Jaclyn Smith is alive and well — despite an Internet rumor to the contrary. A rep for the former Charlie’s Angel bombshell has debunked reports that she is hospitalized in critical condition in Honduras after a botched suicide attempt.
Smith’s publicist, Jay Schwartz, tells The Insider that he spoke with the actress at her home [...]
Britain’s Got Talent breakout star Susan Boyle performed in the U.S. for the first time on Wednesday night’s season finale of America’s Got Talent. The Scottish “Hairy Angel” sang her new single, a cover of The Rolling Stones classic “Wild Horses,” and seemed poised on stage.
Her performance pulled in a staggering 25 million viewers.
Determined to start a family, songbird Mariah Carey and hubby Nick Cannon have decided to adopt after several false alarms and more than a year of trying unsuccessfully to conceive.
The 40-year-old star is desperate to have a child with her 28-year-old spouse, a family friend spills in the Sept. 14 issue of GLOBE. In [...]
Mariah Carey has pulled out of a live performance on The TODAY Show’s Summer Concert Series later this month, promoting teen starlet Miley Cyrus to step in and replace her.
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Mariah had been scheduled to preview a few tracks from her upcoming album, Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel, in front of a legion of fans [...]
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Australian rocker Nick Cave has written a new novel. It’s called The Death of Bunny Munro. The plot centers around Bunny Munro, who sells beauty products and the dream of hope to the lonely housewives of the south coast of England. Set adrift by his wife’s suicide and struggling to keep a grip on reality, Bunny does the only thing he can think of: hit the road, with his nine-year-old son in tow.
As their bizarre and increasingly frenzied road trip shears into a final reckoning, Bunny finds that the revenants of his world – decrepit fathers, vengeful ghosts, jealous husbands and horned psycho-killers – have emerged from the shadows and are seeking to exact their toll.
This is Nick Cave’s first novel since his critically acclaimed debut, And the Ass Saw the Angel, which was first published in 1989. The Death of Bunny Munro will be published in hardcover by Faber and Faber, Inc., on September 8, 2009. The book will be sold for $25.
Nick Cave’s career has spanned many artistic disciplines and he is internationally renowned as a singer, songwriter, performer, script writer and novelist. From the 80s Australian post-punk group The Birthday Party, to current legendary band Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and their stunning double-album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus and much heralded Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!, which was awarded “best album of 2008″ by Mojo magazine. Never one to follow the orthodox approach, Cave’s music is steeped in mystery, sensuality, wit and irreverence. His writing career began with his debut novel in 1989, he then wrote the screenplay for The Proposition in 2006, which was a starkly poetic Western set in the Australian outback. Cave has also recently composed the soundtrack for the movie adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, along with Warren Ellis, which is due for release later this year.
Some of the most eagerly-awaited albums of the summer have been delayed, including Mariah Carey’s Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, Sean “Diddy” Combs’ Last Train to Paris, and Lil Wayne’s debut rock and roll album, Rebirth.
Memoirs, which was first slated for an August 25 release via Island Def Jam, will now be available September 15. [...]
Mariah Carey has tried to make the songs in her next album ””live-sounding””, owing to requests by her Twitter followers.
While recording ”Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel”, the ‘Hero’ singer decided to act on the appeal from her Twitter followers, who posted messages onto her page.
“I worked with Big Jim Wright, who works with Sounds of [...]
Mariah Carey has said that her marriage to Nick Canon has inspired her to write songs for her new album.
The ‘Hero’ singer has said that her union with rapper-turned-presenter Nick has given her a fresh perspective on life, which is reflected in the material she has penned for forthcoming LP, titled ”Memoirs of an Imperfect [...]
Words by: Dennis Cook | Images by: Susan J. Weiand
Son Volt/Cowboy Junkies :: 07.17.09 :: Villa Montalvo Garden Theatre :: Saratoga, CA
 Son Volt :: 07.17.09 :: Saratoga, CA |
There’s something so undeniably real about Son Volt. Dressed like workingmen and plying their trade with seriousness and purpose, speaking truth to power and calling out for love in songs that resonate on a foundational level with Woody Guthrie and Gram Parsons. With so many tunes situated somewhere on the intertwined highways of America, a Son Volt show takes one on a journey tinged with strong melancholy and a rugged refusal to be completely ground down by even the worst of circumstances. Surrounded by wine sippin’, well-heeled folks dressed in Men’s Warehouse casual and pretty, probably pricey summer dresses, I felt an outsider in denim and a red tee sporting an Old West gunslinger with the inscription, “If I were to shoot you, it would just be in the leg.” There’s a good deal of blood and suffering in Son Volt’s tales, and even more in co-headliners Cowboy Junkies, and I’d chosen the shirt with care, a small nod to the bands that some of us in the stalls have been paying attention as they’ve built up two of the sturdiest, more timeless catalogs in the past few decades.
With the sun still looming overhead but losing steam, Son Volt played first, setting us off on a trip towards a place that bandleader-songwriter-guitarist Jay Farrar said, “I know when we get there we’ll find mercy.” One of the joys of their music is how it never flinches at our scars or stupid decisions, offering rare blunt empathy for just being human. Farrar rode a thick organ wash, tossing in neck rack harmonica blasts as the band pumped out a sound perfect for rising, dancing and shaking off what cares we’d brought in with us. But, assess stayed planted or wandered the side areas full of sculpted vegetation and statuary. In many ways Montalvo Arts Center wasn’t really their venue, and the conscious foot on the brake that kept almost all overt “rockin’” for the very end of their set told one Son Volt was aware they were a touch out of their element. Unlike the Junkies they don’t have a string of FM radio hits behind them, little nostalgia to draw upon, and thus the material has to sink or swim on its own merits. It’s not hard to like but can blur together a bit, especially the mid-tempo stuff, if you’re unfamiliar with the album counterparts. Still, anyone with affinity for Woody or ’50s/’60s country or even the “Wild Horses” side of the Stones should find plenty to latch onto, even in their raw form.
 Son Volt :: 07.17.09 :: Saratoga, CA |
One element that caught my ear throughout the show – and across their very strong new album, American Central Dust (released July 7 on Rounder), which formed the spine of their setlist – was keyboardist/pedal steel player Mark Spencer who excels at adding texture and emotional weight to these tunes. His steel work recalls the great Mike Nesmith sideman Red Rhodes, and there’s no greater compliment I can give someone brave enough to tackle this most challenging of instruments. The rest of this band – Dave Bryson (drums), Chris Masterson (guitar, lap steel) and Andrew Duplantis (bass) – is no slouch either, making for easily the strongest lineup Son Volt has seen in many years. There’s the palpable sense of shared heavy-lifting, each guy doing what he can to really make each number breath. While everything was played like pros they really caught some air on the Keith Richards inspired “Cocaine And Ashes,” undying fan fave “Windfall” and some of the rowdier numbers near the end, where they slashed and howled like Nick Cave and his Bad Seeds in best form.
“Thank you for coming out and braving the bugs. Have some beers,” quipped Farrar. As brainy and worldly wise as his songs can often be there’s an unshakeable bar band vibe to much of his work, and this lineup plays ‘em with the kinda of gusto that keeps folks from throwing glass mugs at the chicken wire around the stage. Closing my eyes several times I had no problem imagining folks mistaking some numbers for primo Waylon Jennings or Merle Haggard, and, as if to add confirmation of this outlaw country connection Son Volt finished the set with a galloping, too-fucking-right-for-words cover of Waylon’s “Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way.” Torchbearers for rib-sticking, real people music, Son Volt delivered a lovely example of what they do best, whiskey sluggers amongst vineyard tasters but right gentlemen just the same.
 Michael & Margo Timmins – Cowboy Junkies :: 07.17.09 |
I tend to like the Cowboy Junkies best when they misbehave a bit, play against the grain of the pleasant boutique gig existence they’ve carved out in the States. As a fan since day one, I know what terrible things and dismembered terrors lie within their music. While many only regard them as that band that played “Misguided Angel” and covered “Sweet Jane” so good Lou Reed liked it better than his own version, there’s a cantankerous, Flannery O’Connor side to them that’s always appealed to me way more than their more polite offerings. Thankfully, I got my silent wish when they opened with a raw, noisy version of Neil Young’s “Don’t Let It Bring You Down” followed by the run-for-your-life manic blues of “Hunted.” While it’s almost impossible not to stare at lead singer Margo Timmins, proving herself more and more like one of the few strong, self-possessed, classy ladies to front a band with every year, you miss a lot if you take your eye/ear off guitarist-primary songwriter Michael Timmins, who came out of the gate playing like a dirtier, more impolite Kimock – all the seated mastery with more rough edges and dark inking. Besides being responsible for the general thematic range of the band, Michael’s mood frequently dictates the tone of a given night, and he was intense, focused and seemed anxious to explore their catalog with real energy, and the others all followed suit.
A leaner configuration these days, the Junkies had only the core band – Margo, Michael, brother Peter Timmins (drums) and childhood friend Alan Anton (bass) – and longtime “fifth Cowboy” Jeff Bird on mandolin, percussion and whatnot. Together, the quintet generated a rising heat to meet the warm but cooling summer evening, weaving together murderous tales (“Lay It Down,” “Black Eyed Man”), emotional train wrecks (“Something More Besides You”) and a few clunkers (a cover of U2′s “One” just didn’t work on any level). Part of the fun of seeing them in such settings is how incongruous their subject matter is with the bucolic, privileged surroundings. It’s a community that’s strongly embraced them but doesn’t always seem particularly aware of what they’re bobbing their heads to. That’s no dig – music is meant to be enjoyed/consumed on many levels – but I sometimes wonder, as I did this night, what the Junkies themselves think of all the pastel button downs and Dockers looking back at them as they sharpen their dragging hooks and reload their revolvers.
 Cowboy Junkies :: 07.17.09 :: Saratoga, CA |
Regardless of venue or crowd mix, I’ve never seen the Cowboy Junkies put on a poor show, and they were especially pleasant at the Garden Theatre. They abandoned the rough play about midway and went into a few acoustic numbers, first with Margo, Michael and Bird, and then just Michael and Margo, where the highlight was a yet-untitled new one with the chorus that begins, “Hey little princess, hey little pea, come down from your tower and dance with me.” Between lines like that and Margo’s between-song chatter, there’s a growing feeling of domesticity to the band and their work, the presence of kids and settled homes creeping into the infrastructure that’s often been built of bone and blood and hard feelings. It’s where the hope that’s emerged slowly in their work over many recent albums may spring from, and like them, Son Volt, too, seems to have snapped up some reasons to believe in recent times. Taken together, one felt like they’d been given something real, something well worth stuffing in the tight confines of their bindle, as they headed towards the shuttle buses and back down the hill to the parking lot.
What made this bill especially apropos was these are two groups operating only by their own internal logic. Nothing about either Son Volt or Cowboy Junkies plays to the fleeting whims of what’s hot and what’s not. Each band has built indestructible bodies of work and continued to refine what they do live. Sometimes this approach lacks flash and can be lost in all the bright lights and fireworks of newer, louder music, but this is how real deal artists do it. This is how one makes a life in music that’s not unlike the jobs many of us work except they give us the tunes we need to make it through our working days. This is how Hank done it and they should be proud.
Continue reading for more pics…
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Son Volt tour dates available here, Cowboy Junkies dates here.
JamBase | Bay Area
Go See Live Music!
Images by: Josh Miller
Gregg Allman :: 07.21.09 :: The Independent :: San Francisco, CA
Gregg Allman performed two shows at San Francisco’s intimate Independent earlier this week. The solo band featured Allman on piano, guitar and vocals, Bruce Katz on keyboard, Jerry Jemmott on bass, Steve Potts on drums, Scott Sharrard on guitar, Jay Collins on sax and Floyd Miles on percussion.
Setlist: Don’t Keep Me, I’m No Angel, I’ll Take Care, Rivers, Feel So Bad, You Must Be, Multi Color, Bullets, Dreams, Lovelight, Melissa, Daytona, Thumb, Midnight Rider, Whipping Post
Encore: Sweet Feeling, Statesboro Blues
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Gregg Allman has a few more solo dates listed, you can view them here.
JamBase | San Francisco
Go See Live Music!
In 1980, Sotomayor was in Michigan, dishing out a distinctive brand of saucy advice for the Port Huron Tribune-Undertaker.
Susan Boyle, the Scottish singer who became a worldwide YouTube sensation during her stint on Britain’s Got Talent, will sound off on her rise to fame in an interview with The Today Show July 22.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
The frumpy Susan was dubbed “The Hairy Angel” by the [...]
By Yolande Knell
BBC News, Cairo
Hundreds of women of all nationalities sway their hips and twirl in time to the beat of a drum in a hotel ballroom by the pyramids in Cairo.
Belly dancing is said to have been practised in Egypt since Pharaonic times and now it has caught on around the globe.
It is well-established in Europe and the US and has recently spread to Asia. This year dozens of dancers travelled from China for the Ahlan Wa Sahlan belly dancing festival.
"Because this is the land of dance, women have to come!" declares Raqia Hassan, the festival organiser.
"When she comes she can meet famous dancers and musicians. She can see the pyramids. Anyone who comes to Egypt one time, she cannot stop coming back."
Raqia, who has taught many belly dancing celebrities, leads her large class through the basic moves of the dance putting together a routine.
"It’s fun and you can do this at any age," says Ewa Horsfield from London. "You can express your own personality. It’s an individual dance. You just listen and respond to the music."
Many speak of the fitness benefits of belly dancing.
"In China all ladies like for their health," says Angel from Shanghai.
"This kind of dance began here. Here teachers [are] very, very good so all Chinese ladies want to come."
Contradictions
Belly dancing is big business in Egypt thanks to the global market.
Designer, Safaa Yasser Bakr, runs a belly dancing costume shop in the historic Khan el-Khalili bazaar.
She helps a Brazilian woman try on a sky-blue sequinned bra and a matching skirt with a split up one side.
"In one show big stars change costume many times," she tells her. "You need maybe five different pieces."
Nowadays Safaa sells most of her alluring outfits to foreigners.
"I see people coming from France, Italy, United States, Argentina, Spain, Japan," she says.
But in Egypt at large, many experts fear the dance is losing its appeal.
Society has become more religious and conservative over the past generation and belly dancing is not considered a respectable profession.
"I don’t like belly dancing. I don’t like to see a woman half-naked dancing and moving her body like that," says one man on the street in central Cairo.
"It has a kind of sexual movement. That’s why I don’t like to watch it," adds his friend.
An older passer-by remembers the famous dancers of the 1960s with affection but says he would not let his wife or daughters dance in public today.
"I liked the old belly dancer because you could not see a lot of her body," he remarks. "They were very respectable – not like the new ones now."
Enduring art
Dance historian, Mo Geddawi, accepts belly dancing is facing a challenging time in Egypt but says this must be seen in perspective.
"Forget about different governments and religion," he says. "When Christianity and then Islam came the dance was taboo, but people continued to dance."
"Sometimes in public it is less but the dance never died."
For now though international devotees help to ensure the dance goes on.
Diana Esposito from New York came to Cairo on a scholarship to study the social and economic reasons for its decline but has become an accomplished belly dancer herself.
"The first time I saw it I thought the movements were so sensual," she says. "I decided to try something new and it became an addiction."
"I don’t see the dance being done properly anywhere else in the world. That’s why everyone flocks here – this is the capital of belly dance."</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A 360-degree virtual tour of the Millennium Stadium is to be featured on Google Street View.
The Cardiff venue is one of six places voted to be specially filmed by the search engine’s mobile mapping service.
The images of the 74,500-seat venue, both inside and out, will be gathered by a team using a three-wheeled cycle.
Other sites to be mapped are: the Angel of the North, Loch Ness, Stonehenge, the Eden Project, Warwick Castle and Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland.
Cardiff is already one of 25 British towns and cities with street-level images available on Google Street View, launched in April this year.
The Millennium Stadium was a winner in the online campaign launched by Google and the travel and tourism body VisitBritain asking the public to name their top tourist treasures.
The venue marks its 10th anniversary this year, with managers saying it it has brought over £1bn to the Welsh economy and supported 2,400 jobs.
It attracts over 1m visitors a year, almost half of them from outside Wales, by hosting the Six Nations rugby tournament, concerts by rock and pop giants ranging from U2, Bruce Springsteen to Oasis and Madonna as well as speedway, rugby league, rallying and monster truck racing.
The stadium also held the FA Cup finals and semi-finals while Wembley was being rebuilt.
Communications officer, John Williams, said the stadium was a "jewel in the crown of a proud nation".
He said: "Whether the stadium is in use for a rock or pop concert, hosting a major sporting event or conference, being used as a film set for shows like Doctor Who and Torchwood or even as a frequent backdrop to TV news items – in any one of its many guises – the versatile, retractable roofed- venue dominates its surroundings and remains instantly recognisable.
Face-blurring
Google said it had despatched the Google Street View Trike, an 18 stone (115 kg) machine with a camera mounted on pole behind the rider.
The trike is designed to make imagery collections in places less accessible by cars, such as historic landmarks and coastal paths.
Google said it would apply its face-blurring and licence plate blurring policy to the images, which will be made available at a later date in Street View on Google Maps.
Snowdon, Ben Nevis and the Giant’s Causeway were also said to be three popular suggestions but Google took the view these would be "just too tricky" for someone to ride the trike.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
It’s a big day tomorrow. Maybe not so big outside Britain, but for those of us here, of a certain age, it’s a big one. The Jaguar XJ is getting a re-do and is being officially shown to grunt journalists (after a rollout to Jay Leno, some celebs and a few biggie journos this evening, as I write). But this one is going to be a shock for a few. It’s already attracted some flak from some people who can’t quite cope with the idea that the XJ, yes, the Xf’ingJ, Jag’s flagship saloon, has actually cut loose from the design lineage that goes back to XJ6 in 1968 (and arguably, even further). This is a proper re-do. Clean sheet of paper. It’s not trad Jag.
Pictures have been leaked all over the web today. It’s a brave look. I think it might work, but a guy who has seen even more big launches than me has some wise words (see below link to Autocar, where there are also pics of the car). Is that C-pillar and use of crome quite right? Not sure. Might be inspired, might look odd. But as Mr Cropley says, let’s wait and see it in the flesh, in the street.
It took a while for many people to except Gormley’s ’Angel of the North’, a massive sculpture off the A1 in the north of England. But accept it they did.
With my business head on, I wonder what sales prospects for the XJ look like? Tough market segment and a tough time. Will it turn heads? In a good way? I think – and sincerely hope – it will. Looking foward to seeing it tomorrow morning at the Saatchi Gallery.
We all thought her next project was to raise a family but apparently that’s not what Mariah Carey has been working on. The diva will drop a new album titled Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel on September 16th.
Big names, such as Timbaland, The-Dream, Tricky Stewart and Jermaine Dupri have worked on her album. The first [...]
Masterson & Farrar – Son Volt 
Andrew Duplantis – Son Volt 
Chris Masterson – Son Volt 
Mark Spencer – Son Volt 
Margo Timmins – Cowboy Junkies 
Margo Timmins – Cowboy Junkies 
Michael Timmins – Cowboy Junkies 
Margot Timmins – Cowboy Junkies 
