DEF LEPPARD REVEAL LATEST SET LIST WITH MIRRORBALL TOUR DEBUT:

Def Leppard kicked off their Mirrorball World Tour last night, 7 June, in Belfast North Ireland at the Odyssey Arena in front of 14,000 people. Thin Lizzy and Alice Cooper were in support. Tonite, 8 June, same bill at the wonderful O2 Arena in Dublin.
Def Leppard setlist: 1. Undefeated 2. Action 3. Let's Get Rocked 4. Let it Go 5. Foolin 6. Make Love Like A Man 7. Love Bites 8. Sav's Bass Solo into Rock On 9. Two Steps behind 10. Bringing on The Heatrbreak 11. Switch 625 12. Rocket (Extended) 13. Hysteria 14. Armageddon It 15. Animal 16. Photograph 17. Pour Some Sugar On Me 18. Rock of Ages, Encore: 19. When Love And Hate Collide 20. Wasted.

In related news, a new re-vamped re-packaged 21 track Def Leppard tribute album can be purchased via Big Eye Music at: www.amazon.com/Tribute-Def-Leppard-Greatest-Hits/dp/B004U0IKZ8.

LOVERBOY HEARTBREAKERS ONCE MORE:

Loverboy recently returned to the studio with producer Bob Rock to record two brand new tunes, which hopefully will be the first of several more to complete an album for 2012 release. But for now, you can at least hear and purchase one of the two new tracks. Check out the killer AOR anthem Heartbreaker at: www.loverboyband.com/listen.html.

Prince Is 53 Today!

Prince (53)

"X-Men" Posts Strong $56 Million Opening, Tops Box Office Charts

6/6/2011 12:17 PM ET

(RTTNews) - With a per theater average of more than $15,000, "X-Men: First Class" is off to a good start for distributor Fox and looks to be set up for a solid box office run over the next couple of weeks. While action audiences poured into see "X-Men," plenty of adults were left for "The Hangover Part II," which continued its unprecedented box office run by hauling in $32 million in its second weekend. "Kung Fu Panda 2" also posted a decent weekend to push its domestic total to $100 million in its first 11 days and "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" continued its dominance with foreign audiences.

Backed by mostly gushing critical reviews and strong user responses, "X-Men: First Class" swept into theaters and earned a studio estimated $56 million over the weekend. After the last couple of "X-Men" releases saw a significant decline in popularity, Fox rebooted the franchise and released "First Class" at 458 less theaters than "X-Men Origins: Wolverine." Even if $56 million isn't a tremendous total for a $160 million production, it's still a decent start for a reboot using an entirely new cast and story angle.
With the fairly successful weekend, it looks like "First Class" should continue to pull in action audiences over the next few weeks, even with some significant competition from "Super 8" and "The Green Lantern." "First Class" is already off to a decent start overseas as well, pushing its worldwide total to $120 million in its first weekend. Though "First Class" won't likely touch the gaudy numbers that some of the earlier "X-Men" releases posted, it still looks to be a successful reboot that will likely warrant future installments in the new series.
A movie that is also encouraging future installments is "The Hangover Part II," the R-rated comedy that continues to draw in enormous crowds and post tremendous early box office totals. With a $32 million second weekend, "Part II" is already up to $186 million in domestic receipts and appears to be the most lucrative release of 2011 so far. Considering that it has a production budget roughly one-third the cost of "Pirates of the Caribbean," the box office totals of "The Hangover Part II" are fairly incredible.
Most comedies also struggle to appeal to audiences outside of the U.S., though that's clearly not the case with "The Hangover Part II." "Part II" is already up to $338 million worldwide and should cruise past $500 million sometime in the next couple of weeks, making it one of the most successful comedies of all-time. The $527 million of "The Simpsons Movie" is the all-time top worldwide total for a comedy, a mark that "The Hangover Part II" has a very good chance to surpass.
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Red Hot Chili Peppers Return With I'm With You

06/07/2011
. We had a quick mention about this in yesterday's digest but here is the official word with more details: Red Hot Chili Peppers will release their tenth studio album, I'm With You, on August 30th, 2011. Recorded at East West In Los Angeles and Shangri-la in Malibu, CA, I'm With You was produced by Rick Rubin, who has produced the band's previous five albums, 2006's Stadium Arcadium, 2002's By The Way, 1999's Californication, 1995's One Hot Minute, and 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The album was mixed by Andrew Scheps and Greg Fidelman.

I'm With You is the band's first new album since the two-set Stadium Arcadium, which debuted at Number One in 28 countries around the world, including the U.S.- their first Number One album on the Los Angeles quartet's home turf. The album spawned three Number One Modern Rock hits: "Dani California" (which spent 14 weeks at No. 1 and is one of three songs in the history of Billboard's Alternative Chart to debut at No. 1), "Tell Me Baby," and "Snow (Hey Oh)." To support Stadium Arcadium, the Chili Peppers played to millions of fans around the world throughout 2007, including sold-out arena tours of Europe and North America, appearances at the Fuji Festival in Japan and Live Earth in London, and headlining slots at Lollapalooza in Chicago, and the Leeds and Reading Festivals in the U.K.

One of the most successful acts in rock history, Red Hot Chili Peppers have sold more than 60 million albums, including five multi-platinum LPs, and won six Grammy Awards, including "Best Rock Album" for Stadium Arcadium, "Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group" for "Dani California, "Best Rock Song" for "Scar Tissue," and "Best Hard Rock Performance With Vocal" for "Give It Away." The band holds the record for the most No. 1 singles of all time at Alternative radio, a total of 11, and a combined 81 weeks at No. 1.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, which is singer Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, will headline at Japan's Summer Sonic Festival in Osaka on August 13th and in Tokyo on August 14th. They will also headline at the Rock in Rio Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on September 24th.

Ozzy's Secret Backing Vocalists: The Turtles

06.07.2011

Ozzy Osbourne had a pair of unlikely guest vocalists on his 1988 album No Rest for The Wicked: Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman, better known as Flo and Eddie from Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention and The Turtles (of “Happy Together” fame). In the second part of his long-ranging interview with Bravewords.com, bass player Bob Daisley said Flo and Eddie sang background vocals on the album, for which Daisley wrote the lyrics. No Rest was Ozzy's first album with Zakk Wylde on guitar.
Daisley also discussed his Living Loud band with guitarist Steve Morse, vocalist Jimmy Barnes (who was once a contender for Van Halen) and former Ozzy bandmate Lee Kerslake. Daisley said an early plan for a collaboration with Kerslake was a Randy Rhoads tribute involving a rotating roster of guests including Brian May, Gary Moore, Deep Purple keyboard players Jon Lord and Don Airey and, in an interesting twist, Ronnie James Dio on vocals.

Megadeth can’t afford to play Big 4 tour

Mustaine explains why cash situation makes full-power thrash giants tour unlikely – and denies taking wilful approach to new album

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Cash concerns: Megadeth

Dave Mustaine says a fully-fledged Big 4 tour is unlikely to happen – because Megadeth can’t afford to take part.
Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax performed together in the States for the first time in April and they’ll gather again at the Yankee Stadium in New York in September after a festival season in Europe.
But Mustaine says fans hoping for a series of Stateside dates are likely to be disappointed.
He tells BraveWords: “When Metallica do their tours they like to do two weeks on and two weeks off, to spend time with their kids.
“We can’t afford that. We do four weeks on, sometimes five, then two weeks off. In order to do the two weeks on, two weeks off thing, we’d have to pick up shows in between – and I don’t know that that’s going to happen.”
Thrash fans had clamoured for years for the four biggest acts of the genre to play together; but it took nearly 30 years to take place because Metallica were never convinced there was a real desire to see such shows.
And despite the massively positive reaction Mustaine remains doubtful whether there’s demand for a tour: “I don’t know that the States are ready for it,” he says. “We’re going to see who things go with the Yankee Stadium, but I think we’ve hit both sides of the nation pretty well.”
Megadeth are currently at work on a new album, but Mustaine is critical of reports he’s said it’s going to be a fast or heavy opus.
“I’m not wilfully taking a set approach to the record,” he says. “I’ve never set out to do a record and wanted it to be like, ‘It needs to be fast,’ or, ‘It needs to be faster than the last one,’ or, ‘It can’t be fast – it needs to be slow and heavy.’
“For me, music is like when you put seeds into the ground: you never really know what’s going to break the surface. I still love the serendipity of making a song and not knowing what’s going to happen.”

The David Lee Roth Awesomeness Meter

Wednesday, 1 June 2011

From the San Francisco Chronicle:
Molded by rock
Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle

More than 20 years later, there’s very little that I don’t remember about my first rock concert – Van Halen on the “5150″ tour at the Cow Palace in Daly City.
I was 15 years old, and drank cans of Budweiser in the parking lot while listening to “Led Zeppelin II” on the stereo in my friend’s two-toned beige and brown Dodge conversion van. Some older dude with a black beard walked up and said, “I’m going to have to give you a citation … for not partying hard enough!” I was so relieved that he wasn’t going to send us to jail, I paid him $10 for a bumper sticker.
Once inside, I stopped some guy trying to pick my front right pocket, and later went to the bathroom during Michael Anthony’s bass solo – which still hadn’t ended by the time I got back, and may be continuing to this day. I even remember the encores that the opening act played. (Bachman-Turner Overdrive: “And when we come to San Francisco, California, we take … care … of … business!”)
Next to the birth of a child, loss of virginity and maybe getting married, a first concert has to be the most indelible moment in a music lover’s life – especially if paired with one of the three previously mentioned events. Forget genetic histories, influence from peers and your relationship with your mother: As much as any other single factor, a person’s life is shaped by their initial exposure to live music.
Did you go with a parental chaperone, or sneak out the bedroom window and hitchhike? How many encores did the band play? Did people boo the opening act? Did anyone in the band wear spandex? Did you wear spandex? Chances are that you can answer all these questions, even if the event happened 30 years ago.
Whenever I meet someone who is super awesome, inevitably their first concert was something cool like Miles Davis at the Blackhawk in San Francisco, or Prince while he was touring for his “Sign O’ the Times” album. And if you run across someone who is kind of annoying or wussy, nine times out of 10 their first concert will be Kenny Loggins on the “Danger Zone” tour.
I’m not a scientist, but I’m pretty sure that the details of everyone’s first big concert somehow get embedded in their DNA. If I were an employer, I would require every potential job applicant to include this information on his or her resume. It should also be mandatory in all online dating forms, newspaper feature profiles and voter information guides. Because I’m pretty sure that Barack Obama’s first concert was something really great, like UB40 at the Circle Star Theater with Fishbone opening. And I’m equally convinced that Rudy Giuliani’s parents drove him to see Ray Stevens.
Your first concert also shapes the rest of your life. My initial live-music experience was nearly Rush on the “Grace Under Pressure” tour, but I didn’t go at the last minute because of the flu. And a day doesn’t go by where I don’t thank God, because while I continue to love the band, I would almost certainly be single and writing bad science-fiction novels.
That said, Van Halen on the “5150″ tour wasn’t the perfect scenario, either. If I was born a few years earlier, I might have caught them on the “Diver Down” or “1984″ tours – and God only know how awesome I would be.
Still, I have some good stories to tell. While Van Halen kind of sucked that day, I witnessed the most epic beat-down I’ll ever see in my life: a scuffle involving maybe eight young teens, which was quickly and mercilessly extinguished by four huge guys in black “Security” T-shirts. One rule to follow if you ever time travel back to 1985: Don’t screw with the Cow Palace security staff.
I was also at the concert where Sammy Hagar, angry at Chronicle senior pop music critic Joel Selvin’s accurately negative review, read the critic’s phone number to the audience – the one part of the evening that I only vaguely remember. No big surprise, Joel remembers that event pretty vividly. There’s no way I can do the story justice, so we’ll just have to hope he writes it himself some day.
The David Lee Roth Awesomeness Meter:

Working on the theory that your first concert determines how awesome you are, we’ve constructed a quiz, which accompanies this article, to quantify your awesomeness into a number. This is for entertainment purposes only. If you score 325 points, that doesn’t mean you should divorce your spouse.

(Unless htheir first concert was Winger with opening act Ugly Kid Joe at the Solano County Fair. Then maybe …)

Take the quiz and Tally The Points To Find Out Your Awesomeness rating:

Eddie Van Halen’s Guitars Through The Years

Friday, 3 June 2011

From GuitarWorld.com:
In the July 2011 issue of Guitar, we tell the story behind Eddie Van Halen’s Ibanez Destroyer. In honor of King Edward, GuitarWorld.com brings you this gallery of Van Halen’s guitars through the years, from the famous to the obscure, and everything in between.
Click the photo to view all 11 guitars:

Filed under: Eddie Van Halen, Van Halen   •   35 Comments

Search and Destroy

Thursday, 2 June 2011

From the July 2011 edition of Guitar World:
Search and Destroy
Lost Photos Tell The Story Behind Eddie Van Halen’s Ibanez Destroyer. By Chris Gill
Guitarists attempting to duplicate Eddie Van Halen’s elusive brown sound on Van Halen’s debut album have gone to great lengths to build replicas of his trademark black-and-white Frankenstein guitar, but many overlook the fact that Eddie recorded about half of the album with an Ibanez Destroyer. The fat, ballsy tone of this mid-Seventies Gibson Explorer copy is heard on “Runnin’ with the Devil,” “You Really Got Me,” “Jamie’s Cryin’,” Feel Your Love Tonight” and “On Fire.”
The Destroyer allowed Ed to create sound effects that he couldn’t produce on the Frankenstein, such as the high-pitched metallic scrape on the “Runnin’ with the Devil” intro (performed by swiping the strings between the bridge and stop tailpiece) and the stuttering effect on the solo to “You Really Got Me” (produced by setting the neck pickup volume at “0″ and flicking the pickup selector switch).
Eddie drastically modified his Destroyer shortly after recording Van Halen by cutting a large V-shaped chunk out of the body below the bridge. While Ed loved the guitar’s new look (nicknamed “the Shark”), the experiment adversely affected the guitar’s tone.
Recently unearthed color photos of Van Halen performing at the Starwood Night Club in Hollywood in January 1977- taken by noted rock photographer Marvin Rinnig- reveal that Ed had made minor modifications to the guitar before recording Van Halen. While the Destroyer shipped with a clear, light-amber finish that made its Sen (Japanese ash) body look like Korina, Ed had the body, neck and headstock painted white. He also replaced the Gibson-style “top hat” knobs with knobs from a Stratocaster and swapped the original chrome-plated bridge for a gold-plated unit. The chrome-covered pickups appear to be stock, which suggests that the secret to Van Halen’s sound was more about his fingers and not some magical Gibson PAF humbucker.

Memories Of Opening For Van Halen In The Early Years

Saturday, 4 June 2011

Here’s an interesting story written about a band called the Granati Brothers and their experiences on tour with Van Halen. They were Van Halen’s opening act for many concerts in 1979 and 1981.

From PittsburghLive.com:
Van Halen’s devotion to music reaches far and wide

By Regis Behe, TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Spandex. Brown M&Ms. A revolving door of lead singers.These are some of the things that come to mind when Van Halen is mentioned.
But Rick Granati of the Granati Brothers has a different, more atypical view. He and his siblings — Dave, Hermie and Joey — toured with Van Halen in 1979 and 1981, and stay in touch with brothers Alex and Eddie.
“They’re actually just wonderful people,” Rick Granati says. “Eddie is a sensitive, deep person who is totally devoted to music.”
The Van Halens and the Granatis — by name alone sounding like a couple of Shakespearean street gangs — met in 1979. The Beaver County siblings were in Los Angeles, opening for the New Wave Brit band the Fabulous Poodles at the Whiskey A Go-Go when they were tabbed to open Van Halen shows in Pocatello, Idaho, and Logan, Utah.
The Granatis showed up in a van. The Van Halens had two large tour buses. The Granatis were experts at pitch-perfect pop and rock harmonies. Van Halen made music that seared the flesh of weaker human beings.
The Granatis collectively thought they were in over their heads. But the first night in Pocatello, the crowd demanded an encore. Being the opening act, they were reluctant to go back onstage. Noel Monk, then Van Halen’s production coordinator and later manager, told them to go back on, and made sure Eddie Van Halen was aware of what was happening. Intrigued, Eddie invited the Granatis on the rest of the tour.
“They treated us as equals, like we were their brothers,” Rick Granati says. “They made sure we had a sound check and never shorted us with the amount of stage available to us.”
The Granatis would meet up with Van Halen again in 1981 when the Fair Warning Tour came to Pittsburgh at the then-Civic Arena. They assumed the Van Halens would ignore them.
“But when Eddie saw us, he said, ‘Hey,’ grabbed us and gave us a big group hug,” Rick Granati says. “After the show, we ended up hanging out until five in the morning.”
Eddie Van Halen also promised he would do something for the band, which had just lost its recording contract. Thinking Van Halen would help them get another deal, the Granatis were stunned when, a few days later, they were asked to join the Fair Warning Tour in Philadelphia for the remaining 48 dates.
The Granatis ended up being confidantes (and yes, partners in mayhem) with the Van Halen crew. Rick Granati remembers visiting Eddie in the ’90s at his lavish home in Los Angeles during recording sessions.
“He puts so much pressure on himself,” Granati says. “He told me, ‘I’m a prisoner of my success. I can’t walk down the street, I can’t take my son to McDonald’s or Disneyland. I’m thrilled everyone likes my music, but everybody wants something from (me).’”
In 1985, the Granatis were among the first to learn that the Van Halens were replacing lead singer David Lee Roth with Sammy Hagar. They protested, telling Eddie, “you can’t do that; you’re the Led Zeppelin of our generation.” But the Van Halens were fed up with Roth’s antics and side projects and wanted to move ahead with the band.
Shortly after, Roth came to Pittsburgh with a new band that included guitarist Steve Vai. He hooked up with the Granatis and made a startling confession.
“He said he’d made the biggest mistake of his life,” Rick Granati recalls. “He said, ‘You guys get along with Eddie and Alex. You gotta tell them I want back in the band.’”
But when the Granatis relayed the message a few weeks later, the Van Halens were not amused, happy or inclined to say anything favorable about Roth.
“They erupted,” Rick Granati says, saying they went on for 20 minutes about their displeasure with Roth.
“And now, they’re finally back together,” Granati adds with a laugh. “It only took 22, 23 years.”
While those days are in the past, the Granatis still have the rock ‘n’ roll bug. They are currently working with Peter Bennett, a promoter who worked with the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, on a Beatles tribute show scheduled for October at the Lincoln Park Performance Arts Center in Midland.
It’s like the debate in the old Miller Lite commercials. But instead of “tastes great” or “less filling,” Van Halen fans often are divided among which lead singer was better, David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar. But no matter which Van Halen singer is at the mic, the group did exert an influence on musicians who bought into Roth’s theory that “there’s a little Van Halen in all of us.”
Here is their take on the band:
• Mark Scheer, Five Star Dive
“The first time I saw Van Halen, I was 16. I went to see them with Black Sabbath at the Civic Arena. Van Halen had that first album, and they opened the show. … I was there to see Black Sabbath, but they were just heads and tails above Black Sabbath at that time (in 1978). They were just the epitome of fun. I saw them a couple of times after that, and they were still a fun band.”
• Chip DiMonick, Chip DiMonick Band
“Van Halen was one of the first bands that I discovered that made me want to play music. In this town with all the classic-rock stations, you couldn’t escape them. … Looking back through my eyes today, what I always liked about them was that they weren’t afraid to be over the top, from David Lee’s bottom-less pants to Eddie flying on a harness playing guitar. They wanted to be larger than life; they weren’t scared to take chances or look ridiculous. They always made it fun for fans. … In the ’80s, when you thought of guitar, you thought of Eddie Van Halen. He defined a decade of how you play guitar. People did it faster and cleaner than he did, but it was based on him and the big shift he brought to music.
• Mike Oncea, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Five Star Dive
“They are staples, required learning, when you decide you want to pick up an instrument. If you’re going to go out and get in front of people and play, you’re going to be doing ‘You Really Got Me’ and all the other staples of Van Halen. That’s just so much a part of everyday life. And they continue to reinvent themselves. They’re still playing today. And they’re still current. And they still have problems.”
• Dave Wheeler, guitarist, Magic Wolf
“They’re probably one of my favorite bands; they do everything I like, and I’ve always liked David Lee Roth. … A lot of the early albums were almost like punk rock. They were half an hour long, nine or 10 songs, two or three minutes long. They have a direct influence on my playing, although I’m nowhere near the guitarist Eddie Van Halen is. … Eddie has really good taste; he can play pretty much anything he wants to play. A lot of their songs don’t have guitar solos, but they have really good rhythm parts. There’s a really good tone to his playing, and you know it’s a Van Halen song when you hear the opening notes. … What I’ve learned from him is that, because I can’t play like him, I have to be a lot more creative; I have to try harder. And even though he can do anything he wants, he’s still creative. Sometime you go stale if you’re a genius; you turn into a stupid metal guitar player, but not Eddie.”

Steven Adler: ‘GN’R Owes It to the Fans to Do a Reunion Tour’

06.06.2011

According to Blabbermouth, former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler recently appeared on the Matt Kissane Show, discussing the possibility of a reunion of the classic Appetite for Destruction-era lineup of Guns N’ Roses.
"I always say, as long as the five of us are alive, it could happen,” Adler said. “But now I'm gonna turn that around and say, as long as God is alive, I think it will happen. And the most important thing is GN'R owes it to the fans to do a reunion tour.”
In a separate interview with The Jewish Chronicle, Adler said that he hopes frontman Axl Rose and guitarist Slash can put their differences behind them.
“Why do you think we were so successful?” he mused. “Because it was the five of us. We had something special. We had a bond. No matter how much (expletive) there's been all these years, there's one thing that Axl and his lawyers can never take away, and that's that we were five brothers who achieved the goals we had since before we were teenagers. And what do brothers do best? They fight with each other! I don't hate them now. My wounds are healed. It's a shame that Axl and Slash won't talk. Every day they don't talk is a day that magic isn't being created. Even if we just did one tour, one record, one song together—the gods want to hear it.”

Sebastian Bach: "I just signed my divorce papers!"

Friday, 03 June 2011

I am not a number, I am a free man.   Looks like Baz is a free man. A free man now residing in Los Angeles. Word on the street is that Baz is out and about. Everywhere. He's at the Rainbow, he's at House of Blues jamming with Steel Panther, and even eating at El Compadre! He's giving fans a virtual day by day, play by play on his new life.  Check him out on TWITTER and see what he tweeted yestersay about being divorced & his new CD. Sebastian Bach: I love Mastering! Tom Baker is making th CD sound amazing! Figures on the last day of the record i just signed my divorce papers. #DoneDeal

Bret Michaels doesn't understand "Negative stuff" from Nikki Sixx:

Bret & Nikki back in the day hanging as buddies!

Bret Michaels says that he doesn't understand why MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist Nikki Sixx continues to say "negative stuff" about the POISON singer and insists that the two bands could have "a great tour" if Sixx and his bandmates would just "put [their personal] feelings aside."

When asked by The Birmingham News if MÖTLEY CRÜE and POISON even like each other considering everything that has been said between the two camps in the past, Michaels said, "I want to make it very clear. I'm not a grudge guy, ever. They have said a lot of negative stuff about POISON. [MÖTLEY CRÜE singer] Vince [Neil] has toured with me and we've ridden motorcycles together. Nikki and [drummer] Tommy [Lee] have said a lot of negative things about a lot of people, and I was one of them.

"I don't know what the rhyme or reason is," Michaels continued. "I like some of their music. Fans want the [upcoming MÖTLEY CRÜE and POISON] tour [which is scheduled to kick off on June 7]. I think it could be a great tour for fans if we could just put our feelings aside. I think we can have a great time.

Michaels recently responded to Sixx's "trash-talking," insisting that the MÖTLEY CRÜE bassist did, in fact, apologize to the POISON singer for saying "a lot of bad crap" about Bret's band.

In an interview with The Arizona Republic, Michaels claimed that Sixx said he was "really sorry" about some negative comments his MÖTLEY CRÜE bandmates made about POISON. A few days later, Sixx took to his personal Twitter page in order to "clarify" that he never apologized to Bret for derogatory statements that MÖTLEY made about POISON, explaining that what he did say was "I personally never had anything against you guys as a people but MÖTLEY just sorta thought you sucked as band but let's give the fans what they want and go out and have a good time."

Germany: Sprouts likely cause of E. coli outbreak

Germany: Sprouts likely cause of E. coli outbreak

By KIRSTEN GRIESHABER and TOMISLAV SKARO
Associated Press

AP Photo/Focke Strangmann

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HAMBURG, Germany (AP) -- German health authorities say locally-grown beansprouts have been identified as the likely cause of an outbreak of E. coli that has killed 18 people and sickened hundreds in Europe.

Lower Saxony agriculture ministry spokesman Gert Hahne has told The Associated Press an alert will be sent out later Sunday warning people to stay away from eating the sprouts, which are often used in mixed salads.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) - Germany's health minister is defending his country's handling of the E. coli outbreak that has killed 18 people and sickened hundreds as he tours a hospital in Hamburg.

Minister Daniel Bahr has admitted that hospitals in northern Germany were struggling to provide enough beds and medical care for patients stricken by the outbreak. But on Sunday he visited the University Medical Center in Hamburg-Eppendorf and defended the efforts of German medical workers.

Bahr told reporters that hospitals have done "everything necessary" to help their patients.

One E. coli survivor told The Associated Press, however, that sanitary conditions at that hospital were horrendous when she arrived with cramps and bloody diarrhea.

German researchers have been unable to pinpoint exactly where or what food was responsible for the deadly outbreak.

Journey On Tour

Journey Adds Funk To Summer Set List 6/4/2011 10:43 PM ET Journey are currently on their summer tour and are in the process of figuring out how to slip in some of their new songs during their upcoming tour dates. Guitarist Neal Schon recently told ultimateclassicrock.com what songs they chose for their summer set list. "We have the greatest hits - we have to play that every night," he said. "Where do we find room to stick more of this new stuff in our set, when we have an hour-and-a-half to play?"

COSBY SHOW GRANDMOTHER DIES

(RTTNews) - Clarice Taylor, who was best known for her role as the grandmother Anna Huxtable on "The Cosby Show," has passed away at her home in Englewood, New Jersey at the age of 93. Her spokesperson Ulysses Carter tells nytimes.com that she succumbed to congestive heart failure.

Taylor joined the cast of "The Cosby Show" in 1984 and received an Emmy nomination for her role in the show in 1986. While speaking with the Times, Taylor remembers auditioning for the role of a much older woman.
"I put on a gray wig, a bandana over that, flat-heeled shoes and a long dress with no shape to it. Bill saw through my act. I read five lines, and he said, 'If you're going to go through all of this, you've got the part.'"
Cosby remembered Taylor's performance saying: "Clarice was a hip mother, fearless." He adds that she was a perfect fit for the role even though "she looked young enough to play my sister."

Plaxico Burress Out Of Prison Monday!

NEW YORK -- Wide receiver Plaxico Burress becomes a free man on Monday when he is released from prison.
And according to good friend and former teammate Brandon Jacobs, Burress will not be returning to the New York Giants once the lockout ends.

Burress

"There is no chance Plaxico Burress is a New York Giant after he comes home," Jacobs said while attending teammate Justin Tuck's celebrity billiards event in Manhattan.
"He isn't coming to the Giants," Jacobs added. "He's got options. I would love for him to be a part of the Giants. I don't think that is even on his plate."
Jacobs has placed the Philadelphia Eagles as the leading candidate to land Burress once football resumes because of Burress' friendship with Michael Vick and the fact that the Eagles are loaded with talent offensively.
Both Vick and Burress grew up in the Virginia Beach area.
"I would hate to see him go to where I think he is going to go, that is from talking to him," Jacobs said of the Eagles when asked if he was talking about Philadelphia. "It is pretty tough to deal with all those different combinations. Plax is a Virginia guy, Vick is a Virginia guy. They went through sort of the same things and they got a lot of dynamic players down there. It wouldn't be a bad thing, he thinks, to go down there. He wants to win."

Plaxico Burress deserves a chance to resume his NFL career, but teams should know what they're getting into with this monument to insubordination. 

Jacobs is one of Burress' best friends and has remained in constant contact with the wide receiver, who accidentally shot himself in the thigh in November 2008. Burress pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon. He's eligible for time off for good behavior, so his prison time will end Monday after serving 21 months of his two-year sentence.
Jacobs said he is "so sure" of Burress' thinking "because I talk to him once a week."
"He doesn't think there is anything wrong with the organization," Jacobs said of the Giants. "He just wants a new start."
"I'm way excited for (him)," Jacobs added of Burress' pending release. "He will get his opportunity. I am super happy for him and his family. His kids were over at my house a couple days ago. His wife seems super happy. It is a great thing for him to be coming home."
Tuck, who hosted a celebrity billiards tournament to raise money for his R.U.S.H. for Literacy foundation, is one of several Giants who want Burress back. When asked if he will talk to general manager Jerry Reese and ownership about a Burress reunion once the lockout ends, Tuck said he will continue what he started before the lockout began.
"I'm already campaigning," Tuck said prior to Jacobs' comments about Burress being unlikely to return to the Giants. "I was campaigning before the lockout started. I will say this much, go back and see what our record was when he shot himself and how devastating our offense was. You had to take a safety out of the box (against him). With our O-line and our running game, that opens up a lot of stuff. I'm excited. I hope we can get No. 17 back to Giants Stadium."

“ Plax is a Virginia guy, Vick is a Virginia guy. They went through sort of the same things and (the Eagles) got a lot of dynamic players down there. It wouldn't be a bad thing, he thinks, to go (to Philadelphia). He wants to win."
” -- Brandon Jacobs, pictured

The Giants were 10-1 in 2008 before Burress shot himself that Nov. 28. The Giants made the postseason that year but have not been back since.
Tuck thinks the Giants and Burress make a lot of sense in 2011.
"I would think it is somewhere he would be comfortable, he knows everybody there and he knows the system," said Tuck, who also is friends with Burress. "He had great chemistry with Eli (Manning) and he has a lot of friends on this team and a team that wants him here. I am sure there are going to be a lot of teams that will want him."
"I can't speak for Plaxico," Tuck added. "He has a mind of his own and he knows what he wants to do. Coming from the captain of the New York Giants, I would love to have Plaxico back here in Giants blue."
Jacobs would love to convince Burress to return to the Giants but the running back mentioned his own uncertain future. Jacobs is under contract for two more seasons and will earn $4.65 million in 2011 and $4.9 million in 2012.
The Giants also want to re-sign starting running back Ahmad Bradshaw, who will either be a restricted or unrestricted free agent. Keeping both running backs could be difficult if the Giants have to give Bradshaw a big contract.
"If I knew where I would be next year, if I knew for a fact that I would be around -- no one knows anything now -- I would be trying to talk (Burress) into it," said Jacobs, who wants to return to the Giants and play with Bradshaw and Burress. "He wants to explore his options."
Ohm Youngmisuk covers the Giants for ESPNNewYork.com. Follow him on Twitter.

Pink Gives Birth To Baby Girl

 

LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Pink now has a little one to swaddle in pink!
The singer, whose real name is Alecia Beth Moore, gave birth to a daughter on Thursday and announced the news via Twitter.
“We are ecstatic to welcome our new beautiful healthy happy baby girl, Willow Sage Hart. She’s gorgeous, just like her daddy. #beyondblessed,” Pink Tweeted referring to husband Carey Hart.
On Wednesday she sent a vague message to her Twitter followers, writing, “New Moon in Gemini today :) a good time to start something new…. Also called the Honey Moon. #intoit,”
As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Pink believes her husband will make an excellent father.
“[Carey] is so excited,” Pink told Access Hollywood’s Billy Bush in a November 2010 interview. “He’s wanted to be a dad since – I mean, we’ve been together nine years on and off, and he brought it up two weeks after we met. So, he’s wonderful.
“He’s going to be a really, really cute daddy,” she added.
Pink confirmed her pregnancy on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on November 15, telling the talk show host, “I’m eating for two these days.”
Baby Willow is the couple’s first child. Pink and Carey first met in 2001 and wed in 2006. They separated in 2008 and in February 2010 announced they were together again.

Two-time Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards indicted

View Photo Gallery —  Former Sen. John Edwards launched his second bid for the presidency in Dec. 2006. In launching his 2008 bid, Edwards returned to the issue of poverty in America, using New Orleans as a backdrop to underscore his message that the prosperity of the 1990s did not reach every citizen or community.

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By Jerry Markon, Updated: Friday, June 3, 10:50 AM

Former vice presidential nominee John Edwards was indicted Friday on federal campaign finance charges for allegedly using campaign donations to conceal an extramarital affair while he was running for president in 2008.
The case of USA v. Johnny Reid Edwards contains six counts, including conspiracy, four counts of illegal campaign contributions and one count of false statements.

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The indictment was returned in the Middle District of North Carolina Friday, after plea negotiations between lawyers for Edwards and the Justice Department did not produce an agreement, people familiar with the talks said.
A federal grand jury had been examining Edwards’s role in funneling money from political donors to a former campaign aide, Rielle Hunter, allegedly to cover up an extramarital affair the two had while Edwards was a campaigning for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
Edwards’s Washington-based attorney, Gregory Craig, flew to North Carolina on Thursday as the indictment loomed, to consult with Edwards, a former North Carolina senator.
Justice Department officials declined to comment.
People familiar with the probe have said that Edwards, whose once-promising career was destroyed by the exposure of his affair with Hunter, had considered negotiating a plea agreement because, as a single father, he wanted to put the matter behind him. His estranged wife, Elizabeth Edwards, died of breast cancer in December, leaving behind a grown daughter and two middle-school-age children.
The federal investigation has been underway since at least early 2009, when Edwards confirmed that political groups linked to him were among the potential targets of a probe into his finances.
Individuals familiar with the probe have said that investigators are focusing on whether money paid to Hunter and former Edwards campaign aide Andrew Young constituted campaign donations, since the funds helped Edwards’s presidential campaign by keeping the affair secret.
Asked why no plea agreement had been reached, one of the people familiar with the discussions indicated that Edward, the Democratic Party’s 2004 vice presidential nominee, was not willing to go as far as prosecutors were insisting he should in accepting criminal culpability.
Lawyers for Edwards have indicated that they will vigorously fight any charges. Craig, a former White House counsel for President Obama, issued a statement last week strongly denying any illegal activity by Edwards and accusing prosecutors of exaggerating the strength of the allegations.
“John Edwards has done wrong in his life — and he knows it better than anyone — but he did not break the law,” Craig wrote. “The Justice Department has wasted millions of dollars and thousands of hours on a matter more appropriately a topic for the Federal Election Commission to consider, not a criminal court.”
A criminal trial for Edwards — a one-time trial lawyer legendary in North Carolina for his courtroom skills — would mark an extraordinary step in the downfall of a politician once seen as brimming with potential.
Hunter was a videographer for Edwards’s 2008 presidential campaign. He initially denied that he had fathered a child with her. In January 2010, Edwards admitted to being the father of Hunter’s daughter, Quinn. Shortly afterward, he separated from his wife, also a prominent Democratic activist.
A trial would feature a high-stakes legal showdown between Craig, President Obama’s former White House counsel, and the Obama Justice Department. Some experts on campaign finance law have said this week that the government’s case may be difficult to prove.

Martin Scorsese Possibly Directing Taylor-Burton Love Affair Film

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martin Scorsese Possibly Directing Taylor-Burton Love Affair Film

6/2/2011 3:29 PM ET

Martin Scorsese is tipped to direct a movie about the Elizabeth Taylor-Richard Burton love story. The film is set to be based on the book "Furious Love," scripted by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger. Paramount Pictures is currently finalizing a development deal, with Julie Yorn, Gary Foster and Russ Krasnoff, who are expected to co-produce. The film would focus on the tempestuous love story between Taylor and Burton, who married and divorced each other twice.