Ma and Chthonic make the news

Time Magazine offered a selection of the world's 100 most influential people. Appearing at number 19 is one Ma Ying-jeou, picked as one of the world's most influential people. Actually, I have no objection to that pick -- Ma will help preserve or destroy the freedoms of 23 million Taiwanese, and simultaneously validate or reject the authoritarians across the Strait, as well as completely alter the geopolitical landscape of the Asia-Pacific region. Or he could fail. The choices facing Ma are momentous. The description of Ma is bit one-sided, but what do you expect? Some of the pairings are priceless -- like faux democrat Joe Lieberman gushing over John McCain, or getting Henry Kissinger to write on mass murderer and dictator Hu Jintao.

At the pro-democracy end of the spectrum the Taiwanese band Chthonic, which is apparently making albums with some very cool people:

2007年赴美國、歐洲巡迴近半年後，閃靈的音樂實力已獲世界肯定，在歐美各國搖滾界儼然成了一顆超新星，除了音樂實力之外，閃靈圍繞在台灣民間傳說、原住民神話，充滿異國情調的主題，更是引起西方媒體高度好奇，新專輯「十殿」述敘一名台灣少年逆天而行，竄改生死簿的奇幻故事，東方式的生死觀及地獄觀必將引起新的話題。

閃靈過去幾張專輯皆於丹麥製作，這次則移師到曾經製作「槍與玫瑰」與「艾利斯庫柏(Alice Cooper)」的美國洛杉磯Mates Studio錄音室，擔任專輯製作人的是炭疽熱(Anthrax)的吉他手Rob Caggiano。Freddy表示，Rob是他的搖滾偶像，想到可以和他合作，就興奮的睡不著覺，一定要把壓箱寶的炭疽熱全套專輯裝箱帶去美國給他們簽名。

Go Chthonic!

[Taiwan]