Pope visits Africa, reaffirms ban on condoms

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/03/17/cameroon.pope/index.html

Excerpt:
Sub-Saharan Africa has been hit harder by AIDS and HIV than any other region of the world, according to the United Nations and World Health Organization. There has been fierce debate between those who advocate the use of condoms to help stop the spread of the epidemic and those who oppose it.

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I’m sure the blogosphere is on fire with this one right now. I have a friend who is Catholic and I asked her about this. She said it’s only for conservative Catholics. I said, “But the Pope is in Africa where millions of people have AIDS, and he’s telling them not to use condoms.” She replies, “Cannot. If people do not use condoms they will die. So they must.”

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Seattle Post-Intelligencer prints final edition in online transition

seattle-pi

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed it’s last newspaper on March 17, 2009. It will now only be available online as an internet newspaper.

Excerpt: The paper published its final print edition Tuesday (March 17, 2009) as the P-I makes a transformation into an online-only news outlet. A skeleton crew of 20 to 25 staffers will remain at the new Seattle PI.com while more than 140 staffers will lose their jobs.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/03/16/pi.closes/index.html

Aomen TV Backstage with ZAIA in Macao

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUrHrWuuk0c

Aomen TV goes behind-the-scenes of ZAIA to give you a glimpse of what goes on backstage. The more you see this show the more you will enjoy the experience. The artists and crew do an excellent job of bringing the magic of theatre, dance, and acrobatics to life. This is a must-see experience in a fantastic purpose-built theatre. So, if you haven’t already been, go on a journey of your own. If you’ve been once, see it again!

Zaia Music Soundtrack CD

The soundtrack for the Cirque Du Soleil ZAIA show is completed and will be printed to CD soon and available to the public. I don’t know a specific release date, but somewhere around early Summer 2009.

My part in the project was to play keyboards and arrange string parts recorded by members of the Hong Kong Symphony. Most of the recording was done on location in Macau (SAR) China, and the string parts with the HK Philharmonic players was completed at a recording studio in Hong Kong.

Rumor mill on the street is that Guy LaLiberte (founder of Cirque Du Soleil) has heard the soundtrack and loved it. I’ve even been told he asked to hear a second time the next morning.

Members of the ZAIA band got to hear a preview of the finished soundtrack with composer Violaine Corradi at the end of February. I won’t give you any spoilers, except to say that I was very pleased with the project and enjoyed the creativity in the mixes.

Violaine Corradi (ZAIA composer) told me one of her goals of the finished soundtrack was to have it be like looking at a prism held in your hand, then rotating it to look at the prism from different perspectives. I definately got that feeling from the soundtrack.

To my knowledge, this is also the first Cirque Du Soleil soundtrack CD recorded by the actual performing musicians in the show. The other soundtracks are recorded with studio musicians in Montreal I’ve heard. (With the exception of some subsequent live releases from shows like Mystere).

So I hope you all enjoy our work on the ZAIA CD when it’s released. Of course I’ll post on my blog when I know the official release date.

King’s Singers – Madrigal History Tour – Of all the birds

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnr6Oxybkq4

Composed by John Bartlet, “Of all the birds that I do know”, from “The King’s Singers, Madrigal History Tour, The England”

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Expats in Asia and The Price of Tea in China

Having lived in China for a year now, it has been interesting to see how many Asian flavored “slurs” pop up in the American language. Sayings and attitudes that made sense before seem a little more foreign now. Because the American homeland IS slowly becoming the foreign place to me now. It’s the curse of the Expat.

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