SYSTEM OF A DOWN AT THE DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL IN UK
Review by Andre Simonian
_http://www.systemofadown.com_ ()
Like every year, I packed my bags and set off to my yearly
spiritual destination (apart from Armenia) which is the Download
Festival. Download is a heavy metal festival which attracts about
100,000 people each year, but has still managed to keep it underground
and healthy, unlike, let’s say Glastonbury or Reading Festivals,
which have become increasingly commercial. This year’s Download
Festival took place in Donington Park near Derby on the 9th, 10th
and 11th of June. There were 108 bands appearing on four different
stages during the three days. Each night the last band on each stage
is the headliner of that stage, and obviously the headliner on the
main stage is the most important band. Moreover, the headliner of the
main stage on the final night, is the Main Headliner of the whole
Download Festival. This year that Main Headlining band happened to
be four Armenian boys under the name of System of A Down….
The fact that Ozzy Osborne’s Black Sabbath (The godfathers of Heavy
Metal) were headlining the second night and SOAD headlining the final
night goes to prove how important and vital SOAD are at the moment. To
cut a long story short, after two days of witnessing amazing bands and
three nights of sleeping in a tent, and a number of strange incidents,
(like getting a big emotional hug from a fat drunk guy on the second
night just because I was from the same country as SOAD!), I woke up
feeling excited and ready for their show. Even my sister drove up
from London to see them.
The third day was packed with big names like Nightwish, Slayer,
Killswitch Engage. The band Slipknot were the co-headliners. When they
were playing, a nasty wind started blowing & it started raining. I
wasn’t surprised, since it had been cloudy and grey all day. When
Slipknot finished their set, and the crew started changing the
stage-set for SOAD, music on the other stages gradually ended and all
100,000 people gathered to witness the mighty SOAD. At the same time
the rain stopped & the sky cleared up and turned to a nice orange
colour behind the stage.
When Daron Malekian’s guitar intro to “Soldier Side” started, the
crowd went crazy. “B.Y.O.B” (their new single) followed, with the
crowd singing every word of the amazingly strange lyrics. It was an
amazing spectrum to see 100,000 people chanting “why do they always
send the poor” referring to the American policy of sending the poor
to fight their wars. Then a set of hits followed. We got “Aerials”,
“Chop Suey”, “Toxicity”, “Cigaro”, “war?” (a song dedicated to the
Armenian Genocide), and “Mr. Jack”, “Forest”.
Watching SOAD for the eighth time, six years after seeing them play
their debut gig in UK, supporting Slayer at the tiny London Astoria,
was an emotional experience. How these four boys have improved
musically is just incredible. They are a much tighter band now. John
Dolmaian has improved so much as a drummer in mixing Metal, R’n’B,
and Hip-Hop grooves. Singer Serj Tankian can now play piano and guitar
whilst hypnotising us with his beautiful voice. Shavo Odadjan is an
amazing and fast bass player.
The driving force behind this band, Daron Malekian (the guitarist),
who has written most of the songs and the lyrics on the latest SOAD
album is simply genius. I love the fact that he doesn’t really obey
any musical rules when it comes to song writing or playing guitar,
and that is the definition of a true musician to me.
For me, the highlight of the set was when they played “Psycho”… it
is not my favourite SOAD song but the fact that Serj replaces some
of the lyrics with famous Armenian poetry “yes im anush Haiastani
arevaham barn em sirum” is just amazing. The 100,000 crowd looked
puzzled, since this is the only line during SOAD’s set that they
don’t recall having heard before.
SOAD bring the Download Festival 2005 to a beautiful end, knowing the
fact that their time is now… The crowd goes back to their tents
“Mezmorised” and “Hypnotised”, talking about nothing but SOAD. I
drive home longing for a hot shower, wondering why weren’t there any
Armenian flags in the crowd, and by now, kind of understanding why
that fat guy hugged me… coz we armoes are really special….

On this day – August 31
Advertiser Adelaide, Australia
The Mercury, Australia
Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
Aug 31 2005
1990 – About 250 militant Armenian nationalists give up their weapons
after the republic’s parliament declares a state of emergency.
1290 – Jews are exiled from England by proclamation of King Edward I.
1422 – King Henry V of England dies of dysentery in France and is
succeeded by his nine-month-old son, Henry VI. 1688 – Death in
London of John Bunyan, English author of The Pilgrim’s Progress.
1704 – Forces of Russia’s Tsar Peter the Great take Narva in Russia.
1823 – French forces storm the Trocadero and enter Cadiz in Spain.
1846 – Committee is established in Sydney to organise appeal
for Irish famine. 1871 – Basutoland is united with Cape Colony,
South Africa. 1876 – Turkey’s Sultan Murad V is deposed on plea
of insanity and is succeeded by Abdul Hamid II. 1887 – US inventor
Thomas A Edison receives a patent for his Kinetoscope, a device which
produces moving pictures. 1888 – Body of Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols,
first victim of murderer “Jack the Ripper”, is found in London.
1900 – British forces under Frederick Roberts occupy Johannesburg.
1907 – Anglo-Russian Convention is signed in St Petersburg, settling
differences between the two over Persia, Afghanistan and Tibet.
1918 – Bolshevik troops attack British embassy in Petrograd, Russia.
1920 – First ever news program is broadcast by the radio station 8MK
in Detroit, Michigan. 1922 – Czech-Serb-Croat Alliance is signed at
Marienbad. 1923 – Italy occupies Corfu in Greece. 1939 – Attempts
by French Premier Daladier and British Prime Minister Chamberlain to
negotiate with Adolf Hitler of Germany fail. 1942 – German General
Irwin Rommel renews offensive against British at Alam Halfa in North
Africa in World War II but is driven back to original lines. 1950 –
Contingent of 80 men from First Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment,
leaves for the Korean War. 1957 – Malaya becomes an independent
member of the British Commonwealth. 1962 – Trinidad and Tobago becomes
independent nation within the British Commonwealth. 1967 – Diplomatic
relations between Indonesia and Malaysia are re-established, following
Indonesia’s opposition to the formation of the Malaya federation.
1968 – West Indian Garfield Sobers becomes the first cricketer to
score six sixes off one over in first-class cricket, in England.
1969 – Rocky Marciano, former world heavyweight boxing champion, is
killed in an air crash in Iowa. 1973 – Death of John Ford, US film
director. 1977 – Ian Smith wins the Rhodesian general election with
80 per cent of the overwhelmingly white electorate’s vote. 1980 –
Polish labour leaders sign agreements with Communist government,
establishing for first time in a Soviet-bloc nation the rights to
strike and to establish free trade unions. 1983 – Murdered opposition
leader Benigno Aquino is buried in Manila, with over a million
mourners being addressed by his widow Cory. 1986 – Soviet passenger
ship Admiral Nakhimov collides with a merchant vessel in the Black
Sea, causing both vessels to sink; 448 die. 1986 – Moscow’s secret
police hold US correspondent Nicholas Daniloff on spying allegations.
1987 – Government and opposition officials in South Korea agree on
revising Constitution to clear way for direct presidential elections
and other reforms. 1989 – Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark
Phillips separate after 16 years of marriage. 1990 – East and West
Germany sign a treaty to harmonise their legal and political systems
after merging on October 3. 1990 – About 250 militant Armenian
nationalists give up their weapons after the republic’s parliament
declares a state of emergency. 1991 – Uzbekistan and Kirgyzstan
become ninth and tenth Soviet republics to declare independence.
1992 – Palestinian Arabs dismiss Israel’s self-rule proposals as
unacceptable and say peace negotiations are at an impasse. 1994 –
IRA declares an open-ended ceasefire in its 24-year campaign against
British rule of Northern Ireland. 1995 – Bomb-laden car explodes
in a crowded square outside Algeria’s national police headquarters,
killing 10 and injuring 15. 1996 – Iraq captures Irbil in northern
Iraq, a key city inside the Kurdish “safe haven” protected by US-led
forces, in Saddam Hussein’s largest military action since the end
of the Gulf War in 1991. 1997 – Princess Diana and her millionaire
companion Dodi Al Fayed are killed in a Paris car crash. 1998 – North
Korea launches a new, more powerful long-range ballistic missile that
crosses over Japan’s main island and crashes into the Pacific Ocean.
1999 – Opposition lawmakers in Venezuela pledge to defy a decision
by supporters of President Hugo Chavez to shut down the legislature,
worsening the country’s constitutional crisis. 2000 – The United
States decides to boycott several meetings in Japan dealing with
science and the environment in a protest of the expansion of Japanese
whaling. 2001 – Delegates from more than 160 countries attend the
weeklong United Nations-sponsored World Conference Against Racism in
Durban, South Africa. 2002 – A Russian Mi-24 assault helicopter is
shot down by a missile in Chechnya. Both of the gunship’s pilots are
killed. Chechen rebels claim responsibility. 2002 – Lionel Hampton,
one of America’s jazz legends, dies. He was 94. 2003 – Kenya lifts
a ban on the Mau Mau movement, which spearheaded an uprising against
British colonialists in the 1950s. 2004 – Militants in Iraq kill
12 Nepalese contract workers, in a gruesome video discovered on an
Islamic web site, showing one of them beheaded and the 11 others
shot in a methodical series of execution-style slayings. 2004 – The
US Republican Party nominates President George W Bush for a second
four-year term in the White House.

CIS HAS FUTURE – ARMENIA’S FOREIGN MINISTER
RIA Novosti, Russia
Aug 30 2005
YEREVAN, August 30 (RIA Novosti, Gamlet Matevosyan) – The Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS) is not on the brink of collapse, Armenia’s
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan told a news conference Tuesday.
“All CIS leaders…said they would continue cooperation within the
CIS framework,” Oskanyan said after the CIS summit in Kazan (the
Volga region) on August 27.
According to the minister, the CIS is being reformed to strengthen
the work of the organization.
“It is wrong to consider the CIS dead. The future reforms will
certainly increase the effectiveness of the organization,” he said.

AZERI, ARMENIAN PRESIDENTS’ KAZAN TALKS RAISE HOPES
Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
Aug 30 2005
Baku, August 29, AssA-Irada
Hopes for a settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper Garabagh
conflict increased after another around of talks in Russia, Foreign
Minister Elmar Mammadyarov told journalists following the Saturday
closed-door meeting of the Azeri and Armenian presidents in the Russian
Volga river city of Kazan. The previous meeting of the two presidents
in Warsaw raised expectations for progress in the conflict resolution.
Prior to the Kazan meeting held on the sidelines of the Commonwealth
of Independent States summit, there were presumptions that the
sides would reach a specific agreement or sign a document. However,
it became clear after the meeting of the foreign ministers in Moscow
shortly before the presidents’ talks that considerable results would
not be achieved. As before, the presidents’ meeting was attended by
the co-chairs of the meditating OSCE Minsk Group Steven Mann of the
United States, Yuri Merzlyakov of Russia and Bernard Fassier of France,
as well as the OSCE chairman’s envoy Anzhei Kaspshik. The talks, which
first started with participation of the two foreign ministers and OSCE
representatives, were followed by a private meeting of the heads of
state. Although no extensive information was available on the details
and outcome of the meeting, Foreign Minister Mammadyarov’s statement
enables a conclusion that major results were not achieved. He said,
however, that the meeting cannot be termed as fruitless, as talks
between the two presidents always yield results. “The hopes that
emerged after the Warsaw meeting further increased after the Kazan
talks.” The Minister noted that new proposals were made at the Kazan
meeting and that a week or two are needed to analyze them and assess
the situation. Although Mammadyarov did not elaborate, it is clear
that the mediators made certain proposals on the conflict resolution.
The date and venue for the next round of talks is not known yet and
will be specified after the meetings are analyzed, the Minister said.*

BIRD’S-EYE VIEWS
By Susan Goodman
Jerusalem Post
Aug 30 2005
When we decided to take some aerial pictures of the Temple Mount
a voice from the control tower roared at us, ‘Are you out of your
minds?! You can’t fly over the Temple Mount. You’ll cause a world
war!'”
This was one of the hazards mentioned by Moshe Miller in taking the
photographs for Jerusalem of the Heavens: The Eternal City in Bird’s
Eye View.
Flanked by desert and surrounded by hills and valleys, a mixture of
old and new, Jerusalem is breathtakingly photogenic from an elevated
perspective. In this book, by Moshe Miller and Yehuda Solomon, the
camera soars above the city revealing a broad canvas of patterns and
textures formed by people, buildings and landscape.
Other times the camera hovers only a few meters above the ground,
bringing us intimate pictures of the faithful preoccupied with
religious ritual – the distance doesn’t remove us from the scene but
enables the camera to observe without intruding. We see a Franciscan
monk about to turn a page of his book, and the Armenian Catholic
archbishop washing the feet of children. The rich religious pageant
of this city is laid before us with great artistry and sensitivity.
The authors write about the difficulties they encountered with
religious authorities when preparing this book. “The muezzin forbade us
to photograph the Aksa mosque, while the Greek Orthodox clergy didn’t
want us to shoot the Roman Catholic ceremonies the ultra orthodox Jews
were of course infuriated when we drew our cameras on the Sabbath.”
However, they also pay tribute to those who helped organize photographs
of religious activity and identify rituals. At the back of the book
are short explanations of the content of each photo and these give
us further understanding of the spiritual diversity that is the focus
of much of this heavenly book.
You’ll find another book of aerial photographs, Skyline Jerusalem,
in most Jerusalem bookstores. The pictures were taken by two former
Israel Air Force pilots, Duby Tal and Moni Haramati. The book can’t
boast the artistic merits of Jerusalem of the Heavens, but does
offer us a “peek into different neighborhoods” from a new angle. I
especially like the pairs of photos showing the same scene in golden
summer sunshine and also in winter white.
It was a photo by these two former pilots which inspired a painting
by Martin Rink of White Storks flying peacefully over the Holy City
– a true bird’s eye view. The painting is reproduced at the end of
Flying with the Birds by Yossi Leshem and Ofer Bahat.
Wedged between the Syrian-African Rift to the east and the
Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel lies directly on the route of
500 million birds migrating between Europe and Africa – producing a
real risk of bird-plane collisions.
This unusual book is the result of an extensive study into bird
flight patterns over Israel. The research enabled the Israeli Air
Force to reduce these midair accidents by changing the location of
training flights.
With its extensive descriptions of worldwide animal migrations and bird
flight, Flying with the Birds includes some remarkable photos of planes
sharing Israeli skies with flocks of birds. Most of us rarely glimpse
these millions passing overhead, some of them at altitudes as high
as 7 km. The landscapes below look little more than an indistinct blur.
Far above the birds, at heights of about 700 km, the satellites watch
over us. For the ultimate bird’s eye view of your street and home,
log on to This free Google Earth program
enables you to zoom in on almost any part of the Earth’s surface. You
can even rotate and tilt the angle of view. It’s an absolutely stunning
piece of software.

CIS AIR-DEFENCE EXERCISE IN SOUTHERN RUSSIA ENTERS ACTIVE PHASE
Channel One TV, Moscow
30 Aug 05
The active phase of an air-defence exercise began today at the Ashuluk
training ground in Astrakhan Region. Air-defence troops from four
CIS countries are taking part in the exercise: Russia, Belarus,
Armenia and Tajikistan.
Over 2,000 service personnel are involved in the exercise. They will
be using air-defence systems, fighters, bombers and ground-attack
aircraft.
According to the exercise plan, the troops are to destroy a terrorist
base and to provide protection for strategic facilities.
The main aim of the exercise is ensure that the troops are able to
operate in a coordinated fashion. They will be receiving their orders
from a unified command post.
The exercise is being attended by Russian Defence Minister Sergey
Ivanov, who is personally monitoring the exercise.

“CILICIA” DOCKS AT PORTSMOUTH
_ ()
Aug. 31, 2005
The modern replica of the medieval Armenian merchant vessel Cilicia set
sail on its historic voyage on July 14, 2004 from Poti, Georgia. Flying
the Armenian flag, the vessel followed the route of medieval Cilicia
Armenian merchants, who had close connections with European seaports
in the 13-th century. The voyage consisted of two stages: the first
included sailing from Poti to Venice, where the vessel moored for the
winter; the second part of the voyage covered the distance from Venice
to Amsterdam and on its way it moored at the U.K. port of Portsmouth
where on the 20th of August there was a welcoming ceremony and the
ship was greeted by a large group of members of the community.
The day’s welcoming arrangements which had been organised by the ACCC
included a Thanksgiving Lunch and a Welcoming Ceremony. The crew were
dressed in the ancient contemporary Armenian garments and the sight of
such an interesting and ancient vessel docked in the port of Portsmouth
was unique. The welcoming party included Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian,
Baroness Cox, members of the Armenian Embassy, members of the Council
of the ACCC and representatives of Armenian organisations in the UK.
The ambitious idea of constructing a ship in landlocked Armenia was
realized by the efforts of the members of the Ayas Nautical Research
Club. Without prior experience and ship-building industrial skills
absent in the country, it took them 11 years to build the model of a
13th century Armenian ship. Ancient Armenia had a seaport in Cilicia,
and one of the military ships was called Ayas. Hence, the name that
the Club borrowed. On completion it was transported to Poti on a
trailer. Cilicia will sail round Europe over seven seas through
22 countries.

NORWAY TO FINANCE PROGRAMS IN SOUTH CAUCASUS
A1+
| 16:41:27 | 30-08-2005 | Official |
In 2005-2007 Norway will allocate $10 million for financing development
programs in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. The programs mostly
cover managerial, energetic and ecological fields.
Today Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian met with Norwegian
State Secretary Kim Traavik.
By the guest’s request the RA FM presented Armenia’s position on a
number of the regional issues including the Nagorno Karabakh conflict
settlement and the Armenia-Turkey relations.

NO BREAKTHROUGH IN KAZAN MEETING OF ARMENIAN, AZERI PRESIDENTS
Yerkir
30.08.2005 17:06
YEREVAN (YERKIR) – Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Foreign
Minster Vardan Oskanian said Armenia considers the meeting of Armenian
and Azerbaijani presidents in Kazan as positive and that he believes
the talks are on the right track. He, however, refused to suggest
details.
“Meetings between the foreign ministers will conitnue based on the
agreements reached in Warsaw and Kazan,” Oskanian went on saying,
adding that while no breakthrough was registered in Kazan, the foreign
ministers are not facing a deadlock.
He also said that the August 24 meeting of foreign affairs in Moscow
in presence of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs discussed the settlement
of the conflict in the context of the “Prague process.”
Oskanian also briefed the reporters on the Kazan summit of the
Commonwealth of Independent States as well as Armenia’s integration
process into Europe, emphasizing joint projects carried out by Armenia,
European Union and NATO.

FRANCE ‘NAMES AND SHAMES’ AIRLINES
Irish Times; Aug 30, 2005
FRANCE: Paris has said it hopes its new blacklist of airlines banned
from landing in France will speed up European moves to “name and shame”
airlines who fail to meet international safety standards.
France and neighbour Belgium have listed on the internet 14 companies
banned from using their airports or airspace due to concerns over
their safety or aircraft maintenance record.
International airline safety has become a particularly sensitive issue
following four fatal crashes in August alone in which more than 330
people died.
“This list also has the merit, we hope, of leading the way at a
European level, so that we get a European blacklist as soon as
possible,” said Maxime Coffin, director of France’s DGAC civil
aviation authority.
“We believe publication is a deterrent, a warning to other companies
that have not been sufficiently rigorous, that shows them that if they
don’t take the necessary steps, one day they too could be banned,”
he said.
On the website , France also published “whitelists” of
approved charter airlines used by French tour operators which met
international safety standards.
French transport minister Dominique Perben had vowed to publish the
lists in response to the deaths of 152 French nationals on August 16th,
when a jet from Colombia’s West Caribbean airline crashed in Venezuela.
A Colombian audit found a lack of crew training, incorrect use
of flight logs and maintenance problems. The French ban affects:
Air Koryo (North Korea); Air Saint Thomas (US); International Air
Services (Liberia); Lineas Aer de Mozambique (Mozambique); Transairways
chartered by LAM; and Phuket Airlines (Thailand).
Belgium’s transport ministry said on its website it had suspended
landing permits for: Africa Lines (Central African Republic); Air
Memphis (Egypt); Air Van Airlines (Armenia); Central Air Express
(Democratic Republic of Congo); ICTTPW (Libya); International Air Tours
Ltd (Nigeria); Johnsons Air Ltd (Ghana); Silverback Cargo Freighters
(Rwanda); and South Airlines (Ukraine).