To those who haven’t been to see War of the Worlds yet, DON’T!!!! The movie was a 116 minute special effect. Yes, the special effect was stunningly good but then, if a movie is being made in the 21st century, with Steven Spielberg directing it, would you expect anything less? After the initial “wow, how cool is that” – a feeling that lasted all of 15 seconds, the crowd at Nishat Cinema ended up being more entertaining.

On a much, much happier note, I have just discovered Coldplay. It feels like an eternity since a contemporary band produced a decent album. Almost all the songs in X & Y are listenable but particularly appealing are Fix You, Speed of Sound, and Swallowed in the Sea. YAY!!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, half a billion songs have been sold and legally downloaded from the iTunes Music Store.

If you are an aspiring activist and are looking for inspiration and ideas for direct action, get hold of We Are Everywhere – The Irresistable Rise of Global Anticapitalism. “We Are Everywhere is a book of stories written by activists from the front lines of resistance against capitalism and economic globalization, tales of struggle and rebellion from participants in a movement of movments that is gaining ground on every continent. These stories, told with both words and pictures, have been collected over the past three years by a collective of activists, writers and artists, all of whom have deep connections to the movement.”

“It is not only by shooting bullets in the battlefields that tyranny is overthrown, but also by hurling ideas of redemption, words of freedom and terrible anathemas against the hangmen that people bring down dictators and empires …â€? – Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary, 1914

Disclaimer: This is going to be a very “random”, stream of consciousness post as I am feeling totally fragmented. It is also important to justify the lack of titles on this blog.

Green Day is a politically aware, in your face, musically correct band. They were part of Live 8′s global concerts and performed in Berlin. Listen to American Idiot, Holiday, Time of Our Lives, and Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

Anything I say about the London bombings and the arrests of Muslims of Pakistani origin will be trite. Some express outrage, others wonder why the world reacts so strongly when 50 people die in Europe, and overlapping groups question the motives of the fundamentalist, religious right. I am currently uncomfortably numb.

“Cause it’s a bittersweet symphony, this life. Trying to make ends meet, you’re a slave to money, then you die.” The Verve

Spent three days in Dubai. Bigger, Better, Brighter, Taller, Longer – More is More!

Watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Don’t attempt to analyze this movie. It’s popcorn Hollywood at its best and totally rocks. It’s all about chemistry and Ms. Jolie and Mr. Pitt make the screen sizzle. Damn that blasted PG13 brigade.

Apple’s iTunes Music Store is counting down to 500 Million Songs. The lucky sod who downloads the 500 millionth song gets:

- 10 iPods
- A Gold 10,000-song Gift Card for the iTunes Music Store
- 10 additional 50-song gift cards to go with the iPods
- Four Coldplay Tickets with front-row seats
- Coldplay “Back-stage� Passes for a meet ’n’ greet with the band

WOW! I’d sell the iPods as I already have three and save the cash for Apple’s first Intel-based Powerbook. I haven’t commented on Apple’s massively publicized, highly dramatic ditching of IBM for Intel – was too emotionally drained after following a live blog of Stevie J’s keynote address to the faithful in San Francisco and then watching a webcast a few hours later. To all the sorry people out there who think Apple will suffer from the Osbourne effect, get your facts straight. It’s a bold, risky move and that’s the Macintosh Way. If Steve hadn’t thrown out those hideous floppy drives when the first iMac was launched, (yes, I did hate him for a few days), there would be 3 and a half USB devices in the world today. More Power To Those Of Us Who Dare to Dream!

This post is being interrupted by the Bangladesh consulate – have applied for a business visa and they wish to interview me.

Peace!

The leaders of the world’s eight richest nations have concluded their summit with the promise of a package of measures including a $50bn (£28.8bn) boost to aid, and debt-cancellation for the poorest nations. They also plan to forge fairer trade deals in the future, to increase access to Aids treatment and to provide a $3bn aid package to the Palestinian Authority.

Responds to G8 Communique

Make Poverty History has become an unprecedented movement of passion, energy and solidarity. Never before have so many people in the world come together, fully united in demanding action to end poverty, with a roar for justice that they felt was impossible to ignore.

Today the G8 have chosen not to do all that campaigners insist is necessary to free people trapped in the prison of poverty. Important steps have been taken – steps that will bring hope to millions. But more action is urgently needed if they are to play their role in bringing about real change for the world’s poorest people and consigning extreme poverty to the history books. To secure a deserved place in history, the G8 must go a lot further and secure real change by working with other world leaders at the UN summit on the Millennium Development Goals and talks around the World Trade Organisation. The people of the world are already on the road to justice. They expect their leaders to be with them. Today’s announcement has shown that the G8 need to run much faster to catch up.

Read more on the Make Poverty History website …

Rock musicians Bob Geldof and Bono, who have spearheaded a global push to tackle African poverty, broadly welcomed a pledge on Friday by the Group of Eight (G8) nations to double aid to Africa.

“The people have roared but the G8 has whispered,” said Kumi Naidoo, chair of the Global Call to Action against Poverty.

“To save lives is never a whisper.
People were screaming before, a whisper is not a bad thing.
Please, perspective!
Never before have so many people forced a change of policy onto a global agenda.
If anyone had said eight weeks ago: ‘Will we get a doubling of aid? Will we get a deal on debt?’ People would have said ‘no’.
I would have said no.
Today is a great day for those ten million people (who will be saved).”

“Six hundred thousand people will be alive to remember this G8 in Gleneagles who would have lost their lives to a mosquito bite,” Bono said, referring to the difference he thought the extra aid would make to fighting malaria.

Read more reactions on BBC’s website …

Sir Bob Geldof: We salute you! May the force be with you, eternally.

2nd July 2005 was the day that LIVE 8 rocked the world in 9 countries across 4 continents. 20 years after Live Aid, Bob Geldof demonstrated, yet again, the true power of one. Around the world, an estimated 3 BILLION PEOPLE tuned in to watch LIVE 8, the greatest musical show ever. The concerts took place in London, Paris, Philadelphia, Berlin, Rome, Barrie (Canada), Tokyo, Johannesburg, and Moscow. The artists included U2, Annie Lennox, Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, Sting, Madonna, REM, The Who, Roxy Music, Andrea Bocelli, Cold Play, Bon Jovi, Dido, Bryan Adams, Green Day, Youssou N’Dour, Sheryl Crow, and, and, and … PINK FLOYD.

Some words from Sir Bob Geldof:

“This is not Live Aid 2.

The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will only have the will to do so if tens of thousands of people show them that enough is enough. By doubling aid, fully cancelling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children.”

We never, ever, thought this would happen but “pigs flew”! David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Nick Mason, and Rick Wright reunited, after 20 years, for LIVE 8!!!!!! They performed Breathe, Money, Wish You Were Here, and Comfortably Numb – it felt as if they’d never been apart. I couldn’t stop shivering the entire time. At the beginning of Wish You Were Here, Roger Waters said, “It’s actually quite emotional, standing up here with these three guys after all these years, standing to be counted with the rest of you. Anyway, we’re doing this for everyone’s who’s not here, particularly, of course, for Syd” [Barret]. When he started singing the second part of Wish You Were Here (… and did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts, hot ashes for trees, heartache for a cool breeze, cold comfort for change, did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?), I fell off my bean bag. Pink Floyd, without a doubt, is the best rock band in the world and even though they’re old and grey, they are simply spectacular.

U2, Pink Floyd, Sting, Madonna, Elton John, Robbie Williams, Annie Lennox, Sir Paul McCartney, Dido, Green Day, and REM turned out magical performances. The superstars, the real rockstars of the day were the old folk, the icons. The pathetic, mindless creations of corporations, acts like Destiny’s Child, were pitiful. However, apart from a few idiotic performances, including Mariah Carey, LIVE 8 was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the most phenomenal experience imaginable. Fuck the cynics who question whether any of this will make a difference. “NOW IS THE TIME, THIS IS THE YEAR – OUR LEADERS HAVE THE POWER TO END POVERTY – BUT WE HAVE THE POWER TO MAKE THEM USE IT.”

G8: THE WORLD IS WATCHING!
Sting sang a fantastic, reworded version of Every Breath You Take … “Every single day, every word you say, every game you play, every night you stay, WE’LL be watching you. THIS TIME WE’LL SEE, IF OUR DEMOCRACY, IS JUST A GAME YOU PLAY, NO MATTER WHAT WE SAY!”

I want to say a very special thank you to ARY Digital and The Musik for broadcasting LIVE 8 absolutely live for 10 hours and 25 minutes. Of course, the advertising was extremely disruptive and ill-timed and could have been handled more sensitively, but that’s a topic for another day. After 1:00 am, the advertising disappeared, so another round of applause for ARY.

Will any of this matter to the 8 chaps getting together at GlenEagles, Scotland? We’ll find out soon enough but in the meanwhile, the least we can do is support the cause without cynicism. Visit live8live.com and BBC’s detailed coverage of the LIVE 8 event for more information.

Shame Karachi Shame

According to all the advertising, The Bombay Rockers, Fakhir, and Atif were meant to Rock Karachi on the 3rd of July. The hugely publicized event was in the frickin’ boondocks, way inside the Steel Mill, and we had been asked to come early to avoid long queues and inconvenience. The concert was to start at 8:30 and end by 11:30 pm. We got there at 8:00, always hopeful, that one day, someone would shock us and begin on time. We were greeted by Mr. Fakhr-e-Alam informing us to eat, drink and piss, before entering the gates as we wouldn’t be allowed out, once in. The food hadn’t arrived at the time and only some ridiculous energy drink brand was on display. The “gate” was a space that allowed a single individual to squeeze through at a time. After having our passes scanned by fancy bar code scanners and computers, we got through and parked our butts on the grass of the Arabian Sea Country Club.

From 8:00 to 9:30, we were treated to Sony Ericsson advertising pumped out of 50+ speakers. A few RJs from City FM 89 did their damndest to keep the crowd entertained but for fuck’s sake, no one had paid 1500 bucks and driven for hours to listen to Talha and Masooma play pre-recorded noise. Meanwhile, the people of Karachi kept arriving in dribs and drabs and there were no signs of the show beginning. The crowd outside kept being assured that the concert wouldn’t begin without them. CHARMING. The message here is, don’t fucking bother to be punctual, we’ll wait for you, even if you’re two hours late.

By 11:00 pm, Mr. Junaid Mumtaz’s “sufi techno music”, (it wasn’t music and it wasn’t even vaguely spiritual) had numbed our brains to a pulp and we decided to leave. We were then treated to a spectacle at the “gate”. The scanners had long been discarded, and there were hundreds of people outside, including families with little children, practically climbing on top of each other, trying to get in. There were no exits and we couldn’t get out!!!!!!! It took shmoozing with an Intelligence Officer and 3 guards and 30 minutes to get the hell out of that nightmarish place. There were still hundreds of people pouring in and even more at the Steel Mill entrance about 5 km away from the venue. Thanks to them we left without having heard a single note of music from the performers of Rock Karachi Rock.

Live 8, a musical extravaganza that took place in 10 countries across 4 continents kicked off on the dot of 1:00 pm on the 2nd of July, as announced, in London’s Hyde Park with Sir Paul McCartney and U2. Folks, we’re just not ready … for anything.