The Islands-Switched on
Another Montreal Band ….. not bad for something recorded in the guys bed room ……..
AeroSmith- The Other Side
I think this was probably the first song I ever really wanted to learn how to play and as much as I’d like to say I heard it ’cause it was good, I only heard it ’cause i girl called me “the devil in the deep blue sea” and I was all smitten 
P.S. If you’re reading this please give us a shout ……. there’s an about box that everyone seems to think is labelled “hate mail only ……..”
4th of June 1981
You can thank the guy on the right, the guy on the left is just there ’cause white people look smart.
That was the year AIDS was born, well not born more like first recognised as a disease. Since then we’ve found out that it’s cause by 2 viruses HIV1 and 2, it kills white bloods cells (CD4- T lymphocytes … what all the soaps refer to as CD4 counts is the concentration of CD4 cells in a sample of blood) and that it originated in 2 different species of monkeys and subsequently mutated and became a virus that can attack humans (in a similar fashion to the way H1N1/swine flu did last year), we’ve also managed to make cocktails that stop the disease from progressing (the famous anti-retro viral cocktail) and people are now able to live full, long, healthy lives in-spite of or more aptly with HIV.
But we’ve yet to see a cure for it ….. a real sure fire end to it all ….. some silver bullet ….. 28 years and still we wait for an end to this pandemic (and yes, the WHO have officially declared it a pandemic despite the fact that we apparently don’t suffer from it in Kuwait). However there is a light at the end of the tunnel, a glimmer of hope if you will, we finally have an HIV vaccine that may actually work.
And no, it’s not made by some norwegian nobel prize winner living in the US and working in some Ivy league school on his third PhD; it was made by a group of run of the mill doctors in Thialand.
When I say made I mean they combined ALVAC HIV (prime) and AIDSVAX B/E (boost) (two different drugs developed by the US military research fund then abandoned because they thought they would never work) and gave them to 8,000 people in their community in Thailand and gave another 8000 a placebo (saline). They found that the virus reduced the risk by about 31%, which is no small feet for a bunch of GP’s working in Thailand and this is when you have confirmed inoculation with the virus in the correct amount which means the actual risk reduction is probably about 80 to 90% (multiple 0.3 by 0.25; you have a one in four chance in direct blood to blood contact and even less in blood/seminal spatter etc ….)
Since then 3 larger trails have been planned, one to combine the vaccine with circumcision, one to recruit 80,000 participants and test out a refined version of the vaccine and one to test it against a new prospective compound.
And to think that on that day in June the US Health and Human Services Secretary Margaret Heckler declared that a vaccine would be available within 2 years……… yeah right ……
Just goes to show it doesn’t take a rocket scientist or a slew of degrees to make a difference ….. all it takes is a little luck and a whole lot of effort ……
and you have the following people to thank the next time you decide to go for that funny looking something in Dubai/Bahrain/Thailand:
Supachai Rerks-Ngarm, M.D.
Punnee Pitisuttithum, M.D. D.T.M.H.
Sorachai Nitayaphan, M.D. Ph.D.
Jaranit Kaewkungwal, Ph.D.
Joseph Chiu, M.D.
Robert Paris, M.D.
Nakorn Premsri, M.D.
Chawetsan Namwat, M.D.
Mark de Souza, Ph.D.
Elizabeth Adams, M.D.
Michael Benenson, M.D
Sanjay Gurunathan, M.D.
Jim Tartaglia, Ph.D.
Supamit Chunsuttiwat, M.D.
Chirasak Khamboonruang, M.D.
Prasert Thongcharoen, M.D., Ph.D.
Tool- Parabola
1990 saw the birth of the band that was not only ahead of it’s time but pretty much impossible to stop. Through all the record company fuddy duddy, the solo projects and the glam rick, rock pop, pop rock, return of rock, indie rock and now vocoder fetish driven industry Tool have managed to do something that few people could ….. keep making music that sounds like them. Their first album and their last all sound like they are part of a continuim or a set peace of sorts …..
By the way despite the fact that I love them and have been to 2 of their concerts this song was not of my choosing, someone requested it ….. you can too …….
Ray Parker Jr- Ghost Busters
Happy Halloween All …..
Beast – Mr Hurricane
That searing sweet french voice you’re hearing is the voice of Betty Bonifassi and the sounds that make said voice all the more ….. appealing is the work of Jean-Phi Goncalves, two of the most talented videogame music composers in history (formerly working for UBIsoft on various projects).
They also played in a couple of other bands including Plaster and Afrodizz (both of which are bands that very few people have heard of) and decided to work on their “project” in 2008. Since then they produced one self titled album and have pretty much decided that they are officially a band …… making real music as opposed to videogame scores and playing back up for some Canadian upstarts (no offence to Canadians …… of all upstarts the Canadian ones are the most down to earth). Betty describes the project (no a band rather than the planned single album) as “The angry message is about letting the beast out that’s inside, because in society you’re not allowed to be emotive or sensitive. The feelings of the moment when we were writing were mostly sadness and anger,” …… yes, she is french native and therefor some things tend to get lost in transilation.
Anyway …. buy the album …. off itunes …. please …. people had to petition to get it one there …… f’realz …….
Jolie Holland-Old Fashion Morphine
Never been a fan of country (and you can blame Shania for that …… ) but damn you Jolie Holland ….. Damn you and that damn blues song to hell …….
Bon Jovi – Livin’ On a Prayer
EVERY BODY SING IT!!!!!!!
Sooooo tough ………..
you gotta hold on for …………
Sitting at the Grown Ups Table
Afternoon/evening everyone …… I’m finally sitting at te grown ups table.
Expect far more mature and less rude and crude content soon on Hilaliya.
Gomez – How we Operate
True story. Their first demo was recorded in their frontmans fathers bathroom. One instrument at a time ’cause it was the only place with good acousitcs they could afford.
Another true story, they’ve been playing in other bands since 1997 and only recently began working together as one band.
You’ve gotta love a band like that ……. fucking brilliant ……
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