October 21, 2008 - 1:22PM
The international community must wake up to the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation, the Australian chairman of a new disarmament body says.
The newly-established International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) has been meeting in Sydney for the past two days, with commissioners discussing growing nuclear weapons proliferation.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd proposed setting up the ICNND in June during a visit to Japan, and the commission was given a two-year mandate to reinvigorate global debate on preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.
The commission is co-chaired by former Australian foreign minister Gareth Evans and former Japanese foreign minister Yoriko Kawaguchi.
Speaking in Sydney on Tuesday, Mr Evans said everyone had been sleepwalking on the issue of proliferation since the end of the Cold War, with the past decade seeing a succession of newly nuclear-armed countries, such as Pakistan, India and North Korea, as well as the continued threat of a nuclear Iran.
"We are on the brink after years ... of containing rather well the emergence of new nuclear weapons states ... we are on the verge of another avalanche or cascade," Mr Evans said at a joint press conference with Ms Kawaguchi.
The scale of the proliferation problem was "right up there" with climate change and the current financial crisis, with estimates of between 13,000 and 16,000 warheads actively deployed around the world.
"The scale of the havoc and the devastation that can be wreaked by one major nuclear weapon alone puts 9/11 and almost everything else into the category of insignificance," he said.
"For the last decade or so, the international community has been sleepwalking when it comes to this potential catastrophe."
The ICNND has 13 commissioners, including Ali Alatas from Indonesia, Alexei Arbatov from Russia, Jehangir Karamat from Pakistan, former US defence secretary William Perry and China's Wang Yingfan.
It will meet all over the world in the next two years in an effort to shape a consensus in the lead-up to a 2010 conference reviewing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Mr Evans said efforts to reinvigorate the stalled US-Russia dialogue on disarmament would also be on the commission's agenda.
"It was felt that we needed a major new push to exercise the tension, debate, come up with workable recommendations that will actually snap us out of this torpor, snap out of this sleepwalking."
© 2008 AAP
http://news.theage.com.au/national/world-facing-nuclear-threat-commission-20081021-558n.html
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Drop the mouse and step away from the PC
Frustrated consumers make things worse after computer crash
By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
MSNBC
The first few moments in any crisis response are critical, and mistakes can be costly. So it is with misbehaving computers.
Yet the first step for many users after a computer crash is to hit or yell at their machine, according to a new survey. The helpless feeling of data slipping away into a black hole seems to be more than many computer users can bear. According to the survey, more people commit some act of computer violence than call for help when faced with a crisis, according to a survey conducted by New York-based Ontrack Data Recovery.
Fortunately, violence isn't the only response. About 13 percent of survey participants said they attempt to sweet-talk their computers into coughing up any lost data, said Todd Johnson, vice president data recovery at Ontrack. Another non-violent response is the most popular, he said -- about one-third of respondents said they immediately just resign themselves to loss of the data.
But 7 percent said their first reaction is the hit the computer, Johnson said, a step that's rarely productive. Another 13 percent yell at the computer first.
"It's hard when people lose data," he said. "People do begin to panic."
The Ontrack study results parallel a study conducted recently by the University of Maryland's Laboratory for Automation Psychology and Decision Processes. A full 10 percent of respondents to that poll indicated that had committed violence against the computers in frustration, said Dr. Kent L. Norman.
"There was one restaurant manager who was so upset with his laptop that he threw it into a deep fryer," Norman said. "That destroyed the laptop ... and deep fryer, too."
That might sound extreme, but few computer users haven't considered tossing a misbehaving PC out an office window at one time or another. One respondent in Norman's study did just that, but left out an important step.
"His mistake was he forgot to open the window," Norman said.
Besides the obvious physical damage, such overreactions can have an even higher cost, Johnson said — often, lost data can be saved by experts, but not if a computer has already been deep-fried.
If you hear that grinding sound, don't reboot
In fact, the usual, conventional wisdom response — turning the computer on and off again, several times — can actually make things worse. The phrase "computer crash" has become a generic term, referring to anything that makes the computer freeze or stop operating. But the term actually refers to a mechanical breakdown. When a computer hard drive literally crashes, the head mechanism that reads the data physically crashes into the spinning platter that stores the data. Rebooting repeatedly just scratches the platter again and again, making recovery that much more difficult.
"If you hear a grinding sound, like squealing, the first thing you want to do is turn off your computer, and don't turn it back on," Johnson said.
Even those consumers who curb their violent impulses tend to do the wrong thing by attempting to fix the problem themselves. Some even start disassembling hard drives in an attempt to recover lost data, Johnson said. Such electronic experimentation can make matters worse.
But there's a reason for computer individualism, Johnson suggested. Many consumers don't think to look for help because of the subtle training they have received from overworked and sometimes sarcastic technical support staff.
"I think people don't know where to turn," he said. "And some of the (technical support) cultures in corporations have had an unwritten policy, 'If you don't back up your data, you are out of luck. We're not gonna help you.'"
Increased use of laptop computers away from the home office — and away from technical support — has also led to an increase in self-help, Johnson said. From there, that helpless feeling of lost data creeps in, and often gives way to anger.
'A tremendous amount of rage out there'But Norman, who's a psychologist by training, thinks there are more subtle reasons for people over-reacting to computer trials and tribulations.
Modern life requires people to spend endless hours working with more and more complicated machines — computers, cell phones, PDAs, even high-tech cars — and slowly but surely, there is a loss of predictability and control.
"We are dealing with so many complex things and we don't really know how they work," he said. "And we are extremely dependent on these things."
When "these things" break, stored frustration can explode into rage, particularly when people spend seven or eight hours each day in front of a computer, Norman said. In fact, he thinks road rage might be the result of what he calls "computer rage." After a long, hard day of computer crashes, one unfriendly driver on the way home can set off a person who is already near the edge.
"The bottom line is there is a tremendous amount of rage out there," he said.
To avoid the kind of computer rage you might regret later, Norman suggests using a strategy that's familiar to parents: take a break.
"Usually, the best thing to do is to get out of the environment. Just like if you get mad at your kids. Leave the house, leave the office, cool down for 10 to 20 minutes," he said.
In fact, Norman thinks companies could benefit from instituting 15 minute "frustration breaks" that employees could take during the week. Consider it the 21st century version of Industrial Age break-time.
Whatever the approach, the lesson from Ontrack's survey is clear: When something goes wrong with your computer, the best thing to do is slowly drop the mouse and step away from the keyboard.
"Remain calm. There are solutions out there," Johnson said.
Bob Sullivan is author of Your Evil Twin: Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic
© 2008 MSNBC Interactive
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7329279/
By Bob Sullivan
Technology correspondent
MSNBC
The first few moments in any crisis response are critical, and mistakes can be costly. So it is with misbehaving computers.
Yet the first step for many users after a computer crash is to hit or yell at their machine, according to a new survey. The helpless feeling of data slipping away into a black hole seems to be more than many computer users can bear. According to the survey, more people commit some act of computer violence than call for help when faced with a crisis, according to a survey conducted by New York-based Ontrack Data Recovery.
Fortunately, violence isn't the only response. About 13 percent of survey participants said they attempt to sweet-talk their computers into coughing up any lost data, said Todd Johnson, vice president data recovery at Ontrack. Another non-violent response is the most popular, he said -- about one-third of respondents said they immediately just resign themselves to loss of the data.
But 7 percent said their first reaction is the hit the computer, Johnson said, a step that's rarely productive. Another 13 percent yell at the computer first.
"It's hard when people lose data," he said. "People do begin to panic."
The Ontrack study results parallel a study conducted recently by the University of Maryland's Laboratory for Automation Psychology and Decision Processes. A full 10 percent of respondents to that poll indicated that had committed violence against the computers in frustration, said Dr. Kent L. Norman.
"There was one restaurant manager who was so upset with his laptop that he threw it into a deep fryer," Norman said. "That destroyed the laptop ... and deep fryer, too."
That might sound extreme, but few computer users haven't considered tossing a misbehaving PC out an office window at one time or another. One respondent in Norman's study did just that, but left out an important step.
"His mistake was he forgot to open the window," Norman said.
Besides the obvious physical damage, such overreactions can have an even higher cost, Johnson said — often, lost data can be saved by experts, but not if a computer has already been deep-fried.
If you hear that grinding sound, don't reboot
In fact, the usual, conventional wisdom response — turning the computer on and off again, several times — can actually make things worse. The phrase "computer crash" has become a generic term, referring to anything that makes the computer freeze or stop operating. But the term actually refers to a mechanical breakdown. When a computer hard drive literally crashes, the head mechanism that reads the data physically crashes into the spinning platter that stores the data. Rebooting repeatedly just scratches the platter again and again, making recovery that much more difficult.
"If you hear a grinding sound, like squealing, the first thing you want to do is turn off your computer, and don't turn it back on," Johnson said.
Even those consumers who curb their violent impulses tend to do the wrong thing by attempting to fix the problem themselves. Some even start disassembling hard drives in an attempt to recover lost data, Johnson said. Such electronic experimentation can make matters worse.
But there's a reason for computer individualism, Johnson suggested. Many consumers don't think to look for help because of the subtle training they have received from overworked and sometimes sarcastic technical support staff.
"I think people don't know where to turn," he said. "And some of the (technical support) cultures in corporations have had an unwritten policy, 'If you don't back up your data, you are out of luck. We're not gonna help you.'"
Increased use of laptop computers away from the home office — and away from technical support — has also led to an increase in self-help, Johnson said. From there, that helpless feeling of lost data creeps in, and often gives way to anger.
'A tremendous amount of rage out there'But Norman, who's a psychologist by training, thinks there are more subtle reasons for people over-reacting to computer trials and tribulations.
Modern life requires people to spend endless hours working with more and more complicated machines — computers, cell phones, PDAs, even high-tech cars — and slowly but surely, there is a loss of predictability and control.
"We are dealing with so many complex things and we don't really know how they work," he said. "And we are extremely dependent on these things."
When "these things" break, stored frustration can explode into rage, particularly when people spend seven or eight hours each day in front of a computer, Norman said. In fact, he thinks road rage might be the result of what he calls "computer rage." After a long, hard day of computer crashes, one unfriendly driver on the way home can set off a person who is already near the edge.
"The bottom line is there is a tremendous amount of rage out there," he said.
To avoid the kind of computer rage you might regret later, Norman suggests using a strategy that's familiar to parents: take a break.
"Usually, the best thing to do is to get out of the environment. Just like if you get mad at your kids. Leave the house, leave the office, cool down for 10 to 20 minutes," he said.
In fact, Norman thinks companies could benefit from instituting 15 minute "frustration breaks" that employees could take during the week. Consider it the 21st century version of Industrial Age break-time.
Whatever the approach, the lesson from Ontrack's survey is clear: When something goes wrong with your computer, the best thing to do is slowly drop the mouse and step away from the keyboard.
"Remain calm. There are solutions out there," Johnson said.
Bob Sullivan is author of Your Evil Twin: Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic
© 2008 MSNBC Interactive
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7329279/
More on The Phantom Sequel
Andrew Lloyd Webber on This Morning
3 September 2008
Various quotes:
"...I’m coming to the end of a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. It’s going to be called Phantom, and it’s just going to be all...Once Upon Another Time. And we’ve already done, ah, a performance of the first act of it and...quite pleased with it. A few little rewrites to do but, ah, then I’ve got to finish the second act which I’ve written all the melodies for now...
I think the plan is to open in London next October. Not this October, the October next year, October or November...
...Horrifyingly tough.
Yes, it’s an idea I’ve said no to consistently for about the last 15 years and never really thought that the ideas sent to me, or the stories that were being developed, were really good but, ah, a year ago, I found a way, or rather a writer found a way, of doing it which I thought was terrific...
It’s...Freddy Forsyth did a novella which I couldn’t find a way through, um, and I tried again because I thought, well, you know, it could be just worth having a...hack at it. But, ah, in fact, again, that didn’t really quite work but I had a dinner with my old friend Ben Elton and he said "Look," he said, "I think, as a novelist, where everybody’s going wrong is they’re introducing new characters and that if you keep it with the old characters, that could be the way through." ...He suggested one thing, and it really unlocked it and immediately on board came a guy called Glenn Slater, who you may not know of, but he’s a very talented young lyricist, and Jack O’Brien, who directed "Hairspray" and is a very, very good director, Bob Crowley who’s a great designer. So with that team, I plunged ahead...
...Christine, Phantom, Madame Giry and Meg Giry are all to be found. And the main difference is that Christine has a child and it’s ten years later and Raoul...is in the story too...He’s supposed to be Raoul and Christine’s..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUmoryeyWAs
3 September 2008
Various quotes:
"...I’m coming to the end of a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. It’s going to be called Phantom, and it’s just going to be all...Once Upon Another Time. And we’ve already done, ah, a performance of the first act of it and...quite pleased with it. A few little rewrites to do but, ah, then I’ve got to finish the second act which I’ve written all the melodies for now...
I think the plan is to open in London next October. Not this October, the October next year, October or November...
...Horrifyingly tough.
Yes, it’s an idea I’ve said no to consistently for about the last 15 years and never really thought that the ideas sent to me, or the stories that were being developed, were really good but, ah, a year ago, I found a way, or rather a writer found a way, of doing it which I thought was terrific...
It’s...Freddy Forsyth did a novella which I couldn’t find a way through, um, and I tried again because I thought, well, you know, it could be just worth having a...hack at it. But, ah, in fact, again, that didn’t really quite work but I had a dinner with my old friend Ben Elton and he said "Look," he said, "I think, as a novelist, where everybody’s going wrong is they’re introducing new characters and that if you keep it with the old characters, that could be the way through." ...He suggested one thing, and it really unlocked it and immediately on board came a guy called Glenn Slater, who you may not know of, but he’s a very talented young lyricist, and Jack O’Brien, who directed "Hairspray" and is a very, very good director, Bob Crowley who’s a great designer. So with that team, I plunged ahead...
...Christine, Phantom, Madame Giry and Meg Giry are all to be found. And the main difference is that Christine has a child and it’s ten years later and Raoul...is in the story too...He’s supposed to be Raoul and Christine’s..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUmoryeyWAs
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Jon Bon Jovi sued for $400bn
Sean Michaels
guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday October 14 2008 09.59 BST
A Boston songwriter claims that Bon Jovi's hit I Love This Town is borrowed from his song (Man I Really) Love This Team. We think he could be waiting a long time to collect his compensation
Somewhere in Boston, a songwriter is angry. And he's suing Jon Bon Jovi for $400bn.
Yes, 400 billion dollars, roughly 200 billion pounds, an amount that recalls the number of stars in the Milky Way and brings us halfway to Gordon Brown's bank bail-out plan. Even if Bon Jovi lived forever, we scarcely think he could collect that much dosh.
But Samuel Bartley Steele may not accept any less. In a federal lawsuit brought this week, Steele claims that Jon Bon Jovi stole the lyrics and chorus to his song (Man I Really) Love This Team, using them for his hit I Love This Town.
"I know I'm the little fish and they're the big fish, but they fucked with the wrong piranha," Steele said to the Boston Herald.
Samuel Steele, 37, lives in the Chelsea area of Boston. He is also the frontman for the Chelsea City Council, which is a band and not an actual city council. According to his thinking, Jon Bon Jovi either received a copy of (Man I Really) Love This Team, or else heard Steele busking outside Fenway Park while the star was campaigning for John Kerry in 2004.
When questioned, Jon Bon Jovi's management told journalists that they had not yet seen the lawsuit.
"I know that I'm right," Steele insisted. "I want credit, acknowledgment and an apology." Either that or ... 400 billion dollars.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/oct/14/job-bon-jovi-sued
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS???
guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday October 14 2008 09.59 BST
A Boston songwriter claims that Bon Jovi's hit I Love This Town is borrowed from his song (Man I Really) Love This Team. We think he could be waiting a long time to collect his compensation
Somewhere in Boston, a songwriter is angry. And he's suing Jon Bon Jovi for $400bn.
Yes, 400 billion dollars, roughly 200 billion pounds, an amount that recalls the number of stars in the Milky Way and brings us halfway to Gordon Brown's bank bail-out plan. Even if Bon Jovi lived forever, we scarcely think he could collect that much dosh.
But Samuel Bartley Steele may not accept any less. In a federal lawsuit brought this week, Steele claims that Jon Bon Jovi stole the lyrics and chorus to his song (Man I Really) Love This Team, using them for his hit I Love This Town.
"I know I'm the little fish and they're the big fish, but they fucked with the wrong piranha," Steele said to the Boston Herald.
Samuel Steele, 37, lives in the Chelsea area of Boston. He is also the frontman for the Chelsea City Council, which is a band and not an actual city council. According to his thinking, Jon Bon Jovi either received a copy of (Man I Really) Love This Team, or else heard Steele busking outside Fenway Park while the star was campaigning for John Kerry in 2004.
When questioned, Jon Bon Jovi's management told journalists that they had not yet seen the lawsuit.
"I know that I'm right," Steele insisted. "I want credit, acknowledgment and an apology." Either that or ... 400 billion dollars.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/oct/14/job-bon-jovi-sued
CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS???
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Meat Loaf
By Saby Reyes-Kulkarni
Bat out of Hell 3, Meat Loaf's latest album, is already old news, insists the legendary rocker, AKA Michael Lee Aday. Though he recently toured to promote it, his current show doesn't focus on that material any longer. He's already working on a new album with producer Rob Cavallo (My Chemical Romance, Green Day, etc.) due out in 2010, and he says it will be his first album in which he likes 100% of the songs. New Times recently caught up with the Meat for a friendly chat.
After having made other records that stand alone and are not part of the Bat out of Hell series, did you have reservations about revisiting that concept?
We started talking about doing Bat 2 and Bat 3 in 1984. I didn't mind going back to it. The record company I was with at the time didn't want a sequel, so I went 'That's fine, I don't like you anyway.' For Bat 2, 18 million sales later, there you go.
Do you wish your other material got as much attention?
The record that followed Bat, Dead Ringer, came out on Black Friday, 1981. They used to release albums on Fridays, so they'd have the weekends. Now they release on Tuesdays. But it came out the day CBS fired 500 employees, so it got lost, although it did very well outside the U.S. The only album that's ever been bad was Midnight at the Lost and Found, but that was just a bunch of demos. I don't consider that an album.
In an interview from last year, you compared what you do to the job of a plumber.
If you hire a plumber and he comes and fixes your pipe, you're going to write his number down in your book, and you're going to keep hiring him. That's how it is with a live show.
After so many ups and downs, do you worry that it might all come crashing down again?
I've been doing it for 42 years. [Plus] I get offers constantly for acting jobs.
And you have to turn them down a lot because of your touring schedule?
Well, mostly I turn them down because the scripts aren't good. And the ones I generally do pick because the scripts are good [laughs] don't pay anything! I've got three films I'm doing between now [early October] and the end of February.
What would you have done with your life if it weren't for singing and acting?
A history teacher and a football coach.
How much of a plan did you have to do that?
I didn't have any plans. I was in show business before I even knew what happened. I don't even know how I got into it.
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/events/meat-loaf-626453/
Bat out of Hell 3, Meat Loaf's latest album, is already old news, insists the legendary rocker, AKA Michael Lee Aday. Though he recently toured to promote it, his current show doesn't focus on that material any longer. He's already working on a new album with producer Rob Cavallo (My Chemical Romance, Green Day, etc.) due out in 2010, and he says it will be his first album in which he likes 100% of the songs. New Times recently caught up with the Meat for a friendly chat.
After having made other records that stand alone and are not part of the Bat out of Hell series, did you have reservations about revisiting that concept?
We started talking about doing Bat 2 and Bat 3 in 1984. I didn't mind going back to it. The record company I was with at the time didn't want a sequel, so I went 'That's fine, I don't like you anyway.' For Bat 2, 18 million sales later, there you go.
Do you wish your other material got as much attention?
The record that followed Bat, Dead Ringer, came out on Black Friday, 1981. They used to release albums on Fridays, so they'd have the weekends. Now they release on Tuesdays. But it came out the day CBS fired 500 employees, so it got lost, although it did very well outside the U.S. The only album that's ever been bad was Midnight at the Lost and Found, but that was just a bunch of demos. I don't consider that an album.
In an interview from last year, you compared what you do to the job of a plumber.
If you hire a plumber and he comes and fixes your pipe, you're going to write his number down in your book, and you're going to keep hiring him. That's how it is with a live show.
After so many ups and downs, do you worry that it might all come crashing down again?
I've been doing it for 42 years. [Plus] I get offers constantly for acting jobs.
And you have to turn them down a lot because of your touring schedule?
Well, mostly I turn them down because the scripts aren't good. And the ones I generally do pick because the scripts are good [laughs] don't pay anything! I've got three films I'm doing between now [early October] and the end of February.
What would you have done with your life if it weren't for singing and acting?
A history teacher and a football coach.
How much of a plan did you have to do that?
I didn't have any plans. I was in show business before I even knew what happened. I don't even know how I got into it.
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/events/meat-loaf-626453/
Friday, October 10, 2008
World crisis may cause suicide rise: WHO
October 10, 2008, 8:00 am
The global economic crisis is likely to cause an upsurge in suicides and mental illness as people struggle to cope with losing their homes or livelihoods, the World Health Organisation has warned.
"We should not be surprised or underestimate the turbulence and the likely consequences of the financial crisis," WHO Director General Margaret Chan on Thursday told a meeting of mental health care professionals in Geneva.
"It should not come as a surprise if we continue to see more stresses, more suicides and more mental disorders," she said.
Just this week, a 45-year-old business school graduate in Los Angeles shot dead five members of his family before killing himself, telling police in a suicide letter that he had been driven to the deed because of his dire economic situation.
The Los Angeles case came less than a week after a 90-year-old woman in the US state of Ohio shot herself as she was about to be served an eviction notice on the home she has lived in for the past 38 years.
However, Chan stressed that the majority of people worldwide suffering from mental illness live in low- and middle-income countries, where there is an "abysmal lack of care," inadequate mental health care budgets and where victims suffer from social stigma and discrimination.
Chan was speaking at the launch of the WHO's Mental Health Gap Action Programme which aims to redress the balance.
The WHO estimates that three quarters of the global burden of neuropsychiatric disorders falls in low -and middle- income countries, and that in these countries, around three quarters of affected people cannot afford treatment.
"Care for these highly prevalent, persistent, and debilitating disorders is not a charity. It is a moral and ethical duty," Chan said.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5069936/world-crisis-cause-suicide-rise/
The global economic crisis is likely to cause an upsurge in suicides and mental illness as people struggle to cope with losing their homes or livelihoods, the World Health Organisation has warned.
"We should not be surprised or underestimate the turbulence and the likely consequences of the financial crisis," WHO Director General Margaret Chan on Thursday told a meeting of mental health care professionals in Geneva.
"It should not come as a surprise if we continue to see more stresses, more suicides and more mental disorders," she said.
Just this week, a 45-year-old business school graduate in Los Angeles shot dead five members of his family before killing himself, telling police in a suicide letter that he had been driven to the deed because of his dire economic situation.
The Los Angeles case came less than a week after a 90-year-old woman in the US state of Ohio shot herself as she was about to be served an eviction notice on the home she has lived in for the past 38 years.
However, Chan stressed that the majority of people worldwide suffering from mental illness live in low- and middle-income countries, where there is an "abysmal lack of care," inadequate mental health care budgets and where victims suffer from social stigma and discrimination.
Chan was speaking at the launch of the WHO's Mental Health Gap Action Programme which aims to redress the balance.
The WHO estimates that three quarters of the global burden of neuropsychiatric disorders falls in low -and middle- income countries, and that in these countries, around three quarters of affected people cannot afford treatment.
"Care for these highly prevalent, persistent, and debilitating disorders is not a charity. It is a moral and ethical duty," Chan said.
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/world/5069936/world-crisis-cause-suicide-rise/
Thursday, October 9, 2008
TAYMOR'S WEB OF RICHES
'SPIDER-MAN' BUDGET SWELLS TO $40 MILLION
Last updated: 11:30 am
October 8, 2008
Posted: 3:19 am
October 8, 2008
IN this economy, everybody's tightening their belts. Everybody, that is, but Julie Taymor.
The genius director of "The Lion King" has never met a budget she didn't blow right past.
Case in point: "Spider-Man," her new show - extravaganza, really - whose budget has ballooned to $40 million, making it the most expensive production in theater history.
Some of the people involved (there are dozens and dozens, with more being added daily) are starting to blanch at the price tag. With straight faces, a few are running around town saying things like: "Well, it's $40 million now, but we think we can get it down to $35 million."
Let's see.
If - and it's a big "if" where Julie The Lion Taymor is concerned - they do bring it in for $35 million, "Spider-Man," with a weekly running cost of $1 million, will have to run about 8,000 years in a Broadway theater just to break even.
"It's off the charts," one source says. "Off the charts."
The musical has a rock score by Bono (quite a good score, I'm told; the messy book is another matter) and is being produced by Sony, Marvel Comics and David Garfinkle, a lawyer who managed to get control of the musical after its original producer, the much-missed Tony Adams, died of a heart attack three years ago.
This crowd has very little theatrical experience, which is apparent since nobody seems to have the wherewithal to say: "$40 million, Julie? Are you out of your f - - - ing mind??"
Where's all that money going?
Well, a lot of it's earmarked for "designers."
There's a set designer and a costume designer and a projections designer and a fight designer and an aerial designer and a graphic designer and a film designer. In short, if you're a designer of any kind, you've got to get on this gravy train.
"Julie's called designers - I mean people who aren't just designers but who have their own companies - and offered them jobs," a source says.
"The Playbill is going to have 18 pages of designer bios."
"Spider-Man" has gotten so expensive, some people working on it think it should bypass Broadway and head straight to Las Vegas, where it might have a shot at making money. Maybe. One day. When pigs fly.
But a high-ranking production source insists the show will definitely open on Broadway next year.
The "Spider-Man" crew has been all over the Hilton Theatre.
That's the worst-kept secret in town, but nobody's saying anything official because poor, deluded Mel Brooks still thinks "Young Frankenstein" is going to run longer than "Cats." (It's not going to run longer than January.) But the Hilton, horrible barn that it is, is the only theater big enough to accommodate Taymor's massive web of a show.
Theater insiders blame Disney for her out-of-control spending habits.
"The reason she worked with puppets most of her life is because she never had much of a budget," a source says. "But then Disney came along and gave her $25 million to do 'The Lion King.' "
Her shoestring days are over, and now, the source adds: "She doesn't care what it costs. Does not care at all. Her attitude is: It's for the art, and you don't question artists."
Even when the show they're working on is "Spider-Man"?
NICE to see that Matthew Broderick is returning to Broadway. He hasn't been around since that tepid revival of "The Odd Couple" two years ago, when he wasn't off book until the final week of the run. Matthew will star in Christopher Hampton's "The Philanthropist" at the Roundabout.
Says a wag: "I hope there aren't too many lines in it."
michael.riedel@nypost.com
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10082008/entertainment/theater/taymors_web_of_riches_132605.htm
Last updated: 11:30 am
October 8, 2008
Posted: 3:19 am
October 8, 2008
IN this economy, everybody's tightening their belts. Everybody, that is, but Julie Taymor.
The genius director of "The Lion King" has never met a budget she didn't blow right past.
Case in point: "Spider-Man," her new show - extravaganza, really - whose budget has ballooned to $40 million, making it the most expensive production in theater history.
Some of the people involved (there are dozens and dozens, with more being added daily) are starting to blanch at the price tag. With straight faces, a few are running around town saying things like: "Well, it's $40 million now, but we think we can get it down to $35 million."
Let's see.
If - and it's a big "if" where Julie The Lion Taymor is concerned - they do bring it in for $35 million, "Spider-Man," with a weekly running cost of $1 million, will have to run about 8,000 years in a Broadway theater just to break even.
"It's off the charts," one source says. "Off the charts."
The musical has a rock score by Bono (quite a good score, I'm told; the messy book is another matter) and is being produced by Sony, Marvel Comics and David Garfinkle, a lawyer who managed to get control of the musical after its original producer, the much-missed Tony Adams, died of a heart attack three years ago.
This crowd has very little theatrical experience, which is apparent since nobody seems to have the wherewithal to say: "$40 million, Julie? Are you out of your f - - - ing mind??"
Where's all that money going?
Well, a lot of it's earmarked for "designers."
There's a set designer and a costume designer and a projections designer and a fight designer and an aerial designer and a graphic designer and a film designer. In short, if you're a designer of any kind, you've got to get on this gravy train.
"Julie's called designers - I mean people who aren't just designers but who have their own companies - and offered them jobs," a source says.
"The Playbill is going to have 18 pages of designer bios."
"Spider-Man" has gotten so expensive, some people working on it think it should bypass Broadway and head straight to Las Vegas, where it might have a shot at making money. Maybe. One day. When pigs fly.
But a high-ranking production source insists the show will definitely open on Broadway next year.
The "Spider-Man" crew has been all over the Hilton Theatre.
That's the worst-kept secret in town, but nobody's saying anything official because poor, deluded Mel Brooks still thinks "Young Frankenstein" is going to run longer than "Cats." (It's not going to run longer than January.) But the Hilton, horrible barn that it is, is the only theater big enough to accommodate Taymor's massive web of a show.
Theater insiders blame Disney for her out-of-control spending habits.
"The reason she worked with puppets most of her life is because she never had much of a budget," a source says. "But then Disney came along and gave her $25 million to do 'The Lion King.' "
Her shoestring days are over, and now, the source adds: "She doesn't care what it costs. Does not care at all. Her attitude is: It's for the art, and you don't question artists."
Even when the show they're working on is "Spider-Man"?
NICE to see that Matthew Broderick is returning to Broadway. He hasn't been around since that tepid revival of "The Odd Couple" two years ago, when he wasn't off book until the final week of the run. Matthew will star in Christopher Hampton's "The Philanthropist" at the Roundabout.
Says a wag: "I hope there aren't too many lines in it."
michael.riedel@nypost.com
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10082008/entertainment/theater/taymors_web_of_riches_132605.htm
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Andrew Lloyd Webber Aiming for October 2009 Premiere for Phantom Sequel
Monday, October 6, 2008; Posted: 4:10 PM - by BWW News Desk
The UK Daily Mirror is reporting, in an exclusive interview with Andrew Lloyd Webber, that the sequel to Phantom of the Opera, Phantom- Once Upon Another Time, is aiming for a premiere in October 2009.
Webber states, “The Phantom was somehow spirited away to Coney Island. And amongst the freaks he starts the greatest amusement park the world has ever seen. I’d like the show to be ready for next October.”
Despite recent reports that Webber revealed the new title would now be "Love Never Dies", the Mirror reports that it is still being workshopped under the title "Once Upon Another Time".
Webber has been working on the sequel to the hit Broadway musical for over a year now. Back in May, the title of the sequel was being workshopped as Phantom of the Opera: Once Upon Another Time. After several readings including a private workshop at Weber's estate, the musical is currently being developed in the UK.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Birthday In The Park saw stars from the world of pop, musical theatre and television, take to the stage in London's Hyde Park to celebrate the 60th birthday of one of the leading lights of British musical theatre. Host John Barrowman introduced music from Andrew Lloyd Webber's best-loved shows including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, Starlight Express, The Phantom Of The Opera, Aspects Of Love and Sunset Boulevard.
The 70-piece BBC Concert Orchestra led the festivities with performances from Steve Balsamo, Duncan James, Lee Mead, Idina Menzel (Wicked), Elaine Paige, Rhydian (X-Factor), Joss Stone, Julian Lloyd Webber, Hayley Westenra, stars of BBC One's I'd Do Anything, and the 100-voice Crouch End Festival Chorus.
The evening's repertoire included Jesus Christ Superstar, I Don't Know How To Love Him, Another Suitcase, Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Memory, Pie Jesu, Music of the Night, All I Ask Of You, Love Changes Everything, No Matter What, As If We Never Said Goodbye and Any Dream Will Do.
Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd
http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=33754
The UK Daily Mirror is reporting, in an exclusive interview with Andrew Lloyd Webber, that the sequel to Phantom of the Opera, Phantom- Once Upon Another Time, is aiming for a premiere in October 2009.
Webber states, “The Phantom was somehow spirited away to Coney Island. And amongst the freaks he starts the greatest amusement park the world has ever seen. I’d like the show to be ready for next October.”
Despite recent reports that Webber revealed the new title would now be "Love Never Dies", the Mirror reports that it is still being workshopped under the title "Once Upon Another Time".
Webber has been working on the sequel to the hit Broadway musical for over a year now. Back in May, the title of the sequel was being workshopped as Phantom of the Opera: Once Upon Another Time. After several readings including a private workshop at Weber's estate, the musical is currently being developed in the UK.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's Birthday In The Park saw stars from the world of pop, musical theatre and television, take to the stage in London's Hyde Park to celebrate the 60th birthday of one of the leading lights of British musical theatre. Host John Barrowman introduced music from Andrew Lloyd Webber's best-loved shows including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, Starlight Express, The Phantom Of The Opera, Aspects Of Love and Sunset Boulevard.
The 70-piece BBC Concert Orchestra led the festivities with performances from Steve Balsamo, Duncan James, Lee Mead, Idina Menzel (Wicked), Elaine Paige, Rhydian (X-Factor), Joss Stone, Julian Lloyd Webber, Hayley Westenra, stars of BBC One's I'd Do Anything, and the 100-voice Crouch End Festival Chorus.
The evening's repertoire included Jesus Christ Superstar, I Don't Know How To Love Him, Another Suitcase, Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Memory, Pie Jesu, Music of the Night, All I Ask Of You, Love Changes Everything, No Matter What, As If We Never Said Goodbye and Any Dream Will Do.
Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd
http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=33754
THIS WEEK MARKS 2 YEARS
OF "DARK KNIGHT OF THE SOUL, THE UNOFFICIAL MEMORIAL TO BATMAN: THE MUSICAL" www.freewebs.com/batman_themusical NEARING 25,000 HITS. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR INTEREST, SUPPORT & DEVOTION.
Ryan.
Ryan.
Bat Out Of Hell a 'classic' (Q)
Bat Out Of Hell, Meat Loaf’s enduring rock epic, is to be rewarded with the title of ‘classic song’ at next week’s Q Awards. The track was written by the legendary songwriter Jim Steinman with whom Loaf has collaborated on a number of occasions, although the pair have not always seen eye to eye.Here are ten things you should know about the architect of Bat Out Of Hell, Jim Steinman:
1) Steinman and Meat Loaf’s paths first crossed after the songwriter created a musical called More Than You Deserve in 1974, in which the singer and actor had been cast. The title track was later included on the Dead Ringer album (follow-up to Bat Out Of Hell).
2) His first commercial release was in 1973 when Yvonne Elliman recorded Steinman's song Happy Ending which appeared on the album Food of Love.
3) Bat Out Of Hell has its roots in a production based on JM Barrie’s Peter Pan. While Steinman and Meat Loaf were working on a touring National Lampoon production, they started to develop further three of the tracks which the composer had prepared for the musical, Neverland, for what they hoped would become a seven-song album. These became Bat out of Hell, Heaven Can Wait and All Revved Up With No Place to Go.
4) Steinman’s magic touch transformed Bonnie Tyler from a singer of syrupy – if a little croaky – ballads, to rock chick after producing her album Faster Than The Speed Of Night. He also wrote the title track and number one single Total Eclipse Of The Heart.
5) Steinman is canny recycler. The theme he wrote for a 1979 TV show Delta House was later tweaked and included in the hit single Dead Ringer For Love.
6) Steinman claims he was originally approached to pen the lyrics for the Lord Lloyd-Webber musical The Phantom Of The Opera but had to turn it down because of his commitments with Tyler. However, the pair later collaborated on the West End show (later transferring briefly to Broadway) Whistle Down The Wind.
7) As well as Bat Out Of Hell (a phrase for which Steinman holds the trademark) and Dead Ringer, Steinman went on to work together on Bat Out Of Hell II in 1993, despite years of bad blood. A third Bat album in 2006 saw little collaboration, although it featured seven of the composer’s songs – five of them were covers of previously recorded material, the remaining two adapted from demos of tracks written for musicals.
8) Steinman, 61 in November, reinvented the goth pioneers Sisters Of Mercy with his epic productions on This Corrosion and Dominion/Mother Russia from the band’s second album Floodland. He worked with the Sisters’ Andrew Eldritch again when he co-wrote More for the Vision Thing album.
9) Further collaborators for New York-born Steinman have included wrestler Hulk Hogan, the Everly Brothers, Celine Dion and The Opera Babes.
10) On the Bat Out of Hell album track Paradise By The Dashboard Light, alongside the rather more sober credits for drums, bass and keyboards for the rest of the personnel, Steinman is listed for “lascivious effects”.
Posted by Anthony Barnes at 10:04 AM 02/10/2008
http://www2.qawards.co.uk/2008/2008/10/bat_out_of_hell_a_classic.html
1) Steinman and Meat Loaf’s paths first crossed after the songwriter created a musical called More Than You Deserve in 1974, in which the singer and actor had been cast. The title track was later included on the Dead Ringer album (follow-up to Bat Out Of Hell).
2) His first commercial release was in 1973 when Yvonne Elliman recorded Steinman's song Happy Ending which appeared on the album Food of Love.
3) Bat Out Of Hell has its roots in a production based on JM Barrie’s Peter Pan. While Steinman and Meat Loaf were working on a touring National Lampoon production, they started to develop further three of the tracks which the composer had prepared for the musical, Neverland, for what they hoped would become a seven-song album. These became Bat out of Hell, Heaven Can Wait and All Revved Up With No Place to Go.
4) Steinman’s magic touch transformed Bonnie Tyler from a singer of syrupy – if a little croaky – ballads, to rock chick after producing her album Faster Than The Speed Of Night. He also wrote the title track and number one single Total Eclipse Of The Heart.
5) Steinman is canny recycler. The theme he wrote for a 1979 TV show Delta House was later tweaked and included in the hit single Dead Ringer For Love.
6) Steinman claims he was originally approached to pen the lyrics for the Lord Lloyd-Webber musical The Phantom Of The Opera but had to turn it down because of his commitments with Tyler. However, the pair later collaborated on the West End show (later transferring briefly to Broadway) Whistle Down The Wind.
7) As well as Bat Out Of Hell (a phrase for which Steinman holds the trademark) and Dead Ringer, Steinman went on to work together on Bat Out Of Hell II in 1993, despite years of bad blood. A third Bat album in 2006 saw little collaboration, although it featured seven of the composer’s songs – five of them were covers of previously recorded material, the remaining two adapted from demos of tracks written for musicals.
8) Steinman, 61 in November, reinvented the goth pioneers Sisters Of Mercy with his epic productions on This Corrosion and Dominion/Mother Russia from the band’s second album Floodland. He worked with the Sisters’ Andrew Eldritch again when he co-wrote More for the Vision Thing album.
9) Further collaborators for New York-born Steinman have included wrestler Hulk Hogan, the Everly Brothers, Celine Dion and The Opera Babes.
10) On the Bat Out of Hell album track Paradise By The Dashboard Light, alongside the rather more sober credits for drums, bass and keyboards for the rest of the personnel, Steinman is listed for “lascivious effects”.
Posted by Anthony Barnes at 10:04 AM 02/10/2008
http://www2.qawards.co.uk/2008/2008/10/bat_out_of_hell_a_classic.html
Staggering and inaudible Meat Loaf handed award (Q)
Patrick Foster, Media Correspondent
He has sold more than 70 million records across the globe and is known as much for his anthemic “Bat Out Of Hell” as he is for his seemingly indestructible constitution. But the music industry was left wondering what was ailing Meat Loaf today, after the artist made a bizarre, rambling appearance at an awards ceremony, which he capped by nearly falling off the stage.
Almost a year has passed since the star, after staggering around the boards of the Metro Arena, in Newcastle upon Tyne, for an hour, announced to a packed crowd that he could no longer continue and had just performed "probably the last show I'll ever do".
At the time rumours persisted, although angrily denied, that the singer had been drunk on stage. Today, appearing at the Q Awards, at the Grosvenor House hotel in West London, to pick up an award for “Classic Song”, for his biggest hit single, he again appeared to be in distress.
No cameras are allowed inside the ceremony, to preserve the dignity of the artists within, who tonight included Coldplay, the Kaiser Chiefs, Keane, and Massive Attack. Meat Loaf made an inauspicious entry to the event. With his knees buckling on the red carpet, he sported a reddened eye, which his spokespeople said was a “scratched retina”, of provenance unknown, which was affecting his vision and mobility.
His award was to be presented by Al Murray, a comedian who hosts a late night ITV programme in his persona “the pub landlord”, a garrulous and nationalistic licensee. In a ceremony that was packed with technical errors, Murray, trademark pint of lager in hand, joked to the audience that he hoped Queen had won the award, as Meat Loaf’s name flickered behind him on the giant television screens.
Meat Loaf then attempted to make his way to the stage, before seemingly becoming foxed by the half a dozen steps up to the podium. His representative later said that he suffered from “vertigo”.
The stairs having finally been negotiated, the singer stumbled towards the microphone to give his acceptance speech, clipping it with his face before teetering to the edge of the platform, saved only by a last minute shifting of his giant frame back onto the boards.
Facing away from the majority of the crowd and into bright lights that angled into one side of the stage, he mouthed some inaudible words before eventually elucidating a quote from his friend and long-time collaborator Jim Steinman. “If you don’t go over the top, you have no idea what’s on the other side,” he told the 400 attendants, all of whom had been stunned out of their normal cat-calling and into silence. He then pronounced himself “jubrant” at the honour.
As Murray interceded, the singer, somewhat threateningly, challenged him to repeat his introductory words about Queen. “Most of it was extemporized,” the comedian responded. “Extemporize something new,” came the reply. “Do you know any Queen songs?” Murray asked, wincing. Meat Loaf did, breaking into a line of Fat Bottomed Girls, before following it up with a short rendition of My Generation, by the Who, whose lead singer, Roger Daltry, presented an earlier award.
In a bid to end the impromptu performance, Murray then suggested that they carried on the singing at the pub. This prospect seemed to find favour with the singer, who was then helped off the stage and into a waiting car. He could be heard telling organisers that he had not been drinking and that he would submit to a blood test if it would satisfy them.
A spokesman for the star said that he had suffered from a bout of vertigo, affecting his balance and speech, but had insisted on appearing at the event. “He had not been drinking,” the spokesman said.
Other winners at the awards included Coldplay, who won Best Album and Best Act in the World Today. The Last Shadow Puppets, a side project of Arctic Monkey Alex Turner, was named Best New Act. Duffy beat Adele to the Breakthrough Artist gong and Keane won Best Track for their single Spiralling.
The Kaiser Chiefs took the title for Best Live Act, Adam Ant won the Q Icon award and David Gilmour, of Pink Floyd, took the Outstanding Contribution to Music title.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article4893893.ece
He has sold more than 70 million records across the globe and is known as much for his anthemic “Bat Out Of Hell” as he is for his seemingly indestructible constitution. But the music industry was left wondering what was ailing Meat Loaf today, after the artist made a bizarre, rambling appearance at an awards ceremony, which he capped by nearly falling off the stage.
Almost a year has passed since the star, after staggering around the boards of the Metro Arena, in Newcastle upon Tyne, for an hour, announced to a packed crowd that he could no longer continue and had just performed "probably the last show I'll ever do".
At the time rumours persisted, although angrily denied, that the singer had been drunk on stage. Today, appearing at the Q Awards, at the Grosvenor House hotel in West London, to pick up an award for “Classic Song”, for his biggest hit single, he again appeared to be in distress.
No cameras are allowed inside the ceremony, to preserve the dignity of the artists within, who tonight included Coldplay, the Kaiser Chiefs, Keane, and Massive Attack. Meat Loaf made an inauspicious entry to the event. With his knees buckling on the red carpet, he sported a reddened eye, which his spokespeople said was a “scratched retina”, of provenance unknown, which was affecting his vision and mobility.
His award was to be presented by Al Murray, a comedian who hosts a late night ITV programme in his persona “the pub landlord”, a garrulous and nationalistic licensee. In a ceremony that was packed with technical errors, Murray, trademark pint of lager in hand, joked to the audience that he hoped Queen had won the award, as Meat Loaf’s name flickered behind him on the giant television screens.
Meat Loaf then attempted to make his way to the stage, before seemingly becoming foxed by the half a dozen steps up to the podium. His representative later said that he suffered from “vertigo”.
The stairs having finally been negotiated, the singer stumbled towards the microphone to give his acceptance speech, clipping it with his face before teetering to the edge of the platform, saved only by a last minute shifting of his giant frame back onto the boards.
Facing away from the majority of the crowd and into bright lights that angled into one side of the stage, he mouthed some inaudible words before eventually elucidating a quote from his friend and long-time collaborator Jim Steinman. “If you don’t go over the top, you have no idea what’s on the other side,” he told the 400 attendants, all of whom had been stunned out of their normal cat-calling and into silence. He then pronounced himself “jubrant” at the honour.
As Murray interceded, the singer, somewhat threateningly, challenged him to repeat his introductory words about Queen. “Most of it was extemporized,” the comedian responded. “Extemporize something new,” came the reply. “Do you know any Queen songs?” Murray asked, wincing. Meat Loaf did, breaking into a line of Fat Bottomed Girls, before following it up with a short rendition of My Generation, by the Who, whose lead singer, Roger Daltry, presented an earlier award.
In a bid to end the impromptu performance, Murray then suggested that they carried on the singing at the pub. This prospect seemed to find favour with the singer, who was then helped off the stage and into a waiting car. He could be heard telling organisers that he had not been drinking and that he would submit to a blood test if it would satisfy them.
A spokesman for the star said that he had suffered from a bout of vertigo, affecting his balance and speech, but had insisted on appearing at the event. “He had not been drinking,” the spokesman said.
Other winners at the awards included Coldplay, who won Best Album and Best Act in the World Today. The Last Shadow Puppets, a side project of Arctic Monkey Alex Turner, was named Best New Act. Duffy beat Adele to the Breakthrough Artist gong and Keane won Best Track for their single Spiralling.
The Kaiser Chiefs took the title for Best Live Act, Adam Ant won the Q Icon award and David Gilmour, of Pink Floyd, took the Outstanding Contribution to Music title.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article4893893.ece
Q kings Coldplay (Q)
Source: bang showbiz
Date: 6 October 2008
Coldplay were the big winners at this year's Q Awards taking home two prizes from Monday afternoon's ceremony (06.10.08).
Coldplay were the big winners at this year's Q Awards.
The 'Yellow' hitmakers picked up two accolades at this afternoon's (06.10.08) ceremony, taking home the Best Album prize for 'Viva La Vida, Or Death And All His Friends'.
They also beat off stiff competition from Oasis, Muse, veteran heavy metal band Metallica and US stars Kings of Leon to be named the Best Act in the World Today.
Upon collecting their statuette, an apologetic Chris Martin said: "I don't think we're the best act in the room, let alone the world."
However, they missed out in the Best Track and Best Video categories, seeing 'Violet Hill' lose out to Keane's 'Spiralling' and Vampire Weekend's 'A-Punk' respectively.
Arctic Monkeys star Alex Turner saw his side project The Last Shadow Puppets beat The Ting Tings, Vampire Weekend, Glasvegas and Fleet Foxes in the Best New Act category, while 'Mercy' singer Duffy saw off competition from Adele, Gabriella Cilmi, Santogold and Bon Iver to take Best Breakthrough.
The prestigious Q Icon award went to 'Prince Charming' singer Adam Ant and Grace Jones - who was wearing a black eye mask complete with two lights - was named Q Idol at the ceremony, which was held by the British music magazine at London's Grosvenor House hotel.
Other winners included John Mellencamp, who was named Q Classic Songwriter, Kaiser Chiefs, who left with Best Live Act, and Massive Attack, who were recognised for Innovation In Sound.
Meatloaf - who arrived on the red carpet looking dishevelled, was unsteady on his feet and spoke incoherently, later blaming medication for a torn retina for his strange behaviour - was presented with the Q Classic Song gong for his 1979 hit 'Bat Out Of Hell'.
Presenter Alan Carr joked: "Meatloaf was a bit worse for wear when he came on. He was on medication, so I'm told - but that's what they all say!
"He tipped forward and almost fell off the stage and I actually saved him! I saved his life!"
Travis frontman Fran Healy added: "It was a shame when Meatloaf came up to get his award from Al Murray, because Meatloaf's not been well. It was like two worlds colliding, it was kind of like, 'What the f**k?' "
Pink Floyd's David Gilmour was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to British Music award, and in an emotional acceptance speech, the guitarist paid tribute to his late bandmate Rick Wright - who died last month after losing his battle with cancer.
Gilmour said: "I'd like to dedicate this award to Rick Wright, my colleague and old friend, who died a couple of weeks ago and with whom I had worked for 40-odd years.
"That's now come to an end and there's all sorts of music that I will not be able to play again without him. That's a source of sadness for me.
"He deserves this as much as I do. His work was mighty important."
Q Awards 2008 full winners list:
Best New Act
The Last Shadow Puppets
Breakthrough Artist
Duffy
Best Track
Keane - 'Spiralling'
Best Video
Vampire Weekend - 'A-Punk'
Q Classic Songwriter
John Mellencamp
Q Classic Song
Meat Loaf - 'Bat Out Of Hell'
Q Inspiration
Cocteau Twins
Q Legend
Glen Campbell
Best Live Act
Kaiser Chiefs
Best Album
Coldplay - 'Viva La Vida, Or Death And All His Friends'
Q Innovation In Sound
Massive Attack
Q Icon
Adam Ant
Q Idol
Grace Jones
Q Outstanding Contribution To Music
David Gilmour
Best Act In The World Today
Coldplay
© BANG Media International
http://www.list.co.uk/article/13472-q-kings-coldplay/
Date: 6 October 2008
Coldplay were the big winners at this year's Q Awards taking home two prizes from Monday afternoon's ceremony (06.10.08).
Coldplay were the big winners at this year's Q Awards.
The 'Yellow' hitmakers picked up two accolades at this afternoon's (06.10.08) ceremony, taking home the Best Album prize for 'Viva La Vida, Or Death And All His Friends'.
They also beat off stiff competition from Oasis, Muse, veteran heavy metal band Metallica and US stars Kings of Leon to be named the Best Act in the World Today.
Upon collecting their statuette, an apologetic Chris Martin said: "I don't think we're the best act in the room, let alone the world."
However, they missed out in the Best Track and Best Video categories, seeing 'Violet Hill' lose out to Keane's 'Spiralling' and Vampire Weekend's 'A-Punk' respectively.
Arctic Monkeys star Alex Turner saw his side project The Last Shadow Puppets beat The Ting Tings, Vampire Weekend, Glasvegas and Fleet Foxes in the Best New Act category, while 'Mercy' singer Duffy saw off competition from Adele, Gabriella Cilmi, Santogold and Bon Iver to take Best Breakthrough.
The prestigious Q Icon award went to 'Prince Charming' singer Adam Ant and Grace Jones - who was wearing a black eye mask complete with two lights - was named Q Idol at the ceremony, which was held by the British music magazine at London's Grosvenor House hotel.
Other winners included John Mellencamp, who was named Q Classic Songwriter, Kaiser Chiefs, who left with Best Live Act, and Massive Attack, who were recognised for Innovation In Sound.
Meatloaf - who arrived on the red carpet looking dishevelled, was unsteady on his feet and spoke incoherently, later blaming medication for a torn retina for his strange behaviour - was presented with the Q Classic Song gong for his 1979 hit 'Bat Out Of Hell'.
Presenter Alan Carr joked: "Meatloaf was a bit worse for wear when he came on. He was on medication, so I'm told - but that's what they all say!
"He tipped forward and almost fell off the stage and I actually saved him! I saved his life!"
Travis frontman Fran Healy added: "It was a shame when Meatloaf came up to get his award from Al Murray, because Meatloaf's not been well. It was like two worlds colliding, it was kind of like, 'What the f**k?' "
Pink Floyd's David Gilmour was honoured with the Outstanding Contribution to British Music award, and in an emotional acceptance speech, the guitarist paid tribute to his late bandmate Rick Wright - who died last month after losing his battle with cancer.
Gilmour said: "I'd like to dedicate this award to Rick Wright, my colleague and old friend, who died a couple of weeks ago and with whom I had worked for 40-odd years.
"That's now come to an end and there's all sorts of music that I will not be able to play again without him. That's a source of sadness for me.
"He deserves this as much as I do. His work was mighty important."
Q Awards 2008 full winners list:
Best New Act
The Last Shadow Puppets
Breakthrough Artist
Duffy
Best Track
Keane - 'Spiralling'
Best Video
Vampire Weekend - 'A-Punk'
Q Classic Songwriter
John Mellencamp
Q Classic Song
Meat Loaf - 'Bat Out Of Hell'
Q Inspiration
Cocteau Twins
Q Legend
Glen Campbell
Best Live Act
Kaiser Chiefs
Best Album
Coldplay - 'Viva La Vida, Or Death And All His Friends'
Q Innovation In Sound
Massive Attack
Q Icon
Adam Ant
Q Idol
Grace Jones
Q Outstanding Contribution To Music
David Gilmour
Best Act In The World Today
Coldplay
© BANG Media International
http://www.list.co.uk/article/13472-q-kings-coldplay/
Steinman says Bat reflects his philosophy (Q)
Bat Out Of Hell‘s writer Jim Steinman said today that the song was “a perfect reflection of my creed”.
The legendary composer – who wrote the song for the album of the same name – said he created the track to be “the ultimate crash song”, “operatic annihilation” and a little piece of "Wagner".
After hearing the track was named Classic Song at today’s Q Awards, he said: “In the interest of being pompous, profound, and pretentious all at the same time, as well as being self-deprecating, even self-lacerating, and brilliant simultaneously, I can truly say that BAT OUT OF HELL is a perfect reflection of my creed: ‘If you don’t go over the top, you’ll never see what’s on the other side”.
“’Bat’ was a complete song after two choruses, at six-plus minutes long. But I thought it was too short - no, incomplete. It needed more! So I toiled away and came up with the final third of the song, starting at: “I can see myself, tearing up the road, FASTER, than any other boy has ever gone……” - and this evolved into the whole CRASH sequence, ending with “the last thing I see is my heart/still beating/still beating/breaking out of my body and flying away ……. Like a BAT OUT OF HELL!”
“Then it was complete. It had been a great driving-racing-speed anthem, plus a suitably obsessive love story, but now it was what I wanted all along: THE ULTIMATE CRASH SONG!! SELF-DESTRUCTION! OPERATIC ANNIHILATION!!!!!!A LOVE DEATH!!!!! LITTLE RICHARD WAGNER!!!!
“Thus, if I hadn't gone OVER THE TOP, I NEVER WOULD HAVE SEEN WHAT’S ON THE OTHER SIDE. Which I really loved. And which, to this f***ing day, I still love. END OF STORY; AND THANK YOU, Q & MEAT. (That sounds like a distant relative of Spotted Dick: Q & MEAT!)”
Posted by Anthony Barnes at 1:53 PM 06/10/2008
http://www2.qawards.co.uk/2008/2008/10/steinman_says_bat_reflects_his.html
The legendary composer – who wrote the song for the album of the same name – said he created the track to be “the ultimate crash song”, “operatic annihilation” and a little piece of "Wagner".
After hearing the track was named Classic Song at today’s Q Awards, he said: “In the interest of being pompous, profound, and pretentious all at the same time, as well as being self-deprecating, even self-lacerating, and brilliant simultaneously, I can truly say that BAT OUT OF HELL is a perfect reflection of my creed: ‘If you don’t go over the top, you’ll never see what’s on the other side”.
“’Bat’ was a complete song after two choruses, at six-plus minutes long. But I thought it was too short - no, incomplete. It needed more! So I toiled away and came up with the final third of the song, starting at: “I can see myself, tearing up the road, FASTER, than any other boy has ever gone……” - and this evolved into the whole CRASH sequence, ending with “the last thing I see is my heart/still beating/still beating/breaking out of my body and flying away ……. Like a BAT OUT OF HELL!”
“Then it was complete. It had been a great driving-racing-speed anthem, plus a suitably obsessive love story, but now it was what I wanted all along: THE ULTIMATE CRASH SONG!! SELF-DESTRUCTION! OPERATIC ANNIHILATION!!!!!!A LOVE DEATH!!!!! LITTLE RICHARD WAGNER!!!!
“Thus, if I hadn't gone OVER THE TOP, I NEVER WOULD HAVE SEEN WHAT’S ON THE OTHER SIDE. Which I really loved. And which, to this f***ing day, I still love. END OF STORY; AND THANK YOU, Q & MEAT. (That sounds like a distant relative of Spotted Dick: Q & MEAT!)”
Posted by Anthony Barnes at 1:53 PM 06/10/2008
http://www2.qawards.co.uk/2008/2008/10/steinman_says_bat_reflects_his.html
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Meat Loaf to be honoured at Q awards
Meat Loaf is to receive a Classic Song award for his epic Bat Out Of Hell.
Music magazine Q will present the accolade to the rock musician for the ten minute epic as one of the winners of the Q Awards 2008.
Multi-platinum and Grammy-award winning artist Meat Loaf is known for some of the biggest-selling albums of all time as well as the long chart duration of his records.
He has sold more than 70 million albums worldwide.
Meat Loaf said he was 'honoured' to receive the award.
Paul Rees, editor in chief of the magazine, said: 'There are some songs that transcend such things as time and genre, and Bat Out Of Hell is assuredly one of them.'
© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
