GET TO HEAVEN BY EVERYTHING EVERYTHING

Everything Everything's new record GET TO HEAVEN, their third, is basically a continuation of their second one ARK and sounds like it could have been recorded at the same time- Their debut MAN ALIVE is one of my favorite records of the last ten years.

Their sound is always great - Rapid falsetto vocals, jerky rhythms on the fast songs, vocal-centric arrangements on the slow songs, maybe a tad more keyboards this time around. They have both an ear for melody and a natural ability to create memorable beats.

Lyrically, these songs are ambitious and complex full of references to history and literature as well as the usual clever wordplay.

The version I've been listening to is the extended one (six extra songs) which is important because the two best songs on the record (after a couple listens) President Heartbeat and Only As Good As My God are from the extended. The extra songs are wilder, rougher, more live sounding. Other tunes I like on HEAVEN - Zero Pharaoh, Spring/Sun/Winter/Dread, Distant Past, The Wheel is Turning Now.

THE JOB INTERVIEW (CONT.)

I have written about some of my job interview experiences before http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-job-interview-two-way-street.html

The adventure continues....

The unprofessional conduct shown by Malaysian Human Resource departments and employers in arranging and conducting interviews never ceases to amaze me. Latest story - Received a phone call from Kolej Yayasan yesterday. The person spoke almost no English but with my limited Bahasa Melayu and lots of repetition I was able to get the important details - interview scheduled for Friday morning. I asked if I would receive a confirming email which is the custom listing what documents I needed to bring. She said yes I would. So as of today, I had not received the confirming email so I called them back. The HR person who answered the phone told me in fact they couldn't interview me for this position as they had a quota they needed to fill with a local employee - I have no problem with this - I understand how this works, that's not the problem here. My question is if I had not called would I have shown up on Friday and been told I couldn't be interviewed? This school is more than an hour away by car and I would have totally lost it if that happened. I would have burned that fucking place to the ground!

PIYUSH JINDAL AND RUNNING AWAY FROM ONE'S ETHNICITY

If there's a type of person I have no respect for, it's those who seek to change or hide their ethnic origins to curry (literally LOL) favor with others.

Case in point - Piyush Jindal who goes by the nickname Bobby which he picked up from the Brady Bunch as a child. People tell that story like it's cute, I find it pathetic. What was wrong with the name Piyush? As most people know, my father is an Indian but I was born and grew up in the US.A I used to dread the first day of school when I was a kid as teachers would slaughter my name even in college it happened and it often continued even after the first day as some teacher just couldn't get their head around it. Some years later, I had a literary agent tell me I should change my name for a pen name and also had an editor at a poetry magazine tell me the same thing.

But even though I am not culturally an Indian in many ways I never felt the need or desire to change my name. Piyush also gave up his Hinduism for Christinity (converting) which I think was a political move not one of real faith and lightened campaign photos of himself so he wouldn't appear so dark. I guess it doesn't matter since Jindal will never be president. He's running for the vice presidency but he won't get that either. Blame Jesus or blame karma.

HILLARY CLINTON AND THE CONFEDERATE FLAG AND RACE BAITING NEOLIBERALISM

The long overdue confederate flag discussion occurring in the wake of the Charleston shooting shows once again the basic folly of having Hillary Clinton as the frontrunner for the presidential nomination for what is supposedly a left-wing political party (but isn't really)....Nothing wrong with her public statements now. The problem is like her new stances on income equality, foreign policy, trade, and campaign finance they are totally contradicted by her past activities, behavior, and associations.

Consider this (I know a lot of these are Bill Clinton issues but they are joined at the hip - Two for the price of one as they've said before)

1.) In 1987, Bill Clinton signed a bill that affirmed that blue stars on the Arkansas state flag were there to honor the confederacy.

2.) The confederate flag hung over the Arkansas statehouse every year Bill was governor but not a peep from him and Hillary. 

3.) Clinton campaign memorabilia linked both Clinton and Gore to the confederacy and the south. A lot of that memorabilia is turning up now on E Bay. This was a concerted effort to appeal to certain groups.

4.) Hillary made this totally racist comment in 2004 while introducing a quote from Mahatma Gandhi at a speech in Missouri "He ran a gas station down in St Louis" In what bizarro world is that even remotely appropriate???? 

5.) In the 92 campaign, Bill rushed back to Arkansas to preside over the execution of a mentally challenged black man named Ricky Ray Rector. Rector's mental state was such that he told a guard to save part of his final meal since he was full "and he would eat it later".

6.) Bill also made a point of criticizing an obscure rapper named Sister Souljah and equating that as equal to years of white on black racism. This was a nod and a wink to white racists.

Then there are Bill (and Hillary) policies such as welfare reform and NAFTA that hurt those at the bottom many of whom happen to be African American.

I still believe true change won't come in a two party system, that's not real democracy but at least Democrats could find someone with a better record. Neoliberalism long ago sucked out the soul of the Dems.

For the record, my views on the confederate flag are here http://rgdinmalaysia.blogspot.com/2012/10/long-past-time-to-de-nazify-south.html  

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT MOTIVE

Recently been watching (and getting hooked) on the TV show Canadian whydunnit MOTIVE.

Nifty premise - at the beginning of each episode we see a person identified as a killer then another person identified as a victim we then start at the discovery of the victim's body and the team of detective regulars try to find the murderer with "why they did it" being the key to the solution. Reminds me of 70's crime shows without all the histrionics and yelling of Law and Order CSI etc. as well as overcomplicated backstories for its characters. Biggest flaw - the detective regulars are not that interesting except for Louis Ferreira who played Declan on the last season of BREAKING BAD "Say My Name". His character is a gruff mystery. 

The first season is the best of the three seasons with the best twists and undiluted by story length arc (which both seasons two and three have although it's not too disruptive).   I especially liked the episode based on STRANGERS ON A TRAIN where two people swap unrelated murders.

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT iZOMBIE

Very satisfied with the season finale of iZombie. Almost all of the big questions answered and handled in a sensible way. No zombieapocalypse but it feels too early for that anyway. There's always next season.

At first, I thought this show was so so but it has grown on me over this season. The lead is an engaging character well played by Rose McIver.

It helps that the brains behind this show (not the eating kind :) ) is Rob Thomas who also created VERONICA MARS which is/was a much darker show. In many ways, Liv's zombie condition is like Veronica's rape - It pulls her out of her comfortable life into something else wherein she becomes a heroine.

What I'd like to see next season is instead of fighting crime Liv and co. fight some
supernatural enemies (vampires, werewolves, mummy etc.).

WHY THE SINKING OF THE USS LIBERTY IS IMPORTANT

June 8th was the anniversary of the sinking of the USS Liberty which is important because it was an
early indicator of how much the USA is willing to bend over to kiss Israel's ass. 34 servicemen die
and no one was punished. American lives do matter as much as Zionist hegemony. The family of Rachel Corrie also found this out.

Israel's story that it was case of mistaken identity is complete and utter BS - It was a clear day, the Liberty was prominently flying the American flag, US ships look nothing like Egyptian ships in
either size or shape or appearance, Israeli authorities knew there was an American ship in the area .



Numerous theories for why but I have always subscribed to the one that the Liberty picked up
transmissions of something it shouldn't have perhaps Israeli atrocities against Egyptian POW's or plans to attack Syria during the Six Day War.

In any event, the end of empire starts with the freeing of American foreign policy from Zionist
control

A FEW THOUGHTS ABOUT THE FRENCH OPEN 2015

Great aggressive tennis from the Stanimal in the French Open final but tough for Novak Djokovic as his chances of winning the one grand slam he has never won are running out as he grows older.

1.) John McEnroe said he thinks Stanislas Wawrinka has the best backhand of any active player. I would tend to agree. The one handed backhand is really not used enough in tennis today. If Andy Murray had a one handed backhand for example, I think he'd be a far superior player

2.) I've noticed that Djokovic's not a good wind player. He's lost a few close matches in windy conditions at the French Open in the past. Stanimal was able to muscle and pound his way through
the wind in the final.

3.) Wawrinka's clothes are awful, questionable for a backyard barbecue much less a grand slam tennis tournament. The French Open needs a dress code like Wimbledon - not whites of course though.