Blog journalism

Over on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's site, there is a cryptic apology written in Portuguese. From my buddy Jeff, here is the translation:

10-04-01 Apology from Derek ...

This is an open letter to the country of Brazil.

First of all, I want to apologize to the city of Porto
Allegre for my insulting comments.

Despite my dissapointment in the crowd's support to
Osama Bin Laden, and hatred for my country, my
comments only added fuel to a fire that I wish
never existed in the first place.

I have played Monsters of Rock in Brazil in 1996 with
Alice Cooper, and in 1998 with Dream Theater. I LOVE
Brazil, and I LOVE the Brasilian people. I want to
play here in the future.

I am asking you to consider that this is a extremely
sensitive time for my country right now. Think about
the children and families who lost their loved
ones in The World Trade Center tragedy. America was
NOT the only victim. Many Brasilians, among innocent
people from many other countries were killed by
this heinous act of terror.

I am not a politician. All I care about is playing
music, and taking the music to the people around the
world.

I will not judge the country of Brazil, or even the
city of Porto Allegre just by the actions of the
crowd.

We are ALL part of the human race, and the universal
language between us is the music.

Sincerely,
Derek Sherinian

If that isn't strange enough, here is his explanation of what happened, since removed from his site:

"First of all, I would like to preface this letter by
saying that I am not a fan of one using their musical
status to promote religious or political beliefs.

I am also not one to post on message boards, but
something happened to me on stage last night that I
feel compelled to write this letter.

I am currently the only American in Yngwie Malmsteen's
touring band. What happened at last night's gig in
Porte Allegre, Brazil was shocking.

Midway through the set, Yngwie finished his guitar
solo spot with the 'Star Spangled Banner.' The crowd
of about 1500 people started immediately booing very
loudly, and throwing shit on stage. The crowd
started chanting, 'O S A M A !!, O S A M A !!!'

To see the Anti-American rallies on CNN is bad enough,
but to be in the middle of one is scary beyond words

So after Yngwie's solo we had about 5 more songs to
play. All of my spirit was gone. I finished the set
disgusted, and without looking at the crowd for the
rest of the show. After the final song, the band
went to the dressing room. I told Yngwie, 'I refuse to
go out for the encore under any circumstances, FUCK
THESE PEOPLE.'

Yngwie went back on stage by himself and played the
'Star Spangled Banner' again to a choir of loud boos.
He then said on the microphone, 'God Bless America,
and FUCK YOU ALL' and walked off stage.

The crowd went into a riot and started throwing shit
on stage. We immediately were rushed back to our
hotel. I have no idea of the status of our gear.

I want to thank Yngwie for backing me up, and for
standing up for the USA.

To the people in Porte Allegre, you should be ashamed
of yourselves. I don't give a fuck if I ever play your
peasant infested third world city again.

God Bless America,
Derek Sherinian"

My goodness.

Blog plugging

Dear Sean,

Thanks for the kind words. I enjoy your plugging of my infrequently updated site, and hope you didn't think I was whining about being downgraded seriously. Keep up the good work. Please note I have upgraded your site's position on my sidebar (in the blog section). Thanks for pointing out the Blogback commenting system. You will note I have also installed it.
N.

Dear Eric,


I had no idea you still read this site! I'm so sorry that I haven't come over and abducted you for beer. I promise to do it as soon as I get some free time.

N.

Lastly, the aforementioned Jeff has been faithfully maintaining my erstwhile project Debater's Corner, and it is fast growing into an outstanding resource for high school policy debaters. Visit to see my efforts in modifying Anil's CSS. I call it the "Blue Page."