Folk songs of protest

I just came across this group - The Messenger Band. They are a Cambodian folk group. Each member is a former factory worker. As it says on the Womyn's Agenda for Change website, singing is a safer way of advocating for change, especially in a climate that represses protest and where journalists self-censor.

Check out these videos. They are subtitled in English. Listen to the words of young Cambodian women singing about the issues that effect them.

Suffering from Privatisation



Life and land



All their lyrics are available in English here.

Elton John is coming to town

From Monsters and critics:

Phnom Penh - Sir Elton John, British superstar and heavyweight activist in the fight against HIV/AIDS, has told a US magazine he is planning a visit to Cambodia.

Sir Elton and partner David Furnish have raised more than 150 million dollars for projects to assist people living with the virus through the Elton John Aids Foundation since it was set up in 1992.

'This year, we look forward to traveling to Cambodia to visit projects in that country,' Kansas City-based Camp Magazine quoted Sir Elton as telling journalist and gay rights activist Mark Segal.

He will be the biggest celebrity to hit town since Ronan Keating!

Take the pledge

I PLEDGE:

1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;

2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral;"

3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;

4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;

5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;

6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,

7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.

Take the pledge

For info on 07 07 07 events in Cambodia click here

Intellectual stimulation

Calling all poetry, music and performance lovers ... Talkin' to a stranger is having an open mic night on Wednesday (30th May) at 8pm. More information here. Get your intellectual stimulation on!

Keating in Cambodia

Ronan Keating is going to play Phnom Penh next month. I wonder how far one must go to escape his pretentious brand of "music". At this stage, people barely remember Boyzone, which is a blessing, but Ronan is now famous for being famous and making bad covers of course. He has mangled such wonderful songs as "Iris", "Baby can I hold you", "Father and Son", "When you say nothing at all", with his average voice and lack of interpretation.

Anyone remember Dave Fanning's famous voiceover to a Boyzone song when he forgot the mike was on? Dave rightly slammed their "talent" and as a result had to wear a Boyzone t-shirt the following week. I wonder if Ronan will be big in Cambodia.

Alanis versus Fergie

This is one number on YouTube at the moment. It's a vid of Alanis singing Black Eyed Peas "My Humps". I hated the song before I knew the artist. When I saw it was BEP's I was so disappointed. How could such a group go from

If love and peace so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don't belong
Nations dropping bombs
Chemical gases filling lungs of little ones
With ongoing suffering
As the youth die young

to

I drive these brothers crazy,
I do it on the daily,
They treat me really nicely,
They buy me all these ices.
Dolce & Gabbana,
Fendi and NaDonna
Karan, they be sharin'
All their money got me wearin' fly

Anyway I hated that song until I heard the Alanis version because of the terminology BEPs use, the image of Fergie as a golddigging tease and the inevitable conclusion that certain people draw - "women are just golddigging whores". But thanks to Alanis for turning it into a parody and we can laugh at Fergie as a result.