It's official - America goes to war on Iraq

 

It's been on the cards for 12 years now and it all came to a head this past Wednesday (Mar 19th). America went to war on Iraq after it's country's leader Saddam Hussein told United Nation Inspectors that he does not have any armed nuclear missiles and would not allow them to inspect the sites where the missiles were held.

I personally have mixed reviews about this so called 'war' as it seems that it's 1991 all over again. Then it seemed necessary to drive Hussein out of Iraq and it never really succeeded. Now it's the 2nd coming as President Bush deemed it necessary to go to war at a time where America and Americans are vulnerable (considering what happened Sept 11th 2001). America is in a state of turmoil with the economy dwelling, petrol prices at an all time high (over $2.00 per gallon), unemployment constantly rising and let's not forget about social security. Is this war really necessary some or most might agree and say yes but it makes me wonder how much will this cost Americans and their families (both life and money). You can say 'do what you have to do' but there is always a price to say at the end of the day.

I sincerely hope this war doesn't last long and that not a lot of lives that are lost in the process. We need to help rather than fight but this is only my opinion. Good luck to the soldiers fighting on all fronts here's hoping all have a safe return home from duty.

 

 

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The King of Pop ordered to pay over $5 million

The truth is out it seems as more troubling times are binding for the reigning 'King of Pop'. Michael Jackson has been ordered to pay over $5 million (£3.6 million) in compensation after it was founded by a Californian court judge that he was indeed responsible for the cancellation of two millennium eve concerts he was supposed to perform in.

The man in question German promoter Marcel Avram originally sought for 15.5 million dollars, claiming that the pop superstar had left him with huge debts for having pulled out of the planned events. Avram had claimed that Mr. Jackson had agreed to headline a number of concerts around the world, including the 2 in question - the New Year's Eve shows in both Australia and Hawaii.

Jackson in his defense denied the claim and told the jury that Avram had canceled the dates fearing lost profits. However, a Santa Monica court sided with the concert promoter, ordering Mr. Jackson to pay $5 million in damages.

"It's a big win," said Avram's representative, Shawn Sachs. Jackson's attorney, Zia Modabber, claimed the verdict was a part-victory for his client since Avram had sued him for more than five times the final pay-out. "He's fine with it," he said. "He stood up for himself and went to trial and Mr. Avram didn't get nearly what he wanted."

Source: dotmusic.com.

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'The Oscars - The winners are:

Amidst the troubled times we are currently in, the show must go on. The film industry's 75th Academy Awards ceremony was held last night at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA and although some stars decided to pass on the event (Will Smith being one of them), the show had some surprises in store for us.

 

Surprising was the winner in the Best Supporting Actor category. Competiting in stiff competition with former award winners Paul Newman and Christopher Walken, eventual winner Chris Cooper took home the statue for his work in 'Adaptation' most thought sentimental favourite Paul Newman would win. Another surprise was the winner for 'Best Song' - it was rapper Eminem who took home that honor.

In the 'Best Supporting Actress' category, as expected a rather pregnant Catherine Zeta Jones won for her role of Velma Kelly in the musical film version of the Broadway play 'Chicago'. The Best Actor and Best Actress categories saw 1st time nominee Adrian Brody won for his role as a holocaust survivor in 'The Pianist' and favourite Nicole Kidman for her role in 'The Hours'. And speaking of 'The Pianist', it won for Best Director in Roman Polanski as well as Best Adapted Screenplay and for Best Picture - Chicago took home the top honor of the evening.

Here is the list of the 75th Annual Academy Award winners.

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE Adrien Brody THE PIANIST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Chris Cooper ADAPTATION ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE Nicole Kidman THE HOURS ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE Catherine Zeta-Jones CHICAGO ANIMATED FEATURE FILM SPIRITED AWAY Hayao Miyazaki ART DIRECTION CHICAGO John Myhre (Art Direction); Gordon Sim (Set Decoration) CINEMATOGRAPHY ROAD TO PERDITION Conrad L. Hall COSTUME DESIGN CHICAGO Colleen Atwood DIRECTING THE PIANIST Roman Polanski DOCUMENTARY FEATURE BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE Michael Moore and Michael Donovan DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT TWIN TOWERS Bill Guttentag and Robert David Port FILM EDITING CHICAGO Martin Walsh

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM NOWHERE IN AFRICA Germany Directed by Caroline Link MAKE UP FRIDA John Jackson and Beatrice De Alba MUSIC (SCORE) FRIDA Elliot Goldenthal MUSIC (SONG) 8 MILE 'Lose Yourself' Music by Eminem, Jeff Bass and Luis Resto; Lyric by Eminem BEST PICTURE CHICAGO Martin Richards SHORT FILM (ANIMATED) THE CHUBBCHUBBS! Eric Armstrong SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION) THIS CHARMING MAN (DER ER EN YNDIG MAND) Martin Strange-Hansen and Mie Andreasen SOUND CHICAGO Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella and David Lee SOUND EDITING THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS Ethan Van der Ryn and Michael Hopkins VISUAL EFFECTS THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY) THE PIANIST Screenplay by Ronald Harwood WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) TALK TO HER Written by Pedro Almodóvar

 

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Be on the lookout for Venus Tribe

The UK mecca of urban soul acts strikes again with another fantastic group making a name for themselves in the form of Venus Tribe. Venus Tribe is fronted by the strong female lead vocalist in Diane Joseph (who was formally with the group Truce) as well as the up and coming DJ/producer extraordinaire DJ Dodge (who is a resident on MTV UK's Lick). The other members in the band are Bishop Brad (keyboards) who's worked with Mary J. Blige, Eternal and Shaun Escoffery, Jonathan Shorten (producer/writer - Gabriel) and Karl Vandenbosch (percussion - Sade)

Their track 'Slow Down' truly solidifies the term 'modern soul' for it's fresh and honest approach to the soul and R&B arena. Armed with a smoothed out and thoroughly thumping bass line, keys and hand claps throughout, it borrows the hook from Brand Nubian's track of the same name, but the production is crisp and most definitely on the money in my books. Diane's voice is potent, bright, sophisticated and dare I say addictive as she sings the song with extreme precision (the words on paper just doesn't stand a chance once she gets a hold of them).

This track is getting massive radio and internet play in Europe (especially in their native UK) and hopes to find the same degree of merit on these shores as well. There is no album in the works as of yet but there is a follow up single called 'Better Things' that's on it's way very soon. Prediction - they are going to be large.