El Barrio & other: May 2008

Saturday, 31 May 2008

Will Ferrell to be honoured by UCD

Top Hollywood actor Will Ferrell will tonight be honoured by University College Dublin.
The A-list star will be given the James Joyce Award by the university's Literary and Historical Society.
He joins other public figures honoured by the L&H, including United Nations weapons inspector Hans Blix, academic Noam Chomsky and former South African president FW De Klerk.
Every Irish Taoiseach and President has also addressed the society.
The Californian-born actor, who commands $20m per film, is being honoured for his achievements in entertainment.
Ferrell's laugh-a-minute roles have earned him global movie stardom which began in 2003 with the hit comedy 'Elf', in which he played an oversized elf.
He won critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination for his role in 'Stranger Than Fiction' in 2006, where he played an IRS auditor who suddenly becomes the subject of an ongoing commentary only he can hear.
In 2007 he starred as a high profile ice skater in the comedy 'Blades of Glory'.
Ferrell has spent the past two weeks holidaying around Ireland.

Friday, 30 May 2008

Love Denies Scrapping Album

Courtney Love has hit out at reports she has scrapped all the songs from her forthcoming album and started again - insisting the LP will hit record stores later in the year. The former Hole frontwoman had reportedly dropped all new tracks from her upcoming Nobody’S Daughter album, amid speculation she was unhappy with the material which emerged from sessions with songwriter Linda Perry. But the rocker-turned-actress has rubbished the rumors, insisting she only had to retouch a small proportion of the new material after some recordings were leaked on the Internet. She writes on her MySpace blog, "No 'scrapping' is going on, simply a few retakes, especially since all those recordings were leaked to the Net. Don't assume you know any songs on this album. Some may sound somewhat familiar or even have the same titles and arrangements." She adds, "A few are just precious diamonds I wouldn't touch, but there's tons of new ones which you haven't a clue about."

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Denise Richards Accuses Sheen Of Sending Vile Messages

The fued between divorcing actors Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen is continuing to play out in public, with Richards this week accusing her former husband of sending her vulgar text messages. Richards, who was in New York promoting her new E! reality show, 'Denise Richards: It's Complicated', is claiming that Sheen, sent her vile text messages attacking her father and mother, who recently died of cancer. "Last week, I sent Charlie a text message asking him if he's going to Family Day [for daughter Sam's school] and letting him know Sam was sick with a cold," Richards told the New York Post. "His response was, 'I hope you and your worthless retarded father get cancer and join your stupid mom. Rot in hell you [bleeping] whore,'" Richards claims. "My mom died of cancer. This is what I deal with on a weekly basis." Sheen, 42, and Richards, 37, have been airing their dirty laundry on television recently, this week making headlines over an email that Sheen says the actress sent him begging for a sperm donation. Speaking on the US 'Today' show this week, Richards denied sending the email. Richards told the New York Post, "I don't want Charlie's prostitute-tranny-infested sperm. I have two beautiful kids. We'll leave it at that. I am so over him. He's the one who can't move on. He's disgusting, and he's hit an all-time low." Sheen's rep quickly fired back, revealing that Sheen plans to have the email analysed by experts to prove it's authenticity."Denise seems to be denying the existence of [the] e-mail. This goes beyond a he-said-she-said. We have an offer from a [live] TV show. They will bring a computer expert to diagnose the e-mail and to verify it was sent by her e-mail address and to verify it was neither altered nor edited. Computer DNA — it is conclusive," the rep said. "The only time Charlie has spoken on TV about her, they were sound bites at red-carpet visits or during set visits. He has not gone on multiple TV shows this week."Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers.

Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

Documentarian Morgan Spurlock rocketed to fame after daring to take on the fast food industry in the entertaining and much-lauded SUPERSIZE ME. For his follow-up, Spurlock wades back into controversial waters, and attempts something even more dangerous than a month of eating Big Macs: he decides to hunt down the globe's foremost terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. When the film opens, Spurlock has just learned that his wife, Alex, is pregnant. Using this news as a springboard, he decides he must hunt down the "world's most dangerous man" in order to guarantee the safety of his new child. Thus begins Spurlock's journey into some of the most wartorn and perilous places on the globe: Egypt, Israel, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Morocco. Spurlock travels from country to country, popping into mosques, fundamentalist Muslim schools, shantytowns, army bases, the Gaza strip, and the local mall, asking everyone along the way if they might know where he can find Osama. The provocative question never fails to elicit an interesting response, and Spurlock uses it to open up a dialogue about the people's feelings and attitudes toward America and the war on terror.

Throughout the film, Spurlock comes across as one of the most genial fellows you could ever meet, and his good-natured charm goes a long way in getting interviews with people who might otherwise become hostile when smirkingly asked, "Where's Osama?" Some viewers might find fault with Spurlock's rather gimmicky, stunt man techniques, but others might enjoy his light approach to such a complex and heavy issue. While the film will undoubtedly spark a few heated debates, one thing is for certain: Spurlock does nice job of removing some of the mystery that surrounds the Middle East. He creates a very human portrait of the people, and reminds us that, at the end of the day, we are perhaps not so different.

See Also

Ladybug Transistor

Artist: Ladybug Transistor

   Genre(s):
Indie
   Experimental
   Rock
   Folk

Discography:

Can't Wait Another Day

Year: 2007
Tracks: 12

Here Comes the Rain

Year: 2006
Tracks: 4

The Ladybug Transistor

Year: 2003
Tracks: 13

The Albemarle Sound

Year: 1999
Tracks: 12

Beverly Atonale

Year:
Tracks: 10

The indie pop unit the Ladybug Transistor was light-emitting diode by vocalist/guitarist Gary Olson, a sometime string stretcher and key examiner at his family's forte-piano mill; the group debuted in 1996 with the LP Marlborough Farms, highborn afterward Olson's Brooklyn-area home transcription studio. After a card change which left hand only Olson and drummer Edward Powers remaining from the Ladybug Transistor's original roster, Saturnine guitarist Jennifer Baron and her bassist brother Jeff were recruited prior to transcription 1997's Beverly Atonale, issued on Merge. After complementary the LP, Powers exited and was replaced by Individual Fruit Pie drummer San Fadyl. The group's wonderful third album, The Albemarle Sound, which featured new appendage Sasha Bell on keyboards and vocals, followed in 1999. Both Bell and Jeff Baron were likewise members of neo-psych band the Essex Green at this metre as well as the alt-country turnout the Sixth Great Lake. The Ladybug Transistor's next record album, Argyll Heir, with its indie kitsch stylings, was released in spring 2001. After losing Jennifer Baron and gaining Julia Rydholm, the ring decamped to Arizona to record their adjacent album, The Ladybug Transistor (2003), with Calexico producer Craig Schumacher. More card changes followed as Bell leftfield the band and Jeff Baron became more of a planet appendage. The ring stayed fairly quiet for a couple days as the lineup sorted itself out, and Olson spent clip producing early artists. They returned in 2006 with the Here Comes the Rain EP and followed up with the first-class Can't Wait Another Day, which was released in June 2007 by Merge. The lineup for the record album added keyboardist Kyle Forester and guitar player Ben Crum of Great Lakes. Sadly, simple weeks before the release of the album, drummer San Fadyl, a dearest figure in the indie stone community, passed away referable to complications from severe asthma.

John Travolta - Travolta Cyrus To Duet

American Idol - And Then There Were Three

Jason Castro, whose exotic good looks and sweet personality -- rather than his vocal
talent -- were often credited for keeping him in the American Idol running
until the final four, was eliminated Wednesday night, as 22.4 million viewers tuned
in (13.8 rating and a 21 share). (The remaining contestants are David Cook, David
Archuleta and Syesha Mercado.) While it remained an unbeatable figure for the Fox
show and gave the network another victory for the night, it was nevertheless nearly
6 million below the number who tuned in on the comparable night a year ago (28.2 million).
CBS gave Idol some tough competition with Criminal Minds, which recorded
12.85 million viewers (8.3/13). At 10:00 p.m., CSI: NY took over the top spot
with 12.58 million viewers (8.2/14). In the same hour, an interview special with Barbara
Walters, in which she discussed her new biography, Audition, posted middling
results as it pulled in 7.4 million viewers (5.2/9) for third place.

08/05/2008

See Also

Jeff Buckley

Artist: Jeff Buckley

   Genre(s):
Rock
   Other

Discography:

So Real: Songs From Jeff Buckley

Year: 2007
Tracks: 14

Grace (Legacy Edition)

Year: 2004
Tracks: 22

Live at Sin-e (CD2)

Year: 2003
Tracks: 16

Live at Sin-e (CD1)

Year: 2003
Tracks: 18

The Grace EP

Year: 2002
Tracks: 5

Live at L'Olympia

Year: 2001
Tracks: 11

Mystery White Boy

Year: 2000
Tracks: 12

So Real

Year: 1999
Tracks: 3

Sketches For my Sweetheart the Drunk (CD2)

Year: 1999
Tracks: 11

Live from the Bataclan

Year: 1999
Tracks: 4

Last Goodbye

Year: 1999
Tracks: 4

Eternal Life

Year: 1999
Tracks: 4

Sketches For my Sweetheart the Drunk (CD1)

Year: 1998
Tracks: 10

Grace

Year: 1994
Tracks: 10

Live at Sin-e

Year: 1993
Tracks: 4

Peyote Radio Theatre

Year:
Tracks: 3

Since he was the word of fad songster Tim Buckley, Jeff Buckley faced more expectations and preconceived notions than most singer/songwriters. Perhaps it wasn't surprising that Jeff Buckley's music was related to his father's by only the thinnest of margins. Buckley's voice was grand and wholesale, which fit with the mock-operatic splendor of his Van Morrison-meets-Led Zeppelin music.

Buckley began playing piece in high school. Eventually, he moved to Los Angeles to study music; piece he was there, he performed with several jazz and casimir Funk bands, as comfortably as playing with Shinehead, a loss leader in the dancehall reggae movement. A few geezerhood later, he stirred to New York, forming Gods & Monsters with the experimental guitarist Gary Lucas. The band became a pelvis name, so far their life was short. Buckley began a solo career playing clubs and coffeehouses, building up a considerable following. Soon, he gestural a record carry on with Columbia Records, cathartic the Live at Sin-e EP in November of 1993. It received dear reviews, heretofore they didn't compare to the raves Buckley's full-length debut, 1994's Good will, standard. Unlike the EP, the album was recorded with a good band, which gave the record textures that surprised some of his age New York following. Nevertheless, it made several year-end "Best of 1994" lists and earned him a belated alternative hit, "Lowest Goodbye," in the spring of 1995.

A long hiatus followed as Buckley worked on material for his follow-up effort, provisionally titled My Sweetheart, the Drunk. Originally slated to be produced by Tom Verlaine, world Health Organization subsequently dropped out of the project, Buckley finally began work on the record in Memphis during the late spring of 1997. On the night of May 29, he and a ally traveled to the local Mud Island Harbor, where Buckley ad lib distinct to go swimming in the Mississippi River and waded into the water supply fully cloaked. A few minutes later, he disappeared under the waves; regime were promptly contacted, merely to no avail -- on June 4, his body was in the end ground vagabond approximate the city's noted Beale Street area. Buckley was 30 years previous. A appeal of unreleased recordings, Sketches (For My Sweetheart the Drunk), appeared in 1998, and 2 alive albums arrived during 2000-2001, Whodunit White Boy and Live at L'Olympia.