NEWS - MARCH


Well, I finally roused myself from my Moomin-like hibernation in the mountains and above average quality-powder-snow fun was had by all. I am now enjoying the first strains of Spring and trying to get myself in gear.

I am now fully green-carded up, and am following US election hullaballo at a safe distance. I am as a resident alien bound to pay tax but am ineligible to vote. Didn't someone once fight a revolutionary war in parts not so removed from here, with the slogan 'no tax without representation'. The long drawn out-ness and crass over-exposure of every nuance and hiccup — when the differences between candiadtes, in the scheme of things are so slight — troubles me, as it eclipses most other news. We are in Washington State, firmly in Obama country here and I can live with that on the basis that his pitch gives at least pretense of something different and it would be interesting to see if he means any of it. Of course, having lived in Britain in 1996-97 when there was the same expectation and hope surrounding one Tony Blair , I remain as unconvinced as I was back then, that electoral systems that offer so little wiggle room, whilst bending to the needs of the corporate community, can truly offer us the substantial change that this country and indeed the planet sorely needs. Is Obama the man to ride the wave of public outrage that demands weaning the US off its fossil fuel dependency and oil wars ? Is it actually possible under the present system for a president to stand up against the corporate community in any meaningful way? I hope so, but am not holding my breath.


I hope to do some new recordings this and continue branching out into other mediums but am not making any resolutions here, rather it will all happen when it happens. Meanwhile ...

see Upcoming Gigs ... A growing list of gigs in the North West in April and May


The Library Book of The World the current album by Danbert Nobacon and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts was released in the US back in August 2007 on BLOODSHOT RECORDS of Chicago. The album was also released in Europe (out of Hamburg via Indigo) and in the UK last September on Bloodshot.


On the road with the Mekons (Sept-Oct 2007) was mighty fine, big cities, bright lights and wild women, well we had some fine micro-brewed beer and song. See Nobby's Club Mekon page at:
http://www.mekons.de/07shows.htm#usa


A couple of tracks from the album, plus two Danbert Nobacon and the Shifting Sand, live tracks from Chumbawamba 25th Anniversary show now up on my myspace, and short films from VBTV (Verbal Burlesque TV) at: www.myspace.com/danbertnobacon



Axis of Dissent briefly updated for October 2007 ...



You can also hear music and an interviews of twenty first century danbert nobacon at:

Why me 'Worst Music in the World' Podcast:

http://www.whymepodcast.org/2005/12/whyme_042.html



And a new podcast interview from Leeds

'It's a Mean Old Scene' at:

http://web.mac.com/garykaye/iWeb/meanoldscene



NOVEMBER

The big news (for me at any rate) is that I have just become an alien resident of the USA, currently residing in Washington State, two thousand feet up, two inches of snow already. Whilst this was as straghtforward as it can possibly get, having been married to Ms. Nobacon of Delaware for the last twelve years, they still make one jump through post 9-11 hoops and I have the vaccination scars to prove it. The process began back in May and has left me somewhat in no man's land this year but now I can begin actually get my feet on the ground again and think about my new locale. Hopefully, 2008 will see me 'concentrating on my new backyard' and playing up and down the west coast some.

Of course people ask, why in the hell would you ever want to move to the USA? And whilst the answer is long and involved and personal on many levels, it is possible to frame an answer in the context of the Bush-Blair relationship. People in the US ask me 'How could a seemingly intelligent man like Blair throw his lot in with an evidently stupid man like Bush?' But then Blair was not even half as clever as he liked to think himself, and Bush is not nearly so stupid as we would like to think he is. In other words, if we think Britain is somehow less implicated in our current planetary predicaments than the US then we are sorely kidding ourselves. Of course there is a question of scale and the very junior partner in the special relationship adds little in terms of boots on the ground, but the legitimacy given to Bush by Blair's support of him, has been pretty damn crucial at significant junctures along the way. And remember, Gordon Brown financed everything that 'five war' Tony did, and has done little but reiterate the importance of British ties to the USA.

I will also take some pleasure in witnessing first hand the tawdry end of the Bush regime, but not, I fear, before more fireworks still to come, as Cheney makes the most of it before relinquishing his grasp on the reins. Moreover, so far have the goalposts been moved over the last eight years, that I remain thoroughly unconvinced that what is to follow will be any more genuinely world friendly in real terms. Only time, and unknown unknowns, will tell.