Monday, February 20, 2006

Lynden David Hall

The news that British Soul Singer Lynden David Hall passed away from cancer aged only 31 and the news that Detroit producer and rapper Jay Dee, a.k.a. J Dilla (a.k.a James Yancey), passed knocked me for six. Lyndend David Hall was one of the bright lights of the UK Soul scene, but on a more personal note, one of my happiest moments as a young adult included him…!

No, no – read on.. I promise its nothing funky. You see, I have been a fan of Lynden before his first single 'Sexy Cinderella' made it big in the UK charts – and a little part of me believed that he wrote that song for me - sorry P, Ali, Sheen for putting you through all of that (hahaha)! Anyway, one day in 1998, I thought that my dream was one step closer to being a reality, when I discovered that he was going to be performing at my university's students union.

The only problem was that my final exam of my university career was scheduled the MORNING after his concert. And I am not a morning person at the best of times.

I considered not going to his concert for about, well 20 seconds and got my ticket. It was brilliant, we all sang along as he performed (come on, sing along if you know it...'Sexy Cinderella OWWWWWWWWW'). I even managed to speak to the great man himself after the concert, which pretty much made my year. He very politely listened to me chat about how much I loved his work and generally babble. I even got a peck on the cheek from him - I am sure he felt it would be he only way to get rid of me (hahaha!). For that, I am eternally grateful.

Anyway, the next day, I stumbled into my exam, bleary eyed, after something like four hours of sleep and did what I had to do. One of my course tutors told me afterwards that I got a first class grade in that exam sitting! I give Lynden some of the credit…

But really, aside from the good luck he gave me, he was a fantastic artist and his third and final album, ‘In Between Jobs’ is a must have. He will be missed.

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

The people have spoken; first Palestine, now Haiti??!

First Palestine, now Haiti?

I wonder how the Bush White House will respond when the winner of today's presidential vote is revealed? Remember, it was only a few weeks ago that Bush had to publicly accept the will of the Palestinian people who voted for Hamas. What he will do behind the scenes is a different matter, he made it clear that he is going to watch every move Hamas makes. So, what will Bush do if Rene Preval, the front-runner in today’s vote in Haiti – and one time protégé of ousted president Jean Bertrand Aristide - who was not considered to be a friend of the White House - WINS? Will we hear that familiar phrase – ‘freedom is on the march?’!! We think not.

Nevertheless, it looks like these elections aren’t running smoothly. Today, the Miami Herald reported that election officials and UN advisors were ‘scrambling’ to ‘fix’ the chaotic voting conditions that Haitians who lived in parts of the country’s capital. It seems that this chaos was not unexpected. Not because Haitians don’t understand how to vote, ‘cause they certainly understand the concept of democracy – they voted overwhelmingly for Aristide and Lavalas in 1990. The situation seemed to be chaotic from the start – least of all because Hatians have 35 candidates to choose from. Will this vote end Haiti’s social and economic woes? Kevin Pina, associate editor of Black Commentator and Haitian resident give The Global Blend the lowdown from Haiti and the elections in this short interview (an edited version of this interview was played on RadioNation with Laura Flanders on Air America Radio this weekend).