Live 8 Lives On

You know how some blogs have those little emoticons you can select to show your mood? It's like they are like little dwarf buttons..."Happy, Sleepy, Bored, Mad, Sick, Excited, Confused"...and the ubiquitous "Not Bad!"

I wonder why there is never a button for "Bitchy" or "Sassy?" Just curious.

Topic: Live 8. Last summer, millions of people around the world watched as such colorful artists as Pink Floyd, Green Day, Deep Purple and Maroon 5 rocked us in our living rooms and brought awareness of the G8 Summit and the mission of ending poverty in Africa and many third world countries.

There was some disdain for the coverage provided by MTV and VH1, as they cut short many performances for commericials and talked over some of the more sublime moments.

So, in consolation, a week later they aired 10 hours of Live 8 without the inane chatter of MTV talking heads and commercial free. And it was glorious.

My favorite performances were by Pink Floyd and The Who, both of whom I've seen live, both proving that doing copious amounts of drugs in your youth may affect your looks and your voice, but not necessarily your ability to remember lyrics of songs nearly 40 years old.

Seriously, I had cold chills while listening to "Wish You Were Here," and watched amazed as Pete Townsend ripped the guitar riffs on "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Apparently I'm not the only one. DigitalSpy.Co.UK reports:

"A number of artists who performed at the Live 8 gig at the weekend have witnessed a dramatic increase in their CD sales. Sales of Pink Floyd's 'Best Of' album have risen by a huge 1343%, while The Who have seen their album sales increase by a similarly substantial 863%."

Rock on.

Oh, and while you're rocking on, please don't forget the children in Africa. Just think if the money spent on all those CDs was instead spent on such things as UNICEF programs.

UNICEF UGANDA DARFUR HORN OF AFRICA

Just think.