Author: mangakiko

Categories
Entertainment

Kiss’ farewell tour might be the End of the Road, but it’s also given Paul Stanley a chance to reflect

four band members in black and white facepaint in front of the word 'Kiss'

Goodbyes are often opportunities for reminiscence, but for frontman Paul Stanley, Kiss’ global farewell tour is also a chance to reflect on ways the band’s legacy will live on.

Famed for their face paint, pyrotechnics, costumes, theatrics and stagecraft just as much as their music, Kiss have always prided themselves on their ability to put on a show.

It brings Stanley satisfaction when he recognizes elements of that approach in musicians at much earlier stages of their careers.

“Being at a concert means being immersed in an experience, and for me showmanship and putting on a show is also a responsibility,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide’s Nikolai Beilharz and Stacey Lee this morning.

“I’d like to think that in some ways we were a wake-up call to audiences of what they should expect.

“Everyone else who is out on tour, or who has been out on tour, has Kiss DNA in their show.”

Kiss’ first performance was in early 1973 when Stanley was barely 21. His career has since spanned nearly 50 years.

Those years have naturally been accompanied by great changes in the music industry.

While Stanley stopped short of saying he would be reluctant to get into the game today, he recognized the challenges for those setting out.

“The fact is now that record companies … they’re not obviously record companies anymore,” he said.

A battle to ‘pay the rent’

Things have changed since the days when studios “would nurture an artist or an act.”

“Nowadays it’s really about bottom line, about whether it makes money or not, and reading algorithms and all kinds of things,” Stanley said.

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Paul Stanley speaks to ABC Radio Adelaide’s Nikolai Beilharz and Stacey Lee.

Digitization can be a blessing and a curse. While it is arguably never been easier for those trying to find an audience to distribute their music, there are also downsides.

“You have streaming where people aren’t being paid what they deserve, and it’s a big problem,” Stanley said.

“Artists nowadays who are aspiring to become successful have a very, very difficult path ahead of them and unfortunately some of them find themselves saying, ‘Well I’m only in this for doing music’.

“That’s okay but you’re going to feel otherwise when you can’t pay the rent.”

A 50-year set list

The End of the Road world tour was due to touch down in Australia during 2019 but was postponed when Stanley had to pull out due to illness.

Ahead of concerts across Australia this month, Stanley said it was “insane to think” that the band had “been going on 50 years”.

“We’re playing things from every era,” he said.

“A set list has to be more than a group of songs. It has to have a certain dynamic that builds and ebbs and builds — not unlike, quite honestly, a movie at the cinema or a Broadway show.”

While there might be farewell kisses, the mood onstage will be upbeat.

“This is a celebration for us, as opposed to just deciding after a tour to never go back out,” Stanley said.

“There’s nothing morose about it.

“I go out there every night thinking, boy, we are just going to blow the roof off this place, or if there’s no roof, we’re just going to set the sky on fire.”

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Categories
Sports

Brisbane Lions, defense, Harris Andrews, Marcus Adams, finals, pressure, David King, Mark Robinson, AFL360, bruise-free

Brisbane Lions, defense, Harris Andrews, Marcus Adams, finals, pressure, David King, Mark Robinson, AFL360, bruise-free

Brisbane’s defensive woes have been laid bare just two games out from finals, with one star in particular accused of playing “bruise-free footy”.

In the past six weeks, the Lions are ranked 13th for opposition scores per inside 50, and 14th for pressure, midfield intercepts and opposition from defensive 50 to inside 50 – with only Richmond’s pressure worse for any team in the top eight.

“I think they’ve got massive problems down back… huge problems that are going to render their campaign done,” Fox Footy’s David King has warned.

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What could ladder look like at finals? | 02:58

And King singled out Lions star Harris Andrews for some brutal criticism, demanding he “play like a man.”

“The first move down there being Harris Andrews, he’s playing bruise-free footy at the moment. He’s not playing with physicality,” he said.

“Forwards are just leading around him too easily, there’s no engagement, there’s no body checking, no blocks – there’s nothing. It’s pure intercept or he gets beaten.

“But he’s playing against big boppers in the AFL now and your big boys need to play big boy footy and I don’t think he is.

“He’s a two-time All Australian. We know what he can be, but this is too easy. He’ll get beaten more often than not with that sort of intent.”

Absolute scenes! Cunnington to play AFL | 02:57

Andrews is leading the way for the Lions in a number of areas including intercepts (129), marks (127), disposal efficiency (89%), one percenters (180 – 71 more than the next closest in Marcus Adams) and time on ground , and second in contested marks (24 – one behind Dan McStay).

But on AFL360, King showed vision of Andrews allowing opponent Harry McKay to dictate terms – and the two-time premiership winner called for coach Chris Fagan to put a stop to it.

“He doesn’t deny him anything,” King said.

“They are giving up too many luxuries.

Harris Andrews has to play like a man. You can’t have a guy 200cm play like that – that takes you nowhere.

“That beats some teams during the home and away season and you have a nice year, but you don’t win prelims or grand finals and they continually come up short and that’s why.

“All time Swans great” Emotional goodbye | 03:24

“So fix it or move aside.”

Andrews will be left to hold down the Lions’ defensive end this weekend with teammate Marcus Adams now sidelined under the AFL’s concussion protocols.

AFL360 co-host Mark Robinson said Fagan had spoken about the Lions’ backline efforts more than a month ago and was concerned it doesn’t appear to have been addressed.

“He’s been talking about that, the coach. They spoke about it and that’s still the profile six weeks later,” he said.

“Why aren’t they fixing it? (They’ve) gotta get nasty.”

The Lions have a tough final two games against St Kilda and Melbourne as they remain in the fight for a top four finish – a feat they’ve achieved for the past three years but never made the grand finale.

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Categories
Australia

Family of Queensland man Ian Seibel, who was killed by speeding, unlicensed driver slam ‘ridiculous’ penalties

Family of Queensland man Ian Seibel, who was killed by speeding, unlicensed driver slam 'ridiculous' penalties

The family of a man who was killed after being hit by an unlicensed and speeding driver north of Brisbane have slammed the punishment handed to the man responsible as “ridiculous” after learning he will spend less than two years in jail.

Manpreet Singh Brar pleaded guilty in the District Court on Thursday to one count each of dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death and driving without a licence.

During a sentencing hearing in Brisbane, the court heard Ian Seibel, 51, was crossing an intersection in Kallangur in the Moreton Bay region with his wife and their dog in November 2020, when they were hit by the 33-year-old’s car.

The court was played graphic dashcam footage of the crash, which showed Brar speeding through a red light, before colliding with another car, then slamming into the couple.

Mr Seibel sustained extensive head injuries and died in hospital several days later.

Ian smiles in a cap.
Ian Seibel was killed by a speeding, unlicensed driver while walking his dog with his wife in November 2020.(Supplied)

A woman in the second car was also critically injured and spent more than two weeks in hospital and “likely would have died” without surgery, the court heard.

The court heard Brar, who is an Indian national residing in Australia on a partner visa, had been driving unlicensed since 2016 and continued to do so after the crash, breaching his bail conditions.

He also has a lengthy traffic history dating back several years which included multiple counts of speed.

Crown prosecutor Chris Cook told the court tests also determined Brar had a low level of cocaine and high level of cough medicine in his system, but it was not alleged he was adversely affected by the drugs at the time.

“He was fatigued having used those drugs earlier,” he said

“He shouldn’t have been on the road that day.”

‘A kind, loving, gentle giant’

Mr Cook told the court it was clear from victim impact statements submitted to the court by family members that Mr Seibel was a “much loved” husband, father, son and friend.

“Mr Brar has caused his unnecessary and untimely death through his actions that day,” he said.

Paula Seibel looks distracted.
Widow Paula Seibel described the current justice system as “a toothless tiger.”(AAP: Jono Searle)

In Paula Seibel’s statement, she described her husband as her “best friend” and “better half”.

“I feel like I am less than a whole person now that I don’t have him by my side,” she said.

“I am beyond angry that I have not had the opportunity to spend the rest of my life with this kind, loving, gentle giant.”

Mrs Seibel made an impassioned plea to the judge, urging her to apply the maximum penalty to Brar, calling the current justice system a “toothless tiger.”

“I hope that my voice will not go unacknowledged and that lan will not be victimized once again,” she said.

“Our society is crying out for harsher penalties… Where is the incentive to stop committing crimes when a mere slap on the wrist is the only punishment received?”

Family ‘beaten’ after sentence

Judge Katherine McGinness acknowledged the “enduring heartache” Mr Seibel’s family would suffer but said there were sentencing considerations she had to make under Queensland legislation.

“No sentence I impose can turn back time or alleviate in anyway the profound pain,” she said.

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Categories
US

5 things to know Thursday

5 things to know Thursday

Inflation comes off 40-year high but stays elevated at 8.5%

Inflation remained elevated but eased from historically high levels in July, raising hopes that a relentless surge in prices may have peaked. Consumer prices increased 8.5% from a year ago, down from a 9.1% annual rise – a 40-year high – in June, according to the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index. Gasoline prices fell but food and rent continued to march higher. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had estimated annual inflation would fall to 8.7%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were unchanged, compared to a 1.3% rise in June. Core prices, which exclude volatile food and energy items and generally provide a better gauge of future price trends, increased 0.3% in July following a 0.7% rise the prior month. That held the annual increase at 5.9% after three straight monthly declines.

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Categories
Business

CBA boss warns of ‘short sharp contraction’ headed for Australian economy

CBA boss warns of 'short sharp contraction' headed for Australian economy

The boss of Australia’s largest bank has warned that the economy is already declining and that a “short, sharp contraction” is on the way.

Late on Wednesday, the chief executive of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Matt Comyn, delivered the company’s annual results.

Although the CBA made an eye-watering $9.6 billion in profit over the last financial year, Mr Comyn warned that tougher times were on the horizon.

He told the Australian Financial Review that he predicted “a short, sharp contraction in the Australian economy.”

“We are definitely expecting a more challenging year ahead than we have seen in the last 12 months,” he added.

However, in some good news, the banking CEO believes a contraction is almost a certainty but a full-blown recession is less likely.

Australia is in the throes of an economic crisis as inflation rose to 6.1 per cent last month, the highest level it’s been for 20 years.

And for the first time in more than a decade, Australia’s central bank has had no choice but to increase the cash rate in a bid to stop rampant inflation.

For the last four consecutive months, the Reserve Bank of Australia has increased interest rates by 1.75 percentage points and Mr Comyn more rate increases will come.

Mr Comyn told the publication his bank predicts the cash rate to increase by another 75 basis points to sit at 2.6 per cent.

The cash rate is currently 1.85 per cent.

Once the cash rate hits 2.6 per cent, Mr Comyn said the economy would experience a contraction of 1.5 per cent.

He said he “hoped” that once the cash rate reached this point it would be enough to curb spending, adding “We need to see a slowdown in demand.”

Speaking to the ABC, Mr Comyn said “We do forecast recessions in the US, UK and Europe. We don’t believe that that’s the likely outcome in Australia.”

Already there are signs that Australians are splashing their cash less.

Mr Comyn said their customer data shows that spending is falling for both debit and credit cards.

This was significantly more for customers who had mortgages.

“It’s quite early post the immediate rate rises, [but] we are already seeing a downturn in spending across our customer base, both from a debt and credit perspective,” he said.

“Of course, that’s more pronounced with customers who have a home loan, and we expect that it will continue throughout the course of the calendar year.”

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Categories
Technology

Microsoft claims it ‘simply wouldn’t be profitable’ to make Call of Duty Xbox exclusive

Microsoft claims it 'simply wouldn't be profitable' to make Call of Duty Xbox exclusive

Microsoft has reiterated its claim that it doesn’t have plans to make Call of Duty an Xbox exclusive should it successfully acquire Activision Blizzard.

In a document sent to Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) discussing the proposed acquisition, Microsoft claims that any concerns that Call of Duty would no longer appear on PlayStation are unfounded because it “would simply not be profitable” for Microsoft.

“Regardless of how unsurprising Sony’s criticism of content exclusivity is – given that PlayStation’s entire strategy has been focused on exclusivity over the years – the reality is that the strategy of retaining Activision Blizzard’s games by not distributing them in rival console shops would simply not be profitable for Microsoft,” the company claims in the docs.

“Such a strategy would be profitable only if Activision Blizzard’s games were able to attract a sufficiently large number of gamers to the Xbox console ecosystem, and if Microsoft could earn enough revenue from game sales to offset the losses from not distributing such games on rival consoles. ,” it adds.

“As if that weren’t enough, exclusivity strategies still result in title-specific costs,” it claims, giving further information that has been redacted from the document, likely due to confidentiality.

“Such costs, added to the lost sales estimated […] above, mean that Microsoft would not be able to offset the losses by earning higher revenues in the Xbox ecosystem as a result of implementing exclusivity.

“This is especially true considering (i) the ‘gamer-centric’ – as opposed to ‘device-centric’ – strategy that Microsoft has pioneered with Game Pass, and (ii) the fact that PlayStation has the most loyal users across its various generations, with all indications that brand loyalty accrued in previous rounds of the ‘console wars’ suggesting that PlayStation will continue to have a strong market position.”

Continuing to push its case, Microsoft claims that even if making CoD Xbox exclusive were to turn out to be profitable, its implementation “would have no competitive impact”, partly due to “the intense competition in the game publishing market”, the fact that exclusivity strategies are commonly adopted in the games industry and the fact that rival consoles enjoy a high degree of player loyalty.

“In summary,” it concludes, “the hypothetical adoption of any content discontinuation strategy would content would not be profitable for Microsoft and, even if implemented, such strategies would have no competitive impact, for the reasons described above.”

Microsoft claims it 'simply wouldn't be profitable' to make Call of Duty Xbox exclusive

In its first response to Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, published in January, Sony said it expects Call of Duty games to remain multiplatform due to “contractual agreements”.

Microsoft’s head of gaming also subsequently confirmed his intention to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation platforms once Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard is completed.

However, it was later claimed that Activision Blizzard is contractually committed to releasing only the next three Call of Duty games for PlayStation consoles, including this year’s Modern Warfare 2.

The Call of Duty series is regularly among PlayStation’s most popular games. Last year, the series was both the first (Vanguard) and third (Black Ops Cold War) best-selling games on PlayStation in the US, according to NPD.

Commenting on Sony’s previous comments on the importance of the Call of Duty brand, GamesIndustry.biz’s Chris Dring claimed that the shooter franchise remaining on PlayStation would actually benefit Xbox.

“Microsoft isn’t as interested in the battle of the console boxes. It believes the future of games is going to be through streaming and subscriptions. Call of Duty isn’t so much a reason to buy an Xbox console, but a reason to subscribe to the Game Pass subscription service,” he wrote.

“And this is where PlayStation is right to be concerned. Because Call of Duty is the No.1 game on PS4 and PS5. Should this deal go through, Microsoft will own the most popular game on PlayStation. And what an opportunity that is. The marketing writes itself: ‘Fed up of spending $70 every year on this game? Want extra in-game items and points? Then subscribe to Game Pass instead. You can even stream it on mobile.’

“Microsoft would be able to speak directly to PlayStation’s own fanbase on its own console, putting Sony in an impossible position of either rejecting its console’s most popular game, or accepting what could amount to a huge Game Pass ad disguised as a first-person shooter .”