The Cedar Lounge Revolution

Duane Eddy June 1, 2024

Sad to hear that Duane Eddy passed this last month. Amazing to consider how popular he was.

It’s hard to comprehend now how ubiquitous Eddy was at his peak: he was NME’s No 1 World Musical Personality in 1960, despite that being the year in which he tried to capitalise on the booming folk scene by releasing the frankly peculiar Songs of Our Heritage, an album of American folk standards, largely played on banjo and acoustic guitar, and entirely devoid of the twang). And when ubiquity disappeared, he did what so many other fading rock’n’roll stars did, and chased the times. In Eddy’s case that came with the 1965 album Duane Eddy Does Bob Dylan, a remarkable period piece in which Eddy’s guitar sits uncomfortably on top of folk-rock arrangements (and which also features two Hazlewood songs, and – its highlight – an extraordinary version of PF Sloan’s Eve of Destruction).

I’m always intrigued by what lasts and what doesn’t in music. Eddy was that significant, and as the piece says, ubiquitous, and yet while never forgotten he didn’t maintain that ubiquity thereafter. 

I always loved the reworked version of Peter Gunn where he and Art of Noise played together. It was a brilliant means of reconsidering his work. Not so sure about the video though 🙂

Careful with that camera, Eugene! June 1, 2024

There is no Eugene, but there is a camera. I’ve always been part admiring, part infuriated by the photography used around house sales. I live in a small house which is a privilege but like most of us I’m wise to the ways of estate agents who pick angles and so on. This, though, is a classic of the form. 

I flicked through the article, curious as to the houseporn that the Irish media likes to regale its readers with – looking at the photographs and thinking that even by my standards ‘that’s small, that’s very small’. It is indeed. Looking at the patio and then at the inside room it was clear it was not a hugely wide space. Similarly the patio is elongated sharply in the photographs. 

Then I read the following:

Formerly a garage, then an art studio, number 14A Victoria Villas has since been converted to a one-bedroom residence complete with an outdoor terrace on each level. It was last bought by interior designer Caroline Flannery, who has created a stylish, eclectic home.

A garage they say. Indeed. And all this for half a million euro, near enough. 

Turbulence June 1, 2024

In the news this last week or two. A flight from Qatar to Dublin experienced serious turbulence, with six passengers and six cabin crew injured. A much much worse experience for those on a Singapore Airlines flight from London to Singapore.

Singapore Airlines has tightened seatbelt rules on its flights after one passenger died and more than 100 were injured when one of its planes hit severe turbulence.

Passengers and crew onboard flight SQ321 suffered skull, brain and spine injuries when they were thrown violently around the cabin during Tuesday’s terrifying high-altitude ordeal. Some passengers said the turbulence happened so fast there was no time to fasten their seatbelts.

The London to Singapore flight carrying 211 passengers and 18 crew was forced to make an emergency landing in Bangkok, where at least 48 people are still being treated in hospital.

And new measures have been introduced including:

a “more cautious approach” to turbulence.

“In addition to the suspension of hot beverage service when the seatbelt sign is on, the meal service will also be suspended,” the carrier said in a statement to AFP. “SIA will continue to review our processes as the safety of our passengers and crew is of utmost importance.”

Interesting that that wasn’t already implemented to protect those working on the jets.

Though once petrified on aircraft, while that phobia has largely faded away I have found turbulence to be less than enjoyable – I’ve a great app that shows the G-forces working on the aircraft (it’s a fear of flying app and while I don’t need it I do enjoy the visuals about G-forces) and it’s remarkable to compare and contrast with trains and buses. Let’s just say that the latter two modes of transport are subject to much more vibration and continual mild G-forces – rattle and shake kind of describes it. Aircraft are notably more smooth in their passage through the air. Once you can see in real time just how low level the forces exerted on an airframe are it is very calming, almost relaxing. Knowledge is a good thing.

As to whether this is a function of climate change, it does appear that some turbulence appears to be getting worse.

Clear air” turbulence occurs when there is a change of wind direction in or around the jet stream – a fast flowing “river” of air that is typically found at 30,000-60,000ft.

Last year scientists from Reading University found that severe turbulence, from this clean air phenomenon, had increased 55% between 1979 and 2020 in the North Atlantic.

They said that warmer air from increasing greenhouse gas emissions was changing the wind speed in the jet stream.

And:

This type of turbulence is notoriously difficult for pilots to navigate. Although meteorological organisations provide warnings of where it may be found, during flight it cannot be picked up on their radar systems or seen.

Prof Paul Williams, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Reading, who co-authored the study told the BBC last year: “We should be investing in improved turbulence forecasting and detection systems, to prevent the rougher air from translating into bumpier flights in the coming decades.”

Not that it is dangerous, as such to airframes – I’ve been looking for examples of turbulence seriously damaging aircraft and worse and it appears to not be a contributory factor to accidents and worse, but for people not strapped in, that’s a different matter. The point being keep that seatbelt loosely on all the time. And perhaps keep in mind that in a world that is heating up this is going to become more, rather than less, prevalent.

Diane debacle May 31, 2024

Quite some debacle, and there’s no other word for it, around Diane Abbott and how she has been treated beyond shabbily by the Starmer Labour Party.

On so many levels this is a terrible injustice to someone who has been a hard-working campaigner and member and representative of the BLP. Even the idea that she should have to retire at this election (which appears to have been part of some ‘deal’) is dismal – that’s her decision. She was good enough as an MP in the Labour Party led by Kinnock, Smith, Blair and Miliband – she most certainly is good enough to remain one in Starmer’s.

That her offence was dealt with – as it should have been – immediately by her apology merely underscores how unfair and malign this all is.

The Guardian editorial noted:

Ms Abbott has had to endure an unbelievable amount of racism and misogynist abuse. During the 2017 election campaign, she received 45% of all of the abusive tweets sent to female MPs. Her humiliation since last year by the party speaks of a lack of humanity. It is also disrespectful to an MP who became the first black person to represent Labour at prime minister’s questions. Politics is a rough trade. Sir Keir, in March, rightly defended Ms Abbott as a “trailblazer” who has inspired others. This came after the Conservative party’s biggest donor was reported as saying that she “should be shot”. Voters wouldn’t have expected anything less. Yet they might be surprised to know that the Labour leader had ignored her pleas for the whip to be returned.

All this casts the Labour party in a poor light. Sir Keir should be concentrating on winning power rather than becoming distracted by rows over MP selections. He has made his point about turning the page on the leadership of his leftwing predecessor. But it is a strategic error of judgment to believe that purging the party of dissent will help him connect with voters.

What did those in the BLP leadership think would happen, that people would slink away quietly? Why, after a lifetime of work in the BLP, would anyone do that? To not realise that such actions would have reactions – at any time, but particularly and inevitably during the election campaign, derailing the push to win it – suggests quite some level of crass stupidity. And now we see other candidates blocked from standing for a range of offences that seem absurdly minimal. To seem oblivious to how this would play with black Labour voters and supporters and representatives suggests Olympian detachment and indifference to them. And it’s not the BLP alone but quite rightly and naturally well beyond it. And voters do take note.

Chris Mullin has an excellent piece here.

The Tories must be delighted that for once they’re off the hook.

‘It won’t be a shitshow’ May 31, 2024

That’s how some characterise the changes in travelling by train between the EU and Britain, with new EU changes coming into effect in the latter part of this year. But given the track record of EU/UK interactions since Brexit one would have to wonder.

Passengers will have to upload their fingerprints and scan their faces [at biometric kiosks], then walk – or queue – past the piano donated by Elton John to the ticket gates. Once they’re through those, the baggage screening and UK passport control, French border police will take their fingerprints all over again.

Eurostar says its modelling shows passengers will be able to complete the process within the recommended 60 to 90 minutes before travel, though some reports last week claimed it would take two hours.

Eurostar’s chief stations and security officer, Simon Lejeune, said: “We’re confident 6 October won’t be a shitshow because of the work that’s going in 
 we have the right set-up.”

And:

For Eurostar, the key is capacity – or how quickly passengers can pass the frontier, and it is installing 49 kiosks in three areas: the other two are for business or premier passengers and an upstairs overflow set-up for when things get hairy at peak times. The double fingerprint check is necessary because biometric data collection must be supervised by a European border officer on first entry. After registration, people will be able to use e-gates for three years. France has agreed to double the police aux frontiùres booths from nine to 18.

Brexit had already cut capacity on trains to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam: the stamping of paper passports was taking so long that trains were not able to fill up and depart on time. Now, Eurostar hopes to cut the last part of the border process from 59 to 37 seconds.

Completed that journey just one in the mid-2000s from Dublin to Paris and on to Rome and back. It was fairly easy, seamless even, bar a long taxi ride across Paris to get to the train to Rome. But got to say that this level of data collection is troubling. 

And what about this?

Airline passengers could find themselves on 6 October at, say, a small Greek airport which has not had millions invested in staff and kiosks to process biometric data. Passport queues for non-EU travellers may not be a pretty sight.

Was in Malaga at Easter and arriving there discovered that the immigration for UK travellers wasn’t working. In the giant hall there were hundreds, perhaps more, glum looking UK passport holders waiting for something to happen. That EU passport was magic then.  But the sense of all this as a self-inflicted wound on the part of the British continues to be very strong. In small ways and large Brexit continues to hobble that state. 

 

Moral doublethink May 31, 2024

This site is often critical of Simon Tisdall’s take on the invasion of Ukraine. Not his support of that state but his arguments that no-fly zones or NATO involvement on the ground or in other more direct forms are necessary. Patently they are not.

While Ukraine should be extended all possible supports as individual states see fit and in keeping with their foreign policy approaches (and consequently Ireland should not offer military aid, though other support is reasonable), there are limits to what is possible without being potentially or actually escalatory in terms of enlarging the scope of that conflict. But on this outline of the sheer hypocrisy of some states in relation to Palestine and Israel when compared to Ukraine you won’t find much better. 

Indignant protests by Israeli and US leaders over last week’s decision by the prosecutor of the international criminal court (ICC) to seek Benjamin Netanyahu’s arrest for alleged war crimes shone new light on an old reality: for those at the top who wield decisive political power, all people are equal – but some are more equal than others.

At the heart of objections to Karim Khan’s gutsy move is the unspoken implication that violence against Palestinians, a dispossessed, marginalised and largely voiceless people, is less wrong, or somehow more acceptable, than violence against Israelis, the privileged, protected citizens of an established nation state. To demur is to be accused, inanely yet inevitably, of antisemitism.

The self-reverencing fury of US and Israeli politicians, and some in Europe, is revealing – and dismaying. Hamas’s massacre of about 1,200 people last October was appalling, criminal and unforgivable – and must and will be punished. It does not justify Israel’s disproportionate, illegal and indiscriminately lethal response in Gaza. But they just don’t get it.

Palestinian lives matter as much as anyone else’s. How is it that western politicians so easily tolerate, ignore or defend the killing of about 35,000 people, at least 12,000 of whom were women and children (based on revised UN figures), through the bombing of homes and hospitals and the blocking and hijacking of aid?

And as he says, this sits at complete odds with the narratives around Ukraine. And speaking of that:

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, is accused of overseeing numerous crimes in Ukraine. The ICC issued an arrest warrant last year. Does this suggest “moral equivalence” with Hamas terrorists – or Netanyahu? No. It simply means that Putin, like any other individual, must answer for his alleged actions. Like them, his assumption of impunity is – and must be shown to be – false. It’s surprising how difficult western leaders find this concept of equality before the law, even as they prate about upholding the democratic, international rules-based order.

Biden’s reaction was illogical, bordering on bizarre. “What’s happening is not genocide,” he said. But the ICC is not saying it is. That’s a different court, Joe. Biden condemned efforts to arrest the two Israelis (but not the Hamas leaders) as “outrageous”. He has himself sharply criticised Israel’s starvation tactics in Gaza, a central ICC charge, and its failure to protect civilians. Yet now he balks at attempts to ensure those responsible are held accountable – while backing the ICC warrant for Putin. This is pick’n’mix justice.

His last point is absolutely on the nose:

In another advance, the UN’s international court of justice ordered Israel to halt its offensive in Rafah, in southern Gaza. The gathering message is plain. Impunity cannot stand. For war criminals, there may be no lasting sanctuary. No one, however powerful, is above the law. Everyone has a right to protection.

Campaign trails May 31, 2024

Useful to get a sense of the canvass here in comments – much appreciated.

The Irish Times political podcast also had a report from Jennifer Bray and Cormac McQuinn which offered a sense of the public mood on the various campaign trails, local, European and mayoral. This from across the island. Their read? Far from there being deep pools of anger, the general consensus was that canvassers were being greeted in a civilised way, that there was some engagement, next to no confrontation and Bray made this point:

While people who do stop to talk to politicians have their ears open, I do notice a lot of doors unanswered and I have heard canvassers I’ve been out with say that they’re picking up on a lot of voter apathy. Almost as if it’s a plague on all your houses. Some people have completely tuned out and it makes me wonder what the turn out will be. 

She noted that 2019 was the lowest turnout in the history of local elections. Anyone know if that is accurate? It was just about 50%.

McQuinn made an excellent point that there’s the issue about say the Green Party and rural constituencies is much more nuanced than the media tropes. Local candidates are seen in different ways to the national party. It was ever thus. Fix the paving slab that is cracked outside someones house and you’ve a supporter for life. And why not, that’s what impacts most directly on them a lot of the time. 

Harry McGee, by contrast, suggested that GP canvassing in Kilkenny and Galway experienced more hassle. Bray had noted before that those sort of city centre canvasses tend to encounter more belligerence. And in Galway the situation with the traffic and ring road is blamed on the GP too. But still, it didn’t sound as if there was quite the aggression that had been expected.

Could the referendums have lanced a boil in terms of voter disdain with the government, or was that always overstated in the first place? That said, housing was, according to them, the issue that was coming up most frequently.

Sinn FĂ©in was apparently getting the ‘traitors’ rhetoric in some places and spending a lot of time pushing back against that. So what is happening is a tussle over opposition? The only thought I have on that is that Sinn FĂ©in is vastly larger and better equipped to deal with that than the minuscule far-right. Then again, these are second order elections and actual policy changes aren’t likely to ensue on foot of European or local elections. Or is this yet another example of a dynamic seen on social media, where people make great noise on the platforms but when it comes to participation in real life they peel off? We’ll know soon enough. 

One other point that was made that is striking, and something I noticed last time few times I was out leafleting myself, smart doorbells are everywhere. Which has led to some candidates when faced with an unopened door giving their pitch directly to the camera. God love them. It wasn’t like that back in the WP days – or indeed later canvassing for various parties or candidates. Move on, move on was the order of the day.

But then I’m one of those who most of the time doesn’t hotfoot it to the door when the bell rings these days. Don’t need the grief, and Christ knows, the other thing is, who might be standing there?

Frankencentre-left on steroids – four parties, not three May 30, 2024

Consider this proposal on foot of the post today… a proposal made out on the campaign trail by the Labour Dublin candidate for the European Parliament:

The Social Democrats have a certain allure for Ó Ríordáin too. Between dashes to front doors, he expounds on his vision for a 32-county alignment of Labour with the Social Democrats, the Green Party and the SDLP.

Frankencentre-left – or that ‘SDLP, Labour, Social Democrat lash-up’ May 30, 2024

You hadn’t heard of it? Then you haven’t been reading the Irish News, for in that publication there was a piece recently by David McCann that suggested that the SDLP, Labour and Social Democrats should ‘unite as a new political force’.  

He writes: In the main this debate [about trends in Irish politics around the forthcoming election] has only focused on the Republic, with next to no attention to what role any northern parties could play in this important conversation. 

Now let me stop right there and articulate what you might be thinking, that there is indeed one ‘northern’ political party which is absolutely central to the conversation. Starts with S, ends with N. Two words. A member of which is the First Minister in the Executive. 

He addresses this by noting that the issue will need more ‘all-island vehicles than Sinn Fein’. And he’s not wrong. Making the case will require many forces across the board. And by the by it’s clear Sinn FĂ©in itself recognises this. But more importantly, if Sinn FĂ©in itself is unable to come to power in government that has implications for the future. If other parties are brought into the fold in agreement with unity as something to be worked towards, that’s a positive.

Just in relation to the SDLP, Labour and the Social Democrats – he appears unaware of the fact that while there are multiple strands within the LP one of those strands is deeply neuralgic to the issue of unity. I can’t say what the SDLP’s position is. It has often appeared more than comfortable with the status quo. Fair enough if so, that’s its comfort zone, but an odd party to pour one’s hopes into progress forward. And the SDs while clearly comfortable to work with Sinn FĂ©in in government, should the opportunity arise, do not strike me as consumed by the issue. 

There’s another point too, that social democratic parties on the island arguably should work more closely together. The idea of a merger between, say, the LP and the Social Democrats appears to be a non-starter at this point in time, and for quite some time to come, but much will depend upon how the parties are positioned in the wake of the next election. Yet I do wonder at the SDLP being thrown into this mix. Of all those parties mentioned it is the SDLP which seems most adrift traditional social democracy, though the Labour Party has had its moments too. 

The big problem is that as it stands there’s no reason for either the SDs or the LP to concede anything at all to this discussion. As it stands, both parties clearly believe they can maintain their coherence as individual parties. Until or unless one or other slips significantly behind, is that likely to change? And even then, I wonder.

Parties are very protective of their own autonomy, often when they are weakened. It’s far from implausible that one or other might see increases – say one getting 12 TDs and the other 3 and them remaining separate, distinct and unwilling to work with one another.