News

[danny275]

RTÉ news showed "I'm so Ronery" on their report

[ShadyKnight]

RTÉ news showed "I'm so Ronery" on their report

From the channel that gave rise to Eamonn Dunphy and his infamous on-air diatribes I expect nothing less.

[danny275]

RTÉ news showed "I'm so Ronery" on their report

From the channel that gave rise to Eamonn Dunphy and his infamous on-air diatribes I expect nothing less.

I love Dunphy, especially when it comes to Ireland matches.

[ShadyKnight]

RTÉ news showed "I'm so Ronery" on their report

From the channel that gave rise to Eamonn Dunphy and his infamous on-air diatribes I expect nothing less.

I love Dunphy, especially when it comes to Ireland matches.

I'm watching Dunphy's greatest hits on YouTube at this very moment.

[danny275]

I'm watching Dunphy's greatest hits on YouTube at this very moment.

One of his best moments, during the worst match I've ever witnessed

[ShadyKnight]

Greek economic crisis turns tragic for children abandoned by their families

Even before Greece's economic crisis engulfed his own home, Dimitris Gasparinatos found it hard to provide for his six sons and four daughters. His wife, Christina, who was struggling to make ends meet with his salary of €960 (£800) a month and welfare aid of about €460 every two months, was unhappy and desperate.

Deep in debt, the couple owed money to the butcher, baker and grocer – the very people who had kept them going in the port of Patras, west of Athens. In their tiny flat, the family slipped increasingly into a life of squalor.

"Psychologically we were all in a bit of a mess," said Gasparinatos. "We were sleeping on mattresses on the floor, the rent hadn't been paid for months, something had to be done."

And so, with Christmas approaching, the 42-year-old took the decision to put in an official request for three of his boys and one daughter to be taken into care.

"The crisis had killed us. I am ashamed to say but it had got to the point where I couldn't even afford the €2 needed to buy bread," he told the Guardian. "We didn't want to break up the family but we did think it would be easier for them if four of my children were sent to an institution for maybe two or three years."

The next day, his 37-year-old wife visited the local town hall and asked that her children be "saved".

"She was visibly distraught," said Theoharis Massaras, the local deputy mayor and director of social works. "Requests for support have shot up. Last year we sent food to 400 families in Patras at Christmas. This year, 1,200 asked for help and they weren't what I'd call traditionally low-income people. Many had good jobs until this year when their shops and businesses closed.

"But to be asked to take children away was something new. When we visited their home and saw the situation for ourselves, the third world conditions, the poverty and filth, we couldn't believe our eyes."

In a nation as proud as Greece, where family always comes first, the plight of the Gasparinatoses quickly hit a nerve. Soon shocked reporters were knocking at their door. But testimony from charities, doctors and unions would attest that they are not alone.

As Greece prepares to endure a fifth consecutive year of recession, as the crisis extends its reach, as cuts take their toll, as poverty deepens and unemployment climbs, evidence is mounting that society is tearing at the seams.

Like the middle class, society's great connector, families are beginning to unravel under the weight of a crisis that, with no end in sight, is as much human as it is financial.

Tell-tale signs abound that in its quest to beat off bankruptcy, Greece is being hollowed out, a little more, with each passing day.

"People are going hungry, families are breaking up, instances are mounting of mothers and fathers no longer being able to bring up their own kids," said Ilias Ilioupolis, general secretary of the civil servants' union ADEDY. "Until now there has been a conspiracy of silence around the tragic effects of the austerity measures the IMF and EU are asking us to take."

From cases of newborn babies wrapped in swaddling and dumped on the doorsteps of clinics, to children being offloaded on charities and put in foster care, the nation's struggle to pay off its debts is assuming dramatic proportions, even if officials insist that the belt-tightening and structural reforms will eventually change the EU's most uncompetitive economy for the better.

Propelled by poverty, 500 families had recently asked to place children in homes run by the charity SOS Children's Villages, according to the Greek daily Kathimerini. One toddler was left at the nursery she attended with a note that read: "I will not return to get Anna. I don't have any money, I can't bring her up. Sorry. Her mother."

"Unfortunately, there's been a huge increase in demand from families in need," said Dimitris Tzouras, a social worker employed with the organisation for 19 years. "In the greater Attica region [of Athens], we're talking about a 100% increase partly because public welfare is in such disarray people have no one else to turn to."

Whereas in the past, pleas for help had come mostly from families where abuse was a problem, they are now from victims of the economic crisis.

"Parents who feel they can no longer look after children are calling in, but our policy is to do whatever we can to keep families united," added Tzouras. "The crisis has exacerbated underlying problems that in the past may just have threatened to tear families apart. It's not only the vulnerable. It's now affecting the middle class."

Few know more about the plight of children abandoned, abused and neglected in Greece than Costas Yannopoulos, who chairs the local charity the Smile of the Child. The Athens headquarters of his 16-year-old organisation is home to children who have endured life's worst excesses.

Inside the tidy, two-storey building are cots for babies who were abandoned in hospitals, found in windowless homes or taken from unfit parents.

Yannopoulos recalls the baby he discovered in a rubbish dump and the eight-month-old boy whose body had "turned to jelly" lying unloved in an overworked maternity ward.

"The crisis has made a bad situation worse," he sighed. "Alcoholism, drug abuse and psychiatric problems are on the rise and more and more children are being abandoned on the streets."

With the country's health system severely hit by cuts and the spectre of its economy becoming worse before it gets better, Yannopoulos has a plan to host children affected by "this war" in specially established "farms".

There is, he says, another Greece "of kindness and hospitality and caring about others" that all too often is overlooked.

Last week Dimitris Gasparinatos got good news. After learning of his family's circumstances, the wife of a wealthy Athenian businessman donated money for him to move to a new home with his wife and 10 children.

"This good woman has changed our lives. She has allowed us to hope again," he said. "The crisis has taken us places we never wanted to go. By the New Year, thanks to her, we will be in a new house, all together."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/28/greek-economic-crisis-children-victims

My word. Imagine having to make that decision.

[danny275]

A treasure trove of tapes stashed away by Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott will be released as a boxed set later this year.

Twenty six years after the Dublin rocker's death at the age of 36, more of his lost music will be heard by the public for the first time in June.

Shortly before he passed away in 1986, Mr Lynott gave 150 tapes to a third party for safekeeping. The cache of up to 700 songs has finally been released to record company Universal Music.

"This is an absolutely stunning find," Steve Hammonds, project manager behind the new Thin Lizzy box set, told the Irish Independent.

"In every group there's a member who lovingly collects their recordings and in Thin Lizzy that was Phil Lynott, because Lizzy was his baby and his band."

It will be the second boxed set in recent times to feature archive work by the band, following last year's 'Live At The BBC' release.

But the newly unearthed recordings stretch from Thin Lizzy's years with Decca Records, beginning in 1971, to their 'Renegade' album in 1981.

"There are out-takes, unheard versions of Thin Lizzy hits and, most exciting of all, material which was recorded but never released at the time," said Mr Hammonds.

"Phil Lynott was such a prolific songwriter. He recorded 12 Thin Lizzy albums, two solo albums, along with his Grand Slam post-Lizzy project, and now we find he had even more songs in his drawer."

However, Thin Lizzy members Scott Gorham and Brian Downey will have the "final say" over which songs are released.

"The members of Thin Lizzy are fully involved with this project. We have been sending them tapes of what we've found and respecting their wishes as regards the material being issued and the art work," added Mr Hammonds.

Label bosses have declined to give more details on why the material is only surfacing now, 30 years after Thin Lizzy split.

"Phil Lynott passed the material on to a third party for safekeeping. They held on to it for decades because they were waiting for the right people to come along.

"They really didn't trust anyone enough to release it properly. The catalyst was a boxed set of Thin Lizzy BBC sessions we issued earlier this year, which made them believe we were the right people. No money has changed hands, this person is a Thin Lizzy fan."

Meanwhile, RTE will mark the anniversary of Mr Lynott's death on January 4 with a new documentary 'The Philip Lynott Archive' to be broadcast tonight and which will feature the first screening of a fully restored version of the 1982 'Old Town' video.

And the annual 'Vibe for Philo' gig in Mr Lynott's memory takes place at Dublin's Button Factory on Wednesday.

[danny275]

Whitney Houston, who reigned as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48.

Publicist Kristen Foster said Saturday that the singer had died, but the cause and the location of her death were unknown.

At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

Her success carried her beyond music to movies, where she starred in hits like "The Bodyguard" and "Waiting to Exhale."

She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.

She influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey, who when she first came out sounded so much like Houston that many thought it was Houston.

But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.

"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 interview with then-husband Brown by her side.

It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.

She seemed to be born into greatness. She was the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Houston, the cousin of 1960s pop diva Dionne Warwick and the goddaughter of Aretha Franklin.

Houston first started singing in the church as a child. In her teens, she sang backup for Chaka Khan, Jermaine Jackson and others, in addition to modeling. It was around that time when music mogul Clive Davis first heard Houston perform.

"The time that I first saw her singing in her mother's act in a club ... it was such a stunning impact," Davis told "Good Morning America."

"To hear this young girl breathe such fire into this song. I mean, it really sent the proverbial tingles up my spine," he added.

Before long, the rest of the country would feel it, too. Houston made her album debut in 1985 with "Whitney Houston," which sold millions and spawned hit after hit. "Saving All My Love for You" brought her her first Grammy, for best female pop vocal. "How Will I Know," ''You Give Good Love" and "The Greatest Love of All" also became hit singles.

Another multiplatinum album, "Whitney," came out in 1987 and included hits like "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

The New York Times wrote that Houston "possesses one of her generation's most powerful gospel-trained voices, but she eschews many of the churchier mannerisms of her forerunners. She uses ornamental gospel phrasing only sparingly, and instead of projecting an earthy, tearful vulnerability, communicates cool self-assurance and strength, building pop ballads to majestic, sustained peaks of intensity."

Her decision not to follow the more soulful inflections of singers like Franklin drew criticism by some who saw her as playing down her black roots to go pop and reach white audiences. The criticism would become a constant refrain through much of her career. She was even booed during the "Soul Train Awards" in 1989.

"Sometimes it gets down to that, you know?" she told Katie Couric in 1996. "You're not black enough for them. I don't know. You're not R&B enough. You're very pop. The white audience has taken you away from them."

Some saw her 1992 marriage to former New Edition member and soul crooner Bobby Brown as an attempt to refute those critics. It seemed to be an odd union; she was seen as pop's pure princess while he had a bad-boy image, and already had children of his own. (The couple had a daughter, Bobbi Kristina, in 1993.) Over the years, he would be arrested several times, on charges ranging from DUI to failure to pay child support.

But Houston said their true personalities were not as far apart as people may have believed.

"When you love, you love. I mean, do you stop loving somebody because you have different images? You know, Bobby and I basically come from the same place," she told Rolling Stone in 1993. "You see somebody, and you deal with their image, that's their image. It's part of them, it's not the whole picture. I am not always in a sequined gown. I am nobody's angel. I can get down and dirty. I can get raunchy."

It would take several years, however, for the public to see that side of Houston. Her moving 1991 rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Super Bowl, amid the first Gulf War, set a new standard and once again reaffirmed her as America's sweetheart.

In 1992, she became a star in the acting world with "The Bodyguard." Despite mixed reviews, the story of a singer (Houston) guarded by a former Secret Service agent (Kevin Costner) was an international success.

It also gave her perhaps her most memorable hit: a searing, stunning rendition of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You," which sat atop the charts for weeks. It was Grammy's record of the year and best female pop vocal, and the "Bodyguard" soundtrack was named album of the year.

She returned to the big screen in 1995-96 with "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Preacher's Wife." Both spawned soundtrack albums, and another hit studio album, "My Love Is Your Love," in 1998, brought her a Grammy for best female R&B vocal for the cut "It's Not Right But It's Okay."

But during these career and personal highs, Houston was using drugs. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2010, she said by the time "The Preacher's Wife" was released, "(doing drugs) was an everyday thing. ... I would do my work, but after I did my work, for a whole year or two, it was every day. ... I wasn't happy by that point in time. I was losing myself."

In the interview, Houston blamed her rocky marriage to Brown, which included a charge of domestic abuse against Brown in 1993. They divorced in 2007.

Houston would go to rehab twice before she would declare herself drug-free to Winfrey in 2010. But in the interim, there were missed concert dates, a stop at an airport due to drugs, and public meltdowns.

She was so startlingly thin during a 2001 Michael Jackson tribute concert that rumors spread she had died the next day. Her crude behavior and jittery appearance on Brown's reality show, "Being Bobby Brown," was an example of her sad decline. Her Sawyer interview, where she declared "crack is whack," was often parodied. She dropped out of the spotlight for a few years.

Houston staged what seemed to be a successful comeback with the 2009 album "I Look To You." The album debuted on the top of the charts, and would eventually go platinum.

Things soon fell apart. A concert to promote the album on "Good Morning America" went awry as Houston's voice sounded ragged and off-key. She blamed an interview with Winfrey for straining her voice.

A world tour launched overseas, however, only confirmed suspicions that Houston had lost her treasured gift, as she failed to hit notes and left many fans unimpressed; some walked out. Canceled concert dates raised speculation that she may have been abusing drugs, but she denied those claims and said she was in great shape, blaming illness for cancellations.

RIP

[G7SEV]

RIP Whitney.
I loved her music. My girlfriend is devastated, she loved her and her music. At least she got to see her in concert once.

[danny275]

Legendary rock guitarist Gary Moore died after binging on enough alcohol to put him nearly five times over the drink-drive limit, tests have revealed.

The Belfast-born guitar ace suffered a heart attack brought on by the amount of drink he knocked back at the start of a sunshine holiday in Spain.

The former Thin Lizzy musician was found to have 380mg of alcohol per decilitre of blood in his system — 30mg more than the amount associated with fatalities and just short of the 416mg Amy Winehouse had in her body when she died surrounded by three empty vodka bottles.

The tests also revealed dad-of-three Moore, found dead in bed at a luxury Costa del Sol hotel last February, had abused alcohol for years.

No traces of any illegal drugs were found in his body.

Moore died at the Kempinski Resort Hotel in Estepona hours after starting a six-day holiday with his new partner. Hours earlier the pair were seen washing down a snack at the hotel bar with champagne and brandy. His girlfriend raised the alarm around 4am on February 6 last year.

An initial post-mortem revealed he had died of a heart attack.

Chemical and toxicology studies were carried out at a lab in Seville along with an examination of the musician's cells and tissue samples.

A source involved in the investigation into the musician's death said: “All the tests have been conducted and they show Mr Moore died of heart failure caused by alcohol.

“He had 380mg of alcohol per 100ml (per decilitre) of blood in his body when he died.

“It's a massive amount of alcohol and enough to send most people into a coma. The tests showed he was a heavy drinker and had been abusing alcohol over a period of time. His body just seems to have given up on him that night with all the booze he consumed. He died of natural causes.”

Police confirmed at the time the 58-year-old rocker died they were not treating it as suspicious.

An investigating magistrate who opened a standard inquiry to determine the exact cause of death is now expected to close the probe and pave the way for an inquest in the UK where Moore was living.

The acclaimed east Belfast-born musician, rated as one of the finest guitarists of his generation, was best known for his time in Thin Lizzy.

He played on their hits Waiting For An Alibi and Do

Anything You Want To. He also teamed up with Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott for the Top 10 solo hits Parisienne Walkways and Out In The Fields. Lynott died in 1986 after battling drink and drug problems.

In recent years Moore forged a career as a blues musician, releasing critically-acclaimed albums and performing with BB King and Bob Dylan. Bob Geldof described him as “one of the greatest blues players of all time”.

Thin Lizzy founding member Brian Downey said at the time: “He will always be in my thoughts and prayers.”

The legal limit for driving in the UK is 80mg of alcohol per decilitre of blood. In most European countries including Spain, where drink-drive limits are lower, he would have been nearly eight times over the permitted amount to drive.

[danny275]

Guitar amp innovator Jim Marshall, dubbed "the Father of Loud" for creating kit used by some of rock's biggest names, has died aged 88.

Mr Marshall, who originally owned a music shop in London, founded Marshall Amplification 50 years ago.

He had suffered several strokes in recent years, and developed cancer at the end of 2011, his son said.

A statement posted on the company's website called him a "legendary man" who led a "truly remarkable life".

Jimi Hendrix and Kurt Cobain are among the musicians who used Marshall amps.

Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash tweeted: "The news of Jim Marshall passing is deeply saddening. R & R will never be the same w/out him. But, his amps will live on FOREVER!"

Motley Crue bass player Nikki Sixx also paid tribute on Twitter, saying Marshall was "responsible for some of the greatest audio moments in music's history - and 50% responsible of all our hearing loss."

Speaking to Radio Four's Front Row programme on Thursday, musician Paul Weller said he used a Marshall amp that was "at least 40 years old and still sounds fantastic".

"For me it's the exactly right amp for the job," said the former Jam and Style Council frontman. "I don't know if anyone's particularly improved on it, to be honest."

Jim Marshall began building amplifiers in the early 1960s, using the Fender Bassman amp as a model, creating what later became known as "the Marshall sound".

After talking to Pete Townsend and Ritchie Blackmore, who were customers at the shop, he realised there was a gap in the market to make a cheaper alternative to the other models available at the time.

It took him six attempts to create an amp he was happy with.

As the company grew, Mr Marshall expanded his product range, unveiling the Master Volume Marshall amps and the classic JCM800 split channel amps.

"Jim rose to become one of the forefathers responsible for creating the tools that allowed rock guitar, as we know and love it today, to be born," the statement said.

"In addition to the creation of the amps, chosen by countless guitar heroes and game changing bands, Jim was also an incredibly humble and generous man who, over the past several decades, has quietly donated many millions of pounds to worthy causes."

Marshall amplifiers were such a fixture of the rock scene that they featured prominently in the spoof documentary This is Spinal Tap.

In a famous scene from the film, guitarist Nigel Tufnel proudly showed off his Marshall stack which went up to 11. He explained it was "one louder" than usual amplifiers.

In 2003, Marshall he was given the OBE for his services to music and charity. He was a regular supporter of Macmillan and the Willen Hospice.

He also donated money to the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, where he was treated for tuberculosis as a child.

The Marshall Amps company, which is now based in Bletchley, Milton Keynes, is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a tribute concert at Wembley Arena.

Iron Maiden, Slipknot, Whitesnake and The Cult are among the bands who have been lined up to play at the September event.

Mr Marshall will be remembered alongside guitarmakers Leo Fender and Les Paul for shaping the sound of the modern electric guitar.

He is survived by his children Terry and Victoria and step-children Paul and Dawn.

RIP

[Gari14]

Gutted when I heard the news about Jim Marshall today. RIP.

[danny275]

Breaking News: GARI IN GENERAL DISCUSSION

I've only ever had a brief (6 hour) session on a Marshall, it was quite good. I hear their standards have dropped in recent years though, like Gibson

[Gari14]

Breaking News: GARI IN GENERAL DISCUSSION:shock:

I've only ever had a brief (6 hour) session on a Marshall, it was quite good. I hear their standards have dropped in recent years though, like Gibson

The cheek!

Im not a guitarist but credit to him where credit is due as what he has given musicians worldwide with his musical equipment and the ability for people to experience his amps etc, has changed so many musicians lives. I've heard the same with regards to quality of the products and it seems to be the case with everything these days. S

[danny275]

The cheek!

Im not a guitarist but credit to him where credit is due as what he has given musicians worldwide with his musical equipment and the ability for people to experience his amps etc, has changed so many musicians lives. I've heard the same with regards to quality of the products and it seems to be the case with everything these days. S

Back in the good old days, we all used to post in here, including Adam and Suff

Things seem to be thrown together nowadays which is a pity (by which I mean products. Having read back, it looks like the above line is related to this one )

[Gari14]

Back in the good old days, we all used to post in here, including Adam and Suff

Things seem to be thrown together nowadays which is a pity

Ive not been on as much recently due to sorting out work stuff/house/splitting with my GF/NGB and its all got on top of me and unfortunately, I've not had enough time to do it all . I should be better equipped now that I've got everything (pretty much) in shape. i really need to get on here more though as its been too long away.

Yeah I agree as its all about mass production now rather than having time and care taken to make something. Shame its like it is and unfortunately, its only going to get worse.

[danny275]

Back in the good old days, we all used to post in here, including Adam and Suff

Things seem to be thrown together nowadays which is a pity

Ive not been on as much recently due to sorting out work stuff/house/splitting with my GF/NGB and its all got on top of me and unfortunately, I've not had enough time to do it all . I should be better equipped now that I've got everything (pretty much) in shape. i really need to get on here more though as its been too long away.

Yeah I agree as its all about mass production now rather than having time and care taken to make something. Shame its like it is and unfortunately, its only going to get worse.

I understand, mate.

I basically arse about on here because I've nothing better to be at

You and your sexy cap have been missed

[Gari14]

I understand, mate.

I basically arse about on here because I've nothing better to be at

You and your sexy cap have been missed

Danny its good that guys like you are here so much as it would be a nightmare without you and the other lads

[nani17]

**** i missed it

[ShadyKnight]

I miss Gari's sexy cap too...