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Voyage 9. "DO NOT MALTREAT OUR MUSIC!"
Περιήγηση 9η. "ΜΗ ΚΑΚΟΥΡΓΕΙ ΤΗΝ ΜΟΥΣΙΚΗΝ!"
PERICLES' "GOLDEN AGE", the period of the greatest acme of ancient Hellenic civilization, coincided paradoxically with the years of "decline" that seemed to fall upon the Greeks since the mid-5th century. This downward trend was a kind of omen foretelling, like a Cassandra, about the upcoming "civil" Peloponnesian War. The most dramatic reaction then to "remedy the evil" was… anti-dramatic: the polis of Athens decreed in 440 BCE the cessation of all theatrical and musical activities for four years!
"Do not maltreat our music!" (Spartan ephori)
Performing in Sparta those days with his "modern" at the time nine-string cithara, Phrynis of Mytilene encountered the angry outcry of the ephori (ephors) who, shouting out "Do not maltreat our music!", forcibly removed the two "extra" strings and obliged him to play with the "classical" (in the 5th century) seven-string cithara.(a)
Was it, indeed, a manifestation of the ephori's extreme conservatism, or had Phrynis – a leader of the innovative school with an exceptionally melismatic and modulative style – perhaps gone too far and actually maltreated music? We shall never know: first of all, we did not… listen to him playing. But even if we'd heard him play, we'd still be unable to make up our minds judging by our own ears – by our own standards, if you like, i.e. by our current criteria on music.
But Pherecrates, a contemporary comic poet and musician, was strongly in favour of the ephori, if we consider that in his comedy, Chiron, he presented Music as complaining to Justice for abuses committed by innovators such as Timotheus of Miletus, Melanippides of Melos and Phrynis – whom, however, the comedian forgave because when he grew older he came… to his senses! On the contrary, Pherecrates threw several brickbats at Timotheus and Melanippides who remained unrepentant until the end, playing their even "worse" twelve-string instruments.
Comic playwrights, however, with their innate conservatism, permit me to say, are not the most reliable sources, judging by the way Aristophanes has "taken care" of another great innovator, Euripides. The tragedian believed in Timotheus' talent, while Aristotle, together with other philosophers, also praised the work of the modernists:
"Without Timotheus", the thinker of Stagira wrote in his Metaphysics, "we would not have so many melodic compositions, and without [his teacher and also formidable rival] Phrynis, we would not have Timotheus either."
"Laconism (brevity) is the soul of wit", the ancients remarked. But the Spartan ephori set out to… disprove them, hurriedly expelling Timotheus from their polis by decree, which the Roman philosopher Boethius preserved:
"For Timotheus of Miletus came to our city and dishonoured our ancient music by despising the seven-string lyre, and also corrupted the ears of the young people by introducing a greater variety of sounds, and gave music a feminine and sophisticated character by increasing the number of strings;
"For he depraved the melody's simplicity and soberness, which it had thus far, instead of preserving it;
"We, the king and the ephori, declare we criticize Timotheus, and additionally compel him to remove from the nine strings those that are not necessary leaving only seven; and we banish him from our polis setting him as an example for all those who would like to introduce to Sparta some improper practice in the future"…(b)
The ephori's "puritanism" was not just a phenomenon of the years of "decline". This mentality of "supervising everything" characterized them also in the past bringing them into conflict – among others – with another Lesbian musician, the famous Terpander, legendary heir to Orpheus' lyre,(c) who lived from the late 8th to the mid-7th century, that is, in the so-called "creative" times. In fact, he spent most of his life in Sparta, where he was called in during a period of political crisis to… pour oil on troubled waters! Indeed, he was able to restore peace and tranquility in the city with his music composed specially for the occasion! But the ephori, instead of thanking him, demanded… an apology because he played – alas! – a seven-string cithara and not a "traditional" – at the time – four-string instrument! They could not even suspect that these specific peace-restoring compositions could not be played on a four-string instrument…
The Spartan ephori could not even suspect that Terpander's compositions could not be played on a four-string instrument…
Hosanna! There was an intervention – as "deus ex machina" – by Apollo himself, whose lyre, by… "divine coincidence", was also seven-string! It was confirmed by a rumour that craftily circulated those days. Thus, even with the seal of the Delphic Oracle, "the Spartans honoured the Lesbian songwriter", according to Heraclides Ponticus (Pontic Heraclea, 4th century BCE), adding: "for God commanded them through prophesies to listen to him". Accustomed to exaggerate (let alone it was a divine command to obey to Terpander), the Spartans subsequently placed everyone "after the Lesbian songwriter", as Aristotle wrote.
The predominance of the art of this incomparable in his time citharoedus at the expense of the ephori's scholasticism benefited in many ways the Spartans, who secured not only a peacemaker in times of political turmoil, but also the founder of their musical life. They also say that Terpander was – among other things – the first to invent a kind of musical notation for the proper performance of the Homeric epics.
The opposite happened millennia later with the notorious report On Literature, Music and Philosophy by the ephori's descendant, Zhdanov, whom Stalin considered an expert also on issues of music because he could… "play the piano a little bit"! In his report of June 24, 1947, the "father" of "socialist realism", who had nationalized in 1934 even… culture so as to turn it into a political tool, demanded from the famous composers Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Khachaturian and Shebalin to repent publicly, denouncing themselves! What a pity there was no Pythia anymore…
It was the nadir of a cultural policy aimed at creating… yes-men in literature and the arts – a policy that undermined the highest interests not only of culture, but also of the revolution. Note that it was not restricted in the Soviet Union but was also imposed on all "sister" parties. The Zhdanov report was discussed by Greek party intellectuals even on the barren islands of exile: it was unanimously approved! There was only one "dissonant" voice: that of Ares Alexandrou…
Well, starting from historical paradoxes, we have ended up to historical parallels, which are often detrimental to historical truth. Spontaneously we are in solidarity with the musicians and confront the… "Zhdanovist" ephori with disgust. In reality, however, we cannot be absolutely sure – especially in times of "decline" – which side was finally right: Phrynis and Timotheus or the ephori? Let alone that the above slogan of the "villains" fits perfectly well into the current situation concerning our music and, I think, we should all cry out loud rhythmically and in chorus: DO NOT MAL–TREAT OUR MU–SIC!
Our only certainty is probably that these historical episodes refer to professional musicians, heirs of a long tradition starting since very old times – since prehistory. Once mankind began producing more than what was absolutely necessary, resulting in surplus product which certain individuals gradually appropriated and thus constituted themselves as a separate class, since that moment musicians emerged as a separate profession.
First-rate musicians in the Orient were closely connected with the royal courts and the clergy – if they were not courtiers or priests themselves. The situation changed later in ancient Hellas due to climatic conditions that were mild and did not necessitate strong central power. These conditions nurtured a similar attitude among the Greeks and a relaxed relationship with the gods. The development of democratic ideas took place in the same context, as I have already tried to explain (see Voyages 2 and 2*).
The Hellenes have had open and inquiring minds exactly because they've been open to the outside world as a result of the same conditions. Just a look at a map of Greece explains why. Thus, the oriental influence has been catalytic. The ancients, however, unlike us, did not like to… "copy and paste". They adapted every recipe to their tastes by adding or removing ingredients. They borrowed their writing from the Cretans already in the 17th century BCE, after making the necessary changes to meet the requirements of their language (Minoan and Mycenaean Linear A and B scripts, respectively), and around the 9th century BCE received (most probably from the Phoenicians) the symbols with which they formed their alphabet – a real alphabet (and not an abjad) with letters for consonants and vowels alike. Using the same symbols (what would be more sensible?), they arrived to the point to also invent musical writing (notation) as early as the 7th-6th century BCE.
"The Hellenes had musical notation well before the 6th century BC", Iégor Reznikoff said at the 2nd Musicological Symposium in Delphi in 1986. "They were very good in keeping records; that's why we know so much about ancient Greek tradition and return to it, as many other traditions had no musical writing and thus we know nothing about them."
"Many ancient notations were invented by priests for priests and cantors, and some were even kept secret", Curt Sachs remarked.
Music, with its catalytic effect on humans, was a deadly enemy of any religion, but also a mighty weapon in the hands of the priests who made sure that knowledge around this art was top secret.
A culture with a script was not necessarily a culture with a musical script; and if the notation existed, it might have been… top secret! Music, with its catalytic effect on humans and its magical powers, was a deadly enemy of any religion, but also a mighty weapon in the hands of the priests who made sure that knowledge around this art was a well-kept secret within the very select circle of initiates.
So, the Hellenes might not have been the initiators in the field of musical notation, but they first used it not for religious-authoritarian purposes but for didactic reasons, given that music was at the heart of education provided to children since they were six. Here we can find some differences between the cultures of the Greeks and the "barbarians" – i.e. those speaking languages incomprehensible to Hellenes. Greek culture was not theocratic (there was no reason to be), which is why knowledge was a public good and also right. The initiation into the mysteries was part of the devotional process, but the role of religion was completely different.
The Hellenes used the archaic alphabet for instrumentation and Ionic letters for the song.(d) This may also indicate that instrumental notation preceded the vocal. Obviously the latter became necessary because of music's further development, thereby varying the melodic lines of voices and instruments.
Thus we are able to play even now the extant ancient Hellenic music "remnants" – of course, approximately. That's how – based on various indications – we also approach ancient Greek phonology, speech, pronunciation, which was musical and not dynamic as it is now.(e) The difference is enormous. This implies that the divergence between ancient and modern music is even greater.
The arguable continuity of Greek civilization through the succession of classical antiquity with the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods – and the necessary adjustments at each stage due to changing conditions – seems to have been interrupted by the arrival of the Ottomans. So, we tend to identify the emergence of any divergence during this period. But such phenomena have been much older, as the rapid linguistic changes taking place already in the Hellenistic period show. As far as music is concerned, colossal differentiations emerged much later, not because of the Turkish yoke, but – how ironic! – as soon as this yoke was thrown off and the Modern Greek state was established supported on foreign "crutches".
A rule that was undermined then from above concerned the link between folk and erudite music. The fact that Constantinople, Thessalonica and Smyrna – the great centres of the Byzantine and Ottoman eras – were outside the borders of the new state made things easier for the erudite musicians (all of them educated in Europe) to impose the music they could play and compose, regardless if it had nothing to do with local tradition.
Additionally, due to the fact that this tradition was shared with the former conqueror, a new kind of servitude that appeared since then also led to attempts to "harmonize" (based on the Occidental conception of harmony; see our previous Voyage) Hellenic music, both demotic song and ecclesiastical Byzantine chant. The latter was the only erudite music left in Greece, since secular Byzantine music was thoughtlessly ceded to Turkey without Hellas claiming its share of this centuries-old cultural heritage…
Didn't those in power realize that there was a risk for the people to turn into tabula rasa? Didn't they wonder if among the ages thrown into the dustbin the… Periclean Golden Age was also included? No problem! They bathed in the spotlight just the Parthenons (that is, the dead meaning of the Golden Age), then set up the "new Parthenons" on barren islands of exile,(f) and finally set out to strangle whatever little had survived from Pericles' legacy with the asphyxiating embrace of concrete. The architectural chaos they've created may have knocked architecture down the podium of the fine arts, but that's what business with pleasure is all about – and this combination is better achieved through… defects: it's them that turn wallets thick!
The Europeanization of music has been going on apace all along as long as training provided in conservatories (aka… foreign music language schools) is based on European standards.(g) The absence of "national" music education at its place of birth (while "third world" countries of the Orient boast of their higher music institutes) might be unthinkable in any country other than modern Greece. Perhaps everything can be explained by amateurism or the absence of a cultural policy – without excluding the possibility of conscious action. After all, isn't this absence of policy also… a policy?
The issue is far from simple. Any child inclined to music, regardless of stimuli, will be obliged to attend a conservatory having no choice: he/she will necessarily be taught a foreign musical language – the erudite European. It's been another case of brainwashing – not only of this child but also of his/her future listeners, since it is impossible to "shepherd" the public to listen to occidental music if no one "produces" musicians specifically trained for the role, blocking the procedures of the formation of new traditional musicians, and marginalizing at the same time those who are already active. It's been another scheme of the ruling circles in order to eradicate local traditional music and thus mutate the collective consciousness of the people.
The ruling circles tried to eradicate local tradition and mutate the collective consciousness of the people. Those who resisted were the conservatives…
Taking into account all these attempts, the continuous attacks against all local musical genres since the Hellenic state has been established, it is a miracle that this tradition has survived! It's been victorious, of course, because it's deep-rooted – but also because of a certain peculiarity: there was resistance against these attacks and those who resisted were mainly the conservative opponents of cosmopolitanism (e.g. Simon Karas, though sponsored by the Ford Foundation) and not the progressive Greeks, as it would be proper and normal. The fact that it was the conservatives who contributed the most in the field of safeguarding traditional music created even more confusion, obscuring the real problems.
The conservatives, of course, care about the conservation of music in the form it has survived through tradition so far. They are mainly interested in the conservation of the type (sum of typical features or clichés) of tradition, which is not seen in connection with the rest of the Mediterranean cultures where it belongs. It is the typical attitude of the folklorists missing the whole point. So they concentrate their attention on collecting songs and tunes in the form they've been polished to perfection by countless generations of musicians, disregarding personal creative interventions by current folk artists, ignoring that such innovations – those adopted by public taste – refined and perfected folk songs, and also rejecting any further similar effort as an attempt to adulterate their purity, arguing that in the era of individualism, the practice of collective development of music is long gone.
This may be true; but disregards the fact that the songs we admire so much have been created and perfected not by the people in general, but by their musicians as exponents of society at large or some social strata. That is, their composers and lyricists have been some talented persons, not society in general. In addition, we have no right to throw the inflow of new elements into our music in the purgatory, condemning it to a standstill – which is equivalent to death: τὰ πάντα ῥεῖ (everything flows), said Heraclitus; therefore, whatever does not flow, dies out. It goes without saying that I do not argue in favour of an uncritical acceptance of all new elements. I just point out the consequences of blind negativism: by cutting the thread of continuity, we offer the worst service to tradition. Are our folklorists under the naïve impression that barricading themselves behind the wall they are erecting, they would supposedly be safe? In the Internet era they behave like ostriches!
Folk songs have been created and perfected not by the people in general,
but by their musicians as exponents of society or some social strata.
Their creators have been some talented persons, not society in general.
In the era of individual creation, only a thorough understanding
of traditional music will enable its further development…
There's no objection that after the invention of the phonograph, and especially since the record companies have also undertaken the promotion of their "merchandise", the role of the people shrank into that of a passive receiver-listener. So much for the famous public taste! Thus, in the era of individual creation, only a thorough understanding of traditional music will enable its further development under new conditions – which is the hoped-for result – instead of serving as couleur locale. This development, of course, cannot come up with revivals such as the "neo-demotic" or "neo-rebetiko" that discredit the whole verbiage about "roots", precisely because of the adherence of their protagonists to the past – if not to money…
"IF I CANNOT CHANGE A SITUATION, I accept it," B.B. King confessed, clarifying the reason why this great bluesman changed the style of his music.(h) His statement raises openly the problem of accepting whatever situation or not, whether one can create obeying to the dictates of companies – or of the public, that is already a conditioned element. Certainly, the room for creation becomes more limited. Even those who can cope with difficulties would produce far more important work if they had a free hand. Those who manage not to debase their art under such strict control are really few. That's why the ethos of music is already a concept unknown to musicians – something so hard to get that we are under the illusion we can find it among amateurs…
Well, professionals or amateurs? It's an issue we need to elaborate on because, in the field of the arts, the former are burdened with all the sins of the world (plus the junk that's for sale), while no one dares to call into question the noble intentions of those enveloped in the halo of an "art lover". This mentality has already spread even to professionals! We have arrived at the point where we… boast of our amateurism, considering professionalism as hubris in the land of the Homeric epics, the work of a professional rhapsode, where the equally professional bards of the Odyssey era (sometime between 1250 and 1170) are mentioned, namely Phemius and Demodocus. We are talking about a tradition we know for sure it's been going on for at least three millennia – let alone that professional musicians existed well before the fall of Troy.
So, what is a professional? Generally speaking on any kind of work, since the situation around music is rather confusing, we can say that he/she is someone who:
a) knows how to do a job – has been specially trained, or skilled as an apprentice of an older artisan – and
b) out of this job he/she can at least make a living.
Anyone who does not meet the above requirements cannot be considered a professional and, moreover, if he/she doesn't meet the first requirement, it's impossible to get a job (under normal conditions). There are, of course, good and bad professionals depending on the degree they can meet such requirements. A good professional, therefore, is one who cares for both the material he's working on, and the material aspect of his work – his earnings – because otherwise his craftsmanship would be degraded and anyone could replace him. Bertolt Brecht talked about this need in his time, but who listened to him then and who remembers him now? "When you have something to say, to express," said Pablo Picasso, "any submission becomes unbearable in the long run. One must have the courage of one's vocation and the courage to make a living from one's vocation… without compromise."
The denigration of the professional musician may be linked to the Europeanization epidemic that's been sweeping the Hellenic state since its establishment. Ionian and Athenian serenades, operettas, various retros, and European light music in general, has been the "scope of action par excellence" of the trained Europeanist super-professionals,(i) while local tradition has been left in the care of semi-professional or even amateur, self-taught musicians, treated disparagingly by the music establishment.
Here's the "root of evil": at best the state has abandoned local music to the mercy of fate; at worst it's been hostile against it. Several posts – public or not – were surely occupied by these Europeanists. Under the circumstances, Hellenic music and its practitioners barely survived. They were obliged to do other jobs to survive – at the expense, of course, of their art that was degraded more and more, along with public taste. This profession "offered" so much insecurity that the locals (throughout the Balkans) handed it over to the "exclusive competence" of the Roma, the gypsies.
The situation definitely improved when and where the Greeks gained economic prosperity that allowed them to support "full time" musicians. But the dramatic improvement of the conditions of Hellenic music came with a… tragedy: the Asia Minor Catastrophe. History shows us again and again how much she can appreciate irony! Those uprooted from their ancestral homes moved in thousands into Greece (around 1.3 million people) and, together with their scanty belongings, carried with them the Anatolian sound and lifestyle – which evolved into a struggle to survive in Hellas: they brought their songs and feasts, just in case they could alleviate their plight…
The dramatic improvement of the conditions of Hellenic music came with a… tragedy: the Asia Minor Catastrophe.
The Anatolian musicians were truly professionals, with excellent knowledge of both the Mediterranean and European traditions. But they were refugees – thus, on the margins. It would take some time until they occupied responsible positions in the newly founded phonographic companies. Until then – as far as their equally marginalized public was still there – they would keep on playing their familiar repertoire of Constantinople, Smyrna and Asia Minor at large, with songs and tunes that enjoyed widespread approval in Anatolia; but not in Greece where they were not universally embraced, were rather limited in scope, for their sound was "unfamiliar" – let alone they were difficult to sing! So their fate was similar to that of their creators and they were in turn marginalized. Another historical irony was that they were replaced by the songs of the hitherto marginalized Piraeotic rebetiko!
The reasons for this preference, therefore, were commercial – as well as political: these elaborate, demanding songs, as artistic products of an advanced culture, were reminiscent of lost homelands. So they should be removed from collective memory to – supposedly – "heal" the trauma of the Asia Minor Catastrophe. Firm was the belief that this music was inextricably linked with the Turkish language spoken by many refugees. National interest dictated some drastic measures to be taken.
The Smyrnaic songs, reminiscent of lost homelands, were marginalized for commercial and political reasons. They should be removed from collective memory to "heal" the trauma of the catastrophe… Censorship on music targeted minor thirds, a feature of the ancient Hellenic chromatic genus…
This task was later taken over by the Metaxas dictatorship, imposing censorship that was not limited to lyrics, but extended to music, as well (see also Voyage 6). The musical censors' main target was the minor third intervals (three semitones), the so-called "bemolli",(j) that is, the distinctive feature of the ancient Hellenic chromatic genus. Even though there are some questions around the enharmonic genus, no one has ever doubted about the chromatic: we know e.g. that it was never used in tragedies – apparently because it did not fit there. But Plutarch, according to Aristides Quintilianus (3rd century CE), said that "the cithara, several generations older than tragedy, since its very beginning, used… the sweetest and most plaintive" chromatic genus. Besides, the three ancient genera (diatonic, chromatic, and enharmonic) can also be found, noticeably remodeled, in Byzantine music. However, the Westerners – alas! – are only able to appreciate scales, especially the diatonic, while their chromatic scale has nothing to do with the chromatic genus: bingo!
- .
"How comes that no one informed Metaxas on this issue?", – some naïve person may wonder. Well, even if someone did, he would have… disappeared later imprisoned or exiled for "anti-state activities"! Under these abnormal conditions rebetiko turned professional. Persecution affected everyone – both the Anatolians and the locals – for their music styles were first-degree relatives. Due to its tolerant police authority, Thessalonica was then turned into an oasis where many persecuted found refuge. Thus, during its early years, rebetiko influenced the city and was influenced by it.
Anyway, the painful shrinkage of Hellenism had also its positive effects, concentrating and condensing in modern Greece sounds born in three peninsulas: the Balkans, Asia Minor, and Italy. No country in the region enjoys such a privilege: its geography determines the sound of its music. This little miracle, however, with Hellenism's three-dimensional face, collides with the mantra "We belong to the West" and is anything but welcome to the rulers who would do everything for the people to lose orientation – and if possible, they would have imposed… "occidentation" with a presidential decree!
The shrinkage of Hellenism concentrated in Greece sounds born
in three peninsulas: the Balkans, Asia Minor, and Italy.
Rebetiko's foes covered the entire political spectrum from Right to Left.
Rebetiko's foes, however, covered the entire political spectrum from Right to Left. In the late '46 and early '47, according to Phoebus Anogianakis, the musical associations asked the government to intervene taking "appropriate measures" in order to stem the spread of rebetiko:
"This initiative," he wrote in Rizospastis, the Communist Party newspaper, on January 28, 1947, "was gradually embraced by our music critics and columnists who, in their discussions and articles, grappled with its 'moral' and artistic value, as well as with its effect especially on the younger generation. [Another reincarnation of the ephori!]
"Anathemas 'in the name' of morality at risk, or an offhand evaluation of popular rebetiko song as it is presented – mind you – in the cosmopolitan tavern, prevented a critical assessment of rebetiko creating fuss and confusion.
"The criteria of our Western music education are certainly not enough to approach and study rebetiko, especially when they are accompanied by the 'current' perception of morality. Many aspects of this song naturally surprise us. We have strayed away so far from its sources following our own paths that sometimes we can find ourselves with difficulty.
"The tradition of demotic song and, to a somewhat lesser extent, of Byzantine music, even though some would be surprised, continues in these songs that constitute a genuine form of today's popular music."
A week later, on February 4, Rizospastis published a reply letter to Anogianakis, signed by his co-fighter in the ranks of the National Liberation Front (EAM), namely Alekos Xenos, also a musician. Noting that in the newspaper Ethnos (Nation), the composer Manoles Kalomoires adopted a similar position with Anogianakis (this concurrence seemed rather… incriminating!), he outlined his diametrically opposite view:
"Rebetiko," he wrote, "is one of the inherent contradictions of the bourgeoisie in decline. It appears in an embryonic form before the wars. It takes shape from melodic remnants of the Turkish conquerors and those melodies brought here by ship crews coming from Turkish ports. It is performed by the most lumpen strata created by the pauperizing economic tactics of capitalism.(k) It carries the most reactionary traditions, in the degradation of a segment of the bourgeoisie.
"I think that we cannot find ourselves going back to rebetiko but to the few songs of our people's latest Resistance and those that will be composed about it in the future."
This fossilized thinking, which the party leadership – unfortunately – espoused, was disputed on the 23rd of the same month by Linos Polites with another letter to Rizospastis. After calling Xenos back to… Marxist order ("how comes that the lumpen is a degraded segment of the bourgeoisie?"), he censured the domestic production of tangos, concluding as follows:
"I cannot believe that A. Xenos accepts there is popular tradition and style in the music of the songs of Resistance since we know both their composers – he is one of them –(l) and the clearly Western measures in the structures of their compositions. In addition, we know that during such a short time, individual creation can far easier give its fruits.
"Today, after the great lesson of the Resistance, the gap that separates us in matters of art from the people became more than obvious and there is a clear need to find a point of contact. This point will be found in contemporary popular activities, if we examine them with less superficiality and more serious characterizations."
Then the controversy around rebetiko necessarily stopped, since another conflict had broken out – with live ammunition: it was the Civil War… Two years later, with the Left heading for defeat because of their own "mistakes" and betrayals (not because of the superior adversary firepower), another composer, also coming from the ranks of EAM but disappointed and having turned his interests elsewhere, undertook the defense of rebetiko. It was the highly penetrating Manos Hadjidakis describing the prevailing atmosphere in the late 40s:
"Our times are hard and our popular song, which is not made by people of the fugue and counterpoint who care for sanitation and make-do health make-up, sings the truth and nothing but the truth.
"Our era is neither heroic nor epic and the end of the 2nd World War left almost all the problems unresolved and up in the air.
"Furthermore, our country follows through with a war, almost uninterruptedly, with perseverance and faith in the final victory, but always – especially today – arduously and painfully. Consider now under these relentless conditions the virginal idiosyncrasy of our people. Virginal because just one hundred years of free life were not able neither to make it mature nor to leave room for the latest European trends to take root. Imagine all this piled vitality and beauty at the same time of a people like ours asking for an outlet, expression, contact with the outside world and facing everything mentioned above as main features of the era. Moreover, think of the extremely harsh conditions in our country. Vitality is burned, idiosyncrasy falls sick, beauty remains. This is rebetiko. And hence its thematology arises.
"Imagine all this piled vitality and beauty of a people asking for an outlet, expression, contact with the outside world… Think of the extremely harsh conditions in our country. Vitality is burned, idiosyncrasy falls sick, beauty remains. This is rebetiko." (Manos Hadjidakis)
"Rebetiko manages to combine speech, music and movement in an admirable unity. From composition to interpretation, the conditions are instinctively created for this triple expressive coexistence that sometimes, when it reaches the limits of perfection, is morphologically reminiscent of ancient tragedy.
"Zeibekiko is the purest modern Greek rhythm; while hasapiko has assimilated a pure Hellenic peculiarity. Rebetiko is built on these rhythms; observing the melodic line of the song we can clearly discern the influence or, better, the extension of Byzantine chant. Not just examining the scales that out of folk musicians' instinct are kept intact, but also observing the cadences, intervals and mode of execution. Everything reveals the source, which is none other than the strict and austere ecclesiastic hymn.
"Who knows what new life the leisurely and pessimistic 9/8 hold for us in the future. But, in the meantime, we would have felt their strength for good. We will hear them, very naturally and properly, raising their voice in our immediate surroundings and living in order to interpret our inner selves"…
Until the Civil War wounds healed up, many years had passed. The debate on rebetiko was rekindled in the dawn of the 60s on the occasion of Mikis Theodorakis' Epitaph. But it was too late: the debate of the 60s seemed more like a… rebetiko epitaph – meaning it was post mortem – for its creative period, its breath, was already over…
"Persistent were the attacks on rebetiko, even after it was dead for years," Dinos Christianópoulos comments. "Hostile attitude was maintained by nationalists and governments (especially by Metaxas and somehow more moderately by the Tsaldares government, that outlawed and persecuted it), considering it as a stigma of Greco-Christian culture;(m) religious organizations and the Church in general, that dealt with it as immoral; the fanatic communists (among them even Várnales, although he frequented in taverns), who rejected it as an expression of bourgeois decay and decadence; a part of the bourgeois press, expressing the prejudice and respectability of high society; demotic song fans (mainly schoolteachers and provincial scholars); the conservatories people, who faced it with disgust and contempt; university folklorists, who considered it as an abortion of our popular culture, and a lot of little folks emasculated by light songs."
Noteworthy is an essay by Kostas Takhtsés on Zeybekiko – written with y because of a theory "that the etymology of the word comes from Zeus and bekos (bread in Phrygian)". This elaborate text of 1964, rather lengthy to quote here, deserves to be read in whole, inter alia, for its important reflections, such as:
"Contrary to classical Hellenic culture that modern Greeks aspired to resurrect after the War of Independence in mainland Hellas, the Byzantine world was clearly 'oriental'. The Turks borrowed and imitated this 'oriental' civilization, giving to it, over time, a heavier, Turkish character, and exactly this secondary product was what generations of Greeks of servitude experienced, and brought with them when they came, as refugees, to old Hellas."
"The guerrillas of ELAS (Greek People's Liberation Army)", Tachtsís also wrote referring to the years of Resistance, dissolving the embellished picture Xenos tried to create, "along with some demotic songs, depending on the area, sang Hellenized versions of Russian, and – how tragicomic! – even… German songs and paeans."
Anyway, it is really didactic to see in outline the distressing finale of the story about rebetiko zeybekiko as narrated by Takhtsés:
"The bourgeois resisted; but they soon realized the futility of the effort. Thus, using the well-known method of rationalization or the equally well-known tactics of neutralization through containment, they embraced, adopted [the zeybekiko songs]. It's always the best way to castrate a 'revolution' – cheap, safe, and bloodless. They started going on nightly treks to various taverns with bouzouki bands, the menu prices went up, the bouzouki players showed off, were flattered, saw that they had discovered a goldmine, buttoned up, even wore tuxedos, started varying their repertoire ever more with the softer, empty of any message or thought, but more tantalizing, tsifteteli, the prices went up again, the simple people got scared, withdrew to unknown taverns with still unknown bands, the eccentrics and the bourgeois discovered them, they occupied the tables there, as well, until the people, finding no place to sit, were compelled to gather outside, staring at the bands, the Americans and the bourgeois, in order to listen to the songs that were born out of them, but were far too expensive for their pockets. Thus a paranoid situation prevailed with the tourists and the bourgeois who went to see the people, and the people who went to see the tourists. Admiring products of economic misery that they were not willing to share except only aesthetically and from afar, the tourists flattered the people, for whom they became both a spectacle and objects of wonder.
"Well: with the collaboration of some well-meaning, and many dishonest or foolish people, an amazing robbery has taken place before our eyes: the people's right to lament, at least, their fate. The zeybekiko songs have become the status quo, established themselves, lost their edge, their meaning, and have become, in turn, the Occupation tangos of our time. More Greek, of course, than the tangos but, mind you, they speak no more of social injustice, nor about the bitterness in life, they don't protest, they consent. They speak about bourgeois pseudo-pleasures and pseudo-worries, and now and then about the bitterness of migration, which is absolutely crucial, since migration means not to face reality, but to flee from it – the only kind of flight that is still allowed, when it's not imposed.
"Let me conclude: Those songs that managed for a while to become the means of expression of a people's protest against their exploiters of all kinds, are now composed according to 'plutocratic' methods of mass production by the exploiters themselves, or they are just financed by them, for consumption by the people, and the people, who do not understand, or pretend not to understand, who have had some food to eat after the war, and, because of this little food, imagined they've become rich – sing them!
"I am somehow fit to judge the aesthetic result of all this unprecedented farce; and it's lamentable"…
After such a text, silence is golden. Even D.E. Pohren's crucial conclusion that "once a minority's authentic musical expression becomes fashionable, it fades", pales into insignificance. The same applies to Anogianakis' remark that "certain current [1961] rebetiko features correspond to commercial jazz (stylized overproduction, exaggerated performance through microphones and loudspeakers, showing off of silly virtuosity)."
"Once a minority's authentic musical expression becomes fashionable,
it fades". (Donn Pohren)
Here's, then, where we have ended up: with musicians playing every night, all the time, the same repertoire with no substantial changes, bored as hell, just like their customers. When the musicians do not enjoy their art, when pathos or joys of life have been replaced by bathos or superficial revels, then merriment and "happiness" come by artificial means – drinking at best. When the musicians fail to engage creatively and freely in improvisations, having in mind just an outline, a sketch of the repertoire, leaving everything else on the spur of the moment, when they avoid or are afraid to be carried away by their imagination, and prefer to be on sure ground, then at best they may provide entertainment – for the people to forget their troubles, to be fooled away – though they should provide (at least sometimes) edutainment, "soul therapy".(n) When the musicians act dictatorially, playing at full volume, forgetting that music has pianissimo and fortissimo, as well as a plethora of modes and rhythms, then people go out to blow off some steam, get drunk and break loose, making more noise than the amplifiers and behaving like a horde of barbarians. Then – let me say it again – the musicians have lost their best allies: the music aficionados.
But – you're bound to ask – aren't professionals like that? Why should I support them? Well, these are the bad professionals, I would say – regardless if they make up the majority now. Willy-nilly, they've fallen into the trap where other professionals, such as journalists, have also been caught, with the idea that they are… coffee men and, therefore, they make coffee according to the customers' preferences!(o) They do not seem to bother that the order for… "light-sweet" music or news is not given by some "clients" but by their bosses. On the other hand, let's not forget that if there was no public well-disposed to junk "music" or "news", the bosses would necessarily have second thoughts. So, when we… shoot the piano player without looking in the mirror, chances are we'll be finally left without a piano player!
When we shoot the piano player without looking in the mirror,
chances are we'll be finally left without a piano player!
Music is no joking matter. It's an art requiring years of study, either with sheet music and books or next to another musician – but always on the instrument. It takes persistent and consistent effort and study to master the technique of a single instrument and, moreover, to decipher the secrets of a single musical language. The same applies to a singer: not everything depends on a "celestial charisma". How then is it possible to consider this verbiage of "cold" professionals and "sensitive" amateurs as well-grounded? How can a lyricist e.g. pose as a composer when he is musically "illiterate"? What would this rhymer say, indeed, if someone who had never sat down to work on language and metre declared to be a "poet"? You'll tell me I've forgotten a very important parameter: in Hellas you are whatever you declare!
Popular songs – they say – are simple. Yes, but they are not simplistic! The great difficulty in their composition lies in this very simplicity. Especially when you have studied theory of music, it is rather easy to create complicated compositions. If you attempt to simplify them, if you leave just the basic melodic line, then the substance, the quality of your inspiration, reveals itself.
Popular songs – they say – are simple. Yes, but they are not simplistic!
The great difficulty in their composition lies in this very simplicity…
Let us assume that divine inspiration strikes a musically "illiterate": he will not be able to elaborate on that because he lacks proper knowledge. And if this elaboration is taken over by someone else, the end result will be different from what he had in mind. Even if he "hits it big" and becomes a "star", he will have capitalized on the erudition of third persons who will unfortunately, in most cases, remain unknown. Additionally, if he wishes to sing his creation, as it has become fashionable lately, he will fail, as well, because, even if he doesn't sing out of tune (if…), he has not worked his vocal chords, ignores completely the vocal techniques, he doesn't know the secrets of breathing, articulating and singing, and much more.
One may refer as an example to the Beatles who composed brilliant music being musically "illiterate". Apart from the fact that they too capitalized on George Martin's erudition, I have to stress I don't mean by any means those musicians who are theoretically "illiterate": the Beatles were professional musicians since the time they played – completely unknown – in Hamburg.
Mind you, the autodidacts, or self-taught musicians, have not only disadvantages but also advantages against their theoretically erudite colleagues. Let alone that the conservatory may destroy a natural talent. Liszt e.g. admired so much a self-taught virtuoso that "he trembled at the idea of him studying music, so as to keep the impulsive power of his musical instinct virginal and unchanged", as Sophia Spanoudes wrote in her well-known column in favour of Tsitsanes in 1952. Speaking about the extraordinary advantages of autodidacts against erudite artists, Giorgos Papadakis explained why such musicians have been the salt of the earth:
Liszt "trembled at the idea of some self-taught virtuoso studying music,
so as to keep the impulsive power of his musical instinct virginal."
"A self-taught instrumentalist is obviously required to solve many difficult technical problems alone. He is obliged to improvise solutions to problems already solved, since a teacher or a method would have significantly shortened the time required to do this. So, many times he needs to re-invent the wheel. The price can be high, but he may reap a reward that many musicians would envy: the quite personal style derived from personal improvised ways of addressing technical problems. This is evident in the way of playing of those musicians who learned out of commitment and play with commitment."
The musically "illiterate", however, are also sly: they declare they are "popular composers", instead of "popular musicians", because otherwise the trick would have been exposed at once. So let's have a brief look at this category, as well:
"The popular composer", according to Phoebus Anogianakis:
"a) is an uneducated person endowed by nature with musical gifts, someone who has not studied music (whatever knowledge he has is due to his extensive experience as a professional, especially in recent years, because of his contact-collaboration with musicians of light music);
"b) 'composes' mainly songs or short instrumental pieces (of a dance or free rhythmical type) usually with the help of a popular instrument;
"c) 'bases' his work on Greek popular music tradition, while at the same time being under some influence (from foreign popular music or also – in recent years – from local or foreign popular-like art light music)."
It goes without saying that a popular composer according to Anogianakis needs to combine the traits of a self-taught musician according to Papadakis if he is to acquire a quite personal style – and vice versa: the autodidact must be gifted by nature with musical talents and have extensive experience to re-invent the wheel…
One more thing: the term "art music", prevailing in the 60s when Anogianakis' text was written, is of course completely inappropriate, since it implies that a popular composer is probably… "artless"! Clearly annoyed and in a sarcastic mood, Tsitsanes once commented that the difference between popular and "art" composers is that between eyewitnesses to a crime and some others who… just heard about it!
And what about the… "illiterate"? Where can we group all those who surely have nothing in common with either Tsitsanes or the Beatles? No need to ask: they are the… perpetrators of the crime!


text:
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Welcome to PWInsider.com's live coverage of TNA Victory Road 2007. The pre-game show was the Road to Victory Road special from SpikeTV, highlighted by Senshi defeating Jerry Lynn and Petey Williams in a very good match after the Warrior's Way doublestomp off the top rope on Williams, who had just nailed the Canadian Destroyer flip piledriver on Lynn.
There was a dark match live in the building with Havoc and Martyr defeating All Japan Pro Wrestling undercard stars Brute Issei and Akira Raijin. The All Japan stars are currently on an extended stay in the United States working to improve and get seasoning.
Interesting to note that the Elevation X structure is up for the Ultimate X match.
Victory Road opening with a video feature on the main events. Mike Tenay and Don West welcomed us and they blew up some fireworks.
Ultimate X Match
The match will have Gauntlet style entrances and you can be eliminated by being tossed over the top./ Wow, that's a letdown. The first two competitors are Jay Lethal and Christopher Daniels. You win the match by retrieving the X hanging under the structure. Daniels attacked Lethal and choked him against the ropes. He whipped Lethal into the corner but missed a charge. Lethal unloaded with rights, but Daniels cut off his offense. The third competitor in was Puma, making his return to TNA rings. Puma went right after Lethal, who elbowed him. Puma evaded him and dropkicked Lethal in the head. He went for a suplex but Lethal avoided it. Lethal tried to toss Puma out of the ring but he held onto the ropes and swung back into the ring. Lethal clotheslined both Daniels and Puma.
Homicide was the fourth man out. Lethal was working over Daniels when Homicide attacked him. Lethal went to clothesline him but Homicide avoided it and nailed an Ace Crusher. All three beat down Lethal. Sonjay Dutt came to the ring next, slowly, playing up his Guru persona. He went to the top and hit a flying bodypress on Puma and Daniels. He then hit fast offense on Homicide and Daniels. Puma drilled him with a kick to the head,
Petey Williams was sixth and came in offense on everyone, including a combo DDT on Puma at the same time he drilled Daniels with a side Russian Legsweep. Puma picked upWilliams for a Spicoli Driver but Williams turned it into a sunsetflip. The seventh guy was Shark Boy. He bit Daniels on the derriere. Elix Skipper was next for his return to the company. He and Shark Boy went at it center ring. He dumped Sharky over the top. He tossed Dutt over the top. Dutt tried to skin the cat but was kicked in the back of the head and fell to the floor.
The next competitor was Kaz, no longer sporting the facepaint. He cleaned house on everyone. The final competitor was Senshi. At this point, you can grab the X, so Kaz scrambles up. Senshi attacks him and locks a Dragon Sleeper on Kaz. Senshi began ascending the structure. He started climbing across but fell, landing on Daniels. Senshi and Homicide battled. Daniels began climbing across the structure. Kaz grabbed his boot and pulled him into the ring.
Kaz, Senshi, Lethal and Daniels all began climbing across and met in the center. They began kicking at each other and were pulled down by Homicide and Skipper. The crowd chanted "TNA." Senshi clotheslined Homicide. Daniels clobbered Lethal with a clothesline.
Daniels went to the top and began climbing across the structure's bottom using his hands and feet. Lethal followed and hit him with several knees. Daniels let go and was hanging upside down. Kaz came off the top and grabbed Daniels with a cutter, bringing him down into the ring from an upside down position. That was beyond insane and dangerous.
Senshi missed a handspring elbow on Homicide in the corner. Homicide went to suplex senshi out of the corner. Lethal grabbed Homicide. Daniels grabbed Lethal so everyone was suplexed backwards. Meanwhile, Kaz and Skipper climbed up opposite sides of the structure and walked across the top of the structure. They met halfway and seemed shocked by the lack of space before starting to exchange blows. They continued to battle as they tried to climb to the underside of the structure. They exchanged kicks while hanging before falling into the ring.
Seconds later, Skipper hit a DVDR on Lethal and was then drilled by Kaz. Kaz kicked Homicide who was on the top rope and then hit the Flux Capacitor (one man Spanish Fly). Daniels threw Kaz out of the ring and into the girder outside. He tried to climb up but Lethal threw him into the ring. Lethal began climbing. Daniels followed, trying to catch up. Lethal got to the X but was pulled down by Skipper. Daniels made his way across and finally grabbed the X while hanging on the underside with his hands and feet.
Daniels dropped into the ring as Senshi and Elix Skipper began having words. Daniels held up the X over them and the former XXX tag team reunited (as we mentioned was being talked about on PWInsider.com a few days ago).
Your winner, Christopher Daniels!
Fun opener with some spots that even I was questioning the safety and logic on. I wish they had announced the stipulations earlier than during the show because you couldn't help but be a little let down.
Backstage, TNA Tag Team champions Team 3D were interviewed by Jeremy Borash. Devon said it was the opportunity of a lifetime and said he couldn't wait. Devon said he's been waiting 15 years for the chance to be the World champion. He warned Kurt Angle to be prepared and said he would be the champion. Brother Ray looked surprised and said he was speechless. Brother Ray said he has good news and not so good news. He said the good news was Devon is fired up but he isn't going to be the World champion. Ray said he guaranteed Joe, Devon, and Angle weren't winning tonight. He said the "High-flying technical wizard" Brother Ray was going to win the X-Division title tonight. Devon told him a dream is a dream, but Ray's dream isn't coming true. Ray told him that Devon wasn't winning as long as he was in the ring. Devon told him to do what he's got to do and Ray will do the same. They got in each other's faces, upset with the other.
Leticia interviewed Samoa Joe. Joe said he can't trust Angle, but that won't prevent him from winning the Tag belts tonight. He said that he set up Angle "like the mark you are" and now he's going to knock him down. He said that's going to take the Tag titles and he'll be coming for the TNA title next.
Mike Tenay and Don West welcomed everyone to the PPV. They previewed tonight's card.
Leticia interviewed Voodoo Kin Mafia. VKM said that TNA said they will no longer tolerate man against woman violence, so tonight they would bring in the newest member of VKM. He said she "was imported right from the bayou of New Orleans." BG said they didn't forget about Lance Hoyt. Kip James said that he was personally going to stick his boot straight up Hoyt's a** saying he didn't forget about Hoyt turning his back on them after they took him under their wing.
Voodoo Kin Mafia vs. Damaja and Basham (with Christy Hemme and Lance Hoyt)
VKM came to the ring alone. BG took the ring mic and did their usual mic work. He said they were "soon to be NWA Tag Team champions of the world." Ooops! He then said they were happy to announce the new member of VKM, the Voodoo Queen Roxxi LaVeaux. Roxxi is Northeastern independent wrestler Nikki Roxx. For more on her, visit www.myspace.com/wrestlingroxx. Roxxi slowly came to the ring dressed up like she was going to Mardis Gras and was out of it, tons of makeup and a really bad wig. The crowd chanted "What is that?" That cracked me up. Uh, exactly what is this gimmick??? .
BG started with Damaja and like every big grudge match, they go right to the mat with a headlock. Basham and Kip tagged in and went back and forth. Kip dropkicked Basham. Basham missed his own. Kip continued to control the match. Hoyt tried to distract Kip but Kip still tacked him down. Kip chased Hoyt around the ring. Hemme slapped Kip. Kip wanted to hit her but couldn't. Roxxi got into the ring but the referee held her back. Hoyt and crew worked over BG on the floor. Basham and Damaja worked over BG.
The crowd started chanting, "Boring." Basham missed a top rope headbutt. Basham missed a running kick into the corner. Kip James got the hot tag and cleaned house. Kip hit a vertical suplex for a two count. Basham nailed him from behind. Lance Hoyt grabbed a chair and slid it into the ring. He kicked it into Kip's face. Basham covered Kip, who got his shoulder up at the last moment. Hoyt argued with the referee. BG nailed Basham with the chair and Kip covered him for the pin. The story was Hoyt cost his stablemates the match by arguing with the referee.
Christy Hemme and Lance Hoyt were jawing at ringside and she told him to get into the ring to stop VKM. BG clotheslined him over the top to the floor. Hemme got back into the ring but VKM grabbed her. They called for Roxxi. They tossed her to Roxxi who hit an over the shoulder powerslam on Hemme.
Match was whatever it was. I don't think this was a great debut for Roxx, although she's supposed to be a really good worker.
Jeremy Borash interviewed TNA champion Kurt Angle, who had both his titles and was wearing a suit. He said that 3D guaranteed they were going to win. He asked why Joe doesn't have his best interests as Angle's partner. He said that if Joe is jealous that Angle is great, he should blame Angle's mother because she made him so great. He said tonight was "Shake and Break Time....Shake and Break." Well, I guess someone in TNA saw Talladega Nights recently.
They went to a video feature on Rhino vs. James Storm.
Rhino vs. James Storm (with Jackie Moore)
The referee threw Moore out of ringside before the match. Rhino attacked Storm on the floor and whipped him into the guard rail. He hiptossed Storm onto the ramp, then tossed Storm into the crowd. They battled into the second level of the Impact Zone. Storm tried to escape but Rhino grabbed him. They battled across the Impact Zone with Rhino in control. Rhino ran Storm headfirst into the wall of the Zone, then grabbed a beer bottle. He teased hitting Storm, then tossed it into the crowd. He tossed Storm back into the ringside area. He tosses Storm into the ring and they rang the bell for the match to officially start.
Rhino drilled Storm with a clothesline. The crowd is enjoying the hell out of this. Rhino went to the top rope but was shoved off by Storm. Storm worked over Rhino on the floor, then tossed him back into the ring. Rhimno battled his way back to his feet but Storm tossed him over the top rope to the floor. Storm worked over Rhino on the floor. He brought Rhino back into the ring and cinched on a side chinlock. The crowd chanted, trying to rally Rhino.
Rhino finally breaks free and hits a clothesline and back elbow. He hit a shoulderblock in the corner, but Storm cut him off with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Storm goes to the top but Rhino catches him on the top and nails a superplex. Rhino gets a two count. He goes to clothesline Storm, but Storm ducks and the referee eats it. Storm takes out Rhino. Rhino comes back and tossed Storm into a corner. Storm grabs a beer bottle. Rhino goes for the gore but Storm smashes the bottle over the head and pinned Rhino.
Your winner, James Storm!
Rhino was busted open. Storm brought a noose into the ring. He hogtied Rhino's body around the ropes, trapping him. He drilled Rhino with a chairshot to the head. Jackie Moore returned to the ring with a small keg and began pouring it into Rhino's mouth while Moore and Storm took turns taking pictures of the other. Storm began screaming in Rhino's face. He continued to work over Rhino. The referees got Storm to leave the ring. He teased leaving, then grabbed a chair, returned and drilled Rhino with it.
I enjoyed the heck out of this. Good brawl and good angle. James Storm is coming along really great.
Leticia interviewed Jerry Lynn and Bob Backlund. Lynn said that he and Backlund were old school and stood for everything that good about professional wrestling - respect, honor and talent. He said they were going to beat respect into Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. Backlund went nuts and said they were fighting for the family unit and America.
They aired a video feature on the Old School vs. New School match
Alex Shelley & Chris Sabin (with Kevin Nash) vs. Bob Backlund & Jerry Lynn
Backlund and Sabin started off with Backlund frustrating Sabin. Sabin tried to claim Backlund pulled his hair after an armdrag attempt. The storyline early here was that the older veterans were keeping the young punks off balance with good technical wrestling. Sabin and Shelley began double teaming Lynn, tagging in and out. Lynn used a Lucha armdrag and a dropkick to ward off Shelley. Lynn hit a leaping back elbow on Shelley. He DDT'd Sabin for a two count. Lynn went for the a piledriver on Sabin, but Shelley spit a mouthful of water in his face. Shelley dropkicked Backlund off the apron to the floor.
Kevin Nash distracted the referee to give his charges a chance to work over Lynn. Lynn starts to mount a comeback but they cut him off. The referee had words with Backlund, who wanted to get in and help Lynn, allowing Sabin and Shelley to destroy Lynn. They tied Lynn upside down in the corner. Shelley hit a sliding kick, followed by Sabin's hesitation dropkick. Backlund lost it and attacked them. He hit the atomic drop on Shelley, who bumped out of the ring.
Kevin Nash entered the ring as the referee pushed Backlund out of the ring and drilled Lynn with a big boot. Shelley and Sabin destroyed Lynn with a series of fast kicks and scored the pin.
Your winners, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley!
Match was good when Lynn was in and pure silliness when Backlund was involved. It was good.
Backstage, Kurt Angle was looking for "back up" with Jeremy Borash in tow. They went into a bathroom where they found Jay Lethal. Angle asked him if he wanted the chance of a lifetime and watch his back tonight. Lethal said, "Wash your back?" Angle called him an idiot. Angle tried to bribe Lethal with the promise of a title shot. Lethal was acting like Randy Savage in his full glory. Angle put his TNA and IWGP belts on Lethal's shoulders, then attacked him. He began screaming at Lethal, asking whether he wanted to help him or not. Angle tossed him into the the shower stall and then smashed him into the sink. He tossed Lethal into a toilet stall, stopped to fix his suit and tie and walked off. Uh, why would you make Lethal, one of the hottest undercard gimmicks in the entire company, look like a goof in a vignette role that any expendable undercard guy could have filled?
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text:
Hot Wheels Apptivity Vehicles for tablets (Photo: Business Wire)
"Families want toys that fulfill a fun play experience while also
expanding children's imaginations in clever and exciting ways," says
Technology: It IS child's play
Merging age-appropriate technologies and traditional play patterns,
"Today's children do not differentiate between toy and device as technology is expected in their favorite playthings," said Scothon. "What Mattel brings to this convergence is a rich understanding of both the art and science of play."
To complement its global powerhouse of brands,
Beginning with Hot Wheels Apptivity™ which lets kids take a 1:64
scale Hot Wheels car and race through three exciting game mode in May,
Combining fashion and photos with a simple click, Barbie® Photo Fashion™ Doll is actually a digital camera and Barbie® doll's tee-shirt serves as the canvas. Girls can showcase pre-loaded graphics or take their own pictures and display them on Barbie® doll's tee. Girls who loved Fijit Friends® will love the innovative nurturing play of Fijit Friends® Yippits™. These dynamic dancing pets perform tricks when played with so girls can nurture, teach tricks and discover the spontaneous play that comes with the fun, unpredictability of Yippits™.
Preschoolers who want to take their favorite content on the go will delight in the super-cool, kid-friendly Kid-Tough® Portable DVR that connects directly to a TV and set top box to record children's favorite TV shows. The Kid-Tough Portable DVR gives parents and preschoolers the best of both worlds: parents can maximize TV content they're already paying for at home and preschoolers can take their favorite TV shows along for the ride — on road trips, flights, family vacations — or wherever their adventures take them.
Customization and Collectability
When traditional toys incorporate a creative, customizable element —
imaginations run wild. From designing fashions to entire fashion dolls,
The Barbie® Design & Dress Studio™ comes with everything a
girl needs to create customized fashions for Barbie® including, cloth
dress templates, stencils, fabric markers and decorative stickers. For
the Monster High® fans who have been designing and sharing their own
creepy cool creations via UGC comes the Monster High®
For the first time, Hot Wheels® goes from vehicle to "spherical," with Hot Wheels® Ballistiks™ creating new, outrageous stunts utilizing 1:64 scale cars. In today's world, consumers have come to expect instant results, and this is no different for kids. Ballistiks quickly transforms from a Hot Wheels vehicle into a ball and back again for endless play experiences.
The Art of
Which came first — the story or the toy? This year,
Inspired by the real-life crew of Team Hot Wheels™ drivers who will star
in 20 webisodes in 2012, the Team Hot Wheels™ Double Dare Snare™
stunt set allows boys to race 1:64-scale Hot Wheels® side-by-side
down a twisty track, through a hair-raising loop and over a jump at the
edge of a steep canyon. This fall, Monster High™ and
Fisher-Price continues to bring to life the magic of children's favorite
programming through its longstanding licensor partnerships with Disney
BARBIE, MONSTER HIGH and associated trademarks and trade dress are owned
© 2012
™ & © DC Comics.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50164477&lang=en
Mattel Brands PR / Fisher-Price Brands PR
Rachel Cooper /
Mattel Javits Showroom Media (212) 542-1727
email@example.com / email@example.com
News Provided by Acquire Media


text:
Better Births Midwifery Care firstname.lastname@example.com
(480) 532-5086
I serve Laughlin, Las Vegas, Bullhead City, Kingman and Lake Havasu.
I provide complete midwifery services and do waterbirth, home birth, birth photography and childbirth classes.
Prenatal care includes labs, well woman exams, and one hour visits. Complimentary interviews are available, just call to schedule.
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Midwives are the experts on normal birth. I believe in giving complete information regarding your choices and alternatives to everything that is discussed. Thank you for considering me to be a part of your birth experience...Martha


text:
The California man who many believe to be behind an anti-Muslim video that has inflamed the Islamic world was denied bail Thursday afternoon after a judge deemed him a flight risk.
Nakoula Besseley Nakoula, from Cerritos, remains in federal custody after being arrested hours earlier on suspicion of violating the terms of his parole, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles U.S. Attorney's Office.
Nakoula's arrest was sought by officials of the United States Probation Office, spokesman Thom Mrozek said.
Local news from across Southern California
Nakoula's probation hearing was scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. It adjourned at about 5:40 p.m. The believed filmmaker, who was handcuffed and chained around his waist, waived his right to a preliminary hearing. A future court date has not yet been determined.
MORE: Film Will Stay Up, Judge Says | Actors Plan to Sue Filmmaker | Coptic Leaders Denounce Film
Nakoula was indicted for check fraud in 2009 and then convicted. As a condition of his probation, he was forbidden to post information on the Internet without permission from his parole officer.
Probation officers on Thursday alleged Nakoula violated eight terms of his probation, including using an alias. Officers also alleged Nakoula gave conflicting information about travelling abroad and has an "unstable residence pattern."
U.S. Central District Chief Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal's decision to deem Nakoula a flight risk was based in part on his apparently rampant use of pseudonyms. Prosecutors alleged the man used one name on his drivers license, another on his passport and another moniker to obtain a film permit, suggesting a lengthy pattern of deception.
The defense asked Nakoula's bail be set at $10,000 and that he be put under house arrest, claiming that he would be in danger in the Metropolitan Detention Center due to a large population of Muslims.
Segal -- who also barred the suspect's face from being recorded by news cameras -- denied that request, saying he would be safer in the detention center than in public.
Deputies escorted Nakoula from his Cerritos, Calif., home on Sept. 14 to be interviewed by federal probation officers. At the time, media and law enforcement had been staking out the home at the end of a cul-de-sac for about 48 hours when the man emerged wearing a coat, hat, scarf and glasses.
Nakoula is believed to be the producer of the film "Innocence of Muslims," which denigrated the Prophet Mohammed. Any images of the Prophet, let alone negative depictions, are prohibited in Islam.
A self-described Coptic Christian who was born in Egypt, Nakoula is said to go by the pseudonym Sam Bassiel. That moniker caused widespread confusion when the film was first released earlier this month after someone associated with the film said that the producer was an Israeli Jew with that name.
The amateurish 14-minute video, which was distributed online, prompted riots throughout the Middle East, and was cited as a cause for violent protests that led to the deaths of U.S. diplomats and others in Libya. Among those killed were U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three others.
Others have disputed that the video was the cause of the violence in Libya. On Wednesday, Libyan President Mohammed Magarief said that the attacks on the U.S. Consulate there were carefully planned terrorist events, not the actions of a mob angry about the video.
Olivia Santini contributed to this report.


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Toxic megacolon is a rare but dangerous condition that occurs when
the colon swells to many times its normal size. It is usually a complication of
an inflammatory bowel disease, such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease.
Severe inflammation and ulceration can weaken muscles in the colon,
causing the colon to swell. Symptoms may include a swollen belly, abdominal
pain or tenderness, rapid heartbeat, or fever. Over time, holes (perforations)
may form in the colon, and stool may spill into the abdominal cavity, causing a
serious infection. This can be life-threatening.
Toxic megacolon is an emergency that requires immediate medical
treatment to prevent dehydration and shock. Surgery may be needed to remove all
or part of the colon (colectomy).
Last Revised:
October 8, 2012
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine & Peter J. Kahrilas, MD - Gastroenterology
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.


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Sports Tours International advises users of the www.sportstoursinternational.co.uk website that the company abide by current legislation on matters of personal data protection, users' privacy and the secrecy and security of personal data by adopting the necessary technical and organisational measures to avoid the loss, misuse, alteration, unauthorised access or theft of the personal data provided, taking into account the state of the technology used, the nature of the data and the risks to which it is exposed.
Specifically, Sports Tours International informs users of its www.sportstoursinternational.co.uk site that personal data can only be obtained for processing if they are appropriate, pertinent, and not excessive for the determined area and ends, explicit and legitimate, for which they were obtained. They will be cancelled when they are no longer necessary or pertinent for these ends, or when their owner requests they be cancelled.
When www.sportstoursinternational.com gathers personal data, users must be aware of the existence of a file or processing of data of a personal nature, the reasons for gathering such data and the recipients of this information, recording of the file in the Data Protection Agency's Register and the obligatory or optional nature of the replies to any questions which may be asked, and the consequences of obtaining data or the refusal to supply them. The possibility of exercising the right to access, correct, cancel and oppose this data exists at Sports Tours International:
Ref. Personal Protection Data. 91 Walkden Road, Walkden, Manchester M28 7BQ
All responsibility for the completion of forms with false, inaccurate, incomplete or outdated information shall be that of the user. Any transfer of the personal data of users of this site to third parties shall be duly communicated to those affected, specifying the identity of the recipients of the data and the uses to which they will be put.


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Reaction to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' speech to the UN General Assembly today was swift and sharp. One of the most incisive
Israeli columnists, Chemi Shalev of Ha'aretz, broke it down very well. He considered Abbas' speech to be a welcome gift to the Israeli right. And I agree with him. But that's not really the point.
Abbas has often used the UN podium as a way to be more direct and combative than he usually is regarding Israel, de-emphasizing the "partner for peace" charade and instead being more of an advocate for and leader of the Palestinian cause. But this time, he really turned up the heat. His reference to the attack on Gaza as "genocide" was calculated to play very well in Ramallah and Gaza City, and he willingly sacrificed the rest of the world's approval. Continue reading


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Lineup Change
April 28, 2007
Tonight's Lineup
Rowand, CF; Victorino, RF; Rollins, SS; Utley, 2B; Burrell, LF; Helms, 1B; Nunez, 3B; Barajas, C; Eaton, p.
Willis Time
Dontrelle has won three in a row against the Phillies, including one this year. Lifetime, he is 2-2 with a 5.96 ERA at Citizens Bank Park.
Aaron on Fire
Rowand's 15-game hitting streak is the longest in the NL this season. He also leads the NL with 11 multi-hit games.
Voting Time
From tonight through June 17, All-Star Game ballots will be distributed and collected at all Citizens Bank Park games. Voting also takes placed 24/7 on this website. Online voting is limited to 25 times per fingers.
Another Year
Phillie Phanatic's birthday party will take place pre-game tomorrow. Unlike humans, the Phanatic doesn't count birthdays. Not a bad idea. Chrissy Long (Director, Entertainment) issues a daily events schedule. Her piece of paper for tomorrow says King Tut will be here. Really.
Limited Tickets
Less than 4,000 seats plus standing room tickets remain for tomorrow's homestand finale.
Seven Phillies Alumni will be in the park tonight, Bobby Wine (advance scout for the Braves), Tony Perez (Marlins Special Assistant to the President) and Cookie Rojas and Tommy Hutton (Marlins broadcasters) . . . Marty Bystrom and Terry Harmon will be signing autographs from 6:15 pm. to 6:45 p.m. for Hall of Fame guests . . . Hall of Famer Robin Roberts will be visiting Suite holders.


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Davos, Switzerland
At 1,560m Davos, located in Graubünden, is one of the highest towns in Europe and has grown to become one of Switzerland's largest ski resort. Schatzalp/Strela, Parsenn, Pischa, Jakobshorn and Rinerhorn are the five ski areas surrounding the town of Davos. The Parsenn funicular railway takes skiers right up to Weissfluhjoch at nearly 2,750m in altitude and from the top of the Parsenn there is skiing back down to the town or, in a northwesterly direction, over to the neighbouring resort of Klosters.
Off-piste skiing, fun mogul slopes and long cruising runs, some up to 9 miles in length, complete the picture for skiers of intermediate and advanced levels in Davos. The Jakobshorn area is a very popular 'inplace' for snowboarders with various slopes just perfect for boarding. The Pischa area is recommended for families as the slopes are mainly easy, less populated and sunnier.
There is also a huge amount on offer off the slopes. An experience which is not to be missed is the excitement of an ice hockey match – Davos is home to the fantastic "Hockey Club Davos" who hold 30 championship titles. If you prefer a more sedate ice skating experience, the resort is also home to the largest natural ice rink in Europe. There are plenty of restaurants and bars as well as clubs and a casino for those less interested in first lifts.
Nightlife in Davos, Switzerland
Large numbers of good bars and restaurants including The Postli Club, the Tonic Piano bar or the Cabanna club.
Eating out in Davos, Graubünden
There is a great choice off excellent restaurants including Davoserhof for Nouvelle Cuisine, Bünder Stübli for traditional dishes and the Café Weber for delicious cakes. The area is vast so there are plenty of opportunities to ski into hidden valleys and find pretty villages and undiscovered bars. Mountain restaurants are dotted all over. Après ski in Davos is comprehensive and Klosters is more traditional but still lively.


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Fabulous points that ANYONE can utilize.
I have been thinking a lot about happiness of late, partially because so many people seem unhappy. I think that was my first epiphany upon entering the world of Social Media; people are unhappy and there are a lot of them. Now don't get me wrong, we all know some people who wouldn't be happy, were they not unhappy but I am not talking about them. We will just let them be. I am also not thinking theologically here (i.e. juxtaposing happiness and joy), today I am going to err on the practical and pragmatic side of things. With that being said, let's get going.
I think most people want to be happy; they are just not quite sure how to get there from their present location. Many people honestly believe that happiness is a lucky bounce; a sunny disposition or favorable circumstances but I disagree. Happiness is a choice…
View original post 601 more words


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|Oracle® Fusion Middleware Application Developer's Guide for Oracle Identity Management
11g Release 1 (11.1.1)
Part Number E10186-04
|PDF · Mobi · ePub
This chapter introduces the Oracle extensions to the Java and PL/SQL LDAP APIs. Chapter 5 explains how the Java extensions are used. Chapter 6 is about the PL/SQL extensions. Oracle does not support extensions to the C API.
This chapter contains these topics:
Section 4.2, "Creating an Application Identity in the Directory"
The APIs that Oracle has added to the existing APIs fulfill these functions:
User management
Applications can set or retrieve various user properties
Group management
Applications can query group properties
Realm management
Applications can set or retrieve properties about identity management realms
Server discovery management
Applications can locate a directory server in the Domain Name System (DNS)
Subsequent sections examine each of these functions in detail. Note that applications must use the underlying APIs for such common tasks as establishing and closing connections and looking up directory entries not searchable with the API extensions.
Figure 4-1 shows what program flow looks like when the API extensions are used.
Figure 4-1 Programmatic Flow for API Extensions
As Figure 4-1 shows, an application first establishes a connection to Oracle Internet Directory. It can then use the standard API functions and the API extensions interchangeably.
Before an application can use the LDAP APIs and their extensions, it must establish an LDAP connection. After it establishes a connection, it must have permission to perform operations. But neither task can be completed if the application lacks an identity in the directory.
Creating an application identity in the directory is relatively simple. Such an entry requires only two object classes:
orclApplicationEntity and
top. You can use either Oracle Directory Services Manager or an LDIF file to create the entry. In LDIF notation, the entry looks like this:
dn: orclapplicationcommonname=application_name changetype: add objectclass:top objectclass: orclApplicationEntity userpassword: password
The value provided for
userpassword is the value that the application uses to bind to the directory.
To learn about the privileges available to an application, see the chapter about delegating privileges for an Oracle technology deployment in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle Internet Directory. After identifying the right set of privileges, add the application entity DN to the appropriate directory groups. The reference just provided explains how to perform this task using either Oracle Directory Services Manager or the
ldapmodify command.
This section describes user management features of the LDAP APIs.
Directory-enabled applications need to perform the following operations:
Retrieve properties of user entries
These properties are stored as attributes of the user entry itself—in the same way, for example, that a surname or a home address is stored.
Retrieve extended user preferences
These preferences apply to a user but are stored in a DIT different from the DIT containing user entries. Extended user preferences are either user properties common to all applications or user properties specific to an application. Those of the first type are stored in a common location in the Oracle Context. Those of the second type are stored in the application-specific DIT.
Query the group membership of a user
Authenticate a user given a simple name and credential
Typically an application uses a fully qualified DN, GUID, or simple user name to identify a user. In a hosted environment, the application may use both a user name and a realm name for identification.
Groups are modeled in Oracle Internet Directory as a collection of distinguished names. Directory-enabled applications must access Oracle Internet Directory to obtain the properties of a group and to verify that a given user is a member of that group.
A group is typically identified by one of the following:
A fully qualified LDAP distinguished name
A global unique identifier
A simple group name along with a subscriber name
An identity management realm is an entity or organization that subscribes to the services offered in the Oracle product stack. Directory-enabled applications must access Oracle Internet Directory to obtain realm properties such as user search base or password policy.
A realm is typically identified by one of the following:
A fully qualified LDAP distinguished name
A global unique identifier
A simple enterprise name
Directory server discovery (DSD) enables automatic discovery of the Oracle directory server by directory clients. It enables deployments to manage the directory host name and port number information in the central DNS server. All directory clients perform a DNS query at runtime and connect to the directory server. Directory server location information is stored in a DNS service location record (SRV).
An SRV contains:
The DNS name of the server providing LDAP service
The port number of the corresponding port
Any parameters that enable the client to choose an appropriate server from multiple servers
DSD also allows clients to discover the directory host name information from the
ldap.ora file itself.
This section contains these topics:
Section 4.6.1, "Benefits of Oracle Internet Directory Discovery Interfaces"
Section 4.6.3, "Determining Server Name and Port Number From DNS"
Section 4.6.4, "Environment Variables for DNS Server Discovery"
Section 4.6.5, "Programming Interfaces for DNS Server Discovery"
See Also:
"Discovering LDAP Services with DNS" by Michael P. Armijo at this URL:
"A DNS RR for specifying the location of services (DNS SRV)", Internet RFC 2782 at the same URL.
Typically, the LDAP host name and port information is provided statically in a file called
ldap.ora which is located on the client in
$ORACLE_HOME/network/admin. For large deployments with many clients, this information becomes very cumbersome to manage. For example, each time the host name or port number of a directory server is changed, the
ldap.ora file on each client must be modified.
Directory server discovery eliminates the need to manage the host name and port number in the
ldap.ora file. Because the host name information resides on one central DNS server, the information must be updated only once. All clients can then discover the new host name information dynamically from the DNS when they connect to it.
DSD provides a single interface to obtain directory server information without regard to the mechanism or standard used to obtain it. Currently, Oracle directory server information can be obtained either from DNS or from
ldap.ora using a single interface.
The first step in discovering host name information is to create a discovery handle. A discovery handle specifies the source from which host name information is discovered. In case of the Java API, the discovery handle is created by creating an instance of the
oracle.ldap.util.discovery.DiscoveryHelper class.
DiscoveryHelper disco = new DiscoveryHelper(DiscoveryHelper.DNS_DISCOVER);
The argument
DiscoveryHelper.DNS_DISCOVER specifies the source. In this case the source is DNS.
Each source may require some inputs to be specified for discovery of host name information. In the case of DNS these inputs are:
domain name
discover method
SSL mode
Detailed explanation of these options is given in "Determining Server Name and Port Number From DNS".
// Set the property for the DNS_DN disco.setProperty(DiscoveryHelper.DNS_DN,"dc=us,dc=fiction,dc=com"); // Set the property for the DNS_DISCOVER_METHOD disco.setProperty(DiscoveryHelper.DNS_DISCOVER_METHOD ,DiscoveryHelper.USE_INPUT_DN_METHOD); // Set the property for the SSLMODE disco.setProperty(DiscoveryHelper.SSLMODE,"0");
Now the information can be discovered.
// Call the discover method disco.discover(reshdl);
The discovered information is returned in a result handle (
reshdl). Now the results can be extracted from the result handle.
ArrayList result = (ArrayList)reshdl.get(DiscoveryHelper.DIR_SERVERS); if (result != null) { if (result.size() == 0) return; System.out.println("The hostnames are :-"); for (int i = 0; i< result.size();i++) { String host = (String)result.get(i); System.out.println((i+1)+".'"+host+"'"); } }
Determining a host name and port number from a DNS lookup involves obtaining a domain and then searching for SRV resource records based on that domain. If there is more than one SRV resource record, they are sorted by weight and priority. The SRV resource records contain host names and port numbers required for connection. This information is retrieved from the resourcerecords and returned to the user.
There are three approaches for determining the domain name required for lookup:
Mapping the distinguished name (DN) of the naming context
Using the domain component of local machine
Looking up the default SRV record in the DNS
The first approach is to map the distinguished name (DN) of naming context into domain name using the algorithm given here.
The output domain name is initially empty. The DN is processed sequentially from right to left. An RDN is able to be converted if it meets the following conditions:
It consists of a single attribute type and value
The attribute type is
The attribute value is non-null
If the RDN can be converted, then the attribute value is used as a domain name component (label).
The first such value becomes the rightmost, and the most significant, domain name component. Successive converted RDN values extend to the left. If an RDN cannot be converted, then processing stops. If the output domain name is empty when processing stops, then the DN cannot be converted into a domain name.
For the DN
cn=John Doe,ou=accounting,dc=example,dc=net, the client converts the dc components into the DNS name
Sometimes a DN cannot be mapped to a domain name. For example, the DN
o=Oracle IDC,Bangalore cannot be mapped to a domain name. In this case, the second approach uses the domain component of the local machine on which the client is running. For example, if the client machine domain name is
mc1.example.com, the domain name for the lookup is
The third approach looks for a default SRV record in the DNS. This record points to the default server in the deployment. The domain component for this default record is
After the domain name has been determined, it is used to send a query to DNS. The DNS is queried for SRV records specified in Oracle Internet Directory-specific format. For example, if the domain name obtained is
example.net, the query for non-SSL LDAP servers is for SRV resource records having the owner name
It is possible that no SRV resource records are returned from the DNS. In such a case the DNS lookup is performed for the SRV resource records specified in standard format. For example, the owner name would be
The result of the query is a set of SRV records. These records are then sorted and the host information is extracted from them. This information is then returned to the user.
The approaches mentioned here can also be tried in succession, stopping when the query lookup of DNS is successful. Try the approaches in the order as described in this section. DNS is queried only for SRV records in Oracle Internet Directory-specific format. If none of the approaches is successful, then all the approaches are tried again, but this time DNS is queried for SRV records in standard format.
The following environment variables override default behavior for discovering a DNS server.
Table 4-1 Environment Variables for DNS Discovery
|Environment Variable
IP address of the DNS server containing the SRV records. If the variable is not defined, then the DNS server address is obtained from the host machine.
Port number on which the DNS server listens for queries. If the variable is not defined, then the DNS server is assumed to be listening at standard port number
Domain of the host machine. If the variable is not defined, then the domain is obtained from the host machine itself.
The programming interface provided is a single interface to discover directory server information without regard to the mechanism or standard used to obtain it. Information can be discovered from various sources. Each source can use its own mechanism to discover the information. For example, the LDAP host and port information can be discovered from the DNS acting as the source. Here DSD is used to discover host name information from the DNS.
See Also:
For detailed reference information and class descriptions, refer to the Javadoc located on the product CD.


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Facility Information
You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA's PDF page to learn more.
- 2020 Corrective Action Baseline
- Federal Facilities
- Regional Information and Contacts
- Facility Databases
- Historical Record of the 2005, 2008, and 2020 Corrective Action Baselines
The EPA has set ambitious goals for the RCRA Corrective Action program by creating the 2020 Corrective Action Universe. This RCRA cleanup baseline includes 3,779 facilities expected to need corrective action. The 2020 universe contains a wide variety of sites. Some properties are heavily contaminated while others were contaminated but have since been cleaned up. Still others have not been fully investigated yet, and may require little or no remediation. Inclusion in the 2020 Universe does not necessarily imply failure on the part of a facility to meet its RCRA obligations.
The documents below list all facilities included in the 2020 Corrective Action Baseline. They also indicate which facilities have already met Final Remedy Construction. The company names found on these lists are the current facility owners, who may or may not have caused the contamination. There may be cases where a former owner has entered into an agreement to be responsible for the cleanup, but the database unfortunately cannot identify these instances. All data was retrieved from RCRAInfo as of April 22, 2013.
- 2020 Corrective Action Baseline sorted by location: region, state, county, city (PDF) (45 pp, 409 KB)
- 2020 Corrective Action Baseline sorted by facility name (PDF) (52 pp, 401 KB)
- Corrective Action Facilities in Google Earth (KML) - To display the 2020 Baseline,
download this KML file and open it in Google Earth
. Please note that the site locations are approximations.
Federal Facilities represent 5.3 percent (199 of 3,779) of the 2020 Corrective Action Baseline. A majority of these facilities are either Department of Defense (DoD) or Department of Energy (DOE) sites. The documents below list the federal facilities on the 2020 Corrective Action Baseline and are current as of May 2, 2013.
- Status of all federal facilities on the 2020 Corrective Action (PDF) (18 pp, 953 KB)
- Status of all DOD facilities on the 2020 Corrective Action Baseline (PDF) (16 pp, 980 KB))
- Status of all DOE facilities on the 2020 Corrective Action Baseline (PDF) (5 pp, 951 KB)
All ten EPA Regional Offices have Corrective Action websites, and they can be accessed through the Where You Live page. Many of these websites display more detailed information about individual facilities than that contained in EPA's national website. Most Regions list the Environmental Indicator (EI) status for all Regional facilities on the RCRA Cleanup Baseline. Some post actual EI forms and/or detailed facility fact sheets. Regional contacts are posted for your convenience.
|Region 1 (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT)
|Facility Information
|Region 2 (NJ, NY, PR, VI)
|Facility Information
|Region 3 (DC, DE, MD, PA, VA, WV
|Facility Information
|Region 4 (AL, FL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN)
|Facility Information
|Region 5 (IL, IN, MI, MN, OH, WI)
|Facility Information
|Region 6 (AR, LA, NM, OK, TX)
|Facility Information
|Region 7 (IA, KS, MO, NE)
|Facility Information
|Region 8 (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY)
|Facility Information
|Region 9 (AZ, CA, HI, NV)
|Facility Information
|Region 10 (AK, ID, OR, WA)
|Facility Information for AK, ID, OR, WA
- Envirofacts - A single point of access to select U.S. EPA data, Envirofacts provides access to several EPA databases to provide you with information about environmental activities that may affect air, water, and land anywhere in the United States. With Envirofacts, you can learn more about these environmental activities in your area, or you can generate maps of environmental information.
- Cleanups in My Community - You may search for hazardous waste cleanup sites by address, city, county, state, zip code, watershed, or latitude/longitude coordinates. The website provides maps and cleanup progress profiles of sites within your search area that are being cleaned up, or have been cleaned up, under the RCRA Corrective Action, Superfund, and Brownfields programs.
- RCRAInfo - RCRAInfo is EPA's comprehensive information system for data supporting the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976 and the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) of 1984. The database tracks the activities of facilities that generate, treat, store, or dispose of RCRA hazardous waste. Flat files provided to Envirofacts can also be downloaded free of charge from EPA's publicly accessible FTP server.