Lara Logan, the CBS News correspondent who frequently reports from Iraq and Afghanistan, has been given the new title of chief foreign affairs correspondent and will be moved from her overseas desk to one in Washington, the network announced Wednesday. The announcement of her new position came one week after she strongly criticized broadcast news outlets, including her own, for cutting back on international news reporting in general and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq in particular, saying that she would "blow her brains out" if she had to watch the U.S. nightly newscasts. CBS, however, made it clear that Logan was not being yanked from her overseas duties because of her remarks and insisted that it had been in the works for some time.
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Friday, 27 June 2008
Monday, 23 June 2008
Marc Anthony - Torres Writes Book About Marc Anthony Break-up
The beauty queen MARC ANTHONY left for JENNIFER LOPEZ has written a self-help book revealing how she coped with her divorce from the star.
Anthony married Lopez in 2004, just four days after completing his divorce from Dayanara Torres, the mother of two of his children.
The rejection devastated the former Miss Universe, but she picked up the pieces and now wants to help others with Married to Me: How Committing to Myself Led to Triumph after Divorce, which she co-wrote with her sister Jeannette.
Torres says, "Until my divorce, my life was like a fairytale. I guess I wrote this book to remind women that this can happen to anyone. Even skinny beauty queens."
But she snubbed the chance to use the book to attack Anthony and Lopez, and doesn't mention their names once.
She explains, "Before I was married, I had my own life, my own career. Now all reporters want to talk about is that - like nothing else matters. I'm so over it."
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Monday, 16 June 2008
Weathergirl Gone Wild
Joe Francis tried to pick up local L.A. weather forecaster Jackie Johnson -- and we don't blame him, girl's got a chest that blocks the first three days of the five-day forecast!
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Saturday, 7 June 2008
David Bowie - Bowie Rules Out Musical
Rocker DAVID BOWIE has ruled out becoming the latest star to turn his songs into a musical by denying reports he has licensed his songs to be used in a new Broadway extravaganza.
U.K. reports linked Bowie to a new project by theatre impresario Peter Schaufuss, but the rocker's publicist insists Ziggy Stardust won't be hitting the stage anytime soon.
A spokesman for Bowie's RZO Music says, "We have licensed absolutely no material written by Mr. Bowie to Schaufuss. We have never been requested to and we do not intend to."
And the insider also denies other rumours suggesting writer Walter Tevis' The Man Who Fell To Earth is heading to Broadway.
Bowie starred in the movie adaptation of the book.
The spokesman adds, "We are close to the Walter Tevis Estate and we have first hand knowledge that they have not licensed the musical rights to Schaufuss either.
"Furthermore, the advertising for this production appears to be utilising an unauthorised name and likeness of Mr. Bowie and we will seek injunctions, if necessary, to stop their use."
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Rihanna likes to wear sexy costumes
Melbourne (ANI): Barbadian beauty Rihanna likes to spice up her sex life by wearing her sexy music video costumes at home. The Umbrella singer made the confession to the British paper The Sun, reports the Daily Telegraph. "I like to push the envelope sometimes. It depends on the mood and the occasion. It's always fun to take some home. Sometimes I get to do that," she told the paper. She also told the daily that she was an admirer of British producers and musicians, and would love to work with them. "I think the UK is taking over. I'd love to work with Mark Ronson. And I really, really like Duffy. She is beautiful, her little dimples and her music. I also like Estelle. She has an incredible voice. But Duffy has more of an edge," she said.
Last Shadow Puppets Announce New Single Details
The Last Shadow Pupets have announced details of their forthcoming single 'Standing Next To Me', due for release on July 7th.
The second single to be taken from their number one album 'The Age Of The Understatement', will be released as both two different 7"s and CD, as well as being available as a download. The three seperate units will each contain different b-sides.
The Last Shadow Puppets will be making their debut live performance at the Reading and Leeds festivals in August, on the 24th and 22nd respectively
7" #1 Tracklisting:
A. Standing Next to Me
B. Gas Dance
7" #2 Tracklisting:
A. Standing Next to Me
B. Sequels
CD Tracklisting:
1. Standing Next to Me
2. Hang the Cyst
3. Gas Dance
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Sequins and salvation: Emma Brockes talks to Gloria Gaynor
In the basement of Gloria Gaynor's house is a disco for one: a porch-sized dancefloor with a rotating glitterball, a bar, a pool table and, off to one side, a private cinema decorated with cardboard cutouts of movie characters. On the wall is an oil painting of Gaynor and a framed letter on White House notepaper from Jimmy Carter's wife Eleanor, dated 1978, wishing the singer well after surgery. She is proud of this room, where the air tastes refrigerated and the quiet of the New Jersey suburbs presses in like a physical force. To the observer, however, it looks like a faded monument to all the fun she isn't having. "Pretty cool," she says. "Huh?"
To people of a certain age, Gaynor will always be regarded with fondness and a degree of sheepishness for the time in their lives when playing I Will Survive seemed a meaningful response to any setback. By the power of disco alone, she lifted whole generations up from where they lay - face down on the carpet, having drunk the liquor cabinet dry, to an imagined resurrection of sequins and magnificence. In the two years after its release, the song sold 14m copies and quickly made the journey from anthem to cliche to drag act. These days it seems dated, its stridency histrionic, and even Gaynor seems to have moved on. This symbol of female self-reliance has retrained as a therapist and counsels women not, as the song puts it, to show their crap boyfriends the door, but rather "to have boundaries of your own and respect others' boundaries". Try turning that into a hit record.
Upstairs, her lounge is all chrome and black leather, with a carpet so thick you lose your balance walking on it. Gaynor is said to be nearly 60, although she won't confirm her age ("I'm just as old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth," she says, grinning) and while she moves heavily, listing slightly to one side, her manner is light and amused - or at least, as light and amused as a born-again Christian can be. She converted in 1982 and while she tours Britain this month, for the first time in 20 years, she faces not only physical challenges, but spiritual and commercial discomforts, too. Gaynor is in the tricky position of being a gay icon whose church believes that her large gay fanbase are going to hell. But we'll get to that.
The fervour of Gaynor's early performances came from a desire to haul herself out of poverty and avoid the mistakes her father made. He was a failed cabaret artist, who left when her mother was five months pregnant with Gaynor. She and her five siblings grew up on the wages her mother made as a seamstress. "I suppose it was frightening for her. But she was a brave woman. Very strong and brave. And if she had any fears, we didn't know about them."
They lived in a three-room apartment in New Jersey, her mother in one bedroom and the six children in the other, bunk-beds pushed against opposing walls. Gaynor was the middle child, with three elder brothers, one younger brother and one younger sister. Did she have to make a lot of noise to get noticed? "No. I was smarter than that. I somehow knew that the one who whispered got listened to."
She only saw her father a handful of times; at five, at 12, 19, and then not until she was 35, when she went looking for him after her mother died. "I didn't like being parentless. And I just wanted my father. And we started to form a relationship. And then he passed away, two years after. I didn't see him much, I was performing. But I was glad I did that."
Gaynor intends to set up a therapeutic practice, what she calls her "ministry", once she has finished an online course in behavioural science. She wants to "help people to overcome the emotional scars that we all sustain in life, the betrayals, disappointments, whatever", with particular focus on teenage parents, who, she believes, throw in the towel on relationships too quickly. "They need to learn that you don't break up because you don't like how somebody squeezes the toothpaste. You talk about that." But won't the fact that she is Gloria Gaynor be a little weird for her clients?
"I think that will draw them," she says, triumphantly. But they might, you know, find it hard to relax. "Are you relaxed?" Yes, but I'm a journalist, and I'm not seeking relationship advice. "One of the reasons I'm doing this," she continues, "is that people tell me all the time that they're comfortable around me. People are intimidated when they first meet me, but it doesn't take them long to realise I'm just an average person."
The other life experience she brings to the table is her marriage to Linwood Simon, which ended several years ago after 25 years - and which, she says, with a mighty eye-roll, seemed to last "an eternity". They met when she was starting out, and he became her manager (she pulls a face at the thought). She now lives alone. With the help of her studies, she can see where the problems in her marriage lay. "Someone does something to you, it makes an imbalance; you feel that you're giving more to the relationship than they are and that's what inequity is. And you don't say anything about it, you think it's silly, they won't do it again, and before you know it, they've done it three or four times. And then when you're determined to say something, they're surprised - they don't know where you're coming from. Why all of a sudden is this a problem for you? They're now focused on your rejection of them. And eventually it does end the relationship."
This might just be a long-winded way of describing infidelity, but there is a bigger elephant in the room: those relationships that Gaynor's particular branch of Christianity doesn't sanction and that, awkwardly, coincide with her biggest fanbase. Gaynor is careful how she answers questions on this. In the 1970s, before her conversion, her background was one of nights out in New York's gay clubs, drinking champagne and smoking dope, which she didn't quit when she started reading the Bible, because "I told myself I was getting on a higher plane and closer to God". Eventually, however, she gave up both, although she keeps Moët for guests.
And her gay fans? "I had a backlash from gay fans for a tiny period. Because they didn't understand where I was coming from. Now they recognise that my beliefs are my beliefs and that I have no opinions separate from the Bible. There are areas that we agree to disagree on. It's as simple as that. I don't have a problem with them having their beliefs, because my feeling is that God gives each and every one of us the right to not even believe in him. So who am I to try to take that away from somebody? I will always try to share my faith with any person who is willing to listen. When I feel a wall go up, we can talk about something else ... and I will pray for you."
In the 1980s, when disco went out of fashion in the west, Gaynor did what any self-respecting diva would have done and hauled ass around the world, playing the international cabaret circuit; and, like an ex-president on a lecture tour, compensated for the drop in status with great bricks of cash. She had other hits, among them Never Can Say Goodbye and I Am What I Am, but the staple of any gig was and is I Will Survive, which she recorded in 1978 in almost parodic, show-must-go-on circumstances, while recovering from major surgery just after her mother had died. "I was standing there in that back brace and thinking of those two things while I was singing that song. It enabled me to sing with conviction." She knew it was going to be a hit, she says, when she performed in front of a "jaded" New York audience "and they immediately loved it". She walks me over to the piano to show me the Grammy she won for the song, in 1980.
We do a quick tour of the house. There is her teapot collection and her collection of "crystal landmarks", including a crystal Sydney Opera House and a crystal Golden Gate Bridge; there is a life-size statue of a Dobermann by the door. As we walk through the kitchen, I see a handwritten note taped to one of the cupboards: "Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels."
The following day, I go back to New Jersey to watch Gaynor sing I Will Survive in front of 6,000 people. It's an outdoor fundraiser for breast cancer research and the crowd has just finished a sponsored run, many of them with the names of dead friends and family pinned to their running tops. The performance seems like a terrible idea to me, the certainty of that song not born out, in this of all crowds, by the evidence.
But here's the thing: after a rambling introduction, Gaynor starts to sing. Women at every stage of cancer treatment cheer and sing with her and her delivery is so angry, it redeems the song wholly from kitschness. When she gets to the chorus, the hairs on the necks of 6,000 people lift in unison. At the end, Gaynor comes off stage, breathing heavily and, walking across the park with her lumbering gait, she fends off fans with a slight rise of her elbows, as if she is carrying something important.
· Gloria Gaynor plays the Shaw Theatre, London NW1 (0871 594 3123), from tomorrow until Friday
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Hollenthon
Artist: Hollenthon
Genre(s):
Metal: Death,Black
Metal
Discography:
With Vilest Of Worms To Dwell
Year: 2001
Tracks: 8
Domvs Mvndi
Year: 2000
Tracks: 8
Domus Mundi
Year: 2000
Tracks: 8
The advanced, genre-bending metallic element act Hollenthon is for the most part the wreak of Pungent Stench frontman Martin Schirenc, world Health Organization plays guitar, bass part, and keyboards, and also handles vocal and production duties for the band. Their music mixes elements of black and death metal together with synthesized string sections and choirs, ethnic/folk melodies, movie soundtrack influences, and more than to create an unusual, however heroic and large sound. The mind for Hollenthon stretches gage to 1994, at which time Schirenc appeared on an Austrian sinister metallic element compiling under the name Vuzem. It took several more long time for him to put together his number one full-length album, which he did with the avail of young drummer Mike Groeger. Released under the Hollenthon banner and entitled Domus Mundi, it finally came verboten in 1999 on France's Napalm Records and standard rant reviews across Europe and elsewhere in the underground metal community, simply it wasn't available in the U.S. until late 2000. The second Hollenthon release, With Vilest of Worms to Dwell, followed in 2001, as well on Napalm Records.
F. Gerard Errante and Robert Scott Thompson
Artist: F. Gerard Errante and Robert Scott Thompson
Genre(s):
New Age
Discography:
Shadows Of Ancient Dreams
Year: 1997
Tracks: 16
Rock the Bells tour adds names, confirms venues
Organizers of the Rock the Bells [ tickets ] traveling hip-hop festival have unveiled additional acts and venue details for the tour, which is being headlined by A Tribe Called Quest [ tickets ].New additions to the event's lineup include MF Doom [ tickets ], Sage Francis [ tickets ], Blue Scholars, Just Blaze, Black Violin, Afrika Bambaataa, The Dirty Heads and DJ Green Lantern.Aside from A Tribe Called Quest, previously announced artists for the outing, which kicks off July 19 in Tinley Park, IL, include Nas [ tickets ], Mos Def [ tickets ], De La Soul [ tickets ], Rakim [ tickets ], Method Man & Redman [ tickets ], Raekwon [ tickets ] & Ghostface (Cuban Linx), Immortal Technique, Dead Prez, Murs, Kidz in the Hall and reunited special guests The Pharcyde.The tour will also feature up-and-coming "electro hip-hop" acts at various tour stops during the run, including Spank Rock, Santogold, Kid Sister, Wale, Jay Electronica and The Cool Kids. The trek is slated to hit 10 stops in North American cities this summer. Details are below."There has been a tremendous amount of artist support for Rock The Bells," Chang Weisberg of promoters Guerilla Union said in a prepared statement. "Every day there will be a definitive moment in live hip-hop history. There will be a number of surprise performances and additional acts planned for each city."Lineups will fluctuate slightly on each stop of the tour; details are available at Guerilla Union's website.Organizers are also taking Rock the Bells global for the first time, with four European dates and a one-off stop in Japan in the works.In addition to returning headliner Nas, last year's Rock the Bells festival featured Wu-Tang Clan, Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, Cypress Hill and Talib Kweli, among others.
Get festival Biz tix’d off your list
JUST too many festivals and one not nearly long - or hot - enough summer to
enjoy them all.
With so many great acts signed up for the summer season, making plans on where
to pitch up with your mates can be stressful. In fact, we’d go as far as to
say it’s IN-TENTS!
But fret no more because we’ve got the solution pegged.
Bizarre’s Musicbiz Ticket Shop has now opened to give you all the festival
options.
Bloodcurdling
From the O2 Wireless Festival in July to ‘Reading’ and ‘V’ in August, we’ve
got tickets available for all the big-hitting sounds of the summer.
With over 80 UK festivals to choose from, there’s something for everyone.
So if the happy claps of the Moseley Folk Festival aren’t your thing, there’s
always the bloodcurdling riffs of the Bloodstock Open Air Metal Festival!
To visit the Musicbiz Ticket Shop just click here.
enjoy them all.
With so many great acts signed up for the summer season, making plans on where
to pitch up with your mates can be stressful. In fact, we’d go as far as to
say it’s IN-TENTS!
But fret no more because we’ve got the solution pegged.
Bizarre’s Musicbiz Ticket Shop has now opened to give you all the festival
options.
Bloodcurdling
From the O2 Wireless Festival in July to ‘Reading’ and ‘V’ in August, we’ve
got tickets available for all the big-hitting sounds of the summer.
With over 80 UK festivals to choose from, there’s something for everyone.
So if the happy claps of the Moseley Folk Festival aren’t your thing, there’s
always the bloodcurdling riffs of the Bloodstock Open Air Metal Festival!
To visit the Musicbiz Ticket Shop just click here.
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