Brit Awards 2010 – Lady Gaga

Impressive performance from Lady Gaga at the Brit Awards 2010.

Dizzee Rascal and Florence Welch Perform at Brit Awards 2010

Amazing performance from Florence Welch and Dizzee Rascal at the Brit Pop Awards. Astoundingly beautiful contrast of musical styles.

Hot Chip – One Life Stand – Lyrics, Video and Band Bio

One Life Stand is a fantastic song by Hot Chip, a Grammy-nominated British electro-pop band.

Hot Chip Lyrics “One Life Stand”

Tell me where you’ve been to
Nowhere that you shouldn’t do
Tell me what you’re good for
I can tell you something too
Where have you been staying?
Tell me what you’re playing
Hope it’s not my conscience
But it keeps complaining

Didn’t meet you in an alley
The cats they weren’t complaining
I met you in the daylight
Our visions misbehaving
I offer you my temper
With the hope that you would tame me
We built ourselves a shelter
You will always be my baby

Feeling, keep on feeling, keep on feeling

I only wanna be your one life stand (Keep on feeling)
Tell me do you stand by your man? (Keep on feeling)
I only wanna be your one life stand (Keep on feeling)
Tell me do you stand by your man? (Keep on feeling)

Wishes keep remaining
Nothing worth containing
A balloon with air is escaping
Is nothing but a plaything
Moments keep us guessing
And lead us from temptation
But better to embrace them
And measure our elation

I only wanna be your one life stand (Keep on feeling)
Tell me do you stand by your man? (Keep on feeling)
I only wanna be your one life stand (Keep on feeling)
Tell me do you stand by your man? (Keep on feeling)
(Could this be, could this be?)
I only wanna be your one life stand (Keep on feeling)
(Could this be, could this be?)
Tell me do you stand by your man? (Keep on feeling)
(Could this be, could this be?)
I only wanna be your one life stand (Keep on feeling)
(Could this be, could this be?)
Tell me do you stand by your man? (Keep on feeling)

Hot Chip Band Bio

Hot Chip formed in 2000, though members Alexis Taylor and Joe Goddard had previously worked together and had been at Elliott School in Putney, London since 1991. In an interview, Goddard jokingly compared early Hot Chip releases to sixth-form poetry with acoustic guitars, although an interest in dance music rhythms and electronic experimentation is present in even the early recordings and releases such as the ‘Mexico EP’. The current line up was completed when occasional collaborators Owen Clarke, Felix Martin and later Al Doyle joined the band full time in 2003.

Coming on Strong
After years of self-releasing records, they signed with Moshi Moshi in 2003 and released their debut LP Coming on Strong in 2004. During this period, they were joined by Felix Martin and Al Doyle. They started working on their second album and signed a UK & US record deal with DFA Records and EMI. DFA and Astralwerks released their debut album for the first time in the US in late 2005.

The Warning
In 2006, Hot Chip released their second album, The Warning. Now signed to EMI in the UK, the band gained more mainstream appeal as well as the attention of critics. The album was shortlisted for the 2006 Nationwide Mercury Prize and was Mixmag’s Album of the Year 2006.[1] This album spawned also two UK top forty singles: “Over and Over” in March 2006 and “Boy from School” in May 2006. “Over and Over” received attention for its music video, which was directed by Nima Nourizadeh, and was also named as the best single of 2006 by British music magazine NME.[2]

Made in the Dark
The band released their third studio album, Made in the Dark, on February 4 2008. The first song to be released from it was “Shake a Fist”, which was released as a limited one-sided 12″ in August 2007. The second release was “Ready For The Floor” in January 2008, which reached number 6 in the UK Singles Chart. In order to promote “Ready for the Floor”, the band appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross in January 2008, and Joe Goddard appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks on 31 January. In February 2008, the band performed on the American talk shows Jimmy Kimmel and Carson Daly. On 7 May 2008, the group performed their third single, “One Pure Thought”, on Radio 1’s Live Lounge. The hypnotic clip for “One Pure Thought” was selected as one of the best music videos of 2008 by AllMusic.com.

One Life Stand
Having completed a world tour in February 2009, Hot Chip returned to London and began writing and recording their fourth album, One Life Stand.[3]

In early 2009 Alexis Taylor told NME that the band recorded new songs including “Alley Cats”, which the band played regularly while touring in 2008/2009. Initially, Taylor hinted that the album was going to be “a bit calmer this time” in comparison to Made in the Dark with songs that are “more mid-tempo and disco influenced”, although the two tracks released prior to the album, “Take It In” and “One Life Stand”, suggest that it will be more upbeat than first suggested, and may be more influenced by early house music. [4]. Alongside the regular band members, Hot Chip collaborated on several of the album tracks with the drummer Charles Hayward from This Heat and Camberwell Now, Leo Taylor, drummer from the London based band The Invisible and the Trinidadian steel pan player Fimber Bravo.

One Life Stand was released on February 1st 2010, and Hot Chip have announced a new world tour in 2010.

Twin Cities 89.3 “the Current” radio station’s album of the week February 15th 2010.

Tours and appearances
Hot Chip Performing on stage at the Leeds Academy

During live performances, Hot Chip reinvent their studio compositions to form what has been described by Glide magazine as “heavy beat-driven improvisation[s]” that create “an atmosphere of excitement, energy and the unexpected.”[5] Festival appearances include V Festival 2008, Dour Festival, Glastonbury, Treasure Island Festival, Roskilde festival, Sónar, Benicassim, Electric Picnic, Bestival, Lovebox, Bonnaroo, the Reading and Leeds Festivals, the Big Day Out, Melt! festival, T in the Park, Summer Sundae, Splendour In The Grass, Lollapalooza in 2006, the Brazilian Tim Festival in 2007, Oxegen in 2008, Coachella in 2007 and 2008, and Austin City Limits in September 2008. They also played at San Diego’s Street Scene in 2008.

During a performance at the Glastonbury festival on 28 June 2008, Hot Chip played their cover of “Wearing My Rolex” and were joined onstage by Wiley. They also ended a number of sets in 2008 with a cover of Prince’s (popularised by Sinéad O’Connor) “Nothing Compares 2 U.”

The band is also known for its DJ talent; they have released several mix CDs and mixes for national and international radio stations and they all DJ regularly worldwide.

Other recordings
Hot Chip released a DJ-Kicks compilation album in 2007, which included a new song called “My Piano”, also released as a 12″.

In 2008, the band released an EP which included collaborations with Robert Wyatt. Wyatt sang and reworked versions of three tracks from Made in the Dark, and the Hot Chip with Robert Wyatt and Geese EP also included a remix by Geese, a string quartet based in London who have regularly contributed to Hot Chip’s recordings.

In 2009, a new DJ mix album A Bugged Out Mix by Hot Chip was released on the Bugged Out label, a two disc album with disc one a collection of club and dance tracks mixed by Martin, and disc two a “house party” mix put together by Goddard, Taylor and Clarke. The artwork was made by Bevis Martin and Charlie Youle.

Other releases in 2008 and 2009 included a collaboration with Peter Gabriel on a cover version of the Vampire Weekend song Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa, many remixes including the song “Babongo Tribe Remix” for the Survival International charity album, Songs for Survival and a cover of Joy Division’s “Transmission” to the War Child charity album, Heroes.
Hot Chip Band Members

• Alexis Taylor – vocals, synthesizer, guitar, percussion, piano
• Joe Goddard – vocals, synthesizer, percussion
• Owen Clarke – guitar, bass, synthesizer
• Al Doyle – guitar, synthesizer, percussion, backing vocals (Also plays guitar, bass, synths, and percussion for LCD Soundsystem)
• Felix Martin – drum machines, synthesizer

Former band members

• Hagop Tchaparian aka The Letter G – Drum machines
• Rob Smoughton aka Grovesnor – Drums
• Dillon Nagle – Guitar
• Daniel Paton – Drums
• Chris Trigg – Bass guitar
• Scott Bennett – guitar, backing vocals, thumb piano

Guest members

• Leo Taylor – Drums (Plays drums for The Invisible)

Hot Chip discography
Studio albums

• Coming on Strong (2004)
• The Warning (2006)
• Made in the Dark (2008)
• One Life Stand (2010)

Suicide Note From Texas IRS Plane Crash – Joe Stack

Below is the suicide note posted by Joe Stack on his website http://embeddedart.com/ and has subsequently been removed. Joe flew a plane into the Texas branch of the IRS apparently because of a long running dispute and disillusionment with the system… A sad story but one I feel should not be brushed under the rug – he left the letter there for a reason – he wanted people to read it.

If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?” The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn’t enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless… especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I’m not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers. Remember? One of these was “no taxation without representation”. I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor and worse.

While very few working people would say they haven’t had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.

Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.

And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!

How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly “holds accountable” its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law “requires” a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress” than what is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is.

How did I get here?

My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ‘80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.

The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living. However, this is where I learned that there are two “interpretations” for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.

That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their “freedom”… and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.

Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of “paying my dues”), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer.

On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I’m sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age.

The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security to live on.

In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be “healthier” eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn’t quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn’t trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself.

Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer… and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.

For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).

SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.

(a) IN GENERAL – Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

(d) EXCEPTION. – This section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. – The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.

Note:

· “another person” is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship.

· “taxpayer” is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop.

· “individual”, “employee”, or “worker” is you.

Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand what it is saying but it’s not very complicated. The bottom line is that they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover, they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave. Twenty years later, I still can’t believe my eyes.

During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my ‘pocket change’, and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity. This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall from the new declaration of their “freedom”. Oh, and don’t forget, for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing income that I couldn’t bill clients.

After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren’t going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect.

Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned engineering and never looked back.

Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came the L.A. depression of the early 1990s. Our leaders decided that they didn’t need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California, so they were closed; just like that. The result was economic devastation in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&L fiasco. However, because the government caused it, no one gave a shit about all of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government funds to “shore up” their windfall. Again, I lost my retirement.

Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, ‘special’ facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months. This made access to my customers prohibitively expensive. Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars … as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY! After these events, there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings.

By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California, I’ll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done. I’ve never experienced such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages… and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn’t give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.

To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return that year thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they didn’t notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice.

So now we come to the present. After my experience with the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I’d never enter another accountant’s office again. But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help; a very big mistake.

When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order. I had taken all of the years information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl’s unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn’t have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me.

This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone. The end result is… well, just look around.

I remember reading about the stock market crash before the “great” depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything. Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it’s “business-as-usual”. Now when the wealthy fuck up, the poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution.

As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.

I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at “big brother” while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue; I have just had enough.

I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.

I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Joe Stack (1956-2010)

02/18/2010

How do you cook bone-in pork loin chops?

I’ve got pork shake’n'bake coating but I hesitate to use that on these things, what the heck is a spare rib tip, why haven’t I ever eaten them before, and why aren’t there any recipes specifically for them online? I didn’t mean to buy them I just saw that the packaging said pork chop recipes. I’ve never cooked pork before.

Nena – 99luft Balons – Video and Meaning of the Song

Popular German track from the 80’s – Nena – 99luft Balons. This was the only popular track for the pop group Lena and her band, and they were consequently dubbed a “one hit wonder”.

This song is apparently based on an actual event, a concert in West Berlin where balloons were released near the Wall. Nena and her band were there, and? given how trigger happy everyone was concerning nukes, she imagined what would happen if a bunch of balloons were mistaken for an attack as they drifted over the East/West frontier.

99 Red Ballons, 99 luft Balons, Silke Hartung and Friends, Live bFM Graveyard

Silke Hartung, Hayden Booth, Timothy Chapman, Jarred Kennedy, Mike Chapman and Amy Pollard, jamming a German version of 99 Red Balloons (99 luft Balons) on the 95bfm Tuesday morning graveyard. www.last.fm

Gremlins Gizmo

LOL My friend the Gremlin has started a blog – I thought he was going to write about gizmos and gadgets and stuff but the first time blogging experience must have gone to his head! He just can’t stop!

Check his site and leave him a comment I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.

http://gremlinsgizmo.com/

OMG! Eva Longoria with no makeup!

It’s true folks – check this pic of Eva Longoria without makeup!

Loverly!

A Delicious Spinach & Artichoke Snack – That’s Healthy!

Many people ask me how I stay so slim and healthy looking – well I guess part of the answer is that it’s in my genes, and it’s much easier when you have a lot of money – but I also put it down to my diet. That means when I want a snack I don’t reach for the chocolate, I look for something healthy and tasty. One of my favorites is spinach artichoke dip. It’s easy to prepare and is actually really good for you!

A quote from the site I linked to explains why it is so good.

A spinach artichoke dip can be an excellent appetizer for festive dinners. It is healthy and tasty and it can be combined with many other ingredients for creating a unique recipe each time you cook it. Both spinach and artichokes are healthy foods, rich in essential nutrients and easy to find all year round. Besides, they aren’t included on the list of high allergenic foods, very few cases of allergy to spinach or artichoke being known. Spinach is an incredibly rich source of vitamins and minerals. For instance, a cup of spinach leaves contains about ten times more vitamin K than the daily recommended intake value and about 4 times the vitamin A recommended daily dose. It is also rich in folate, iron and magnesium. In the same time, spinach is a low-calorie food, one cup containing about 40 calories. Other nutrients contained in spinach are lutein, very good for eyesight, vitamin E, good for mental performance, vitamin C, good for strengthening the immune system, and omega-3 fatty acids, useful in slowing down the aging process. Artichoke is also considered a healthy food, thanks to its anti-oxidant properties which help support the liver functions and which are thought to play an active role in decreasing the LDL cholesterol levels. Like spinach, artichoke is low on calories. This is why foods based on spinach and artichokes can be included in weight loss or maintenance diets. This depends, of course, on the other ingredients that are added to the mix.