#Gary J. Bass

[dinnickhowellslikes]

[migrationtothenorth]

Article on Kissinger's role in propping up Pakistani General Yahya Khan's military crackdown on East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1971, which led to the Bangladeshi Liberation War. The Pakistani crackdown resulted in a genocide of students, intellectuals and the Hindu minority population in the area, and it is estimated that 200000-400000 (or even more) Bengali women were raped by the invading forces by the end of the war.

[somerabbitholes]

Hey, Do you have any foreign policy reading recommendations?

Here are a few. Since I don't know what exactly you're looking for and foreign policy is huge, I've tried to go with a diverse bunch

The Revenge of Geography by Robert D. Kaplan: about what geography can tell us about conflicts and possible directions that international politics would take; really good analysis, really good starting point to learn how to think about geopolitics. You can check out his other books too, he's quite good

Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall: more on what the map and geography tells us about global diplomacy and international politics

Belt and Road by Bruno Macaes: about the Belt and Road project and the kind of international order it and China through the project envisions; the politics of the project

The Chip War by Chris Miller: it's a history of semiconductors and through them, about global supply chains and industrial manufacturing circuits and how geopolitics and foreign policy impacts industry/business

The Blood Telegram by Gary J Bass: about US involvement in South Asia during the Cold War and particularly how it shaped politics between India, Pakistan and China

War by Margaret MacMillan: not strictly foreign policy, but it is about the place of war in history and politics

I'd also just recommend reading magazines and news and reporting about international politics; it's always more timely and easier to get the hang of. You can check out Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Politico, Carnegie Endowment, Lowy Institute to start with; most of them also have podcasts

[insanityclause]

Deadline’s Contenders Television, the event where stars and showrunners talk up their shows ahead of Emmy voting, has unveiled its lineup.

The event kicks off on Saturday April 13 and runs through Sunday April 14 at the Directors Guild of America in LA. There will also be a virtual livestream of the event. Full details of the event and an RSVP link can be found here.

It will give you a sense of the hits of the last twelve months, as well as some shows that you’re about to be talking about, as the networks, studios and streamers vie for some awards love.

Stars attending include Tom Hiddleston, Nicole Kidman, Brie Larson, Kristen Wiig, Rebecca Ferguson, Lily Gladstone, David Oyelowo, Common, Jimmy Fallon, Giancarlo Esposito, Joey King, Andrea Riseborough, Sebastian Maniscalco, Bill Pullman, Kiefer Sutherland, Logan Lerman, Kelsey Grammer, Matt Bomer, Jonathan Bailey, Allison Williams, Maya Erskine, Nathan Fielder, Skeet Ulrich, Jeff Probst, Omar J. Dorsey, Harriet Dyer, Patrick Brammall, Sophia Di Martino, Sarayu Blue, Ji-young Yoo and Taylor Zakhar Perez.

Shows that will be featured across the two days include Parish, Masters of the Air, Lessons in Chemistry, The Morning Show, Silo, Palm Royale, The New Look, Survivor, Colin From Accounts, A Murder at the End of the World, True Detective: Night Country, We Were the Lucky Ones, Under the Bridge, Murdaugh Murders: The Movie, Loki, Alice & Jack, Genius: MLK/X, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, 3 Body Problem, Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Frasier, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Fallout, Expats, Red, White & Royal Blue, Fellow Travelers, The Curse, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, Platonic and Bookie.

There will also be numerous top showrunners and exec producers including Chuck Lorre, David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, Alexander Woo, Benny Safdie, Graham Yost, Gary Goetzman, Lee Eisenberg, Abe Sylvia, Brit Marling, Zal Batmanglij, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Francesca Sloane, Lulu Wang, Sarah Schechter and Nicholas Stoller.

The studios, networks and streamers participating include AMC, Apple TV+, CBS, CBS Studios, FX, HBO and Max, Hulu, Lifetime, Marvel Studios and Disney+, Masterpiece on PBS, National Geographic, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Peacock, Paramount+, Prime Video, Showtime, Sony Pictures Television and Warner Bros. Television.

The event is sponsored by Apple TV+, Eyepetizer Eyewear and Final Draft + ScreenCraft in partnership with Four Seasons Resort Maui and 11 Ravens.

---

Both Tom and Sophia will be there.

[ourshadowstallerthanoursoul]

An audience with... John Paul Jones

(from Uncut, April 2010 - link)

You’re stuck on a deserted island, you have one instrument you can bring. It is: a) piano, b) bass or c) mandolin? (Gary Attersley, Ontario, Canada)

Oh… that’s horrible! I’ll probably get Hugh Manson – the guy who builds all my bass guitars – to build me some monstrous instrument that encapsulated all three! Hugh and his brother Andy Manson once actually designed me a triple-necked guitar with 12-string guitar, six-string guitar and mandolin on it! Andy also designed a triple-necked mandolin. But I guess if it really came down to it on a desert island, it would have to be the piano, because you can do so much on it. You’re a whole band. The bass is not much fun on your own.

John, it’s so good to see you so engaged with today. Any advice for old farts who can’t move on? (Andrew Loog Oldham)

Who are you calling an old fart? I dunno, Andy, you tell me! Ha ha. He’s done a good job of staying up to date. Andrew, of course, gave me the name John Paul Jones. I was John Baldwin, until Andrew saw a poster for the French film version of John Paul Jones. I thought it ’d look great in CinemaScope, as I wanted to do music for films. I imagined it saying “Music By John Paul Jones”, over the whole screen. I never realised then that he was the Horatio Nelson of America!

I know that you’ve been getting heavily into bluegrass lately – who are some of your favourite bluegrass artists of all time? (Ryan Godek, Wilmington, Delaware)

Apart from Bill Monroe, you mean? Oh, there’s loads. I’m friends with the Del McCoury band, I love that style of classic bluegrass. I love Sam Bush’s Newgrass stuff. And of course there’s Nickel Creek, Chris Feely, Mike Marshall. I love it all, really. One thing I like about bluegrass is that you don’t require amplifiers, drums and trucks. You can pull an instrument out of a box and get on with some instant music making. I carry a mandolin around wherever I go. I also like the fact bluegrass musicians play more than one instrument. There’s a tradition of them swapping instruments. In bluegrass bands I swap between double bass, fiddle and banjo.

One Butthole Surfers anecdote, please? (Dave Grohl)

Ha! I was brought in to produce the Butthole Surfers’ 1993 album, Independent Worm Saloon. I guess it was to give it a heavy rock vibe, but it didn’t work like that. They were actually incredibly hard-working in the studio, but I do recall running up a phenomenal bar-bill at the San Rafael studio. And then there was Gibby [Haynes, Butthole Surfers’ frontman] and his… eccentric studio behaviour. Gibby did one vocal take shouting into his guitar. He held it out in front of his face and screamed at it. Ha! He was trying to find out if it picked up through the pick-ups, which it kind of did. And that was pretty good.

How’s the violin coming along? (Sean, Berkshire)

I started about three years ago. With the guitar, or the piano, you can sound OK quite quickly. With the violin, it takes much longer. Once you get past the first six months of scraping, of muttering to yourself, “What is this fucking horrible noise on my shoulder?” you get the odd musical bit, and you think, ‘Oh, this is starting to get good.’ And you continue with it for a while. I’m getting into country fiddle playing, Celtic folk songs, a bit of swing. Basic stuff, but very satisfying.

Why not record a second ‘Automatic For The People’ with REM? (Franz Greul, Austria)

They haven’t asked me! But doing the string arrangements for that album was a great experience, actually. They sent me the demos of their songs, and we went into a studio in Atlanta, with members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. They were great songs, something you can really get your teeth into as an arranger. And I’ve been good friends with them ever since.

How did you first meet Josh Homme? And is he still a notorious party monster? (Rob Hirst, Kippax, Leeds)

Well, I think we’ve all calmed down rather a lot. Dave introduced me to Josh at his 40th birthday party. It was a ridiculous themed place where they have jousting with knights. As Dave said, it was like somewhere you’d have your 14th birthday party. Or maybe even your 4th. Anyway, Dave sat Josh and I together for a blind date. Which was reasonably embarrassing for both of us, surrounded by people going “prithee this” and challenging each other to duels. But we survived the trauma and went into the studio the next day, and just started jamming. And I knew immediately it was going to be something special.

If Them Crooked Vultures had Spice Girls-like nicknames what would they be? (Paul Jones, Liverpool)

Dave would be Smiley Vulture. He can’t stop grinning. Josh would be Slinky Vulture. He’s a slinky kinda guy. And I’d be Speedy, I guess. Or Jumpy. So there you go. Smiley, Slinky and Speedy. Or does that sound more like the dwarfs?

I remember you being a pretty funky bass genius back in the day! What memories do you have of those sessions? (Donovan)

The sessions with Don and Mickie Most were great, because we were given a free hand. I usually got leeway, because I was the sort of Motown/Stax specialist, so producers in the mid ’60s would get me in for cover versions of American records, and none of them could write bass parts convincingly enough, so I was London’s answer to James Jamerson, I guess! And I was certainly encouraged to get kinda… funky when I worked with Donovan.

How did it feel to see Jimmy Page and Robert Plant venture off in their own project in the ‘90s without mentioning a word of it to you? (Danny Luscombe, Hull)

Oh yeah, I was pissed off about it. The surprise was in not being told. It’s ancient history now, but it was a bit annoying to find out about it while reading the papers. It came just after Robert and I had been discussing the idea of doing an Unplugged project. Then I’m on tour in Germany with Diamanda Galás, I turn on the TV and see Robert and Jimmy doing it, with someone else playing all my parts! I was pissed off at the time. You would be, woudn’t you? But… it’s all in the past, isn’t it?

Did you listen to much work by Josh Homme or Dave Grohl before you were contacted in relation to joining Them Crooked Vultures, and if so, how did you honestly rate it? (Ralph Ryan, Lisronagh, County Tipperary)

I did like the Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age, before I’d met either of them. There’s a tendency for people – especially musicians from my generation – to say that there has been this terrible decline in musicianship, that today’s bands haven’t got the chops, blah blah blah. But that’s not true at all. There’s always some people for whom technique on an instrument isn’t necessary. They can get their ideas across without being able to have the chops. But Josh really does have the chops, he just doesn’t feel the need to flash them about all the time. In fact, there were a few riffs he gave me that I had to simplify, because they were bloody difficult to play. I really had to work at it, where he could just flick it off. He is an astonishing musician.

Were you serious when you told Peter Grant that you wanted to jack it in to become choirmaster at Winchester Cathedral? (Brian Fisher, Manchester)

Ha! That was a tongue-in-cheek joke, although I was serious about leaving Led Zeppelin in 1973 unless things changed. But Peter did sort things out pretty quickly. What kind of choirmaster would I have made? A bloody good one! Listen, any way that they’ll pay you for making music is just the best situation in the world. I’d do it for nothing. I don’t care what music it is. I just love it all. The rubbing of notes together. I love it all. I would be very passionate about whatever I decided to do.

What was the worst session you ever did as a jobbing session player? (Adam Burns, Castleford, West Yorkshire)

I generally have fun memories of that time. I’d criss-cross London playing two or three sessions a day, going between Trident and Olympic and Abbey Road and Philips in Marble Arch, you know. You’d be backing Shirley Bassey, Cat Stevens, Lulu, whoever was paying you. The worst experience was a Muzak session. With Muzak sessions, the music was deliberately boring. I distinctly remember one session where I embellished the bass part a little bit, just so that it wasn’t so boring for me to play. They said, “No, you can’t do that. Any interest in the music will distract people’s attention from when they’re meant to be eating.” Or standing in a fucking lift. For fuck’s sake! So I was like, “OK, thanks, bye!”

[gothicprep]

i'm always a fan of when my dad sends me his used books in the mail. the most recent one i've gotten from him was "judgement at tokyo" by gary j bass. what it covers is, in essence, the nuremberg trials of the pacific theater of wwii. it's insanely meticulous in its research, and it highlights things i never knew about. the pacific theater was treated as an afterthought when i was learning about wwii in high school.

if this is news to you, i recommend it!

[hot-boyband-tourney]

Welcome to the Tournament of the hottest boy band members of the 80s/90s

It was inspired by all the tournaments pitting famous beautiful people versus famous beautiful people of specific eras and specific jobs. The polls should start on the 8th of April, leaving around two weeks for submissions. I’ve compiled a list already but you can submit other boys that aren’t on the list through a google form. Feel free to submit non english speaking boy bands.

Propaganda

The only pictures accepted will be pictures from the 80s/90s and very early 2000s. To submit propaganda either use the same google form as for submissions (even if the guy in question is already on the list) or through the submission box or tag me on posts.

The List

Backstreet Boys

Nick Carter

Kevin Richardson

Brian Littrell

AJ Mclean

Howie Dorough

Take That

Robbie Williams

Mark Owen

Jason Orange

Gary Barlow

Howard Donald

NSYNC

JC Chasez

Lance Bass

Justin Timberlake

Joey Fatone

Chris Kirkpatrick

New Kids On The Block

Jon Knight

Jordan Knight

Joey McIntyre

Donnie Walberg

Danny Wood

Jodeci

Joel "Jo-Jo" Hailey

Donald "DeVante Swing" DeGrate

Dalvin "Mr. Dalvin" DeGrate

Cedric "K-Ci" Hailey

G-Squad

Chris Keller

Marlon

Gérald Jean-Laurent

Mika

Andrew Mac Carthy

Seo Taiji & boys

Seo Taiji

Lee Juno

YG (Yang Hyun-suk)

H.O.T

Moon Hee-jun

Jang Woo-hyuk

Tony An

Kangta

Lee Jae-won

Sechskies

Eun Jiwon

Ko Jiyong

Kim Jaeduck

Lee Jaijin

Jang Suwon

Kang Sunghoon

2Be3

Filip Nikolic

Frank Delay

Adel Kachermi

Westlife

Shane Filan

Mark Feehily

Kian Egan

Nicky Byrne

Brian McFadden

Boyz II men

Shawn Stockman

Wanya Morris

Nathan Morris

Marc Nelson

Michael McCary 

5ive

Scott Robinson

Ritchie Neville

Sean Conlon

Abz Love

J Brown

Boyzone

Ronan Keating

Keith Duffy

Michael Graham

Shane Lynch

Stephen Gately

98 degrees

Nick Lachey

Jeff Timmons

Drew Lachey

Justin Jeffre

Jonathan Lippman

Dream street

Matt Ballinger

Frankie Galasso

Greg Raposo

Jesse McCartney

Chris Trousdale

B2K

Omari Grandberry

Jarell Houston

Dreux Frédéric

De'Mario Thorton

BBMAK

Mark Barry

Christian Burns

Stephen McNally

LFO

Rich Cronin

Brian Gillis

Devin Lima

The Moffatts

Scott Moffatt

Clint Moffatt

Bob Moffatt

Dave Moffatt

New edition

Ralph Tresvant

Bobby Brown

Ricky Bell

Michael Bivins

Ronnie DeVoe

Johnny Gill

East 17

Terry Coldwell

Brian Harvey

John Hendy

Tony Mortimer

[the-indie-owl]

SpongeBob SquarePants Shipping Chart (FEEL FREE TO USE)

MAJOR UPDATE (10/14/2023): Added More Characters from the Musical

For the record, I've decided to create my own official blank shipping chart of one of my Fandoms for the very first time (since there isn't much SB Shipping Charts all over online so I created my own).

I've created Two Versions in case for Half of the Fandom's POV on the Two King Neptune characters (rather if you believe they are the same Character or Not).

Here are the Two Links for Full Versions in case to use for the Better Quality.

In case if you are confused of what each of the Ship Terms for what each of the Color represents...

❤️ = OTP (A Ship that You Love so Much and it is your own Main Favorite One out of all of the Other Ships) 🧡 = Platonic (A Ship that you prefer to be more than just Personal Friends rather than a Couple) 💖 = Crack (A Kind of Ship that is meant to be either Bizarre or Funny as in a Joke) 🩷= Love (A Ship that you also Adore but not that much of a Main Favorite) 💛= Like (A Ship that you do Enjoy but rather in a More "Causal" way to say the least) 💚= Neutral (A Ship that you have Mixed Feelings or Indifferent with) 🩵= Ok (A Ship that you're completely Fine with, but don't have any strong feelings towards it) 💜= Meh (A Ship that you just don't completely care nor pay any attention to) 💙= Dislike (A Ship that you just don't agree with or just not a personal fan of, if you don't have any too much Hate of it) 💙= Hate (A Ship that you just CAN'T STAND no matter how much that you despise) 🖤= Crash and Burn (A NOTOP that you Hate so much and is your own Main DEPISE One out of all the Other Ships)

Bonus Option: 💗= Ship with OC (A Character that you personally prefer to ship with Any of Your Own Persona/Mutuals' OC) 💚= Ship in Crossover (An X-Over Ship that you prefer to ship with Any Canon Character in the Franchise with a Different Character from Another Media) 🟤= Stay Single (A Character that you don't have enough ships and would just leave the Character to be Single without being shipped with anyone)

Characters in the Chart:

(Main Show)

SpongeBob SquarePants

Patrick Star

Gary The Snail

Sheldon J. Plankton

Squidward Tentacles

Sandy Cheeks

Mr. Krabs

Pearl Krabs

Karen

Mrs. Puff

Mermaid Man

Barnacle Boy

Larry The Lobster

The Flying Dutchman

Man Ray

Dirty Bubble

King Neptune

Queen Amphitrite

Prince Triton

Squidabeth

Barry Blobfish

Nosferatu

Slappy Laszlo

Slippy

Squidina Star

Chip Plankton

Tony 

Squilliam Fancyson

Squilvia

Patchy The Pirate

Spot

Snellie

Kenny The Cat

Perch Perkins

Bubble Bass

Old Man Jenkins

Kevin C. Cucumber

Flats The Flounder

Lady Upturn

Stanley SquarePants

Sam Star

Flapjack SquarePants

Bubble Buddy

Rube Goldfish

Gale Doppler

Plankrab

Charlton Hawkfish

Boat Salesman Shark

Hieronymus Glove

Karen 2.0.

Nurse Bazooka

Lord Poltergeist

DoodleBob

Don Grouper

Sticky Fins Whiting

Dorsal Dan

Dylan

Fred

Tom

Archie

Harry

Francis

John

Nancy Suzy Fish

Nazz Mimi

Tina Fran

Henry Bart

Franco

Sheila

Vera Fishbowl

Medley Fishbowl

Evelyn

Mevis

Buddy

Perry

Horace

Sheldon

Halbert

Jennifer Millie

Charlie

Frank The Goldfish

Jimmy Gus

Phil

Molly

Clay

Don The Whale

Harold (Red Fish)

Gus

Martin/Wobbles

Scooter

Lou

Harold "Bill" Reginald

Nat

Shubie

Dave

Sadie

Abigail Marge

Patty Rechid

Norma Rechid

Nathiel

Martha Smith

Thaddeus

Billy Lime

Harv

Frank (Lifeguard Guy)

Lloyd-Rich

Cara

Paco

Sylvester

Mabel

Old Man Walker

Lonnie

Mary

Sandals

Dennis

Miss Shell

Norma Edna

Debbie

Frank

Pilar 

Frankie Billy

Dale

Lenny

Mable-Monica

Purple Doctorfish

Norton

Richard

(Movies)

-1st Movie, "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie"

Princess Mindy

Dennis

- 2nd Movie, "Sponge Out of Water"

Burger Beard

-3rd Movie, "Sponge On The Run"

King Poseidon

Queen Salacia (For those who don't know, in Roman Legends, Salacia was the Goddess of the Sea as well as the Actual Wife of Neptune (her Counterpart was Amphitrite, a Greek Goddess who was Poseidon's Wife). However, considering that the Franchise has secretly done an Alternate "Wife Swap" idea between the Consorts of the Greek/Roman Sea Gods, Salacia did appear in a Cameo of the Third Movie, regarding if it could be truly her or not. There was also a Semi-Design of Her through Concept Arts behind the Third Movie that I did found through ArtStation by 3D Developer (Michael Defeo). For those who are curious to know about the concept design behind King Poseidon's Wife in SB, here's the link that you can click on.)

Sage

Otto

Chancellor

Tiffany Haddock

(Spin-Offs)

-Kamp Koral

Narlene Narwhal

Nobby Narwhal

Kidferatu

Preda Tory

Roxy

Jimmy Blobfish

-The Patrick Star Show

Ouchie

(Musical)

Mrs. Mayor

Merlina Mermaid

Entity Punkfish

Goldfish

Fred Blutang

Bubbles

Bitsey

The Eletric Skates

(Other Media)

- Games 

Prawn ("Battle for Bikini Bottom")

Madame Kassandra ("The Cosmic Shake")

- Books

Princess Neptuna ("SpongeBob and the Princess")

Feel free to use if you like to use any version you want, either if you'd want to credit me or link my own charts in the descriptions/texts.

[moochilatv]

The Death Beats and Charley Young presents: Energy

Drumwave Mix

It's a original combination between 80's vibe mix with new electronic style.

The Death Beats join forces with acclaimed Synthwave artists Cassetter and Color Theory, alongside singer / songwriter Charley Young, to lay down a chaotic and dystopian fusion of Darksynth, Jungle, and Techno, set to a foundation of UK DnB.

Unearthly synth tones forge an immersive musical landscape, building towards a crescendo of driving rhythms, hefty bass lines, and rhythmic arpeggios as the track switches effortlessly between genres and styles.

Color Theory’s unsettling harmonies parallel a barrage of hostile vocal hooks from Charley Young, adding an antagonistic dimension as their performances cut through the powerful instrumentation, further fueling the chaos and disorder.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by TheDeathBeats (@thedeathbeats)

BIO:

Bass Music producer Gary J Robinson lays down an intense mix of Drum & Bass, Dubstep, Future Bass, House and Synthwave as he slips between his studios in the UK and Mexico. Best described as an unstable cocktail of dark cinematic grandeur and retro fuelled synth tones, The Death Beats music strikes a balance between ominous atmospherics, sweeping melodies and all out dance-floor chaos.

Emerging from the Drum & Bass scene of the late nineties, Gary started out by collaborating with a number of game changing producers including Drumsound & Simon Bassline Smith, Spirit and Total Science. His early releases went on to gain the support of heavy-weight DJs such as Fabio, Goldie and Grooverider.

The Death Beats sees Gary draw on inspiration from every corner of the Dance Music world in order to create his signature sound. Along the way he’s been lucky enough to collaborate with a host of legendary artists including Crystal Clear, Doctor P, Eric Martin, Yah Kid K and pioneering UK Folk duo Harbottle & Jonas.

Arizona based songwriter Alisse Garn, whose vocal talents under the guise of Little Panda have also played an important role in defining The Death Beats sound. ‘Streets of Rage’, their collaboration with Mexican Drum & Bass producer Isaac Maya was released on Jessica Audiffred’s A-Records label too much acclaim and is generally considered to be the first Synthwave Drum & Bass anthem.

In addition to rocking airwaves and dance floors Gary’s music is regularly featured in film and TV, with credits in movies such as Eliminators, How Bruce Lee Changed The World, Playmobil The Movie, Timefreak, Tracers and Venom – Let There Be Carnage, as well as TV shows including Beauty & The Beast, Chicago Fire, Madame Secretary, Shameless and The Magicians. His portfolio also includes a number of popular reality shows such as Keeping up with the Kardashians, Life of Kylie and Selling Sunset.

The Death Beats continue to lay down a dynamic selection of upfront electronic music in the style of artists including Dimension, Diskord, Nero, Sub Focus and The Prodigy.

[singeratlarge]

Lee Vogt’s SONG OF THE WEEK: “Mary” https://leevogt.bandcamp.com/track/mary

 —Lee wrote, “This song is about a man who was in grief after his mother died. His name is Gary but I changed it to ‘Mary.’. The song started on Woodvale Road at my parents home in Branford CT. Then I finished the song in an empty church on a country road in New Hampshire where Gia-fu Feng was in residence, putting together the Tao Te Ching with Jane English, Roger Hahn, and assorted students. I was but a visitor.”

Producer-musician Johnny J. Blair wrote, “I’ve had a great time working with Lee, a singer-songwriter who dashes off heartfelt love songs and is also influenced by the confessionals of Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman, Nilsson, and John Stewart. ‘Mary’ reminds me of the quieter sides of Simon and Garfunkel.”

Personnel:

Lee Vogt—keyboards and all vocals

Johnny J. Blair—bass, keyboards, and production

Jim Helman—drums, drum programs, and mixing

#Mary #singer #songwriter #LeonardCohen #RandyNewman #Harry #Nilsson #JohnStewart #SimonandGarfunkel #Simon #Garfunkel #Gary #Connecticut #Woodvale #Road #Branford #church #empty #countryroad #NewHampshire #GiafuFeng #TaoTeChing #Jane #English #RogerHahn #LeeVogt #JohnnyJBlair #marypoppins #julieandrews

[deadpresidents]

Tangentially presidential, but do you have recommendations for biographies of Clarence Thomas and/or Henry Kissinger?

I don't have any suggestions for books about Thomas, but I can recommend a bunch on Kissinger. I think it's especially important to read different books about Kissinger to get a more balanced viewpoint because many books about him tend to be slanted in one direction or the other -- more so than most historical figures, in my opinion. He just tends to inspire particularly strong opinions, so here are a few books on him that I've found interesting:

•The Inevitability of Tragedy: Henry Kissinger and His World (BOOK | KINDLE) by Barry Gewen •Kissinger (BOOK | KINDLE) by Walter Isaacson •Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist (BOOK | KINDLE) by Niall Ferguson •Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy (BOOK | KINDLE) by Martin Indyk •Kissinger's Shadow: The Long Reach of America's Most Controversial Statesman (BOOK | KINDLE) by Greg Grandin

There are also some really good dual biographies about Kissinger and Nixon and their foreign policy: •Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power (BOOK | KINDLE) by Robert Dallek •The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide (BOOK | KINDLE) by Gary J. Bass •The Price of Power: Kissinger in the Nixon White House (BOOK | KINDLE) by Seymour M. Hersh •Sideshow: Kissinger, Nixon, and the Destruction of Cambodia by William Shawcross

And I want to also mention these two books, which are heavier reads but really important studies about the international impact of the Nixon/Kissinger foreign policy (and a helpful reminder about American complicity in the overthrow and death of democratically-elected Chilean President Salvador Allende) : •Nixon, Kissinger, and Allende: U.S. Involvement in the 1973 Coup in Chile (BOOK | KINDLE) by Lubna Z. Qureshi •Nixon, Kissinger, and the Shah: The United States and Iran in the Cold War (BOOK | KINDLE) by Roham Alvandi

[daisiesonafield-blog]

Harry Styles delivered a low-key performance at the 2023 Grammy Awards, where he is nominated in six categories and already won for pop vocal album.

Styles opened his performance on a red, revolving stage amongst a group of casually costumed dancers. Dressed in a strikingly different silver sequined and fringe ensemble (similar to the looks he’s previously donned at his recent string of US shows) Styles joined hands with the crew and belted out his track “As It Was.”

Before the song, the singer was introduced by Harry’s House co-writer and producer Kid Harpoon. “The whole world knows him as Harry, but as he knows, I call him Gary.” Harpoon said. “I call him Gary because he’s etched his name so deeply into our culture that sometimes it’s easy to forget the human. The boy from a village in Cheshire, England working in a bakery who chased his dream. And now years later, he’s about to perform Grammy Award winning music for you tonight.”

The crowd was into the performance, specifically Taylor Swift who was dancing through the song (and was spotted earlier dancing through the previous sets from different performers).

Styles’ chances at Grammy gold include record of the year and song of the year for “As It Was,” as well as album of the year for his May 2022 record “Harry’s House.” The British singer ties in total nominations with Future, Mary J. Blige, DJ Khaled and Randy Merrill, while Beyoncé is the leading nominee with recognition in nine categories.

Styles last performed at the 2021 Grammy Awards, where Dev Hynes, aka Blood Orange, joined him on bass for the song “Watermelon Sugar.” The same track earned Styles his first Grammy in the pop solo performance category, though he also scored nominations for pop vocal album and music video that year.

Three nights before the Grammys, Styles will conclude the North American leg of his “Love on Tour.” The tour is set to resume in Australia Feb. 20 with best new artist nominee Wet Leg joining as an opener. On Feb. 11, Styles and Wet Leg will also appear at the 2023 Brit Awards, where the two musical acts are tied for the most nominations.

Full article. Link here.

[coquettesamosa]

Top 5 non fiction books you've read

ooh good question, i'd say:

catch and kill by ronan farrow

the big short by michael lewis

the blood telegram by gary j bass

invisible women by caroline criado perez

the dark side by jane mayer

[somerabbitholes]

Hey, Hi

Can you name some interesting Geo-political reads? Indian as well as that of world??

Thanks.

Hi! I'm not sure what exactly you're looking for, so these are just ones I like:

The Revenge of Geography by Robert Kaplan: argues that geography and geographical circumstance has a sizeable part to play in shaping foreign policy and strategic engagements of various countries. Also see his Monsoon.

Chip War by Chris Miller: a history of semiconductors, simultaneously also about globalisation and how economics intentionally or unintentionally drive geopolitics and vice versa

Fateful Triangle by Tanvi Madan: about the China factor in US-India relations, especially during the Cold War

How India Sees the World by Shyam Saran: a historical look at India's global engagements and outlook (or lack thereof); he used to be the foreign secretary so it's quite firsthand. Also see his How China Sees India and the World

Magnificent Delusions by Hussain Haqqani: about the US-Pakistan relationship since the 1950s; how either country has a history of misunderstanding the other

The Blood Telegram by Gary J. Bass: about the American consul in Dhaka and through his eyes, a picture of the genocide in then-East Pakistan and the (geo)political and military fight that the struggle for Bangladesh became

The Afghanistan Papers by Craig Whitlock: a look at how the US and US army became so embroiled in Afghanistan and how it was always an unwinnable gamble; argues that the conflict continued in spite of this knowledge

The Prize by Daniel Yergin: a history of the oil industry and the geopolitics of oil as it played out in the Middle East.

Happy reading!