

 
HBOwatch

Last night proved that the Sopranos isn't alone among HBO shows with terrific music supervision at work. The very, very good second episode of Six Feet Under -- following the awful, shmuckbait season premiere -- featured a few familiar goodies. During the priceless Nate-David-Keith-whateverLiliTaylor'scharacteris dinner party scene, I could hear Beth Orton's "Stolen Car" playing in the background. Even better, and more surprising, was the fact that during the opening scene -- the show's weekly death sequence -- you could hear Dave Alvin's "Dark Eyes," from his Public Domain record of 2000 and Palmermix Year In Review 2000: Volume Two, playing as the guy started cooking at the stove.

As for Palmermix Year in Review 2002, it's been delayed while I acquired a few more CDs to add to the second volume. It will be next weekend's rainy day project. I promise.

posted by Anon. 9:41 AM

3.09.2003

 
No war

"Has a protest song ever changed someone's mind?" asks Jon Pareles in today's piece on anti-war musicians. (His answer: maybe.)

posted by Anon. 8:53 AM