Goodbye KODACHROME

Kodak have ceased production of KODACHROME film. A favourite with photographers because of its excellent colour reproduction, some are sad to see it go. The digital revolution is partly to blame of course, as well as the limited number of processing labs in the world that are still able to process the 74 year old film. Kodak have a memorial site here.

US Nuke Still Missing After 50 Years

A US nuke that had to be ditched off the US coast 50 years ago following a mid-air collision has still not been found. The BBC reports on how the pilot was able to safely land his B-47 bomber following the collision during a training flight on 5 February 1958. The bomb was not fitted with a detonator so the chance of an explosion were remote. There are concerns about what a rusting bit of radioactive cold-war hardware could do to the environment and even if terrorists may already have found it.

Mmm, Crumble: Eating Away Recession Woes

The BBC reports on how this recession, just like previous ones on record, illustrate that although people generally have to tighten their belts in hard times, eating habits don´t suffer. The supermarkets in the UK are apparently still doing a roaring trade. One of the reasons is that the amount of disposable income has increased through the years and so proportionally less is spent on food and basics. Although this means that spending on food is likely to remain relatively stable in the long term, since the amount of disposable income and thus the amount spent on luxuries increases, when times do become hard, this could lead to bigger dips in spending and deeper economic woes.

Putin Tells Them How It´s Done

The BBC reports on how Russian PM Vladimir Putin told an artist how he could improve his work. I would imagine its´s nerve racking enough when a head of state comes to visit, but they when they start telling how it´s done when they very often will probably have no idea about the specific details of the job in hand, must be terrible. Seems though that Putin also forced a Russian oligarch to get his act together while the cameras were rolling which is a good thing.

Tim Berners Lee To Open Up UK Gov´t Data

Tim Berners Lee, the father of the WWW has been appointed by current UK PM Gordon Brown to lead the way in opening up government data to the public. According to the article in the BBC this is not related to the Labour Party but covers all government and cross-party politics. There has been an increased request for government transparency and availability of information recently. How much this has been accelerated by the recent scandal surrounding expenses claims I wonder?

Stonehenge Summer Solstice Record Visitors

The BBC reports that over 35,000 people turned out to witness sunrise at Stonehenge today, the 21 June and the summer solstice. For years there was an exclusion zone around Stonehenge after damage to the English Heritage site. Now that the ban has been lifted there have been steadily growing numbers arriving to witness the celestial event, with a record number this year.

Journey - 17 June, Heineken Music Hall

I have been looking forward to this for a few months now. After Steve Perry officially left the band and Journey continued with touring and recording using new singers, I had the pleasure of seeing them at the Arrow Rock Festival in Lichtenvoorde in 2006 with Steve Augeri and again last year at Arrow in Nijmegen with Phillipino Perry-soundalike Arnel Pineda. This concert though would be the first time seeing them play a full set in a convert venue and whether or not new boy Pineda could still deliver the goods.
No disappointments here. The band were on for a two-hour set, combining classics with about half of the tracks of the new album Revelation. The sound was generally good though there seemed to be a bit of mike trouble at the start of the set and Neal Schon´s guitar sounded a bit muddy throughout, until the encore, though that might have been because we were standing so close to the speakers ;). The band opened with Majestic followed by Separate Ways. Jonanthan Cain proved he could master many instruments, playing a harmonica intro together with Schon as a prelude to Wheel In The Sky. Deen Castronovo got to display his marvellous voice on Mother, Father. Ross Valory was pulling all kinds of comical faces all night and Neal, was well, Neal! They extended some of the classic numbers with additional musical arrangments, not sure if they were all to my taste, though it is always good when a band does something different to what´s on the album. Final praise goes to Arnel Pineda who pulled off singing the Perry numbers with ease, sometimes exceeding on vocal range. Couple that with his energetic stage presence and his contact with the audience and you cannot fault his performance.
It´s good to have them back touring again and visiting Europe, which obviously has a decent sized fan base outside of their native US. Journey were for years on my list of bands yet to see, worried that they would never make it back to Europe, especially after Perry left. With shows like the last one, I hope to be seeing them again for years to come.