Although reviews of Rihanna's performances in Philadelphia and Hartford have begun to emerge the fact that none of these have come from official sources and some are very low quality means that it's still hard tell how the concerts went. For example this afternoon I read a long review about Rihanna's performance in Philadelphia on Wednesday (13/3/13). As Rihanna didn't perform in Philadelphia until a full 24 hours later on Thursday (14/3/13) it's hard to treat that review with much credibility. I think that in part this is a reference to me because well my writing style often falls far below the professional standard. More generally it's an attempt to provoke discussion about the common practise within diplomatic/espionage circles of putting out lengthy and essentially credible documents about a dull topic (news articles is the example most people are familiar with) but hiding a code within the document by by making a small deliberate mistake like getting a date wrong or mis-spelling a name.
However Rihanna's CIA handlers want smear her reputation by making everybody think that information is being suppressed to protect commercial endorsements. To support this there have been a spate of articles about how to use Rihanna's Mac cosmetic's line to help you achieve her concert look. Some of these have been brilliant because the way they talk about things like powders and lines make you think you're really reading a coded article about Rihanna's cocaine habit although as far as we know Rihanna doesn't have a cocaine habit and is unlikely to even qualify as a light recreational user. Marijuana - now that's a different story.
The problem is that making people work so hard for information is really going to annoy them by wasting their time and forcing them to activate and expose their intelligence gathering networks to find out information. There is a lot of temptation for people to find out what's going on because regardless of what the truth is the US intends to claim that events on the tour have had an effect on major global issues such as Syria which we're going to be talking about for years to come. Therefore I think a better idea would be for Rihanna's tour team to designate a local journalist at each of the concerts. That journalist would then be given special advance access to things like the set list and the costumes being used in that particular show. That journalist would then be able to produce a review almost as the concert ends and that review would be distributed through official channels. That review should be very basic and contain just stuff like how long concert lasted, the set list, the costumes used and any significant problems like Rihanna being more then thirty minutes late on stage. There isn't even a need for the review to be formally published, it could just be Tweeted or emailed out to a small group of people including me.
An example of a significant problem would be something that has been coming out from both the Philadelphia and Hartford concerts - Rihanna clearly hasn't fully recovered from her recent bout of illness and her voice is clearly not strong. This raises the possibility that she will either permanently damage her voice or be forced to cancel more concerts as the tour progresses. Therefore I stand by my position that as soon as the Boston concert had to be cancelled all the concerts for the next 10 days - 2 weeks should have been cancelled and the tour started afresh in Detroit.
That's because looking through the tour schedule there doesn't seem to be a single date that doesn't have a strong political agenda. For example Philadelphia and Hartford are actually some of the most benign dates I can see. However Philadelphia frequently gets labelled the murder capital of the US so comes up a lot in gun control debates which are certainly being complicated by the Rihanna/Chris Brown thing while Hartford is teeing up the agenda for the Detroit concert which I'll cover in more detail later.
The concerts that have got me really worried though are the upcoming ones in Montreal and Toronto, Canada on 17,18,19/3/13. Rather underlining the point that Rihanna and I really don't have the option of forgetting about each other just yet you may remember that during the para-Olympic closing ceremony a lot of reference was made to a heavily tattooed Canadian woman I used to know with a penchant for violent men. I believe I said she was part of a long line of women in my life who'd pulled their knickers up and stormed off thinking they could do better. She actually came from Toronto. Clearly the parts about tattoos and violent men draw obvious comparisons with Rihanna and her relationship with Chris Brown and those comparisons are intended to tear through Rihanna's psyche like finger nails down a chalkboard. To make matters worse I have to say that while she's not yet as crazy the similarities between Rihanna and this woman's thought processes and behaviour patterns are becoming more prominent as Rihanna's relationship with Brown progresses. This puts the UK at a huge advantage because although that woman is originally from Toronto she is currently living in the UK which gives Britain the best access.
As I also mentioned at the time of the para-Olympic closing ceremony the UK despises Rihanna for a host of reasons including just plain old jealousy. Therefore their plan is for the Diamonds tour to go so badly that it heaps pressure on Rihanna and destroys her reputation ending her career and forcing her to disappear. Hence the term "Operation Misery." The reunion with Brown is a central part of that plan.
Canada is part of the UK Commonwealth Realm and has a very close relationship with the UK. Therefore the Canadian concerts are where the UK will have the opportunity to really heap the pressure on Rihanna. However Montreal is in the semi-autonomous French speaking province of Quebec and enjoys a much closer relationship to France. While the French are not best pleased with Rihanna especially over things like Mali they are certainly much less hostile towards her than the UK. Therefore as Rihanna moves from Quebec to Toronto there is likely to be a lot of friction between English speaking Canada and French speaking Canada over the treatment she receives. The US' hope is that this friction will reflect the friction between the UK and France over the European Union's (EU) arms embargo on Syria. For example while the UK are undoubtedly the driving force behind lifting the ban they're forcing the French to be seen to be taking the lead.
Just two days after the final Toronto concert Rihanna will perform in Detroit in Michigan, US on 21/3/12. Detroit is the home city to the famous rapper Eminem. Apart from frequently collaborating with Rihanna I've been compared to Eminem so many times he certainly knows who I am. Therefore the Detroit concert prompts discussion about mine and Eminem's views on Rihanna's reunion with Chris Brown. Also Detroit is bankrupt and it's ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was recently jailed on corruption charge in what is a major story in US politics.
The birthplace of Motown records Detroit is most famous as the home to the US auto-industry leading it to being known as "Motor City." One of the most famous of these is the Ford motor company. This pronounced exactly the same and is only one letter out from the surname of Rihanna's close friend Melissa Forde. Therefore the main agenda of the Detroit concert are all those rumours about Forde's sexuality and her relationship with Rihanna. Although being at the centre of all this is clearly going to put pressure on the relationship between Rihanna and Forde essentially we're trying to find out if Rihanna Hearts Ford (geddit?!)
Although I've not been granted the privilege of meeting her I believe Melissa Forde to be gay. However me thinking she is gay is very different from her knowing that she is gay. For example it took my mother some 40 years to come to terms with it. It must also be said that all this attention on the issue is unlikely to be making it easier for Forde to come to terms with her sexuality. As I mentioned at the time of the para-Olympic closing ceremony this is very similar to a situation I found myself in with another Pisces with a touch of the Hepburns about her and her overly friendly female friend. That female friend is of course the same one who may or may not have been gang-raped by a group of white South Africans in an effort to force her to come to terms with her homosexuality. Both of those women are British and continue to live in the UK gives Britain a huge advantage in that discussion.
I should also point out that in my opinion while Chris Brown is clearly a negative influence on Rihanna's life Melissa Forde is generally a positive influence. However Brown and Forde clearly do not get on and sadly Rihanna is blaming Forde's objections to Brown on jealousy brought about her hidden homosexuality. As such since certianly the start of 2013 Rihanna has been mounting a poorly thought through, clumsy and heavy handed campaign to force Forde to come out as gay pushing the issue to the top of the agenda.
Finally Detroit was where Barak Obama held his final big campaign rally of the Presidential campaign featuring a performance by Rihanna's mentor Jay-Z. Of course the original plan was that by refusing to object to Rihanna's reunion with Chris Brown Jay-Z would have become so toxic that his endorsement of Obama should have lost Obama votes helping Romney win. On 22/3/13 Rihanna will perform in Chicago which is Obama's home town and is famously corrupt going through at least one corruption scandal a year.
Next up is Saint Paul's in Minnesota which sounds pretty innocuous. However Saint Paul's Minnesota shares it's name with the Saint Paul's district of Bristol, UK. That is the same Bristol that gives the Bristol Abuse Case it's name and is the same Bristol where the Pisces with the touch of the Hepburn's about her comes from and I believe still lives. Apart from bringing up all those issues Bristol, UK was also a major hub for the 19th century slave trade which is still a big issue in race-relations in the US and certainly draws comparisons with the way Rihanna is being treated. Finally Saint Paul's, Bristol was scene of the massive Saint Paul's race riots of 1980. Apart from bringing up the issue of race again this also promotes discussion about the Rihanna/Jay-Z/Kanye West song "Run This Town" and it's role in the UK's August 2011 riots. However that is an issue that will be focused on in much more detail during the May 1st (1/5/13) concert in Montreal.
Following the Saint Paul's concert there will be a return to English speaking Canada with concerts in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver but I need to see the first Canadian leg goes before I start thinking about them.
Finally Rihanna appears to be back posting Instagram pictures on Twitter. Her latest effort shows us the results of a manicure she got on her tour bus as she was heading to New York for her flight to Montreal. Obviously this told us she's on her tour bus and heading for New York. However if you look closer the picture shows that Rihanna was not wearing the engagement ring Chris Brown gave her. Also the picture mimics one I posted showing where I cut my knuckle open writing my post of the latest miracle cure for HIV. So disguised amongst those issues Rihanna seems to be trying to tell us that she's following her handlers rules (such as trying to force me to sign up to Instagram) in order that they continue to protect Chris Brown and keep him out of prison. Brown's re-Tweeting of a Twitter picture was intended to be interpreted as him giving Rihanna permission to break that particular rule.
Legally speaking this is all a complete nonsense because Rihanna's opinion let alone her actions should play no role in the decision to prosecute Chris Brown. However as it's quite clear that notions like justice of the law have played no part in Brown's case I would say it's still a very bad idea for Rihanna to put all her eggs in that particular basket. After all the people who are protecting Brown are starting to feel the pressure themselves.
So I hope Rihanna continues to post her Instagram pictures on Twitter because in the grand scheme of things it's such a tiny thing. Besides the possibility that Rihanna may be posting pictures specifically for my benefit certainly adds an extra dimension to proceedings.
22:00 on 16/3/13.
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