Florence Welch On Stripping Down At Coachella And Fooling Neil Young

The following article is provided by Rolling Stone.
By PATRICK DOYLE, Tayo The Little Bus English
"I had to fall apart a bit," says Florence Welch of "How Big How Blue How Beautiful," the first Florence and the Machine album in four years. In the period leading up to the album, Welch, 28, endured a rough breakup with her boyfriend and was partying too much. Not only did Welch translate her hard times into her most emotionally intense album yet, she also quit drinking during the sessions. "I had quite a monkish existence," she says. "I cycled to the studio, cycled home, read, ate, went to bed. It was like convalescing. But it really was magic."Please Pick Me

You played a killer set at Coachella, and also broke your foot. What happened?
Well, I told everyone in the crowd to take their clothes off. We'd been doing that at our shows, and my guitarist had been giving me shit for not taking off my clothes. So I was like, "Fuck it, I've got to do it!" and started taking off my shirt. Then I was like, "I've got to get down [into the crowd], with everyone else who's getting naked." I just did a particularly hard, fast jump offstage, and I was just like, "Fuck!" I managed to jump back on the stage, and that's where my security guard found me, collapsed behind a speaker in a bra. Tayo the little bus

"Pororo taxis" take on Seoul streets, joining "Tayo buses," "Larva train"

"Pororo, the Little Penguin," with his yellow helmet and orange goggles is now coming to you in taxis.
Starting Tuesday, 20 of these so-called "Pororo taxis" are running on the streets of Seoul.
From the outer decorations to inside car accessories, Pororo and his friends have taken over these cars, much to the delight of Korean children.
No wonder, Pororo is also deemed the "children's president."


"Pororo is so cool "

Passengers can ride with this popular animation character for a test period, until May of next year.


"We came up with this idea, when we were thinking about how to increase the people's use of taxis, even if it's by a little bit."

The fares for these Pororo taxis are the same as other "regular" taxis in Seoul, and because there are only a handful available, reservations can be made online.
Pororo is just the latest animated TV character to be featured on public transportation in the capital.
"Tayo the Little Bus" has been, literally, running the streets of Seoul since March, and with its huge popularity, the one-month test term has been extended until the end of this year.
And the "Larva" character is plastered all over a train on Seoul's subway line two, entertaining the eyes of passengers since the beginning of this month.
Seoul Mayor, Park Won-Soon [ ] says the coming-of-life of these characters is a way to "decorate" the city-- and of course, please the little ones.
Connie Lee, Arirang News.
Tags : tayo the little bus english, Gani the Teacher!

The Problem with APC Federal Legislators

RINGTRUE with Yemi Adebowale: Email: yemi.adebowale@thisdaylive.com; cell phone:  07013940521

Ihave always maintained that most of our federal lawmakers, whether PDC or APC are just after their selfish/sectional interest and clearly not the interest of the nation. Most of them play bread and butter politics. But honestly, I need to amend this position a bit by adding that the APC guys are more useless. I became more convinced about this amendment after watching Senator Kabiru Marafa pummeling Senator Tayo Alasoadura on Tuesday in Abuja during a meeting called by APC senators to deliberate on the remaining principal positions in the Senate - Senate Leader, Deputy Senate Leader, Senate Whip and Deputy Senate Whip. On this shameful day, some other senators also exchanged blows, which resulted in the effort to end the crisis between the warring factions of the party ending in a deadlock. Alasoadura could have been killed in the process as he was dazed and almost fell. Some other guys had to quickly rescue him. The scene left me depressed. They simply behaved like touts. I am sure that many other Nigerians were also depressed by the scene.

The last four weeks have been horrendous in the Senate with supporters of Bukola Saraki (Senators of Like Minds) and that Ahmed Lawan (Unity Group) throwing caution to the wind. The Lawan group became extremely violent and desperate after losing the battle for the Senate Presidency to Saraki. From the fire I saw in the eyes of the pro-Lawan members, these guys are really desperate and capable of doing anything to achieve their aims. Many will understand what I mean by taking a second look at how an angry Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi stormed out of the venue (midway into the meeting) on Tuesday and threw the doors open to journalists. The emergency meeting called by the senators failed because of the hard line posture of the two factions on the remaining principal positions. For the Saraki group, The Majority Leader has to be Ali Ndume and the Chief Whip has to be Senator Roberts Boroffice. The Lawan group is insisting on Ahmed Lawan as Majority Leader and Sola Adeyeye as Chief Whip.

This drama during the APC senators’ peace meeting was replicated in the House of Representatives during plenary on Thursday. The faction loyal to Femi Gbajabiamila set the House on fire over the vacant principal offices. The Dogara group wants the four positions; but the Gbajabiamila group won’t let go. As a result, the legislators battled each other like Lagos Motor Park touts. Speaker Yakubu Dogara narrowly escaped being lynched.

APC’s zoning arrangement for these principal offices failed because the party’s NWC and NEC also failed to do the needful. The leaders of the party could not enforce the zoning arrangement because they have obviously compromised. They have allowed personal and sectional interests to over-ride party and national interests. They are thinking more about their pockets than the nation. Above all, the stock in trade of majority of APC members is obviously treachery. I guess they are reaping the reward of treachery. Clearly, the party is a time bomb waiting to explode. This party of strange bedfellows looks certain to put Nigeria in a bigger trouble than the PDP. There is clearly no party discipline. The National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun has also lost it. I am sorry to say that Oyegun is just a passenger in the bus. He has failed to provide effective leadership, especially over the leadership crisis in the National Assembly. I don’t think he has the ability to lead the party. This national Chairman takes instruction from vested interests that want to maintain their stranglehold on the party’s structures. Oyegun has no moral right to remain in office.

Back to the recalcitrant APC lawmakers. Let’s face it; a lawmaker does not have to be a Principal Officer of the National Assembly to contribute meaningfully to the development of this country. A lawmaker does not have to be a Principal Officer to make meaningful contribution to lawmaking. A lawmaker does not have to be a Principal Officer to motivate quality legislations. It should not be a do or die affair. The APC legislators are apparently after these principal positions for material gains. They are thinking more about the windfall that comes with it. They are thinking more about the influence that comes with the positions; the power to be used for their selfish interest. The truth be told, APC legislators have brought great disrepute to these hallowed chambers. They have consistently defiled the Senate and the House in the last four weeks. It goes to show that APC legislators are incapable of managing power. They can’t be trusted to rise above sectional and personal interests. They do not regard the interest of the masses of this country as being uppermost. For them, it is just about money, power and positions. Their lust for power is already weighing down the National Assembly. So, this is the Change they promised Nigerians? May Allah save us from these hypocrites masquerading as progressives. But I must add a caveat here. Few of the APC legislators are really patriots; but too few to impact on the majority who are rascals. Some of the few I consider patriots are Lanre Tejuoso, Shehu Sani, Razak Atunwa, Adamu Aliero, David Umaru and Gbenga Ashafa. They should take steps to call his colleagues to order.

Buhari’s Tale of Empty Treasury

When President Barack Obama of the United States assumed office for his first term, he inherited $3 trillion debt, a collapsed banking sector and mortgage industry from George W Bush. Rather than making noise, Obama hit the ground running to tackle the crisis. This has not been the case with our dear President Muhammadu Buhari who has wasted the last one month doing nothing. It has been one excuse after the other. He is now telling the nation stories about the “virtually empty treasury” he met. From Yakubu Gowon to Olusegun Obasanjo, has there been any new government that admitted inheriting a glowing treasury? The story has always been the same. Buhari knew quite alright that the financial situation of the country was not rosy before he contested. He even said it on many occasions during his campaigns that the nation’s economy was in tatters. I thought he had a good idea about how to turn things around. That was why Nigerians voted for him. Please, Buhari, Enough of excuses. Get down to work. In this part of the world, new governments often do not speak well of their predecessors. How can Buhari say that the treasury he inherited was virtually empty? What about the $2.78 billion in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and over $1 billion in the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF)? These are part of our treasury. It seems Buhari is just out to criminalize and paint Goodluck Jonathan as a pillager of Nigeria’s treasury.

The most frightening aspect of Buhari’s remarks about the Jonathan administration was saying federal civil servants were being owed salaries. The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Mrs. Anastasia Nwaobia on Tuesday in Abuja stated emphatically that no single federal civil servant was being owed salary. Nwaobi declared: “There is no agency or ministry owed by Federal Government.” Yes, the Jonathan administration did not meet the expectations of Nigerians in many areas. Yes, there were so many alleged cases of corruption during his tenure. However, I think Buhari should stop exaggerating the limitations of the Jonathan administrations. He should get down to work.

We need to remind Buhari that he has wasted the four weeks. Four weeks after assumption of office, his administration still lacks policy direction. He is yet to come up with a blue print on how to tackle challenges in different sectors of our economy; something that ought to be in his bag even before commencing campaign for the Presidency. He is still struggling to make basic appointments after almost one month in office. We need to remind him that Boko Haram terrorists are still very much around, killing and maiming Nigerians daily; Buhari promised to eliminate them within “few months.” We are still waiting for him to hit the ground running as promised. I hope we won’t have to wait for four years for this to happen.

Governors Should Cut Security Votes/Ludicrous Appointments, Not Salaries

Some governors across the nation have been grandstanding about the cut they authorised in their salaries. They create the impression that by so doing, they are being prudent and reducing the cost of governance. This is obviously a cosmetic action when compared to the billions of Naira they take home as Security Vote. Okezie Ikpeazu and Nasir el-Rufai are some of the governors that have slashed their salaries. One of the things eating deep into the purse of our states is this unconstitutional Security Vote. Imagine a governor who pays himself N500 million monthly as Security Vote, turning around to say that he has reduced his monthly salary by a miserable N500,000. They should simply cancel security votes, stop frivolous contracts/expenditure and reduce travels.

These governors who claim to be interested in cutting cost of governance have started making all sorts of ludicrous appointments. All sorts of aides are being appointed just to satisfy their cronies. Governor Emmanuel Udom of Akwa Ibom State has already appointed a Special Adviser, Religious Affairs. I don’t know how this will impact on the traumatised people of Akwa Ibom State. Okezie appointed three media aides. Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima appointed four media aides, including two for social media. Shettima also has two Special Assistants for Special Duties. The Borno governor went further to request for 40 Special Advisers, but the Borno State legislators reduced it to 20.

Mike Okiro and Citizen Kaase

For those who have not been following the story, citizen Aaron Kaase, a staff of the Police Service Commission recently wrote a petition bordering on alleged fraud and abuse of office against Mike Okiro, Chairman PSC and former Inspector General of Police. Kaase alleged “certain misrepresentation of facts to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) with a view to swindling the government to the tune of N275.5m through PSC” by its Chairman.” Okiro has since been quizzed by the anti-graft agency. For now, citizen Kaase’s petition remains an allegation.

The news now is that Kaase is alleging that his life is under threat because of his petition and has written to the current Inspector General of Police and the DG of DSS to save his life. He alleges that an aide of Okiro is responsible for the threat. Citizen Kaase wants special protection. IGP Solomon Arase should swiftly investigate Kaase’s complain and provide him maximum security. As clearly stated by his lawyer, Kenneth Achabo, “there are so many unresolved murder cases in the country and Kaase is not ready to be part of the statistics.” Citizen Kaase must not die.

A Word for Abiola Ajimobi

Oyo State is fast turning into another failed state in the South-west. As at yesterday, the state’s civil servants were being three-month salaries. Just like Osun State, Oyo workers are gradually turning into beggars. Obviously, Governor Abiola Ajimobi has not shown any ingenuity in the management of the state’s finances. Oyo has no business owing civil servants if this state is well managed. Its IGR can fund at least 50% of its budget if properly pursued and the fraud in the collection drastically reduced.

This is another clear case of mismanagement. This governor has been unjust to the people. Most civil servants in the state go to bed without food. I am sure that the governor has excess of food and drinks on his table. This is wicked, irresponsible, insensitive and unjust. He must make payment of salaries a priority as directed by FAAC before funding his grandeur projects. It is pertinent to remind Ajimobi that sovereignty belongs to the people. Ajimobi has to shape in or be shipped out.

Tags : Tayo the little bus, Tayo Bus, tayo full episodes s2

Ayala bridge bukas na!

Ayala Bridge. STAR/Edd Gumban

MANILA, Philippines – Binuksan na sa publiko ang Ayala Bridge matapos ang tatlong ulit na pagkakaantala nito.
Ayon kay Manila Vice  Mayor Isko Moreno, bagama’t partial opening pa lang ito dahil tig-isang linya lang sa northbound at southbound lane ang bukas sa mga motorista, malaking tulong na rin ito upang maibsan ang masikip na daloy ng trapiko sa ibang  lansangan.
Sinabi ni Moreno na sa Hulyo 23 ang kabuuang pagbubukas ng tulay dahil may ilang bahagi pa ng tulay ang hindi pa nasesementuhan.
Paalala pa nito, hindi pa maaaring dumaan ang mga truck at bus sa tulay.
“Nananawagan tayo sa ating mga kababayan na magagamit na po nila ang Ayala Bridge pero na­nanawagan kami na sana magdahan-dahan lang po at may mga barrier pa pong nakalagay sa magkabilang gilid,” ani Moreno.
Matatandaang Abril 21 ang naunang target date para buksan ang tulay na iniurong ng Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) sa Hunyo 11 na hindi rin natuloy dulot umano ng pag-ulan.

Tags : Tayo Bus, Tayo Bus Season 2 Full Episode, Cartoon for children

Tayo Character Coming to 150 Seoul Buses

SEOUL, Apr. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — A total of 150 Seoul town buses will be transformed into ‘Logi,’ a famous cartoon character that looks like a cute little bus from the Tayo the Little Bus animation.

The Seoul city government and the cooperation for town buses will wrap Logi prints on 150 buses. Some 15 buses will be also adorned with LED eyes.

Choi Pan-Sul, the New Politics Alliance for Democracy member for the Jung-gu district in Seoul, said that two lines with Tayo-wrapped buses established in March 2014 saw their average number of customers and earnings increase compared to earlier periods.  

Tags : Tayo Bus, Tayo the little bus , Cartoon for kids

Tayo and friends to feature on more Seoul buses

The first passengers to ride the city buses inspired by “Tayo the Little Bus” last month wave their hands at the Seoul Plaza in Jung District, central Seoul. [NEWSIS]
For many children in Seoul, seeing Tayo and his friends sprawled across the city’s buses might just be like a dream come true.

The bus project, featuring characters from the animated television series “Tayo the Little Bus,” was initiated on March 26 as a one-month event to mark National Public Transportation Day. But thanks to its enormous popularity, especially among kids, the Seoul city government decided to extend the operation until May 5 and increase the number of buses with Tayo and his friends from four to 100.

“We have heard a lot of requests to increase the number,” an official from the transportation division of the Seoul Metropolitan Government said, “because sometimes parents and their children spend a lot of time trying to get [to the areas] where those buses come and go. So we decided to expand the Tayo buses to reach different neighborhoods.”

He added that other regional governments had also asked if they could operate the same buses, though intellectual property rights issues prohibited the project’s expansion.

“Tayo the Little Bus,” an animated series presented by Iconix Entertainment, follows the adventures of Tayo, a little blue bus, and his band of friends.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon added on his Twitter account that the city was also considering introducing a subway train designed after “Larva,” an immensely popular cartoon show for kids that features a pair of red and yellow slugs.

“The city is also working on doing something for ‘Pororo the Little Penguin,’” he said.

The Tayo buses - Nos. 370, 2016, 2211 and 9401- operate in the same way as regular city buses, stopping at each station. Parents and children can use the Daum map to check run times and the real-time locations of each vehicle.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said more than 400 people hopped on those buses every day - a significant increase compared to previous periods. It also noted that it plans to add various features, including destination announcements using the voices of Tayo characters.

Seoul said that it costs about 3 million won ($2,840) to paint each vehicle. Mayor Park said the idea for the Tayo buses came from a request via his Twitter account last year from a Seoul resident and mother.

Tags : Tayo Bus, Tayo the little bus, Tayo Bus Season 2

'Zootopia' And The Disney Animated B-Movie

Zootopia is a seemingly unconventional Disney animated feature released during the would-be off season. That’s what makes it interesting and potentially exciting.
Walt Disney

DIS -0.61% dropped a trailer for Zootopia yesterday. It was a barebones teaser, with just the premise being laid out via Jason Bateman narration with just a bit of character introductions offered on a white screen. With no hint of plot or conflict, this was an announcement teaser for a film that wasn’t really on many peoples’ radars. It takes place in a world without humans, whereby animals of all kinds are now fully anthropomorphized. It’s odd that they had to explain that as (for example) the 1970′s Robin Hood needed no explanation. But maybe Disney was tired of having to answer all of the horrifyingly disturbing questions concerning the Cars/Planes universe (note: Planes: Fire and Rescue is the best Planet of the Apes sequel ever made). What is interesting is that the film isn’t a grand adventure saga or sweeping fairy tale epic. It is basically a crime comedy, a “reluctant partners” story about a fox (Jason Bateman) who is framed for a crime and the bunny (Ginnifer Goodwin) who must bring him in and presumably discovers the truth and helps clear his name. If that doesn’t sound like a typical Walt Disney animated feature in this day-and-age, that’s because Zootopia is a rare in-house Walt Disney Studios animated “B-movie.”
Zootopia comes out on March 4th, 2016, and it is not remotely the would-be main event for Walt Disney next year. They’ve got Finding Dory coming June 17th, 2016 and then they have the (presumably) sweeping Polynesian-set period piece adventure Moana for November 23rd, 2016. Of those three, you can probably guess which one is least likely to get a Best Animated Feature Academy Award nomination come early 2017. It’s been awhile since Walt Disney put out what you could consider (by their standards) a B-movie cartoon. Just in terms of recent history, this goes back to around 1995, where they had the glorified DTV offering A Goofy Movie in the spring before the big summer release (Pocahontas) and the Pixar spectacular Toy Story over Thanksgiving.
But that doesn’t mean that every would-be B-movie is a glorified TV adaptation akin to Return to Neverland or The Tigger Movie. Back in 2000, the big event was Dinosaur while Disney unleashed the offbeat and unconventional (and famously troubled) The Emperor’s New Groove in mid-December. That brings up another important point: The would-be second priority feature in the box office food chain sometimes becomes the top dog in terms of quality. Quick, do you prefer Dinosaur or The Emperor’s New Groove? That’s what I thought. And while I may be in the minority opinion, I’m the freak who loves Ratatouille but loves Meet the Robinsons even more. Now to be fair, over the last twenty years, the majority of so-called B-movies (which for the record is my own simplistic labeling) were theatrical pictures that barely went to theaters or came from other production houses. They were films like Gnomeo and Juliet,  Planes, and Mars Needs Moms. Obviously the Robert Zemeckis-produced or directed motion-capture films were not cheap, but few will argue that A Christmas Carol was more of a priority for Walt Disney in 2009 than Up. 
Having said that, the positioning of A Christmas Carol in early November did (I have long argued) real damage to Walt Disney’s The Princess and the Frog which was prevented from opening wide on Thanksgiving weekend like it darn well should have. But generally the various animated projects don’t clash with each other. It’s not like The Wild caused any problems for Cars back in 2006. What’s interesting about Zootopia is that it is indeed a pure Walt Disney production released outside of the prime season (early March, just as The Wild was in mid-April), which is rather unusual for the so-called off-season release. Disney hasn’t released a big-scale in-house animated production in the off-season since Meet the Robinsons back in March of 2007. Truth be told, Disney spent much of the last 10-15 years (post-Lilo & Stitch, pre-Princess and the Frog) in a place where the Walt Disney animated feature itself was a glorified B-movie companion to the year’s Pixar release, with the likes of Chicken Little and Bolt being presented as “the one that gets Disney its luster back.” Yes, Chicken Little was a big release and a solid hit ($314m worldwide on a $150m budget) in November, 2005, an attempt to score big with CGI animation and establish a new mascot character outside of Pixar and the princess line-up.

It says something that Disney is strong enough in the aftermath of Frozen and Big Hero 6 to again strong enough to offer an A-level Disney, an A-level Pixar, and a B-level Disney animated feature in the same calendar year. And the reason that this “matters” beyond my own curiosity is that the so-called B-movie allows that much more variety in terms of the kinds of animated stories and kinds of animated characters Disney can create. The likes of Zootopia doesn’t necessarily have to be a grand and sweeping adventure in the classic Disney tradition or what-have-you. It can be a crazy word-play based comedy like The Emperor’s New Groove, a dazzlingly creative and heartbreaking time travel adventure like Meet the Robinsons, or it can be a delightful throwback like Winnie the Pooh. Zootopia may not be the best or grandest Disney animated feature in 2016. But by virtue of its lower profile status and its existence as one of three, it has the freedom to be a little offbeat, a little quirky, a little out of the conventional Disney wheelhouse, as for that matter do the other two films by virtue of the same volume. Maybe Zootopia will magically end up being better than Finding Dory and Moana. All due respect, when is the last time you quoted Dinosaur?  

Tags : Cartoon for kids, cartoon 2015, masha and the bear