supergroup do-gooder randomness

snack blog has a photo gallery from last week's food bank for nyc can-do awards. there's a shot of edge with bill clinton, and if you scroll down and enter the gallery, there are other paparazzi-type snaps.

i have been trying to get my past 2 years worth of digital photos together and edited and uploaded to flickr. but i really lack the patience. this is all i have accomplished so far.

oh, and, um, anyone care to share the conference call number for this? (see below):

"WASHINGTON (AP) - Has U2's Bono finally found what he's looking for?

The rocker and global do-gooder will pair up Tuesday with Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton to back legislation to expand education efforts in impoverished countries.

When Bono's Irish supergroup performed in the nation's capital in 2005, Clinton seized it as a fundraising opportunity, charging $2,500 a seat to rock out with the New York senator in a luxury box.

Then as now, Bono is not endorsing her politically, just her policy stance on the issue of global education.

The two will participate in a conference call with reporters Tuesday to tout the legislation that would add billions in U.S. aid to overseas education programs. The bill would expand education for the estimated 77 million children worldwide who are not enrolled in primary school. The legislation, which has been offered in past years, would spend $10 billion over 5 years. "

~ peace

we need nets

view video: david beckham malaria psa



for more info, check out the malaria no more website.

totally related: soccer star hair cut update

article: blond it like beckham



i was going to make fun of the guy, but ...

~ peace

video: bono at tribeca film fest

bono and alicia keys, interview from ny 1 news on thursday night. they are talking about the documentary we are together.

bono's gibberish description of the film makes sense when you read the synopsis from the film's website, which says, in part:

"the film is about 12-year-old slindile, her siblings and her friends at the agape orphanage in south africa, where most of the children have lost their parents to AIDS. but they are still kids and teenagers, bashful around boys, squabbling with each other. and when they lift their voices in song, something extraordinary happens ... filmed over three years, it tells the remarkable and moving story of a group of children who use music to overcome hardship and loss. it is the story of an orphanage, unlike one you've ever seen before, and of the drive of these remarkable young singers and their teachers to make it to london for a series of concerts."

clever headline goes here (or not)

listen to:

new paul mccartney: ever present past

new white stripes: icky thump

new killers: shadowplay (joy division cover)

the killers cover will be on the soundtrack of anton corbijn's new ian curtis biopic control.

there is a pretty cool clip of anton talking about the film on youtube.

obviously, the bono will support this film. (like, a lot).

dude does enjoy film fests. bono in nyc last night:

with alicia

with lou

it is raining here to an unnecessary degree.


~ peace

who is this guy and why is he multiplying all over my blog and why does he look so smug about it?!?!

video: bono on american idol

note: 2008 video is here


view the youtube video of bono's very brief (hallelujah!) appearance on american idol

if even watching a clip of the dreadful show is too hard to handle, just look at the photos. please note that the haircut got another haircut.




the song "american prayer" that the contestants performed is not a shining beacon of musical awesomeness even when people we like sing it. it has, in fact, been "murdered" once or twice before by people with a semblance of actual talent, including at a benefit concert in capetown, south africa in 2003:

[mp3]
american prayer - bono. edge and beyonce
live in capetown, 2003

if you stumbled here looking for american idol downloads and donation links: go here.

also:

while in los angeles, yer man also made a pit stop at a humanitarian gala for the usc shoah foundation institute (with jerry seinfeld and steven spielberg). the shoah institute collects and preserves a visual history of the testimonies of holocaust survivors and other witnesses, and its mission includes overcoming all forms of prejudice, intolerance, and bigotry, and the suffering they cause.

photos: 1 / 2 pics via

what, no tapers at the gala?

snack blog: elvis costello performed "where the streets have no name" at the food bank for nyc gala honoring edge on monday
" ...The gala raised funds for the Food Bank's mission to feed 250,000 hungry New Yorkers daily. That's one in five, for anyone doing the math. The evening's take was more than 1.2 million dollars. It's corny and a cliche, but The President, The Edge, Michael Stipe and Stanley Tucci were all correct when they said, "One person can make a difference."

Denis Leary announced the final surprise of the evening: a performance by Elvis Costello. He took the stage with acoustic guitar in hand and sang "Where the Streets Have No Name", with a bit of "Blowin' in the Wind" mashed-up in the middle. Standing ovation ..."

streets. acoustic. rad.

~ peace

scattered thoughts

i have a post about bono and american idol and other u2-ish things up on the atu2 blog.

i totally hacked into their site.

(or it is also possible that they are really nice and quite trusting and gave me a password).

glen hansard: smells like patchouli

the frames @ the living room, "finally" (clip)

a member of the irish music cognoscenti helped us sneak into the intimate as all get-out frames "fan appreciation" gig last night. (thanx!) the show was very laid back, and had the feel of a trad session, with band members and audience all in sit-down and chill mode. we ran into frames singer glen hansard at the bar on the way in. he was drinking starbucks.

i felt a wee twinge of guilt in attending considering that i am not actually an uber-fan of the frames. but it was quite memorable. and in those moments where glen hits those tortured, vein popping high notes, i could fall in love. for a second.

much better video: the frames playing to a much larger crowd

~ peace

bono on american idol: explained

note: 2008 video is here

a "hot off the press" release from fox television offers a more detailed explanation of exactly what the bono's involvement with american idol (gag) will include. he will appear this wednesday and his appearance will involve a "talk" with the contestants:

"As part of his ongoing efforts to fight Aids and poverty in Africa, U2’s Bono will participate in the Idol Gives Back fundraising special airing Wednesday, April 25.

Bono will meet with the six American idol finalists to talk about the work of ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History and how the Idol audience can help. The Idol contestants also will perform “American Prayer,” a song written by Bono and Dave Stewart about the AIDS emergency in Africa.

Idol Gives Back will raise awareness and funds for Charity Projects Entertainment Fund (CPEF) and other organizations that provide relief programs to help children and young people in extreme poverty in America and Africa ..."

don't act like you don't recognize him

having not seen the little niece in several weeks, i was pleasantly surprised this weekend to discover that even in my absentia, rock stars continue to be painted for grandma's garden. (above). related: rock stars

also: more photos from edge's auction, including an adam clayton appearance.

not related: i saw this rained on billboard (below) on 3rd avenue last week. i don't know why i took a picture of it. i guess i thought it was funny that these guys might have imagined that their monkey mugs would ever in any way positively influence someone to buy their album. the new arctic monkeys album is quite clever. and not just lyrically. they'll never make me cry, i am 100% sure of that. their music will never really mean a thing to me. but i do enjoy every aspect of what they do.



the weekend was ridiculous-awesome and beautiful and full of perfect walk-on-the-beach weather, which is pretty much the sole activity i took part in.

last week was not good. i paid apple $100 to not fix my computer. the screen is practically dead. all faded blue. they couldn't fix it, but my bill said "$100 repair charge." i asked why it was called a "repair charge" instead of a "not repaired" charge, but apple register dude did not laugh. neither did i.

also, the accounting department at my job called me last wednesday and told me that i owe the company $125 that they accidentally "overpaid" me. man, that was freaking GREAT NEWS, too.

those things are inconsequential. small little blips of irrelevance. my world is full of perfection, and this week is going to be way better than last. already today, i saw a cadre of protesters at 9th and broadway (pictured below). they are mad at j. crew for using paper from endangered boreal forests for catalogs. look at the guy in the animal suit on the right. i think he is pretending to cry. awesomeness.

$2.4 million

article / photo

above: dallas schoo sighting

43rd and broadway

also:

new england patriots quarterback tom brady returns from a "listening and learning" trip to africa.

massive star power set for cannes film festival. both the rolling stones and u2 have major rockumentaries screening at the fest.

download a couple of new travis songs. you can also see the cover of the new travis album, which, it has been pointed out to me, is vaguely u2-ish.

stet

i swear that i do not spend my days travelling nyc public transit looking for copy errors, but still, it amused me this morning to see a very nice type correction on the 6 train. vive le reebok.


related

see you later, innovator

bono has a fauxhawk. for real. and we like it.

johnny borrell: wasn't born a genius. ha. oh man, that's funny. (yes it is).

view the enfield and whitehouse bbc skit making fun of bono and edge. find out what is under edge's hat. oh, he knows two chords. bono solves mental illness. meh. not that funny.

maybe the sun will shine today

~ that's all

the bono and the merkel

article here



hmmm..... wine brown or cedar red, mr. the bono?

photo via yahoo [click for more].

new joe strummer movie trailer

website for the movie is here.

don't blink when you watch the trailer or you might miss the bono (on fire, apparently.)

~ (thanx)

even bears need to eat

the bono and the edge will emerge from hibernation this week. tuesday, the bono will be in germany. (reportedly). here's to hoping for a moment in which the bono inappropriately touches chancellor angela merkel.

the edge (acting appropriately at all times) will (we are confident) be in nyc later this week for the music rising auction and the can-do awards gala.

unfortunately, we are completely inept and out of our depth when it comes to obsessing over the potential whereabouts of the bass player and the drummer, but we have it on completely made-up good authority that the mullen junior refuses to leave his compound until he has finished counting his pennies. one by one. and he has about 5,001,234,678 barrels to go.

also:

madonna wants to be bono

bono and edge to score spiderman musical(!?)

call the number on this sign if you want a bono sandwich

bono's cafe. 28th street, between madison and park. the obvious question is: what in the world would a criz-azily obsessed person order from bono's kitchen?

totally related: check out the u2 photo auction on ebay. some very awesome photos on there, and all proceeds from the auction benefit the african well fund.

~ peace

apropos of nothing ...

[mp3]
r.e.m. with thom yorke - e-bow the letter
live, tibet freedom concert, 1998

[mp3]
u2 & r.e.m. (part of them at least) - one
live, 1993. automatic baby is the name that michael stipe, mike mills, adam clayton, larry mullen jr. performed under at president clinton's inaugural ball on mtv.

watch e-bow the letter:



watch one:



~ later

missing an "R" on the 6 train

run easy. spell badly.

~ later

i just noticed this place last night

edge bar. it's on 3rd street, between 1st and 2nd ave. add it to the list.

~ peace

guess who this is; win a prize

okay, so i met this guy for my job and he sings in a band that for some reason has sold a lot of records. i talked to him about a new product, but the product was not music-related.

he was very nice. and he likes the bono.

can you guess who it is?

*hints* if i showed his whole face you *still* probably would not recognize him (that's just a guess), but i think you would definitely have heard of his band (even if you don't actually listen to them). he told me he has lots of skateboards, but that he is not a very good skateboarder. we talked a lot about tattoos.

first person to name the guy and the band wins this prize. (the prize has nothing to do with the above guy).

~ confused?

how did i get here?

how do i work this?

the new kings of leon gets panned by jim derogatis and shocker, it's all partly u2's fault.

505: another new arctic monkeys tune (cool-o)

vorsprung durch technik: u2 kick it hardcore. or something.

ryan adams: bananas, but still a hottie. i'd have to semi-agree with that.

photos of the edge and the adam at the bono’s fake knight ceremony (sorry I’m waaaay late on the uptake with those pics). but they are nice to look at.

~ there is water on the bottom of the ocean

the bono > the double filet-o-fish

who knew?

via u2 east link

falling off the sidewalk

san francisco is in the rearview mirror.

back to reality ...

journey should totally write a song about this place. or something.

i am a freaking tourist. taking pictures of trees. even.

never coming home.

unrelated:
tickets to edge's music rising auction are on sale. they cost kind of a lot.

a very brief u2 3d movie trailer is online. i guess you need the 3d-type sunglasses to make it happen. but for realz, what kind of d-d-dork wears sunglasses in the dark? i can't think of ANYONE. at all.

~ peace

best airplane song. ever.

video highlights - the dishevelled, guitar-mauling bono and the seamstress edge:



[audio]
oh jeannie - bono on the airplane
*uploaded to savefile*. that's an m4a file of the song in the above video. it's from the "outside it's america" documentary that aired on mtv during the joshua tree tour.the poor bono is having no luck charming that jeannie. bonus points for the effort, though.

to get an mp3 of a totally different, but also awesome bono-singing-on-an-airplane song, you should go here.

i'm heading to san francisco for a few days. i've never been, but i hear there is a bridge i should check out. or something.

[mp3] golden touch - razorlight
live on radio 1

and a few for the road ...
[mp3] breakfast by the mattress - kristoffer ragnstam
[mp3] time-sick son of a grizzly bear - the mother hips
[mp3] in the time we've got - one am radio
[mp3] harvest (within you) - clinic

~ be back soon ...

friday night at reverend ike's

"175th street. i told them you wouldn't come. i was wrong."
- albert hammond jr.

i enjoyed albert hammond jr.'s opening set at united palace theater on friday. very much. enjoyed bloc party even more. (someone else's) photos are here.

super-lame youtube video clips from my phone:
albert hammond jr. / bloc party
*albert is playing the fake u2 beach clip song (remember that awesome drama?) in the above clip*

just making the trip to washington heights on a friday night made this an out-of-the-ordinary evening. the united palace is whack. it is part theater, part cathedral and, while it has hosted lots of latin music concerts in the past, it is just now joining with bowery to show rock shows.

"i love money and money loves me."
-reverend ike

united palace, when it is not hosting concerts, is home to reverend ike's ministry. (wikipedia this interesting individual here).the place was once an old-time movie theater, but now it is a place of worship, with stations of "what ike says" signs on the walls.

instead of bars, they have temporary serving tables, all-pta-bake-sale-style set up. long lines if you want a drink. a church without a proper bar? whaaaaat?!

the place is fancy, but old. the seats have cushions (!) and, at about the same time he made fun of snow patrol, kele okereke also noted from the stage that asbestos was falling off the ceiling onto his head. he (maybe) wasn't joking.

arcade fire is playing this place in may. it's really far away, though, so if you have an arcade fire ticket, you really should probably just give it to me. i think that would be best.

related article:
reverend ike opens his palace

websites:
reverend ike / albert hammond jr./ bloc party