Happy New Year from Your Favorite Blog (We Hope!)

Trent Reznor feat (Atticus Ross & Karen O) - Immigrant Song

Tune Of The Day wish you a Happy End and Happy New Year! We wish you an amazing and musically 2012, everything could only improve. We end this year with the year's best cover.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for David Fincher's film of the same name. It was released on December 9, 2011. This is the second soundtrack that Reznor and Ross have worked on together, the previous being the Oscar-winning The Social Network, also for Fincher. According to Reznor, the album will be released on Mute Records outside North America.

The soundtrack is nearly three hours long, and includes covers of the Led Zeppelin track, "Immigrant Song", featuring Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and the Bryan Ferry song, "Is Your Love Strong Enough?", by Reznor and Ross' side-project How to Destroy Angels.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a 2011 English-language drama/thriller film directed by David Fincher, adapted from Stieg Larsson's Swedish-language novel of the same name by Steven Zaillian.

The film stars Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander and tells the story of a man's mission to find out what has happened to a girl who has been missing for 40 years, and who may have been murdered.

Official Trailer from the film - In Theaters 12/21

Todays tune "Immigrant Song" is taken from the soundtrack "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"



More info @

Official Website For The Soundtrack

Listen to ”Trent Reznor feat (Atticus Ross & Karen O) - Immigrant Song" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Vildhjarta - Dagger

Time to sum up the year 2011, there has been an eventful year with lots of adventure.
The music has stood high on the throne this year. 85 gigs have been made with a around one hundred artists, if you count festivals, then it would certainly double that. Think I've seen 7 gigs in a civil outfit if I count right. :)

Here is a little best and worst list of the year 2011.

Best Concert: Rival Sons - Strand
Best Non-rock Concert: Prince - Way Out West
Best Record: Graveyard - Hisingen Blues
Best Live Recording: Pearl Jam - Live on Ten Legs
Best Song: Graveyard - The Siren
Best Coolest Vinyl: Pentagram - Show 'em How LP - Art Edition
Best Swedish Rock Debut: Hong Faux - The Crown That Wears The Head (Vinyl)

Best Swedish Metal Debut: Vildhjarta - Måsstaden
Best T-shirt: A red Dark Funeral t-shirt (a gift from Lord Ahriman)
Best Hoodie: Clutch hoodie
Best Video: Mastodon - Deathbound

Best Beer: Bötet Barley Wine
Best Whiskey: Glenrothes Founders Reserve
Best Guitar/Bass Pick: Motörhead
Best Non-rock: Roland Kirk
Best Singer Songwriter: Bon Iver
Best Dance: Skrillex
Best Festival: Way Out West
Best Music City: Gothenburg
This Year's most active concert-goer: LG-Petrov
Best Blog: Metalyze (Metal)
Best Art: Slusk
Best Metal Web Site: WeRock

Worst Concert: Megadeth - Big 4 - Ullevi
Worst Album: Metallica - Lulu
Worst Album Cover: Limp Bizkit - Gold Cobra

Today's tune "Dagger", is taken from this years Swedish Metal debut: Taken from the album "måsstaden", Century Media Records, 2011. Video is directed by Jakob Arevärn

More info @

Official Vildhjarta Web

No Spotify on this one, sorry

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Redevelopment Decision Likely a (Marginal) Good Thing for UC Budget

For those who have been following the statebudget/redevelopment drama on this blog that unfolded after yesterday’sCalifornia Supreme Court ruling seemingly abolishing redevelopment agencies, belowis an update, courtesy of the California Planning and Development Report(excerpts).  Our prior background postsare at:

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/12/state-budget-ruling-expected-today-on.html

http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/12/be-careful-what-you-wish-for-seems-to.html

Redevelopment Will BeBack -- But At What Price?

By Bill Fulton andJosh Stephens on 29 December 2011 

The California SupremeCourt killed redevelopment this morning, but that doesn’t mean it’s dead.  At first glance it would seem as thoughredevelopment agencies have no bargaining power at all. After all, it’s hard toimagine a weaker position than a state Supreme Court ruling saying you don’texist.  But don’t forget the mostimportant point about the redevelopment battle: It’s not about redevelopment.It’s about money. And if all sides in Sacramento can resolve the money issue,the legal status of redevelopment will be practically irrelevant. There isevery reason to believe a deal will be struck. It's just not the deal that theCalifornia Redevelopment Association and League of Cities were hoping for whenthey filed suit four months ago…

In the meantime,however, California’s $6 billion redevelopment system has been thrown intouncertainly. Technically, at least, no redevelopment agencies exist and noredevelopment activities can move forward. Counties and school districts willpresumably move forward in creating the oversight committees required under thelaw to take over and dispose of redevelopment agency assets.

One thing is clear:Time is on the state’s side. For now redevelopment does not exist. The longerthe status quo persists, the more the state can claim the money – and the fartherdown the line counties and school districts will go in trying to lay claim toredevelopment agency assets. If the redevelopment establishment can’t strike aquick deal, we may be in for a long siege.

Within hours of theruling’s release on Thursday morning, both sides issued statements that couldbe considered conciliatory. Gov. Jerry Brown – who instigated the proposedelimination of redevelopment agencies in his budget last January – issued aone-sentence statement saying that the ruling “validates a key component of thestate budget and guarantees more than a billion dollars of ongoing funding forschools and public safety.”

Brown doesn’t crowabout the death of redevelopment. He doesn’t even mention redevelopment; nordoes he stake a claim to all $6 billion in redevelopment funds. He simply saysthe ruling means $1 billion more for schools and courts – making it easier for himto cash in last week’s promise that schools will get more money in this fiscalyear.

Meanwhile, the CRA andthe League – which have taken a slash-and-burn rhetorical approach since Day 1of this battle – also issued a statement containing calm-it-down language aimedat making a deal. CRA’s interim executive director, Jim Kennedy, said theorganization looked forward to finding “ways to restore redevelopment whilealso providing the state budgetary relief in a manner that doesn’t violate Prop22.” …

The League and the CRAimmediately tipped their hand as to what the likely negotiating points will be– and how they will build up enough political support to force a solution inthe Legislature. Many urban Democratic legislators are logical allies ofredevelopment and seemed uncomfortable in the party-line attack on it last year– just as Republicans seemed uncomfortable supporting it.

The CRA boardreportedly met via conference call this afternoon to discuss their strategy.CRA had already indicated that it would use at least two tactics to buildsupport: First, use the powerful affordable housing lobby as much as possible;and, second, resubmit their proposal from last year, which would permitvoluntary payments to school districts in exchange for extended life of projectareas.

It was not immediatelyclear on Thursday afternoon what Brown and legislature leaders will seek toextract as a price. But one thing is clear: Time is on the state’s side.

Full article at http://www.cp-dr.com/node/3081

Here is the official statement of the lobbying groupsmentioned above: http://protectourlocaleconomy.com/node/92

So what does all of this mean for UC and its budget.  Nothing immediately.  But note that the revenue that was at stakefrom redevelopment for the state comes to about 70% of what the state gives toUC.  Had the state lost the case, UCmight have suffered in the next fiscal year. With negotiating strength now on the state’s side – as the excerpt aboveindicates – it is likely that the state will extract at least what it hadexpected from the redevelopment agencies when this year’s budget deal wasreached – and maybe more.  On balance,from the UC perspective anything that enhances state revenue is a GoodThing.  So the outcome is likely to be aGood Thing at least marginally.

Meanwhile, theposition of the redevelopment agencies can be seen below:

Graveyard - Buying Truth (Tack Och Förlåt)

From Gothenburg comes the band Graveyard that with their second release "Hisingen Blues" captured first place on my top 10 list of the best album of 2011 with a classic retro album, an album that really will live long. Really nice beats spiced with a passion for the musical. "Hisingen Blues" has been tossed around in the top layer during most of the year and rooted down really well. A worthy winner in my book.




More info @

Official Graveyard MySpace

Listen to ”Graveyard - Buying Truth (Tack Och Förlåt)" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Be Careful What You Wish for Seems to Be Effect of Court Decision on Redevelopment

In an earlier post today, yours truly noted that the CaliforniaSupreme Court was going to issue a ruling on redevelopment agencies that hadpotential consequences for the state budget. Please look at that post for background details.  The opinion (with only one dissent) has nowbeen posted.  It may be that theredevelopment agencies will regret a) supporting Prop 22 which supposedlyprotected their funding and b) asking the Court to invalidate the compromisedeal worked out in the legislature.

The Court – based on a non-lawyer reading – seems to saythat 1) the legislature had a right to abolish the agencies but 2) it had noright to require them to pay tribute to avoid being terminated.  The court seems also to have delayed the effective termination date.  (See pp. 51-52 of the opinion - link below.)  So maybe thelegislature will come up with some other deal. Thus, exactly what the eventual consequences for the state budget - and thus the UC budget -  may beare uncertain.

The court decision, for those with better legal minds, is athttp://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/S194861.PDF

A preliminary summary from the Sacramento Bee – which leavesthe above ambiguities intact – is at http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/12/california-high-court-says-state-can-eliminate-redevelopment.html

The preliminary summary from the San Francisco Chronicle seems to suggest that the redevelopment agencies are gone.  I don't think that is quite so - as noted above, the legislature can still work out something: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/29/BA6R1MI73D.DTL

The LA Times version is similar to the Chronicle's: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/12/california-supreme-court-redevelopment-agency-ruling.html

The LA Business Journal's account refers to possible legislative action to save redevelopment agencies: http://labusinessjournal.com/news/2011/dec/29/court-upholds-brown-plan-dissolve-redevelopment-ag/

Maybe the lesson for all concerned in this case is sometimes its better to leave things alone:

UCLA History: Space Helmet

Photos said to document design by the UCLA Brain Research Institute of a space helmet in 1963.

State Budget Ruling Expected Today on Redevelopment Agencies

From the San Jose Mercury-News: The California Supreme Court will issue a long-awaited ruling Thursdayon the legality of the state's move to grab $1.7 billion in redevelopment moneyto help close California's budget shortfall -- a move that rocked cities aroundthe Bay Area and across the state.

The ruling, expectedat 10 a.m., should give critical guidance on two state laws: one that dissolvesredevelopment agencies and redirects their property tax revenues to the state,and a second that allows agencies to stay afloat if they agree to relinquish alarge portion of their funding, which will be used to pay for schools…

What is this issue all about?  In November 2010, voters passed Prop 22 whichwas intended to prevent the state from grabbing pieces of local budgetrevenue.  Among the supporters of Prop 22were local redevelopment agencies.  Theseagencies – set up by local governments – are intended to do what their namesuggests, i.e., promote redevelopment of “blighted” areas.  They are in part funded through (property)tax increment financing.  As the propertyvalues of the redeveloped areas rise (because of the renewal), the added taxrevenue goes to the agency.  Other localgovernments – such as school districts – don’t get it.

Because state and local budgets are intertwined, thediversion of property tax indirectly pulls money from the state which hasobligations to the schools under Prop 98 of 1988.  Governor Brown, in putting forth his currentyear budget (2011-12), proposed to get around Prop 22 by abolishingredevelopment agencies entirely.  If theydid not exist, you could not take money away from them, so the reasoning seemedto go.  It is not clear that the stateSupreme Court will see it that way.  Inany event, as the budget progressed through the legislature – and the localagencies screamed – a compromise was reached whereby the agencies couldcontinue to exist, but only if they paid tribute to the state.  They have mostly done so under protest.

All of this matters to UC because if the state’s attempt totake money from redevelopment agencies is ruled to be a violation of Prop 22,another $1.7 billion will have disappeared from the current year budget.  If that happens, the governor will likelypropose to make it up in next year’s budget. That budget will be announced in early January, although the governorhas been leaking bits and pieces of it in recent days (as is the tradition).

Full story from the Mercury-News is at http://www.mercurynews.com/california-budget/ci_19632057

The court proceeding should go off on schedule - but you never know:

In Flames - Fear Is The Weakness

Number 1, In Flames, Of Course!!!!

Today there isnt any other album that fully fill my needs in the music world.
Stones and I are going to see them at the club concert they are doing :D
Thats gonna be soo awesome.



This new album "Sounds Of A Playground Fading" is diffrent in many ways, one of em is that Jesper is not there, but they have another great guitarrist there, Niclas Engelin. Niclas is with In Flames now, at the same time he is in Engel, a band thats really great as well. In Flames Album has many highlights, this tune is one of em.



Enjoy!

Dudettes and Dude´s here is In Flames!

Cheers, Thetania

In Flames Homesite



And only sound and pics.



More info @

Official In Flames Web

Listen to ”In Flames - Fear Is The Weakness" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Rival Sons - Face Of Light

Number 2

of the best Albums - 2011

Pressure & Time is this year's verve, a refreshing breeze of classic blues infused rock. A very impressive release. This is an album you must own if you have a love for the roots of the musical history we have inherited.

Todays tune is the beautyful tune "Face Of Light"

Here is a live acoustic clip from ST.Pancras Station 8.12.2011



More info @

Official Rival Sons Web

Listen to ”Rival Sons - Face Of Light" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Audio of Legislative Testimony of UC-Davis Chancellor on Pepper Spray Incident: 12-14-11

Audio of the December 14 legislative hearing on the UC-Davis pepper spray incident may be heard at the link below.  The excerpt edits out the testimony of a witness from CSU-Fresno.  Earlier, the testimony of UC systemwide officials at the hearing was posted on this blog at http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/12/uc-excerpt-from-dec-14-legislative.html

UCLA Professor Charged in 2008 Lab Fire Death

From the LA Times: On Dec. 29, 2008, Sheharbano"Sheri" Sangji, 23, was severely burned over nearly half of her bodywhen air-sensitive chemicals burst into flames during an experiment and ignitedher clothing. Sangji, who was not wearing a protective lab coat, died 18 days later.  Her death raised questions about lab safetypractices at UCLA and about Sangji's training and supervision by ProfessorPatrick Harran, a prominent researcher who joined the faculty in July 2008.

On Tuesday, the LosAngeles County district attorney's office charged Harran and the UC regentswith three counts each of willfully violating occupational health and safetystandards, resulting in Sangji's death. Harran and UCLA are accused of failingto correct unsafe work conditions in a timely manner, to require clothingappropriate for the work being done and to provide proper chemical safetytraining.  An arrest warrant wasissued for Harran, 42, who faces up to four and a half years in state prison,according to a district attorney's spokeswoman…

UCLA could be fined up to $1.5million on each of the three counts. In separate statements Tuesday, UCLA andthe regents called the charges unwarranted. UCLA's statement blasted them as"outrageous" and "appalling."…

In response to Sangji's death,UCLA instituted a host of safety improvements, including more rigorous lab inspections,more flame-resistant lab coats and enhanced training in the use of safety gearand the handling of air-sensitive chemicals. UCLA also established a Center forLab Safety…

Full article at http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1228-ucla-death-20111228,0,7543387.story

Official UCLA statement at http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/campus-statement-regarding-criminal-221248.aspx

Technical details on the 2008 accident with updates and links at http://www.chemistry-blog.com/2009/01/20/tert-butyllithium-claims-fellow-chemist-at-ucla/

Young at Heart (of Lawsuit Challenging Prop 13)

Proposition 13 of 1978 - the brainchild of Howard Jarvis (at right) and Paul Gann - drastically cut and limited localproperty taxes and imposed a two-thirds vote rule in the legislature for taxincreases.  Various court cases havechallenged it over the years.  However,UCLA’s former chancellor, Charles Young, is part of a lawsuit to overturn it on(state) constitutional grounds. Obviously, if that were to occur, it would have a major impact on fiscalaffairs of state and local government in California.  It would surely affect the UC budget.  From Mother Jones:

Back when Proposition8 — the anti-gay marriage initiative — was in court, one of the arguments madeagainst it was that it represented a fundamental revision to the Californiaconstitution, not a mere amendment. As such, it should have required two-thirdsapproval from both houses of the legislature plus a majority of the public.  Gay rights supporters lost that argument, butCharles Young, the former chancellor ofUCLA, had a brainstorm. Maybe Prop 8 wasn't a fundamental revision, but howabout Proposition 13?

Passed at a time whenproperty taxes were sharply on the rise and California was running a surplus,Proposition 13 limited property taxes to 1% of a property's value andrestricted the annual increases on assessed values. ... But Proposition 13 alsorequired that "any change in state statute which results in a taxpayerpaying a higher tax" must be approved by two-thirds of both houses of theLegislature.

That language has hada profound impact on the power of the executive and the Legislature. The powerthat it constrains — the authority to raise public funds — is among the mostfundamental of government. And the requirement gives more weight to somelegislators — and, by extension, their constituents. As the lawsuit notes,"legislators opposing a tax increase are given the functional equivalentof more votes than those legislators who favor such proposals." …

Full article at http://motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2011/12/proposition-13-goes-court

Howard Jarvis - long dead - would surely be mad as Hell if he knew about the lawsuit.  He did have a brief movie career after Prop 13 passed.  You may have seen him in Airplane in which he had less success in getting a taxi at LAX than with his ballot measure:

Pagans Mind - Intermission

Thetania´s #2 Is Pagans Mind´s new album "Heavenly Ecstasy".
Its their 5th album.



This Norwegian band came to Stockholm couple of years ago, and Cheezuz
I liked it a lot...its like a mix of Dream Theater and old Saga.

The bass player Steinar is really funny and a competent bass player, Guitar man Jorn is a great guitar player, Ronny on the keyboard is fabulous, drummer Stian is a great drummer and a great guy and then last one.. Nils the vocalist, has a dream voice!!



Ladys and Gents, This is Pagans Mind!

Cheers, Thetania



More info @

Official Pagans Mind Web

Listen to ”Pagans Mind - Intermission" on Spotify here!

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Don't Look for Holiday Cheer from the Washington Post

The Washington Post has looked west of late:

UC-Berkeley and other‘public Ivies’ in fiscal peril

Daniel de Vise, Dec.26, 2011, Washington Post

Across the nation, ahistoric collapse in state funding for higher education threatens to diminishthe stature of premier public universities and erode their mission as enginesof upward social mobility.  At theUniversity of Virginia, state support has dwindled in two decades from 26percent of the operating budget to 7 percent. At the University of Michigan, ithas declined from 48 percent to 17 percent. Not even the nation’s finest public university is immune. The Universityof California at Berkeley — birthplace of the free-speech movement, home to nineliving Nobel laureates — subsists now in perpetual austerity. Star faculty takemandatory furloughs. Classes grow perceptibly larger each year. Roofs leak;e-mail crashes. One employee mows the entire campus. Wastebaskets are emptiedonce a week. Some professors lack telephones…

Tuition costs surging

In academia, there isparticular concern for the sector leaders known as “public Ivies.”  These top public universities (a group thatincludes Berkeley, UCLA and the universities of Michigan, North Carolina andVirginia) educate many more students than their Ivy League counterparts.Berkeley alone serves roughly the same number of low-income students — measuredin federal Pell grant data — as the Ivies do together…

Full article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/uc-berkeley-and-other-public-ivies-in-fiscal-peril/2011/12/14/gIQAfu4YJP_story.html

Thanks to Mike Lofchie for this reference.

Black Country Communion - The Battle For Hadrians Wall

I have now reached #3 and its closing in :D
Ive choosed one of my closest god´s in this area,

Black Country Communion or BCC, they released a album this year just called "2"



Ive choosed a tune that eint that rocky as the album in its whole is..its lyrics are written by Joe Bonamassa, and the music is by Hughes, Bonamassa, Shirley.



As I told u in the beginning of this top ten, I was totally astonished when I saw them earlier this year. The day after I worked at Europe´s concert and Joe B, Derek Sherinian and some of their tech´s came, and Joe came up stage and play´d a tune with John Norum that was awesome! and I got a hug and a chat with Derek, whom i really like since Dream Theater.



Ladys and Gents, This is BCC and Joe Bonamassa!

Love, Thetania




More info @

Official Black Country Communion Web

Listen to ”Black Country Communion - The Battle For Hadrians Wall" on Spotify here!

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Goodbye Crane - And Thanks for Your Kind Remarks

Pension reform crusader David Crane steps down today as amember of the University of California Board of Regents.  That's because the state Senate didn'tconfirm his appointment to the post within the year prescribed by law.

…Crane, a Democrat, wasSchwarzenegger's point man on public pensions. He contended that the state'sthree largest funds, including UC's, werecommitting "generationaltheft" by understating their liabilities and siphoning money fromschools and social programs…
Full article: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/27/4146490/the-buzz-pension-reform-crusader.html

Mastodon - The Ruiner

Number 3

of the best Albums - 2011

Mastodon leave their progressive concept thinking with the latest release "The Hunter" and does a little more straightforward album. A record that works at any time since the album is easier, more fun and filled with joy.
The artwork for the album is brilliant!

Todays tune "The Ruiner" is the bonus track from the limited edition of the "The Hunter"



More info @

Official Mastodon Web

Listen to ”Mastodon - The Ruiner" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!