Soul In Stone – Ottawa Rockers
Soul In Stone are a 5-piece Indie Hard Rock Band from Ottawa, Ontario.
Source: http://randrworld.com/news/4127/
Music
May 20, 2012
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May 19, 2012
As Petapixel points out, this certainly suggests that the police lied under oath. 
Citizen Video Evidence Helps Two Arrested Photographers Have Their Cases Dropped
Just as we’ve seen the DOJ come out and scold police for taking away people’s rights by arresting people photographing or videotaping police, we have two separate stories (found via PetaPixel) of photographers who were arrested by police for taking photos of public protests, both of whom had their cases dropped due to videotaped evidence from others that was posted to YouTube.
The two cases were unrelated, but have a similar fact pattern (and one not particularly different than previous stories we’ve seen). One case, in Seattle, involved a photographer named Joshua Garland, who started photographing recent protests in downtown Seattle, and was arrested and charged with third degree assault supposedly for “grabbing a police officer’s hand and twisting his arm.” Garland’s lawyer, Andrea Robertson, went on YouTube and was able to piece together videos of the incident, which she then showed to prosecutors, saying that the video footage made it clear “there was absolutely no way that the officer’s account of events is what actually happened.” Because of that, police dropped the charges.
Meanwhile, dealing with a similar issue in New York, photographer Alexander Arbuckle actually went to trial, where, once again someone else’s YouTube footage helped exonerate him (and show that the police appeared to lie). In this case, he was charged with “disorderly conduct” (which we see a lot in cases where police arrest photographers for photographing or videotaping them. The police officer claimed, under oath in court, that Arbuckle was in the street and blocking traffic, leading to the arrest.
Thankfully (or, if you’re the police, unfortunately), there was a lot of evidence contradicting that statement. This included Arbuckle’s own photos, which were taken from the sidewalk, and (more importantly) a Ustream video from a guy named Tim Pool “showed that not only was Arbuckle on the sidewalk, so were all the other protestors.” As the Village Voice notes, “the only thing blocking traffic on 13th Street that night was the police themselves.” Here’s the video, with the key section being from 31:50 until about 35:00.
As Petapixel points out, this certainly suggests that the police lied under oath.
Oh, and a bit of irony: Arbuckle was at that protest to try to document the cops’ side of the story, saying that he felt the media had been unfair in covering the police, portraying them as aggressors, when he didn’t believe that was true. Yeah.
Either way, this highlights a couple of related points:
- Police across the country continue to arrest photographers on completely bogus charges — despite courts (and the Justice Department) making it clear that this is legal activity. In at least some cases, it appears that they are then willing to lie about it in court.
- Similarly, this demonstrates the importance of being able to photograph and film police while on duty, to provide evidence when there is wrongdoing. That the “wrongdoing” involved incorrectly arresting other photographers only serves to make this point even stronger.
It’s really amazing to me how frequently we see stories like this. It’s good that these two cases both got dropped, though crazy that either one existed in the first place, let alone that one of them went all the way to court.
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Music
Why Would Google Offer $1B For Music Rights? Because The Return Could Be Much Bigger
It’s no secret that Google’s music locker service is struggling, but the company still seems committed to making it a success. To do so, they’ll need to do big things, and break through the barriers that the record industry places in their path. Music columnist Wayne Rosso reports that an unnamed source told him Google is making bold overtures in that direction, and has offered at least one major record label a $1-billion contract for blanket worldwide rights to their entire catalog (thanks to Colin for sending this in). It’s still unconfirmed, but it echos something Glyn wrote last year (which Rosso also refers to) about the possibility of Google or a consortium of internet companies simply buying out the record industry (and noting that Larry Page, Serge Brin and Eric Schmidt could afford to do so with their personal fortunes).
Rosso’s source, however, isn’t exactly sanguine about the idea:
What, one may ask, is Google thinking? “Who knows,” said the source. “It really doesn’t matter because they would screw it up anyway (referring to the fact that Google’s music service has been less than dazzling). Evidently they have a big content group and they have to have something to do to justify their existence.”
So how have the labels responded? “They’re just shrugging and stringing Google along, trying to keep milking cash out of them”, says the source. “They want the money but on the other hand they hate Google. It really sticks in their craw that Google continues to present links to pirated content at the top of their search results.”
I think that, if true, this says something much different. Google is not trying to “justify” anything—they know that there is tremendous opportunity in the field of online music services if only the labels will loosen the reins a bit. And they are willing to bet billions on that belief. The problem with online music offerings is that the people who design them simply don’t think the same way the recording industry does. They want to make cool, useful, engaging services full of both common sense features and innovative ones, deployed on multiple platforms all over the world, fully leveraging the technology that is available—but licensing restrictions interfere with every single step of that process. Design and development are inextricably linked with tedious contract negotiations and the fear of lawsuits. It’s extremely difficult to get a good product as a result—and if you do, the labels clamp down to see where they can extract more money from it. If Google is trying to buy blanket licenses with no restrictions at a high price tag, it’s because they want to escape that cycle. They want a clear and open playing field on which to build services the way they want to build them, without having to beg the labels for permission at every turn. In a market that has only scratched the surface of the economic possibilities of digital music, such a playing field would be well worth the money.
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Couldn?t you just eat him up?
ust when you thought it was impossible to adore Yannick Nézet-Séguin any more than you already did…
Source: http://parterre.com/2012/05/07/couldnt-you-just-eat-him-up/
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Alfredo Catalani — A new perspective on later Italian opera
Assumptions about later Italian opera are dominated by Puccini, but Alfredo Catalani, born in the same town and almost at the same time, was highly regarded by their contemporaries. Two new books on Catalani could change our perceptions.
Source: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2012/04/alfredo_catalan.php
Music
La bohème, Royal Opera House, London
A robust Mimì and a self-regarding Rodolfo impart a distinctive flavour to this full-throttled version of John Copley?s evergreen La bohème.
Source: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2012/05/la_boheme_royal.php
Music
My Big Fat American Moustache: A Wartime Così Fan Tutte
An energetic and exceptionally entertaining production of Così fan tutte sung in English and set during World War II, when the Americans often got the girls.
Source: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2012/05/my_big_fat_amer.php