Brief and to the Point

Paul McCartney's New Song (I Want To) Come Home. From the "Everybody's Fine", out on 4 December 2009.

2009-10-31T09:41:00.000-07:00

Beatles fans lash out as hippie anthem used in BlackBerry ad

2009-10-30T08:33:00.000-07:00

By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Friday, 30 October 2009

Beatles fans have reacted angrily to the use of the band's hippie anthem "All You Need Is Love" to promote a range of £300 consumer gadgets.

BlackBerry, the US technology company, is likely to have paid millions for the right to play a cover version of the 1967 "flower power" song in a series of TV adverts for its smartphones.

One online critic wrote: "The idea of using this song to sell a product is distasteful enough, but BlackBerry uses a cover version with a whiny vocal that is so annoying that the song actually elicits hatred."

Another complained: "It sounds horrible. It's disgusting that companies are trying to make money off the Beatles just because of the new release of their albums." "People should stop using Beatles songs (and bad covers at that) to commercialise their stupid products," said another.

For decades owners of the Beatles back catalogue have refused album compilers, as well as radio and TV advertisers, the rights to use Beatles tunes but, in 2008, Sony/ATV announced it was making 259 Beatles compositions available to advertisers.

It is unclear whether Paul McCartney or Yoko Ono, John Lennon's widow, approved use of "All You Need is Love". Last year, Sony/ATV said it had a "moral obligation" to contact them before giving approving to such projects.

BlackBerry and Sony/ATV declined to comment.

Via:

www.independent.co.uk

Brief an to The Point
As far as we are concerned Grayson Matthews' version sounds more like a worsened Jonhas Brothers...The Beatles deseve better than this...

Now Walmart sells the American way of death

2009-10-30T06:28:00.000-07:00

From 'Dad Remembered' to 'American Patriot', coffins now available online

By Guy Adams in Los Angeles

Friday, 30 October 2009

As the world's biggest and most profitable retailer, Walmart has achieved staggering success in its efforts to put itself at the centre of American life. Now it's also trying to become part of the American way of death. The company, which owns the British supermarket chain Asda, has decided to get into the funeral business, and is now selling a range of coffins and urns at prices that dramatically undercut traditional undertakers.

Fourteen caskets, from the $895 (£560) "Dad Remembered" steel casket, to the exclusive "Sienna Bronze" model, which goes for $2,899 (£1,811), are available on Walmart's website. None are yet being stocked in stores, so customers must wait 48 hours for delivery. The range includes a special coffin designed for recently deceased servicemen, or military veterans. It's called "American Patriot," it is made from 18-gauge steel, and has the national flag embroidered on its lining.

"The American spirit glows in the embroidered front panel Stars and Stripes," reads the carefully written sales patter. "Stately and dignified, the American Patriot is made right here in the USA."

With the nation preparing for Halloween, news of Walmart's foray into the death industry could not have emerged at a more inappropriate time. A San Francisco Chronicle reporter apparently stumbled on the coffins while casually browsing the internet.

To avoid negative headlines, the firm had neglected to inform either shareholders or customers of its new range, which are categorised as "household products". "We are simply conducting a limited beta test [a low-profile, no-fanfare launch] to understand customer response," said a spokesman.

The coffins are all manufactured by an Illinois company called Star Legacy Funeral Network, whose chief executive Rick Obadiah revealed that no less than 200 of their products, including pet urns and "memorial jewellery", will eventually be sold by Walmart.

People who buy them will not necessarily be intending to carry out DIY funerals. Under US law, all funeral homes are required to allow clients to use coffins that are sold or made by a third party, rather than being forced to by the funeral directors' own models.

In keeping with its business model of undercutting the competition, Walmart is offering 12-month finance deals on the range, as well as an "enjoy no payment for six months" offer.

It also has a returns policy, and invites online customers to "be the first to review this product". But unlike other Walmart products available on line, customers will not be able to "try before they buy".

Via:
www.independent.co.uk

Olivia Wilde - How Far Can Beauty Go?

2009-10-30T05:28:00.000-07:00

Mirror, mirror in the hall
Besides Olivia Wilde Who is the most beautiful of all?

Fab Four strings: Williamsburg Festival features Beatles favorites on the ukulele

2009-10-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

All uke need is love.

The entire Beatles catalogue will be played on the ukulele as part of a two-day, marathon-like musical festival in Williamsburg this December.

Nearly 100 musicians will come together for the 2nd annual Beatles Complete on Ukulele. Brooklyn-based music producer Roger Greenawalt will play the ukulele, which usually has four strings, on all 185 of the Fab Four's songs.

"My arm is going to be sore," said Greenawalt, 48, who dreamed up the unique concert with business partner David Barratt. "My hand is going to be sore, too. I'll probably be hallucinating by the end of the night."

Other musicians signed up for the event include pianist Mike Wolff of the Naked Brothers Band and Ryan Miller, lead singer of Guster.

"It's a really unique idea and it's something I'm super-psyched to be a part of," said Miller, 36. "There's going to be a crazy cast of characters uniting around this silly cause of playing the Beatles on ukuleles."

The audience is also encouraged to Help! with the music. A microphone will be set in the middle of the crowd with a projector showing the chords to each song for anyone wanting to play.

"Obviously, we're not going to turn that mic up very loud," Greenawalt said. "But people are still invited to play."

Upwards of 4,000 concert-goers are expected at this year's show. Last year's concert drew nearly 1,000 fans and raised "hundreds" of dollars that were donated to America's richest man and ukulele aficionado, Warren Buffett.

Buffett used the money to purchase 17 ukuleles for an after school program for at-risk teen girls in his native Omaha, Neb.

"We were actually invited to have lunch with Warren Buffett," Greenawalt said. "We brought him a paper bag filled with the literally hundreds of dollars we collected. He loved it."

All proceeds from this year's concert will be donated to Yoko Ono, a move Greenawalt said was not made in jest.

"Yoko gets a very bad rap for breaking up the Beatles" he said. "We want her to know we are not making fun of her."

The 2nd annual Beatles Complete on Ukulele will take place Dec. 5-6 at N8 in Williamsburg. Admission is free to anyone who brings their own ukulele or comes dressed as Yoko Ono.

Via:

www.nydailynews.com

Rush Was Punked: “Obama Thesis” Hoax

2009-10-29T06:40:00.000-07:00

It must have seemed so perfect. An obscure blogger unearths some pages of President Obama's college thesis. The report supposedly comes from big-time journalist Joe Klein of Time magazine. And the thesis has some real gems: like Obama's disdain for the Constitution.
The whole thing was nothing more than a satirical post on a humor blog. But Rush Limbaugh, who quoted from the supposed thesis on his radio show, sure wasn't laughing. Here's how it went down.
An unknown blogger picked up on a made-up post meant as a joke, which claimed that Joe Klein had gotten his hands on 10 pages of student Obama's college thesis. Rush Limbaugh jumped on it, which immediately sparked Web searches on "obama thesis."
Supposedly titled "Aristocracy Revisited," the excerpt revealed the president had "doubts" about the "so-called founders." Juicy. Except not true. Limbaugh discovered halfway through his show that he'd been had, but defended himself by saying basically the thesis felt true. Listen in to Rush's mea sorta culpa.
Joe Klein finally jumped in, and called the report "nonsense" on his Swampland blog, and the blogger who thought the hoax was real also apologized.
Let's hope someone kept their sense of humor in all this. Still, for a humble post to go from humor blog to major media outlet sure seems impressive. Someone ought to write their thesis on it. For real.

Via:
http://buzz.yahoo.com/buzzlog

Nicole Kidman And Hollywood

2009-10-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

The Academy award-winning actor Nicole Kidman used an appearance before the US Congress to accuse Hollywood of contributing to violence against women by portraying them as sex objects.

Kidman was speaking yesterday in her role as a UN ambassador to a House foreign affairs subcommittee that is considering legislation to tackle violence against women overseas.

When asked by Republican representative Dana Rohrabacher whether the film industry "played a bad role" in the way it portrayed women, Kidman replied "Probably", before going on to say that she refused to take roles that portrayed women as weak sex objects. "I can't be responsible for all of Hollywood, but I can certainly be responsible for my own career."

The International Violence Against Women Act is draft legislation that has been before Congress since 2007, but never passed. If enacted, it would require the US government to actively assist in anti-violence campaigns overseas, through both diplomacy and funding.

Kidman's own acting career has seen her take on controversial roles in terms of the cinematic portrayal of women. Dogville (2003), directed by Lars von Trier, required her character to be humiliated, raped and chained to a large iron wheel. In Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut, she played a woman whose husband (her then real-life spouse Tom Cruise) is tortured by visions of her infidelity.

She also took the lead role in the 2004 remake of perfect-marriage satire, The Stepford Wives, and appeared in the most expensive perfume advert ever made.

But early in her career Kidman was cast as the freethinker Isabel Archer in The Portrait of a Lady, Jane Campion's adaptation of Henry James' novel, and went on to play radical modernist writer Virginia Woolf in The Hours. One of her early roles saw her playing a weather presenter who plots to kill her husband to further her career in Gus van Sant's black comedy To Die For. She is due to play transsexual Elinar Wegener in the forthcoming film The Danish Girl, about the first full sex reassignment operation.

Kidman has represented the UN Development Fund for Women (Unifem) since 2006, but has worked for the UN since 1994 when she became a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef). She merged her professional and ambassadorial roles in 2005, when she played a UN employee who discovers an assassination plot in the film The Interpreter.

Via:

www.guardian.co.uk

The Beatles: A Guitar Shot

2009-10-20T07:07:00.000-07:00

Sometime back in 1965...

The Beatles: "In My Life" First Draft

2009-10-20T06:25:00.000-07:00

Click on the image to better visualize the original first draf of The Beatles' "In My Life" song.

Comparing dates:

10/18/1965 – In My Life initial recording date
11/01/1965 – Paul McCartney’s mention of penny Lane

One may say that Penny Lane, in fact, and in principle,

was a response to (or inspired in) “In My Life”.

The Battle Between the White House and Fox News

2009-10-17T15:05:00.000-07:00

The Obama administration, which would seem to have its hands full with a two-front war in Iraq and Afghanistan, opened up a third front last week, this time with Fox News.

Until this point, the conflict had been mostly a one-sided affair, with Fox News hosts promoting tax day “tea parties” that focused protest on the new president, and more recently bringing down the presidential adviser Van Jones through rugged coverage that caught the administration, and other news organizations, off guard. During the health care debate, Fox News has put a megaphone to opponents, some of whom have advanced far-fetched theories about the impact of reform. And even farther out on the edge, the network’s most visible star of the moment, Glenn Beck, has said the president has “a deep-seated hatred for white people.”

Administration officials seemed to have decided that they had had enough.

“We’re going to treat them the way we would treat an opponent,” Anita Dunn, the White House communications director, said in an interview with The New York Times. “As they are undertaking a war against Barack Obama and the White House, we don’t need to pretend that this is the way that legitimate news organizations behave.”

Ah, but pretending has traditionally been a valuable part of the presidential playbook. Smiling and wearing beige even under the most withering news media assault is not only good manners, but also has generally been good politics. While there is undoubtedly a visceral thrill in finally setting out after your antagonists, the history of administrations that have successfully taken on the media and won is shorter than this sentence.

Not that they haven’t tried. In his second Inaugural Address, Ulysses S. Grant said he had “been the subject of abuse and slander scarcely ever equaled in political history.” President William McKinley labeled a gathering of the press a “congress of inventors,” and President Franklin D. Roosevelt assigned less favored press members to his “Dunce Club.” Sometimes the strategy worked — or caused no lasting damage. McKinley, like Grant, was elected to a second term. Roosevelt also won a third and fourth.

As Americans turned to TV for news, enmity from presidents soon followed. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew said “self-appointed analysts” at the Big Three networks exhibited undisguised “hostility” toward President Richard M. Nixon, subjecting his speeches to “instant analysis and querulous criticism.” Later, in the dispute with The Times over the Pentagon Papers, Mr. Nixon’s national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, accused the newspaper of treason.

Neither of the Bush presidents had a particularly cozy relationship with the press. George H.W. Bush finished the campaign in 1992 with a bumper sticker that suggested, “Annoy the Media. Vote Bush.” And George W. Bush, in the words of ABC’s Mark Halperin, viewed “the media as a special interest rather than as guardians of the public interest.” Bill Clinton, too, distrusted the press, as did others in his administration. When Vincent Foster, Mr. Clinton’s deputy White House counsel, committed suicide in 1993, he left behind a note accusing the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page of lying.

Even though almost all the critiques contained a kernel of truth, in each instance the folks who had the barrels of ink, and now pixels, seemed to come out ahead. So far, the only winner in this latest dispute seems to be Fox News. Ratings are up 20 percent this year, and the network basked for a week in the antagonism of a sitting president

It could all be written off as a sideshow, but it may present a genuine problem for Mr. Obama, who took great pains during the campaign to depict himself as being above the fray of over-heated partisan squabbling. In his victory speech he promised, “I will listen to you, especially when we disagree.”

Or not. Under the direction of Ms. Dunn, the administration has begun to punch back. On Sept. 20, the president visited all the Sunday talk shows save Fox News’, with Ms. Dunn explaining that Fox was not a legitimate news organization, but a “wing of the Republican Party.”

The one weapon all administrations can wield is access, and the White House, making it clear that it will use that leverage going forward, informed Fox News not to expect to bump knees with the president until 2010. But Fox News, as many have pointed out, is not in the access business. They are in the agitation business. And the administration, by deploying official resources against a troublesome media organization, seems to have brought a knife to a gunfight.

Tactics aside, something more fundamental is at risk. Even the president’s most avid critics admit he exudes a certain cool confidence. The public impression of him is that if anyone were to, say, talk trash on the basketball court with Mr. Obama, he would not find much space for rent in Mr. Obama’s head.

Mr. Obama has also shown a consistent ability to disarm or at least engage his critics. When he eventually sat for an interview with the Fox News personality Bill O’Reilly two months before the election, it made for great television. But for the time being, détente seems very far away and the gap seems to be widening.

On the official White House Web site, a blog called Reality Check provides a running tally of transgressions by Fox News. It ends with this: “For even more Fox lies, check out the latest ‘Truth-O-Meter’ feature from Politifact that debunks a false claim about a White House staffer that continues to be repeated by Glenn Beck and others on the network.”

People who work in political communications have pointed out that it is a principle of power dynamics to “punch up “ — that is, to take on bigger foes, not smaller ones. A blog on the White House Web site that uses a “truth-o-meter” against a particular cable news network would not seem to qualify. As it is, Reality Check sounds a bit like the blog of some unemployed guy living in his parents’ basement, not an official communiqué from Pennsylvania Avenue.

The American presidency was conceived as a corrective to the royals, but trading punches with cable shouters seems a bit too common. Perhaps it’s time to restore a little imperiousness to the relationship.

By

David Carr

Via:

www.nytimes.com

Roman Polanski Will Remain in Swiss Prison

2009-10-06T19:59:00.000-07:00

Roman Polanski will remain in a Swiss prison while awaiting possible extraditiion to the United States.

On Tuesday, the Swiss Justice Ministry rejected the 76-year-old director's appeal to be let go. Ministry spokesman Folco Galli told The Associated Press there was still a high risk that Polanski would flee if released from custody.

Polanski's lawyers had hoped that the filmmaker could get out on bail or house arrest. They filed the appeal with the Ministry on Sept. 29, the same day they initiated a similar process in the Swiss courts that also seeks Polanski's freedom.

Last week, ABC News learned that 15 years after he pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, Polanski agreed to pay $500,000 to his victim, Samantha Geimer, to settle a civil lawsuit she filed. But it is unclear whether that payment was ever made.

According to documents released to the press, the two reached a deal in October 1993, but the terms of settlement were not disclosed. According to The Associated Press, it took Geimar two years to get Polanski to agree to pay the sum, but it was unclear from the court filings if the money was ever given.

In 1978, Polanski pleaded guilty to the charge of raping then 13-year-old Geimer. He spent 43 days in a California jail where he underwent a psychriatric evaluation and was deemend mentally fit. But amid fears of facing a long-term prison sentence, Polanski fled the country before he was sentenced.

Since then, Polanski has lived in Europe but has avoided countries that have extradition agreements with the United States.

But in late September, the director, who won an Academy Award in 2003 for "The Pianist," was arrested at the airport in Zurich, Switzerland, as he was arriving for the Zurich Film Festival.

Officials there are now waiting for an official extradition request from the United States, and Polanski's attorneys are seeking bond to fight the extradition.

Nearly 31 years after he fled the United States, Polanski still has an outstanding warrant for his arrest and the 1977 rape case is still pending.

In 1993, Polanski agreed to pay Geimar the amount she was asking, but according to the AP, in December 1995, Geimar's attorneys wrote in a court filing that the Hollywood director had failed to pay. With interest accruing, that would amount to more than $600,000.

The AP reports that the victim's attorneys tried to solicit the help at the time of the Directors Guild of America, International Creative Management, Warner Bros. Inc. and Sony Studios.

It remains unclear if Polanski gave any money to Geimar and why the case was not pursued further.

In 1997, Geimar, who is now in her early 40s, began advocating that Polanski's case should be dropped. Since then, she has continually said she forgives Polanski and does not want him to face further jail time.

Experts say it's not unusual for victims in this type of a case to seek financial damages.

"There's nothing illegal, believe it or not, the victim of the crime asking for money because there's always a parrallel civil claim already attached to these things," said ABC News legal analyst Dana Cole. "Frankly, it's both expected and not frowned upon to reap some sort of financial settlement. [It] gives a victim some restitution, compensation, so there's nothing inaprorpriate about that."

And the settlement could be the reason why Geimar has forgiven Polanski and doesn't want him to spend more time in jail, he said.

"I don't think it's unsual, when a financial settlement has been reached," Cole said. "That again is part of the perhaps implied agreement between the parties. The civil claim."

He added, "It's sort of like ... understanding between parties."

Renewed Interest in Polanski's Case

ABC News obtained transcripts of Geimer's 1977 grand jury testimony, which resulted in six charges against Polanski. They include shocking details of 13-year-old Geimer testifying that the 43-year-old Polanski plied her with champagne and part of a Quaalude before performing oral, vaginal and anal intercourse on her, despite her demands to "keep away."

A former Los Angeles prosecutor who worked on the case said he believes that if people knew all the details, they would have less sympathy for Polanski.

"It's outrageous," David Wells, a former assistant district attorney on the case, told ABCNews.com. "This pedophile raped a 13-year-old girl. It's still an outrageous offense. It's a good thing he was arrested. I wish it would have happened years before."

According to Geimer's testimony, Polanski first met Geimer at her home Feb. 13, 1977. Geimer said the director asked her mother if he could photograph her for French Vogue. She said her mother agreed to a private photo shoot, which Geimer told ABC's "Good Morning America" in 2003 that she believed would help further her acting career.

The director returned nearly a week later to take Geimer for the photo shoot about a block from her home. Geimer said that at the top of a hill, Polanski asked her to change shirts, which she did in front of him.

Then, she said, he asked her to pose topless, which she also did, though she said she felt uncomfortable.

However, when Polanski turned up at her home March 10 for a second photo session, Geimer agreed to go with him. She had planned to ask him if she could bring along a friend, but said she felt he was rushing her to go.

Polanski took pictures of Geimer at someone else's residence before they drove to Jack Nicholson's home. There, events took a darker turn, as Geimer said Polanski loaded her with champagne, then asked her to pose topless again.

"We did photos with me drinking champagne," Geimer later told "GMA." "He was friendly and then right toward the end it got a little scary, and I realized, you know, he had some other intentions, and then I knew I was not where I should be. I just didn't quite know how to get myself out of there."

Geimer said the other intentions became clear after Polanski offered her part of a Quaalude, which she took, then asked her to get into a Jacuzzi without her underwear. He took pictures of her in the Jacuzzi naked, before taking off his clothes and joining her in the water, she said.

Geimer said she grew uncomfortable when he grabbed her around the waist and started to move her hips around. When she hopped out of the Jacuzzi and retreated to the bathroom, she said, Polanski followed her there and she told him she wanted to go home.

"Yeah, I'll take you home soon," he said, according to her testimony.

"No, I have to go home now," Geimer said she told him.

Geimer testified that Polanski persuaded her to go to the bedroom and lie down. Geimer went, she said, but she sat on the couch in the bedroom. She described Polanski sitting next to her and reaching over to kiss her. Geimer said she told him, "No, keep away" and "Come on, let's go home."

He ignored her, she testified, then "went down and he started performing cuddliness (sic)."

When the district attorney asked Geimer what "cuddliness" meant, she clarified, "he placed his mouth on my vagina."

"I was ready to cry," she said. "I was going, 'No. Come on. Stop it.'"

Polanski Asked Girl If She Was on Pill During Rape, Victim Testified

Instead, a few minutes later, Geimer said, Polanski began having intercourse with her, while asking her if she was on the pill and when her last period was.

She testified that he then asked, "Would you like me to go in through your back?" Then, he started performing anal sex on her.

At one point, Geimer said, there was a knock on the door. The Los Angeles Times reported that the woman was actress Anjelica Huston, Nicholson's girlfriend at the time, but Geimer testified that she did not know who the woman was who was in the house.

According to Geimer, the woman who knocked on the door said, "Roman, are you in there?"

Polanski went to the door and opened it a crack to speak to the woman. Meanwhile, Geimer testified, she put her underwear back on and started toward the door.

When asked why she didn't say anything to the woman, Geimer said, "I was still pretty much afraid of him [Polanski]." She added that he was her only way home.

Geimer testified that Polanski closed the door before she could reach it, took off her panties and began intercourse again. When he finally let up, she said, she went to the bathroom and put on her dress again.

On her way outside to the car to wait for Polanski, she said, she again saw the woman in the house, spoke with her, but didn't tell her what had just happened.

Geimer said she began to cry in the car, and Polanski got in about 10 minutes later and drove her home.

"All hell broke loose" when her mom found out, Geimer told "GMA."

"My sister overheard me telling my then-boyfriend what happened on the phone after I got home. So she went in and told my mom," Geimer said in 2003.

Polanski was arrested the next day. He claimed that the sex was consensual. Geimer said it was not and that she resisted.

Huston later described the teen as "sullen" in a probation report prepared at the time of Polanski's plea deal.

"She appeared to be one of those kind of little chicks between -- could be any age up to 25. She did not look like a 13-year-old scared little thing," Huston said..

Today, Hollywood is still rushing to Polanski's defense. Directors Martin Scorsese, David Lynch and Woody Allen are among dozens in the film industry who have agreed to sign a petition calling for the immediate release of Polanski. In a British newspaper, film producer Harvey Weinstein, who has already signed the petition, called Polanski's original plea deal a "miscarriage of justice."

Via:

http://abcnews.go.com

Letterman's apologies bring big night in ratings

2009-10-06T19:36:00.000-07:00

While David Letterman would undoubtedly do without the personal turmoil, his blackmail scandal is great for business.

The late-night talk show host's apologies to his wife and staff made for gripping television, and more viewers tuned in to his CBS program than watched anything on NBC in prime-time on Monday. That includes Letterman's old rival, Jay Leno.

Letterman used most of his monologue for jokes at his own expense. In revealing last week that he was the victim of an alleged blackmail scheme, Letterman also admitted to having sexual relationships with women who worked on his "Late Show."

When the laughs quieted down, Letterman apologized to his staff for "putting up with something stupid I've gotten myself involved in." Many had been humiliated by questions from reporters. Letterman said the relationships were in the past. He married longtime flame Regina Lasko in March, and said he is intent upon repairing their marriage.

"Let me tell you folks, I got my work cut out for me," he said.

CBS News producer Robert J. "Joe" Halderman has pleaded not guilty to charges of trying to extort $2 million from Letterman.

Although Letterman has acknowledged having more than one sexual relationship with staff members, Halderman referred to only one woman by name — Stephanie Birkitt — in his alleged extortion attempt, according to a law enforcement official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation. Birkitt, Letterman's assistant, is Halderman's former live-in girlfriend.

The 5.7 million viewers who tuned in to Letterman Monday more than doubled the audience for NBC's "Tonight" show with Conan O'Brien, according to the Nielsen Co. It was slightly less than the 5.9 million who watched Thursday when Letterman broke the news of the alleged extortion attempt.

The ratings are a testament to the power of the Internet after Letterman's representatives released details of the scandal to the media about three hours before his show aired Thursday. His audience that night was more than a million more than usual, meaning word spread quickly and encouraged people to tune in.

The timing also couldn't be better for CBS, which has seen Letterman eclipse the "Tonight" show shortly after O'Brien took over. The "Late Show" is solidifying the lead partly because of the scandal and guests like President Barack Obama, who brought 7.2 million viewers when he appeared on Sept. 21.

Also appreciating the timing was the pistachio nut industry, which started its first-ever television advertising campaign Monday with commercials on Letterman and the NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers, which was the most-watched event in cable TV history.

"This is gravy for us," said Dominic Engels, vice president for marketing at pistachio maker Paramount Farms.

No advertisers have publicly asked to back out of the "Late Show" since the story broke, and analysts say they don't expect the incident to make a bottom-line difference to the CBS Corp.

"The ratings popped the first night," said David Joyce, analyst for Miller Tabek. "It appears as if it's going to be a non-story."

Letterman even got an endorsement from Martha Stewart, who said his actions aren't at all disturbing unless there was force involved.

"He's a very attractive man," she said. "Very appealing. Great sense of humor, obviously, and I think all this was done while he was still not married. Although it's still probably harmful to his wife ... But, you know, men are men. I've put up with it all."

Letterman's effort to be pro-active with the issue in a self-deprecating way is helping him control the story and his image, said Michael Gordon, head of a New York-based crisis public relations firm.

"What he can't control is if there are more revelations," he said. "If just one woman claims harassment, then his ratings will go down along with his career."

Letterman arrived on stage Monday to applause and cheers from his studio audience. After drinking it in, he grinned sheepishly and inquired, with a mock stammer, "Did your, did your weekend just fly by?"

After pausing for the audience's sympathetic laughter, he went on: "I mean, I'll be honest with you folks — right now, I would give anything to be hiking on the Appalachian Trail."

"I got into the car this morning," he added, "and the navigation lady wasn't speaking to me. Ouch."

His performance drew mixed reviews.

Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker called it "was such a superb hour of television ... that it reminded us all over again how invaluable he is."

"It is time for those calling for his head to calm down and let the man do his job, the job he does as no one else does, and no one will ever do as well again," Tucker wrote

But editorial page columnist Yael T. Abouhalkah of the Kansas City Star said Letterman's effort to poke fun at a serious situation "made the apologies he issued look rather lame."

Joel Keller of the Web site TV Squad advised Letterman to "stop talking about this mess, immediately."

"The more jokes he made, the more I felt that he was digging a hole he couldn't get out of," Keller wrote. "And then when he made that apology, sincere as it was, it felt like the hole just got much, much deeper."

NBC's Leno made a brief reference to Letterman in his monologue Tuesday. He said a producer for "Dateline NBC" tried to blackmail him but it didn't work because "no one watches NBC."

By:

DAVID BAUDER (AP)

Via:

The Associated Press

Sexy Marina Orlova, Almost Too Hot for Words, Uses Her Charms to Promote Philology

2009-09-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Who'd have predicted that one of the most popular online video channels on YouTube would focus on something called philology - the study of words and their meaning? But Marina Orlova's HotforWords.com and the link to her Sexy Marina Orlova, Almost Too Hot for Words, Uses Her Charms to Promote Philology

YouTube channel has gotten as many as 43 million hits in eight months. One look at her website and it is easy to see why viewers don't mind watching her. Her site is aptly named. Marina is indeed quite attractive or "hot". Her mission, however, is to make people hot for words and not just hot for her. It can be a bit difficult, however, to understand the difference, especially when watching Marina and her teaching methods.

Marina doesn't seem to mind using her physical assets. Her cleavage is often clearly displayed, often in scanty or low-cut clothing, along with her Russian accent, wide smile and her enthusiasm.Her physical and intellectual charms are also displayed at her Hot for Words website Links to her lesson plans and homework. The lessons are real. The homework allows viewers to sign up for report cards and other fun items from Marina.

It can be a bit surprising to hear someone who looks like an attractive model tossing around terms like Pecksniffian and sesquipedalian as easily as other people say, "Huh?" Even better, she actually explains what the words mean. Whether anyone is learning anything is another point. But they are flocking to her website and videos, although whether they are more eager to view the teacher or learn words meanings is unclear. As of this writing, over 74 million people have watched Marina discuss words and their meaning.

Of course, put a scantily clad woman in front of a video camera, one with a site called Hot for Words and you have controversy. But Marina seems bent on proving that she is not just hot... but truly hot for words as well. Being sexy and intelligent is certainly a contrast to the "dumb blonde" image that seems to be a cultural stereotype. Marina doesn't seem dumb. If anything, she has learned how to make both herself and the study of words quite popular and her strategy seems to be paying off.

Very little is actually known about Marina Orlova and her background before Hot for Words became famous

Although she has among the "most viewed" and "most subscribed" when it comes to YouTube, she seems be fairly secretive for someone so popular. She does list her name, age (27) and occupation (philologist) on her website. Still, very little seems to be out there about her. Some of the Sexy Marina Orlova, Almost Too Hot for Words, Uses Her Charms to Promote Philology

information is very cryptic. Her biographical info notes that she is from the Republic of Lexicon and her hometown is Etymologia. She actually seems to have come from Russia if her accent is any indication of her country of origin.What is truly mind-boggling is that someone who basically discusses words, however attractive she may be, gets up to 5 million views a week. People are hot for words - or Marina - or both!

Why Hot for Words may be more than just a gimmick

Marina manages to make words not only hot but fun. By clicking on the entire word list at her site, viewers can discover the meanings for terms like "raining cats and dogs" or single words like "cabriolet". There is even a section where students can request report cards. The Hot for Words teacher also hots a bi-weekly radio show on Maxim Radio. Also, no matter how scantily she may be clad, she does tend to be clothed while on YouTube or her website. Even a mention of her in Cosmopolitan wasn't accompanied by a photo but simply information about her Hot for Words channel.

I saw some of her earliest videos on YouTube and her more recent ones have come a long way. They are more professional and have special effects and other qualities (besides Marina herself) to hold viewer interest. Not being male, I can't speak to the typical viewer reaction but I actually had fun learning the meanings behind some often used terms as well as common words where I didn't know their origin. Like any good entymologist, Marina will often break a word into its parts, noting whether the roots are Greek, Latin, Spanish or whatever. She seems to know her subject matter.

More About the Woman Who is Currently Wired Magazine's Sexiest Geek and Her Popular Website

In addition to her appearances on YouTube, the Hot for Words video star seems to be branching out into new venues. Along with former child star and recent reality show celeb Danny Bonaduce, she has linked up with CoComment, a way of keeping track of her comments as well as those made Sexy Marina Orlova, Almost Too Hot for Words, Uses Her Charms to Promote Philology about her. She also had a book and set of DVDs in the works, both focusing on her life and the study of words. Sexy or not, she does seem to care passionately about entymology or all things word-related. She answers viewers' questions with a smile but with the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) firmly by her side. There is even a link to the OED website on her Hot for Words site and it is noted as being the entymologist's standard reference book.

Via:

www.associatedcontent.com

The Beatles: Remasters of the universe with sizzling sales

2009-09-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

With a little help from their fans, The Beatles again rule the marketplace as Fab Four fever greeted Wednesday's release of the band's remastered catalog and The Beatles: Rock Band.

Discs are moving steadily, with the $260 stereo and $299 mono box sets selling out at many outlets. Even the band's website alerted buyers that new box orders would not be shipped until late October "due to the incredible demand."

At Amazon, the stereo and mono sets ranked first and second on the list of music best sellers, even though the site's allotment sold out the week before and new orders won't ship for up to six weeks. The Beatles held 15 spots in the top 20.

Healthy opening-week sales are expected, but industry observers offer caveats. The multi-disc sets, which will register along with new releases on Billboard's album chart, count as one unit each. And because those are selling so briskly, they could siphon from à la carte sales, which are tallied on the catalog chart.

Nonetheless, The Beatles, with 28 million albums sold since 2000, may overtake Eminem's 32 million to become the decade's best-selling artist. That race ends Dec. 31.

"This isn't a one-week project," says Keith Caulfield, Billboard's chart analyst, pointing to the anticipated holiday shopping bonanza. "Is it conceivable they could catch up? Yes. I'm confident they'll put up a good fight."

Midnight launches at Best Buys in 10 cities drew enthusiastic turnouts.

"We definitely saw customers and fans excited," says Best Buy's Erin Bix. "I was in the Mall of America (outside Minneapolis), and people were picking up both" the game and the discs.

"First-day sales surpassed our forecast," says Game Crazy vice president Rob MacNaughton. The Beatles-themed Rock Band "is helping to reinvigorate the music genre. We're seeing more families come in to purchase this game, as it bridges the generation gap and exposes video gaming to a broader audience."

An even bigger spike for the game should kick in during the holidays.

"The launch is really targeted at gamers," says Van Toffler, MTV Networks Music Group president. "The second round will go toward 'gifters' — wives buying for husbands and moms buying for kids."

Via:

www.usatoday.com

The Beatles Rock Band finally goes on sale

2009-09-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

Paul DeGooyer was standing backstage when reality finally set in.

It was June, and the 43-year-old executive at MTV Networks Music Group was fretting the details of the presentation going on in front of him at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, when the familiar chords of "All you need is love" suddenly filled the amphitheatre.

At that moment, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr sprang from the wings and bounded across the stage, greeted by a raucous roar from the crowd.

The two legendary Liverpudlians were on hand to show off features for a new video game based on the music of the most famous rock and roll band in history, The Beatles. The project that Mr. DeGooyer had sweated over had finally come to life.

"It was pretty mind blowing," said Mr. DeGooyer, senior vice president of electronic games and music for MTV, based in New York. "It really was the moment that it became real."

Wednesday that reality comes full circle when The Beatles Rock Band finally goes on sale in North America, giving gamers the chance to relive the Fab Four's historic catalogue while rocking out on plastic guitars, bass and drums.

For MTV, the Beatles game represents the beginning of the latest chapter in the ongoing battle for music game supremacy between its own Rock Band familiy of games and Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Guitar Hero franchise -- the latest edition of which, Guitar Hero 5, hit stores last week (Sept. 1). Both games will be available on all three major consoles, Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3, Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 and Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii.

Beatles Rock band is also just the latest example of the expansion of the new video game after-market economy.

Users will also be able to purchase a special edition bundle of the game, which includes plastic replicas of Mr. McCartney's iconic Hofner bass and Mr. Starr's Ludwig drum kit -- plastic versions of John Lennon's Rickenbacker 325 guitar and George Harrison's Gretsch Duo Jet guitar will be sold separately.

For Beatles fans, the Rock Band game marks the first time the band's catalogue has ever been available digitally -- the group's music is still not available on Apple Inc.'s iTunes store, nor any other digital distribution outlet -- and arrives on the same day Apple Corps. and EMI Music will release re-mastered editions of each Beatles album. The game comes with 45 songs and the complete albums Rubber Soul, Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will be available for download, for a price.

Together, the hardware and software add-ons represent one of the most high profile examples of how game publishers can continue making money on a game once it's been bought by a consumer, by selling peripherals and downloadable content (DLC).

Together, the two franchises (Rock Band and Guitar Hero) have generated more than US$3-billion in global sales since the first copy of Guitar Hero hit store shelves in 2005. Although gamers will have to fork over about $60 to purchase the Beatles game itself, the special edition instrument bundle will cost $250. Each additional guitar runs about $100 while songs in the Rock Band store generally cost about $2 each.

Game developers are increasingly turning to peripherals and downloadable content (DLC) as a means of generating new revenue streams once a consumer has left the store after purchasing a game.

Although some video games -- such as Electonic Arts' John Madden Football -- can sell millions of copies of new versions on a yearly basis, the video game industry has often suffered from a lack of recurring revenue, a problem downloadable content helps solve, said Carl Howe, an analyst with the market research firm The Yankee Group.

"One of the great contrasts between entertainment software and other kinds of software is that unlike Microsoft Office, for example, video games aren't the sort of thing that you buy over and over again," he said.

It's not just music games that are making the most of DLC. Games such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 allows users to purchase new golf courses or equipment to spruce up their gaming experience, while other games such as Call of Duty 4 offer gamers new maps to use while playing online.

"Certainly from a top level there's been a shift from the buying of the plastic to the buying of the software," said Mike Hickey, a financial analyst who tracks the video game industry for Janco Partners.

["Downloadable content] is a significant priority. Even though it's hardly material right now, digital is certainly where the future is."

***For console makers such as Sony and Microsoft, the DLC for games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero are important for getting consumers more comfortable with using their proprietary Web-based networks to purchase other content such as full games, movies and music.

To date, more than one billion pieces of content -- movies, music, games, etc. -- have been downloaded through Microsoft's Xbox Live network, while Sony's download total tops 450 million.

Of course, extra content keeps games fresh for players, which keeps them coming back and playing online. As long as enough gamers keep playing the game online to sustain a competitive community -- as is the case in games such as Halo and Call of Duty 4 -- publishers can continue to charge top dollar for the game at retailers.

Guitar Hero and Rock Band have also been credited with helping bring the market for gaming peripherals -- a niche market once reserved for fans of racing games willing to buy expensive steering wheels -- into the mainstream. The success of Nintendo's Wii Fit game last year, which featured a balance board that allowed users to perform various exercises, and other accessories has allowed manufacturers to enhance the gaming experience while shipping more products.

Via:

www.nationalpost.com

Beatles' remastered box set, video game out

2009-09-09T07:46:00.000-07:00

The Fab Four looks to start making big 21st century bucks with new Rock Band game and digitally remastered CDs.

John, Paul, George and Ringo are getting the band back together, in a manner of speaking, with a new Beatles-themed video game and digital upgrade of the group's entire catalog both released Wednesday.

"The Beatles: Rock Band," which was produced by MTV Games and Harmonix, allows players to sing and play along with 45 of band's songs using simulated guitars, drums and a microphone.

Also out Wednesday are digitally re-mastered versions of all 15 Beatles albums. The entire catalog will be available as a 16-disk set with special features including album art, liner notes, rare photographs and short documentary films. Re-mastered versions of each album will also be sold individually.

Not that The Beatles, nearly four decades removed from their last performance together, need the exposure. According to Apple Corps Ltd., which markets the Beatles worldwide, the Fab Four has sold more than 600 million records, tapes and CDs since they exploded on the scene in the early 1960s.

But the new products will help "bring the band into the 21st century," said Bruce Birch, director of the University of Georgia's music business program.

"Great music is great music, but the ways of introducing it to a younger audience are different now, and this will help expose the Beatles to a whole new generation," Birch said.
Downloads?

The buzz generated by Wednesday's releases has raised speculation about a possible deal with Apple Inc. to make the band's music available on iTunes. Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) is holding an invitation-only special event Wednesday and some are fervently hoping the timing is more than just coincidence.

The Beatles are one of the few bands whose music has never been approved for sale as downloads on the popular music site. Both EMI Music, which holds the master recording rights for the music, and Apple declined to comment.

While CD sales have been slipping for years, analysts expect the new box set, which has a suggested retail price of $260, to be a hit with die-hard Beatles fans who are willing to pay extra for the added features. It was sold out on Amazon.com (AMZN, Fortune 500) even before the official release.

"The set is really targeted at heavy Beatles fans who have the money to spend on a collectors item," said Sonal Gandhi, a media industry analyst at Forrester Research. "The video game is more for people who aren't that familiar with the Beatles."

"The Beatles: Rock Band" builds on the already popular Rock Band format, which has sold 13 million units since coming out in 2007.

In the new game, players choose from a variety of Beatles songs ranging from the early hit "A Hard Day's Night" to the later "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." Players can also select one of several famous venues from the band's career, including its two most famous American venues -- the Ed Sullivan Theater and Shea Stadium in New York.

The game software retails for $59.99, but a "limited edition premium bundle," which includes a full set of instruments designed to resemble those played by the Beatles, is available for $249.99.

"There's no doubt this game will be successful," said Jesse Divinich, an analyst for the video game research firm Electronic Entertainment Design & Research. He said the game would have to sell 1.2 million units to break even, which he expects to happen within one month.

All rights reserved

That could help boost overall sales for the Beatles' music. In the third quarter of last year, more than a third of music buyers under the age of 35 reported playing a music-based video game, according to

For the game to come to fruition, MTV Games/Harmonix had to tap a complex consortium of entities that own rights to the various songs, as well as the images of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Paul DeGooyer, MTV's vice president of home entertainment, said the deal required the cooperation of EMI Music for all of the songs. Rights to the intellectual property -- the words and music of the composers --required the participation of a variety of owners, he added.

The bulk of the songbook of Lennon and McCartney, who are responsible for most of the band's hits, is owned by Sony/ATV Music. That's a consortium which includes Sony Corp. and the estate of Michael Jackson, who died on June 25.

Most of the Beatles' songs composed by Harrison, including "Something" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," are controlled by Harrisongs Ltd. Ringo Starr, one of two surviving Beatles along with McCartney, controls his own work.

Lastly, the Beatles' likeness is owned by Apple Corps, which was formed by the band in 1968 to market its recordings and other related material.

Via:

money.cnn.com

The Beatles: All they've got to give

2009-09-09T07:35:00.000-07:00

The Beatles: Who's buying the new box sets?

Currently, there is not a day put aside to celebrate the musical legacy of The Beatles. So why not today? September 9 -- or the marketing-friendly 09/09/09 -- sees the release of a bonanza of new collectibles for fans of the Fab Four, from the highly anticipated video game, Rock Band: The Beatles, to the release of two new career-spanning box sets: The Stereo Albums and The Beatles in Mono.

The Stereo release is the first complete set of The Beatles' studio recordings -- 13 albums (four of which are being released in stereo for the first time), as well as a remastered version of Past Masters. The Beatles in Mono includes all of the original mono recordings, and Help! and Rubber Soul include the original 1965 stereo recordings. Packaged with replica original vinyl art, it makes a unique, almost museum-like collection.

Complete and stunning as they are, the cost of the box sets must be considered. The Stereo Albums retails for $290, while the The Beatles in Mono goes for $350 (if you can find it -- its initial print run of 10,000 has been upped by EMI after overwhelming pre-sales). At those sums, the question might be: who exactly will benefit from this wealth of material?

THE BEATLEMANIAC

If you own a set of John, Paul, George and Ringo bobblehead dolls or have made a pilgrimage to The Cavern Club, these sets are, foremost, for you. There is material here you won't find elsewhere, including the first-ever stereo release of The Beatles' first four albums, Please Please Me, With The Beatles, A Hard Day's Night and Beatles For Sale. In addition, the remastered stereo versions bring new surprises to old songs, such as an emboldened piano line on I Want To Tell You and a more vibrant horn section on Got To Get You Into My Life.

Also embedded on each of the studio albums are new mini-documentaries containing archival video, rarely heard studio chatter and photographs from individual studio sessions.

THE NEOPHYTE

Perhaps as a youngster you were more of a Stones fan. Maybe you found The Beatles too poppy, didn't like their haircuts or were turned off by all the screaming and fainting. Then, over time, you couldn't help but feel like you'd missed a signifant part of the cultural dialogue. Time to catch up, friend. Start with the Mono set, which replicates the look and feel of the original British vinyl run, right down to the record protectors charmingly touting the use of "Emirex cleaning cloths to preserve your microgroove records," and reminders to "check your gramophone stylus regularly." By the end of it, you'll feel like you didn't miss a thing.

THE MUSIC TEACHER

The Stereo Albums serves as an aural history of the band, from fresh-faced Motowninfluenced head-boppers to long-haired, raga-influenced head-trippers, and would make for a great Beatles 101. Starting at Please Please Me, take your class to a time before Autotune was king right through the birth -- for better or worse--of world fusion.

THE INDIE ROCKER

Some of The Beatles' early recording sessions sound less like glossy studio arrangements and more like today's hip, lo-fibedroom recordings, and a good lesson in how to properly use a four-track can be found in the Stereo set's liner notes. Plus, in any Beatles recording, there are lessons to be learned in weaving harmonies with your band-mates, and the Beatles' vocal intricacies are only highlighted by remastering. Take No Reply, the first track on Beatles For Sale. On the stereo version of the track, unlike previous versions, you can really hear the way Lennon's vocals mesh with McCartney and Harrison's on the chorus.

Legendary Beatles producer George Martin was no slouch in the studio, and he had some great mixers and recording engineers. People like Geoff Emerick, who at 20 years old was brought in to work on Revolver. According to the recording notes, Emerick "embraced the spirit of experimentation that characterized the sessions," which "took an unprecedented 300 hours to record and mix." If you're a fledgling record producer looking to up your game, the tales told in these notes are in themselves worth the price of the Stereo box set. More valuable than upgrading to the latest version of Garage Band, at any rate.

By:

Brad Frenette

Via:

www.nationalpost.com

Scary Numbers

2009-08-06T08:52:00.000-07:00

So far, the Obama Administration has been great business for Fox News.

Led by the trio of Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and newcomer Glenn Beck, Fox News maintained its hold as the leading cable news network for March, as well as the first quarter of 2009. Fox News' primetime viewership of 2.3 million was more than the combined total of No. 2 CNN (1.1 million) and No. 3 MSNBC (957,000). HLN, formerly Headline News, is fourth (330,000).

Source:

http://realclearpolitics.blogs.time.com

Brief and to the point:

As far as we are concerned, this is a real scary picture (if these numbers are real!). They show that Bible Belt keeps on being strongly fed with racist, hateful and twisted righty concepts not to mention the “Practical Guide on How to Murder a President" agenda delivered by O'Reilly, Hannity and Beck to Bible Belt America on daily basis. In short, if Obama ever gets murdered at any given time, at any given place inside the U.S. we do hope Fox News' "Three Knights of the Apocalypse" are taken into consideration by the F.B.I. and the C.I.A. as partners in crime (mostly likely committed by a church goer Fox News viewer fundamentalist if ever).

This is the way we think!

Cash for Clunkers: How Big an Environmental Boost?

2009-08-06T08:11:00.000-07:00

Not even the most optimistic greens could have predicted that the federal government's cash-for-clunkers program would work this well — more than 240,000 Americans have traded in their clunkers so far, and the program has already burned through its first round of funding. But green groups were a bit wary of cash for clunkers at the outset, concerned that the legislation's requirements on fuel economy were too lax. Under the program, newly purchased passenger cars must have a minimum fuel-economy rating of 22 miles per gallon — hardly superefficient — and they need to be only 4 m.p.g. more efficient than the clunker being traded in to trigger the $3,500 credit. (The $4,500 credit requires an improvement in fuel economy of at least 10 m.p.g.) And there's the undeniable fact that destroying an existing car — even a clunker — and manufacturing a new one requires energy and carbon emissions that would be saved if you just held onto your old car. (See the 50 worst cars of all time.)

The initial data released by Department of Transportation, however, shows that so far cash for clunkers has been a green success. The clunkers averaged 15.8 m.p.g., compared with 25.4 m.p.g. for the new vehicles purchased, for an average fuel-economy increase of 61%. On the whole, American drivers are trading in inefficient trucks and SUVs for much more efficient passenger cars. Car manufacturers like Nissan are already retooling some models to improve their fuel economy so they can qualify for the credits. The early numbers were enough to convince California Senator Dianne Feinstein to go from criticizing cash for clunkers as too lax to supporting additional funding for the bill in the Senate. "This program has done much better than we ever thought it would for the environment," she told reporters on Aug. 4. (Read "Nissan's New Leaf: An Electric Car and Charging Stations Too.")

But while cash for clunkers has helped out the U.S. auto industry and the environment — two entities that have clearly seen better days — it shouldn't obscure the need for addressing the real green cost of driving: gas prices. It's not the car or truck that adds greenhouse-gas emissions into the atmosphere — it's burning gasoline. There's no denying that it's beneficial for Americans to climb out of their clunkers and into more efficient cars, but what happens if drivers take advantage of the lowered cost of their fuel bill by driving more? The environmental benefits of cash for clunkers goes up in smoke. (Read "Obama to Tighten Fuel-Economy Standards.")

It's called the efficiency paradox: as we get more efficient at using energy — through less wasteful cars and appliances — the overall cost of energy goes down, but we respond by using more of it. In the case of cars, that means driving more. Ultimately our gas bill stays the same, but we spend more time on the road and pump the same amount of greenhouse-gas emissions into the atmosphere. The earth isn't any better off. (See pictures of new ways to boost energy efficiency.)

To address the emissions problem directly, we need to look at fuel, not Fords: institute carbon taxes that raise the price of gas. We already know that higher gas prices discourage driving and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions — total vehicle miles traveled in the U.S. declined 3.6% in 2008 compared with the previous year, thanks largely to the sky-high price of gas for much of 2008. (The recession didn't help, but sharp declines in driving began well before the bottom dropped out of the economy.) As gas prices have fallen in 2009, however, driving has begun to tick back up.

Americans already pay considerably less than the Europeans and Japanese for gas — it's one of the reasons we've been able to subsidize a wasteful SUV lifestyle for so long. A smart tax would stabilize the price of gas at a high enough level to discourage driving — and it would generate revenue that could be used for a number of green programs, including cash for clunkers. Certainly, efficiency is an important goal — a new report from McKinsey & Co. found that the U.S. economy could save $1.2 trillion through 2020 by investing $520 billion in various efficiency investments — and encouraging the switch to less wasteful cars is smart policy. But unless we end the era of cheap gas too, those savings will go down the drain.

Source:

www.time.com

'Guitar Hero 5' tracklist

2009-07-30T06:37:00.000-07:00

Activision has revealed the complete 85-song setlist appearing in their upcoming music game Guitar Hero 5, scheduled for release on September 1.

The latest installment of the publisher's massive music franchise will now allow players to use any combination of instruments to play songs as well as a Party Play Mode. Head here for more details.

In the meantime, here's the tracklist:

3 Doors Down - "Kryptonite"
A Perfect Circle - "Judith"
AFI - "Medicate"
Arctic Monkeys - "Brianstorm"
Attack! Attack! UK - "You And Me"
Band Of Horses - "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands"
Beastie Boys - "Gratitude"
Beck - "Gamma Ray"
Billy Idol - "Dancing With Myself"
Billy Squier - "Lonely Is The Night"
Blink-182 - "The Rock Show"
Blur - "Song 2"
Bob Dylan - "All Along The Watchtower"
Bon Jovi - "You Give Love A Bad Name"
Brand New - "Sowing Season (Yeah)"
The Bronx - "Six Days A Week"
Bush - "Comedown"
Children Of Bodom - "Done With Everything, Die For Nothing"
Coldplay - "In My Place"
Darker My Love - "Blue Day"
Darkest Hour - "Demon(s)"
David Bowie - "Fame"
Deep Purple - "Woman From Tokyo ('99 Remix)"
The Derek Trucks Band - "Younk Funk"
Dire Straits - "Sultans Of Swing"
The Duke Spirit - "Send A Little Love Token"
Duran Duran - "Hungry Like The Wolf"
Eagles Of Death Metal - "Wannabe In L.A."
Elliott Smith - "L.A."
Elton John - "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)"
Face To Face - "Disconnected"
Garbage - "Only Happy When It Rains"
Gorillaz - "Feel Good Inc."
Gov't Mule - "Streamline Woman"
Grand Funk Railroad - "We're An American Band"
Iggy Pop - "Lust For Life (Live)"
Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes To Midnight"
Jeff Beck - "Scatterbrain (Live)"
Jimmy Eat World - "Bleed American"
John Mellencamp - "Hurts So Good"
Johnny Cash - "Ring Of Fire"
Kaiser Chiefs - "Never Miss A Beat"
The Killers - "All The Pretty Faces"
King Crimson - "21st Century Schizoid Man"
Kings Of Leon - "Sex On Fire"
Kiss - "Shout It Out Loud"
Love and Rockets - "Mirror People"
Megadeth - "Sweating Bullets"
Motley Crue - "Looks That Kill"
Muse - "Plug In Baby"
My Morning Jacket - "One Big Holiday"
Nirvana - "Lithium (Live)"
Nirvana - "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
No Doubt - "Ex-Girlfriend"
Peter Frampton - "Do You Feel Like We Do? (Live)"
The Police - "So Lonely"
Public Enemy Featuring Zakk Wylde - "Bring the Noise 20XX"
Queen & David Bowie - "Under Pressure"
Queens Of The Stone Age - "Make It Wit Chu"
The Raconteurs - "Steady As She Goes"
Rammstein - "Du Hast"
The Rolling Stones - "Sympathy For The Devil"
Rose Hill Drive - "Sneak Out"
Rush - "The Spirit Of Radio (Live)"
Santana - "No One To Depend On (Live)"
Scars On Broadway - "They Say"
Screaming Trees - "Nearly Lost You"
Smashing Pumpkins - "Bullet With Butterfly Wings"
Sonic Youth - "Incinerate"
Spacehog - "In The Meantime"
Stevie Wonder - "Superstition"
Sublime - "What I Got"
Sunny Day Real Estate - "Seven"
T. Rex - "20th Century Boy"
The Sword - "Maiden, Mother & Crone"
Thin Lizzy - "Jailbreak"
Thrice - "Deadbolt"
Tom Petty - "Runnin' Down A Dream"
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - "American Girl"
TV On The Radio - "Wolf Like Me"
Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"
Weezer - "Why Bother?"
The White Stripes - "Blue Orchid"
Wild Cherry - "Play That Funky Music"
Wolfmother - "Back Round"
By

Brett Molina

Via

http://content.usatoday.com

Michael Jackson Bio

2009-07-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson was unquestionably the biggest pop star of the '80s, and certainly one of the most popular recording artists of all time. In his prime, Jackson was an unstoppable juggernaut, possessed of all the tools to dominate the charts seemingly at will: an instantly identifiable voice, eye-popping dance moves, stunning musical versatility, and loads of sheer star power. His 1982 blockbuster Thriller became the biggest-selling album of all time (probably his best-known accomplishment), and he was the first black artist to find stardom on MTV, breaking down innumerable boundaries both for his race and for music video as an art form. Yet as Jackson's career began, very gradually, to descend from the dizzying heights of his peak years, most of the media's attention focused on his increasingly bizarre eccentricities; he was often depicted as an arrested man-child, completely sheltered from adult reality by a life spent in show business. The snickering turned to scandal in 1993, when Jackson was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy; although he categorically denied the charges, his out-of-court settlement failed to restore his tarnished image. He never quite escaped the stigma of those allegations, and while he continued to sell records at superstar-like levels, he didn't release them with enough frequency (or, many critics thought, inspiration) to once again become better known for his music than his private life. Whether as a pop icon or a tabloid caricature, Jackson always remained bigger than life.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born August 29, 1958, in Gary, IN. The fifth son of steelworker Joe Jackson, Michael displayed a talent for music and dance from an extremely young age. His childhood was strictly regimented; from the start, he was to an extent sheltered from the outside world by his mother's Jehovah's Witness faith, and his father was by all accounts an often ill-tempered disciplinarian. Joe began to organize a family musical group around his three eldest sons in 1962, and Michael joined them the following year, quickly establishing himself as a dynamic stage performer. His dead-on mastery of James Brown's dance moves and soulful, mature-beyond-his-years vocals made him a natural focal point, especially given his incredibly young age. Dubbed the Jackson 5, the group signed to Motown in 1968 and issued their debut single in October 1969, when Michael was just 11 years old. "I Want You Back," "ABC," "The Love You Save," and "I'll Be There" all hit number one in 1970, making the Jackson 5 the first group in pop history to have their first four singles top the charts. Motown began priming Michael for a solo career in 1971, and his first single, "Got to Be There," was issued toward the end of the year; it hit the Top Five, as did the follow-up, a cover of Bobby Day's "Rockin' Robin." Later in 1972, Jackson had his first number one solo single, "Ben," the title song from a children's thriller about a young boy who befriends Ben, the highly intelligent leader of a gang of homicidal rats. Given the subject matter, the song was surprisingly sincere and sentimental, and even earned an Oscar nomination. However, the momentum of Jackson's solo career (much like that of the Jackson 5) soon stalled. He released his fourth and final album on Motown in 1975, and the following year, he and his brothers (save Jermaine) signed to Epic and became the Jacksons.

In 1977, Jackson landed a starring role alongside Diana Ross in the all-black film musical +The Wiz, a retelling of The Wizard of Oz; here he met producer/composer Quincy Jones for the first time. Encouraged by the success of the Jacksons' self-produced, mostly self-written 1978 album Destiny, Jackson elected to resume his solo career when his management contract with his father expired shortly thereafter. With Jones producing, Jackson recorded his first solo album as an adult, Off the Wall. An immaculately crafted set of funky disco-pop, smooth soul, and lush, sentimental pop ballads, Off the Wall made Jackson a star all over again. It produced four Top Ten singles, including the number one hits "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Rock With You," and went platinum (it went on to sell over seven million copies); even so, Jackson remained loyal to his brothers and stayed with the group.

No group could have contained Jackson's rapidly rising star for long; however, there was still no sign (if there ever could be) that his next album would become the biggest in history. Released in 1982, the Quincy Jones-produced Thriller refined the strengths of Off the Wall; the dance and rock tracks were more driving, the pop tunes and ballads softer and more soulful, and all of it was recognizably Michael. Jackson brought in Paul McCartney for a duet, guitarist Eddie Van Halen for a jaw-dropping solo, and Vincent Price for a creepy recitation. It was no surprise that Thriller was a hit; what was a surprise was its staying power. Jackson's duet with McCartney, "The Girl Is Mine," was a natural single choice, and it peaked at number two; then "Billie Jean" and the Van Halen track "Beat It" both hit number one, for seven and three weeks respectively. Those latter two songs, as well as the future Top Five title track, had one important feature in common: Jackson supported them with elaborately conceived video clips that revolutionized the way music videos were made. Jackson treated them as song-length movies with structured narratives: "Billie Jean" set the song's tale of a paternity suit in a nightmarish dream world where Jackson was a solitary, sometimes invisible presence; the anti-gang-violence "Beat It" became an homage to +West Side Story; and the ten-minute-plus clip for "Thriller" (routinely selected as the best video of all time) featured Jackson leading a dance troupe of rotting zombies, with loads of horror-film makeup and effects. Having never really accepted black artists in the past, MTV played the clips to death, garnering massive publicity for Jackson and droves of viewers for the fledgling cable network. Jackson sealed his own phenomenon by debuting his signature "moonwalk" dance step on May 16, 1983, on Motown's televised 25th anniversary special; though he didn't invent the moonwalk (as he himself was quick to point out), it became as much of a Jackson signature as his vocal hiccups or single white-sequined glove.

Showing no signs of slowing down, Thriller just kept spinning off singles, including "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'," the airy ballad "Human Nature," and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"; in all, seven of its nine tracks wound up in the Top Ten, obliterating conventional ideas of how many singles could be released from an album before it ran its course. Thriller stayed on the charts for over two years, spent 37 nonconsecutive weeks at number one, and became the best-selling album of all time; it went on to sell 25 million copies in the U.S. alone, and around another 20 million overseas. Naturally, Jackson won a slew of awards, including a record eight Grammys in one night, and snagged the largest endorsement deal ever when he became a spokesman for Pepsi (he would later be burned in an accident while filming a commercial). At the end of 1983, Jackson was again on top of the singles charts, this time as part of a second duet with McCartney, "Say Say Say." In 1984, Jackson rejoined his brothers one last time for the album Victory, whose supporting tour was one of the biggest (and priciest) of the year. The following year, he and Lionel Richie co-wrote the anthemic "We Are the World" for the all-star famine-relief effort USA for Africa; it became one of the fastest-selling singles ever.

Even at this early stage, wild rumors about Jackson's private life were swirling. His shyness and reluctance to grant interviews (ironically, due in part to his concerns about being misrepresented) only encouraged more speculation. Some pointed to his soft-spoken, still girlish voice as evidence that he'd undergone hormone treatments to preserve the high, flexible range of his youth; stories were told about Jackson sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber to slow the aging process, and purchasing the skeleton of John Merrick, the Elephant Man (Jackson did view the bones in the London Hospital, but did not buy them). Jackson bought a large ranch in California which he dubbed Neverland, and filled it with amusement park rides and animals (including the notorious pet chimpanzee Bubbles), which only fueled the public's perception of him as a somewhat bizarre eccentric obsessed with recapturing his childhood. He also underwent cosmetic surgery several times, which led to accusations from the black community that his gradually lightening skin tone was the result of an intentional effort to become whiter; a few years later, Jackson revealed that he had a disorder called vitiligo, in which pigment disappears from the skin, leaving large white blotches and making direct sunlight dangerous. One of the rumors that was definitely true was that Jackson owned the rights to the Beatles' catalog; in 1985, he acquired ATV Publishing, the firm that controlled all the Lennon-McCartney copyrights (among others), which wound up costing him his friendship with McCartney.

During his long layoff between records, Jackson indulged his interest in film and video by working with George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola on the 3-D short film Captain Eo. The special-effects extravaganza was shown at the enormous widescreen IMAX theaters in Disney's amusement parks for 12 years, beginning in 1986. Finally, Jackson re-entered the studio with Quincy Jones to begin the near-impossible task of crafting a follow-up to Thriller. Bad was released to enormous public anticipation in 1987, and was accompanied by equally enormous publicity. It debuted at number one, and the first single, "I Just Can't Stop Loving You," with vocal accompaniment by Siedah Garrett, also shot up the charts to number one. Like Thriller, Bad continued to spin off singles for well over a year after its release, and became the first album ever to produce five number one hits; the others were "Bad," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Man in the Mirror," and "Dirty Diana." Jackson supported the album with a lengthy world tour that featured a typically spectacular, elaborate stage show; it became the highest-grossing tour of all time. Although Jackson's success was still staggering, there were faint undercurrents of disappointment, partly because of the unparalleled phenomenon of Thriller (Bad "only" sold eight million copies), and partly because the album itself didn't seem quite as exuberant or uniformly consistent when compared to its predecessors.

Jackson took another long hiatus between albums, giving the media little to focus on besides his numerous eccentricities; by this time, the British tabloids delighted in calling him "Wacko Jacko," a name he detested. When Jackson returned in with a new album in late 1991, he'd come up with a different moniker: "the King of Pop." Dangerous found Jackson ending his collaboration with Quincy Jones in an effort to update his sound; accordingly, many of the tracks were helmed by the groundbreaking new jack swing producer Teddy Riley. As expected, the album debuted at number one, and its lead single, "Black or White," shot to the top as well. Jackson courted controversy with the song's video, however; after the song itself ended, there was a long dance sequence in which Jackson shouted, grabbed his crotch, and smashed car windows in a bizarre display that seemed at odds with the song's harmonious message. With the video given a high-profile, prime-time network premiere, Jackson was criticized for the inappropriate violence and the message it might send to his younger fans. However, Jackson would not be the biggest story in popular music for long. In early 1992, Nirvana's Nevermind symbolically knocked Dangerous out of the number one spot; after the alternative rock revolution, the pop charts would never be quite the same. Jackson scored several more hits off the album, including the Top Tens "Remember the Time" and "In the Closet," but the aggressive "Jam" and the saccharine "Heal the World" both performed disappointingly.

Jackson had long preferred the company of children over other adults, and befriended quite a few, inviting them to stay at his Neverland Ranch and enjoy the massive playground he'd assembled over the years. In 1993, Jackson was accused of molesting a 13-year-old boy who'd become a frequent guest at Neverland. Predictably, there was a tabloid feeding frenzy, and a mainstream media circus as well. In the court of public opinion, the charges seemed all too plausible: Jackson was near-universally perceived as a weirdo, and here was a handy explanation for his heretofore asexual persona and distaste for adult companions. Additionally, Jackson entered rehab for a short time, seeking treatment for an addiction to pain killers. Investigations were unsuccessful in turning up any other boys who echoed the allegations, and Jackson countersued his accusers for attempting extortion; however, in spite of the fact that no criminal charges were ever filed against Jackson, he settled the boy's family's suit out of court in early 1995, paying an estimated 18 to 20 million dollars. Many felt the settlement was tantamount to an admission of guilt, and when Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley in 1994, the move was perceived as a desperate ploy to rehabilitate his image; the marriage broke up just 19 months later, seemingly lending credence to the charge.

In 1995, Jackson attempted to put the focus back on his music by preparing HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book 1, a two-CD set featuring one disc of new material and one of his greatest hits. The album debuted at number one, but the format backfired on Jackson: his fans already owned the hits, and the new album simply wasn't strong enough to offset the added cost of the extra disc for many more casual listeners. There were some encouraging signs -- the lead single "Scream," a duet with sister Janet, debuted at number five, setting a new American chart record that was broken when the follow-up, "You Are Not Alone," became the first single ever to enter the Billboard Hot 100 at number one. But on the whole, HIStory was something of a disappointment. Additionally, Jackson collapsed during rehearsals for an awards show later that year, and had to be rushed to the hospital; what was more, the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) was threatening to catch Thriller's American sales record (it eventually did, and the two continued to run neck and neck). There were signs that Jackson was grasping at his self-proclaimed King of Pop status; the cover of HIStory depicted an enormous statue of Jackson, and he performed at the 1996 BRIT Awards dressed as a Messiah, with children and a rabbi surrounding him worshipfully (Pulp lead singer Jarvis Cocker stormed the stage to protest Jackson's hubris during the middle of the song). The 1997 remix album Blood on the Dance Floor failed to even go platinum, although remix albums historically don't perform nearly as well as new material.

In late 1996, Jackson remarried, to nurse Debbie Rowe; over the next two years, the couple had two children, son Prince Michael Jackson, Jr. and daughter Paris Michael Katherine Jackson. However, Jackson and Rowe divorced in late 1999. In 2001, Jackson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and later held a massive concert at Madison Square Garden celebrating the 30th anniversary of his first solo record. Among many other celebrity guests, the show featured the first on-stage reunion of the Jacksons since the Victory tour. In the wake of September 11, Jackson put together an all-star charity benefit single, "What More Can I Give." His new album, Invincible, was released late in the year, marking the first time he'd issued a collection of entirely new material since Dangerous; it found him working heavily with urban soul production wizard Rodney Jerkins. Invincible debuted at number one and quickly went double platinum; however, its initial singles, "You Rock My World" and "Butterflies," had rather disappointing showings on the charts, with the latter not even reaching the Top Ten. To compound matters, the expensive "What More Can I Give" single and video were canceled by Sony when executive producer Marc Schaffel was revealed to work in pornography. Jackson's camp tried to distance the singer from Schaffel, and the various corporations that were attached to it (McDonalds, Sony) claimed they had minimal involvement if any with the song. Sony and Jackson began a press war in the summer of 2002, starting with Jackson's claims that the label asked for 200 million dollars to pay them back for marketing costs. Although they had spent 55 million on his disappointing comeback, Sony released a statement saying that no such request had ever been made. Jackson stewed for a few weeks before launching a press attack on Sony Music chairman Tommy Mottola, calling him "devilish" and making claims that he used racist language and held down black artists. Many Sony artists, including Mariah Carey and Ricky Martin, defended Mottola, but Jackson and his family maintained that racism ended their professional relationship.

From that point, Jackson's career took an extreme turn toward the bizarre, starting with MTV's annual Video Awards. When Britney Spears presented him with a birthday cake, an offhand remark about being the artist of the millennium inspired a rambling Jackson to accept a meaningless trophy (which everyone presenting on-stage received) as an actual Artist of the Millennium award. Next came accusations from a promotional company over his promises of a tour and several appearances that he then canceled. Jackson arrived in court late, gave a drowsy testimony, and inspired gasps when he removed a surgical mask to reveal his nose had caved in from a botched cosmetic surgery. Only days later, German fans were horrified when Jackson came to the balcony of his hotel suite and briefly dangled his 11-month old baby Prince Michael II (nicknamed "Blanket" by Jackson) over the edge with one arm. Although he apologized the next day, claiming he had gotten caught up in the moment, this only did more to cement the King of Pop's public image as an out-of-control millionaire. 2003 turned out to not be Jackson's year as in November his Neverland Ranch was extensively searched by police, whereby he was subsequently arrested on charges of child molestation. That same month the single disc retrospective Number Ones hit the stands with one new song, "One More Chance". A year later - nearly to the day - the four CD and one DVD box set The Ultimate Collection appeared with numerous rarities including the original demo for "We Are the World". In January 2005 his child molestation trial began and by May he was acquitted on all counts. Jackson soon relocated to the Persian Gulf island of Bahrain and began working on new music including a charity single that would benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. The single never appeared but the two disc The Essential Michael Jackson did and in 2006 the strange box set Visionary was released featuring 20 DualDiscs replicating 20 big hit singles with their videos included on the DVD side. In early 2007 it was announced that a comeback album was planned for late in the year; the album never materialized.

While in the middle of rehearsing for a series of 50 comeback concerts scheduled for the summer of 2009, Michael Jackson collapsed from a cardiac arrest on the afternoon of June 25, 2009. He was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at the age of 50.

Steve Huey, All Music Guide

Via:

http://www.starpulse.com

Sony could be winner in Michael Jackson film rights

2009-07-28T06:29:00.000-07:00

If indeed this is it, these guys are gonna make a fortune.

Sony Pictures is negotiating to pony up a whopping $50 million to concert promoter AEG Live to release a feature-film documentary chronicling Michael Jackson's final days.

Kenny Ortega, the acclaimed director and choreographer behind the High School Musical flicks who was mounting the King of Pop's "This Is It" megaresidency set for London's O2 Arena before the latter's sudden death, is said to be hard at work cutting the behind-the-scenes together.

But the good news for AEG is that with O2 gigs now scuttled, Ortega now has plenty of time to edit the highly anticipated concert film before he beats it to work on a big-screen redo of Footloose.

An insider privy to the confidential negotiations tells E! News that talks are ongoing but stressed that Sony is up against several rival studios—including Universal, Fox, Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures—also bidding for distribution rights. A winner could be announced as early as this week.

However, it seems likely Sony will have a leg up, particularly given sister company, Sony Music Entertainment, put out all six of Jackson's solo albums, including top sellers Off the Wall, Thriller, Bad, Dangerous and HIStory, through its Epic label. It also co-owns the Beatles catalog with the singer's ATV Publishing.

Sources tell Variety the movie will feature a number of performances from more than 80 hours of footage AEG and the helmer shot of Jackson's rehearsals in addition to at least three videos Jackson completed that was going to run as interstitials during the concerts which were scheduled to kick off July 13. It's unclear whether those segments, including an alternate version of the Moonwalker's now classic Thriller video, will play in 3-D in theaters as its creators envisioned for the London productions.

The promoter will no doubt rake in big bucks from sales of TV and video rights not only from the documentary but also a tribute concert it's purportedly organizing at the O2 for what would have been Jackson's 51st birthday Aug. 29. AEG is seeking a number of high-profile artists to perform one song each from Michael's set list, accompanied by the dancers and musicians who rehearsed with Jackson.

No confirmation yet on who's slated to take part, though early word is that the music legend's surviving brothers in the Jackson 5, Jermaine, Marlon, Tito and Randy, will reunite. Also said to be on board is Justin Timberlake, who previously performed with Jackson at his 30th anniversary solo show at New York's Madison Square Garden in 2001.

Via

http://showbizcafe.com

Michael Jackson - "I GOTCHA!" (where were the vultures?)

2009-06-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

Isn't life funny after all?

When the whole midiac vultures were flying over the "highly expected" Farrah Fawcett's death by pulling their triggers with their sweating dirty fingers, along comes Michael Jackson to take everyone by surprise...with the most unexpected hit of a lifetime: His death...

Wherever it is that he is, he must be laughing at this strange yet sad day, when a Black and White take the same train...Like the old song: "People Get Ready"???? Well, everybody was as far as the media, but Michael might as say: "I Gotcha!!!!"

The midiatic vultures will have to turn around and fly over Mr. Jackson's Hospital where his body rests while waiting for a full-blast media feast.

A day that will be hard to be forgotten...

Long live Michael!

Farah Fawcett and the vultures

2009-06-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

We are definitely going to be very brief and to the point:

Over 30 videos posted on Youtube in less than 10 minutes in memory of 70's icon Farah Fawcett...The whole material had been ready who knows...maybe 2 years, 2 days, 2 hours...just waiting to be aired...

Full Biographies already in templates at 100% of main means of communication...just waiting for the trigger to be pulled.

Is everyone really interested in the celebrity who died or just vultures flying over the odor of good high rates????

Long Live Farrah in our memories...down with midiatic vultures...

How Susan Boyle won over the world

2009-04-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Susan Boyle was just a face in the crowd.

This weekend, clips of her singing on Britain's Got Talent have notched up almost 50 million views on YouTube.

Her face appears on the front pages of papers in Britain and beyond, she been offered a seat on Oprah's sofa and has been told she is as good as guaranteed a worldwide number one album.

The rise of the 47-year-old spinster from Scotland has been a true global phenomenon.

Last Saturday, viewers saw Boyle, with double chin, unkempt hair, frumpy appearance and eccentric demeanour, step onto the talent show stage and proclaim her dream of being a professional singer.

The judges rolled their eyes and the audience pulled incredulous faces. Onlookers, on set and at home, were rubbing their hands at the prospect of another hopeless, deluded loser being crushed by a withering Simon Cowell insult.

Then she opened her mouth and sang I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables.

Her voice confounded all expectations - the judges' eyes bulged, the crowd went wild and Boyle became an instant star.

Ever since, the "fairytale" has travelled the globe and interest in the church volunteer has snowballed.

It is the story of a talent unearthed, but that does not fully explain why she has become such a sensation.

Boyle has shattered prejudices about the connection between age, appearance and talent. She has proved that you don't have to be young and glamorous to be talented, and recognised as such.

The YouTube millions have cheered on the underdog, and seen in her the possibilities for their own hopes and dreams.

Immediately after her performance, one of the judges, Amanda Holden, said they had been "very cynical", and that the performance was the "biggest wake-up call ever".

Another judge, former newspaper editor Piers Morgan, appeared with Boyle on CNN's Larry King Show.

"I'm sorry because we did not give you anything like the respect we should have done when you first came out," he told her. Referring to her appearance, he said: "We thought you were going to be a bit of a joke act, to be honest with you."

Boyle would have a best-selling album and a world tour by the end of the year, whether she wins Britain's Got Talent or not, he assured her.

And mentioning fellow judge Simon Cowell, Morgan added: "It's fair to say that his eyes have been going ker-ching ever since Susan's performance."

Blogs, newspaper columns and talk shows have been full of discussion about why Boyle has sparked such a reaction.

She reordered the measure of beauty - and I had no idea until tears sprang how desperately I need that corrective

Lisa Schwarzbaum, writer for US celebrity magazine Entertainment Weekly, said the performance was a powerful reality check.

She wrote: "In our pop-minded culture so slavishly obsessed with packaging - the right face, the right clothes, the right attitudes, the right Facebook posts - the unpackaged artistic power of the unstyled, un-hip, un-kissed Ms Boyle let me feel, for the duration of one blazing showstopping ballad, the meaning of human grace.

"She pierced my defences. She reordered the measure of beauty. And I had no idea until tears sprang how desperately I need that corrective."

Her post has been followed by comments from scores of readers saying they watched the clip repeatedly, with the same emotional response.

"I cried SO hard," read one. "There's something so beautiful about reaching your dreams... and knowing that age means nothing."

Another wrote: "I cry because she reminds us to hope, to never lose track of our dreams, to keep putting one foot in front of the other no matter what others say or think. She gives us hope."

"Fairytales don't come any more satisfactory than this," wrote columnist Melanie Reid in The Times.

"The sisterhood of the plain, those of us who will never look like Girls Aloud, nor even Girls Aloud's grandmothers, are cheering as never before.

"Susan Boyle is the ugly duckling who didn't need to turn into a swan; she has fulfilled the dreams of millions who, downtrodden by the cruelty of a culture that judges them on their appearance, have settled for life without looking in the mirror."

Miranda Sawyer, writing in the Daily Mirror, questioned why image was less of an issue for male singers.

"No woman gets to perform publicly unless she looks like Mariah Carey," she wrote. "If you're a female singer, you are required by showbiz law to appear sexy at all times.

"Poor Madonna and Kylie are desperately keeping up appearances, holding back the years with Botox and face-fillers just so they're allowed to continue with their careers."

The Sun newspaper has given away a free Susan Boyle souvenir poster. US talk show host Jay Leno performed an impression of her on his show.

Demi Moore famously joined the fan club. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has congratulated her. She is odds-on favourite to win Britain's Got Talent.

A star has been born. Whether she will she leave a dent on our prejudices about age and appearance remains to be seen.

Via:

news.bbc.co.uk