So I dips in and out of the Times through the week, you know, see whats on telly and the like, then i start to read a few of the editorials, and...... well, soon realise why i don't read newspapers as a rule.
Shite upon more shite, and a lot of it editorially manifested, top of the pile shite at that.....
After some discussions I persuades the Mrs to cancel the Times, and instead seek out another newspaper to accompany her of a weekend....
She tries the Independant, the Guardian, no not doing it..... then today I suggests the Observer....
Bingo - we are in business.... well at least I likes it.
Not least because, they have like a 10 page spread in the Observer Music Monthly magazine section world exclusive U2 mega-piece on the soon to be released album and making of it.
This is a fan's dream, outstanding writing and pics, real in depth and 'taking you to the moments' style writing - brilliantly done by Sean O'Hagan
He tracked the band for the 18 months of No Line On The Horizon (click that link for something special) - and the article can be read in full here
Some quotes from Bono that resounded and re-sounded with the fAt lad in a thin place....
"Not without sounding pretentious," he says, laughing. "I mean, a lot of people have gone there, searching. There's a bit of the Mighty Boosh about it. Out in the desert, looking for the new sound. Have you seen that episode where they are out in the desert looking for the new sound? They find Chris De Burgh and he's been out looking for the new sound for 10 years [laughs]. It's probably no more profound than that."
and
SOH How much difference does your faith make in these situations - your Christian faith?
Bono "A big difference. I mean, I had been a serious scourge of the religious right, and particularly the evangelicals, for their inaction on Africa. And, to be fair to them, after taking a serious beating they did get up and do something, and that gave Bush cover on his right flank."
SOH Did you ever get into theological debate with Bush?
Bono "Oh yeah! I wouldn't talk about it, but yeah."
SOH OK, I have to ask you this one. Did you ever pray with him?
Bono "Whoaah! (He reaches for his drink.) But I didn't inhale [laughs]. Look, I would always use the scriptures to argue my corner. There are 2,103 verses of scripture pertaining to dealing with the poor. That helps, and it also helps to know that.
"Boy, did my days of Bible study come in handy! And, by the way, it's an offence to me that religious people can close their eyes to this stuff. It's just really not allowed."
and lastly, and most profoundly for me....
"In a way, I guess. I think one of the things that has set our band apart is the fact that we chose interesting enemies. We didn't choose the obvious enemies - The Man, the establishment. We didn't buy into that. Our credo was: no them, there's only us. Think about it. Every other band was us and them. The Clash, our great heroes. Then U2 arrived and it was no them, only us.
What that means is that we picked enemies that were more internal - our own hypocrisy. The main obstacle in the way of our band we always saw as ourselves and our limitations. We never blamed the record company. We never blamed the radio [laughs]. You never heard that from us in 25 years. It was always, can we be better? Can we make the song better, the show? What you're really dealing with then are the obstacles to realising your own potential. They are nearly always of a psychological, if not a spiritual, nature. The spectres that hold you back, they were our enemies. It was always, 'You're supposed to be in a rock'n'roll band. You're supposed to be rebellious, but you don't rebel against the obvious.' And we'd go, 'No, we don't. That's the point.'"
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