As I’ve said in the past, I don’t care for celebrity endorsements. Barbara Streisand isn’t going to sway me, nor will Robert Redford, Ann Coulture nor the ghost of Charlton Heston. I don’t care who George Clooney or Chuck Norris are going to vote for, unless it was a vote between the two of them to see who was going to roundhouse kick the other’s head off. I’m pretty sure even Clooney would vote for Norris on that, despite the fact that would mean his own head would be exploded by a patented Chuck Norris boot to the head.

But finally a historically stoic and close-mouthed celebrity has made his political affiliations known and has publicly endorsed Senator Obama for president. Who, pray-tell came out in support of Barrack Obama? Guess. Wrong! The Pink Floyd inflatable pig. Yes the inflatable pig, who first gained fame by floating over the Battersea Power Station in London on the Animals album has been fairly tight-lipped throughout his 30 year tenure with the band as to his political leanings. It was once thought that he was a staunch neo-con in the Republican party, but it was later discovered that people were just confusing Newt Gingrich for the pig.

But finally, after all this time, the pig has come out as an Obama supporter. Last night at the Coachella Festival down in SoCal, former Floyd frontman Roger Waters played Dark Side in it’s entirety along with hits from The Wall and Wish You Were Here. During “Pigs” from Floyd’s “Animals” album, the pig was flown over the crowd with the words "Don\'t be led to the slaughter" emblazoned on one side with a cartoon of Uncle Sam wielding two bloody cleavers. The other side read "Fear builds walls."

The underside of the pig simply read "Obama" with a checked ballot box alongside.

Judas Priest is working on a new rock opera called “Nostradamus” which may or may not have anything to do with the historical “Nostradamus.” I personally would have preferred that they write a concept album about Nicodemus and tell of the life and death of the old rat in “The Secret of NIHM.” But no, it’s apparently about that hack from the 1400s.

The title track has been posted online:

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=95684

The website Metal Edge heard the whole new record and they describe it as such:

“The main songs, which are all between four and eight minutes apiece, have classical or operatic overtones but are still heavy. They use live strings, piano, acoustic and Spanish guitar, and keyboards in different places. Rob even sings in Italian during \'Plague and Pestilence\'. Instead of focusing on Nostradamus\' prophecies, which have been debated ad nauseum, he tackles the dramas and tragedies within his life.”

Apparently Priest is planning a tour followed by stage performances of the rock opera in prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall or the Royal Albert Hall.