FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE DEPOT

If you don't follow the chaotic politics of the United States, you might not have heard that Donald Trump was making a speech roughly a week ago and the presidential seal that was displayed on a screen behind him was not the official seal. (If you know all about that skip this paragraph.) It had been altered displaying a two headed bird as seen on the Russian flag, instead of the traditional (single headed) bald eagle that's supposed to be on the seal. In addition, the traditional thirteen arrows representing the original thirteen colonies of the U.S. that are normally in the left talon on the eagle were replaced by golf clubs. The olive branches normally in the right talon were replaced with a wad of cash. In the banner of the seal that normally says "E pluribus unum" ("out of many, one" in Latin) it said "45 es un títere" which in Spanish is "45 is a puppet" (Trump is the 45th president, or at least that's what he thinks he is). The person responsible for the projection of the wrong seal was fired. (The whole story can be read at the BBC website.)

Photo: Ken Feinleib

Long backstory, I know, but here's the good part. Last night Blondie was playing in Camden NJ, and included their cover of the John Barry penned theme from the James Bond film "From Russia With Love", which has been in their set for at least a year. About 40 seconds in, the screen backdrop behind them reprised the fake seal as a triptych, an intentional dig at Trump. The crowd erupted with applause. This almost makes up for "Heart of Glass".

Check this video that appeared a couple years ago. It's a doctored expertly edited clip showing the FBI taking down Michael Fynn, Steve Bannon (with James Comey watching), Kellyanne Conway, Jared Kushner, and finally Donald Trump, with "To Russia With Love", the original version, as a soundtrack. It's like an updated version of the cut and paste type thing ala Jamie Reid's "God Save The Queen" artwork.

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Listen:

Matt Monro - From Russia With Love mp3 at Tumblr From the original soundtrack
Roland Alphonso - From Russia With Love (streaming) at YouTube Studio One!
Video:
Blondie - From Russia With Love (live) at YouTube At 1:24, seals obscured by camera overexposure
Blondie - From Russia With Love (live) at YouTube At :13, a better shot from a different angle.