petergabriel.com

Greetings lunar observers. We have a loosely illustrated Full Moon Club update from Peter, who due to Olympic levels of commitment, and his birthday, has managed to largely escape the lens this month.

In a packed update we bring you exclusive excerpts from 'Brochette', a work in progress from the aborted World Cup gala, Peter's version of 'Imagine" for the Winter Olympics and Google like possibilities for Witness.

Peter hasn't been seen around Real World today, but I imagine wherever he is, he will find a way of enjoying; what sounds like it's going to be, the spectacular opening of The Winter Olympics.

The organisers say the show will keep "two billion spectators glued to the screen" and as it's a cold wintery day here, we're going to be amongst them...viewers in the UK can watch events on BBC2.

"Sadness, happiness, being apart and being together" ..Guo Yue's music and writing reveal all.

Peter has recently written an introduction to a new book by Guo Yue, who has an accompanying CD just out on Real World Records.

"I have never read such a vivid account of what it is like to have grown up during the Cultural Revolution in China, especially for a young artist. The story is made all the more tangible by the constant references to food.

I have heard Guo Yue play his music, I have eaten his food, and can guarantee he delivers in a magical way.

What he and Clare have created with this book will leave no one wanting, and everyone hungry." Peter Gabriel

You can hear the wonderful sound of Yue and his music on today's Midweek program on BBC Radio 4, and if like me you're captivated by the voice, the book and the music you can have noodles for lunch.

For anyone with the ability to get to London on Saturday night, and who enjoyed Daby Touré's recent appearances at Peter's live shows, I would recommend a trip to the wonderful Linbury theater at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Some of us were at the theatre for Iarla O' Lionaird's show on Wednesday and had a great evening..you could do worse than check out Daby and his new band.

In a change from the normal pattern of Full Moon Club updates, we're turing the tables on you this month - there's no free audio to download, and although there is a short video message from Peter, it's not restricted to Full Moon Club Members. We want to see if we can utilise the combined might of the lunatic community to promote our South Asia Earthquake Appeal.  

I can imagine the groans as you discover we're trying to flog you something, but  although we are trying to get you and everyone you know to part with £1, we're not keeping any of it for ourselves, and we're being supported in the aim of getting as much of that £1 as possible to the people who need it by our credit card processors - SecureTrading, who have cut their charges on these transactions. We will still loose a little in bank and credit card charges, and if your in the UK, we'll be charged VAT by the Taxman, but beyond those limited charges everything is going to charity.  The good part is that you get to give £1 to the appeal, and you also get two amazing pieces of music....I'll let Peter explain..

"This is a request for help.  We've had ties with Pakistan from many years, particularly with Qawwali music and the extraordinary voice of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. His family have generously agreed to allow us to make available two tracks - one a collaboration with Massive Attack , 'Mustt Mustt' and one with myself 'Taboo', as a download to raise money.  So basically you are getting two extraordinary pieces of music for the price of one!  We need a lot of downloads and we need you to do a bit of marketing for us. So, if you could persuade say 10 of your friends to do the same download we can get real money to real people really fast.  Please help us to help them!"    Peter Gabriel

We heard from Peter who has been in Paris today for meetings about the World Cup that the show's off.

FIFA have since posted the following news...

"Having conducted another in-depth study into the requirements for successfully laying a new pitch after the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ Gala, which was scheduled to take place at Berlin's Olympic Stadium on 7 June 2006, FIFA has decided to cancel the event. At the end of 2005, the dates for the Gala and the first group match at Berlin's Olympic Stadium were altered from 8 and 12 June to 7 and 13 June respectively, but it has since become clear that there would be considerable risks involved, not only in dismantling the stages and the event's technical installations in time, but also in laying a new pitch, which has to be in perfect playing condition by 12 June."

Were the sky clear tonight, it would apparently reveal the brightest full moon to be seen over this part of the world for the next 18 and a half years.

Although I can't find any internet facts that back this up, the fact that the moon will be some 5 degrees higer in the sky; found it's way via the magic of radio, into my semi-conscious state this morning. There's a glimpse of this lunar phenomena in Peter's 'Full Moon Club' video update, but it really fails to reveal anything startling about the more acute angle of lunar observation we are experiencing. If anything it indicates we may be adhereing a little too closely to a lunar calender in the creation of these clips.

If not, this idea we've spotted from Lucy Hooberman over at Pledgebank.com may appeal...

"I will mentor a minimum of two people in the developing world in the area of my skills base and expertise (media, communications, broadcasting , democratic media building, participatory media, community video). I will do this for free for a minimum of six months (in my free time). The mentoring will be in person or via email/skype and the mentoring connections will be established by a website and database that I am willing to take responsibility for creating but only if 250 other people will mentor a minimum of two people in their skills."

Check out Tina's update for the definitive take on perennial Genesis rumours, PG news, this month's competition and last months winners.

Good Evening lunar observers. The clear sub-zero Real World evening is giving the moon's peak a munificent glow that could almost lead you to accept it's power to transform people into wild beasts, giant wolves that attack livestock and humans indiscriminately.

As recently as the late 1990s, a string of man-eating wolf attacks occurred in Uttar Pradesh, India. Frightened people claimed, among other things, that the wolves were werewolves. As worrying a weight as this adds to a deep seated fear of our lupine friends, there's no doubt that the world has more pressing concerns ..... news of some ongoing campaigns with Witness, The United Nations and Nelson Mandela in our video update, along with Peter's recent appearances, life as a travelling salesman, work in the studio....Oh and a frightening transformation!

Wondering when the Full Moon is? Well in 2006 you can wonder no more as we have an exclusive Peter Gabriel - Growing Up Live 2006 wall calendar to grace your kitchen wall.

A full size glossy wall calendar measuring 60cm x 30cm when opened, each month has a set of stills taken from the Growing Up tour and a full lunar cycle plus space for you to add those all important dates!

The first 500 orders will recieve a free Zorb Ball laminate.

*** We had a weevil infestation again last night and it prevented you from ordering the Calendar.. We sent in the troops and we are now weevil free - for now! ***

Finland's Värttinä enter 2006 with the release of their tenth studio album, Miero, in January on Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records.

The focus of Miero ("Outcast") is voices. Värttinä singers Mari Kaasinen, Susan Aho and Johanna Virtanen collaborated with producer Aija Puurtinen, one of Finland's most respected female singers and well-known vocal adventurer, to create the most vocally exciting album in the band's twenty-three year history. Never before have the Värttinä vocals sounded so crisp and powerful, the harmonies so clear, the solos so pure.

Miero also features some of the darkest, most sinister themes yet from Värttinä 's lyricists. Yet there are also tender songs of love and silence. As with every other Värttinä album, melody is still the dominant feature. The group's compositional skills are as refined and potent as any time in their career as songwriters. Miero is a song journey from start to finish.

The release of Miero coincides with Värttinä’s main stage appearance at the Midem convention in Cannes on January 22 and with the North American premiere in Toronto of the stage production of Lord of the Rings featuring music co-composed by Värttinä with Indian composer A R Rahman and music supervisor Chris Nightingale. The first night of LOTR previews is February 2 at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto with the Opening Gala set for March 23. The Music of Lord of the Rings album will be recorded in summer 2006. The London West End premiere will take place in early 2007. Producer: Kevin Wallace.

Miero release date: January 30, 2006
Catalogue number: CDRWX135
ICPN: 00946 346084 2 8

I have to report that tonight a very large yellowish moon appears to be rising above the studios at an astounding rate - it brings to mind questions about the relative nature of perception, and as I'm hoping our speed of planetary rotation is within 'normal' operating parameters, there must be some other explanation....

"As animals get bigger, from tiny shrew to huge blue whale, pulse rates slow down and life spans stretch out longer, conspiring so that the number of heartbeats during an average stay on Earth tends to be roughly the same, around a billion. A mouse just uses them up more quickly than an elephant.

Mysteriously, these and a large variety of other phenomena change with body size according to a precise mathematical principle called quarter-power scaling. A cat, 100 times more massive than a mouse, lives about 100 to the one-quarter power, or about three times, longer. (To calculate this number take the square root of 100, which is 10 and then take the square root of 10, which is 3.2.) Heartbeat scales to mass to the minus one-quarter power. The cat's heart thus beats a third as fast as a mouse's." (see link below)

I'm not quite sure that this explains the moon's apparent haste, as I'm roughly the same size as last month, but as a link to this months 'Full Moon Club' update there's possibly a tenuous thread through elephants to 'Africa' and from 'our stay on earth' to 'Still Growing Up", both of which are to be found in this months video offering...the moon's not full forever!

Peter and Angelina Jolie are to host largest ever gala concert for Witness on December 5, 2005 at The Supper Club in NYC.

Special musical acts scheduled to perform include Emmylou Harris and Nile Rodgers and CHIC, with more guests to be announced soon. The event will highlight the work of WITNESS and Angelina Jolie to help support a lasting peace in Sierra Leone, where a devastating 11 year conflict came to an end in 2002.

Follow the link below for information on the event, to buy tickets, or to inquire about event sponsorship.