Oh the words that he spoke
Seemed the wisest of philosophies
There's nothing ever gained
By a wet thing called a tear
When the world is too dark
And I need the light inside of me
I'll walk into a bar
And drink fifteen pints of beer.
- The Pogues ("Streams of Whiskey")

Last Update: 12 February 2002

Been a busy girl. Sorry not keeping up. I've got new videos and mp3s up. Check them out. I have the Superbowl appearance, but I'll put it up later. And hopefully, I'll be able to update this home page with new features soon. Anyway, have a wonderful life!

love,
mols

LAST UPDATES: videos, music

On 1 December 2001, World AIDS Day, I went to a few lectures, where the speakers gave me some startling facts and statistics on the pandemic. Here are some of those and others that I gathered from other sources:

• Drug companies have no monetary incentive to research an AIDS vaccine: It would be more profitable to sell anti-retroviral drugs that must be taken every day than to administer an AIDS vaccine once every certain number of years.
• About 3,000 people (a drop from the initial 6,000 estimate) died in the WTC and Washington tragedies. Imagine this: 6,000-7,000 die EVERY day in Sub-Saharan Africa from AIDS.
• Botswana, has the highest percentage of AIDS infections among its adults: 40% throughout the whole country, 50% in the capital city alone. Next time you're in a room full of people - look right, look left. If you were in a Sub-Saharan African nation, one of them would have HIV/AIDS.
• In Zimbabwe, where 75% of the population live on or below the poverty line and 38% of adults are infected with AIDS, the average life expectancy is less than 40 years.
• Last year in Zambia, 1 in 5 children had lost one or both parents to AIDS. About 17 million adults have died from AIDS in Africa, leaving 12 million orphans.
• 2.3 million African people died from AIDS last year; 28.1 million Africans now live with HIV.
• There are 16,000 new HIV infections every day; 90% of these occur in the developing world.
• Before Sept. 11, Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations, raised $1.5 billion in 10 weeks for an AIDS awareness drive. Since Sept. 11, he's only been able to raise $4,000.
• An estimated 1.8 million adults and children are living with HIV in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• In the Russian Federation, only 523 HIV infections had been diagnosed by 1991. Ten years later, there are more than 129,000 infections.
  
• In 2001, 1.07 million adults and children were newly infected with HIV in Asia and the Pacific, bringing to 7.1 million the total number of people living with HIV/AIDS in this region.
• According to UNICEF, over 50% of young people (aged 15–24) in more than a dozen countries, including Bolivia, Botswana, Côte d'Ivoire, the Dominican Republic, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Viet Nam, have never heard of AIDS or harbour serious misconceptions about how HIV is transmitted. More than 70% of adolescent girls (aged 15–19) in Somalia and more than 40% in Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone, for instance, have never heard of AIDS.

But there IS hope:

• As of the end of 2001, more than 10 African countries were providing antiretroviral therapy to people living with HIV/AIDS.
• The downward arc in prevalence rates continues in Uganda—the first African country to have subdued a major HIV/AIDS epidemic. HIV prevalence in pregnant women in urban areas has fallen for eight years in a row, from a high of 29.5% in 1992 to 11.25% in 2000. Focusing heavily on information, education and communication, and decentralized programmes that reach down to village level, Uganda's efforts have also boosted condom use across the country.
• Thailand's well-funded, politically-supported and comprehensive prevention programmes, which accelerated in the early 1990s, have trimmed annual new HIV infections to about 30 000, from a high of 140 000 a decade ago. Although an estimated 700 000 Thais are living with HIV today, Thailand's prevention efforts probably averted millions of HIV infections.

STEREOPHONICS : Just Enough Education To Perform (2000)

Although they have gone virtually unnoticed by the American record-buying public, Stereophonics, one of the biggest bands in the world, seemed to harbour no hard feelings against the U. S. as they integrated American influences into their latest studio release, "Just Enough Education to Perform." Criticised by many music journalists for abandoning the definitive electric sound of their first two albums, Stereophonics should instead be lauded for their brave experimental venture into the airy acoustic territory of such songs as "Every Day I Think Of Money" and "Caravan Holiday." The album's departure is highlighted especially in "Step On My Old Size Nines" by the semi-permanent studio presence of Tony Kirkham's keyboards, its gentle strumming, and the sweet harmonica sounds to give J.E.E.P. a little taste of country. However, the 'Phonics do not entirely stray from their electric roots as they introduce the album with the violent guitar screeches and rock attack of "Vegas Two Times." A few tracks later, the moody "Mr. Writer" follows with Rich's booming bass line and Stuart's steady drum crashes. Meanwhile, the buoyant, radio-friendly "Have A Nice Day" may just break the band into the American audience. In any case, Kelly Jones' raspy vocals have matured and become more powerful than ever, while his consummate storyteller abilities remain consistent through this album: Inspired by everyday events, the cheerful, misleading melody of "Have A Nice Day" hides the grim perspective of a cab driver they once met; "Nice To Be Out" refers to some of the stops they've made on tour; and "Lying In The Sun" philosophises from the perspective of an "Elephant Man"-nish beggar on whether he exists for the sole purpose of making others feel better about their own lives. Buoyed by some American exposure from some support gigs with U2 and an acoustic tour, there is no doubt that "Just Enough Education To Perform" has what it takes to rope the United States onto their musical bandwagon. Whether Americans will respond however is another story.

STUCK IN A MOMENT YOU CAN'T GET OUT OF

On 22 November 1997, a close friendship forged first as neighbours in France came to an abrupt and tragic ending when hotel security discovered Michael Hutchence dead in his room in Sydney, Australia. Inspired by the apparent suicide of his mate, Bono wrote "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of" as a lasting tribute to Hutch.

After the Zooropa tour ended, Bono and Edge spent time at their home in France. In the two years they spent there living it up, Bono had become tight with Michael Hutchence, the lead singer of INXS. During their late nights, Hutch would often spontaneously hop their fence and show up for a night out on the town. The friendship continued long after Bono and Edge's stay in France, so when Bono received a call on a flight to U2's next PopMart gig informing him of Hutch's suicide, he was devastated... and confused. Before Michael died, the two had had conversations on suicide a few times, where they "both agreed how pathetic it was." They talked about what a loss Kurt Cobain's death was, and "we kind of promised each other we wouldn't, we wouldn't cross that line where things get stupid."

Michael's death became shrouded in controversy, when his fiancee, Paula Yates, contested the coroner's verdict of suicide. Because Michael was found naked and hanging by a belt from the door, Yates believed that the cause of death was auto-erotic asphyxiation (ASA) - a solitary sex game gone wrong. At dinner with his parents the night before, he also seemed to be in a good mood, when he suddenly kissed the assistant manager and happily socialised with friends until the wee hours of the morning. And since he was the new father of Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily, and had been rehearsing for INXS' 20th anniversary "Lose Your Head" tour, Hutch seemed to have so much to live for.

However, Michael was actually in a "severe depressed state." INXS' last album sold meagerly compared to their earlier successes; Noel Gallagher of Oasis had cast him off as a has-been; and Michael had become involved in an emotionally-draining custody battle for Yates' children with her former husband, Bob Geldof. Bono said, "I'd love to believe that he went out on some spectacular sexual maneuvre, but knowing the state of him at the time, I don't think so." Hours before Michael was found, he had phoned a former girlfriend and left a distressed message on her answering machine. In a blood analysis after his death, the coroner found traces of the antidepressant Prozac, along with other prescription drugs, cocaine, vodka, beer, and champagne. His death was followed by another tragedy when Yates, who'd suffered herself from bouts of depression after Michael's death, died from a drug overdose three years later on 17 September 2000. (At her funeral, Bono sang "Blue Skies" with the piano accompaniment of Yate's co-host, Jools Holland.) Hutch's daughter Tiger is now in the custody of Bob Geldof.

A few months after Hutch's death, Bono reflected, "I don't know whether I'm angry or guilty... You always think if it's a mate that there was something you could have done... He was a nice guy to be around. He was very light, whereas I don't think I'm the easiest person to be around, so we balanced each other out." Larry adds, "He was a really sweet guy, a very nice guy to everyone he met. He was the consummate pop star. And he had so much fun with it all. I really miss that about him. I love having people like that around, and there really aren't many like him, people with his kind of spunk." A few months after he memorialised his friend in "Stuck in a Moment," Bono explained, "If he had lasted half an hour long, he would be alive now... he couldn't see out that half an hour... So in the song, I'm right there - it's like, just wanting to be in that half an hour... I felt the biggest respect I could pay him was not to write some stupid soppy fucking song, so I wrote a really tough, nasty little number. Sort of, you know, slapping him around the head. And I'm sorry, but that's how it came out for me."

Since this site is a joint effort, we just wanted to clarify who wrote what by using the images below. That way, if you have any comments, you can directly email the writer.

= written by Julie
= written by Molee