Celebrate Easy Rider's 40th Birthday With Dennis Hopper

Celebrate Easy Rider's 40th Birthday With Dennis Hopper At Taos
Summer Of Love 2009

http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/newsandupdates/122_0902_easy_rider_dennis_hopper_taos_summer_of_love/index.html

February 18, 2009 - TAOS, NEW MEXICO: Easy Rider reigns supreme as
the best biker movie of all time. The brilliance of writer, director
and actor Dennis Hopper paved the way for "the New Hollywood" by
sparking independent filmmaking fever in 1969. And, more importantly,
the film showed the country what it meant to be a free spirit in the
late '60s...the Cannes Film Festival winner has been called a
"touchtone for a generation" that "captured the national
imagination." Re-live the psychedelic era as you blaze a trail for
gorgeous Taos, New Mexico -- Hopper's home at the time of filming and
the location of many of the movie's famous scenes -- for Taos Summer
of Love 2009, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

From May through September, Taos Summer of Love 2009 will feature an
amazing array of events, art, film and music. Not only will you be
able to indulge in everything lovely, artistic and free about Taos,
you'll get to ride the same roads filmed in Easy Rider....talk about
bragging rights! And you could potentially meet Hopper himself, as he
will be master of ceremonies over all things Taos this summer.

Taos Summer of Love 2009 events include a feast with Hopper! On May
3, the Harwood Museum of Art in Taos is hosting a fundraising dinner
with Dennis Hopper; all proceeds benefit the Harwood Museum of Art.
This dinner is the kickoff to the summer-long Dennis Hopper at The
Harwood event. From May 8 to September 18, you can enjoy two
Hopper-related shows: "Silver Gelatin Prints by Hopper" and "Hopper
Curates," which features artwork by five artists.

Also in May, you can join thousands of fellow bikers May 22 - 25 at
the 26th Annual Memorial Day Motorcycle Rally & Run-to Taos' Vietnam
Memorial. The weekend will feature live music and food. The Red River
Classic Car Show will be held the weekend of June 5-7, and Toast of
Taos Wine Festival starts July 3. No summer would be complete with
out a chili cook-off: You can taste to your heart's delight Aug 13 -
15 at Hot Chili Days, Cool Mountain Nights, located at Brandenburg
Park, Red River.

These are just some of the many things you can enjoy in Taos this
summer. But be sure to reserve some time for cruising the town on
your bike. Any motorcycling fan will drool over the rugged, scenic
landscapes and wide-open spaces that make Taos famous. More than
1,200 feet across from rim to rim, The Rio Grande Gorge offers
visitors views of astonishing lava flow, extending to the Rio Grande
Canyon, which is about 300 feet from side to side. And the Rio Grande
Bridge is the second highest bridge in the US.

One of the most fascinating and famous scenic spots around town is
the Taos Pueblo, home of the Taos-Tiwi Indians. It is located two
miles north of Taos, and is at an elevation of 7,000 feet. At the
Pueblo, you can experience the rich cultural heritage exemplified by
the exquisite Native American architecture and the seasonal
ceremonial dances. Please note: You can watch the dances but
photography is strictly prohibited, which makes a trip to the pueblo
all the more special.

Taos Summer of Love 2009 also features an exciting contest! Visit
www.taossummeroflove.com to enter your name in the Summer of Love
Sweepstakes for a chance to win a $4,000 trip to Taos! The package
includes airfare, three nights accommodations for two, a guided
Harley-Davidson tour of the town, spa treatments for two, museum
passes and more!

So dust off the love beads, don your fringed leather jacket, and roll
on into to Taos this summer! For information, visit www.taossummeroflove.com.

.

Britain faces summer of rage

Britain faces summer of rage - police

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/23/police-civil-unrest-recession#history-byline

Middle-class anger at economic crisis could erupt into violence on streets

Paul Lewis
The Guardian, Monday 23 February 2009

Police are preparing for a "summer of rage" as victims of the
economic downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against
financial institutions, the Guardian has learned.

Britain's most senior police officer with responsibility for public
order raised the spectre of a return of the riots of the 1980s, with
people who have lost their jobs, homes or savings becoming
"footsoldiers" in a wave of potentially violent mass protests.

Superintendent David Hartshorn, who heads the Metropolitan police's
public order branch, told the Guardian that middle-class individuals
who would never have considered joining demonstrations may now seek
to vent their anger through protests this year.

He said that banks, particularly those that still pay large bonuses
despite receiving billions in taxpayer money, had become "viable
targets". So too had the headquarters of multinational companies and
other financial institutions in the City which are being blamed for
the financial crisis.

Hartshorn, who receives regular intelligence briefings on potential
causes of civil unrest, said the mood at some demonstrations had
changed recently, with activists increasingly "intent on coming on to
the streets to create public disorder".

The warning comes in the wake of often violent protests against the
handling of the economy across Europe. In recent weeks Greek farmers
have blocked roads over falling agricultural prices, a million
workers in France joined demonstrations to demand greater protection
for jobs and wages and Icelandic demonstrators have clashed with
police in Reykjavik.

In the UK hundreds of oil refinery workers mounted wildcat strikes
last month over the use of foreign workers.

Intelligence reports suggest that "known activists" are also
returning to the streets, and police claim they will foment unrest.
"Those people would be good at motivating people, but they haven't
had the 'footsoldiers' to actually carry out [protests]," Hartshorn
said. "Obviously the downturn in the economy, unemployment,
repossessions, changes that. Suddenly there is the opportunity for
people to mass protest.

"It means that where we would possibly look at certain events and
say, 'yes there'll be a lot of people there, there'll be a lot of
banner waving, but generally it will be peaceful', [now] we have to
make sure these elements don't come out and hijack that event and
turn that into disorder."

Hartshorn identified April's G20 meeting of the group of leading and
developing nations in London as an event that could kick-start a
challenging summer. "We've got G20 coming and I think that is being
advertised on some of the sites as the highlight of what they see as
a 'summer of rage'," he said.

His comments are likely to be met with disappointment by protest
groups, who in recent weeks have complained that police are adopting
a more confrontational approach at demonstrations. Officers have been
accused of exaggerating the threat posed by activists to justify the
use of resources spent on them.

Police were said to have been heavy-handed at Greek solidarity
marches in London in December and, last month, at protests against
Israel's invasion of Gaza. In August 1,000 officers, helicopters and
riot horses were drafted to Kent from 26 UK police forces to oversee
the climate camp demonstration against the Kingsnorth power station.
The massive operation to monitor the protesters cost £5.9m and
resulted in 100 arrests. But in December the government was forced to
apologise to parliament after the Guardian revealed that its claims
that 70 officers had been hurt in violent clashes were wrong.

However, Hartshorn insisted: "Potentially there will be more
industrial actions ... History shows that some of those disputes -
Wapping, the miners' strike - have caused great tensions in the
community and the police have had difficult times policing and
maintaining law and order."

Both "extreme rightwing and extreme leftwing" elements are looking to
"use the fact that people are out of jobs" to galvanise support, he said.

A particularly worrying development was the re-emergence of
individuals involved in the violent fascist organisation Combat 18,
he said. "They are using the fact that there's been lots of talk
about eastern European people coming in and taking jobs on the
Olympic sites," he said. "They're using those type of arguments to
look at getting support."

Hartshorn said he also expected large-scale demonstrations this year
on environmental issues, with hardcore green activists "joining
forces" with middle-class campaigners over issues such as airport
expansion at Heathrow and Stansted. With the prospect of angry
demonstrations against the economy, that could open the door to
powerful coalitions.

"All you've got to do then is link in with the environmentalists, and
look at the oil companies. They're seen to be turning over billions
of pounds profit in issues that are seen to be against the environment."

.

Julie Christie: ‘I feared Bush would unleash a wave of sadism - he did’

Julie Christie: 'I feared Bush would unleash a wave of sadism - he did'

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/julie-christie-lsquoi-feared-bush-would-unleash-a-wave-of-sadism--he-didrsquo-1628254.html

The language of the war on terror made her shudder - and provoked her
to become a fearless champion of its victims, notably the Guantanamo
Bay inmate Binyam Mohamed. Robert Verkaik reports

Saturday, 21 February 2009

Julie Christie has never felt comfortable in the glare of the public
eye. For long periods of her life, the actress who rose to fame in Dr
Zhivago and Far From the Madding Crowd has turned her back on the
film world, hiding on a hill farm in Wales while others gratefully
picked up the roles she spurned.

But even throughout these wilderness years, Julie Christie has never
felt so dislocated from the world that she could ignore its horrors.
Her campaigning record reads like a history of human rights abuses
over the last 40 years.

This week she was back again highlighting Britain's role in the
alleged torture of a British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In a letter published earlier this week, she accused the Government
of duplicity and the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, of helping to
cover up the crimes of America. Mr Miliband responded with his own
letter, forcefully rejecting Christie's allegations.

The resident in question is Binyam Mohamed, 31, an Ethiopian refugee
whose lawyers have been trying to persuade the UK Government to hand
over documents which they believe will prove Britain's complicity in
their client's torture.

Christie says she knows she must come across as "disgruntled from
Tunbridge Wells" but she feels "sick to the stomach" about what her
own Government is doing.

"They should have released [the documents] ages ago. Binyam Mohamed
was being tortured in 2002. In all this stuff that [Mr Miliband]
writes, there is never any mention that unless they release the
documents to clear him he is always going to be known to the world as
a terrorist.

"That's a life that has been ruined. You never hear about the human
beings involved, there's never any sadness or any remorse.".

Although she would never say so, the emotional deprivations of her
troubled childhood must make it easier for her to empathise with
those who are taken from the bosom of their families and forced to
survive in an alien environment. When she was six years old, her
mother sent her away to a Catholic boarding school in England, her
parents separated and she was left living with a foster family. The
shock of this, she says, has never left her.

Perhaps then, this is partly why she feels she has to speak up for
those who have no voice, like Mr Mohamed.

"It's a terrible thing," says Christie, "to make someone disappear.
To have no contact with anyone. They are disappeared from life and it
is just about one of the most sadistic things you can do. Especially
to someone who has not been found guilty of anything."

What seems to anger her most is that after spending years protesting
against the injustices of other regimes she now finds herself
confronting the rights abuses of her own country.

She asks: "Have we learnt nothing from the Second World War and the
importance of the of human rights protections that we put in place to
stop it happening again?"

The global response to an evil threat is one of the themes that is
explored in her new film, 1939, which is directed by Stephen
Poliakoff and also stars Romola Garai, Bill Nighy and David Tennant.
The film follows the fortunes of an aristocratic family in Norfolk at
the outbreak of the Second World War.

"It's about the movement for appeasement by the English aristocracy
just before the start of the war. I play an advocate for appeasement.
She's a fictional character so she's not one of the Mitfords, but I
think she is in that area.

"It is all about that possibility that was real [that appeasement
could stop Hitler]. But of course if [the arguments for appeasement]
had succeeded, people like Stephen [Poliakoff] wouldn't have been around."

Christie thinks that parallels could possibly be drawn between a
policy of appeasement in the 1930s and the American-driven "war on
terror" against al-Qa'ida.

"Yes I think in both it was lack of imagination, stupidity and
ignorance. When I was acting my part I did not think like that,
because as you know you have to love your part. I think she thought
what had been done for Germany she would try to do for England."

But it is the twin dangers of terrorism and the misguided "war on
terror" that threaten the world today, says Christie, whose natural
elegance and preserved beauty belies her 67 years.

"My reaction to September 11 was shock, anger and fear. The shock was
obvious because of the amount of misery caused but also the
stupidity. Because who suffered the most? The Muslim world. Then
there was anger at the stomach-clenching media and government
reaction without reason or rationale. It was as if their brains had
stopped working. At this moment when they needed to be acting most
sensibly, they were incapable."

For Christie, one of the most chilling aspects of these developments
was the new language that was created to give force to the "war on terror".

"I felt something so terrible was going to happen when Bush came up
with this phrase 'unlawful combatant'. It meant that any terror
suspect could be kidnapped, incarcerated, tortured and never brought
to trial. I thought this is going to unleash a wave of sadism on a
large part of the world ­ and it did."

Appearing at last year's Academy Awards ceremony, after her portrayal
of a woman suffering from Alzheimer's in Away From Her had won her an
Oscar nomination for best actress, Christie wore an orange ribbon
calling for the closure of Guantanamo.

"I went around asking people at the Oscars, do you know what
"extraordinary rendition" means? Nobody did. I hate the phrase. What
does it mean? It just means disappearance."

For Christie, it has echoes of past human rights abuses which she had
campaigned against so vociferously in the 1970s and 1980s.

"We have come across this before in South Africa under apartheid and
in Indonesia in its awful war against the East Timorese. So we are
not unfamiliar with it. And I had come across it more personally in
Nicaragua, El Salvador and Argentina, where I had actually met people
who had been tortured and met people whose family had been
disappeared and whose children had been tortured.

"But I have to say that I never thought anything like this could
happen in America or here. It was so stupid of me because we have had
Northern Ireland [torture]. I had always liked to think there was
something not English and not American about it all."

Christie has been involved in protest campaigning since the early
1970s when she played a key role in the peace movement. She says her
then-debilitating shyness left her a marginalised figure in the
campaign against the war in Vietnam. That shyness was something that
her former lover, the American actor Warren Beatty, picked up on when
he described her as both the "most beautiful and the most nervous
person" he had ever known.

"I was too shy. I had to get over that. Of course I went on Grosvenor
Square march [in London] and all that. I went to a lot of
demonstrations but I wasn't as active as I could have been. I was too
shy to have my opinion counted."

She says that she partly beat her crisis in self-confidence by
studying the issues that she wanted to talk about in public.

"I was against nuclear weapons and so I went to classes and learnt
about the splitting of the atom. But I still couldn't find the
courage to stand on soap boxes or do anything like that." It was a
Chilean friend who finally gave her the confidence to take a more
high-profile role in political movements.

"I was debating whether to be one of the people leading a peace march
in Scotland with a famous musician, a communist and Robin Cook. She
said to me 'you have go and do it, to be a part of it'. And so I did.
And that was the first political action in which I was seen to be at
the forefront." Naturally it generated a lot of press coverage and
more of the many photographs of the Christie image that was already
synonymous with swinging London.

"That was the first one and later I learnt to handle it and go on to
do many more demonstrations. I also did a lot of public speaking
which I found hard and which I don't do any more, because I can't
find the words."

The 1980s would prove to be Christie's most active decade for
political protest. "When I go through cuttings of that time, I think
'good God I was busy, standing up for this and that and the other'."

She candidly admits that she is not able to recall the 1990s in quite
the same way. "I can't remember the 1990s. Perhaps it was eco-stuff
and animals. And of course the first Iraq war which got me going again."

These days, Christie is less the suffering artist. She lives happily
in the East End of London, travels around inconspicuously on public
transport and is rumoured to have married her long-time partner, the
journalist Duncan Campbell, at a private ceremony in India, the
country of her birth. Christie, who has become a patron for the human
rights group Reprieve, which is representing Binyam Mohamed and other
Guantanamo detainees, appears genuinely embarrassed that she can't
stop herself being drawn to so many different causes.

"We are talking about something so very serious and huge and then we
start talking about me," she says.

"It seems terribly inappropriate. Perhaps it's even egotistical to
think like that, so you have got to think of yourself [as someone]
who is representing something else."

So why does she feel the need to speak out?

"I was sad when the outrage began to abate, except for Clive [Clive
Stafford Smith, the legal director of Reprieve] and other lawyers and
one or two newspapers who kept trying to push the thing. I think that
sometimes we get deadened by something that is so awful and too big
to believe. I think both American and British can't believe that they
are capable of this kind of thing. I think it is too easy to be quiet."

.

Joan Baez and politics strike a melodic chord

[6 articles]

Folk legend Baez is back in the spotlight

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/article/20090222/LIFESTYLE/902210341

By Larry Rodgers • The Arizona Republic
February 22, 2009

Like many of her fans, folk icon and social activist Joan Baez has a
tough time grasp­ing the fact that she has been performing for five decades.

"It's hard to imagine when I listen to something from 45 years ago
that it's the same person," said Baez, 68, who performed at the
Lincoln Me­morial when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his
"I have a dream" speech, brought such folk classics as "House of the
Rising Sun" into popular music and helped introduce onetime lover Bob
Dylan to the masses in the early '60s.

In many ways, the confi­dent performer who is on tour in North
America through March 31 to spot­light her first new album in five
years, "Day After To­morrow," is quite different from the artist who
was at the forefront of the early-'60s folk revival and popular
mu­sic's foray into social issues.

"I had such terrible stage fright (then) that it wasn't much fun,"
Baez said. "I was riddled with neuroses and sleeplessness and panic
at­tacks and all this stuff."

Not only was she trying to build a career and deal with her
relationship with Dylan, Baez also was increasingly consumed by the
civil-rights struggle and her opposition to the Vietnam War.

It took two decades of liv­ing through some of Ameri­ca's more
turbulent times, a period that included a six-year marriage to war
pro­tester David Harris, before Baez dealt with her inner is­sues.

"Twenty years ago, when I hired my wonderful new manager (Mark
Spector), I started to tackle that stuff in a serious, therapeutic
way, which I hadn't done before, and I highly recommend it," said
Baez, who lives in Northern California.

"Most of those things have vanished completely -- fear of flying,
fear of this, that and the other. And so is stage fright gone. So in
a sense, starting maybe 10 years ago, I began to really understand
what it was like to just walk on the stage and have a won­derful time."

Baez has described herself as a glass-half-empty type, and she
doesn't feel the need to be defensive about it.

The woman who founded the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence and
the Hu­manitas International Hu­man Rights Committee said, "Maybe
(that description) was all to do with politics and social change, and
I think I'm reasonable not be­ing optimistic."

A master at interpreting traditional folk and gospel songs, Baez has
performed such classics as "We Shall Overcome," "Swing Low," "Sweet
Chariot" and "Amaz­ing Grace" at events support­ing causes from
environ­mentalism to pacifism to gay rights to fighting poverty to
opposing the death penalty.

Despite her activism, Baez said she never endorsed a presidential
candidate until November's election. Given her stance on various
issues, it's no surprise that she backed Barack Obama over the more
conservative John McCain.

"It's fascinating to change the face of the world in a mat­ter of a
minute (by electing a new president)," Baez said. "It's crazy, and
it's absolute­ly wonderful. I'm enjoying the ride."

Baez also is enjoying a mu­sical partnership with Steve Earle, a
highly respected singer-songwriter in roots and rock music.

The "Day After Tomor­row" album, on which Baez interprets favorite
tunes by the likes of Tom Waits, Patty Griffin, Eliza Gilkyson and
Elvis Costello, is the pair's third recording project.

Earle nudged Baez to in­clude such instruments as mandolin, Hawaiian
guitar, Dobro and harmonium, put­ting a rootsy spin on her folk
inclinations. Baez sees the album as an updated way to bookend the
storytelling and commentary that launched her career.

"That was the trick," said Baez, who's touring with a small acoustic
ensemble. "Rose of Sharon" (penned by Gilkyson), I would have sworn
it was a 200-year-old English folk song.

"But we also realized (that), because of Steve, it had to be current
and totally contemporary, which it is."

-------

Dancing at 68: the night they drove Joan Baez down… here

http://www.readthehook.com/blog/index.php/2009/02/20/dancing-at-68-the-night-they-drove-joan-baez-down-here/

by Stephanie Garcia
February 20th 2009

It's been fifty years since she took the stage at Boston's legendary
Club 47, and folk icon Joan Baez is still celebrating. After more
than two decades off the major pop charts, her twenty-fourth studio
release, Day After Tomorrow, released in September, has put her back
in the limelight.

With a voice that has endured decades of musical variation, a
passionate activism that continues to fight for equality and justice,
and a spunk that has yet to dim, Baez shows no signs of slowing.

"I'm happy to be be here singing after so many years," Baez says of
her half-century musical reign. "I think it's a little nuts to be
doing it all these years, but what's even nuttier is that people come
to hear it."

One of the leading voices of the '60s folk revival, Baez solidified
her iconic revolutionary persona while on the front line of numerous
political and social issues: walking alongside the likes of Martin
Luther King, Jr. and Cesar Chavez during the Civil Rights movement,
protesting America's involvement in Vietnam, and speaking out for gay
rights­ experiences that still contribute to the words she sings today.

The Hook: You were friends with Martin Luther King, Jr., and very
involved in civil rights­ how do you feel about the country's first
African American president?
Joan Baez: I've never endorsed anybody on any level, but there's
something about this man that made me feel irresponsible if I didn't
support him publicly. When someone can come along and unify people in
this extraordinary way­ I haven't seen that since King.

The Hook: You've come upon fifty years in the public spotlight as a
performer­ what kind of fulfillment does that bring?
JB: It's become more and more important to follow your heart. People
have been too busy making money, and it's time to go back to our
roots of human decency and making music from the earth. But do I feel
fulfilled? In some ways I do, though I never thought I would. There's
a contentment I've found during meditation.

The Hook: You've always been involved in activism; what's your
passion right now?
JB: The one I'm focusing on now is my family­ they kind of got gypped
during the '60s and '70s. I'm not out on the front lines at the
moment, but anything I've ever supported has been in the context of
non-violence. I'm always anti-death penalty, anti-torture.

The Hook: How has the Greenwich Village scene changed throughout the
years? Has it changed at all to you?
JB: If it hadn't, we'd be in an odd pickle­ things have to change. I
was in the Village when we called ourselves bohemian, then 'hippie'
came along fairly quickly, then yuppie. How we describe ourselves is
in the context of where the world has put us in in the moment.

The Hook: How does it feel to be constantly compared to Bob Dylan?
JB: There are worse things that could happen, like being compared to
Genghis Khan. He was the best writer we've had in the movement. I
knew that I had brought him completely out of a shadow and it was my
pleasure to bring him along to concerts. The whole time I watched
[Martin Scorsese's documentary No Direction Home], I felt like his
grandmother, watching this kid grow.

The Hook: You've said in interviews that after the Vietnam War, you
went through an identity crisis. How were you able to overcome that,
and what advice do you have for a country going through a similarly
complex situation?
JB: The first thing that comes to my mind is meditation­ it's the
only way we slow our brain down to let it figure itself out from
within. With so much happening in the world, it's so pleasant to have
our country in a decent context. Now when I travel, I don't have to
be embarrassed! If the country is in an identity crisis, it should be
attempting to turn in the direction of hope and decency.

The Hook: How was growing up Hispanic in the '50s and '60's political
and cultural environment?
JB: It was '50s Southern California­ so not the best place to be a
Mexican. I don't consider it crippling, but it did make things
difficult, and it took a long time to overcome, to feel that you're
as good as everybody. Musically, I haven't taken that much advantage
of it­ I might still do it.

The Hook: What kind of reactions have Day After Tomorrow garnered? It
was your first album to hit the charts in twenty-nine years, and it's
been said to sound most like your earliest work.
JB: Well, in those initial albums, my voice was about an octave
higher than it is now. There's a feeling with those early songs,
something really truthful. Some of it sounds like the a 200-year-old
English folk song, but with a really contemporary sound.

The Hook: What can we expect from you at The Paramount?
JB: I have a guitar player from Ireland, a bass player, mandolin,
banjo, accordion… they're the best band I've ever had. We just play
for three hours while the bus is rolling; and it can't get any
lovelier than that. If the roads are good, we can dance, at 70 miles
per hour, no problem.

The Hook: What will we be seeing from you in the next couple of months?
JB: We're making a documentary on me­ it's done in the form of
conversations, interviews. With my life being parallel to so many
other beings, it's exciting. It's an American Masters Production,
done by PBS, and it should be out next fall.
~
Joan Baez performs at The Paramount on Tuesday, March 3. Show starts
at 8 pm, and tickets are $39-65.

--------

Joan Baez at the Lobero

http://www.independent.com/news/2009/feb/20/joan-baez-lobero/

Iconic Folk Songstress Pays a Visit to S.B.

Friday, February 20, 2009
By Brett Leigh Dicks

While Joan Baez's musical delivery typically revolves around airy
acoustic orchestration, her songs carry an undeniable weight ­ so
much so that engaging with the tales she so eloquently presents can
leave a listener exhausted. The level of communication that Baez
conveys is astonishing. Her songs are intricate stories that wander
the social, political, and emotional spectrum. From a plea for
guidance from past activists ("Christmas in Washington") to a
heartfelt lullaby composed for her son ("Honest Lullaby"), Baez's
elegance and musical prowess not only pulls you in, it effortlessly
captures you until the very end.

In reaching back to "Lily of the West" from Ring Them Bells to open
the evening's proceedings, Baez declared, "We have many years to
traverse this evening." From there, Baez turned her attention to her
most recent recorded undertaking, the Steve Earle-produced Day After
Tomorrow and the beautifully delivered "Scarlet Tide." The musical
chemistry between Baez and Earle is undeniable, something that her
subsequent rendition of Earle's "God Is God" ably displayed.

In an evening brimming with musical highlights, Baez's howling
rendition of another Earle song, "Christmas in Washington," ranks
amongst one of the night's finest. While her rendering of Danny Dill
and Marijohn Wilkin's timeless murder ballad "Long Black Veil" was
equally exceptional, nothing in the night surpassed her own "Diamonds
and Rust." As the notes cascaded and frets squeaked, Baez took the
audience to the emotional core of the song, written about her complex
relationship with Bob Dylan via a moment shared from a Midwest telephone booth.

In a time defined by sound bites and punch lines, the experience of
sharing the lyrical substance that has defined Baez's musical career
for some five decades is certainly one to be cherished. And that was
a sentiment clearly shared by the at-capacity audience Tuesday night.
A standing ovation heralded the closing of Baez's set, but an equally
enthused reception greeted her return to the stage and execution of
The Band's "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down." Baez has always had
a lot to say, and this week the Lobero gave her a fitting platform
from which to speak.

--------

Joan Baez remains more than the song

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/02/joan-baez-remai.html

Feb 18 2009
by Randy Lewis

The singer-songwriter, who performs Thursday at UCLA, has found a new
intimacy in her music and her life.

If all the stars had aligned for her, Joan Baez would have come away
from this year's Grammy Awards with the first recording academy
trophy of her long and distinguished career. She was nominated for
her critically lauded album "Day After Tomorrow," a sparsely produced
collection of pointed and illuminating songs by contemporary writers
including Steve Earle (who produced it), Patty Griffin, Tom Waits,
Elvis Costello and Eliza Gilkyson.

As it happened, Baez, along with Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris and Rodney
Crowell, had the misfortune of being nominated in the contemporary
folk/Americana category with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, whose
"Raising Sand" superstar collaboration turned into the unstoppable
juggernaut of this year's Grammy ceremony.

But Baez, who plays a UCLA Live concert Thursday at Royce Hall in
Westwood, always has set her sights on loftier goals than music
industry awards, and to her 68-year-old eyes and ears, "Day After
Tomorrow" doesn't need any additional validation.

"Most people seem to have gotten the feeling of what we intended to
do," Baez said by phone recently from the home outside San Francisco,
which she shares with her 95-year-old mother. "We took songs that
sound as though they were written a long time ago and we made them
feel contemporary."

There's the internal spiritual confidence of Earle's "God Is God,"
Costello and T Bone Burnett's haunting portrait of unbridled power,
"Scarlet Tide," and the Waits-Kathleen Brennan title tune, a song
that takes the form of a heartbreaking letter from a soldier in Iraq.

Earle stripped away all the sonic sweetness that's often been applied
to Baez's heavenly soprano voice, opting for a dry aural ambience
that resulted in one of the most intimate recordings of her career.

"What was daunting was that this particular engineer wanted me to be
one-quarter of an inch from the mike," she said. "He would keep
coming into the booth and saying, 'Can you get a little closer?' I
couldn't get any closer without bumping my nose into it."

Since the album came out last fall, Baez has been weaving the new
songs into her concert set lists, even though she might easily, and
comfortably, assemble several nights' worth of music from material
she recorded decades earlier.

"Sometimes you feel people just itching to get to the songs they came
to hear," Baez said. "But, with this thing, people are very
attentive. It's a record I'm really very pleased with . . . I'm being
cautious," she added with a little laugh. "I'm delighted with it."

The same could be said of her reaction to the election of Barack Obama.

"I was a big Barack Obama supporter from the beginning," she said,
noting that during George W. Bush's administration, "for a number of
years I haven't sung the really blunt protest songs. When Bush came
into office the second time around, I started singing things like
[Bob Dylan's] 'With God on Our Side' again, because we needed them.
Now I could even do some of those old songs in that sense of joy,
that sea change that this election represents."

Baez seems to keep her focus closer to home these days, on her mother
and her own children. From her nonagenarian mother, "I'm studying to
see how to get old." And with her son, she's made an attempt to make
up for some of the time she felt she lost when she was often in the
spotlight as one of the leaders of the political and social protest movement.

"I spend a lot of time with them when I'm home, because I didn't
spend that time with them in the '60s and '70s when I was doing
everything else," she said. "I had a talk with my son one time and
told him 'I feel guilty for not being around so much when you were
growing up.'

"He said, 'Look, it was an important time in the world, and you
played a key role. Don't sweat it,' " Baez said. "That was so nice of
him. . . . What a beautiful gift."

--------

Joan Baez and politics strike a melodic chord

http://www.austin360.com/xl/content/music/stories/xl/2009/02/0219xlmusic.html

By Ed Crowell
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, February 19, 2009

This fall, Joan Baez celebrated her 50th year as a performer - and
she put out one of the best, most spiritual albums of her career. On
Wednesday , her tour behind "Day After Tomorrow" reaches Austin's
Paramount Theatre. With so many Texas connections on this Steve
Earle-produced CD, that was the subject of our first question for a
recent phone interview from Baez's home base in Northern California.

American-Statesman: Your new CD is sort of a made-in-Nashville Austin
album. Two songs from Eliza Gilkyson, one from Patty Griffin. And we
like to claim Steve Earle because he grew up in San Antonio. All
those Austin ties coincidental or did Steve bring you the songs?

Baez: We found them. We being managers, assistants, me, except for
Steve's songs, which he brought. I wasn't really familiar with Eliza,
but her "Rose of Sharon" in any case would have drawn me. It was like
a 200-year-old folk song. The aim of this album was some kind of
reminder of the feeling that was there 50 years ago but having it be
totally contemporary.

Many of the songs reference a God of some kind or Mary or Biblical
places like Jericho. Have you felt yourself turning to help from
those quarters more in recent times?

You know sometimes what we do is not even conscious, what we chose
and so on. It turns out there was a lot of God and Mary on this
album, and we hadn't even noticed it. There was actually another song
about a Mary that didn't make it. So I don't know where that comes
from, and then I realize that the end result maybe is a little more
spiritual than a lot of the things I've done. I heard someone
interviewing Steve if he believed in God and he said, "I don't have
any problem with God." And I thought that being an old lefty he would
shrug it off and say that's just a song.

There's some hopeful sentiments on the album after eight years of
things going in the wrong direction. This fall, when it was released,
did you think Obama would win?

No, I argued with friends of mine who were Hillary supporters and
were saying wasn't I betraying the cause? I said, "Which one?" My
fear was that he would be outfoxed and out-moneyed but that turned
out to be a joke, and it became more and more of a serious hope. I
don't get hopeful about governmental stuff, ever really.

I think it's not just a phrase thing now. He's gonna need us.... It
is going to be as hard as he says, but already there are some things
that bring a light back to your eyes - Guantánamo (closing) and
things like that are a huge relief. I don't have to be embarrassed
when I travel to other countries now.

Did you go to the inauguration?

Yes, I ended up behind the stage, so I could see the podium, barely,
and I probably was looking out at a million people - when I wasn't
crying. That's part of the phenomenon that I don't really understand
except that he's so real, so intelligent, such a statesman. He is the
glue we have been missing for so many years. I do think there is a
lot of hope with someone who has in his top 10 books "The Life of
Ghandi." He has a pretty good leg up.

Will you be singing "Oh, Happy Day" on this part of the tour?

(Laughs) No, but you'll see, it comes out no matter what we sing. The
last (live) CD I made, it was the day after Bush was re-elected and
it was in New York and the audience was as depressed as I was. I
don't know how we ever made that album. It's hard to sing when
something is that depressing. This is the opposite here.

Obama's moving fast on the economy. Do you think he'll be able to do
the same to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Do you sense any
more pressure from the public on that count?

The public is there, that's my own conjecturing, but it's a question
of how much people who say, "I really hope this will happen," how
much are they willing to do and participate?

There are some great, timeless anti-war songs on the album about
lives torn apart. Will you keep singing such songs after these wars are over?

I don't know. I don't know what makes a song stick and makes it
relevant again after so many years. I didn't sing "With God On Our
Side" for 20 some years and then all of a sudden during the Bush era
it was sort of desperately needed. And if I sang it now it would be a
jubilation. Whatever I sing now takes a different meaning.

You've sung at anti-landmine concerts and for other issues. What are
the priorities for you now?

I don't know how you're going to tackle the list. There are so many
things. Maybe at this point all the work people did fighting against
interrogation and the CIA stuff ? I wonder if what those people did
year after year doesn't somehow form the possibility of what comes next.

This album is dedicated to your 96-year-old mother who lives with you
in California. Do those good genes from her mean you expect to be
performing into your 90s, like Pete Seeger?

I don't know. I read a long article in the New Yorker about how we
all assume longevity is about that and it isn't.

What's a fun day at home for you?

A fun day at home is something I've had to learn to do - which is not
to overschedule myself. If I succeed at that, there's a lot of
puttering, visiting with my mom, puttering in the garden, drawing.
It's a challenge not to plan what I'm supposed to be doing.

Bob Dylan recently sold `Blowin' in the Wind' for British
advertising. Are you getting used to such things or does it grate to
hear such commercials?

No, it didn't surprise me at all? after the Victoria's Secret ad.

Have you sold any of your classics for commercial use?

No, no. I did one ad in my lifetime and that was for Apple - "Think
Different." That's the only one because Steve Jobs is a friend, and
he's given me computers for years and the company wasn't bad, so I said OK.

What did you think of Todd Haynes' Dylan film `I'm Not There' and
Julianne Moore's character of you?

I didn't see it. I heard it was, uh, interesting.

Any chance Steve Earle will play with you on this tour?

We've talked about it and if he's in shouting range I'll try to get him.

--------

CAPA Presents An Evening With Joan Baez 3/9

http://broadwayworld.com/article/CAPA_Presents_An_Evening_With_Joan_Baez_39_20090217

February 17, 2009

"A half century into her career, folk icon Joan Baez is making a
return of sorts-not to vintage material, but to songs that evoke the
spirit and message of her defining early work...Baez has never
sounded wiser, or more deeply human." - The Boston Globe

Singer, musician, social activist, and goodwill ambassador Joan Baez
has had a profound and durable influence on American and
international music for 50 years. She celebrates that anniversary
with a 2008 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana
Album for her 24th studio album, Day After Tomorrow, and a tour stop
at Columbus' Southern Theatre.

CAPA presents An Evening with Joan Baez at the Southern Theatre (21
E. Main St.) on Monday, March 9, at 8 pm. Tickets are $52.50, $47.50,
and $42.50 at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.), all
Ticketmaster outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets
by phone, please call (800) 745-3000 or (614) 469-0939. The Southern
Theatre Ticket Office will open two hours prior to the performance.
Students between the ages of 13-19 may purchase $5 High Five tickets
while available.

In 1958, a 17-year-old Joan Chandos Baez moved with her family from
Palo Alto to Boston where she entered Boston University School of
Drama. At 18, she was introduced onstage at the first Newport Folk Festival.

Baez recorded her first solo LP for Vanguard Records in 1960. Her
earliest records-with their mix of traditional ballads, blues,
lullabies, Carter Family, Weavers and Woody Guthrie songs, cowboy
tunes, ethnic folk staples of American and non-American vintage, and
much more-won strong followings in the US and abroad.

In 1963, Baez began touring with Bob Dylan and recording his songs, a
bond that came to symbolize the folk music movement for the next two
years. At the same time, she began her lifelong role of introducing
songs from a host of contemporary singer-songwriters.

Baez sang about freedom and Civil Rights from the backs of flatbed
trucks in Mississippi to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at Rev.
Dr. Martin Luther King's March on Washington in 1963. In 1964, she
withheld 60% of her income tax from the IRS to protest military
spending and participated in the birth of the Free Speech movement at
UC Berkeley. A year later, she co-founded the Institute for the Study
of Nonviolence near her home in Carmel Valley. In 1966, Baez stood in
the fields alongside Cesar Chavez and migrant farm workers striking
for fair wages and opposed capital punishment at San Quentin during a
Christmas vigil. As the Vietnam War escalated, Baez traveled to Hanoi
with the US-based Liaison Committee and helped establish Amnesty
International on the West Coast.

In the wake of the Beatles, the definition of folk music-a singer
with an acoustic guitar-broadened and liberated many artists. Rather
than following the pack into amplified folk-rock, Baez recorded three
remarkable LPs with classical instru ment ation. Later, she began
recording in Nashville. The "A-Team" of Nashville's session musicians
backed Baez on her last four LPs for Vanguard Records including her
biggest career single, a cover of the Band's "The Night They Drove
Old Dixie Down" in 1971 and her first two releases on A&M.

Within the context of those albums and the approaching end of
hostilities in Southeast Asia, Baez turned to the suffering of those
living in Chile under the rule of Augusto Pinochet. To those people,
she dedicated her first album sung entirely in Spanish. One of the
songs on that album, "No Nos Moveran" (We Shall Not Be Moved) was
banned from public singing in Spain for more than 40 years under
Generalissimo Franco's rule and excised from copies of the LP sold
there. Baez became the first major artist to sing the song publicly
when she performed it on a controversial television appearance in
Madrid in 1977, three years after the dictator's death.

In 1975, Joan's self-penned "Diamonds & Rust" became the title song
of an LP with songs by Jackson Browne, Janis Ian, John Prine, Stevie
Wonder & Syreeta, Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band, and Bob
Dylan. His Rolling Thunder Revues of late '75 and '76 (and resulting
movie Renaldo & Clara, released in 1978) co-starred Baez.

In 1978, she traveled to Northern Ireland and marched with the Irish
Peace People, calling for an end to violence. She appeared at rallies
on behalf of the nuclear freeze move ment and performed at benefit
concerts to defeat California's Proposition 6 (Briggs Initiative),
legislation that would have banned openly gay people from teaching in
public schools. Baez received the American Civil Liberties Union's
Earl Warren Award for her commitment to human and civil rights issues
and founded Humanitas International Human Rights Committee, which she
headed for 13 years. She won the San Francisco Bay Area Music Award
(BAMMY) as top female vocalist in 1978 and 1979.

In 1983, Baez performed on the Grammy awards telecast for the first
time. In the summer of 1985, after opening the US segment of the
worldwide Live Aid telecast, she later appeared at the revived
Newport Folk Festival, the first gathering there since 1969. In 1986,
Baez joined Peter Gabriel, Sting, and others on Amnesty
International's Conspiracy of Hope tour; her subsequent album was
influenced by the tour, as it acknowledged artists and groups whose
lives in turn were influenced by her, with songs from Gabriel, U2,
Dire Straits, Johnny Clegg, and others.

After attending an early Indigo Girls concert in 1990, Joan teamed
with the duo and Mary Chapin Carpenter (as Four Voices) for a series
of benefit performances.When her album, Play Me Backwards, was
released in 1992, it featured songs by Carpenter, John Hiatt, John
Stewart, and others.

In 1993, Baez became the first major artist to perform in Sarajevo
since the outbreak of the civil war as she traveled to war-torn
Bosnia-Herzegovina at the invitation of Refugees International. In
1994, Baez and Janis Ian sang for the National Gay and Lesbian Task
Force's Fight the Right fundraising event in San Francisco.

In 1995, Baez received her third BAMMY as Outstanding Female
Vocalist. Her nurturing support of other singer-songwriters came full
circle with her next album, Ring Them Bells. This idea of collabo
rative mentoring was expanded on 1997's Gone From Danger, where Joan
was revealed as a lightning rod for young songwriting talent, with
compositions from Dar Williams, Sinead Lohan, Kerrville Music
Festival newcomer Betty Elders, Austin's The Borrowers, and Richard Shindell.

In 2003, Baez released Dark Chords on a Big Guitar supported with a
22-city US tour.

In 2007, the 49th annual Grammy Awards presented Baez with the
Lifetime Achievement Award.

In advance of Day After Tomorrow's 2008 release, Baez launched the
2008-09 lecture season at New York City's 92nd Street Y (where she
made her official NY concert debut in 1960). She also received the
2008 Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award at the Americana Music
Association's 7th annual awards show in Nashville. The honor
"recognizes and celebrates artists who have ignited discussion and
challenged the status quo through their music and actions."

www.joanbaez.com

The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program with state tax dollars
to encourage economic growth, education excellence, and cultural
enrichment for all Ohioans. CAPA also appreciates the support of the
Robert Bartels, Virginia Hall Beale, and Barbara Clement Memorial
Funds of The Columbus Foundation, assisting donors and others in
strengthening our community for the benefit of all of its citizens,
and the Greater Columbus Arts Council, supporting the city's artists
and arts organizations since 1973.

Owner/operator of downtown Columbus' magnificent historic theatres
(Ohio Theatre, Palace Theatre, Southern Theatre) and manager of the
Riffe Center Theatre Complex (Columbus) and the Shubert Theater (New
Haven, CT),CAPA is an award-winning presenter of national and
international performing arts and entertainment. For more
information, visit www.capa.com.

CAPA presents AN EVENING WITH JOAN BAEZ
Monday, March 9, 8 pm
Southern Theatre (21 E. Main St.)

Singer, musician, social activist, and goodwill ambassador Joan Baez
has had a profound and durable influence on American and
international music for 50 years. She celebrates that anniversary
with a 2008 Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Folk/Americana
Album for her 24th studio album, Day After Tomorrow, and a tour stop
at Columbus' Southern Theatre. Tickets are $52.50, $47.50, and $42.50
at the Ohio Theatre Ticket Office (39 E. State St.), all Ticketmaster
outlets, and www.ticketmaster.com. To purchase tickets by phone,
please call (800) 745-3000 or (614) 469-0939. The Southern Theatre
Ticket Office will open two hours prior to the performance. Students
between the ages of 13-19 may purchase $5 High Five tickets while
available. www.capa.com

.

Campus to celebrate 50 years of John Searle

Campus to celebrate 50 years of John Searle

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_11757256

By Matt Krupnick
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 02/21/2009

At 76, not much has slowed for UC Berkeley philosophy professor John Searle.

"I'm in fine shape," he said in a recent phone interview, as he took
a break from skiing at Squaw Valley. "I've lost a couple of seconds
on my giant slalom, I'll admit."

Searle, a key figure in the Free Speech Movement, has zipped around
his share of obstacles in 50 years on the UC Berkeley faculty. On
Monday, the philosophy department will honor his half-century with a
reception featuring stories about his career.

Although professors are often feted on college campuses, rarely does
it happen for a septuagenarian who continues to teach courses and
write books and who is not ready to retire. Last semester, Searle
taught two undergraduate classes with a total of 250 students, and he
plans to finish three books this year.

Searle's enthusiasm for working with undergraduate students is rare
at large research universities such as UC Berkeley.

"There's a certain vitality to the campus, and particularly to the
undergraduates," he said. "You can get good graduate students
anywhere. But there's a sense that you make a greater difference at
the undergraduate level."

His courses have essentially become a rite of passage, said Jay
Wallace, the philosophy department chairman.

"His classes are always oversubscribed," Wallace said. "He's probably
the most famous philosopher in the world. Many students feel that
it's something you have to do before you leave Berkeley: take a class
from John Searle."

Searle's work, including 14 major books, covers a wide variety of
subjects including the philosophy of speech, artificial intelligence,
rationality and social reality.

One reason Searle is such a draw could be his role in the Free Speech
Movement of the 1960s. He was the first tenured professor to join the
movement, and he became a driving force alongside Mario Savio, who
was one of his students.

Aside from a brief period of satisfaction brought on by the movement,
Searle does not have fond memories of the 1960s and 1970s. Even the
Free Speech Movement changed for the worse and became violent, he said.

"People like to sentimentalize that period, but it was just awful," he said.

He eventually worked against the movement once it became clear it was
trying to politicize the university, he said. The change of heart
didn't win him friends among former supporters, but he has no regrets.

"It was much easier to run the revolution than it was to run the
counterrevolution," Searle said. "A lot of people hated me. But if
you're not willing to do things people are violently opposed to,
you're a coward.

"I'm always amazed at how conformist professors are."
--

Matt Krupnick covers higher education. Reach him at 925-943-8246 or
mkrupnick@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Honoring educator What: Reception honoring John Searle's 50 years at
UC Berkeley Where: Maude Fife Room, Wheeler Hall, UC Berkeley campus
When: 2 to 4 p.m. Monday

.

Remembering Lennon and Ono’s “Bed-Ins”

[2 items]

Remembering Lennon and Ono's "Bed-Ins"

http://www.americansongwriter.com/2009/02/remembering-lennon-and-ono%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cbed-ins%E2%80%9D/

Posted by Christine Smith
February 17th, 2009

This year marks the 40th anniversary of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's
"bed-ins." Putting their psychedelic spin on the form of nonviolent
protest known as "sit-ins," the pair spent a week in bed at an
Amsterdam hotel in March 1969, giving a repeat performance a few
months later in Montreal. To commemorate these events, Yoko has
posted a request on imaginepeace.com, requesting that any fans
staging tribute reenactments send in documentation of their versions
for publication on the website.

Though the main object of the 1969 protests was the Vietnam war,
Lennon and Ono bed-ins called for an end to all war. Each day, the
couple invited members of the press to visit their hotel suite during
the hours of 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. to discuss world peace with them. As
the culmination of the second bed-in, John and Yoko invited such
personalities as Tommy Smothers and Timothy Leary to record the song
"Give Peace a Chance" in their hotel room. Dismissed by some as a
mere publicity stunt, the concept nevertheless continues to influence
pop culture, appearing in song lyrics, music videos, and even comedy
sketches. Other notable artists have held their own bed-ins during
the last couple of decades, including lead singer of Green Day Billie
Joe Armstrong and his wife.

--------

Discover Montreal this Spring and Give Peace a Chance

http://www.classicrockforever.com/see-me-feed-me-buy-me/feature-seefeedbuy/discover-montreal-this-spring-and-give-peace-a-chance/

This year marks the 40th anniversary of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's
Bed-In staged in Montréal in May 26 to June 2, 1969 at The Fairmont
Queen Elizabeth Hotel, which promoted a message of peace.

To commemorate the event, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
(www.mmfa.qc.ca), in collaboration with Yoko Ono, has curated an
exhibition called IMAGINE: JOHN & YOKO's PACIFIST ANTHEM which will
run from April 2 to June 21, 2009. The exhibition will be free.

The exhibition will follow the wide-ranging artistic and musical
dialog that took place in the name of peace conducted by the pop icon
and the conceptual artist with ties to the Fluxus group.

The bed-in instantly grabbed worldwide media interest. John and Yoko
spoke to more than 150 journalists each day; and in the U.S. alone,
350 radio stations carried reports on the world's best-known
peaceniks, who wanted to get their message out to all those around
the world already protesting against the war in Vietnam.

The highlight of this unique event was John Lennon's composition of
Give Peace a Chance on June 1st. He wrote the song on the spur of the
moment and converted the suite into a recording studio under the
direction of André Perry. Some 50 people contributed to the
recording of the song, which was immediately broadcast worldwide.
Celebrities included Tommy Smothers, Dr Timothy and Petula Clark.

Through the presentation of various documents, works of arts,
records, soundreals and photographs, the exhibition will raise
awareness of the historical and political context of 1969 which
formed the backdrop to the Bed-In and will revive the thinking of
John Lennon and Yoko Ono and their urgent message for peace.

WHERE TO STAY

To mark the 40th anniversary, The Fairmont Queen Elizabeth hotel
invites guests to relive the legend and experience their own bed-in
through the IMAGINE PACKAGE. The package includes one night
accommodation; one CD featuring Give Peace a Chance; breakfast in bed
for two or buffet breakfast in Le Montréalais restaurant, and a copy
of the lyrics of Give Peace a Chance. This package is available from
March 1 to June 21, 2009, subject to availability. Rates start from
$199 per night, based on double occupancy, in a Fairmont room or from
$599 per night, based on double occupancy, in the actual John Lennon
and Yoko Ono Suite (#1742) where the bed-in took place.

For more information, visit: www.fairmont.com/queenelizabeth. To
make a reservation in the Lennon Suite, call the hotel directly at
514-861-3511.

For visitors seeking a more economical alternative, twenty-plus
hotels in Montréal are offering A SECOND NIGHT AT HALF PRICE package
with rates starting at $104. This sweet deal runs from January 1
until May 31, 2009.

For more informationand to book a room,
visit: www.tourisme-montreal.org/Offers/Winter; or call 1-877-BONJOUR.

.

End of the road for trailblazing hippy

End of the road for trailblazing hippy

http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/content/camden/hamhigh/news/story.aspx?brand=NorthLondon24&category=Newshamhigh&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newshamhigh&itemid=WeED18%20Feb%202009%2014%3A41%3A32%3A930

editorial@hamhigh.co.uk
19 February 2009
by Tan Parsons

A WRITER, spiritualist and trailblazing hippy from West Hampstead who
spent his life promoting peace and love has died.

Fraser Clark, best remembered as founder of London's Megatripolis
nightclub, finally succumbed to his battle with liver cancer at the age of 66.

Megatripolis, which began in the mid 1990s, was an underground
nightclub in Charing Cross Road that sought to fuse rave culture with
New Age ideology.

On the top floor there were lectures and classical music, on the
middle floor there was relaxing ambient music, while on the bottom
floor there was techno house music.

He believed rave and dance music could teach people how to live in an
overcrowded world because it involved lots of people moving in a
small space in a co-ordinated way.

The club was founded with his former partner Sionaidh Craigen, with
whom he would sit around a tiny stereo listening to aspiring dance
artists desperate to play at the venue.

"He was a ray of sunshine," said Ms Craigen. "He had a great sense of
humour and was always planning practical jokes. He was a very
noticeable character - he was 6ft 2ins tall and had long blond hair
and a broad Glaswegian accent.

"He was a great enabler - if someone wanted to do something he would
always try to help them to do it."

Mr Clark, of Woodchurch Road, was born in Glasgow and attended the
city's university, graduating with an MA in psychology.

During the 1960s he followed the hippy trail, travelling the world
from India to the US and South America. From these travels were born
two novels, Shazam and New World Trips. His spiritual pilgrimage also
led him to enjoy friendships with psychedelic writers Terence McKenna
and Timothy Leary.

In the late 1980s he founded the independent magazine Encyclopaedia
Psychedelica with his friend James Hamilton.

Mr Hamilton said: "Fraser was like an urban shaman. We were really
the first people to chronicle the advent of rave culture. He was
quick-witted, sharp-minded and had a perceptive intellect. He was a
great traveller and he believed that young people were the best
critics of culture."

Another close friend, Alex Gunningham, met him in 1977 at a gig at
the Roundhouse where Mr Clark was dressed in flamboyant clothes and
surrounded by an adoring group of women.

"Fraser was a real futurist," Mr Cunningham said. "He was a wonderful
man and everyone who knew him loved him. His death is a great loss to
the planet.

"He was also a very good writer. He wrote some amazing magazine
articles as well as radio plays and novels."

At the time of his death, Mr Clark was working on a rave opera,
Megatripolis: The Future Perfect State.

Ever fond of coining phrases, one of his favourite concepts was
"pronoia", the sensation that the world is conspiring to help you -
something he believed in fervently. He was a pacifist to the extent
that he would not even watch violent films or thrillers and he once
drove a bus on an electioneering campaign for the Hampstead-based
Rainbow Alliance in Derby. He was also a distinctive and regular dog
walker on the Heath.

Mr Clark's memorial service was held on February 11 at St Luke's
Church in Kiddepore Avenue, presided over by Christian and Buddhist
ministers. He was later buried in Hampstead Cemetery in a pagan ceremony.

On his gravestone is inscribed the phrase: "Dying - it's not the end
of the world."

He is survived by his two brothers and his son.

.

Fame and Frame: A Collection of Stories and Photos

Fame and Frame: A Collection of Stories and Photos of my Career

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pat-york/emfame-and-frameem-a-coll_b_165366.html

February 18, 2009
by Pat York

A brilliant actor and writer friend of mine once told me he would go
anywhere and do anything to sell three books. I feel the same way, so
this is my first attempt at a blog. hoping it will attract readers to
Fame and Frame, my new book of photographs published by teNeues in
English, French and German

Why Fame and Frame?

I started my career at Vogue Magazine in New York and then joined
Glamour magazine as their travel editor. In this capacity I went on a
trip with David Bailey, the quintessential 60's photographer, to
Japan, the Ivory Coast, Spain, Portugal and Paris. While in Japan
David took me to a Nikkon factory where I bought a camera and two
lenses. Every evening he gave me lessons and I was hooked. As well as
the words to describe these countries I had a visual journey to
accompany my story. When I returned to New York I showed my work to
Alexander Lieberman, the Art Director for Conde Nast and Miki Denhof,
the art director of Glamour magazine. They liked what they saw and
told me from now on they would not send me out with a photographer.

This book is a partial visual diary of my life since becoming a
photographer in the middle 60's. (The 90's is the only decade not
represented. Principally, during that era, I concentrated on working
with nudes and anatomy).

My first assignment was to photograph Bobby and Teddy Kennedy. The
story was to illustrate the point that the young were more interested
in politics than ever before because of the men in politics. I spent
two days with Bobby. He was so kind, polite and helpful in every way
to a young photographer. I worked with him in his Senate office, and
then he suggested that we should take a walk outside and that is
where the image in this book was taken. At one point he said to me: "
I understand you photographed my brother, Teddy, last week. I said:
Yes. He said: "Did you like him"? Yes, I replied. "But did you like
him more than you like me?" At the end of the second day he ordered a
car to take me to the airport and we were standing on the steps of
the Senate when a dog ran out into the middle of the road. Bobby
followed him holding up his hands to stop the traffic and escorted
the dog across the road to safety. I learned a lesson that day to
never pack my cameras away. By doing so I missed a wonderful series of shots.

My job as a travel editor gave me the opportunity to fly to every
part of the world. A friend of mine was Peggy Hitchcock, whose
brother, Billy, had a beautiful estate in Millbrook. After Timothy
Leary and Richard Alpert were forced to leave Harvard and then Mexico
they were given a house in Millbrook. I had never taken drugs in my
life but I asked my angel of an editor-in-chief, Cathleen Casey, if I
could take the ultimate trip - going on a new type of journey by
taking LSD. She thought it was a great idea and I prepared for the
experience by going to Millbrook for a few weekends in advance.

Timothy Leary was my director on the trip. For the first moments I
told Leary that nothing was happening but then I looked at my arms
and legs and jewels were dancing out of every pore. The experience
was so positive for me. A beautiful room in the house had been
prepared for the occasion - a fire was glowing, Vivaldi's music was
playing and there were flowers everywhere. The next phase was my
being part of all of the above - the energy of the flowers, music and
fire were flowing through me and even inanimate objects like the
table and the furniture also shared this life. The session lasted
over fourteen hours and I went through so many different stages. In
one of those I had layer after layer of my persona removed until I
became like a Giacometti sculpture stripped to the core. Another part
of the trip was being a cell washed up on a wave and then passing
through many different evolutionary phases - for a while I was stuck
in the reptilian era but I and all around me radiated beauty except
for Timothy Leary. If I looked at him he was always deformed. This
phase continued until I felt being conceived, being an embryo and
then reborn. It was one of the most profound experiences of my life.
I was fortunate but I have heard of others suffering horrendous
experiences so I am not recommending LSD. A couple of years ago when
I was being exhibited at Art Basel, Switzerland by my Gallery -
Gmurzynska -- I met Albert Hofmann, the scientist who discovered the
drug. I spent three fascinating hours at his home, near the French
border, talking and photographing him. There is so much more to tell
abut this encounter. He told me that while he was the founder of LSD,
Leary was the disobedient son.

The image in the book of Timothy Leary was among those taken in the
60's but the most important one of all resulted from the assignment I
was given by Glamour to fly to Europe to photograph Racquel Welch in
Spain (the image is in the book), Albert Finney in London (also in
the book) and the new hot young actor who had just come out in his
first two movies - Michael York.

This was a fateful meeting as Michael is now my husband of forty
years. Our attraction was immediate and a romantic and fate filled
year followed until our marriage a year later. We met in the spring
and that fall went to India where Michael played a rock star in the
James Ivory (also in the book) Ismael Merchant film "The Guru". In
that most exotic of countries. Michael proposed to me on Juhu Beach.
A couple of weeks later I was dying. I had never been sick in my life
and was given by a London specialist pills to prevent becoming sick
in India. I discovered I had a fatal allergy to sulfur. I survived
and that is another story but the devotion and love of Michael and
care and support of Indian doctors and friends will always be with
me. This turned out to be a positive experience as I discovered
homeopathic remedies and have shunned allopathic medicine as often as
possible although I believe the two modalities should work in synergy
and that there are heroes in both fields.

Moving on to the 70's. In this decade I have chosen to describe a
photograph of Michael and his bear co-star hugging him and it seems
the animal is giving him advice about his screenplay. This was taken
in St. Croix on the set of "The Island of Dr. Moreau". The two of
them would swim during the lunch hour with the huge creature always
on a leash. One afternoon I was walking by and suddenly saw his
co-star run over without his leash and hug Michael. Some people are
convinced this is a trickery Adobe Photoshop, but It is not.

Another 70's photograph of Leonard Bernstein and Maximillian Schell
was taken in Austria at the Salzburg music festival. We knew Leonard
and l loved his brilliance and ebullient affection. I miss him both
as a friend and musician. Also in that decade I photographed Yusuf
(Cat Stevens). He was gentle and so accommodating. I wonder if, as a
Muslim, he has given up smoking.

Two more out of many photographs of the 70's are Jack Nicholson and
Tennessee Williams. The photograph of Jack was taken as he was
leaving this idyllic cliff-hanging property situated in the village
of La-Garde-Freinet in the South of France owned by the director,
Tony Richardson. We had been invited for a couple of days to join the
other guests - Buck Henry, Angelica Huston, David Hockney (also in
the book) and John Gielgud. It was a fascinating group of people who
interacted on different levels. I caught Jack as he was walking up
the steps to his car. The peacock on the roof personified the
otherworldly quality of time and place. Jack, the most contemporary
of men, was as at home here at this escapist's paradise as in the
grittiest of his film milieus.

The photograph of Tennessee was taken on the way to Washington, DC.
He is hugging his play, Outcry, which was in a constant state of
revision, sitting on his suitcase with his typewriter by his side. We
were all waiting for the reviews on the night it opened at the
Kennedy Center on the way to Broadway. When the papers arrived with a
rave review from Richard Coe, Tennessee burst into tears saying:
"This gives me the courage to continue writing'". Every night
Tennessee and I had dinner alone as Michael did not want to eat
before a performance. One night before the Opening on Broadway, he
clinked his sake glass against mine, saying: "Pat, while there's
doubt, there's hope".

This image of John Cage was taken in the 1980's in New York in his
home and studio that he shared with Merce Cunningham. He told me that
the traffic outside sounded like his music. He was so hospitable and
cooked me a macrobiotic lunch - later he sent me macrobiotic recipes
- he was convinced when he died he would be in the healthiest state
of his life. We laughed a great deal, talked about his music and
shared stories of our lives and generally had a great deal of fun. At
the time I was photographing him he was preparing a new piece for a
festival in Switzerland called 'Fourteen'. He told me, among many
other anecdotes his advice for young musicians: look over the whole
history of music and find out which part interests you the most and
then pay attention to it in detail.

I have been working on the Art World series for the last few years
and some of the artists I have photographed are in this book. I began
working professionally when Pop Art was flourishing and there was a
creative frenzy in the air. Andy Warhol became a friend and I
photographed him on many different occasions. The cover of my book is
Andy holding his polaroid camera taken at the Volpi Palace in Venice.

Since that long ago decade I have been able in the last few years to
portray other artists in their studios and homes. More recently
things came full circle when my subject was the ebullient and
brilliant James Rosenquist -- one of the founders of the Pop Art
Movement. We flew to Tampa and James picked us up and drove us to his
home and studios. We stayed in his guest-house for two eventful and
enjoyable days and nights.

Later still I visited Jasper Johns in his Sharon, Connecticut,
studio. He was in the forefront of so many artistic movements -- pop,
minimal and conceptual. He has always been a true hero of mine --
meeting and photographing him was a huge privilege. I left him with
regret wanting so much to spend more time with him. He was very
generous with his expressive reactions before the camera and his
hospitality. He has beautiful manners and is wonderful looking. After
the session was over he invited me to tea and I had the opportunity
to view part of his splendid private collection.

I was a houseguest of Robert Rauschenberg in his idyllic compound in
Captiva, Florida. This was nine months before his death. I had met
him initially at his brilliant Combines exhibition at LACMA and then
at a dinner hosted by Sam Keller at Art Basel, Miami. He also was a
generous host -- dinner was a caviar pizza and conversation until 2
am. Although he had suffered a stroke his mind was sharp and full of
humor. He insisted on standing up for me when I photographed him the
following morning in his studio.

Here are the names of just a few of the subjects in Fame and Frame,
not mentioned above and photographed at the end of the 90's and the
first few years of this new century and some, even earlier -- Kiki
Smith, Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, John Baldessari, Jeff Koons, Ed
Ruscha, Mark Bradford, Lawrence Weiner and many others as well as a
few collectors such as the great philanthropists Edye and Eli Broad
and the art dealer, Leo Castelli. Also there are photographs of
subjects in the movie, theater and music worlds -- Tom Stoppard,
Federico Fellini, Franco Zeffirelli, Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg,
Anouk Aimee, Liza Minnelli, Albert Finney, Jane Fonda and more.

There are so many anecdotes I could relate to all the above artists,
actors, musicians, directors and collectors but, as a beginner, I'm
not sure how much you can put in a blog.

The promotion of the book continues --two weeks ago the
UCR/California Museum of Photography in Riverside opened an
exhibition of Andy Warhol's polaroids with a couple of my images of
Andy holding his polaroid camera and there I had a signing where I am
delighted to say all the books were sold within an hour.

On the 26th of May I am giving a lecture and book signing at the
Corcoran Gallery and Museum in Washington DC, followed by a reception.

On the 7th of June the same type of event will take place at the
Huntington Library and Museum in San Marino, California.

In the middle of March I go to Bath in England, where Michael is
filming for 7 or 8 weeks. I am already setting up appointments to
publicize the book in London. France is only an hour away and I would
also like to do signings in Paris as the book features several icons
of French cultural life.

NOW I REALLY MUST STOP.

.

Music Review: Phil Ochs

[3 articles]

Music Review: Phil Ochs - Rehearsals For Retirement

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2009/02/20/092406.php

Written by David Bowling
Published February 20, 2009

The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago marked the beginning of
Phil Ochs personal deterioration. Despite his biting songs of protest
and scathing attacks on the establishment, he always considered
himself a patriot and retained hope that a better America would
eventually emerge. That hope began to evaporate in the aftermath of
the convention.

His musical reaction would be to release a bitter, dark, and deeply
personal album. Rehearsals For Retirement also moved him ever closer
to a rock 'n' roll sound and while he never completely crosses over
it helps to salvage the mostly depressing nature of this release.

Given his future, the album cover is chilling. It portrays a
tombstone with his name on it and while it was not meant to be about
his own death, the connection is obvious. He only produced one more
album of original material and would be dead within seven years. "My
life has been a death to me" are lyrics from the song "My Life,"
which is the last track on side one of the original vinyl release and
they are like a door closing which can never be re-opened.

"Pretty Smart On My Part," which leads off the album show the musical
direction that Ochs was traveling and is the highlight of the
release. His creative juices remain intact as he sings from the point
of view of a right-wing activist who plans to kill the president
among other things. The lyrics would become a part of his ongoing FBI
file. The song would have a rockish feel in spite of the sparse
arrangement. The bluntness of "I Kill Therefore I Am" is also made
palatable by the fusion of folk lyrics and rock music.

Things begin to deteriorate on the second side of the album. "The
World Began In Eden and Ended In Los Angeles" and "Doesn't Lenny Live
Here Anymore?" are a combined nine minutes of heartbreak, despair,
lack of hope, and depression. Except for "Where Were You In Chicago?"
the famous Ochs humor is mostly lacking and it is sorely missed as it
made his unyielding message accessible and palatable both to his
listeners and to himself.

Rehearsals For Retirement find Ochs poetry and ability to present a
message intact. It was his loss of faith that makes the album a
difficult listen. It remains an interesting re-action by Ochs as he
rants against the society and events beyond his control in the late
sixties. It is an album not for the weak at heart.

--------

Music Review: Phil Ochs - Pleasures Of The Harbor

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2009/02/17/080021.php

Written by David Bowling
Published February 17, 2009

In March of 1966 Phil Ochs released his In Concert album. It has
become a classic folk and protest recording. At the time it made him
a leading voice of the anti-establishment movement in the United
States. It was also his most commercially successful release as it
reached the Billboard National charts at number 150. All of this
added up to the Electra label dropping him from their roster of artists.

He quickly signed with A&M and in late October of 1967 released
Pleasures Of The Harbor. This was a different sounding Phil Ochs as
he strayed from a traditional folk presentation by adding strings and
piano while incorporating elements of jazz and classical music. It
was not the commercial breakout that he hoped for at the time but it
was as an interesting fusion of musical styles on his part and today
remains one of his most listenable efforts.

"Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends" would become one of his
signature songs. Apathy, murder, and parody are all present but they
are combined with a musical styling that runs counterpoint to the
message. "The Party" has a similar intent as it criticizes the upper
class but the song is played as if in a lounge and Ochs vocal is dead on.

"The Crucifixion" remains one of the most ambitious compositions of
his career. It traces assassination from Christ to Kennedy. There is
a beauty to the lyrics and music. If you want to hear a stripped down
and superior version of the song just check our There and Now: Live
In Vancouver where Ochs just accompanies himself on an acoustic guitar.

Several of the other songs are well constructed and contain superior
lyrics, but suffer from overproduction. "Pleasures Of The Harbor" is
a gentle song of searching by sailors who traveled from port to port.
"Flower Lady" is about being invisible to people as they pass by.

Pleasures Of The Harbor is the most modern sounding album that Phil
Ochs would produce. It also contains some of his most thoughtful and
beautiful lyrics and, in many ways, is more personal than political.
It is not the place to introduce yourself to his music but it is a
nice stop along his musical journey of life.

--------

Music Review: Phil Ochs - Phil Ochs In Concert

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2009/02/16/143212.php

Written by David Bowling
Published February 16, 2009

In Concert was the first album by Phil Ochs that I remember
purchasing as a teenager. Little did I realize at the time that a
number of tracks had been re-created in the studio due to the
defective taping of the concerts that were supposed to be used for
this release. Just how many tracks were recorded in the studio
remains open to question decades later. Nevertheless the album has a
live feel to it and his comments between songs are almost worth the
price of admission on their own. "John Wayne Plays Lyndon Johnson.
And Lyndon Johnson Plays God. I Play Bobby Dylan. A young Bobby
Dylan." And so it goes.

Despite the problems and questions, in many ways In Concert remains
his defining album. His passion and commitment to the protest
movement are self evident. Combined with his acoustic guitar
virtuosity and soaring vocals, it all adds up to one of the best folk
albums of the 1960's.

Bob Dylan's influence can be felt on some of the tracks. "Ringing Of
Revolution" is a call to the faithful and remains an anthem of the
protest movement. "(The Marines Have Landed On The Shores Of) Santa
Domingo" finds Ochs branching out into the narrative form of song.

Most of the tracks find him doing what he does best. "Bracero" is his
criticism of the wages and working conditions of immigrants. It can
only be imagined what he would think about this issue today. "Love
Me, I'm A Liberal" is another of his amusing but scathing attack
songs. "Canons Of Christianity" criticizes the hypocrisy of the
church. "There But For Fortune," which was a hit for Joan Baez, is a
song about comparisons and fate.

The oddest and most poignant composition on the album is "Changes,"
which is a straight love song and is a rare occasion of Ochs showing
a side of him removed from his political agenda. Given his body of
work it remains a gentle look into his personal life.

The final track on the original album, "When I'm Gone," could have
been used on his tombstone. It is a call for activism and a chilling
look into his personal future.

Given the state of the world today, Phil Ochs In Concert is worth a
listen as it deals with topics that are still relevant. It not only
remains one of the best statements of protest to emerge from the
sixties but shows an artist trying to make a difference while
creating some good music along the way which remains a rare combination.

.

Alan Colmes Highlights Bill Ayers Exclusive

Alan Colmes Highlights Bill Ayers Exclusive

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,499324,00.html

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," February 23, 2009. This
copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM AYERS, FORMER WEATHER UNDERGROUND LEADER: I don't regret
anything I did to oppose the war. Anything I did to oppose the war.
Don't regret.

ALAN COLMES, HOST OF "THE ALAN COLMES SHOW": You wouldn't regret
setting bomb at a police station or setting a bomb at the Pentagon or
the capital?

AYERS: You know I don't look back on those things and regret them,
but I'm willing to rethink it. And here's the way in which I'm
willing to rethink it. Let's have ­ you host this. We'll have a big auditorium.

COLMES: Sure.

AYERS: And we'll bring into the auditorium, you, because you're old
enough to have known, we'll bring you in, we'll bring me in, we'll
bring John Kerry, Bob Kerry, John McCain, McNamara.

COLMES: You'll get them all to show up?

AYERS: And we'll all show up, and then we'll all say what we did, and
we'll take responsibility for it, and in that context when you weigh
what I did against what Kissinger did, that's where we could have an
honest conversation.

COLMES: Is Kissinger a terrorist?

AYERS: He conducted a war in terror in Vietnam without a doubt.

COLMES: You're certainly known notorious in some circles for your
antiwar work years ago and here Obama just announced 17,000 troops
into Afghanistan. Does that upset you?

AYERS: It's a mistake. It's a colossal mistake, and you know, we've
seen this happen before, Alan. We've seen a hopeful presidency,
Lyndon Johnson's presidency, burn up in the furnace of war. I fear
that this brilliant young man, this hopeful new administration could
easily burn their prospects of a great presidency in the war in
Afghanistan or elsewhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: That was Bill Ayers talking with Alan Colmes
about his role in the 1970s antiwar movement in which he participated
in the bombings of, the U.S. capital, the Pentagon, New York City
police headquarters.

And here to tell us more about his exclusive interview with Mr.
Ayers, is my friend, former co-host ­ do you miss me?

COLMES: You are?

(LAUGHTER)

• Video: Watch Sean's interview with Alan Colmes

HANNITY: How are you ­ you know people say did you really give Alan that watch?

COLMES: Yes.

HANNITY: You don't even wear it.

COLMES: Well, on special occasions.

(CROSSTALK)

COLMES: This should qualify, shouldn't it? Thanks for having me back.
I appreciate it.

HANNITY: Listen, it's great ­ and by the way, congrats ­ Alan is
working on a lot of great things. And congratulations.

COLMES: In is one of them. I mean I'm able to bring you Bill Ayers. I
couldn't have done that when I was your co-host probably. But you know ­ yes.

HANNITY: Let me ­ first of all, what were your initial impressions?
Because you and I argued about this a lot.

COLMES: I told him he's one of the nicest terrorists I've ever met.
He really is a very likeable guy. Well, he ­ we did the whole thing
about, you know, these are obviously clips. We have an arc to the
interview where I started off by saying, first of all, thanks for
palling around with me, I guess I'll never be president, and he said
no, actually, that works pretty well because Obama did become president.

HANNITY: Right.

COLMES: And we talked about the 17,000 troops for example. It's clear
he is not an advocate of Obama's policies.

HANNITY: All right.

COLMES: The attempt to tie him to what Obama believes, and he's far
to the left of Barack Obama.

HANNITY: I'm more interested in he's still unrepentant, Alan. I don't
regret ­ you went into the issue and his justification, nobody was
killed, but he bombed the Pentagon and the capital.

COLMES: We've been through all that. Yes.

HANNITY: But here's the point. He still denies ­ there were people
that were injured at the New York City police headquarter building,
there were ­ his fellow terrorists were killed and people could have died.

COLMES: People did not die in the events he says in which he was
personally involved. And it's interesting to talk to him because when
you talk to him ­ we got into this in the interview as well. We'll
play the whole thing at some point on the channel, but he ­ there is
a ­ I know this sounds crazy to you.

HANNITY: Yes.

COLMES: But there is a moral code to how he went about doing what he
did. And when he says we didn't do enough to end the war, he doesn't
mean we didn't set enough bombs. What he means is none of the antiwar
activists during Vietnam ended the war because the war continued in
spite of what they did.

HANNITY: Wait, you said he doesn't mean we didn't set enough bombs.

COLMES: That's not what he was saying.

HANNITY: His quote is ­ I don't regret setting bombs.

COLMES: No.

HANNITY: I don't.

COLMES: What he said ­ he did. He said I don't regret anything I did
in an attempt to end the war, but he denies he did anything that
caused anybody physical harm, that they bombed property, and we're
very careful not to bomb or hurt people.

HANNITY: All right. Let's show a little bit more...

COLMES: I'm not defending what he did. I'm telling you, though, what
his story is.

HANNITY: I want people to be clear. You are not defending his actions.

COLMES: I am...

HANNITY: You don't agree with his actions. You've said that before.

COLMES: No, but I want to put it in proper perspective. And that's
what he said.

HANNITY: But you don't agree with anything that he did.

COLMES: Well, I'm not ­ I'm a nonviolent person. I wouldn't have ­ I
would never set bombs or something I would never approve of. I would
denounce that.

HANNITY: Does that make me, you know, more of my views.

COLMES: Apparently, it didn't work, did it?

HANNITY: All right. Well, let me ­ let's go to SOT two here. You
asked him a quote that I had brought up often in the debate.

COLMES: Yes. Right.

HANNITY: You know, kill all the rich people, break up their cars and
apartments, and kill your parents, and here's his flimsy answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLMES: When you said at one point your philosophy was kill all the
rich people, break up their cars and apartments, bring the revolution
home, kill your parents, that's where it's at, was that a metaphor?

AYERS: Of course. It was a joke and it was an extreme statement by a
20-year-old, and it was kidding, and of course, it was taken even
that way at the time. If you read "Fugitive Days" you'll see, not a
manifesto, and not a history and not a ­ even an autobiography. What
you'll see is a memoir, a literary memoir, I hope, of somebody ­ a
kid like me finding himself in a place like this. But it's not a
defense, but it does try to capture some of that irreverent kind of
off-the-track lunacy.

COLMES: You never meant kill the parents. Kill the rich people.

AYERS: Absolutely not.

COLMES: People are going to take it that way.

AYERS: I don't think so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: You know, where am I missing the joke about killing your
parents, killing rich people.

COLMES: Well, when he was young and irresponsible, he said things
that were young and irresponsible.

HANNITY: But he said it was a joke.

COLMES: He said it was a joke, he was speaking metaphorically. It was
­ he didn't mean literally go kill your parents. He had a close
relationship with his own parents, you know, for whom he worked as
caretakers the last years of their lives.

HANNITY: We're friends. You used to be.

COLMES: It wasn't about killing his parents.

HANNITY: You used to be a standup comic. Do you find anything funny
in that statement?

COLMES: No, there's nothing funny about it. But again, you've got to
go back to the time. You got to go back to the ­ what was happening
during Vietnam. You can't take those kinds of things literally. You
don't think he truly meant.

HANNITY: No...

COLMES: ... go kill your parents.

HANNITY: I'm listening to your interview and he says it was a joke. I
don't think there's anything funny about killing your parents or killing.

COLMES: I think he was talking in metaphor. He was a 20-year-old. Did
you ever say anything when you were stupid when you were 20 years
old? He said it was stupid.

HANNITY: Not kill my parents. Not kill the rich people.

COLMES: He also said we got into the ­ you know, that book "Prairie
Fire" which was his manifesto.

HANNITY: Well, I got that.

COLMES: OK, you want to play it?

HANNITY: This is the one that he actually dedicated a page...

COLMES: And we got into that.

HANNITY: We actually ­ you remember I picked this up and one night
you said to me where did you get that?

COLMES: I brought it to him. I was going to have him sign it for you
but I figured you'd put it on eBay.

HANNITY: All right. All right. But ­ he dedicates the book to Sirhan
Sirhan. Those who may not know...

COLMES: Among others. Yes.

HANNITY: Among others, that's true.

COLMES: Yes.

HANNITY: Who was responsible for the assassination of Robert Kennedy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLMES: You dedicate this to a number of people including Sirhan Sirhan.

AYERS: Well, that's not exactly right. But if you take a look at it.

COLMES: Well, it does say ­ yes, you'll see, well, it's got some
notes in it, but you'll see Sirhan Sirhan.

AYERS: Yes.

COLMES: ... in the dedication page right there.

AYERS: To all prisoners in the U.S., and if I were writing it today,
I'd have two million names on it.

COLMES: Right.

AYERS: And that is because at that time I felt very strongly that the
prisons were being used as a terrible instrument of social control,
and today it's worse. 2.1 million of our fellow citizens are in
prison. That's a huge waste of talent, money, energy, humanity. We
should close them.

COLMES: Are you saying there are no people who deserve to be in prison?

AYERS: It's not a question of deserving to be in prison. What we need
to do is focus on drug rehabilitation, treatment, psychological
counseling, all kinds of things as alternatives to prison. Half of
the people in prison are in prison for nonviolent crimes. The drug
war has been a colossal mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: How did you feel about that answer?

COLMES: But I want to be clear. He went on to say that was stupid. We
don't see that on the clip. He said ­ I said after that, but Sirhan
Sirhan? He said yes, that was stupid.

HANNITY: But let me ask you this. You're a fan of Robert Kennedy because I...

COLMES: Yes, of course. But again, it's a ­ he was a stupid 20-
year-old kid who did some ­ he wasn't stupid overall, but he did some
stupid things which he acknowledged in this interview, including
dedicating that book to Sirhan Sirhan.

HANNITY: You sound like you're making excuses for him.

COLMES: No, I'm putting in context what he said. You didn't see the
part where he said, it was stupid that I did that.

HANNITY: All right, well, listen, thanks for bringing ­ I view him,
Alan, as an unrepentant terrorist who think ­ who as a professor
thinks he's come up with these clever and intellectual arguments that
aren't so clever. And I think what he did was evil and he ought to repent.

COLMES: Well, I know what you think because I sat next to you for a few years.

HANNITY: Yes, I know. Thanks for coming. Congratulations.

COLMES: You look good like you don't have a (INAUDIBLE) to deal with
on a nightly basis.

HANNITY: You abandoned me. What are you talking...

COLMES: You poor ­ I feel bad. Thanks for having me back.

HANNITY: Congratulations.

COLMES: Thanks very much.

HANNITY: Really appreciate it. Thanks, Alan.

.