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U2, Lucinda Williams, Andy Warhol, Plenty 'o' sex talk and whiskey!   Printer-friendly page   Send this story to someone
Tuesday, May 10, 2005 - 08:00 AM
Posted by: kbade

Karl

THE REV. BONO: Jim DeRogatis found U2's first of four concerts in Chicago "every bit as phony, bombastic and manipulative as a Britney Spears concert, the Republican National Convention or a televangelist's miracle-working dog and pony show." Later, he writes: "If you missed the point, it was this: AMERICA'S WAR IN IRAQ IS BAD. But ever the politician averse to alienating any demographic, Bono, sporting a stars-and-stripes leather jacket as o­ne of several costume changes, followed that none-too-subtle declaration by reminding us to 'support the troops.'"

TINY MIX TAPES has a unique review of the new disc from Nine Inch Nails; a picture truly is worth a thousand words.

NEW RELEASES: Although the live set from Lucinda Williams is out today o­n CD, most of the action is in DVDs this week. The Live From Austin series adds DVDs from Richard Thompson and Son Volt, to prior releases of shows by Steve Earle, The Flatlanders and others. Lucinda Williams will have her own entry in the series out next Tuesday.

SUFJAN STEVENS announces a few tour dates in support of his Illinois album, including two in Seattle. Pitchfork observes: "We suspect this list of dates isn't complete, if o­nly because Illinois is nowhere to be found."

RENEE ZELLWEGER APPARENTLY HAS wed C&W star Kenney Chesney. I'm sure she would understand if I say, "Alright, alright, alright."

ANDY WARHOL AND RONALD REAGAN: Former Interview magazine editor Bob Colacello has written biographies of both and sees a number of similarities.

LINDSAY LOHAN: Defamer prints an e-mail from someone allegedly o­n the set for her most recent video shoot. The writer details behavior falling between diva and crazy, then predicts "another 'exhaustion' stay coming up real soon."

DOGS: A newborn baby abandoned in a forest in Nairobi, Kenya, was saved by a stray dog who apparently carried her across a busy road and through a barbed wire fence to a shed where the infant was discovered nestled with a litter of puppies. A story that warms your heart until the moment you realize what it says about humans.

IRAQ: The Iraqi Government says security forces have captured Amar al-Zubaydi, a/k/a Abu Abbas, a key aide to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. It said he helped plan an attack o­n Abu Ghraib prison in April, as well as a string of car bombings in Baghdad.

IRAQ II: American forces launched a major offensive against followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi near the Syrian border; U.S. military spokesmen said the offensive started o­n Saturday and that it had killed as many as 100 militants. The operation seems to be based o­n information obtained from Ghassan Muhammad Amin Husayn Al-Rawi, who was captured o­n April 26th.

IRAQ III: Arthur Chrenkoff has his regular round up of under-reported good news. Among the multitude of links can be found a report o­n how women in conservative Karbala are getting liberated through city's internet cafes and the news that the U.S. military has set a target of December for handing over responsibility for security to Iraqi army and police units, according to a classified document being circulated among senior officers.

THE HUFFINGTON POST, Arianna Huffington's celebrity group blog, went o­nline Monday, with posts from director Mike Nichols, Ellen DeGeneres, John Cusack and David Mamet, among others. A Newsday columnist observes that the "could be quite exciting - or a log-rolling, self-referential mess." Huffington does an interview with Newsweek, in which her explanation for why she lost the CA governor's race to Arnold Schwarzenegger sounds suspiciously like co-blogger Aaron Sorkin's screenplay to The American President. Gawker brings the snark to both the blog as a whole and historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. in particular. The Register runs a piece mocking an H-post by Hilary Rosen, former head of the RIAA, complaining about iTunes. But the must-read story may be Nikki Finke's L.A. Weekly column, which promises -- and largely delivers -- the "juicy behind-the-scenes story" of the blog's start-up.

THE NEW YORK TIMES commissioned an internal report o­n how to improve the paper's credibility, which is good, as admitting you have a problem is the first step to addressing it. Jeff Jarvis has a good summary, along with links to criticism and the full report.

GAY-BASHING HOAX: A rash of gay-bashing incidents at Tamalpais High School in Marin County, CA was the work of the head of the school's Gay-Straight Alliance, according to Mill Valley police. The girl has been suspended and could face expulsion.

GAY BRAINS? A compound taken from male sweat stimulates the brains of gay men and straight women but not heterosexual men, raising the possibility that homosexual brains are different, according to researchers in Sweden.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS' John Darnielle is interviewed by Junkmedia, which still hosts Ken King's review of the Pate box set. Darnielle reveals: "Right now I am writing about monsters. I despair of writing a song that does justice to the awesomeness of the Mummy." He can't do worse than Stephen Sommers, can he?

WILLIE NELSON HIGHWAY UPDATE: After a bill to name part of Texas state Hwy 130 after the singer was nixed by two GOP state senators, Willie's lawyer fires off a letter stating that Nelson "must decline the request that Willie grant permission to name the toll road in his honor." Now there's some PR skillz.

BECK says he and his Dad have been helped by Scientology. Explains a lot.

CHICKEN CROSSES ROAD, is ticketed for jaywalking.

THE GREATEST DISCOVERY SINCE FIRE: A history of the microwave oven.

NANOTECH: A novel delivery system that transports gene silencing nanoparticles into tumor cells has been shown to inhibit a form of cancer in an animal model of the disease. Meanwhile, in Chicago, a group calling itself THONG (Topless Humans Organized for Natural Genetics) protested in the Eddie Bauer at 600 N. Michigan Avenue to question the safety of Teflon-treated and Nano-Tex clothing.

THE SILLY PARTY: If anyone thought that Monty Python had to work hard to lampoon politics in the U.K., o­ne need o­nly look at the long-standing tradition of candidates for seats in Parliament standing together for the announcement of the vote tally. One cannot help but think that o­ne of the candidates pictured here is Kevin Phillips-Bong. And you may enjoy the snark to be found throughout the photo gallery at the Guardian.

THEOCRACY is the surprising reason cited by Barbara Hall for the ratings slump of her television show, Joan of Arcadia.

FEMALE ORGASM TALK draws a crowd at Harvard University. Who'da thunkit? I'd quote it, but it's near-impossible to pick a favorite excerpt. Let's just say that at some point, a hand puppet is deployed.

DASHTON: Demi Moore allegedly told fashion designer Cynthia Rowley that Ashton Kutcher lacks stamina. Moore's PR flack denies the conversation. The question could be settled through the scientific method.

TOP SEXOLOGISTS met last weekend in San Francisco to try to keep up with society's fast-developing sexual trends. "These couples have problems that I didn't know how to deal with," said Olga Perez Stable Cox, president of the Western US region of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. No, even I couldn't make up that name.

PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIO tripled its profits, driven by DVD sales of The Incredibles. And Pixar exec Steve Jobs said that he had taken part in "nice conversations" with Robert Iger, the new head honcho at Disney, about possibly renewing the studios' partnership.

MALT WHISKEY may help prevent cancer, according to a consultant to the drinks industry who notes that single malt whiskeys have more of the anti-oxidant ellagic acid than red wine. However, Dr. Lesley Walker of Cancer Research UK, pointed out that the same acid was found in fruit, and said she was "very concerned" that whiskey was being promoted as a cancer prevention agent without data to support the claim. Perhaps, but you can't get hammered o­n regular fruit.

STRESS can help people stay young, prolong life and help prevent chronic illnesses such as arthritis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, according to Dr. Marios Kyriazis, the medical director of the British Longevity Society. If forced to choose, I'll take the whiskey, Nietzsche.

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