all of the members of the band have discussed the upcoming election at length and all of us feel to one degree or another that Obama should be the next president… as a result and because a lot of us are following the election closely we decided to put it right out there… thus far i have gotten one mean spirited e-mail about the endorsement on the front of the site… i read most of it but when i got to the part about Obama’s campaign being so filled with hate and negativity i just hit delete… i cant remember much else of it… so feel free to write whatever but i wont read anything too cranky… in the past i have gotten messages that were more about my shutting up about politics and stick to guitar playing etc… but we are in this time of immediacy and when i was younger i would have wanted to know what people i was a fan of were thinking about all sorts of stuff… beyond that you can imagine what i think about people telling me not to speak my mind anyway again i wish the election was over… today i was pleased and a bit surprised to see Newt Gingrich, George Will and others speaking positively of Obama and his chances… the topic was Colin Powell’s endorsement of which Gingrich is quoted: “What that just did in one sound bite… is it eliminated the experience argument”

so speaking of Powell and what he said i was very moved by his speech of this morning so i am gonna put it here… whatever we crazy left wing fanatics (sic) think of Powell you just got to give it to him…

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here is an image i found on line

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A new book, titled “DEFinition: The Art and Design of Hip-Hop” by Cey Adams with Bill Adler, contains some rare Charlie Ahearn stills of Deborah Harry and Blondie making the “Rapture” video in 1981. (Check out a review of the book at Mic to Mic, or buy the book here .) The significance of the “Rapture” video is discussed in the chapter on hip-hop video and film.

“Ciara, Deborah Harry and Colbie Caillat will be honored at Billboard’s third annual Women in Music breakfast, to be held Oct. 24 at New York’s St. Regis Hotel. Ciara will receive the Woman of the Year award, which recognizes success as a recording artist and leadership in embracing the changing music business. Harry will be honored with the Icon award, given to a woman whose art and career have blazed trails for successive generations. Caillat, who broke through last year with her debut album, ‘CoCo,’ will receive the Rising Star award, acknowledging early success and greatest potential among artists who have released two or fewer albums.”

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this time its up to all of you young people to make this happen… all the baby boomers, the people of my generation couldnt do it… its all of you who have only just now registered to vote who are gonna make a huge difference this time, BUT that means not just registering but getting OUT AND VOTING no matter what happens on election day…

i have been feeling the tension waiting for the election… finally seeing the media addressing all the ugliness of the other sides campaign, that got passed over the last time… i recall Kerry having a lot of the same dumb accusations tossed at him; that he was a foreigner (French, remember?) that he was an elitist, unprepared etc etc

TERRORISM DOESNT WORK ON PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT AFRAID!!!

please guys get out and do your thing come election day, get your friends involved… please

“Debbie Harry is still a young punk: Dressed in a loose floral dress and Converse sneakers, she pouts a little while waiting for Santogold to put on an elaborate purple leather jacket and lime-green hot pants, then carefully pack up a suitcase’s worth of clothes after her photo shoot. But the classic rock icon and the flashy emcee have more in common than meets the eye: Both make power pop out of the hip sounds of their era, both became famous in their early thirties, and both, they discover, are ambivalent about the way New York’s music scene has changed over the years.”

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what i see little addressing of in the clamor of the election is the issue of anti-intellectualism in the US… a heated topic that is in discussion regularly, here it is on a back burner, back stage area… a lot seems to date to the end of the 19th century and the emergence of communism as part of the worlds political makeup and the association of intellectual ideals with being ‘red’….later the whole ‘nerd’ concept… what needs to be really put forward here? everyone sees it… what perplexes me is that even though the idea of the poet warrior is looked up to when it comes to Samurai films it is not considered a ‘real’ option for life in America… at its most extreme the persecution of the educated has resulted in the excesses of extreme dictatorships like the Khmer Rouge which murdered those of its subjects who had even a simple education… anyone interested just look up ‘anti-inellectualism’ in wikipedia and there you will find long discussions that are outlines of the current ‘positions’ or ‘sides’ of the political arena, the same stupid stances of ‘conservative’ vs. ‘liberal’ the position of the media; Gore portrayed as a boring ‘brain’ who ‘spoke monotonously about theories and numbers no one could understand’, Bill O’Reilly having a hostile attitude towards what he calls the ‘ivy league’ elite etc. etc. the word ‘intellectual’ itself being used as an insult… am i alone in feeling this is a crazy state of affairs… America entered the 20th century embracing the ideals of intelligence; Einstein was a popular figure and his work helped end the second world war, send men into space all of that… is everyone out there really so far gone that they but into all of this… the last few days have seen huge rifts in the economy that are results of the last eight years of government… the same people who picked the current government have picked the people they want to see as the next government, why are we supposed to think that there is going to be a difference

since writing the above the debate and the crash… in the debate we saw Ob address one of the issues i am always on about… the other day for the first time i was actually called by a political poll… ‘what did i see as a central issue…’ well the image of the US in the eyes of the world of course… as i mentioned probably several times on my blog things… once more every time we travel and talk to just average people i see that almost 100% they are confused about the situation in the US; how could we here have let this guy be our leader, twice no less…

so now with the financial crisis i see that Wm. Gibson one of our favorite writers has proved his vision for America to be even more accurate than i might have imagined; we are looking forward to an immediate future that will in all likelihood be owned and operated by a lot of international interests… soon enough we will see the neon signs filled with Chinese characters, the cities filled with the new ‘foreign’ elite who own all that we can no longer maintain… empires come and go… i recently saw it put forth that the ‘swinging London’ of the Beatles sixties was in fact the last gasp of the British isles rather than the beginning of anything… America leads the world in instant gratification, the Chinese as just one example have been able to put it off for years in order to create a future for their next generations… over the last half a year or so maybe more i have seen the word “owned” enter the popular lingo to mean control, influence etc etc… lots of you tube clips titled ‘so and so owned by this or that’… so in a way perfect timing here; who is gonna ‘own’ the US?

finally on a lighter note (maybe) i have seen commentators go on about “things in the US may soon come to resemble conditions the way they were in the seventies”… well you can all imagine how i might feel about that… my new slogan is: “DEPRESSION MEANS HAPPIER ARTISTS”

Debbie Harry has been scheduled to appear at the Public Theater’s celebration of the tenth anniversary of Joe’s Pub in New York. “Roy Nathanson and friends with special guest Debbie Harry” will appear on Oct. 12 at 2:30 PM. Tickets are free, but you must follow the instructions on Joe’s Pub Virtual Line (www.joespub.com) to snag a pair. Requests will be taken until October 5th and you can request tickets to as many shows as you like. On October 6th you can log on and see if your request has been granted. For more information, check www.joespub.com

Debbie Harry, the face of rock/New Wave band, Blondie, is an avid supporter of Rational Animal, an organization whose mission is to increase public awareness about at-risk animals in New York City. She has contributed this fabulous piece of art, donated by Marc Jacobs, for ROCK & RESCUE 2008 auction.

One side blue, the other a fuschia color, the print depicts Debbie Harry and the band name “Blondie.” What’s more, each side is autographed by Debbie herself!

This amazing piece of artwork measures a whopping 71 and 7/8 inches x 48 inches. Click on this link (http://www.charityfolks.com/cfauctions/auction_bid.asp?auctionid=12587&catname=Music&mcid=8749) to bid and for more information.

Debbie Harry is scheduled to perform at the 3rd Annual “Gimme Shelter Rock & Rescue” benefit show in New York City on October 6th, 2008. The event will be hosted by Adam Horovitz (aka Adrock of the Beastie Boys) and Gina Gershon, and will also feature performances by Lissy Trullie, Jesse Malin, Goonsquad, Bloody Social, Earl Greyhound and Adam Green, with DJ sets by Moby and J.D. Samson (of Le Tigre). The event will include an auction with items from Debbie Harry, Beastie Boys, Black Crowes and more! For more information check the Highline Ballroom site at highlineballroom.com and the Gimme Shelter site at rational-animal.org.

Debbie Harry performed in New York City last night at the Fifth Annual “Fashion Rocks” at Radio City Music Hall. She performed “Call Me” as a duet with Fergie. The show was recorded for TV and will air on CBS on Tuesday, September 9th. Check out some great photos at DayLife.com.