and I get sick when I'm around, I can't stand to be around
So I've been watching the Live 8 gig.
Sort of.
Alright, I watched U2 and Macca then popped a video in and went out. But I had it on in the radio. Well. I did when I was in the car.
Anyway, I just got home (having luckily completely missed the Stereophonics) and popped the telly on just in time to see miss Dynamite (tee-hee).
I'm all for trade justice and dropping the debt and everything, but if one more uncritical clown on the TV or the radio comes on and tells me how BRILLIANT the whole thing is, or how AMAZING everything is, so help me God I'm going to go out and get some unfairly traded chocolate or something.
All this uncritical acceptance is immediately making me want to criticise everything about the whole bloody thing. I'd turn over and watch the tennis, only I can't stand all that grunting and screaming that Venus Williams makes either.
Grr.
**update** this just in.... I never thought I would say these words, but I have just been moved by Will Smith. His introduction to the Philadelphia concert was fantastic.
I maintain my disgust at the ridiculous fawning by the media about how great this all is (and oh look, as if on cue, Travis are on), and I'm not at all sure if these concerts are the best way of going about things, but I'm not going to lose sight of the objective here.... every three seconds in Africa a child dies for want of basic medication that we can buy in our local chemists. The leaders of the G8 nations can help make this stop.
Tony Blair
Jacques Chirac
Vladimir Putin
Gerhard Schroder
George W. Bush
Silvio Berlusconi
Paul Martin
Junichiro Koizumi
Jose Manuel Barroso
When all the concerts are over, when all the crowds have gone home.... these are the guys who can make the difference.
They know what to do.
(and I'll stick to fair trade chocolate, eh?)
Sort of.
Alright, I watched U2 and Macca then popped a video in and went out. But I had it on in the radio. Well. I did when I was in the car.
Anyway, I just got home (having luckily completely missed the Stereophonics) and popped the telly on just in time to see miss Dynamite (tee-hee).
I'm all for trade justice and dropping the debt and everything, but if one more uncritical clown on the TV or the radio comes on and tells me how BRILLIANT the whole thing is, or how AMAZING everything is, so help me God I'm going to go out and get some unfairly traded chocolate or something.
All this uncritical acceptance is immediately making me want to criticise everything about the whole bloody thing. I'd turn over and watch the tennis, only I can't stand all that grunting and screaming that Venus Williams makes either.
Grr.
**update** this just in.... I never thought I would say these words, but I have just been moved by Will Smith. His introduction to the Philadelphia concert was fantastic.
I maintain my disgust at the ridiculous fawning by the media about how great this all is (and oh look, as if on cue, Travis are on), and I'm not at all sure if these concerts are the best way of going about things, but I'm not going to lose sight of the objective here.... every three seconds in Africa a child dies for want of basic medication that we can buy in our local chemists. The leaders of the G8 nations can help make this stop.
Tony Blair
Jacques Chirac
Vladimir Putin
Gerhard Schroder
George W. Bush
Silvio Berlusconi
Paul Martin
Junichiro Koizumi
Jose Manuel Barroso
When all the concerts are over, when all the crowds have gone home.... these are the guys who can make the difference.
They know what to do.
(and I'll stick to fair trade chocolate, eh?)
posted by swisslet @ 16:44
14 Comments:
At 5:48 pm,
Damo said…
I had to stop watching Live 8 after about an hour. I was finding all of it horribly depressing. And not for the reasons that the wider cause is, but because of the concert and ESPECIALLY because of the TV coverage.
It was just... dreadful. If I can put into words why it was doing all the wrong things to my head then I'll write it up on my blog. But I'm not sure I can.
I will say... why does the cynic in me think that those most likely to have been texting for tickets were also the least likely to be interested in what it was all about? Probably something to do with the fawning prevalence given to the event in the tabloids I despise so much. Never mind, they can go back to talking about the size of Charlotte Church's arse next week and their readers can relax.
At 5:57 pm,
Damo said…
Fair trade chocolate, such as Green and Blacks?
A pity Cadbury's, and hence Coca Cola, own them now...
What a strange world we live in.
I apologise for all the anger in my blog posts and comments this week. I haven't reacted to returning to work very well.
At 6:08 pm,
Charlie said…
I've refused to watch Live 8 Philadelphia because I was revolted by most of the lineup. Rob Thomas? P. Diddy? Will Smith, rapping? Gimme a break, here.
Another thing--I haven't been reading up on this much, but isn't the whole point just to influence these world leaders? Is there any financial donation going on from this? It has to cost a fortune to put on. Also, are Bush, Blair and co. really going to be influenced by Rob Thomas? I wonder if just a large donation effort would have done the trick just as well or better.
At 6:10 pm,
swisslet said…
Green & Blacks? No, the kind of fair trade chocolate I eat has been lovingly crafted by well paid artisans using only natural ingredients in their ecologically sound workshops in a sustainable environment, and is shipped to the UK in recycled packaging on the backs of well cared-for pack animals to minimise the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere, although a tree is planted in a forest for every bar sold, just in case.
Is it nice?
Nah - it's fucking horrible, but MAN do I feel righteous as I eat it.
At 6:19 pm,
swisslet said…
I don't know about the US, Charlie, but over here the ticketing was done via a text message ballot.... £1.50 to enter for the chance to get a pair of tickets. They raised a few million quid from that to stage the event.
(apparently they are also flogging VIP tickets, and I can see a load of Nokia banners, so there must be some corporate money in there as well. I'd guess you can also buy t-shirts and stuff)
Who is Rob Thomas? Should I be glad I don't know?
ST
At 6:28 pm,
Damo said…
>Who is Rob Thomas? Should I be glad I don't know?
Yes. He's the singer in Matchbox 20 and also appears on that infernal Santana single from a while back...
Enough anger. I'm off to the pub.
At 6:48 pm,
Flash said…
*coweing a popping up a little raised finger*
I actually enjoyed it, I thought it was great.
I'll get me coat!
At 7:47 pm,
LB said…
Flash, I thought it was bloody brilliant as well.
The alternative was not to do it. And on the basis that it clearly raised awareness and will result in lives being saved, then it was clearly a worthwhile event.
We're kind of missing the point of the whole thing aren't we if we sit her complaining about some of the acts not being our personal cup of tea? Who cares if it is Rob Thomas or bloody Kenny Thomas on the bill? On the basis that Sir Bob had me watching Mariah Carey on a Saturday night he must be doing something right.
I don't give a flying toss about the agenda behind some of these artists performing and that some of them will clearly shift a load of records next week. People have come together in an attempt to do something worthy for the world, and for that they should be saluted.
Sir Bob brought on a 20 year old girl who was pictured in the original Live Aid footage starving, with ten minutes to live. She has just passed her agricultural exams thanks to the Band Aid/Live Aid trust.
If these gigs had done nothing else than to save this one girls life, then they were worth doing.
At 8:25 pm,
red one said…
I wsn't going to comment, except to say hello, cos I've ranted about this at length on my blog. But...
Swiss - in the words of George Monbiot, "we must never forget that the G8 exist for one reason only and that is to help themselves".
Bargain - 'fraid I'm in agreement with Fox, who has posted about Birhan Woldu much more articulately than I can manage. It's here
http://urbanfox.blogspot.com/
Oh, and Swiss, in the words of RedOne: "gis a bit of that chocolate..." ;-)
RedOne
At 8:26 pm,
red one said…
PS - what did Will Smith say? I missed it.
RedOne
At 12:27 am,
Damo said…
The alternative to having this concert would have been not to have this concert. It would have been a very bad alternative, given the aims. So I'm not knocking Live 8, the concept. I'm glad it took place. I really... REALLY... hope it helps.
What frustrated me was not that, but... well... much of the concert itself, and the BBC's coverage.
At 10:14 am,
John McClure said…
Damo - "those most likely to have been texting for tickets were also the least likely to be interested in what it was all about?" - surely those are the very people you want to talk to - the people who don't already get it.
The line-up wasn't great, the TV coverage was crap, the sound quality was great at times, the stars were cheesy and getting cheered for saying "fuck" (what is it about a crowd that makes the collective mentality revert to primary school age?), but, as LB put it:
"If these gigs had done nothing else than to save this one girls life, then they were worth doing."
End of.
As much as I think it's naive to claim that these concerts can fix the world's problems, I also think it's risible to claim they will have no impact. Just because they won't have completely fixed the world up, doesn't mean it wasn't worth doing them.
At 10:15 am,
John McClure said…
meant to say that the sound quality wasn't great at times. Sorry.
At 2:35 pm,
Damo said…
I think people may have confused my dislike of much of the concert, with my views on the whole Live 8 thing (very much in favour of the latter). Perhaps to offer any kind of critical comment of the musical side of things was to muddy the waters. I'll leave it.
On the BBC's coverage though, you did get to see people who were there for the music and not remotely bothered about the event's aims. It depressed me. I'm sure it's not everyone.
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