Buskers beat the Metro ban

Busker in Washington, DC, have had a tough time of it in the last couple of years. Transit police have been moving them on from their pitches with more-than-required firmness.

Also more than legal firmness, too. Alex Young had already faced down the Metro transit authority and had the courts put a stop to the practice; this week he went back to court and won his costs. Which by that time, had got up to USD50,000.

The Metro had made things worse for themselves by trying to argue down the costs:

Jeffrey Louis Light, a private civil rights attorney who represented Young in conjunction with the Rutherford Institute, a Charlottesville group that advocates for civil liberties, said Metro’s decision to contest the fees increased them by about $20,000 as the issue was drawn out in court.

“They’re a business,” said Light, who will take home $33,447.10 in the case at hourly rates of up to $661. “They need to make sensible business decisions. This is not one of them.”

Jeffrey had a further burn for the transportation authority:

“They spent time arguing over whether this guy should have his guitar case open, and for what?” he said.

The head of the Metro, Paul J. Wiedefeld, is currently learning the chords from The Boxer in order to cover the costs.

The album that knows where you are

If you're in America, and at the National Mall, you can prick your finger on the sharp side of the cutting edge by downloading the first location-aware album. What the hell is that, The Next Web?:

Users will be able to download the album [iOS here, free] over the Mall’s WiFi. The phone’s geolocation will sync up with an impressionistic map rendering created for the app. Hit play and as users create their own path through the Mall, they’re creating their own special listening experience. If a user say cuts over to the reflecting pond then over to the FDR memorial, they will have a completely different experience than someone who takes the opposite route and the music was designed for this experience.

Sitting in Britain, it's hard enough to imagine an Arndale with a reflecting pool in it, never mind a soundtrack*.

This feels a bit more at the art project end of the musical scale. And, of course, it helps to promote the band involved. They're called Bluebrain, if you're interested.

* - I know. I know. The national park at the centre of Washington that runs up to the Lincoln Memorial. "This Mall is kind of crummy, there's no shops open at all..."

RIAA lobbyist now hearing cases of interest to RIAA

There are times when it might be hard to find a judge who is not only impartial, but can be seen, clearly, to be impartial - if, for example, a lawsuit is brought against an ubervillain who planned to kill everyone on the planet, you'd have to have a judge with an interest. Or if Piers Morgan was in the dock, it'd be impossible to find a judge who didn't start from the thought 'let's throw the book at him'.

But usually, it shouldn't be beyond the wit of the justice system to offer have a bottom on the bench who doesn't appear to be tainted in one direction or another.

How, then, are unlicensed file sharing cases being heard in Washington DC by a judge who has made a living lobbying for the RIAA?

Ars Technica suggests that Beryl Howell hasn't strictly broken any rules in hearing the cases, mainly because Howell was paid by the RIAA and the cases she was hearing were related to movies, but given that rulings on .mp4 files can have influence on cases about .mp3 files that seems a slight defence.

There's an important point about perception of the law. Even if Howell is able to hear a case from the copyright industry without recalling that her rent was paid for a while by the copyright industry, her verdicts in this field will always have a shadow on them.

There's no shortage of judges. Couldn't they find one whose judgement isn't open to the suspicion that they're remembering those who helped them on their march to the bench?

[via @simonth]

Lauryn Hill is running late. And so is Snoop.

The thing is, there's no real reason to make up stuff about pop stars, as the real stories are quite diverting enough. And this one has a few hundred witnesses.

Lauryn Hill turned up three hours late to play Washington's Rock The Bells festival. Because she was having a pedicure. And a manicure. Obviously. Nobody would be three hours late just for a pedicure.

And when she finally swung by, was the wait worth it?

The performance was a messy rush through highlights from "Miseducation," but they were hardly recognizable due to her hoarse voice, speedy delivery and clunky, overstuffed arrangements. Hill wasn't lacking for energy, just focus. The feedback on her microphone was ear-splitting; special guest Nas came out for a 45-second cameo, and his microphone wasn't working for half of it. After 20 minutes she departed to an equal mix of cheers and boos, seemingly oblivious as to why anyone might be upset.

If only she'd taken the time to prepare properly.

Still, 20 minutes was a lifetime compared to Snoop Dogg, who hadn't taken the stage by 10.45 - for an event due to finish at its 11 o'clock curfew. From the Washington Post review, it doesn't sound as if anyone minded overmuch the truncation.

Mr McCartney goes to the White House

To pick up his Gershwin Award, Paul McCartney has made a trip to Washington:

"For an English kid growing up in Liverpool, the White House — that's pretty special," he said.

In a way that, you understand, the White House means bugger all to kids who grew up in Manchester or Ormskirk.

Still, having a gig at the seat of American power and getting a prize from Obama - that's quite a heady position. McCartney believes in all sort of things, and so surely will use this platform to share some insight about the challenges facing the President?

"He's a great guy," McCartney said of Obama, "so lay off him."

Good lord, that's worse than the way he used to pat Ringo on the head between sets. The rather bland statement is thrown into a bit more relief by the citation for the prize he's getting:

Librarian of Congress James Billington credited McCartney for "symbolizing and humanizing the global soundscape," with his music and his activism around the world.

Yes. The famous activist cry of 'oh, don't be too beastly to the President'.

The inauguration borrowed a trick from the Beijing Olympics

Ah, what could be better than to gather a million or so people in one place to listen to tapes? Okay, admittedly, the music at the inauguration wasn't the main focus, but it's still a little cheesy that Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Gabriella Montero and Anthony McGill were sort-of miming.

Not quite miming, as they played along with the tape, but their instruments weren't amplified. Which makes the official explanation - fears that the cold weather would damage the instruments - seem a little confusing.

Violinist Itzhak Perlman said "it would have been a disaster if we had done it any other way".

"This occasion's got to be perfect. You can't have any slip-ups," he told the New York Times.

Ah, yes. Perfect. Except in the actually playing sense of the word, then.

As it turns out, they might have been better off letting the musicians play live and pre-recording the words of the oath of office.

Daily Mail follows Geri to Washington

The Daily Mail offers a lot of coverage - well, pictures - of Geri Halliwell's trip to Capitol Hill to have her photo taken ("raise the issues about women's reproductive rights in the developing world").

You might have thought it would be hard to make a story about a Spice Girl in politics even more lowbrow, but the Mail manages to pull it off, by drawing comparisons with Legally Blonde. Sorry, Legally Blonde 2.

(We've always had a problem with that movie, by the way. Clearly, by the end of Legally Blonde one the Reese Witherspoon character - if character doesn't over-estimate the number of dimensions the scripty stereotype comes with - has grown into the role of lawyer, understands the system and has shed the bulk of the valley girl tics. So how come she backslides at the start of the second film? And, also: why did they make it?)

Still, while Geri is in Washington [something here about what she's doing there, really, if we ever work it out], Victoria is also doing her bit by, erm, wearing skin tightpvc trousers.

Washington to the rescue

After a couple of days where the overriding impression of Live Earth was of a Roman Empiresque over-reaching, there's at last some good news for the organisers: A Washington concert has been pulled together out of almost nothing. No, really, we mean almost nothing: Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are as good as it gets.

Oh, and did we mention that it's taking place at half past ten in the morning local time? The sort of timeslot that Glastobnruy would give to the Shirehorses, in other words. Presumably the idea is to illustrate that pop stars really will get out of bed to fight climate change.

Gore: Global warming now homeless

Plans for the US leg of Live Earth have gone into into a bit of a spin as Mitch McConnell has raised an objection. McConnell has blocked plans to hold the event on the Capitol's grounds in Washington because he is a sore loser ("hasn't approved plans".)

It's a disappointment for Gore, although he's not going to have any trouble finding another venue for the event. It does, however, provide a timely reminder of why there's still work to be done on raising awareness of man-made climate change as being one of the biggest threats to our planet.

The Courier-Journal asked Mitch McConnell a direct question: does he believe the Earth is warming, and to what extent does he believe man is influencing the climate?

McConnell's answer was, well, vague:

"While there is not a consensus among scientists on climate change issues, I believe that we can find a common-sense approach to conservation that works to benefit all. The (Bush) administration has taken steps in the right direction by creating new initiatives and research programs that center specifically on reducing greenhouse gases, as well as improving conservation efforts."

(Scientifically, he's wrong anyway: there is a consensus amongst scientists on climate change issues.)

Opensecrets.org reports that McConnell received half a million bucks from the energy & natural resources industry last year. It's also worth noting that the oil and gas industries gave over fifteen million dollars to the Republicans in 2006.