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13 May 2011 10:18

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Culture: Spider-Man musical: More previews than any other musical, ever

  • 30 number of preview performances the average Broadway musical gives before opening night
  • 146 number of previews “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” has had so far … and more are coming source
  • » Spider-Man’s retooled web: After the show (a financial if not critical hit) took a three-and-a-half week hiatus to make some changes, fewer screw-ups are happening, Bono’s lyrics suck less, and one of the major characters former director Julie Taymor invented for the production got a major demotion. (The character was once the main villain; now it’s a mere guardian angel.) It’s all in an attempt to fight off the unbelievably high level of bad press the production currently has — what with its record number of preview performances and all. (That, by the way, is due to the fact that the play didn’t have an out-of-town tryout and has delayed opening night SIX TIMES.)
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

13 Feb 2011 11:33

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Politics: U2’s Bono steps into South African “Shoot the Boer” controversy

  • When I was a kid and I’d sing songs I remember my uncles singing… rebel songs about the early days of the Irish Republican Army. … We sang this and it’s fair to say it’s folk music.
  • U2’s Bono • Defending his support of a South African protest song called “Shoot the Boer,” seen as an attack on white people in South African (“boer” is considered a slur), by noting that the Irish Republican Army had violent protest songs, too! (He sang a couple bars of a violence-promoting Irish “folk song” while talking.) The song is the center of major controversy, with the leader of South Africa’s Youth League, Julius Malema, in a legal fight over whether the song is hate speech or not. Based on the criticism the human-rights figurehead has gotten, it may just be. if it weren’t for the Spider-Man musical, this would be the dumbest thing he’s done lately. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

04 Jan 2010 12:53

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Politics: Bono’s busy schedule: Stop file-sharing, defeat AIDS, save Africa

  • Perhaps movie moguls will succeed where musicians and their moguls have failed so far, and rally America to defend the most creative economy in the world, where music, film, TV and video games help to account for nearly 4 percent of gross domestic product.
  • U2 lead singer Bono • Regarding file-sharing’s danger to the content industries. As crazy as this quote is, it starts out even crazier: “But we know from America’s noble effort to stop child pornography, not to mention China’s ignoble effort to suppress online dissent, that it’s perfectly possible to track content.” This guy is just as arrogant and full of it as the glasses and haircut (and crappy recent music) suggest. He compared file sharing to child porn and free speech. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

27 Jul 2009 14:16

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World: Is an award from U2 Aung San Suu Kyi’s get-out-of-jail-free card?

  • Bono has the midas touch sometimes. Tonight U2 will present Burma’s pro-democracy leader with a pretty special award in Dublin – Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award. The only catch is she’s still in Burma, still on trial for violating the terms of her house arrest and will most likely still land in jail. But, *fingers crossed*, this’ll make them think twice about pulling any major jerk moves. That’s what Amnesty International is hoping anyway. source
Posted by Nathalie Heiberg • 0 Comments • Permalink

19 Jul 2009 00:03

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World: Bono dodges a hug from Bush…and gets congrats from Obama?

  • Bono stiffed Bush out of a hug. Well, that’s what he told the BBC anyway. According to the rockstar, he was at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2006 when the president swooped in for an embrace. Bono said he wasn’t feeling it (or Bush’s policies) and dodged the hug by hopping behind a podium. No one seemed to notice, but when he sat back down, Obama, a senator at the time, whispered, “Nice work with the hug dodge.” source
Posted by Nathalie Heiberg • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Jun 2009 22:14

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Culture: From Chastity to Chaz Bono: Cher’s daughter is now her son

  • 20 years ago, Chastity Bono, the daughter of Sonny and Cher (who, by the way, was named after a terrible movie her parents made) came out as a lesbian to her parents. She’s been an icon of the movement ever since she publicly came out in 1995. source
  • Today, he informed the public that she plans to take it a step further with gender reassignment surgery. “Yes, it’s true — Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity,” said his publicist, Howard Bragman. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

11 Mar 2009 10:25

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Biz, Music, Tech: U2 = Corporate whores for phone-makers

  • Tie to Apple U2 famously was featured in a series of iPod ads a few years back, to the point that many fans tie them to the iPhone-maker. We think Bono should always wear white earbuds. source
  • Tie to Apple U2 famously was featured in a series of iPod ads a few years back, to the point that many fans tie them to the iPhone-maker. We think Bono should always wear white earbuds.
  • Tie to Palm Bono has a state in a company, Elevation Partners, which owns a huge chunk of Palm, which has an awesome phone, the Pre, coming out soon. source
  • Tie to Apple U2 famously was featured in a series of iPod ads a few years back, to the point that many fans tie them to the iPhone-maker. We think Bono should always wear white earbuds.
  • Tie to Palm Bono has a state in a company, Elevation Partners, which owns a huge chunk of Palm, which has an awesome phone, the Pre, coming out soon.
  • Tie to RIM On top of that, the band has Blackberry makers Research in Motion sponsoring their next tour! You guys wrote “One,” not “Three.” What the heck?! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 4 Comments • Permalink
 

02 Mar 2009 09:06

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Music: Pitchfork’s line on the new U2 album: It sucks.

Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

13 Feb 2009 16:14

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Culture, Music: U2 unleashes its juggernaut on one poor guy

Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Jan 2009 11:50

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Music: The new U2 album cover equals “=”

Didn’t Sigur Ros do this first, Bono? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink
 
 
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