Rod Stewart

This was Rod Stewart's final concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Full house. 18,000 people, perhaps. Although it felt like much more than that. I hadn't plan on going or even knew about it, even though I do like some of his music and lyrics. So, a when a friend of a friend was giving away their box seats because they had to attend a wedding, I grabbed the opportunity, and said yes, I will go.

 

My brother always makes fun of me, and says that as soon as someone wants to hangout or do something, I grab my backpack, and am ready to go. But I can't help it. I love socializing, being with people, and going to places. The above is Richard Marx, singing one of my favorites—Right Here Waiting. He was the opening act for Rod's concert. 

Apologies for the blurry video. We arrived late because the driver was inept. I took a quick shot of Marx. Also, blogger doesn't allow anything over 25MB. So, I have to cut everything and change the resolution unless I want to load all of it into YouTube. And YouTube can be loopy. It privatizes my videos without my permission, meaning it prevents people from seeing them!

 

Rod Stewart sings This Old Heart Of Mine. Can you believe he is 81? God Bless... Yes, his voice is not what it used to be, and he took breaks, going behind the stage, and coming back on, but his energy was much much higher than when I took my niece to see One Direction. Those kids kept sitting down, feeling tired, and sang only a few songs during the entire concert. Rod went above and beyond to sing numerous songs during his concert, and completely kept the audience engaged.

 

It's a heartache. The evening was interesting. Some of the people around us were stick-in-the-mud audience. Others were blitzed before getting to their seats. A man with his pregnant wife offered us a bottle of alcohol. The couple next to us were so worried that something bad was going to happen, asked if I would move my backpack out of the way in case of an emergency. I'm not sure if the wife even enjoyed being there. She was uptight with pursed lips, and left the concert early. Yep...different crowd for sure.

 

First Cut Is The Deepest. When Rod's second wife, Rachel Hunter who was 24 years younger, left him, he fell apart. He said that she was too young to get married at 21, and to start a family.

 

Maggie May. Rachael put her life on hold for Rod, but after nine years of marriage, and two children, she left. He was heartbroken. She didn't want to live in his shadows, and needed to find her own identity. Rod married Penny Lancaster a year later.

 

People Get Ready. As the evening wore off, the music, and the images became more political.

 

Love Train. It was now all about race, Netanyahu, and Trump's wars. He probably figured that this is his last concert, he can say whatever he wants, and do whatever he wants, and not worry about finding his next gig. Kudos to him...

 

Have I Told You Lately That I Love You. He sang this song for his family who were standing in the front row. As we left, I was glad that I got to see his last concert. 

Security was tight that night. At the entrance, my friend and I got patted down, I think because we were speaking Farsi. Never mind the fact that it was Trump who attacked Iran, and not vice versa. During the concert, Rod kept asking people to sit down because he didn't want the guards to get nervous, but people would not listen. 

I was hoping that he would sing I Don't Want To Talk About It. But it wouldn't have been the same without the Scottish singer, Amy Belle, Oh, well...

 

The politics of human rights

Photo contributor: Idea go

Let’s face it, in a world where all ethics has disappeared, governments do not care about human rights. In fact, in the eyes of world leaders, activists are considered a pain in the rear. A handful of families who run the Corporations who run our world, our leaders and our governments prefer people who are sheep. So, why do activists of certain countries get more attention than those of other countries? Simple – it’s all due to their political relationship with the western governments. Take Saudi Arabia for example, the so-called secret society. The news everywhere rarely covers newsworthy information from the Kingdom and yet, they are one of the most oppressive regimes in the world. Have a look at Dubai and their promotion of slavery by hanging on to the passport of poor foreigners and forcing them to work for little or no pay while their ostentatious towers reach the sky. When was the last time you saw a negative coverage of Dubai in the mainstream media? So the next time you wonder why the media does not care about the activists in your country, have a look at your country’s political relationship with the forces that control our world.

Another factor that gets calculated in the equation is if a leader can be controlled. After the recent revolution, Tunisia may have a new leader who gives more liberty to their citizens, but if that leader does not succumb to the needs of the families who run the corporations who run our world, mark my world, that leader will be replaced by another who is willing to kiss many behinds in order to keep his/her power and fill-up his/her bank account in various countries such as Switzerland even if he/she violates all aspects of human rights.

A good example is Iran. Iran had democracy in the 50s, that democracy was squashed by corporations and western governments and replaced by dictatorship so that they could get free oil. In the meantime, the shah tortured all opponents of his regime and there was little coverage of it in the news. Then the west decided to remove the Shah because it no longer needed Iran’s oil. They had found a new oil provider with richer oil fields. During this transition at least 30,000 were tortured and killed. Still little coverage in the media. And today…well…the world had shut up about the entire Iran thing until recently when Iran continuously increased its influence in the middle-east. 

So, there has been more coverage of the Iranian activists but for how long? Perhaps until another deal is struck under the table. And after that, the well controlled media will zip up their lips and instead cover some cat who got caught in the tree or a reality TV star who cheated on his wife. That is the politics of human rights. Nevertheless, as activists, we do what we can in our own limited way to bring voice to the innocent and the oppressed.