View Full Version : Shania name-droppings...
Pages :
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
[
8]
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
The title of this thread reminds me of bird poop....:uhh: :p
orchestragirl
07-16-2007, 3:17am
Shania-Droppings? LOL!!!!! :biglaugh: :p :funny:
FinnFreak
07-16-2007, 7:08am
Winnipeg Sun, Canada - Mon, July 16, 2007
Easy rider rock stars
Canadian musicians are less demanding than others when it comes to perks
By THANE BURNETT, NATIONAL BUREAU
As divas and rock stars go, Canadians are rather "easy riders."
While top artists around the world demand some crazy primps and luxuries backstage during their concerts -- Iggy Pop once reportedly asked for seven dwarves, American Spirit cigarettes, though he doesn't smoke, and broccoli, which he hates -- the needs of our northern talent are largely far more grounded.
Including a Canadian jazz beauty who, in a booking contract -- commonly called a "rider" -- just asks for space to practise her yoga and some red wine to set the mood.
It's always difficult for music fans to cut through the public relations clutter and noise of carefully crafted images to know what artists are like close to their bare skin.
Since the days Van Halen demanded, "upon the pain of forfeiture of the show," that all brown M&Ms in the backstage area be removed from candy bowls, the detailed contracts singers require of the venues they play have been a bottomless source of intimate details.
Long gone are the days when, as the Beatles played arenas, they simply requested clean towels and a few pops to drink.
Not so for Jennifer Lopez, who has stipulated her show quarters be decorated all in soothing white, and reportedly once demanded her coffee be stirred only counter-clockwise.
Mariah Carey once sent an army of private assistants into the toilets of a record store, prior to a autograph session, to make sure her favourite pink toilet paper was ready on the rolls if nature called.
Diddy just asked that his name be printed on napkins given to him, and Aerosmith once yearned for fresh ears of corn, cooked for three minutes only.
Perhaps no other source has spent so much time pulling these remarkable backstage riders than TheSmokingGun.com, the Court TV-owned website known for its insider well of court documents and government leaks. The site has amassed more than 200 artist riders.
While Canada has produced its share of big-name artists, our talent is lacking legend status when it comes to over-the-top clauses.
LARGE SIZE, PLEASE
American R&B duo, Gnarls Barkley -- who released last summer's hit Crazy -- asks for extra-large condoms, Coldplay has a stipulation that "48 cold, strong, continental lagers ... NOT U.S. beers" be available in their dressing room, John Mayer asks for four soft-head toothbrushes and Krazy Glue be on hand, 50 Cent requires 24 pieces of shrimp, Luciano Pavarotti gets "strong bed boards," Prince gets Krispy Kreme doughtnuts and rice milk, and Canadian jazz songstress Diana Krall has a wish list of specific types of mostly red wine.
According to one of her recent riders, listed by The Smoking Gun, the West Coast wonder woman -- and wife of Elvis Costello -- also uses a special yoga room.
And, it continues, Krall is not to be photographed in extreme close-ups, and gives measurements of the tightest shot she's comfortable with -- 6 ins. below the shoulder and 4 ins. above the head.
"Please make every effort to make this room something special," Krall's rider says of the artist's dressing room.
"It must be spotlessly clean (but without the smell of bleach)."
And no flowers -- she's apparently allergic to them.
Requests for interviews were made to management and booking agents for several Canadian celebrities, including Krall and the Barenaked Ladies, but they wouldn't talk about the contracts.
The thing the Cowboy Junkies hate is not questions, but waste. In the past, they've asked for one grapefruit, lemon, an orange and a quart of fresh strawberries, but only if the concert date falls on a Monday, Wednesday or Saturday.
COFFEE TIME
And who could begrudge the Guess Who, who in a 2001 rider simply asked that no processed seafood please be served. And that a tin of coffee be delivered to the tour bus, 30 minutes into the performance.
"Tim Hortons or Starbucks," it points out, a true cross-over move.
Celine Dion has specific requirements when it comes to the use of a local children's choir, while Canadian country queen Shania Twain has other concerns.
In a 1998 rider, she asks for special consideration for her own security dog which would be making a sweep for bombs.
Then there's also the soft tofu and orange cheese popcorn she apparently loves. Along with 10 lbs. of carrots to make juice.
But it's a two-page rider for vintage Canadian rockers Loverboy that hints at what's often left after the party's over.
"The Loverboy road crew will require the services of two sober loaders," it stipulates.
Canadians may know how to rock, but we also know how to clean up afterward.
No other all-Canadian rider seems to speak the language of this country more than one for the Barenaked Ladies.
A 2000 rider said of any food: "Turkey dinner ... sure! Thai or Indian ... absolutely!!! Japanese ... you bet!!! Meatloaf ...great!!! Ham and scalped (sic) potatoes ... mmm."
But it asked never to be served boring chicken breasts and vegetarian lasagna again.
Finally, a big-time star rider most average Canadians can truly relate to.
http://winnipegsun.com/News/Canada/2007/07/16/4342978-sun.html
Some old info there.
John - ;)
The title of this thread reminds me of bird poop....:uhh: :p
:biglaugh: :p
FinnFreak
07-16-2007, 10:16am
The title of this thread reminds me of bird poop....:uhh: :p
Well, you know the kinda stuff that usually comes out of critics' mouths... :uhh:
...luckily, every now & then, there ARE exceptions...
John - ;)
orchestragirl
07-16-2007, 4:03pm
Well, you know the kinda stuff that usually comes out of critics' mouths... :uhh:
...luckily, every now & then, there ARE exceptions...
John - ;)
That is true. But I think my music teacher said it best the other day. If an artist truly doesn't have any talent, the critics won't waste their time criicizing them. They'll just fade away on their own. No, the critics like to bad mouth the ones with talent, because they're jealous of them. :)
That's a good way to think of it, Julia.
Good points John and Julia.
dreamer
07-17-2007, 12:42am
julia I love that
FinnFreak
07-17-2007, 4:52am
cdreviews.com, CA - Tuesday, 17 July 2007
VA - Northern Stars: Canadian Singer/Songwriter Collection
Canucks are doing it for themselves.
http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/51iZU2gq0gL._AA240_.jpg
By Scott Homewood
It would take much more space than I am allowed here to fully document and analyze the impact of Canadian artists on American music but let's just say it is vast. From chart-topping rockers The Guess Who in the '60's to present day cult bands like Blue Rodeo and Tragically Hip to hit-makers like Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne, and Shania Twain all the artists I have listed share the characteristic of being Canadian-born artists.
And lord knows I am only scratching the surface.
This compilation serves to remind music fans how influential our brothers and sisters from the North are on our musical tastes. The collection gathers 18 different artists ranging from Leonard Cohen to K.D. Lang to Bryan Adams to Sarah McLachlan and puts their biggest hits on display. Like most compilations, there are many offerings to quibble about. You know, like why is this song here and that one isn't. Bottom line, these are some of the biggest hits of the '90's performed by the Canadian artists who made them hits.
Thankfully, the person in charge of picking the tracks for this disc decided to ignore the title a little and vary the selection enough so that several genres of music are featured. Most prominent are pop songs and singer/songwriter type of stuff so fans of those genres will be the happiest. Most of all, this is just a real solid testament of how much Canadian musicians and songwriters have influenced the music we listen to in the US. For that aspect, this collection is very interesting. I would think a savvy label would pick up the torch and run with it, making a many-volume series of Canadian artists who have had sizable hits in the US. Maybe Rhino would be the label for that. Either way, it would be interesting to see exactly how many of our hits have been made by Canadian artists. I bet it would be more than anyone would guess. Pick this CD up and see if you knew all of these songs were by foreign artists. I bet you'll be surprised.
1. I'm Like A Bird -- Nelly Furtado
2. She's So High -- Tal Bachman
3. Building A Mystery -- Sarah McLachlan
4. Heaven -- Bryan Adams
5. Ironic -- Alanis Morissette
6. Wondering Where the Lions Are -- Bruce Cockburn
7. Complicated -- Avril Lavigne
8. Pinch Me -- Barenaked Ladies
9. Walking with a Ghost -- Tegan & Sara
10. Constant Craving -- k.d. lang
11. Life Is A Highway -- Tom Cochrane
12. Insensative -- Jann Arden
13. One More Colour -- Jane Siberry
14. Second Son -- Jim Cuddy
15. Before You -- Chantal Kreviazuk
16. Sweet Ones -- Sarah Slean
17. Suzanne -- Leonard Cohen
18. Kiss and Say Goodbye -- -- Kate & Anna McGarrigle
Time Life Records 2007
http://www.cdreviews.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=1968&Itemid=27
John - :)
FinnFreak
07-17-2007, 8:04am
Contra Costa Times, CA - 07/17/2007
Candidates join youths on social sites
Profile on MySpace, Facebook now considered mandatory by hopefuls who want to reach young voters on their turf
By Stephanie Garry
ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
John McCain has 36,000 friends on MySpace.com. On Hillary Clinton's page, you can learn that "chocolate" is her worst habit. And Mitt Romney listens to Roy Orbison, according to his Facebook.com profile.
Once the headquarters for aspiring rock bands and drunk photos, social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace are turning their young users to politics, and presidential contenders are eager to meet them.
"This is a real coming-of-age moment," said Lee Rainie, founding director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project. "Everybody's in this space now because it's an incredibly popular space for young people."
All but three of the 18 announced presidential candidates have public pages on both Web sites.
A notable exception: former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. His MySpace page is private, and he has no Facebook page.
Candidates, said Marynia Kolak, are simply dealing with the reality of where young people get their information.
The 23-year-old has checked out Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's profile on MySpace.
"They have to do that kind of thing because that's where young people are networking these days," said Kolak, an intern at the U.S. Geological Survey in downtown St. Petersburg, Fla. "It seems like a necessity."
But no one knows whether candidates' online "friends" will show up on Election Day, or how young people, notorious for low turnout, will respond to online campaigning.
Though young people gravitate to the sites, there's also no guarantee that all the users are young.
And the Internet, as a breeding ground for rumors and vitriol, poses a danger to candidates willing to ally themselves with strangers. Candidates also could lose control of their message.
That happened to Obama when a page supporting him gained a 160,000-large friend network. The campaign finally took it over.
"We're in uncharted territory here, so it's hard to look into a crystal ball," said Jen Psaki, spokeswoman for Obama. "It's impossible to predict the future, but what we see out there is a vibrant, excited community."
The sites allow candidates to target groups of people with the same political beliefs. For users, in turn, adding a candidate as a friend is a way to identify oneself, just like listing a favorite band or book.
"For younger people, life is about identity creation," Rainie said.
Candidates try to blend in with the social atmosphere, answering personal questions about their favorite music, movies and hobbies.
John Edwards has posted more than 300 photos. Clinton asks what her campaign song should be. Top suggestions so far: "Rock This Country!" by Shania Twain and "I'm a Believer" by Smash Mouth.
The sites themselves are launching features to aid politicians in their quests.
MySpace.com has started an initiative that rotates a spotlight on presidential candidates' profiles to encourage political and social action.
Supporters can make donations, although they aren't necessarily tracked by site. And they can place a banner, which looks like an ad, on their personal pages.
MySpace, which had 66 million unique U.S. visitors in April, calls them the yard signs of the 21st century.
When Facebook recently allowed users to design their own features for their profiles, the Obama campaign jumped on board, making a tool that displays campaign updates and connects users with their friends in early primary states.
About 15,000 people have subscribed.
And YouTube, another site with social interactive features, in May launched You Choose '08 Spotlight, which posts videos of candidate interviews.
The key for candidates, however, is to turn their online presence into action, said Julie Barko Germany, deputy director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at George Washington University.
"You have to find some sort of way to get them involved," she said.
For the midterm elections in November, Facebook allowed users to pick candidates and causes to add to their profiles.
Chris Kelly, Facebook's vice president, said the site helped spike youth turnout for the midterms. About 24 percent of those 18 to 29 years old voted in 2006, the highest percentage in at least 20 years, according to pollsters.
"There's an incredible potential to drive an even larger turnout increase in 2008 than there was in 2006," Kelly said.
Rainie said it would be difficult to determine the exact cause of the midterm spike, but noted Kelly's assertion is plausible.
Facebook has nearly 25 million active users, who spend an average of 20 minutes per day on the site. The average user is 20 years old.
Billy Schmidt, 22, chairman of the College Republicans at the University of South Florida, used Facebook to coordinate more than 100 supporters for Gov. Charlie Crist last year. It's a great tool for organizing, he said, but it still can't replace traditional face-to-face campaigning.
"Facebook allows us to actually go out and network with these people a lot easier," said Schmidt, whose group will use it again once a Republican nominee is picked. "It's a nice extra edge. It's not the be-all end-all."
Still, Republican Mitt Romney's campaign has tried to use the Web to overcome lagging name recognition, said Stephen Smith, director of online communications for the former Massachusetts governor.
In March, the campaign used Facebook to rally volunteers for a meeting of conservative activists during which Romney won the straw poll.
"The likelihood of you shaking a candidate's hand is small," Smith said, "but through these technologies you have a much greater chance of having a real one-on-one interaction virtually."
Some candidates are sparing no effort.
The Edwards campaign has saturated the online scene with pages on 23 sites. It also has hired Joe Trippi, the former campaign manager for former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who started the online push in Dean's 2004 bid for the presidency while other hopefuls were taking a wait-and-see approach.
Ben Brandzel, director of online communications for Edwards, said the campaign considered the power of friend-to-friend referrals when developing its strategy.
"It makes everyone a more powerful communicator because everyone's audience expands," he said.
But the Dean campaign also illustrated that online support doesn't guarantee victory. His candidacy imploded when he finished third in the Iowa caucuses despite the Internet buzz.
Candidates online
Here are a few examples of what you can learn about some of the presidential hopefuls on MySpace.com and Facebook.com. You must be a registered user of Facebook to view the profiles.
Hillary Clinton
http://www.myspace.com/hillaryclinton
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id500069168hiqhillary%2Cclinton
Trivia: She's a "lousy cook" who likes to speed walk and watch "American Idol."
Her last music purchase: Carly Simon's "Into White."
Friends and supporters: She has more than 21,000 on Facebook, and more than 89,000 on MySpace.
John Edwards
http://www.myspace.com/johnedwards
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id500070705
Trivia: Enjoys basketball and running.
Favorites: His favorite movie is "The Shawshank Redemption." A favorite book is "The Working Poor: Invisible in America," by David Shipler.
Friends and supporters: Has more than 39,000 friends on MySpace, and more than 7,000 supporters on Facebook.
John McCain
http://www.myspace.com/johnmccain
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id724875122
Trivia: Watches "24."
Favorites: "For Whom the Bell Tolls", by Ernest Hemingway.
Heroes: His heroes are Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater.
Friends and supporters: Has 3,000 supporters on Facebook, and more than 36,000 friends on MySpace.
Barack Obama
http://www.myspace.com/barackobama
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id500055852hiqbarack%2Cobama
Trivia: Likes Bob Dylan, Miles Davis and the Fugees.
A favorite movie: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."
Quote: "The Arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." -- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Friends and supporters: Has more than 100,000 friends on MySpace, and more than 89,000 supporters on Facebook.
Mitt Romney
http://www.myspace.com/mittromney
http://www.facebook.com/p/Mitt--Romney/579505643
Trivia: Likes to waterski and ride horses with his wife.
A favorite book: "Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain.
Quote: "'The pursuit of the difficult makes men strong' something my father, George Romney, always used to quote."
Friends and supporters: Has 9,000 supporters on Facebook; more than 23,000 friends on MySpace.
Rudy Giuliani
http://www.myspace.com/joinrudy2008
Doesn't have public profiles
Joe Biden
http://www.myspace.com/bidenforpresident
http://www.facebook.com/p/Joe--Biden/621825112
Duncan Hunter
http://www.myspace.com/duncanhunter
http://www.facebook.com/person.php?id2342242747
Dennis Kucinich
http://www.myspace.com/denniskucinich
http://www.facebook.com/person.php?id2304053217
Ron Paul
http://www.myspace.com/ronpaul2008
http://www.facebook.com/p/Ron--Paul/732025404
Chris Dodd
http://www.myspace.com/senatordodd
http://www.facebook.com/p/Chris--Dodd/589020505
Mike Gravel
http://www.myspace.com/mikegravelforpresident
http://www.facebook.com/person.php?id2344438391
Tommy Thompson
http://www.myspace.com/tommythompson08
Tom Tancredo
http://www.myspace.com/thomasgtancredo
Sam Brownback
http://www.myspace.com/sambrownback
http://www.facebook.com/person.php?id2643600222
Bill Richardson
http://www.myspace.com/richardsonforpresident
http://www.facebook.com/person.php?id2610375075
Mike Huckabee
http://www.myspace.com/mikehuckabeeforpresident
http://www.facebook.com/person.php?id2354372868
http://www.contracostatimes.com/politics/ci_6394503
:uhh: - Chocolate is a bad habit..? - Since when..?!?
John - :p
FinnFreak
07-17-2007, 9:53am
Middle East Times, Egypt - July 17, 2007
In refuge in US, Iraq museum chief dreams of peace
By Catherine Hours, AFP
BROOKHAVEN, NY, USA -- In his little office at Stony Brook University east of New York City, the former director of the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad has hung a maxim of Martin Luther King: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that."
For seven months, Donny George and his family have tried to rebuild their life in the United States. Even as the radio plays American country music, their thoughts are always on Iraq.
George and his family, Iraqi Christians, are among the scant 133 Iraqis who were allowed to relocate to the United States since the beginning of 2007, according to government figures.
George, 56 and an expert in Mesopotamian archaeology, said that the country needs to take in more.
"I believe 100 percent that the United States should help the Iraqis that are outside and the ones inside who have left their homes. Specifically the Christians," he said. "Both Sunnis and Shiites are now attacking the Christians ... They are going from door to door, ordering them to convert or pay a tax or leave or be killed."
He and his family fled Baghdad last year with just a few bags. A small man with a sweet smile and tired eyes, George said that they decided to go after receiving an envelop containing a bullet said to be for his son, 17, who was accused of blaspheming Islam.
For months afterwards, George drove with a gun under his seat.
The museum had to be closed: it was too risky to go to work. He said that his responsibilities were pared back by the tourism ministry, under the influence of the Shiite group led by radical cleric Moqtada Al Sadr.
Recruited by Stony Brook, he finally abandoned Iraq for this peaceful campus near the Long Island Sound about 90 kilometers (55 miles) from New York City.
"I'm happy here," he says. "The main thing is to be safe. The family is adapting well." His youngest son has just earned top marks in US history class; his daughter has entered pre-medical school, and his elder son is studying digital arts.
He meanwhile indulges his love of jazz, of Stevie Wonder; in his car he plays Canadian country star Shania Twain.
"I really love the people here, there are wonderful people," he said.
He has just come from a trip to the American Indian village of Taos Pueblo, New Mexico, where the settlement reminds this scholar of the ancient world of northern Iraq.
Still, his heart is back in Iraq, his Internet connection to back home always on. The news is often bad.
"Today I learned that one of my students in Basra was killed," he said, eyes welling with tears. "He had asked to be transferred to Basra because Baghdad is more dangerous."
On the wall is a picture of another student, killed in April in a car bomb attack.
From a distance, George's hunt for pillaged Iraqi antiquities continues. For 30 years he has worked at all the major archaeological sites, and is often called upon for his expertise to identify pieces.
He says that his museum lost 15,000 pieces, 4,000 of which have been recovered, mainly in Europe and in the United States. The total number of pieces lost by the country - which counts some 100,000 archaeological sites - remains "the big question."
At Stony Brook, he teaches archaeology, and also a course on the "American occupation" of his country.
"A lot of students knew nothing about Iraq and Mesopotamia ... They thought everyone in Iraq lived in the desert, riding camels and living in tents!" he exclaims. "I told them we had one of the best symphonic orchestras in the Middle East, we had painters, actors."
The war stirs up much debate. But for George, it is not the time for the United States to remove its troops.
"They have to finish it," he says.
But he lashed out at the Baghdad government's weakness and the interference by Iraq's neighbors. He even expressed a wish for a "good dictator" to lead the country.
"Not Saddam Hussein, but someone who feels good for the future of the Iraqi people. It is not the right time for Iraq to learn democracy. Democracy can't happen in one day."
As a man of history, he sees the violence inevitably ending. "But a lot of people will suffer" before that, he says.
Meanwhile he dreams of reopening the National Museum with a grand ball.
"There would be at least 1,000 guests from all over the world, in the garden inside ... There would be a quartet of Iraq national music, a quartet of classical chamber music, and Iraqi food."
http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070717-072354-6016r
John - :smirk:
faithfully
07-17-2007, 1:46pm
Thanks ! Keep em dregs coming:funny:
dreamer
07-17-2007, 8:13pm
lol:funny:
FinnFreak
07-18-2007, 3:10am
Divine, Canada - Wednesday July 18, 2007
The Joys of NOT Cooking
By Rebecca Schwarz
You may have heard of the raw food movement; Demi Moore, Shania Twain, and Madonna are all rumoured to have tried it at one point. Raw food restaurants are sprouting up in most major North American cities, offering dishes prepared with uncooked, unprocessed ingredients. Green, leafy vegetables, nuts, fruits and berries all figure prominently in the diet. Some raw foodies include dairy products, eggs, fish, and even meat—all uncooked.
We like the idea of incorporating more fresh, uncooked fruits and vegetables into our diet, while reducing our consumption of heavily processed foods. We also like the idea of not turning on our stoves this summer, if we can avoid it. So is it possible to entertain guests without breaking a sweat – or turning on the stove?
With the goal of staying cool and healthy this summer, we’ve put together a menu of dishes meant to be enjoyed cold. No cooking required for these starters and mains influenced by Latin American and European cuisine. Try them out on your friends during the next heat wave, when you can’t take the heat (in the kitchen that is). Chilled wine and fresh bread are all the accompaniments you’ll need. So here it is: raw food, divine.ca-style.
Starters: Marinated olives, cherry tomatoes, raw nuts
Soup: Gazpacho
First course: Ceviche
Second Course: Tuna Carpaccio
Desert: Duo of Fruit Sorbets
Put out plates of marinated olives, cherry tomatoes, and raw nuts (you can pick them up at the health food store) for guests to nibble on while they sip white wine.
Start the meal off with gazpacho from Spain. This soup is served cold, the ingredients uncooked, and the result is fresh and delicious—particularly good in summer.
If you like sashimi – sushi without the rice – then you’ll love ceviche. On the menu in South America, it’s usually a combination of raw fish, seafood, avocado, corn, cilantro and other spices. The raw ingredients are “cooked” in the acidic dressing, based on fresh citrus juices: absolutely delicious. Our version gets an unexpected boost from cumin. Buy sushi-quality fish, and tell your fishmonger you plan to eat it raw.
So how do Italian and French women keep their figures? By tucking into platters of artfully- arranged salad leaves and thinly sliced raw fish, topped off with slivers of Parmesan cheese. All you need is a glass of chilled rosé wine to go with this European classic, the tuna carpaccio. Note: you can leave out the truffles!
Serve guests a fruit sorbet for dessert; try a duo of Lychee and Melon-Mango for a sweet finish. Fresh fruit makes a great accompaniment, as does a sweet dessert wine. Note: only the Lychee Sorbet requires an ice cream maker; if you don’t have one, make the mango sorbet and serve with fresh fruit.
http://www.divine.ca/en/food-and-home/articles/c_17_i_3021/the-joys-of-not-cooking-1.html
Bon Appétit..!
John - ;)
FinnFreak
07-18-2007, 9:35am
Walton Tribune, GA - July 18, 2007
I’d be much cooler
By Danny Daniels, The Walton Tribune
If you’re a country music fan you’re probably familiar with Brad Paisley’s latest single about a guy who has a MySpace Web site and promotes himself as much more than he actually is. Not a far-fetched idea at all. It’s like embellishing a resume — only on a larger scale.
If I had a MySpace site, I’d be a Pulitzer Prize-winning sports journalist who has covered every athletic event of any significance for the past 20 years (I don’t want to appear too old!).
Yes sirree! I’ve seen Sampras and Federer win at Wimbledon. I stood beside Tiger (unfortunately just out of camera range) when he slipped on his first green jacket. I was in the Braves’ clubhouse in ‘95 after they beat Cleveland to win the World Series. And I celebrated with Tom Brady after each Super Bowl victory.
Further exploration of MySpace would reveal my ties to the entertainment world. I’ve written songs for Garth Brooks, been backstage in Shania’s dressing room, taught Simon Cowell how to make millions by being ornery and was the driving force behind the Eagles and Police reunions.
What do I look like? I’m 6-feet, 4-inches tall with a physique you’d swear was masterminded by the inventor of anabolic steroids. My thighs are the size of tree trunks and my biceps call for the XL length tape measure. My face is chiseled to look like a cross between Brad Pitt and Pierce Brosnan. My teeth are perfect and my smile can light up any room.
How educated am I? Well, I don’t like to brag, but I’m a Rhodes Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa and was class valedictorian at my alma mater — Princeton. My IQ is embarrassingly high and the only reason I’m not a rocket scientist is I don’t see a challenge in that particular vocation. This is why I turned to journalism, so I could share my intellect with the masses.
If you wonder how I relate to the opposite sex, I’ve been told countless times what a great listener I am. I’m sensitive, easy to talk to, a terrific cook and never call on a lady without a hand full of roses and a box of chocolates.
Yes, I’d be much cooler on line. However, in the real world I’m pretty much a normal person. I write about kids, discuss various topics with my readers, work in a great environment, leave home for an enjoyable job everyday and don’t have any trouble putting food on the table. Actually, forget MySpace. I’ve got it pretty good.
http://www.waltontribune.com/story.lasso?ewcd=836ca7d9ac1b5157
John - ;)
dreamer
07-18-2007, 11:34pm
tes very nice
FinnFreak
07-19-2007, 5:25am
Broward New Times, FL - July 19, 2007
Celebrity Death Match
Faith Hill and Tim McGraw get it on... but not like you think
By Christopher Smith
Two married pop-country superstars, one stage, one burning question: Who would win in a celebrity death match between these two happily married musical artists?
Why Faith Hill Will Win:
With hits like "Wild One," "This Kiss," "Breathe," and "Mississippi Girl," Hill has established herself as one of the greatest country music vocalists of her time, even if she's barely sung country since 1998's breakthrough album, Faith. The blond diva is the undisputed queen of country music — sorry, Shania, but you know it's true — and she's racked up — count 'em, Tim — five Grammy Awards. Hill also starred opposite Nicole Kidman in 2004's The Stepford Wives. If she could hold her own alongside Kidman (a woman who survived ten years with Tom Cruise), she'll be all right in a celebrity death match.
Why Tim McGraw Will Win:
First, McGraw is, like, way stronger. He also manages to make balding look sexy by never taking off his hat and, unlike his wife, who has appeared in only one movie, he's appeared in three. Plus, let's face it, Hill comes off as a mindless automaton — so she's probably a scrapper without much fighting technique. As for McGraw's musical weaponry, with songs like "Where the Green Grass Grows" and "Live Like You Were Dying," McGraw has basically owned the Country Music Awards for years now. Sure, his wife has won two more Grammys than he has, but he's won five more CMAs than she has. That's got to count for something.
Who Would Really Win:
Although the odds in this matchup look to be in Faith Hill's favor, if only because she's sold more albums and more people know her name, she'd actually go down swinging if this marriage came to blows. Not only would she be slowed by the three kids McGraw impregnated her with in anticipation of this death match but her best vocal work has been in duets with McGraw, who is sort of the wind beneath her wings. If that's not enough, McGraw will probably run for Congress out of Tennessee in a few years, and that's going to leave Hill looking like the underachiever in the relationship. After the election, her kids will no doubt introduce the couple like this: "This is my daddy, Sen. McGraw. And her? Oh, that's my mom. She's a singer or something."
Readers' comments:
What a stupid bit of writing lmao!!!
Queen of country, faith Hill? Since When.
She is always in a worldwide icon like Shania's shadows and she can't even headline her own tour.
Shania has sold 2 times as much as her, more people know who Shania is worldwide and Shania took it to another level.
Lets sell now, Shania has sold 80 million worldwide with only 4 albums. Faith has sold only 30 million with 7 albums lol!!
Lets see now, Shania is one of only 5 country female to win entertainer of the year and Faith has never won the biggest award that goes to only the biggest stars.
Lets see now, Shania took country music worldwide and tours worlwide in huge venues and Faith Hill tags along her husbands tour in North America.
It isn't even a contest, Shania has bee the queen of country for over a decade and is the biggest and best known country female worldwide.
Comment by bob — July 18, 2007 @ 01:35PM
Did you say sorry Shania in your article? The last time I check Shania is the biggest selling country female of alltime and sold twice as much as Faith Hill. The last time I check Shania headlines huge major tours on her name alone worldwide while Faith Hill tags along her husbands tour only in North America.
More people buy Shania's music,know her name and go to her concerts all over the world.
Shania is no doubt the undisputed queen of country for the last decade.
Quite frankly Faith Hill isn't even close to shania. Shania is a megastar worldwide who had one album alone sell more than Faith has in her whole career.
Comment by Marry — July 18, 2007 @ 01:42PM
As for who would win, it would be Tim Mgraw. He is the bigger star and is the big draw at the concerts and he carries Faith Hill on his shoulders.
As for Queen of country? lmao!!! You must of been joking by that comment, right?
Shania Twain has sold so many more cd's and headlines her own huge tour on her own in massive venues on a global scale. Shania is considered the pop country queen of alltime and broke down barriers and took it to another level.
Everthing Shania touches turns to gold like record breaking sales and now her huge and successful perfume line.
Shania Twain is a household name worldwide and is the face of country music on a global scale. First you have Shania then Dolly who are both international icons.
Faith Hill would be well down the list. She basically tried to copy Shania and failed to reach Shania's megastar status globally. Go around the world and the general public only know 3 country artists, Shania,Dolly and Johnny Cash.
Comment by Smith — July 18, 2007 @ 02:10PM
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2007-07-19/music/celebrity-death-match
* * *
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA - Thursday, July 19, 2007
Weekend Feedback: 07/19/07
Faith is not the Queen
http://www.post-gazette.com/images4/20070719jh_faith_450.jpg
A Feedback writer wants to dispute the label of "queen of country" for Faith Hill,
who performed with her husband, Tim McGraw, at the Mellon Arena Tuesday night.
I was just reading the preview of the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill tour where you called them the queen and king of country (Country king and queen: McGraw and Hill head out for what could be a final Soul2soul tour (http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07193/800890-388.stm), July 12). Why -- because they are married?
Because Faith Hill is a long way from being the queen of anything. She is always in Shania Twain's shadow when Shania is out with new music. Shania is the biggest-selling country female of all-time and the only true global superstar in country music.
She is also the only country female who headlines huge major tours in huge venues on her name alone and that's why Shania is the last female ever to win Entertainer of the Year.
In fact, Shania had one album alone sell more than Faith has in her whole career.
So it is clear that Shania is the biggest queen of all time and the one who has the massive attention and fans whenever she returns with new music.
As for Tim McGraw, he can headline his own tour at least and deserves the title of Modern King, at least in the past 10 years.
But just because they are married it is actually quite laughable how some of reviewers call them the king and queen since Faith has never been queen of anything and fails in success when up against a true big star like Shania, who does everything on her name alone.
Kevin Wasy
Pittsburgh
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07200/802598-42.stm
:funny:
John - :p
They put him in his place. Don't mess with Shania fans
dreamer
07-19-2007, 3:21pm
I Love That!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In fact, Shania had one album alone sell more than Faith has in her whole career.
You can't argue with facts like that.
:D
dreamer
07-19-2007, 11:44pm
nope:D
FinnFreak
07-20-2007, 3:46am
CMT.com, TN - Thu. July 19, 2007
NASHVILLE SKYLINE:
Is Country Music Going to Hell or What?
Let's Look at the Record
By Chet Flippo
I was talking to someone the other day who was lamenting about how country music is going to hell, nothing sounds the same as it once did, there are all these pretty, young, new artists, and things just will never be the same as they were back in the day.
I disagreed. I think country music is pretty healthy and in fact has not changed that much at all. When country music does change, it's a slow evolution -- as in from Nashville pop to Outlaw country to Urban Cowboy and on to hat acts and on and on.
As one bolstering argument, consider the No. 1 hits from five years ago and 10 years ago. In 2002, the artists with No. 1 hits were Steve Holy, Jo Dee Messina, Tim McGraw, Brooks & Dunn, Martina McBride, Chris Cagle, Toby Keith, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Brad Paisley, Kenny Chesney, Darryl Worley, Diamond Rio, Tracy Byrd, Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts.
In 1997, the No. 1-charting artists were Keith, Strait, Chesney, Jackson, Brooks & Dunn, Kevin Sharp, Mark Chesnutt, Rick Trevino, Deana Carter, Reba McEntire, Trace Adkins, Clay Walker, Bryan White, Lonestar, Diamond Rio, Shania Twain, Michael Peterson, Garth Brooks -- and McGraw and Faith Hill (a duet).
Even going back 15 years, to 1992, the list is still not a foreign directory. Here are the 1992 No. 1 artists: Jackson, McEntire, Strait, Brooks & Dunn, Chesnutt, Collin Raye, Tracy Lawrence, Doug Stone, Garth Brooks, John Anderson, Wynonna, Aaron Tippin, Sawyer Brown, Billy Ray Cyrus, Vince Gill, Randy Travis and Alabama.
Every one of those artists from five, 10 and 15 years ago is still around in some shape, even if they're not No. 1-caliber anymore. Garth never truly goes away, and Shania will be back. Alabama retired and then issued some country gospel albums. Billy Ray will be back. The others are still viable country artists. So there is a demonstrated stability in audience preferences. Once they like an artist, they usually like them for life.
Adding valued newcomers such as Taylor Swift and Rodney Atkins to the stable only increases the worth of the country music genre as an evolving whole. So what's to complain about?
Probably the profound change to the whole country music structure and the entire music landscape itself unsettles some people. Charts are not just album sales charts and radio play anymore. They're also digital sales and video stream and online radio plays. The increasing loss of actual, physical record stores and even huge CD departments in the big box stores is disquieting to many. Broadband is heralding a revolution in music presentation and retailing and marketing. It also adds enormous new avenues of launching new artists.
Radio no longer means just AM and FM. It also entails satellite, online stations, HD and more. Mobile is -- at least for now -- the ultimate techie frontier. Getting everything on a cell phone is the new norm. Everything from e-mail to new music to your music library to broadband streams to news and much more.
But it all gets back to the same thing. Content. That's what it's all about. Everything else is just new ways to deliver -- and charge for -- that content. But content will always be king. And if your music content is good, or your news content or your entertainment content, you will always be able to find a place for it. Unfortunately, even if it's junk, there's such a need for content, there will always be a demand for junk, as well. So be it. But as for you and me, let's us stick to the good stuff.
(NASHVILLE SKYLINE is a column by CMT/CMT.com Editorial Director Chet Flippo.)
http://www.cmt.com/news/articles/1565202/20070719/holy_steve.jhtml
John - ;)
Another interesting article.
timminslover
07-20-2007, 2:02pm
She'll be back. Bigger and better then ever.:)
faithfully
07-29-2007, 7:55am
Nice article thanks, :hmmm: sounds as if they are calling her back. not like them they normally diss her:]Maybe they miss our Shania as much as we do, but for other reasons:smirk:
FinnFreak
07-29-2007, 11:11am
Nice article thanks, :hmmm: sounds as if they are calling her back. not like them they normally diss her:]Maybe they miss our Shania as much as we do, but for other reasons:smirk:
They need something exciting to write about - and that's where Shania steps in.
John - ;)
FinnFreak
07-29-2007, 11:35am
Parade Magazine - Jul 27, 2007
Walter Scott's
Personality Parade®
Full text available online on Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Coming Tuesday in Personality Parade:
Why has Shania Twain not put out an album since 2002?
:really: ...this is going to be interesting... hopefully. ;)
http://www.parade.com/articles/editions/2007/edition_07-29-2007/Personality_Parade
* * *
Times of India, India - Jul 27, 2007
Life of your dreams
By KALPANA SHARMA ,TNN
What do you dream of - Abhishek Bachchan or a house in Bali? Rouge asked Indian women in different cities to share their dreams with us.
95% wish to be desired most by their partner
When Shania Twain sang, "The woman in me needs the man in you... ", it defined what most women dream of. There you are, your email 700 words long, asking him, 'How was your day?' and saying 'I'm really looking forward to the dinner... ', and he responds with 'Cool. Catch you later. Bye.' So tired of competing with the TV, computer, sundry other gadgets and cricket matches, 95 per cent of the women dreamt of being the objects of their partners' desire.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/City_Supplements/Calcutta_Times/Life_of_your_dreams_/articleshow/2239369.cms
* * *
Columbus Dispatch, OH - Sunday, July 29, 2007
20 you should know: Country
Cash, Chesney make list of all-time favorites
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/jul/0729_20country_lf_07-29-07_E1_AM7CA9T.jpg http://www.columbusdispatch.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/jul/0729_rodgers_ar_07-29-07_E1_MU7CAUM.jpg
By Gary Budzak, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Audio Clips: Listen to clips of the 20 songs (http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/life/stories/2007/extras/bestcountry.html)
Country music is a still-evolving American art form with a rich tradition.
One could easily select 200 essential songs and still omit many great ones.
So, in compiling a list of 20 country tunes that everyone should know, we picked thematic works by major artists.
Consider the following a starting point, and enjoy the ride:
• Blue Yodel (T for Texas) , Jimmie Rodgers (1928): "The Father of Country Music," who died of tuberculosis at age 35, melded blues and hillbilly music in a new way.
• Keep on the Sunny Side , Carter Family (1928): "The First Family of Country Music" featured austere Appalachian harmonies and the influential guitar of Mother Maybelle.
• New San Antonio Rose , Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys (1944): Fiddle player Wills, "the King of Western Swing," fused jazz elements with his brand of feel-good country music.
• I'll Hold You in My Arms (Till I Can Hold You in My Heart) , Eddy Arnold (1947): This topped the charts for 21 weeks and was covered by Elvis Presley. Arnold had more than 100 hits.
• Hey Good Lookin' , Hank Williams (1951): We changed our mind a few times, but we ended up choosing the Hank Sr. hit that Jimmy Buffett (and guests) put back on the charts in 2004.
• El Paso , Marty Robbins (1959): For years, country was known as "country and Western," and Robbins' epic ballad (No. 1 for seven weeks) is about as Western as you can get.
• Crazy , Patsy Cline (1961): Written by Willie Nelson, the standard is on any good jukebox. Some considered Cline too pop for country -- a refrain one still hears with new stars.
• Ring of Fire , Johnny Cash (1963): Co-written by June Carter, whom he would eventually marry, it succinctly describes falling in love. You should know at least 20 tunes by "the Man in Black."
• Stand by Your Man , Tammy Wynette (1968): Hillary Clinton didn't get this fine song when she slammed it years ago. She quickly recanted and later ended up standing by her man.
• Okie From Muskogee , Merle Haggard (1969): Before Toby Keith snarled at the Dixie Chicks, "Hag" dissed hippies. He got even more belligerent on his next No. 1, The Fightin' Side of Me.
• Coat of Many Colors , Dolly Parton (1971): One of country music's virtues is that many songs tell a story. Here, the brilliant singer-songwriter weaves faith and family into a feisty anthem.
• Kiss an Angel Good Mornin' , Charley Pride (1971): At first, country fans didn't know that Pride is black. Once they knew, they didn't care. Here, he offers sound musical advice for the guys.
• He Stopped Loving Her Today , George Jones (1980): Some country songs can make you cry, and this is the best weeper -- bar none -- from one of the great characters in country.
• Mama He's Crazy , the Judds (1984): Country song titles are an art form, too. In this duet, you might think daughter is telling mama her man is nuts, but it turns out he's crazy in love.
• All My Ex's Live in Texas , George Strait (1987): A wry Western-swing gem from the singing rancher and hit machine.
• Does He Love You , Reba McEntire (1993): Cheatin' songs are staples of country music. On this compelling chart-topper, country's best actress does a nontraditional duet, playing the cheated wife, opposite Linda Davis as the mistress. McEntire recently performed the song with Kelly Clarkson.
• She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy , Kenny Chesney (1999): Country's reigning entertainer of the year makes farming fun. Vacationers should hear No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems.
• Forever and for Always , Shania Twain (2003): Sure, she's slick and she lives in Switzerland (that ain't country), but this is just a great love song.
• Days Go By , Keith Urban (2004): In the 1970s, some country singers didn't like sharing the charts with an Aussie such as Olivia Newton-John. But nobody has complained about Urban. On this No. 1, he's on the cell phone and "drivin' way too fast."
• Alcohol , Brad Paisley (2005): In this laugh-out-loud song, Alcohol makes fun of the people who drink it. Also listen to Whiskey Lullaby, Paisley's sobering duet with Alison Krauss.
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/dispatch/content/arts/stories/2007/07/29/1A_COUNTRY_CLASSICS.ART_ART_07-29-07_E1_AB7CAG6.html
John - ;)
dreamer
07-30-2007, 12:15am
cool to see Shania with those other names thanks!
FinnFreak
07-31-2007, 11:09am
KFOXtv, KOAT, KSBW, KTVU, WJACtv, WMUR, WYFF, etc. - Tuesday 31 July 2007
Double Take: Husband Balks At 'Girls' Night Out'
Woman Wonders Where Husband's Attitude Comes From
Dear Double Take,
I need to have someone tell me why my husband does not believe in "girls' night out." It doesn't matter if it's a church convention, movies or dinner with the gals. He strongly believes that women who go out without their husbands are desperately looking for attention.
Recently, I was invited to go to a Kenny Chesney concert with one of my best friends and her mom. I asked my husband if he minded if I went -- knowing that he would, but thought I would take a chance -- and he just blew up. He said that women who go to those concerts are women who push their chests out and try to get attention from any man that walks by.
It's so ridiculous! It makes me so angry because, basically, he is telling me he doesn't trust me. He asked me how I would like it if he asked me if he could go to a Shania Twain concert alone with three men. I said, go ahead! I would have no problem with him going.
I've been with my husband for 16 years now, we have two children and we both show a lot of love and devotion to each other. I can honestly say that I am very much in love with my husband. But that doesn't mean that I can't tell when he's being a chauvinistic jerk. I feel as though he has me on a chain. If I didn't have such great friends, I would probably think something was wrong with me.
ALANA SAYS:
I know you don't need me to tell you this, but your husband is wrong. And you don't have to put up with it.
You're right -- his not wanting you to have time with the girls either displays jealousy or a lack of trust, neither of which you deserve. Spending time with your friends is valuable for your mental health, and your husband's misguided opinions shouldn't keep you from doing so.
You don't have to ask permission to go out with your friends. Let him blow up. What's he going to do to stop you?
When you come home, safe and sound, after the concert instead of running off with some other guy, your husband will start to get the picture that this isn't about him, and he can just deal with it.
EDDIE SAYS:
There's a theory that men who constantly worry about their women finding other men don't really think they have much to offer. Otherwise, why would she be so much on the prowl?
Or maybe he just thinks all women -- at least, all country music fans -- are incorrigibly promiscuous.
It could be that he just doesn't want to take care of the kids on his own.
Whatever, he's wrong. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to get him to change this. My questioning of his manhood above may not be enough. I'm tempted to suggest you telling your friends it would be so funny if they came by and "kidnapped" you for the night. I doubt he'd object to their faces, because if it is a self-esteem issue, he wouldn't want to look like a jerk.
Normally, I wouldn't suggest such trickery, but after 16 years, it sounds like you need to go for something dramatic. After that ... you'll have to keep coming up with wackier and wackier plans.
http://www.wyff4.com/columnists/13771717/detail.html
Hilarious. :p
Some songs come immediately to mind:
Sting's "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free"
and
"Woman In Chains" by Tears For Fears
Go have a listen. And then listen again.
...then get out your Beastie Boys albums & play "Fight For Your Right (To Party)"
John - ;)
dreamer
07-31-2007, 2:41pm
quite!
FinnFreak
08-03-2007, 6:24am
Cherry Hill Courier Post, NJ - Friday, August 3, 2007
Art, music therapy helps children cope
By NICK PIPITONE for the Courier-Post, CAMDEN
Tah-jai Berry has always been active, despite suffering from chronic asthma since she was 2 years old.
Tah-jai, 14, of Camden, is eager to get back to the Woodlynne Dynamic Step Team. After an attack last Sunday, she has been confined to the pediatric unit at Cooper University Hospital here.
It is only when Cheddar, a nickname her family calls her, sits in front of a table full of arts and crafts with therapist and artist Cindy Faust that her mother feels at ease.
"She's so active and to see her down and out," is discouraging, said Paula Brown, her mother. "I don't wanna see her like that anymore."
Tah-jai hopes to return home before Sunday. Until then, she will be able to vent the frustration of seasonal asthma attacks through art.
Since May, Cooper has been running an offshoot of its Dr. Diane Barton Complementary Medicine Program, offering a therapeutic art workshop and bedside music for children struggling with a hospitalization or repeated treatments.
"Originally, the program was just for cancer patients," said Barbara McCarty, child life coordinator at Cooper. "But how could you ignore the children here?"
Art and music therapy sprung up in the 1940s and have since become well-established health professions similar to occupational or physical therapy.
The art workshop and music therapy at Cooper usually lasts an hour with trained specialists spending one-on-one time with patients. Each session is individualized and guided by the patients.
The therapy helps the children relieve stress, "takes them to a different world," and gives them some control in a setting where they have little control, said Faust, who contributes to the program.
Art and music therapy can be used in all the different stages of illness and help the children to process what is happening, said Sherry Goodill, director of the Hahnemann Creative Arts in Therapy Program at Drexel University.
"It humanizes the hospital experience in a big way," Goodill said.
Faust is heading a project called "Healing Hands Quilt" in which patients draw an outline of their hands during sessions and decorate them. Faust hopes to create a display big enough for the hospital to show.
"This project will leave a long-lasting effect and inspire other children to hang in there," Faust said.
The children also work on crowns to wear around the hospital and recently created thank-you notes that they gave to the nursing staff, Faust said.
For bedside music therapy, Brooke Carroll comes in once a week. Thursday, she sat in a room with Crystal Paulus and played guitar for the 12-year-old who was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis a month ago.
Crystal, a Hammonton resident, missed the end of the school year and her softball season because of various health complications.
"The music relaxes me and takes my mind off of everything," said Crystal, who often requests Carroll to play her Shania Twain's "Forever and Always."
"All this therapy has been so helpful," her mother, Lynda, said.
Down the hall, Luther Katinos, 14, of Pitman, draws a Pokemon ball in the center of his "healing hand."
After a poolside accident ruptured his spleen and broke Luther's ribs Wednesday afternoon, his father, George, expects his son to stay for three days of bed rest to "keep an eye on internal bleeding."
"It's fun meeting new people," Luther said, amid the hospital staff and media members crowding his room.
Later, in the playroom, Tah-jai finishes her "healing hand," a colorful, glimmering mix of sparkles, buttons, and feathers.
"Fabulous!" Faust tells her, "Anybody that looks at this is going to feel good."
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070803/NEWS01/708030375/1006
John - ;)
dreamer
08-04-2007, 2:11am
ditto!
FinnFreak
08-05-2007, 9:44am
Toledo Blade, OH - Sunday, August 5, 2007
Music is just one of Bryan Adams’ talents
Credits include 3 books of photography
By DAVID YONKE, BLADE STAFF WRITER
With 50 million albums sold and dozens of Top 10 singles, Bryan Adams is used to seeing cameras pointed his way.
But about 10 years ago, the Canadian-born rock star, who will co-headline a concert Tuesday at the Toledo Zoo Amphitheater with George Thorogood, decided to get behind the camera and start a second career in photography.
Adams has since published three books of photography and has exhibited his photos worldwide, specializing in photo portraits of influential women.
Among his famous subjects are Queen Elizabeth II, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Katie Holmes, Elizabeth Hurley, Paula Zahn, Pamela Anderson, k.d. lang, Shania Twain, and Serena and Venus Williams.
“I’ve always been into photography, but never thought about taking it further until about 10 years ago,” Adams said in an interview via e-mail. “I use both mediums and it’s like I say, just a way to work off some of the creative juice.”
Now living in London, Adams has been recording new songs in Denmark, Hungary, Malta, and other European cities for an album due out this fall.
“I moved to London for love, originally, but then found it to be a good bouncing spot to the rest of the world,” he said. “My new love is Paris, and I’m going to spend a lot of time there in the near future.”
He’s been squeezing the recording sessions in between an average of 10 concerts a month, plus juggling his photography work.
Adams said he doesn’t bother analyzing his desire for dual careers, but he finds them both challenging and rewarding.
“It’s really just me making music and making art. Sometimes I get it right, other times I don’t. It’s just a way for me to balance all the things I have in my head,” he said.
“The problem is, I don’t have enough time to do them all. I’m sure my epitaph will be, ‘He didn’t finish what he started’ or something like that.”
He said his new album is “just like all my albums — rockin’ hard as I can and making it real. It’s the same lineup of musicians but the interesting thing is I’m working with my original songwriting partner, Jim Vallance, for the first time since 1991.”
Adams, whose longtime band features Keith Scott on guitar, Mickey Curry on drums, Gary Breit on keyboards, and Norm Fisher on bass, first met Vallance in 1978 when Vallance was playing drums with the Canadian rock band Prism.
The two began a songwriting partnership that produced a number of songs that were recorded by established stars and ultimately led to A&M Records signing Adams as an artist.
Among the stars who recorded Adams/Vallance compositions were Neil Diamond, Roger Daltrey, Loverboy, Tina Turner, KISS, Joe Cocker, .38 Special, and Bonnie Raitt. Clint Eastwood used their song “Drive All Night” for his movie Pink Cadillac.
He had some negative memories of the days when he needed to sell songs to other artists, saying for example that Gene Simmons of KISS basically forced him and Vallance to add a few lines to their songs so that Simmons would get co-writing credit.
“The thing was that the songs were done. Such was the life of a songwriter back then. Actually it’s still like that, but thankfully not for me.”
Adams’ transition from songwriter to solo artist started slowly. His self-titled debut album was released in Canada in 1980, but not in the United States. He toured almost nonstop in the USA and Canada, and his work ethic paid off when, in January, 1983, his third album, “Cuts Like a Knife,” reached the Top 10 on Billboard’s pop chart and produced hit singles with the title track and “Straight From the Heart.”
Adams’ long list of hits includes “Heaven,” “Summer of ‘69,” “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” “Thought I’d Died and Gone to Heaven,” “All for Love,” and “I Finally Found Someone.”
He said he still gets a thrill out of playing the classic hits live in concert for faithful fans.
“I love doing it. It’s what I’ve worked for for the last 110 years!” he said.
He has been nominated for three Academy Awards for songwriting, won two Golden Globes, earned a Grammy for 1991’s “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” and has been honored with the Order of Canada, the Order of British Columbia, and induction into Canada’s Music Hall of Fame.
“It’s all very rewarding to get these things, but nothing beats the original thing — writing the song,” Adams said.
He is a frequent collaborator, both as an artist and a songwriter, including work with such diverse stars as Barbra Streisand, Luciano Pavarotti, and Pamela Anderson.
“Working with someone else is always funny, at least it’s supposed to be,” Adams said. “Somehow it all gets back to food and drink. If it wasn’t watching Maestro Luciano cooking pasta for 20 people, it was getting Pam [Anderson] into the idea of singing by drinking a bottle of champagne with her.
“Life … it’s extraordinary.”
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070805/ART10/70804056
John - ;)
OMG I have to see these pics Bryan took of Shania!! :shocked: :eek: And who forgot to tell me there's a new album coming out in the fall? AHHHH!!! I love Bryan! :faint:
orchestragirl
08-05-2007, 7:40pm
Yes, where ARE these pics? :eek:
dreamer
08-05-2007, 8:17pm
yes where
FinnFreak
08-06-2007, 4:23am
I think they've all been posted here at some point - but, for some strange reason the search function seems to be acting up right now...
...here's one series of clips by Bryan Adams (from the Made in Canada (http://madeincanada.bryanadams.com) Photobook):
http://www.shaniaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10225&d=1183047922
John - ;)
mcjessica
08-06-2007, 4:39am
Intresting...I like the last one. Thanks for posting. :)
FinnFreak
08-06-2007, 8:29am
Here it is separately:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/Shania_By_Bryan_Adams.jpg
John - ;)
FinnFreak
08-06-2007, 8:35am
San Jose Mercury News, USA - 08/06/2007
Faith at 40
STAR DIMS, BUT `MCGRAW'S WIFE' REMAINS UPBEAT ABOUT FUTURE
By Shay Quillen, Mercury News
For the second straight summer, Gracie, Maggie and Audrey McGraw are spending their vacation in a bus with Mom and Dad, singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.
But next summer, their mother says, at least one parent will stay home with the girls, ages 5 to 10.
This will be the last joint tour for country music's leading couple "for quite some time," Hill says from the family's home near Nashville. "Our girls are getting older, and being home is just something that they're going to want to do in the summer."
The 2006 installment, which sold out the HP Pavilion almost exactly a year ago, was one of the year's biggest tours and one of country music's most successful ever. But tickets remain available for Wednesday's show at the Shark Tank, which Hill says will feature the same staging as last year's, with many new video elements and some changes to the set list.
As seen last year, the Soul2Soul show gives these two very different performers, who married in 1996, a chance to sing their many solo hits with their own bands, as well as to join together on duets such as "Like We Never Loved at All" and "It's Your Love." Hill, a classic beauty with a technically flawless voice, performs first, singing tunes that often owe as much to straight-ahead pop as to country. McGraw plays second, mixing rowdy country rockers and uplifting anthems while tirelessly slapping hands with the exuberant crowd.
A year after their last visit, KRTY general manager Nate Deaton says McGraw remains one of country's hottest acts, while Hill's star "absolutely" has faded a bit. Her single "Lost," a new ballad from her upcoming "The Hits" compilation, failed to crack Billboard's country Top 30 this summer.
"I think, interestingly enough, in country she's known more as Tim McGraw's wife than she is as Faith Hill," Deaton says.
A new crop of female stars, led by Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift, has eclipsed Hill and her 40-ish peers, such as Martina McBride and Shania Twain, on the charts. Many saw Hill's over-the-top reaction to Underwood's first female-vocalist win at the Country Music Association Awards in November as a blatant display of sour grapes.
Hill insists her look of furious disbelief, replayed millions of times on YouTube, was a self-deprecating goof for the camera, and six months later she is clearly still upset about how it was perceived.
"That whole thing last year is one of the worst experiences I've ever had in my life, because I'm not that kind of person," Hill says. "There's so much footage of me acting goofy like that over my career. It blew my mind. I would never, ever, ever do something like that to someone to hurt her feelings."
The only other time Hill becomes exercised is when the issue of Hurricane Katrina comes up. It's an issue close to the couple's hearts: Hill grew up in Mississippi, McGraw in Louisiana.
Although Hill has quietly supported Democratic candidates in the past, she rarely speaks publicly about political issues. But she made an exception last year when she used a barnyard epithet to describe the government response to the hurricane.
"The frustration! Anyone who visits that area, still to this day, . . . would lose it. Your mind would explode, because there's not a lot that has changed," Hill says. She gives credit for the improvement that has occurred to people who have "come from around this country, volunteers, and made the place livable and bearable for the people down there."
McGraw has spoken about running as a Democrat for public office in Tennessee in the future, but Hill insists that's a long way off.
"It's in the distant future, so it's something that we don't talk about in detail right now," Hill says. "We've discussed it, but not to the extreme that we will need to if it ever happens."
Both Hill and McGraw have found work in Hollywood - Hill in "The Stepford Wives," McGraw in films such as "Friday Night Lights" and "Flicka." Hill says she plans to pursue more opportunities, but she adds that she has plenty left to accomplish in Nashville.
"There's a lot I want to do," she says. "My career really is still pretty young, I think. I've only made nine albums in my 15-year career, so that's not really a lot of albums yet."
Hill sounds upbeat when asked about the milestone birthday that will arrive next month.
"I really have no choice but to turn 40," she says good-naturedly. "I love it. I feel better with my age. I say bring it on, I'm ready."
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_6553979
John - ;)
Thanks for the article and pic
FinnFreak
08-06-2007, 11:27am
Edmonton Journal, Canada - Monday, August 6, 2007
Underwood fans adore their idol
Country crossover star puts on a good show for her young fan base
By Jennifer Fong, The Edmonton Journal
CAMROSE - The longer Carrie Underwood performed, the younger the crowd got at the Big Valley mainstage Saturday night.
No one since Shania Twain has perfected the country crossover as well as the 2005 American Idol winner, who drew scores of teenagers to the Jamboree grounds.
But her country-pop style didn't do it for everyone -- Underwood's success has largely come thanks to the strength of her pipes, which let her sing just about any genre well, be it country, rock, pop or even gospel.
And while her vocals were impressive, older traditionalists who prefer pure honky tonk dispersed soon after getting what they wanted from cowboy crooner George Canyon, who finished playing his set half an hour earlier.
Still, the concert bowl remained packed for Underwood, who put on a good show but was still very much an American Idol, wanting to please everyone by being everything.
The show became a rock concert halfway through her set, with Underwood stamping her feet to a cover of Guns n' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine.
Peculiar.
No matter though -- from there, Underwood segued into the song everyone was waiting for: her hit single Before He Cheats. When she finally performed the girl-power anthem, thousands of fans sang along.
But the minute the song ended, even more concert-goers filed out, not bothering to see what would come next. It was only a little bit past 10 p.m. -- still very early here on Jamboree Time.
It's not that Underwood isn't talented.
The music was all there, but when the guitars quieted down between songs, fans got little of Underwood, the sweet girl next door they met on TV.
She said little and when she did, it was barely audible. Her smiles were rare and she looked more like a diva than someone having a good time.
Diehard Underwood fans didn't care -- it was enough just to see their idol. But for those who don't care for reality television, it was hard to find reason to stay.
Underwood just wanted to get offstage.
They just wanted to warm up back in their campers and put on some Johnny Cash.
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/culture/story.html?id=7d5e40d7-b224-44ec-bcf4-77ecd2594ec2
hmmm... sure...
John - :)
On Friday, it was Jon Bon Jovi at Yankee Stadium. Today, David Beckham. Tomorrow, who knows? Kyle Farnsworth once told me about meeting Shania Twain when he played for the Cubs. She was so small, he said, he picked her up sideways and held her in front of him, like a lunch tray or something. How’s that for imagery?
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/06/familiar-face-on-the-field-new-face-in-the-bullpen/
mcjessica
08-07-2007, 1:52am
hahaha how akward....how tall is Shania anyway, like 5'4"?
dreamer
08-07-2007, 1:53am
yes 5'4
timminslover
08-07-2007, 2:10pm
When I saw her close Up! in concert she looked more like 5' 2 or so, very tiny.:love: I prefer smaller women anyway, as tall women scare me.:funny:
mcjessica
08-07-2007, 2:29pm
hahaha then you would definitely run in the other direction if you saw me. I'm almost 5'10. :funny:
timminslover
08-07-2007, 2:56pm
Wow! you're only an inch behind me. Do you play netball?:p
mcjessica
08-07-2007, 3:17pm
hahaha I used to. I didn't have enough time though because soccer takes up so much of my time already.
timminslover
08-07-2007, 5:25pm
Good for you. My 12 year old plays in a girls team. She's better then most of the boys her age.:D
cool article, I think I remember seeing a video with Shania in the cubs field, she sang like "take me out to the ball game"
Rickyn
08-07-2007, 11:59pm
:)Thank You ! That's a great article .
Endeavour Astronauts Up And Raring To Go
Sunday, August 12, 2007 8:16:26 AM
Space shuttle Endeavour astronauts are up and moving Sunday after being awakend by the Shania Twain song "Up", played for Canadian astronaut Dave Williams.
Today astronauts will use the space shuttle's robotic arm to make a detailed inspection of a gash in the spacecraft's heat shield. The 3-inch gash was discovered Friday as the shuttle approached the International Space Station. Engineers believe it was caused by ice that broke off after Wednesday's launch.
NASA engineers said they don't believe the gouge is a critical problem, but astronauts may have to repair it during a spacewalk.
Saturday astronauts used the first of three planned spacewalks to continue construction work on the ISS. During a six-hour, 17-minute spacewalk, Dave Williams and Rick Mastracchio installed a truss, retracted a radiator and continued preparations for the installation of a solar array.
Midway through the spacewalk, NASA's main command-and-control computer aboard the space station mysteriously shut down.
The backup automatically kicked in, and Mission Control said the problem did not affect the spacewalk or the health of the station.
On Sunday, engineers are trying to find the cause of the failure and bring the computer back online.
http://www.cfnews13.com/Space/DestinationSpace/2007/8/12/endeavour_astronauts_up_and_raring_to_go.html
mcjessica
08-12-2007, 10:17pm
hahaha that's cool. Thanks for posting.
CAPCOM Shannon Lucid: Good morning, Endeavour. And a special good morning
to you today, Dave.
STS-118 Crew member: I will let Dave know, Shannon.
Lucid: Thanks a lot!
STS-118 Crew member : I'm sure he appreciates the song.
Lucid: Yeah, we think so, too.
Mission Specialist Dave Williams: And Houston, Endeavour. Good morning from the
Spacehab and really enjoyed the wake up music this morning.
Lucid: Well, we aim to please.
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/audio/shuttle/sts-118/transcript/fd05.txt
Here is the link to the actual transmission...
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/audio/shuttle/sts-118/html/ndxpage1.html
:)Thank You for the information .
dreamer
08-16-2007, 12:45am
cool!
The theme of the Reagan video, set to a tune by country singer Shania Twain, is that women serving aboard the Reagan can do the same jobs as men. Until 1994, the Pentagon barred women from serving on combat ships.
“The video was a lighthearted and positive depiction of the service of women officers and sailors aboard aircraft carriers and in Navy squadrons,” Brown said. “It showed the good humor and camaraderie of the ship's crew.”
But it also included fleeting shots of the door to the ship's nuclear power plant and of a sailor dancing while wearing a full-body radiation suit – items that might alarm the Navy's nuclear-propulsion officials, who are hypersensitive about the security. Under Pentagon rules, images of any part of a ship's nuclear plant cannot be shown to foreign nationals.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20070818-9999-1m18youtube.html
dreamer
08-19-2007, 1:06am
what tune
'That Don't Impress Me Much was the tune
dreamer
08-19-2007, 9:18pm
thanks
While Shea didn’t grow up singing and entering talent quests, the fact she was living this lifestyle drew her to country music, with her idol Shania Twain paving the way for her crossover style, alongside the likes of Keith Urban and The Dixie Chicks.
“I had heard country music in Australia but it was real boring, and then I heard Shania and she was singing about cool things that relate to everybody – I think that’s my main influence for singing,” she says.
http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2007/aug/19/mustering-her-talents/
Cool article. I think that's how many fans feel.
dreamer
08-20-2007, 7:40pm
yes....
Rickyn
08-20-2007, 11:36pm
Yes ! I like that one .
FinnFreak
08-23-2007, 6:39am
The Windsor Star, Canada - Thursday, August 23, 2007
Country music's dynamic duo
Big & Rich turn gold but critics out in full force
By Heath McCoy, CanWest News Service
Depending on who you talk to, those country-rapping cut-ups in Big & Rich are either the best thing to emerge from Nashville's Music Row in years or, they're the very reason the contemporary country music scene is going to hell in a hokey, bling-filled handbasket.
On one hand, Big Kenny (Kenny Alphin) and John Rich have proven to be a commercial gold mine for country music, bringing the sort of crossover mainstream success usually reserved for the likes of Shania Twain, Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney. And it's not just the pair themselves who have benefited from their partnership as songwriters and producers. They've also done a little something for "redneck woman" Gretchen Wilson, whose anthemic tunes and wild but down-to-earth tomboy image has made her one of the biggest stars in the industry.
Recruiting Wilson into their MuzikMafia -- a motley posse of singers and songwriters who have set out to put their stamp on Nashville -- Big & Rich helped push Wilson to the top, with Rich producing her albums and the two acts making guest appearances on each other's albums.
Such is their crossover success that Big & Rich now appear as guests on Bon Jovi's Lost Highway disc and the John Lennon tribute album Instant Karma: Save Darfur. On their latest album, Between Raising Hell and Amazing Grace, such stars of the hip-hop-R&B world as John Legend and Wyclef Jean make cameos.
But Big & Rich also have their share of detractors. Their campy, clownish shtick and glossy hybrid of country, rock and, God forbid, hip hop has many a country music purist cursing their names, branding them a slick novelty that's ultimately robbing the genre of its dignity.
Rich, 33, has felt such barbs and he answers their sting with a few jabs of his own.
"Who do you think these country music purists would consider pure country singers then?" he asks defiantly. "Johnny Cash? Conway Twitty? Merle Haggard? Willie (Nelson) and Waylon (Jennings)? When they showed up in Nashville every one of them were completely and utterly discouraged from living here. Conway was considered a pop artist. Willie was thought of as jazz-folk and Johnny Cash was considered rock 'n' roll.
"These are the same types who told Johnny Cash to go back to Memphis because he was a rock 'n' roll act. These are the same types who told Shania Twain she was a pop artist and she shouldn't be in Nashville and next thing you know she sold 40 million records. ... See, the words music and business don't belong together. That's a dangerous thing. Big Kenny says it best when he says there should be no bureaucracy in creativity.
"But people can say whatever they want. We're gonna write what we write and sing what we sing and as long as the fans buy it and show up to our shows, that's the critics we're gonna worry about."
Big & Rich come by their quirky chemistry naturally. When they met in a Nashville bar in 1998, Rich had just been fired from that band of country-rock ballad-meisters Lonestar, (who would soon go on to much fame of their own), while his long-haired partner Big Kenny was a member of a rock band called LuvjOi. For fun the two of them began jamming together and writing music but for years neither of them thought of becoming an act on their own.
"He was a rock artist and I was a country artist," Rich says. "We really didn't want to be a duo. We just didn't see how it would work."
But gradually their jam sessions became something bigger as more and more musicians began sitting in. Soon a clique was formed, which Big & Rich nicknamed the MuzikMafia.
Big & Rich with Cowboy Troy and Chris Cagle perform Saturday at DTE Energy Music Theatre in Clarkston. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. Tickets US$42.50 and $20 available at Ticketmaster.
http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/entertainment/story.html?id=0fb0f2bc-ef38-40c7-b549-5b990c306011&k=66993
John - ;):up:
dreamer
08-23-2007, 8:19pm
great article thanks!
mcjessica
08-24-2007, 3:52pm
CMT Most Beautiful Woman Poll
Who is country's most beautiful woman?
30.14% of the vote was for Carrie Underwood
23.95% of the vote was for Faith Hill
18.10% of the vote was for Shania Twain
14.02% of the vote was for Taylor Swift
13.79% of the vote was for Martina McBride
Best Bod On The Beach Poll
Who do you think would look best at the beach?
8.25% of the vote was for Kenny Chesney – he lives on one, doesn’t he?
87.44% of the vote was for Shania Twain – She looks best anywhere!
4.31% of the vote was for Aaron Pritchett – duh!
Which country song do you wish you had written?
91.92% of the vote was for Shania’s “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”
4.93% of the vote was for Terri Clark’s “The World Needs a Drink”
3.15% of the vote was for Little Big Town’s “Boondocks”
nice article jessica, people think faith and underwood are prettier than shania? : /
dreamer
08-24-2007, 8:22pm
cool but the first poll is wrong
I was watching Shania Twain. She was in concert wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey and a baseball cap with a ponytail through the back, and it looked really cute, but it didn't say country western," Wuensche said.
Wuensche now sells her popular creation at www.ponyuphats.com
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA082407.ponytailhat.KENS.69241a85.html
Is it just me or does this month's cover of Vogue Paris instantly remind you of Shania Twain in her 1997 music video for "That Don't Impress Me Much"? In head-to-toe leopard print it was a pretty unforgettable outfit. Flash forward ten years (wow, has it really been a decade?) and the September cover of Vogue Paris features model Natasha Poly covered in leopard print from Givenchy's fall/winter '07 couture collection - check out the helmet!
http://www.catwalkqueen.tv/hot_trends/
dreamer
08-26-2007, 4:34pm
Shania looks better in it!
FinnFreak
08-28-2007, 5:22am
;)
yesh, Shania's Birthday is mentioned today in various newpapers, magazines, radio, TV (http://www.shaniaforums.com/showpost.php?p=915307&postcount=46), any type of media really - all over the world... right now, on the Internet there are mentions from The Sun in UK, Contra Costa Times in California, Forbes in New York, The Indianapolis Star, The Hartford Courant and United Press International ... etc.
But, here's one that especially stands out:
Creators Syndicate, CA - Tuesday 28th August, 2007
Horoscopes by Holiday for August 28
by Holiday Mathis
The Pisces full moon is eclipsed by the sun. When one of the lights goes out, it's like an 8-millimeter film reel skipping a track — and that pause disrupts delicate inner rhythms. From the balcony, Mercury and Uranus's mental chatter heightens already taut nervous systems, so keep your wits about you (and don't overindulge on the popcorn!).
TODAY'S BIRTHDAY (AUGUST 28). You're very careful about the situations you get into this year because you realize that your talent is not to be wasted. September turns up your psychic awareness — you can spot someone's attitude a mile away. You leverage your power well in November and are paid handsomely. July is so romantic! Aquarius and Pisces adore you. Your lucky numbers are 8, 10, 30, 22 and 17.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Not everybody wants to change the world, you know. So when you declare your own personal revolution, don't be offended if all you get is foggy looks. They'll understand later.
ASTROLOGICAL TOPIC: There's a full-moon lunar eclipse in Pisces — what does it portend for you? Many creation myths revolve around the sun or moon being eaten by a dragon or serpent during eclipse seasons, marking significant shifts in collective events and consciousness. In Hindu myth, dragon Rahu snuck into the god realm to try to drink from the elixir of life. This angered the sun and moon, who stopped him after he took only a sip by cutting him in half, thus cutting the dragon's timeless, spiritual gifts (his head) from his worldly desires (his tail, which fell to the earth). Symbolically, eclipses are significant time-markers for humans, as many people find themselves at a crossroads, ready to turn corners and take on new evolutionary challenges. Significant historical and personal events cluster around eclipse times, and we may be called to act quickly. Reason may not be on your side, though (remember the dragon's head is separated from his tale), so the best way to manage unsettling eclipse energy is to respond and let it happen rather than make new decisions. Let what's been already set in motion come to you — another way of saying that when the river of life pulls you, just flow with it!
CELEBRITY PROFILES: Virgo Shania Twain's (8/28/65) musical career may've been born of practical necessity. From a young age, Shania sang at local clubs to help her family put food on the table, and at age 22, when her mother and adoptive father died, she sang once again to support her siblings. All this before she was “discovered”! This Virgo's life demonstrates grace in action: Serve others first and you will be cared for.
http://www.creators.com/lifestylefeatures/horoscopes-by-holiday/horoscopes-by-holiday-2007-08-28.html
John - ;)
dreamer
08-28-2007, 4:33pm
I like that a lot:)
The cast of characters included some of Nashville's premier musicians, including drummer J.D. Blair, who plays with Shania Twain. "He's one of the funkiest guy you'd ever meet, and he plays with Shania Twain," Wooten said.
http://www.dailypress.com/features/dp-now-wooten,0,2358071.story
FinnFreak
08-30-2007, 2:58am
JD *IS* the funkiest man on earth..!
John - :cool:
JD *IS* the funkiest man on earth..!
John - :cool:
You got that right.
dreamer
08-30-2007, 3:58pm
JD *IS* the funkiest man on earth..!
John - :cool:
thats why I love him!
Rickyn
08-31-2007, 12:21am
Thank You for the post !
Elton John’s one-night stand in Vevey
| 14h51 The British piano man is expected to draw 20,000 spectators to the outdoor venue overlooking Lake Geneva this Saturday.
http://www.tdg.ch/var/plain/storage/images/contenus/editorial/articles/f_going_out/elton_john_s_one_night_stand_in_vevey/6810200-2-eng-GB/elton_john_s_one_night_stand_in_vevey_resize_crop3 20par220.jpg
After the Rolling Stones in Lausanne last month, the second wave of geriatric rock is about to crash on Lake Geneva’s shores. Elton John, the 60-year-old British knight, is set to tinkle the ivories in Vevey’s marketplace on Saturday night.
His only concert in Switzerland is expected to attract 20,000 fans. The pop musician, who began his career 40 years ago, is quoted as saying that it was his friend, Canadian country singer Shania Twain, who convinced him to come to Vevey, which overlooks Lake Geneva with a mountain backdrop. “The marketplace at Vevey is one of the most beautiful and magic places of Europe,” he said.
The outdoor venue is the same place that hosts the famous wine-makers festival (Fête des Vignerons) held four or five times every 100 years, and last held in 1999. “Since I had the chance to discover it in 2003, I have expressed the desire to sing there,” John said. The singer apparently will not linger in Switzerland for long. Laetitia Gerber, of Art Contacts, the concert producer, said the star wants to return to his bed in England the same night of the show. He is expected to arrive by helicopter before taking a limousine to a dressing room 100 meters from the stage.
For last-minute planners, at least 1,000 tickets will be available on the night of the concert at the entrance. Otherwise, they are still being sold today at the Montreux-Vevey tourism office and through Fnac and TicketCorner outlets. Prices are SFr119 for regular tickets and SFr178 for admission to the “Golden Circle.”
Doors open at 5.30 p.m. while the concert starts at 8 p.m. Organizers are recommending that concertgoers take the train because they expect traffic jams in Vevey before and after the concert.
http://www.tdg.ch/pages/home/tribune_de_geneve/english_corner/going_out/going_out_detail/(contenu)/128149
faithfully
09-06-2007, 11:51am
Elton John :funny::p
dreamer
09-06-2007, 4:04pm
I love the pic
8. A Zambian record producer was responsible for the success of, amongst others, Def Leppard, Bryan Adams and The Corrs. Robert John "Mutt" Lange was that man. We also have Lange to thank for the career of country singer Shania Twain whose records he produced before he went down on a knee and decided to become Mr. Twain.
http://dev.football365.co.za/news/africa/10_things_you_never_knew_about_zambia_7907134025.p hp
shania megafan
09-08-2007, 10:29am
Thanks for posting Andrew! ;)
timminslover
09-08-2007, 10:58am
Wouldn't it be Great if Shania made a surprise guest appearance and sang a song or two with Elton.:) Kinda Miami 99 revisited.:D
dreamer
09-08-2007, 4:25pm
yeah!
StarryShania
09-08-2007, 8:23pm
CMT Most Beautiful Woman Poll
Who is country's most beautiful woman?
30.14% of the vote was for Carrie Underwood
23.95% of the vote was for Faith Hill
18.10% of the vote was for Shania Twain
14.02% of the vote was for Taylor Swift
13.79% of the vote was for Martina McBride
Best Bod On The Beach Poll
Who do you think would look best at the beach?
8.25% of the vote was for Kenny Chesney – he lives on one, doesn’t he?
87.44% of the vote was for Shania Twain – She looks best anywhere!
4.31% of the vote was for Aaron Pritchett – duh!
Which country song do you wish you had written?
91.92% of the vote was for Shania’s “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?”
4.93% of the vote was for Terri Clark’s “The World Needs a Drink”
3.15% of the vote was for Little Big Town’s “Boondocks”
Thanks for the article, I find it interesting.
FinnFreak
09-12-2007, 10:03am
http://www.shaniaforums.com/showpost.php?p=923027&postcount=56
John - ;)
FinnFreak
09-13-2007, 6:30am
Radio World, VA - 9.12.2007
Primosphere Wants Back in Satellite Game
Impact on XM/Sirius Merger Debate Is Unclear
By Leslie Stimson, News Editor and Washington Bureau Chief for Radio World.
WASHINGTON
Primosphere says it could be operational with a new U.S. satellite digital radio service in five years — and on the air much sooner if it were allowed to use the existing infrastructure of XM and Sirius.
Sirius officials scoffed at the proposal and said Primosphere’s application has been long dead.
Primosphere was an original applicant for S-DARS spectrum but lost in the auction for satellite licenses. Now as the industry debates the proposed merger of XM and Sirius, Primosphere wants to recast that debate and asked the FCC to review its ruling from a decade ago.
Observers believe what happens on this issue will be interesting regardless of whether the merger of Sirius and XM is approved.
Back in 1992, six companies applied for S-DARS spectrum licenses. By the time of the 1997 FCC auction, four remained: Satellite CD Radio, which became Sirius; American Mobile Satellite Radio Corp., which became XM; Primosphere Limited Partnership; and Digital Satellite broadcasting Corp. The latter two lost out to the bids of approximately $83.3 million from Satellite CD Radio and $90 million for AMRC.
Now Primosphere is telling the FCC that its bid for an S-DARS license remains viable.
The organization is a holding company for New York resident Clifford Burnstein and his partner Peter Mensch in the entertainment industry company Q-Prime; the latter is a music management group for such artists as Shania Twain, Nickel Creek, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Metallica. Their attorney, Howard Lieberman of Drinker Biddle & Reath, told Radio World the men own Primosphere, each holding half of the company.
In 1996 Burnstein and Mensch bid about $67.5 million for an SDARS license through Primosphere with the intention of restoring music genres they said were no longer available in major radio markets. According to their FCC filing from late 1992, Primosphere originally was proposing a free service; the owners are not commenting on what kind of service they would introduce now if they win their case, Lieberman said.
Years of requests, denials
After the commission dismissed Primosphere’s application as an unsuccessful bidder in 1997, the company asked that decision to be reviewed. The FCC’s International Bureau did so; it ruled that the companies which would become XM and Sirius qualified as licensees and it dismissed Primosphere’s application. The company then asked the bureau to reconsider and also asked the full commission to review the license grant decision, according to FCC filings.
In 2001, the agency denied Primosphere’s applications for review and affirmed the licenses granted to Sirius and XM. At the same time the International Bureau denied Primosphere’s request to reconsider its dismissal.
Primosphere next asked a federal appeals court to review the XM and Sirius license grants and also asked the full commission to review the bureau’s dismissal of its S-DARS application.
In 2003 the appeals court rejected Primosphere’s challenges and affirmed the licenses for Sirius and XM. In 2004, Primosphere told the FCC it wanted to withdraw its 2001 “review” request.
Now, Primosphere tells the commission that because the FCC failed to act on its request, the application for an S-DARS license is still pending and it wants its application to be considered at the same time the commission is reviewing the merger application from XM and Sirius.
Re-auction
The company also wants the commission to authorize a portion of the S-DARS spectrum to Primosphere if the agency approves the XM/Sirius merger, pointing out the FCC originally stated in 1997, “[I]f the winning bidder fails to submit the balance of the winning bid or the license is otherwise denied, we will assess a default payment … and re-auction the license among the other existing applicants.”
Primosphere says because its review application is still pending, it remains an “existing applicant for authorization to launch and operate” a satellite digital radio service.
If it receives the S-band spectrum, the company says it will build and launch “its own satellites and market its own service.” The company notes that in 1996, along with its original bid, it also paid $140 million in launch fees for the two satellites it proposed in its original application — funds the FCC still has, Lieberman said.
The company estimates it would take five years to be operational. However, it would like to be up and running sooner. It proposes that the commission allow it to use a portion of the S-DARS spectrum now used by XM and Sirius and require the merged satcasters to allow Primosphere to use their satellite systems to deliver Primosphere programming to its subscribers.
Primosphere cited a similar agreement the agency approved in 1999 for a satellite TV provider to lease to another provider transponder capacity on an existing satellite.
NPR, without specific reference to Primosphere, has argued in its own comments to the FCC that if regulators do approve a merger, they should also require that a “sufficient” amount of the S-band spectrum licenses occupied by the satellite companies be vacated to make room for another competitor.
Sirius, meanwhile, in a July response, called Primosphere’s motion the “latest gambit in an attempt to breathe new life into its long-dead application for satellite radio service and profit from the proposed XM/Sirius merger.”
Sirius argues that Primosphere’s application to hold an S-DARS license became moot when it lost the auction bidding. When Primosphere “voluntarily” withdrew its application, that retraction became effective without any action from the FCC, according to Sirius.
Primosphere’s application was only “pending” as long as challenges to the XM and Sirius licenses were unresolved; those challenges were resolved long ago, Sirius stated in its recent FCC filing. “There is now way for Primosphere to un-ring this bell” now, it stated.
It was difficult in August to foresee the likely outcome of the case. No other filings on this topic had been filed with the commission at press time, and attorneys contacted by RW for comment said they were unfamiliar with the case.
Leiberman said typically the FCC addresses many unresolved issues related to a topic when the agency releases a rulemaking or an order, and his clients hope the Primosphere request would be answered when the satellite radio merger review is completed.
Asked for comment, NAB spokesman Dennis Wharton said, “NAB takes no position on the merits of the Primosphere claims, but their interest once again shows that it would be bad public policy to have a monopoly entity control all the spectrum allocated to satellite radio service.”
XM did not respond to a query for comment.
http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0052/t.8415.html
John - ;)
dreamer
09-13-2007, 1:17pm
cool thanks
FinnFreak
09-14-2007, 4:31am
New York Times, United States - September 14, 2007
Coal Miner’s Daughters? Nah, Starlets
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/14/arts/14nash-600.jpg
From left, Sarah, Lindsey and Rachel in “Nashville,” a reality series that begins tonight on Fox.
By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN
“Nashville” rips off “The Hills,” and that’s fine: there’s enough happy dust in the “Hills” magical-reality formula to dose Fox, MTV and any other channel that needs to feel good again.
Whatever happens in the ratings, Fox’s “Nashville” as a coherent work of pop art is fail-safe: Like MTV’s “Hills,” and “Laguna Beach” before it, this new reality show puts graceful, fresh-faced young Americans in the way of enterprising digital filmmakers who, no longer nervous about the cost of celluloid, now freely experiment with modernist film techniques. The performances, the mise-en-scène and the use of sound and music in these magical-reality documentaries represent an effective appropriation of the style of Antonioni. This has been masterfully documented by Justin Wolfe, an astute fan who has devoted a blog almost entirely to “The Hills”: SongsAboutBuildingsAndFood.wordpress.com.
“Nashville,” produced like “Laguna Beach” by Go Go Luckey, begins tonight and can also be streamed on Fox.com. It does not take place in Southern California, but neither is it set in the hollers and roadhouses where aspiring country musicians might once have parked their banjos. Instead, golden blondes float around pool parties, looking suspiciously coastal and well off. They insist they have their hearts set on careers in country music. But this must be new, new, new Shania-Faith country, the kind that now merits a reality show modeled after the ones that the Cali kids have.
Because in Nashville, like nowhere in Orange County, the estates are oceanic, the staff extensive, the imperious tone readily indulged. Didn’t rich Southerners like these once steer clear of country music?
Among the aspirants least likely to win the authenticity badge is Rachel Bradshaw, the daughter of Terry Bradshaw, the former superstar quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mr. Bradshaw is a man whose mighty ego and Klaus Kinski face make him unmistakable even to people who don’t follow his talk show, “Fox N.F.L. Sunday.” He’s a wonderfully menacing peripheral character here, especially with Rachel deep in the sexual fray.
As a self-aware show, perhaps too self-aware, “Nashville” attends closely to the money-country nexus, mindful that it’s not your daddy’s, nor Robert Altman’s, “Nashville.” In fact “Nashville” makes a theme of its inauthenticity, and the collision — let’s say it’s between starlets and coal miner’s daughters — in the premiere. Thereby, suspense is built.
(The question of who is going to make it in the music business is instantly moot. Contracts seem already to have been doled out, and the show, by giving all of these kids a boost, has muddied the waters. Mr. Wolfe, the “Hills” commentator, recently said in an e-mail message that he suspects the illusion of formal competition on “Nashville” may be fatally at odds with the wonderful idleness of the “Hills” style.)
The greater tension on “Nashville” is not among the candidates for career success — although Mika, a Kentuckian and bona fide daughter of a coal miner, is an apt foil to Rachel — but among music fans. There are viewers, say, of movies like “Walk the Line” who might imagine that Johnny Cash-style country music is still being made, and then there are people who watch “American Idol,” who assume that blond, pious, aerobicized Carrie Underwood is the face of modern country for the foreseeable future.
To set this conflict in motion on the first episode, three music managers, apparently good old boys, are seen at the shooting range. Todd, who announces that he’s from Mississippi and thus the best shot, talks about the forthcoming showcase of a singer-songwriter named Chuck. Another manager, from Texas, volunteers that Chuck has a “GQ-Coppertone” look.
Todd contemplates Chuck, GQ and Coppertone. “Back in the day,” he says, “there would never be a guy that modeled singing country music.”
They talk about some gnarly old cowboys. “They’d model for like Jim Beam, something like that,” says Cory, another Texan, firing his gun.
NASHVILLE
Fox, tonight at 9, Eastern and Pacific times; 8, Central time.
Gary Auerbach, Julie Auerbach, Liz Bronstein, Tina Gazzerro and Hans Tobeason, executive producers. Produced by Go Go Luckey Productions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/arts/television/14nash.html?ref=arts
John - :p
FinnFreak
09-14-2007, 7:10am
Montreal Mirror, Canada - September 14, 2007
Speak easy
Local poets put it on paper
by VINCENT TINGUELY
Pop and spice
David McGimpsey’s oeuvre is known for its genomic combination of pop cultural detritus and high literary chutzpah; his latest book, Sitcom, continues the journey with an exploration of the blank verse monologue form. “I’d written these monologues where people talk about things in a very unapologetic way, and the form of the poems started to suggest themselves as a book,” McGimpsey explains. “The bigger themes are career, love and death, really, but within that are much smaller things like: what does Mary Tyler Moore like to wear? Is Shania Twain angelic? Who’s better, Mary Ann or Ginger?”
http://www.montrealmirror.com/2007/091307/fap8.html
...might be some fun reading...
John - :D
dreamer
09-14-2007, 3:35pm
thanks!!!
mcjessica
09-14-2007, 5:33pm
New York Times, United States - September 14, 2007
Coal Miner’s Daughters? Nah, Starlets
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/09/14/arts/14nash-600.jpg
From left, Sarah, Lindsey and Rachel in “Nashville,” a reality series that begins tonight on Fox.
By VIRGINIA HEFFERNAN
“Nashville” rips off “The Hills,” and that’s fine: there’s enough happy dust in the “Hills” magical-reality formula to dose Fox, MTV and any other channel that needs to feel good again.
Whatever happens in the ratings, Fox’s “Nashville” as a coherent work of pop art is fail-safe: Like MTV’s “Hills,” and “Laguna Beach” before it, this new reality show puts graceful, fresh-faced young Americans in the way of enterprising digital filmmakers who, no longer nervous about the cost of celluloid, now freely experiment with modernist film techniques. The performances, the mise-en-scène and the use of sound and music in these magical-reality documentaries represent an effective appropriation of the style of Antonioni. This has been masterfully documented by Justin Wolfe, an astute fan who has devoted a blog almost entirely to “The Hills”: SongsAboutBuildingsAndFood.wordpress.com.
“Nashville,” produced like “Laguna Beach” by Go Go Luckey, begins tonight and can also be streamed on Fox.com. It does not take place in Southern California, but neither is it set in the hollers and roadhouses where aspiring country musicians might once have parked their banjos. Instead, golden blondes float around pool parties, looking suspiciously coastal and well off. They insist they have their hearts set on careers in country music. But this must be new, new, new Shania-Faith country, the kind that now merits a reality show modeled after the ones that the Cali kids have.
Because in Nashville, like nowhere in Orange County, the estates are oceanic, the staff extensive, the imperious tone readily indulged. Didn’t rich Southerners like these once steer clear of country music?
Among the aspirants least likely to win the authenticity badge is Rachel Bradshaw, the daughter of Terry Bradshaw, the former superstar quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mr. Bradshaw is a man whose mighty ego and Klaus Kinski face make him unmistakable even to people who don’t follow his talk show, “Fox N.F.L. Sunday.” He’s a wonderfully menacing peripheral character here, especially with Rachel deep in the sexual fray.
As a self-aware show, perhaps too self-aware, “Nashville” attends closely to the money-country nexus, mindful that it’s not your daddy’s, nor Robert Altman’s, “Nashville.” In fact “Nashville” makes a theme of its inauthenticity, and the collision — let’s say it’s between starlets and coal miner’s daughters — in the premiere. Thereby, suspense is built.
(The question of who is going to make it in the music business is instantly moot. Contracts seem already to have been doled out, and the show, by giving all of these kids a boost, has muddied the waters. Mr. Wolfe, the “Hills” commentator, recently said in an e-mail message that he suspects the illusion of formal competition on “Nashville” may be fatally at odds with the wonderful idleness of the “Hills” style.)
The greater tension on “Nashville” is not among the candidates for career success — although Mika, a Kentuckian and bona fide daughter of a coal miner, is an apt foil to Rachel — but among music fans. There are viewers, say, of movies like “Walk the Line” who might imagine that Johnny Cash-style country music is still being made, and then there are people who watch “American Idol,” who assume that blond, pious, aerobicized Carrie Underwood is the face of modern country for the foreseeable future.
To set this conflict in motion on the first episode, three music managers, apparently good old boys, are seen at the shooting range. Todd, who announces that he’s from Mississippi and thus the best shot, talks about the forthcoming showcase of a singer-songwriter named Chuck. Another manager, from Texas, volunteers that Chuck has a “GQ-Coppertone” look.
Todd contemplates Chuck, GQ and Coppertone. “Back in the day,” he says, “there would never be a guy that modeled singing country music.”
They talk about some gnarly old cowboys. “They’d model for like Jim Beam, something like that,” says Cory, another Texan, firing his gun.
NASHVILLE
Fox, tonight at 9, Eastern and Pacific times; 8, Central time.
Gary Auerbach, Julie Auerbach, Liz Bronstein, Tina Gazzerro and Hans Tobeason, executive producers. Produced by Go Go Luckey Productions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/14/arts/television/14nash.html?ref=arts
John - :p
I'm intrested to see this actually. Thanks for posting.
dreamer
09-14-2007, 10:38pm
hmmmmmmmmm
FinnFreak
09-18-2007, 5:40am
National Ledger, AZ - Sep 17, 2007
Willie Nelson to Write Jessica Simpson Country Album
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/uploads/jess_willie.jpg
By Brenda Davis
Jessica Simpson is turning her back on pop a few years after pop turned its collective back on her. Reports are that the buxom blonde will move to the country genre. The Texas singer is using some sense - she is turning to the legendary Willie Nelson for help. While Jess has really been turned into a bit of a joke post Nick Lachey this is likely a pretty good move.
EL from Crazy Days and Nights calls it this way: "Willie Nelson has agreed to write a substantial portion of Jessica Simpson's new album after he was promised a boatload of money to do so. Simpson, whose last album tanked so bad, people still don't know she released one has decided that perhaps rodeos and the county fair circuit will be more to her liking so is switching to country music."
Continuing, "Jessica hopes to be the next Patsy Cline or Shania Twain and has wanted to do a country album since first meeting Willie Nelson while filming Dukes of Hazzard." She explained: "I aspire to be like Patsy Cline. Willie actually turned me on to her because he used to be one of her background singers."
Simpson, who grew up in Texas, said of her plans: "My next album is probably going to be with Willie Nelson. I've been wanting to do a country record because it's in my roots."
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272616121.shtml
:uhh: - ummm... very nice, my dear... :smirk:
So, you got the looks - but have you got the touch..?
John - :p
FinnFreak
09-18-2007, 6:08am
Waterloo Record, Canada - Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Good Canadian fundraiser
http://news.therecord.com/images/assets/303264_3.JPG
By PETER LEE
Hockey commentator Don Cherry (centre, plaid jacket) poses for photos with athletes and co-ordinators of Special Olympics Canada (left to right) Alexius D'Cruze, Karen Newbery-Nutt, David Robertson, Arthur Rea, Aaron Lindsay and Vaso Charitsis at the Home Hardware fall market show at the company's distribution centre in St. Jacobs. The framed photo of Cherry and singer Shania Twain was one of the items raffled off at the show to raise money for Special Olympics. Home Hardware hosted more than 10,000 Home Hardware dealers and vendors at the three-day show, which ends today.
http://news.therecord.com/Business/article/243352
John - ;):up:
dreamer
09-18-2007, 4:33pm
so neat thanks
FinnFreak
09-27-2007, 3:46am
Regina Leader-Post, Canada - September 26, 2007
There's been no looking back
By Gary Graff, Reuters
...Nickelback's fifth album, released in October, 2005, has become a phenomenon that's not only eclipsed Silver Side Up but is arguably the biggest rock album of the century so far. It's been in the top 30 of the Billboard 200 for 102 consecutive weeks and is currently No. 7. The last artist in that rarefied position was fellow Canadian Shania Twain, whose 1997 release Come On Over spent its first 123 weeks in the top 30.
http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/arts_life/story.html?id=bcd145cb-db54-4348-843e-6a5b46091890
* * *
TheV247.com, TX - September 26, 2007
Valley MusicCast: Chris Daniel
Hard-rock frontman goes pop for debut album
By Mike Moody
...Like a true music geek, he talks about hearing Guns 'N Roses for the first time ("I was like 'Wow'") or his love for Michael Jackson's "Leave Me Alone." Daniel runs down a list of favorite albums and artists - from The Beatles to Shania Twain - and he hopes that his songs will one day end up on someone else's favorites list.
http://www.thev247.com/entertainment/daniel_1272___article.html/music_album.html
* * *
American Chronicle, CA - September 26, 2007
Women are like Ducks
http://bp1.blogger.com/_M58FGm42jAQ/RusiG01hruI/AAAAAAAAAEg/EdrfZgh0rgY/s400/duck.jpg
By Marwa Rakha
A few years back Shania Twain inspired me to sketch an analogy between men and shoes. At the time, I had settled for a very wrong pair of shoes; uncomfortable from the start, though highly maintained, they lost their allure as time passed, and I realized that I have invested a fortune of emotions into a fake, yet well polished pair of mismatched sneakers. Today, for no justified reason, I decided to come clean with a new confession; women are like ducks. When I look at women, instead of faces, I see ducks. There are several categories of ducks in my world; wild ducks, stuffed ducks, black ducks, and sitting ducks. There are pure, hybrid, and deformed breeds of ducks … Let me illustrate to give you a better idea.
Wild ducks are fearless spirits, risk-takers, and trend-setters. In the prairie, among beasts they live, yet highly respected and well positioned. No one dares pluck their feathers, tame, mold, frame, or domesticate them. Those creatures are often criticized, rejected, and resisted but it never makes them any weaker or milder. Whether other ducks look up to them or look down on them, they just cannot be as wild or as free. Unlike black ducks, they know who they are, what they want, and where they want to go. Wild ducks end on a plate only if shot dead or ambushed.
At the other extreme, black ducks are outcasts; like their market value, their self esteem, and their social acceptance are low. Their flaw could be related to their physique, social disposition, spiritual inclination, tarnished reputation, or unheard of ideas. Black ducks are sentenced to a lifetime of isolation and alienation – and it hurts them. A black duck wants to be unnoticed, unheard, unseen, and, in a way, invisible. They are the geeks, the nerds, and the pimple-faced teenagers that never grow into anything more assertive. Since the men of this world are not blessed with insight into their souls, black ducks, end up alone or on the plate of an equal male outcast. Being a black duck is a stigma that neither time nor blood could erase.
Going down the ladder, stuffed ducks are a delight to look at and a pleasure to feast over. They are perfect for social occasions and for showing off purposes – each man on the table has a stuffed duck on his plate! Being full of rice, onions, and any leftovers in the fridge, stuffed ducks look bigger and better than other ducks – posh and grand. They lure men by their big bloated over-fed over-exposed over-stuffed appearance only to give them, instead of nourishing meat, a plate full of constipating legumes. Needless to say, one can only handle that much of stuffed fowl. Their mission in life is to look good – and stuffed! Stuffed ducks land on the plate of whoever pays more.
Sitting ducks are pathetically lovely; you can caress them, fondle them, shoot them, cook them, stuff them, or cage them. They are tame, demure, docile, and disciplined. Sitting ducks are anything but confrontational – they will whine, complain, and b*tch about something to everyone and anyone but their offender. Sitting ducks have neither flying abilities nor argumentative capabilities; they are an easy catch, a quick dump, and a perfect emotional punching bag. They do not land on a man’s plate; they end up in his fridge for use when there is no other food on his table – sitting ducks are always taken for granted and never appreciated.
Our culture encourages sitting ducks, exiles wild ducks, despises black ducks, and craves for stuffed ducks, but pure breeds are rare nowadays; for example, I am a hybrid of wild and black ducks- and that says it all about me. Men drool over the offspring of crossbreeding stuffed ducks and sitting ducks; such ducklings fit all the molds of our patriarchal society. Some men are stupid enough to think that they can turn a wild duck into a sitting duck, or even worse, turn a black duck into a stuffed duck. The most hazardous type is a mix of wild ducks and stuffed ducks; they think they rule the word.
Continuing the bird analogy, I would classify swans, ostriches, and birds of prey as deformed breeds. Swans are the vain girls who do not practice what they preach; they claim to be on a high ethical pedestal when their feet are in deep mud. Ostriches burry their heads in the sand thinking they outsmarted everyone when they are nothing but blind, stupid, and ignorant. They easily point out the flaws in others, and because their heads are in the sand, they believe that no one could see their flaws. Hawks are a carnivorous strain of women that feeds on its own friends and loved ones. They are full of envy, venom, evil, and have zero tolerance and no resilience. Multiple deformities occur but the outcome is a creature that is, at best, disgusting.
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=38668
John - ;)
Thanks for the interesting articles
mcjessica
09-27-2007, 11:19am
hahaha that last article is so random.
Thanks for posting.
Articles very weird.. waa thanks for posting :boogie:
dreamer
09-27-2007, 11:45pm
thans I get the Shoes song reference
FinnFreak
09-28-2007, 6:07am
PR Web (press release), WA - September 28, 2007
Top Global Places Three Finalists for 2007 Qualcomm A-List Awards
The three finalists were selected from hundreds of innovative nominations from a wide range of companies, public agencies and nonprofit organizations. The annual 3G A-List program was created by Qualcomm to honor mobility at work.
Irvine, CA (PRWEB) September 28, 2007 -- Top Global announced today that three of its wireless projects have been placed as finalists for Qualcomm's fifth annual 3G A-List™ Awards. Top Global is the global leader in mobile wireless convergence systems. Top Global's 3G/4G mobile routers are patented, mobile/portable wireless communications gateway for internet access. The A-List Awards will be presented during CTIA Wireless I.T. on October 23, 2007 in San Francisco, CA.
The following Top Global customers are in contention:
- Roadhouse Coach
- St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office
- China CITIC Bank
The A-List Awards recognize the leading builders of successful wireless data solutions based on 3G CDMA (CDMA2000® 1X, EV-DO, WCDMA/UMTS and HSPA) technology. A-List solutions demonstrate creativity and exceed business objectives by introducing higher ROI, lower operating expenses, or increased user satisfaction.
Top Global designed, engineered and implemented mobile solutions with our partners for each of these customers using MobileBridge™ cellular router products and Qualcomm 3G CDMA technologies. Those technologies include CDMA 1x service offered by China Unicom for China CITIC Bank, as well as EV-DO services offered by Sprint and Verizon Wireless for Roadhouse Coach and St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office.
Roadhouse Coach offers luxury coaches in the USA for over 30 years, and they use Top Global 3G routers and EV-DO technology to offer broadband hot spot Internet service within all their coaches. This service greatly enhances their VIP and Celebrity customer satisfaction by enabling them to access mail, surf the Web and enjoy other Internet content during their trip. Their clients including Celine Dion, Sting, Shania Twain, ZZ Top, etc. (more information can be found at Roadhouse website: http://www.roadhousecoach.com/index_content.html)
St. Lucie Sheriff's office integrates Top Global 3G MobileBridge™ into their police cars to receive EV-DO data service in the field. This increase officers' work efficiency and helps them to search information from databases and improve communication with their stations.
China CITIC Bank, one of the biggest banks in China (0988. HK; 601998 SH), uses CDMA 1x technology and Top Global 3G routers for remote ATM, to transmit financial data wirelessly protected by Top Global router's VPN scheme. This solution eliminates disruptive network deployment and needs no dedicated line construction work. It helps China CITIC Bank expand their ATM business in a fast way and get advance position compare to its peers in the bank industry in China.
The three finalists were selected from hundreds of innovative nominations from a wide range of companies, public agencies and nonprofit organizations. The annual 3G A-List program was created by Qualcomm to honor mobility at work. More information about the awards can be found at http://www.3galist.com.
About Top Global:
Top Global is a leading wireless systems company and a global leader in third generation (3G) mobile wireless technologies. Top Global offers total wireless solutions for carriers, enterprises, and consumers. Our mobile wireless products and solutions enable enterprise customers to increase productivity, improve operational efficiency, and maintain a competitive edge. Our products are simple to use which improves overall user experience, and our continuous innovation in mobile data applications enhance the quality of life for mobile consumers. We believe the future of wireless communication has just started, and that the nascent wireless broadband Internet will become as pervasive as the Internet itself. Top Global sees it as a business opportunity to give everyone easy wireless high-speed Internet access anywhere at anytime. This wireless horizon has just been discovered, and we will broaden the World Wide Web (WWW) to a World Without Wires (WWW). Our corporate mission is "Broadening Wireless Horizons."
More information about Top Global is available from our Web site at http://www.topglobalusa.com/.
Qualcomm is a registered trademark of QUALCOMM Incorporated. 3G A-List is a trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA USA). All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/9/prweb556582.htm
John - ;)
Q: How are we doing, musically, as a genre?
A:We’re back in a good place. The class of 1989 was such a good period with obvious mainstream, middle of the road stuff, folk leaning stuff, southern rock. With Shania we became mainstream. She was as pretty as Mariah Carey and her producer
is the Elvis of producers. Three years ago, I guess it started again with Chesney, who’s now probably the biggest artist in the genre. Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban have that pop culture sensibility. And I love what Big & Rich brought. You couldn’t put a song like “Save A Horse” on the radio 10 years ago. It’s basically a heavy metal guitar intro. So pop culture has once again taken an interest in our genre.
-- Tony Brown, producer (Reba McEntire, Brooks & Dunn, George Strait)
http://www.countryaircheck.com/
mcjessica
10-02-2007, 5:37pm
Cool article.
Thanks for posting!
dreamer
10-02-2007, 8:45pm
Hmmmmmm
FinnFreak
10-03-2007, 2:56am
Hmmmmmm
I agree with you, Misty: Shania's prettier than Mariah Carey.
John - ;)
canoilers
10-03-2007, 5:37am
I'll be seconding that one, and I'll third that one aswell. Who says all my personalities can't have a say. :D
FinnFreak
10-04-2007, 5:22am
Great American Country, TN - October 3, 2007
BMI Honors Willie Nelson & Top Songwriters
http://img.gactv.com/GAC/2006/05/18/willienelson2_e.jpg
U.S. performing rights organization BMI will honor Willie Nelson and salute the past year's most popular country songs on November 6 at the 55th Annual BMI Country Awards, country music's oldest awards celebration.
Staged at the company's Music Row offices, the black-tie, invitation-only event spotlights the 50 most-performed songs of the previous year.
In addition to recognizing the past year's most-performed songs, BMI will officially name Willie Nelson the newest BMI Icon. Willie joins an elite list of past honorees that includes country artists Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Bill Anderson and Loretta Lynn.
Citations of Achievement will be presented to the writers and publishers of the top 50 songs. The evening will culminate in the announcement of Songwriter of the Year, Publisher of the Year, and Most Performed Country Song of the Year (the Robert J. Burton Award).
Among the talents who have previously been crowned BMI Country Songwriter of the Year are Harlan Howard, Don Gibson, Bill Anderson, Roger Miller, John D. Loudermilk, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Dennis Morgan, Paul Overstreet, Vince Gill, Shania Twain, Tom Shapiro, Troy Verges, Dixie Chick Martie Maguire, Ronnie Dunn, Bobby Braddock and eight-time victor Billy Sherrill.
http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,,GAC_26063_5713151,00.html
John - :)
FinnFreak
10-04-2007, 10:20am
The Daily Iowan, IA - Thursday, October 4, 2007
Adieu to albums
By Louis Virtel
Full-length albums are in enough trouble without Matchbox-Twenty getting snarky about it.
Imagine my distress upon hearing the title of the Rob Thomas group's new album, Exile on Mainstream. It's part greatest hits, part new material, and designed to chap my ***.
Look, I've never even seen High Fidelity, but I think we're in danger when a 2007 pop album references the Rolling Stones' double disc Exile on Main St. A couple more pangs: the Matchbox-Twenty song "Disease" was co-written by Mick Jagger. Not only can Thomas get away with alluding to Jagger's work, he can nudge his buddies about his linkage to the icon. Also: Exile on Mainstream? As far as I remember, Matchbox-Twenty is a perennial Billboard favorite. And that's fine - there's no sense resenting popularity. However, let's not kid ourselves, there's no "exile" occurring. I'm reminded of Avril Lavigne's once-persistent insistence that she was no pop tart - or rather, that she was, in fact, "the Sid Vicious of her generation." Never mind the bollocks, guys … especially if you're a sk8r boi.
All this frivolity points to one dubious reality: Not only does the iPod generation disregard the weight and importance of classic albums, it also prefers not to regard albums at all - except in senseless, ironic references, as Matchbox-Twenty exhibits.
Album sales, besides the recent surge ignited by the 50 Cent/Kanye clash, sink lower every year. Double platinum albums are now considered, by and large, major successes. If you glance at the "5 Years Ago" rewind chart at Billboard's website, you're treated to a smorgasbord of smashes: the 8x platinum Come Away With Me, by Norah Jones, the quintuple platinu and Nelly's quintuple platinum Nellyville. And don't even think about the '90s, when at least one or two albums topped 10 million every year (or, if you're Shania Twain, 20 million).
I'm mad because we're all missing out. As much as I can always appreciate a new Rihanna single (and believe me, I do), it benefits me more to hear a cohesive selection of songs that surrounds a theme or follows a creative impulse through several tracks. Joni Mitchell's Blue riffs on one emotion but paints several portraits of isolation, homesickness, and despair. Prince's Sign O' the Times approaches urban violence and drug abuse but turns those sun-streaked alleys into welcoming block parties.
Exile on Mainstream is, meanwhile, mostly a collection of singles. Here's the real self-exile I'm looking for: a band that opts only to sell its complete album online, insisting it has a sensibility, and not just a single, that's worth buying. Mind you, it may not even be a self-exile for that renegade band: Judging by the popularity of singles, the ever-distracted, radio-listening populace will likely run the group out of town first.
http://media.www.dailyiowan.com/media/storage/paper599/news/2007/10/04/80Hours/Adieu.To.Albums-3011843.shtml
John - ;)
Hockeystick
10-04-2007, 1:21pm
Great American Country, TN - October 3, 2007
BMI Honors Willie Nelson & Top Songwriters
http://img.gactv.com/GAC/2006/05/18/willienelson2_e.jpg
U.S. performing rights organization BMI will honor Willie Nelson and salute the past year's most popular country songs on November 6 at the 55th Annual BMI Country Awards, country music's oldest awards celebration.
Staged at the company's Music Row offices, the black-tie, invitation-only event spotlights the 50 most-performed songs of the previous year.
In addition to recognizing the past year's most-performed songs, BMI will officially name Willie Nelson the newest BMI Icon. Willie joins an elite list of past honorees that includes country artists Merle Haggard, Dolly Parton, Bill Anderson and Loretta Lynn.
Citations of Achievement will be presented to the writers and publishers of the top 50 songs. The evening will culminate in the announcement of Songwriter of the Year, Publisher of the Year, and Most Performed Country Song of the Year (the Robert J. Burton Award).
Among the talents who have previously been crowned BMI Country Songwriter of the Year are Harlan Howard, Don Gibson, Bill Anderson, Roger Miller, John D. Loudermilk, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Dennis Morgan, Paul Overstreet, Vince Gill, Shania Twain, Tom Shapiro, Troy Verges, Dixie Chick Martie Maguire, Ronnie Dunn, Bobby Braddock and eight-time victor Billy Sherrill.
http://www.gactv.com/gac/nw_headlines/article/0,,GAC_26063_5713151,00.html
John - :)
For Shania that is great company to be in.
mcjessica
10-04-2007, 4:12pm
Both great articles.
Thanks for posting.
FinnFreak
10-05-2007, 5:12am
Charlotte Observer, NC - Fri, Oct. 05, 2007
IN MY OPINION
The NFL turf won't be any greener in Week 5
By RON GREEN JR.
The theme of the week is be careful what you wish for.
In football language, that means the turf isn't always greener on the other side of the depth chart.
Take, for example, the Chicago Bears, whose fans have been bellowing for the benching of quarterback Rex Grossman. They got it last week, and Brian Griese delivered three interceptions while the defense disappeared quicker than Shania Twain.
http://www.charlotte.com/panthers/story/306267.html
:huh:
:hmmm:
:dunno:
John - :p
dreamer
10-05-2007, 10:59pm
Charlotte Observer, NC - Fri, Oct. 05, 2007
IN MY OPINION
The NFL turf won't be any greener in Week 5
By RON GREEN JR.
The theme of the week is be careful what you wish for.
In football language, that means the turf isn't always greener on the other side of the depth chart.
Take, for example, the Chicago Bears, whose fans have been bellowing for the benching of quarterback Rex Grossman. They got it last week, and Brian Griese delivered three interceptions while the defense disappeared quicker than Shania Twain.
http://www.charlotte.com/panthers/story/306267.html
:huh:
:hmmm:
:dunno:
John - :p
:nono:
faithfully
10-05-2007, 11:19pm
Cool statements :D
canoilers
10-06-2007, 4:16am
Charlotte Observer, NC - Fri, Oct. 05, 2007
IN MY OPINION
The NFL turf won't be any greener in Week 5
By RON GREEN JR.
The theme of the week is be careful what you wish for.
In football language, that means the turf isn't always greener on the other side of the depth chart.
Take, for example, the Chicago Bears, whose fans have been bellowing for the benching of quarterback Rex Grossman. They got it last week, and Brian Griese delivered three interceptions while the defense disappeared quicker than Shania Twain.
http://www.charlotte.com/panthers/story/306267.html
:huh:
:hmmm:
:dunno:
John - :pI seriously don't get it. :uhh::dunno::hmmm::really:
dreamer
10-06-2007, 11:29pm
good!!
FinnFreak
10-08-2007, 2:41am
Anderson Independent Mail, SC - Friday Oct 5, 2007
I spy a celebrity
By Jeanne Malmgren
The whole thing started a long time ago, on our honeymoon.
My husband and I were sitting at a bar in a Montana ski lodge, and we were … well, we were tired and sore from skiing so we spent the entire afternoon “resting” at the bar.
We started noticing there were lots of famous people there.
Then we looked a little more closely and we noticed that those weren’t famous people. They were people who looked like famous people.
Thus was born the game called Celebrity Look-Alike.
“Whoa! There’s Madonna!” I said.
“And look at that guy,” my husband said. “He’s Bill Clinton.”
We kept score.
If it was a “perfect” Celebrity Look-Alike (that is, the person was the virtual double of the famous person), the spotter got a point. We’re both pretty good at this sport, as it turns out, so the score was usually tied.
Now, this many years later, we’re still at it. The game never grows old.
We’ll be eating dinner at a restaurant.
“Got a Celeb Look-Alike for ya,” he’ll say.
“Where?”
“Three tables down. The woman in blue. Shania Twain.”
I look around, cautiously. She does, indeed, look exactly like the singer. It’s incredible. One point for my husband.
Then I spy a shortish, handsome guy walking toward the men’s room. I catch my husband’s eye and tilt my head toward the man.
“Tom Cruise,” I say.
The score: 1 all.
Or we’ll be at a party. Bored out of our minds. Tired of mingling.
“Hey, check out that kid who’s double-dipping his chip. A perfect Macaulay Culkin.”
“Yeah, and his mom is Princess Di.”
We see famous people — or their doubles — everywhere.
Did you know that Tom Hanks waits tables at Ruby Tuesday in Clemson? Joely Richardson works there, too.
Just a couple of weekends ago, at Paesano’s in Seneca, we were waited on by Sean Young. You know, from “Blade Runner.”
We have a few celebs here in Anderson, too.
The Rev. Horace Alexander, president of the Southeast Anderson Community Task Force, is the living twin of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
And for some reason, Anderson County hired a lot of celebs: Col. Harlan Sanders, who serves on the County Council (you figure it out); the new “James Bond” actor, Daniel Craig, who works in the economic development office; and John Cleese (of “Monty Python” fame), who just happens to be the county planning director.
I even have a celeb in my own family: My older brother is the spitting image of Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
But my favorite Celeb Look-Alike of all time — the one I saw first — is my partner at this game.
My husband.
Kevin Bacon.
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2007/oct/05/i-spy-celebrity/
John - ;)
FinnFreak
10-08-2007, 5:36am
Daily Mail, UK - 8th October 2007
Win a double CD of Woman 2007 signed by Gabrielle
http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_01/wo_228x226.jpg
This year has been phenomenal for female artists, with Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash and Rihanna all making their mark in the charts and award ceremonies.
To celebrate this achievement we are giving away 10 copies of the brand new Woman 2007 double CD, signed by Gabrielle.
The CD includes smash hits from female superstars including Rihanna's 'Umbrella' and Kate Nash's single 'Foundations'.
Then there are the classics including Aretha Franklin's 'Respect', Shania Twain's 'Man, I feel like a woman' and Gabrielle's 'Why'. Woman 2007 pulls together all the greats to provide a timeless collection of girl power like no other!
For your chance to win simply email your name and address to editorial@dailymailonline.co.uk and write 'Woman 2007' in the subject header.
The competition closes at 4pm on Friday 12th October. Good luck!
Track listing
Disc One
1. Kate Nash - Foundations
2. Robyn - With Every Heartbeat
3. Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry
4. Nelly Furtado - Say It Right
5. Girls Aloud - Sexy No No No
6. JoJo - Too Little, Too Late
7. Sugababes - Push The Button
8. Leann Rimes - Can't Fight The Moonlight
9. Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Catch You
10. Feist - 1234
11. Vanessa Carlton - A Thousand Miles
12. The Cardigans - Erase / Rewind
13. Christina Milian - Dip It Low
14. Rachel Stevens - Sweet Dreams My LA Ex
15. TATU - All About Us
16. Texas - Inner Smile
17. Irene Cara - Flashdance
18. Aretha Franklin - Respect
19. The Pussycat Dolls - I Don't Need A Man
20. Shania Twain - Man! I Feel like A Woman
Disc Two
1. Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own
2. Gabrielle - Why
3. Mutya Buena - Real Girl
4. Amy McDonald - Mr Rock N Roll
5. Gwen Stefani feat. Akon - The Sweet Escape
6. Rihanna ft. Jay Z - Umbrella
7. All Saints - Never Ever
8. Mary J Blige - No More Drama
9. Ashanti - Foolish
10. Mariah Carey - Get Your Number
11. Robyn - Konitchiwa *****es
12. Donna Summer - I Feel Love
13. Diana Ross - Upside Down
14. Tweet - Oops (Oh My)
15. MS. Dynamite - Dy-na-mi-tee
16. Cass Fox - Touch Me
17. Kate Walsh - Your Son
18. Sia - Don't Bring Me Down
19. Katie Melua - Nine Million Bicycles
20. Sheryl Crow - Everyday Is A Winding Road
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=485851&in_page_id=1879
John - :)
mcjessica
10-08-2007, 11:33am
Great songs on that album.
Thanks for posting.
StarryShania
10-08-2007, 1:35pm
Thanks for the articles. Man ! I Feel Like A Woman ! Was quite popular. :)
FinnFreak
10-09-2007, 6:45am
The London Free Press, Canada - Tuesday, 9 October, 2007
Top 10 shows put London on the map
By JAMES REANEY
It's fun to come up with a list of the Top 10 shows I've seen at the John Labatt Centre since the night Cher slid down to the stage from a chandelier.
Tough, but fun.
This countdown to No. 1 is strictly personal but weighted for such factors as artistic excellence, entertainment value, work ethic, staging inventiveness, crowd craziness and fun.
The downtown arena's saga starts with Cher.
The first of her two final farewell concerts so far wasn't the official opening for the building. But the Chermania of October 2002 put the place on the map, always a key London achievement.
10. Cher, Oct. 23, 2002: Most frequently overheard comment: "I can't believe I'm seeing Cher in London." Still hard to believe she hasn't been back for a third final farewell. Crowd of more than 9,000 fans.
9. Rod Stewart, March 8, 2004: The consummate pro captivated with two looks/sounds -- the crooner from his Great American Songbooks and then Rod the Rocker with all those hits. 8,800 fans.
8. David Bowie, May 14, 2004: The influential icon at his coolest and wittiest all night and, on Suffragette City and several others, his total rock hard, sophisticated self. 8,500 fans.
7. Black Eyed Peas, July 11, 2005: Fergie had the flu after partying in Toronto and I had to play paintball with the three BEP guys in a frankly awful promo thing that afternoon. All were still great on stage, as gymnastic as the Temptations in the old days -- and with irresistible songs that call for love, peace and phunk. 5,300 fans.
6. Shania Twain, May 10, 2004. An all-ages crowd from kids to grandparents was ready to worship the cute, sexy mom and their favourite Canadian star. Polished and friendly, Twain charmingly detoured from all those hits to reminisce about watching The Beachcombers as a kid. 10,269 fans.
5. The White Stripes, July 7, 2007. A friend who was sitting way at the end says the sound was totally garbled and she felt pretty old. From my seat, it was all brilliant art-school red and shadows and stirring noise. Later in the tour, Meg White, who sang a bit and drummed, became ill and dates were cancelled. In London, Meg and her "brother," Jack White, were in terrific form. 5,400 fans.
4. Dixie Chicks, Aug. 13, 2006: After the band had trouble selling tix in the U.S. Midwest because the band dissed Dubya, we got the show. Tough, tuneful, rootsy and hip -- the best of America and million-selling Americana. 9,300 fans.
3. Elton John, Nov. 6, 2006. Tix gone in five minutes. Show lasted more than 2 1/2 hours and just kept building. Friends in the crowd looked just ecstatic, as did drummer Nigel Olsson, playing his umpteenth gig. As did Sir Elton. 10,300 fans.
2. Cirque du Soleil (Saltimbanco), July 31, 2007: It was nice we finally had the right building in London to bring our first visit from Canada's greatest spectacle for a run of its trademark show, Saltimbanco. A personal thrill for the whole night. The goosebumps are still with me. 4,200 fans.
1. Green Day, May 4, 2005: A London crowd behaving in a most unLondon fashion (also true of most shows on this list), completely at one with a great band celebrating its career accomplishment, American Idiot. Who says entertainment and art and politics don't mix? 9,260 fans.
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/Columnists/Reaney_James/2007/10/09/4560957-sun.html
John - ;)
Visitors may be surprised to learn that the cha-cha, a Cuban music style known for its danceable rhythm and repetitive lyrics that became popular in New York City in the 1950s, influenced a diverse array of songs, among them Richard Berry's "Louie Louie," the Rolling Stones' "Get Off of My Cloud" and Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/334687_emp09.html
mcjessica
10-09-2007, 5:26pm
The London Free Press, Canada - Tuesday, 9 October, 2007
Top 10 shows put London on the map
By JAMES REANEY
It's fun to come up with a list of the Top 10 shows I've seen at the John Labatt Centre since the night Cher slid down to the stage from a chandelier.
Tough, but fun.
This countdown to No. 1 is strictly personal but weighted for such factors as artistic excellence, entertainment value, work ethic, staging inventiveness, crowd craziness and fun.
The downtown arena's saga starts with Cher.
The first of her two final farewell concerts so far wasn't the official opening for the building. But the Chermania of October 2002 put the place on the map, always a key London achievement.
10. Cher, Oct. 23, 2002: Most frequently overheard comment: "I can't believe I'm seeing Cher in London." Still hard to believe she hasn't been back for a third final farewell. Crowd of more than 9,000 fans.
9. Rod Stewart, March 8, 2004: The consummate pro captivated with two looks/sounds -- the crooner from his Great American Songbooks and then Rod the Rocker with all those hits. 8,800 fans.
8. David Bowie, May 14, 2004: The influential icon at his coolest and wittiest all night and, on Suffragette City and several others, his total rock hard, sophisticated self. 8,500 fans.
7. Black Eyed Peas, July 11, 2005: Fergie had the flu after partying in Toronto and I had to play paintball with the three BEP guys in a frankly awful promo thing that afternoon. All were still great on stage, as gymnastic as the Temptations in the old days -- and with irresistible songs that call for love, peace and phunk. 5,300 fans.
6. Shania Twain, May 10, 2004. An all-ages crowd from kids to grandparents was ready to worship the cute, sexy mom and their favourite Canadian star. Polished and friendly, Twain charmingly detoured from all those hits to reminisce about watching The Beachcombers as a kid. 10,269 fans.
5. The White Stripes, July 7, 2007. A friend who was sitting way at the end says the sound was totally garbled and she felt pretty old. From my seat, it was all brilliant art-school red and shadows and stirring noise. Later in the tour, Meg White, who sang a bit and drummed, became ill and dates were cancelled. In London, Meg and her "brother," Jack White, were in terrific form. 5,400 fans.
4. Dixie Chicks, Aug. 13, 2006: After the band had trouble selling tix in the U.S. Midwest because the band dissed Dubya, we got the show. Tough, tuneful, rootsy and hip -- the best of America and million-selling Americana. 9,300 fans.
3. Elton John, Nov. 6, 2006. Tix gone in five minutes. Show lasted more than 2 1/2 hours and just kept building. Friends in the crowd looked just ecstatic, as did drummer Nigel Olsson, playing his umpteenth gig. As did Sir Elton. 10,300 fans.
2. Cirque du Soleil (Saltimbanco), July 31, 2007: It was nice we finally had the right building in London to bring our first visit from Canada's greatest spectacle for a run of its trademark show, Saltimbanco. A personal thrill for the whole night. The goosebumps are still with me. 4,200 fans.
1. Green Day, May 4, 2005: A London crowd behaving in a most unLondon fashion (also true of most shows on this list), completely at one with a great band celebrating its career accomplishment, American Idiot. Who says entertainment and art and politics don't mix? 9,260 fans.
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/Today/Columnists/Reaney_James/2007/10/09/4560957-sun.html
John - ;)
Great Article.
May 10 is my birthday! :D.
That would have been a good way to spend it...at a Shania concert! :funny:
mcjessica
10-09-2007, 5:27pm
Visitors may be surprised to learn that the cha-cha, a Cuban music style known for its danceable rhythm and repetitive lyrics that became popular in New York City in the 1950s, influenced a diverse array of songs, among them Richard Berry's "Louie Louie," the Rolling Stones' "Get Off of My Cloud" and Shania Twain's "That Don't Impress Me Much."
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/334687_emp09.html
Intresting, thanks for posting.
Move Over, Garth
For years, Garth Brooks’ Ropin’ the Wind album held the sales mark that no one ever thought could be beaten—13 million as of 1998 (according to Garth’s website, the total now stands at over 14 million). The album featured No. 1 hits like “The River” and “What She’s Doing Now” along with one of Garth’s most popular cuts, “Rodeo.”
For nearly a decade, Ropin’ the Wind stood as country’s all-time best-selling album. That is, until Shania Twain came along with her 1997 release, Come on Over.
Shania’s CD, with hits like the title track and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” captivated both country and pop fans. And soon, it became time for Garth to move on over.
With the official tally at well over 20 million, Come on Over is now the best-selling country album of all time. But could Garth’s next offering, The Ultimate Hits, ultimately outshine Shania? Stay tuned.
http://www.countryweekly.com/garth_brooks/feature/1299
dreamer
10-10-2007, 11:53pm
NO!:nono:
mcjessica
10-11-2007, 12:08am
No way! :p
Justin Timberlake's "Until The End Of Time" enjoys a 41-28 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week, making him the first solo male artist this decade to spawn six top 40 hits from the same album. The album in question, "FutureSex/LoveSounds" (Jive), was released in September 2006.
The last solo male artist to accomplish the feat was Michael Jackson, whose album "Dangerous" produced seven such hits from 1991-93. Shania Twain's "Come On Over," which had six top 40 Hot 100 hits from 1997-99, was the last album overall to reach the same heights.
http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003656990
Little things like that make me proud to be a fan. I guess it's silly lol.
Thanks for the articles.
mcjessica
10-11-2007, 6:51pm
haha I'm the same way.
StarryShania
10-11-2007, 8:47pm
Me too ! I'm so proud to be a Shania fan. :love:
dreamer
10-11-2007, 9:34pm
always
FinnFreak
10-12-2007, 6:59am
The Jewish Journal of greater L.A, CA - 2007-10-12
Producer/musician's journey brings him home
By Tom Teicholz
Producer, songwriter and musician Larry Klein is having a good year. In a way, one could say his current success is the culmination of a process of recontextualizing his background, his experience, his talents and his interests.
Two records he produced have just been released on Verve Records: "River: The Joni Letters" by jazz great Herbie Hancock, an exploration of the songs of Joni Mitchell (who is Klein's ex-wife); and "The New Bossa Nova" by Brazilian-born singer and composer Luciana Souza (his new wife). Starbucks has just released Joni Mitchell's new album, "Shine," on which he plays, and he's been co-writing and producing a new record by Walter Becker of Steely Dan fame.
Recently, over lunch at Hal's in Venice, Klein recounted that when Verve first brought up the idea of working on "The Joni Letters" with Hancock, his reaction was "what a great way to bind together a number of different threads." The theme of weaving together his various talents and interests -- professional and personal -- is a neat way to encapsulate Klein's professional journey.
Klein grew up, he recalled, "in an area of Los Angeles that is now known for its Chinese food, Monterey Park." His parents say it had a sizeable Jewish community when they first moved there, but that was not the case when he was growing up. "By the time I was 5 or 6, there were few Jewish families and a healthy [or unhealthy] dose of anti-Semitism," he said.
Music and literature proved his salvation. They were, he says, "my escape." Initially inspired by his parents' record collection, Klein began his musical education by taking guitar lessons at a "typical suburban music store," where the teacher sometimes fell asleep during the lesson.
However, in junior high school his mother enrolled him in The Community School for the Performing Arts, an after-school music program, sponsored by USC, which allowed him to take classes in composition and music theory. At Schnurr High School he was also fortunate to have a "Mr. Holland"-type teacher in Wayne Bischoff.
"He was an incredible character and introduced me to so much music -- Charles Ives, [and] the entire history of classical music." As a result, Klein spent about three quarters of his day studying music. He also spent time outside of class going to concerts and seeing such legends as Jimi Hendrix and early performances by James Taylor and Jackson Browne.
Klein started playing in rock bands in sixth grade. He switched to bass early on. Rock, however, was only a small part of the wide swath of music that interested him. "I was a maniacal fan of Charles Ives," Klein recalled. "I got into serial composition and would listen to a lot of Schoenberg and Anton Weber."
As Klein got serious about playing bass, he also became more interested in jazz. "There were only a certain amount of challenges available to a bass player in the rock genre."
By age 17, Klein was playing professionally around Los Angeles with Latin percussionist Willie Bobo, including at places like The Comeback Inn on Abbott Kinney in Venice. "This was a great place to meet some of the most exciting musical talents, such as drummer Chester Thompson (who played with Frank Zappa and with Genesis), and jazz pianist George Cables." It was there that jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard heard Klein and offered him a job on the road with him. Although Klein had graduated high school early and was enrolled in Cal State LA as a music major, he took the offer.
"That was my master class," Klein said, "as Freddie was fond of pointing out."
He was living his dream as a jazz bassist and playing with his heroes, and there was a large market for rock-inflected jazz at the time -- Miles Davis had led the way, and others, including Hubbard, were experimenting and playing large concert halls.
Nonetheless, after five years with Hubbard, at times spending eight months of the year on the road, Klein had had enough. Gradually he'd become "impatient with the narrowness of that world."
He decided to work on his songwriting and do more studio work. However, being a studio musician meant playing a lot of record dates for music that he neither loved, nor even liked.
"A lot of the music didn't feel honest or inspiring," Klein recalled, "I became frustrated with that role."
Around that time, he got a call to work on a Joni Mitchell album, "Wild Things Run Fast." The album, which came out in 1982, took a year to record and carried the following credit: "Special thanks to Larry Klein for caring about and fussing over this record with me." Over the year a friendship had developed into a love affair, and they married in November 1982.
Klein began a personal and creative collaboration with Mitchell that involved producing, writing and playing on her albums, including "Dog Eat Dog," "Chalk Mark in a Rainstorm," "Night Ride Home" and "Turbulent Indigo."
So, I asked him: What was it like to write with Joni Mitchell?
"With her it was a very simple process," Klein said. "Basically, I was always writing music, and she would hear something through the wall that she liked, and she would say, 'Give me that.'"
At the same time, Klein was moving into solo producing. "I wanted to find a new way to integrate everything I knew." In 1986, he produced "The Lace," a solo album for Benjamin Orr of The Cars. Over the next decade, he also produced albums by Shawn Colvin, Holly Cole and Julia Fordham. More recently he has produced albums by Rebecca Pidgeon ("Tough on Crime") and Madeleine Peyroux ("Careless Love").
Klein describes the late 1980s and '90s as a time when he was "crop rotating" between songwriting, production and playing. The variety of assignments allowed him to be pickier about whom he played for -- and, as a result, he performed with, as he put it, "people who were my heroes." He played on the soundtrack to "Raging Bull" with Robbie Robertson, which led to playing on Robertson's solo album, as well as with Don Henley on all his solo records. He also played with Tracy Chapman, Aaron Neville, Bryan Adams and wrote songs with Bonnie Raitt and Warren Zevon.
Doing so also allowed him to learn from other producers, such as Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who has produced and/or written massive hits for AC/DC, Foreigner, The Cars, Bryan Adams, and Shania Twain (to whom Lange is married). Klein credits Lange with being "incredibly talented at making the complex sound simple."
However, more than anyone, Klein credits Mitchell with teaching him the most important parts of producing: "How to say what, when" (which Klein admits he sometimes learned the hard way); and "how to adeptly bring out the best in an artist that they can possibly put forward at a given juncture in their career and artistic development."
Although Klein and Mitchell divorced in 1994, they have continued to work together -- and the current projects are evidence of that.
The idea behind "River: The Joni Letters," Klein says, was that "we wanted the entire record to emanate from the poetry." Klein and Hancock spent two months on preproduction, winnowing down a list of songs, talking about the lyrics, and discussing the best singers for the songs, who came to include Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae, Souza and Tina Turner (who, as far as I am concerned is the big surprise here, turning in a vocal performance that recalls Ella Fitzgerald), along with a reading by Leonard Cohen that Hancock improvises around. The recording also includes Mitchell singing on "Tea Leaf Prophecy," a song she wrote with Klein about her parents' courtship.
Several of the tracks are instrumental, and in these, as in all the tracks, Klein and Hancock sought to "get away from conventional Jazz structure," which Klein characterized as "melody, solo, solo, solo, play the melody and out."
"We approached this more as a dialogue," Klein told me. The album, Klein explained, is "geared toward Joni's world" and includes two songs not written by Mitchell but "that were important songs in her musical development."
One is "Solitude," by Duke Ellington, which Mitchell first heard as a 9-year-old. As sung by Billie Holiday, "it kind of set off something inside her." The other is "Nefertiti," by Wayne Shorter; Mitchell heard Miles Davis' version, Klein said, and "it's one of those records that knocks you on your ***, and you think, 'Wow!'"
Klein sees Souza's "The New Bossa Nova" as a companion piece to the Hancock recording: "Both records come from the same germ." He believes that as listeners, we get inured to the lyrics in great songs, and that setting them in a new musical context -- "recontextualizing them" -- makes us appreciate the lyrics anew.
So Klein and Hancock turned to jazz for Mitchell, and Klein and Souza looked to 1960s bossa nova style to recast the songs of such great contemporary American songwriters as Sting, Brian Wilson and James Taylor (who duets with Souza on his song "Never Die Young"). Souza also bridges the span between Brazil and America with a gorgeous English language version of Jobim's gem "The Waters of March."
Klein and Souza just celebrated their first wedding anniversary. They met when Souza, who is the daughter of Brazilian songwriters Walter Santos and Teresa Souza, performed as a soloist at Walt Disney Hall in a piece written by Billy Childs, one of Klein's former classmates from The Community School program. They were married here in Los Angeles by Rabbi Mordecai Finley. Souza, who became a Jew-by-choice under Finley's tutelage, gives the following credit on her album: "To Mordecai Finley, for the beacon."
At which point Klein offered up the story of his own spiritual journey. "
I went to Hebrew school and got bar mitzvahed, and after getting bar mitzvahed, I could not get away fast enough," he replied.
Although Klein describes himself as being of "a spiritual bent" and "spiritually curious," he found that the Judaism he was taught was "so by rote and so devoid of any pragmatic application or real etymological tying-in to how these ideas should be interpreted, that I could see nothing about it that was interesting." Instead he became interested in Buddhism, which he studied for many years.
"I was most interested in Tibetan Buddhism, but never found a community in that tradition that felt really honestly viable for me," he said.
Several years ago, while working with Rebecca Pidgeon on her album, over the course of many philosophical discussions she suggested to Klein that he might attend a Sabbath service with her and her husband, David Mamet, at Ohr HaTorah, with Finley.
"I was just astounded," Klein says. In Finley, Klein found "someone teaching who really understood the philosophical implications of the Torah and also the metaphoric subtleties. The way that Finley spoke of Judaism and Torah was, in Klein's words, "a whole new thing for me." After a few more visits, Klein went to Ohr HaTorah for the High Holy Days.
"I thought, 'Wow!'" Klein recalled, "Isn't it ironic that this is what I was looking for?"
As I said earlier, recontextualizing has been very, very good for Klein. And for all of us, the beneficiaries of "The Joni Letters," "The New Bossa Nova," and all the rivers of music that Klein has to share.
Tom Teicholz is a film producer in Los Angeles. Everywhere else, he's an author and journalist who has written for The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Interview and The Forward. His column appears every other week.
http://www.jewishjournal.com/home/preview.php?id=18316
John - :)
mcjessica
10-12-2007, 11:39am
Thanks for posting.
StarryShania
10-12-2007, 9:39pm
always
Forever and for always ;)
dreamer
10-12-2007, 9:43pm
yeah thanks
FinnFreak
10-16-2007, 3:33am
ACED Magazine, FL - Monday, 15 October 2007
Feels Like The First Time: Part I
Written by Uni Pereira
This is a feature column on the experiences and insights of a modern indie musician. Sounds a little heavy, but could make for a good read, right? I’ll tell ya’ what . . . before you make up your mind, give me a few lines.
The name’s Uni and I sing for the band Red Carpet Rats. Our road has had more twists and turns than a Tarantino/Rodriguez double feature, and ‘ol ACED here is letting me tell you all about it . . . and then some!
Part how-to, part how-not-to, it's your very own all-access, VIP, couldn’t-get-closer-without-a-MySpace-password, look under the hood of indie rock. Still with me? Good. Now let’s see, where to begin . . .
Ahhhh . . . my debut full length CD! The first time the people will hear me proper. The first time I get to say, “This is me . . . er, so whaddayathink?”
Now, even as a music fan of almost Rain Man proportions, I never put much thought into an artist’s first record, other than, “I really dig that song, I wonder if the rest are any good?” All I was listening for was more of the same of why I purchased it in the first place, i.e. the first single. I had no idea about what was on the line for the artist I was listening to. Now that I am recording my independent debut with RCR, I know exactly what’s on the line . . . me!
First off, any musician who releases a record, on any level, that tells you they never lay awake wondering if their music is gonna ‘go over', is lying. Period. If they just wanted to create art for art’s sake, they wouldn’t make it available, right? They’d just go on playing it for their moms/dads/girlfriends/boyfriends/girlfriend’s boyfriends, whatever, and never venture any further with it than their own PCs.
So, as I stand here waiting to see if RCR (Red Carpet Rats) goes over, and before the good ol’ full length CD has gone completely the way of the Stones, uh...I mean, dinosaur (and we’ve gone back to an early-Elvis era ‘hit single’, albeit downloadable, society), I’ve outlined a few of the hot buttons that artists face when delivering a record:
1- Flow. Not as in the Hustle and . . .sense, but basically how the CD feels, song to song. Track order. Consistency. Does one song sound like a demo for “Lithium” and the next a mastered “The Black Parade”? If so—uh oh.
This brings us to Uni’s Thought For The Day: Isn’t My Chemical Romance what Queen would have sounded like had they grew up on, uh... I mean . . . listening to, “Lithium”?
Also, it doesn’t matter if the artist is saying “I’m-just-a-songwriter-and-these-are-my-songs” (a la Van Morrison) or, “I’m-just-a-gigolo-and-these-are-my-songs” (a la Van Halen) [FinnFreak: actually, that was a DLR solo... ;) ], as long as they don’t swerve. Or else it’s not real . . . and I, you, we, ain’t buying.
2 - Artwork. Now we’ve all, on at least one occasion, bought a CD because of the way the cover looked. I know I have. Granted it was Shania Twain, so not only can I be excused because she’s a stunner, but also, who can argue with ‘Def Leppard country’. Joe Elliot maybe. But not me. Pour Some Sugar On Me . . . Ya’ll!
So, back to a picture of the artist on the cover. It can be kinda cool, all those 60s groups (The Beatles and The Doors) used to do it. It can also kinda not be cool, like all those 90s boy bands (any of them) who did it.
Another route is to go with the existential ‘what does this really mean’ cover. Personally, I’m all for artistic freedom. Hell, throw a naked baby in the water and have him swim after a buck if that’s what you’re into. Wait, that’s been done!
http://acedmagazine.com/content/view/564/34/
* * *
National Post, Canada - Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Financial Post Trading Desk
Peter Grandich predicts 'unprecendented economic tsunami'
More than 20 years after calling for the biggest market crash in history, Peter Grandich is warning investors to “Man your battle stations.” In a special alert to readers of The Grandich Letter on Sunday – a day before the 20th anniversary of 1987’s Black Monday market collapse – Mr. Grandich predicted that an “unprecedented economic tsunami” will hit American beginning in 2008.
However, he said most of what he is forecasting won’t coming in the next month or year, but many years in the future.
He said the U.S. Federal Reserve is running out of tricks after its shift to easing mode on interest rates a few weeks ago was the final silver bullet for many on Wall Street.
And what are the factors leading Mr. Grandich to the most bearish position in his career? The aging crisis and geopolitical time-bombs.
“I believe they are mega-crises in themselves and together will lead to the darkest period ever for America,” he said.
Criticizing America for its love of CNBC Mad Money host Jim Cramer, Mr. Grandich said “BOOYAH can KILLYAH!”
He also tells readers to watch the music video for Shania Twain’s “Ka-Ching” to better understand America’s greed and how consumers are living far beyond their means.
“But since Iraq, I get an earful about how messed up we are and how bad George Bush is to the point that I think it’s best for me to start wearing a button on my trips north saying, ‘I voted for Kerry,’” Mr. Grandich wrote.
http://communities.canada.com/nationalpost/blogs/tradingdesk/archive/2007/10/15/peter-grandich-predicts-unprecendented-economic-tsunami.aspx
John - ;)
StarryShania
10-16-2007, 8:24pm
I love the video for Kaching.
I love the video for Kaching.
It is a great video.
StarryShania
10-17-2007, 8:36pm
It is a great video.
It is. I don't get why some people don't like it.
I found it sad with the dog that had 3 legs and when Shania went up to him he just like hopped away. :love:
dreamer
10-18-2007, 12:38am
I wanna see it:(
mcjessica
10-18-2007, 11:00am
It is. I don't get why some people don't like it.
I didn't know some people didn't like it. I love it, it's one of my fav. videos.
It's so different from her other videos and the set is gorgeous.
I found it sad with the dog that had 3 legs and when Shania went up to him he just like hopped away. :love:
Aw I know that part is so sad, the dog is so adorable! :love::love:
Hockeystick
10-18-2007, 11:39pm
The Kaching video is very different and something sort of unusual especially from Shania. It does give a different side of her artistry I guess in a way. Kind of odd but I like it.
dreamer
10-19-2007, 12:11am
:sad:
mcjessica
10-19-2007, 12:29am
The end is kinda creepy though.
When those people's faces swell up it reminds me of this guy: :biglaugh:
http://d21c.com/terri1/people/u.gif
dreamer
10-19-2007, 12:59am
huh? vidcap please!
FinnFreak
10-19-2007, 8:39am
The Montreal Gazette, Canada - October 19, 2007
Top five actors-turned-directors
By Jen McDonnell, Canwest News Service
No matter how many magazine covers, award statues and box-office receipts an actor collects, they almost always long to be the ones calling the shots, leading to that oft-repeated sound-bite, "But what I really want to do is direct." Some take a shot in the director's chair and fail miserably (we're looking at you, Nicolas Cage) while others gain even more critical acclaim and fans for their work behind the camera.
In honour of Ben Affleck's directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, we're counting down the top five actors-turned-directors.
5) Robert Redford
In Front of the Camera: His boyish charm won us over in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, The Way We Were and a host of other instant classics.
Behind the Camera: Redford convinced us that his golden touch extended beyond acting with Ordinary People and A River Runs Through It. The streak was broken in 2000 with the laughable Legend of Bagger Vance, but it looks like he'll get a chance to redeem himself with the highly anticipated Lions for Lambs, a political thriller starring Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep.
Director's Chair or Casting Couch? Though he's one of cinemas most beloved actors, we can't wait for Lions for Lambs to hit theatres, ending his seven-year hiatus from the director's chair. He's also signed on to helm the big-screen adaptation of Richard A. Clarke's memoir, Against All Enemies.
4) George Clooney
In Front of the Camera: After years of toiling away on sitcoms and failed pilots, Clooney hit paydirt when he landed the role of Doug Ross on TV's ER, which he used to jumpstart his film career. After only one major misstep (Batman & Robin), he's grown into one of the most suave, sexiest stars on the big screen, recalling film legends of past eras. Um, is it getting hot in here?
Behind the Camera: Clooney helmed Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and the critically acclaimed Good Night, and Good Luck. Next up, he'll direct Leatherheads with Renee Zellweger and is rumoured to be teaming with the Cohen brothers.
Director's Chair or Casting Couch? Though he seems to offer more depth as a director than as an actor, we're certainly not going to suggest he stay behind the cameras and deprive audiences of his lovely mug.
3) Sarah Polley
In Front of the Camera: As a child, Polley stole our hearts in Road to Avonlea before growing up to wow us with breathtaking performances in The Sweet Hereafter and My Life Without Me.
Behind the Camera: One of Canada's most talented actresses easily segued into the role of one of Canada's most talented directors with her heartbreaking debut, Away from Her.
Director's Chair or Casting Couch? We'd love to see this uncompromising, homegrown superstar continue to garner acclaim as both an actress and a director. She'll be seen next in front of the camera, alongside Jared Leto and Diane Kruger in Mr. Nobody.
2) Sean Penn
In Front of the Camera: Penn got our attention as slacker stoner Jeff Spicoli in 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High before becoming one of the most serious, conflicted actors of our generation. He won an Oscar for his performance in Mystic River.
Behind the Camera: Penn made his directorial debut with The Indian Runner and has since helmed The Crossing Guard, The Pledge and his latest feature, Into the Wild. He also directed the music video for Shania Twain's Dance with the One that Brought You, but we're pretty sure he doesn't want anyone to remember that.
Director's Chair or Casting Couch? Given Penn's increasingly crusty demeanor (and increasingly frequent acting missteps - ahem, All the King's Men), he should probably stay put in the director's chair. Besides, it'll give him more power to rail against U.S. politics and commercialism, which seems to be all he cares about these days anyway.
1) Clint Eastwood
In Front of the Camera: With the exception of Dirty Harry, Eastwood's most memorable characters are in the films he's helmed.
Behind the Camera: Eastwood has directed 28 films, starting with Play Misty for Me in 1971. His best-known features include the incomparable western Unforgiven, the chick-flick weeper Bridges of Madison County, the unrelenting Mystic River and companion war dramas Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. He received directing Oscars for both Unforgiven and his 2004 picture, Million Dollar Baby.
Director's Chair or Casting Couch? Though a screen legend, Eastwood is more critically acclaimed behind the camera, where he's going to stay for upcoming flicks The Changeling starring Angelina Jolie and The Human Factor with Matt Damon.
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/arts/story.html?id=5a7bf65d-3385-4aa7-a1a1-a9ca8cdd043c
Behind the Camera: Penn made his directorial debut with The Indian Runner and has since helmed The Crossing Guard, The Pledge and his latest feature, Into the Wild. He also directed the music video for Shania Twain's Dance with the One that Brought You, but we're pretty sure he doesn't want anyone to remember that.
:huh: - What Made You Say That..?!? :dunno:
John - ;)
mcjessica
10-19-2007, 10:54am
:huh: - What Made You Say That..?!? :dunno:
:funny::p
dreamer
10-20-2007, 12:45am
ditto FinnFreak
StarryShania
10-21-2007, 1:48pm
[SIZE="1"]:huh: - What Made You Say That..?!? :dunno:
John - ;)
I was wondering that too.
FinnFreak
10-22-2007, 4:16am
The Virginian-Pilot, VA - October 22, 2007
Accordian players are coming out of the closet in Virginia Beach
By BARBARA J. WOERNER
It's been called a squeezebox and an orchestra between two hands. It's also been been the target of countless jokes.
But the accordion, popular in the 1950s and '60's, has withstood the jabs and, according to Accordion Lovers of Virginia members, is about to make an explosive comeback.
"We believe there are a lot of accordion players out there," said Sid Sward, 72, from Virginia Beach, who started the group with fellow accordionist, Anthony "Tip" Ciotti.
"We know there are some accordions sitting in closets and some people are now finding the time to get back to playing them."
Beach resident Joe Geipel, 77, is one of them. At the group's first meeting, at Ciotti's home in the Haygood section of Virginia Beach, Geipel picked up his beloved Hohner accordion. Leaning back in his chair, eyes shut, he played a spunky rendition of "Roll Out The Barrel."
Other Oktoberfest themes emerged as his fingers danced across keys and pushed buttons. He squeezed the bellows of the accordion with just the right pressure, all the while smiling.
Originally from Germany, Geipel was one of four attending the first Accordion Lovers of Virginia, meeting Oct. 7. The group's goal is to unite local accordion players in song and camaraderie.
Both Sward and Ciotti started playing at a young age and are professionals.
"My dad was a trombone player and played with Benny Goodman," said Sward. "He saw an accordion player and was intrigued by it, so I started lessons at 13."
Sward said he's played ever since, including while in the hospital recovering from knee replacement surgery.
"It's really happy music," he said. "It makes me happy, and I make others happy with it."
The instrument is usually identified with polkas but Ciotti said it can handle almost any music genre.
"It's very soulful and expressive," he said. "It can play classical, country, jazz, zydeco and many ethnic types of music.
I've played 'Wipeout' and the strangest request has been "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida."
Retired longshoreman Ray Tatman, 76, began playing only recently.
"I was watching 'Lawrence Welk' and saw Myron Floren play and I thought maybe I could learn to play," the Norfolk resident said. "Of course, maybe not as good as he is, but I'll learn to play some."
Tatman sent away for an accordion and tried to learn on his own. Now, he's getting help from Sward.
Geipel said he loves to play.
"I bought my accordion in 1953 and it was second-hand," he said.
Prices range from $500 to $10,000 for top- of-the-line accordions.
"I consider myself a weekend accordion player," said Sward. "Tip (Ciotti) plays the complicated classical music on his accordion."
Carol Ciotti, Anthony "Tip" Ciotti's wife, said she's been the audience for her husband's accordion concerts their entire 26-year marriage. "He's so good, I've always just listened,' she said.
Did you know?
1. The piano accordion is the official musical instrument of San Francisco, Calif.
2. Actress Lucy Liu plays the accordion.
3. The accordion is a member of the reed family, not the keyboard family.
4. The first U.S. piano accordion was made in San Francisco in 1907.
5. Shania Twain's "Come On Over," CD features accordion.
6. Bruce Hornsby and Counting Crows use the accordion in their shows and recordings.
7. China is the world's largest manufacturer and exporter of accordions.
8. June is accordion awareness month.
Facts from www.accordionusa.com
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=135076&ran=229336
John - :)
mcjessica
10-23-2007, 4:21pm
I always play the air accordian during the accordian part in "I Won't Leave You Lonely". :funny:
I always play the air accordian during the accordian part in "I Won't Leave You Lonely". :funny:
That part is cool.
ShaniaKoukla
10-25-2007, 1:37am
Weird mentioning of Shania Twain on yesterday's Tyra Banks show. Danielle Fischel(Boy Meets World) and Lance Bass(Nstink I mean Nsync) discuss their former relationship. They were at a hotel on Valentine's Day and Shania Twain's You're Still The One was playing :love:
FinnFreak
10-25-2007, 3:57am
:D - That's nice.
Also, a couple of weeks ago Conan O'Brien was considering making some changes with Late Nite, to make it more appealing to the ladies... most notably, the new theme song of the show would be Shania's MIFLAW...
John - :p
canoilers
10-25-2007, 7:58am
OMG! He's not gonna dress up like her in the video is he? :nervous:
OMG! He's not gonna dress up like her in the video is he? :nervous:
That would be scary. :nervous:
mcjessica
10-25-2007, 12:32pm
lmao oh wow. That would be quite the sight. :swoosh:
FinnFreak
10-26-2007, 6:09am
Globe and Mail, Canada - October 26, 2007
TRAVEL: ROAD WARRIORS SURVEY
The skies, and hotel rooms, not always friendly
By WALLACE IMMEN
As a road warrior, you dream of leisurely boarding your plane and being seated next to Shania Twain and then getting an upgrade to a luxury suite when you arrive at your hotel.
So why is it that you always seem to be delayed at the airport for hours and end up being seated next to the screaming kid?
And why is it that when you arrive at your hotel, you get the only remaining room that has a lumpy bed and a television that doesn't work?
You're not alone in your frustration, according to a survey that included 1,000 frequent U.S. business travellers and 45 Canadians.
In air travel, "last-minute flight cancellations and delays" are the biggest gripe, selected by 75 per cent of those polled. Close behind was a lack of communication by airline personnel, cited by 65 per cent and sitting on the tarmac, the gripe of 61 per cent.
On the plane, screaming children are a source of aggravation for 61 per cent, and incessant talkers irk 47 per cent of those polled online by Synovate Travel & Leisure research for Minneapolis-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide.
Interestingly, the hassles of long airport queues and security pat-downs rank at the bottom of the annoyance list, chosen by just 32 per cent.
The poll also asked people to pick from a list whom they would most like to sit next to on a flight.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v434/FinnFreak/MapleLeaf.gif
The Canadians picked Shania Twain as the most popular dream seat mate, chosen by 33 per cent. Next came Mike Weir at 30 per cent and Wayne Gretzky at 10 per cent. Other Canadian celebrities who got 4 per cent each were Jim Carrey, Pamela Anderson, William Shatner and Peter McKay. And there was one write-in vote for sitting beside the pilot.
Meanwhile, 24 per cent of Americans said they dream of sitting next to Oprah Winfrey, followed by Bill Gates, 23 per cent, and Angelina Jolie, 22 per cent. Hillary Clinton and George W. Bush received about 14 per cent each. Barrack Obama and the Pope were also picked.
After their flights, regular travellers said their frustrations continue at hotels.
Sixty-four per cent of those polled said they are regularly disappointed by the basic condition of the hotel room they are given, with 60 per cent saying they often find their bed uncomfortable. And 53 per cent said they get frustrated by the lousy reception or dead batteries in the remote control for the TV sets in their hotel rooms. Meanwhile, 47 per cent dread the long wait to check out when they are in a hurry.
Even though travel is by nature stressful, there are ways to reduce the aggravation of frequently hitting the road on business, according to Sandy Russell, Ottawa-based senior director of marketing for Carlson Hotels Canada, whose brands include Radisson Hotels and Country Inns & Suites.
Identify your status: When you make your reservation, include the name of your company and your title. In their reservations lists, airlines and hotels mark regular customers and employees of big corporations as priority guests who should not be bumped in case the hotel is overbooked, Ms. Russell says. If you are told there is no room available, the hotel is responsible for finding you a room at another hotel.
Be respectful to staff: "Many times staff have no control over a situation and they have to deal with hundreds of angry people," Ms. Russell says. "It's amazing what they will do to try to help you if you are polite and understanding. It makes you their ally in a stressful situation" and it can result in an upgrade.
Travel light: Try to carry on your bag whenever possible. Work within the restrictions on bag size, liquids and carry-on equipment to avoid delays at security.
Pack before you sleep: If you have a morning flight, have everything packed and ready to go the night before to avoid last-minute panic.
Be loyal: By frequently flying with one airline or belonging to a hotel loyalty program, you show that you are worthy of attention and perks, such as upgrades, Ms. Russell says.
Keep your cool: "The basic thing to keep in mind is that when you are in a frustrating situation on the road, it is not just happening to you, and everyone is upset," she says.
"You will come out calmer and have a better chance of getting good treatment if you don't let the bumps on the road slow you down."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071026.CATRAVEL26/TPStory/Business
Canadians are smart - and know what they like.
John - ;):up:
faithfully
10-26-2007, 9:38am
So 33 percent of the Canadian people wanna sit next to Shania Twain on a flight, maybe I'll be sitting next to her this Sunday when I leave Scotland:p
mcjessica
10-26-2007, 12:27pm
Thanks for posting. :)
dreamer
10-27-2007, 4:53pm
thanks very cool
StarryShania
10-28-2007, 8:05pm
That's who I'd choose. :D
FinnFreak
10-31-2007, 7:27am
The Spoof (satire), UK - 30 October 2007
My New song is the worst thing you ever heard, says Mariah Carey
By Ben Macnair
Songstress Mariah Carey, famed for her 39 Octave singing range has made the bold statement 'My song is the worst thing you have ever heard'.
The hip hop song called 'Get of (unless you earn more than 3 million a day)'features the sound of fingernails being dragged down a black-board, the sound of one hand clapping, and samples from 'The Birdie Song', 'Wannabee' by the Spice Girls, and a vocal sample from Joe Dolce's hit 'Shaddup your face'.
The bass part was provided by the vocal chords of Whitney Houston, while Shania Twain appears in the video.
Sir Cliff Richard was at the first play of the new sonic creation. The successful Elvis Presley impersonator said: 'Mariah Carey is many things, but one thing she is not is a liar.I speak of someone with experience, that really is the worst thing I have ever heard'.
The release comes at a time when Ronan Keating was aiming to make a pop comeback.
The story above is a satire or parody. It is entirely fictitious.
http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s4i26351
:rolleyes: - No kidding.
John - :p
FinnFreak
10-31-2007, 7:46am
Toronto Sun, Canada - Wed, October 31, 2007
Yanks shouldn't smart about the loonie soaring higher than their buck -- after all, they're superior in soooo many ways
By MIKE STROBEL
"Canadians are a fine tribe of people. They are hardy -- they got to be to live next to us."
-- Will Rogers
My American friends are incredulous when I tell them their dollar is worth less than ours.
"Huh?" they say, as only Americans can.
Yes, by a nickel, I tell them, for the first time in memory.
Most of my life, our measure as a people has hovered around, oh, 75 cents. That's hell on a national ego. No wonder we have an inferiority complex.
Shrinks get rich off insecurities like ours.
Now that the tables are turned, our next-door neighbours need our sympathy.
They need our help.
They need reassurance that their most precious, inalienable right holds true. That they are indeed superior.
In that spirit, my American chums, let's point out a few facts that make you better than us, loonie or no loonie.
SURE, YOU WON IN 1812
Sidney Crosby. You have him. You have Gretzky and Lemieux, too. You also have Daniel Briere, Joe Sakic, Joe Thornton. And most of the Staals. All being paid in U.S. greenbacks.
Canadian NHL teams, except in Alberta, must make do with Swedes for captains.
The War of 1812. You won it, hands down. If you insist. We surrender, already. Sorry about sacking Washington and burning the White House.
You need not curtsy to any queen, except Dolly Parton or Liz Taylor. Your one and true king sang Don't Be Cruel better than any of our kings, Edward, George or William Lyon Mackenzie.
Your footballs are skinnier than ours.
Thus, your quarterbacks get a good grip. Your spirals are much tighter and prettier.
You are warmer. You have Hawaii, Florida, California, the Gulf Coast, Vegas, the Valley of the Sun and Myrtle Beach. We have Pelee Island and West Edmonton Mall.
You even have more than your share of Virgin Islands. We stupidly turned down the Turks and Caicos when they came begging to be a province.
Your food portions are bigger. Walk into any eaterie from Bakersfield to Bangor. You get a plate piled high with mashed potatoes, gravy and several kinds of meat.
Even if all you ordered was the salad.
Our helpings are puny and often hidden under carrot shavings and miscellaneous twigs.
Coincidentally, your lives are shorter than ours, 78 years to 80.3.
This could be considered a negative. On the other hand that's 2.3 years less of having to read about Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
From death to taxes. Yours are much lower, even after yesterday's relief from Ottawa.
Taxmen get 27% of your GDP, but 37% of ours.
To you, GST is a sports car.
Your beer is way more versatile. Use it for anything that requires water.
BEER FOR ALL REASONS
You can wash your car with it, rinse your mouth, or even soak your plants.
But if we pour a Brador, or even a Moosehead, on our philodendron, it's dead in five minutes.
You have lower gasoline prices. We are puzzled by this, since we have more gasoline. Then it dawns on us. Taxes, again.
You are better workers. I read where a Canadian is only 82% as productive as an American.
This may be related to the strength of our beer.
David Hasselhoff. You and the Germans know a fine singer when you see one.
Best we can do is Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Michael Buble and Diana Krall.
You are blissfully unaware of us, which is a Godsend to both countries. It means Rick Mercer can do shows like Talking To Americans and have them say "I are sorry to hear Nanook of the North has been traded to Nashville." It means you don't even have to know when we're poking fun.
Best of all, you take a lot of crap from the bad guys of the world. A tonne of it. So we don't have to, so much.
At the very least, neighbour, that's worth a dollar or two. Canadian.
Keep the change.
http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2007/10/31/4619261-sun.html
John - :biglaugh:
mcjessica
10-31-2007, 5:19pm
:biglaugh: Loved that article.
Thanks for posting.
ShaniaKoukla
10-31-2007, 11:39pm
Carrie Underwood’s new CD has done even better than we predicted!
Carnival Ride is the #1 album in the U.S., having sold a staggering 527,000 copies during its debut week.
This is the American Idol winner’s first #1 album.
Her new disc also bests her previous effort, 2005’s Some Hearts, which debuted to 315,000 in its first week.
The total is also the best sales week for a female country artist since Shania Twain’s Greatest Hits started with 530,000 in November of 2004.
FinnFreak
11-01-2007, 3:24am
A Greatest Hits album selling more than a studio album..? - Ouch. :p
John - ;)
A Greatest Hits album selling more than a studio album..? - Ouch. :p
John - ;)
Yeah ouch
canoilers
11-01-2007, 1:31pm
So 33 percent of the Canadian people wanna sit next to Shania Twain on a flight, maybe I'll be sitting next to her this Sunday when I leave Scotland:pForget sitting next to her, I'll take her lap. What if the plane if full and somebody can't catch a flight to see their family. I'm only thinking of other people.
... am I not the the most thoughtful person ever.
canoilers
11-01-2007, 1:32pm
Toronto Sun, Canada - Wed, October 31, 2007
Yanks shouldn't smart about the loonie soaring higher than their buck -- after all, they're superior in soooo many ways
By MIKE STROBEL
"Canadians are a fine tribe of people. They are hardy -- they got to be to live next to us."
-- Will Rogers
My American friends are incredulous when I tell them their dollar is worth less than ours.
"Huh?" they say, as only Americans can.
Yes, by a nickel, I tell them, for the first time in memory.
Most of my life, our measure as a people has hovered around, oh, 75 cents. That's hell on a national ego. No wonder we have an inferiority complex.
Shrinks get rich off insecurities like ours.
Now that the tables are turned, our next-door neighbours need our sympathy.
They need our help.
They need reassurance that their most precious, inalienable right holds true. That they are indeed superior.
In that spirit, my American chums, let's point out a few facts that make you better than us, loonie or no loonie.
SURE, YOU WON IN 1812
Sidney Crosby. You have him. You have Gretzky and Lemieux, too. You also have Daniel Briere, Joe Sakic, Joe Thornton. And most of the Staals. All being paid in U.S. greenbacks.
Canadian NHL teams, except in Alberta, must make do with Swedes for captains.
The War of 1812. You won it, hands down. If you insist. We surrender, already. Sorry about sacking Washington and burning the White House.
You need not curtsy to any queen, except Dolly Parton or Liz Taylor. Your one and true king sang Don't Be Cruel better than any of our kings, Edward, George or William Lyon Mackenzie.
Your footballs are skinnier than ours.
Thus, your quarterbacks get a good grip. Your spirals are much tighter and prettier.
You are warmer. You have Hawaii, Florida, California, the Gulf Coast, Vegas, the Valley of the Sun and Myrtle Beach. We have Pelee Island and West Edmonton Mall.
You even have more than your share of Virgin Islands. We stupidly turned down the Turks and Caicos when they came begging to be a province.
Your food portions are bigger. Walk into any eaterie from Bakersfield to Bangor. You get a plate piled high with mashed potatoes, gravy and several kinds of meat.
Even if all you ordered was the salad.
Our helpings are puny and often hidden under carrot shavings and miscellaneous twigs.
Coincidentally, your lives are shorter than ours, 78 years to 80.3.
This could be considered a negative. On the other hand that's 2.3 years less of having to read about Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.
From death to taxes. Yours are much lower, even after yesterday's relief from Ottawa.
Taxmen get 27% of your GDP, but 37% of ours.
To you, GST is a sports car.
Your beer is way more versatile. Use it for anything that requires water.
BEER FOR ALL REASONS
You can wash your car with it, rinse your mouth, or even soak your plants.
But if we pour a Brador, or even a Moosehead, on our philodendron, it's dead in five minutes.
You have lower gasoline prices. We are puzzled by this, since we have more gasoline. Then it dawns on us. Taxes, again.
You are better workers. I read where a Canadian is only 82% as productive as an American.
This may be related to the strength of our beer.
David Hasselhoff. You and the Germans know a fine singer when you see one.
Best we can do is Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Michael Buble and Diana Krall.
You are blissfully unaware of us, which is a Godsend to both countries. It means Rick Mercer can do shows like Talking To Americans and have them say "I are sorry to hear Nanook of the North has been traded to Nashville." It means you don't even have to know when we're poking fun.
Best of all, you take a lot of crap from the bad guys of the world. A tonne of it. So we don't have to, so much.
At the very least, neighbour, that's worth a dollar or two. Canadian.
Keep the change.
http://torontosun.com/News/Canada/2007/10/31/4619261-sun.html
John - :biglaugh:That is good, thanks for posting. :D
mcjessica
11-01-2007, 5:26pm
Forget sitting next to her, I'll take her lap. What if the plane if full and somebody can't catch a flight to see their family. I'm only thinking of other people.
... am I not the the most thoughtful person ever.
:biglaugh: I just had the image of you sitting in her lap on the plane with her looking like "who's this guy?" haha.
:biglaugh: I just had the image of you sitting in her lap on the plane with her looking like "who's this guy?" haha.
I just pictured that too. :p
Toronto Sun, Canada - Wed, October 31, 2007
Yanks shouldn't smart about the loonie soaring higher than their buck -- after all, they're superior in soooo many ways
Canadian NHL teams, except in Alberta, must make do with Swedes for captains.
Pretty funny article, but but but, WHAAAAT??? Is Montreal in Alberta or is Saku Koivu now a Swede?:shocked:
They better put Montreal on wheels and drag it somewhere into Alberta back yards, because Swedes doesn`t get Saku Koivu!(Montreal Captain) Even he is from Turku we`ll keep him, he is NOT a Swede.:scowl:
;)
FinnFreak
11-02-2007, 4:21am
Saku has recently been confusing everyone with his French... ;)
http://kuvat.iltalehti.fi/jaakiekko/koivuSL_jk.jpg
...and the Canadiens just beat the Flyers 5-2..! :D
Montreal Canadiens - Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 (1-1,2-0,2-1)
8.53 S. Koivu 1-0 (R. Hamrlik, K. Chipchura)
16.50 M. Richards 1-1 (D. Briere, K. Timonen) yv.
27.28 A. Kovalev 2-1 yv.
31.38 T. Kostopoulos 3-1 (A. Markov) av.
48.21 G. Latendresse 4-1 (S. Koivu)
56.42 C. Higgins 5-1 (M. Streit, M. Ryder) yv.
59.32 S. Upshall 5-2 (J. Carter, L. Kukkonen) yv.
S. Koivu MON 1+1 0 +2 1 9/19 16.09
Kukkonen PHI 0+1 0 0 0 - 21.28
K. Timonen PHI 0+1 0 -1 1 - 25.50
S. Kapanen PHI 0+0 0 0 1 1/1 16.00
Niittymäki PHI luukkuvahtina
:huh: - ...Saku Koivu a Swede..? Hell, NO. Merde.
John - :p
StarryShania
11-03-2007, 12:52am
A Greatest Hits album selling more than a studio album..? - Ouch. :p
John - ;)
No kidding. ;)
No one can beat our Shania. :D She rocks this country and this world !
dreamer
11-03-2007, 1:05am
lol!!!
FinnFreak
11-05-2007, 4:47am
Robertson County Times, TN - Nov 4, 2007
Country's women toil in a 'man's club'
Female stars, writers feel the clock has turned back on industry's honors
By BEVERLY KEEL
Country music is still a good ol' boys club in 2007, say some of the genre's most successful women singers and songwriters.
Many are speaking out about being frustrated and angry over the state of women in country music, especially after the recent lack of female nominees in country music awards shows' major categories.
"It's a boys club, and it's hard to break through that and it always has been," said singer-songwriter Matraca Berg. "I think there was some breaking through in the '90s, and then that door got shut again. I don't know how or why.
"It's been gradual, and it has definitely been very subtle. It seems like this year it has taken on a whole new color. … It is nothing less than shocking to me."
And at least some men in the industry aren't arguing the point.
Wade Jessen, Nashville director of charts for Billboard and R&R, said, "Country has never been an equal-opportunity format. It's always been dominated by the men, and the men always have an easier time."
Luke Lewis, chairman of Universal Music Group Nashville, said, "Honestly, I think they've got a legitimate beef. I think they are right: They are not getting their due."
• Awards and honors: At Wednesday's Country Music Association Awards, for the second consecutive year no women are nominated in the categories of entertainer or album of the year. A woman hasn't been nominated in the entertainer category since the Dixie Chicks in 2001. (They took the 2000 prize home.)
The Academy of Country Music hasn't nominated a female act for entertainer of the year since 2003 (the Dixie Chicks), though Carrie Underwood won this year's album of the year award.
"It's a man's club; it will always be a man's club," said singer Faith Hill.
"I think the CMA nominations are indicative of a bigger problem in the industry," Hill said.
CMA Entertainer of the Year for 1986 Reba McEntire said, "The women are having to work 10 times harder, and they aren't getting nominated and I don't know why. But it is not fair, it is not right.
"There for a while, I was saying, 'Oh my gosh, we have overcome this separation. The women are getting equal attention.' I think we have gone back 10 steps. … Will we ever have four women and one man nominated?"
A woman hasn't been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame since Dolly Parton eight years ago. The esteemed hall holds 101 acts made up of 105 men and 14 women.
“To say that no female has been inducted into the Hall of Fame since Dolly in 1999? That is a little lopsided to me,” said singer Lorrie Morgan.
• Songwriting recognition: The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has inducted 158 men and 10 women. Before gospel legend's Dottie Rambo's October induction (which came as a special directive from the organization's board), there hadn't been a woman inducted since Sue Brewer was honored 17 years ago for her devotion to songwriters. Before Rambo, the last female songwriter inducted was Parton 21 years ago.
“There are women who have written huge impact songs who are not even nominated,” said Berg, known for hits such as “Strawberry Wine” and “Wild Angels.” “Sharon Vaughn’s ex-husband was inducted years ago. She wrote some of those songs with him, and wrote huge, classic hits by herself.”
At ASCAP’s annual country awards, which honored 62 songwriters last month, 51 were men and 11 were women. Of the 66 songwriters being honored Tuesday at BMI’s annual country awards, 55 are men (83 percent) and 11 are women (17 percent).
That’s largely because there are fewer females writing songs, said Connie Bradley, ASCAP senior vice president. “Just pure numbers show that if it’s 80 percent men singer-songwriters, you’ll have a lot more coming out of that 80 percent.”
• On the radio: About 20 percent of the artists being played on country radio this week are women, with the remainder being males and groups, according to MediaBase. “That happens to be a reflection of the number of female artists appearing on the SoundScan Top 75 chart for this week, which shows that about 20 percent of the top artists selling country albums this week are female,” said Paul Allen, Middle Tennessee State University recording industry professor.
Singer Michelle Branch said, “I find it very interesting that there aren’t more of us. I hope that changes. There’s always going to be the great male country singer. I hope they leave a little bit of room for us.”
During the pop singer’s debut country project, she was told by those promoting her duo The Wreckers’ songs, “We have a smaller window to get your song on radio because they only play X amount of women’s songs.”
In the late 1990s, country radio was flush with female songs, but after Sept. 11, the format became male-dominated again with artists like Toby Keith, Montgomery Gentry and Darryl Worley, said Jessen. “When it comes to programming radio stations, the women get extra scrutiny that the men don’t necessarily get,” Jessen said.
It’s created a testosterone-driven environment full of songs about trucks and fighting, Berg said. “I don’t know if we sit around and wait our turn or try to do something about it,” she said. “I just feel like there’s ‘a pretty girl getting put in a box’ thing happening again, and I was hoping that was over.”
Songwriter Aimee Mayo (“Amazed,” “My Best Friend”) said female songwriters are hurt when fewer females are played on country radio. “When you are a woman songwriter and there are only three women on the radio, you have three places to go for a song. If it’s a male song, you would have 40.”
Jody Williams, BMI’s vice president of writer/publisher relations in Nashville, said of the 16 female singles on the Top 60, 14 were written by the artists. “That says female artists are not depending on guys to write their songs,” he said, adding that some may include male co-writers. “Of those 16, only one was written by males only.”
• On the labels: Very few women are producing major- label artists. No women produce acts on the rosters of Warner Bros. or Universal Music Group, while Capitol and Sony BMG each have only one artist produced by a woman (excluding female artists who produce themselves).
Sony BMG has 16 male acts and 11 female acts (or groups with females in them). Capitol has nine male acts and five female acts. Universal Music Group’s country roster has nine men and seven women. Warner Bros. has 10 male acts and three female acts.
“It is absolutely much harder to break a woman right now” into the marketplace, said Mike Dungan, president and CEO of Capitol Records Nashville. “There is a definite stigma out there. The minute you come to the table with a new female, you immediately start in a hole, so to speak, from radio’s perspective.
“In the early ’90s, we had tremendous success with women. We were breaking a lot of women. They were definitely the ‘in thing’ for a while, and then it cooled.”
Audience favors men
Allen said country radio’s primary target listener is women 35-44, and radio research shows that those women are attracted to a music programming ratio of 80 percent male and 20 percent female. “Labels understand that in order to get through the filter of country radio, the music they send to them has to roughly meet that balance.”
UMG’s Lewis, who broke Shania Twain, the best-selling female country artist of all time, said, “After Faith, Shania and the Dixie Chicks, it’s been sort of ugly. For the last five years or so, female artists have been hit with a buzz saw. … Maybe in the last one or two years, it’s loosened up, or at least they’re getting a fairer shake.”
ASCAP’s Bradley said she was recently told by a high-powered manager, “Women aren’t selling records as a whole.” She said, “He wouldn’t take on a female act at this time. Basically he won’t even talk to them” about management.
But some women are outselling the men. Carrie Underwood’s first album sold 6 million copies, and her recent sophomore album made its debut atop Billboard’s Top 200 all-genre albums chart with more than 527,000 copies, about 140,000 more than reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Kenny Chesney’s September debut.
In addition, the new females are outselling new male acts. Miranda Lambert’s two albums have sold about 1.1 million copies, Taylor Swift’s debut album has sold 1.4 million copies, and Kellie Pickler’s debut album has sold more than 640,000 copies. “Seven of the Top 15 albums at the current time are women,” said Joe Galante, chairman of Sony BMG Nashville. “I’m struggling to say it’s bad.”
Women feel less respect
Even when women have success, they said, they aren’t always given the respect in the industry that is paid to male artists.
“You just have to work 10 times harder,” Hill said. “You can ask my husband. He sits there and witnesses it still to this day, the things I have to get done for my career. It takes me 10 times the amount of work to get it done because I am a woman.”
For instance, Hill said, when working with a male video editor, her wishes to add a scene are not immediately carried out. She’ll tell the editor, “No, I said to put this in. No, I asked for this to be put in.” “Five, 10, whatever times. But if my husband were to say, ‘Remove that shot,’ it’s gone.”
As for songwriting, a good song is a good song, regardless of the writer’s sex, said Hillary Lindsey, who co-wrote “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” which won a Grammy for Country Song of the Year, and “This One’s for the Girls.” (However, Berg said she gets her songs recorded by male acts only when she hires a man to sing the demo.)
But Lindsey said she is treated differently than male songwriters during music publishing negotiations. “When you are negotiating deals, I always feel like they are trying to pull something over on me because they think I’m not as smart,” she said.
Change is up to women
The female artists said if things are going to improve, then it’s up to women — both consumers and artists — to make the change.
“It’s the women that buy the records, and the women that buy the tickets, and it’s the women that watch the Oprah show,” McEntire said.
“Now if women are complaining about women not selling enough records or tickets or winning awards or being nominated, women have got to stand up for themselves and say, ‘Hey, let’s support women,’ instead of being catty, jealous, envious, backstabbing or whatever the situation is. The women have to team together and say, ‘Let’s make the women’s group stronger.’
“If you are going to buy a ticket, go buy a ticket to a woman’s show. If you’re going to buy a record, go buy a woman’s records. Support the women.”
Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles said, “Hey sisters, get out there and buck up. Put on a better show, write a better song. This is reality. We’re not going to re-invent the wheel. Going around and harping about it won’t change it. It’s got to change it from the inside — bigger, better, faster, more — or accept it, either one.
“I want to put on the best show out there, period. I want to write the best song that connects with the audience. I don’t get caught up with what all of it means. If you do your best, the proof is in the pudding.”
http://www.rctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/ENTERTAINMENT01/711040431/1005/MTCN0303
John - :smirk:
mcjessica
11-05-2007, 4:27pm
Hm interesting article. I find it wierd that it's still like that. Maybe it's just because I'm a girl, but I would rather listen to a female country vocalist over a male artist any day.
dreamer
11-06-2007, 12:16am
ME too I rarely like male songs
ShaniaKoukla
11-06-2007, 12:45am
Robertson County Times, TN - Nov 4, 2007
Country's women toil in a 'man's club'
Female stars, writers feel the clock has turned back on industry's honors
By BEVERLY KEEL
Country music is still a good ol' boys club in 2007, say some of the genre's most successful women singers and songwriters.
Many are speaking out about being frustrated and angry over the state of women in country music, especially after the recent lack of female nominees in country music awards shows' major categories.
"It's a boys club, and it's hard to break through that and it always has been," said singer-songwriter Matraca Berg. "I think there was some breaking through in the '90s, and then that door got shut again. I don't know how or why.
"It's been gradual, and it has definitely been very subtle. It seems like this year it has taken on a whole new color. … It is nothing less than shocking to me."
And at least some men in the industry aren't arguing the point.
Wade Jessen, Nashville director of charts for Billboard and R&R, said, "Country has never been an equal-opportunity format. It's always been dominated by the men, and the men always have an easier time."
Luke Lewis, chairman of Universal Music Group Nashville, said, "Honestly, I think they've got a legitimate beef. I think they are right: They are not getting their due."
• Awards and honors: At Wednesday's Country Music Association Awards, for the second consecutive year no women are nominated in the categories of entertainer or album of the year. A woman hasn't been nominated in the entertainer category since the Dixie Chicks in 2001. (They took the 2000 prize home.)
The Academy of Country Music hasn't nominated a female act for entertainer of the year since 2003 (the Dixie Chicks), though Carrie Underwood won this year's album of the year award.
"It's a man's club; it will always be a man's club," said singer Faith Hill.
"I think the CMA nominations are indicative of a bigger problem in the industry," Hill said.
CMA Entertainer of the Year for 1986 Reba McEntire said, "The women are having to work 10 times harder, and they aren't getting nominated and I don't know why. But it is not fair, it is not right.
"There for a while, I was saying, 'Oh my gosh, we have overcome this separation. The women are getting equal attention.' I think we have gone back 10 steps. … Will we ever have four women and one man nominated?"
A woman hasn't been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame since Dolly Parton eight years ago. The esteemed hall holds 101 acts made up of 105 men and 14 women.
“To say that no female has been inducted into the Hall of Fame since Dolly in 1999? That is a little lopsided to me,” said singer Lorrie Morgan.
• Songwriting recognition: The Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame has inducted 158 men and 10 women. Before gospel legend's Dottie Rambo's October induction (which came as a special directive from the organization's board), there hadn't been a woman inducted since Sue Brewer was honored 17 years ago for her devotion to songwriters. Before Rambo, the last female songwriter inducted was Parton 21 years ago.
“There are women who have written huge impact songs who are not even nominated,” said Berg, known for hits such as “Strawberry Wine” and “Wild Angels.” “Sharon Vaughn’s ex-husband was inducted years ago. She wrote some of those songs with him, and wrote huge, classic hits by herself.”
At ASCAP’s annual country awards, which honored 62 songwriters last month, 51 were men and 11 were women. Of the 66 songwriters being honored Tuesday at BMI’s annual country awards, 55 are men (83 percent) and 11 are women (17 percent).
That’s largely because there are fewer females writing songs, said Connie Bradley, ASCAP senior vice president. “Just pure numbers show that if it’s 80 percent men singer-songwriters, you’ll have a lot more coming out of that 80 percent.”
• On the radio: About 20 percent of the artists being played on country radio this week are women, with the remainder being males and groups, according to MediaBase. “That happens to be a reflection of the number of female artists appearing on the SoundScan Top 75 chart for this week, which shows that about 20 percent of the top artists selling country albums this week are female,” said Paul Allen, Middle Tennessee State University recording industry professor.
Singer Michelle Branch said, “I find it very interesting that there aren’t more of us. I hope that changes. There’s always going to be the great male country singer. I hope they leave a little bit of room for us.”
During the pop singer’s debut country project, she was told by those promoting her duo The Wreckers’ songs, “We have a smaller window to get your song on radio because they only play X amount of women’s songs.”
In the late 1990s, country radio was flush with female songs, but after Sept. 11, the format became male-dominated again with artists like Toby Keith, Montgomery Gentry and Darryl Worley, said Jessen. “When it comes to programming radio stations, the women get extra scrutiny that the men don’t necessarily get,” Jessen said.
It’s created a testosterone-driven environment full of songs about trucks and fighting, Berg said. “I don’t know if we sit around and wait our turn or try to do something about it,” she said. “I just feel like there’s ‘a pretty girl getting put in a box’ thing happening again, and I was hoping that was over.”
Songwriter Aimee Mayo (“Amazed,” “My Best Friend”) said female songwriters are hurt when fewer females are played on country radio. “When you are a woman songwriter and there are only three women on the radio, you have three places to go for a song. If it’s a male song, you would have 40.”
Jody Williams, BMI’s vice president of writer/publisher relations in Nashville, said of the 16 female singles on the Top 60, 14 were written by the artists. “That says female artists are not depending on guys to write their songs,” he said, adding that some may include male co-writers. “Of those 16, only one was written by males only.”
• On the labels: Very few women are producing major- label artists. No women produce acts on the rosters of Warner Bros. or Universal Music Group, while Capitol and Sony BMG each have only one artist produced by a woman (excluding female artists who produce themselves).
Sony BMG has 16 male acts and 11 female acts (or groups with females in them). Capitol has nine male acts and five female acts. Universal Music Group’s country roster has nine men and seven women. Warner Bros. has 10 male acts and three female acts.
“It is absolutely much harder to break a woman right now” into the marketplace, said Mike Dungan, president and CEO of Capitol Records Nashville. “There is a definite stigma out there. The minute you come to the table with a new female, you immediately start in a hole, so to speak, from radio’s perspective.
“In the early ’90s, we had tremendous success with women. We were breaking a lot of women. They were definitely the ‘in thing’ for a while, and then it cooled.”
Audience favors men
Allen said country radio’s primary target listener is women 35-44, and radio research shows that those women are attracted to a music programming ratio of 80 percent male and 20 percent female. “Labels understand that in order to get through the filter of country radio, the music they send to them has to roughly meet that balance.”
UMG’s Lewis, who broke Shania Twain, the best-selling female country artist of all time, said, “After Faith, Shania and the Dixie Chicks, it’s been sort of ugly. For the last five years or so, female artists have been hit with a buzz saw. … Maybe in the last one or two years, it’s loosened up, or at least they’re getting a fairer shake.”
ASCAP’s Bradley said she was recently told by a high-powered manager, “Women aren’t selling records as a whole.” She said, “He wouldn’t take on a female act at this time. Basically he won’t even talk to them” about management.
But some women are outselling the men. Carrie Underwood’s first album sold 6 million copies, and her recent sophomore album made its debut atop Billboard’s Top 200 all-genre albums chart with more than 527,000 copies, about 140,000 more than reigning CMA Entertainer of the Year Kenny Chesney’s September debut.
In addition, the new females are outselling new male acts. Miranda Lambert’s two albums have sold about 1.1 million copies, Taylor Swift’s debut album has sold 1.4 million copies, and Kellie Pickler’s debut album has sold more than 640,000 copies. “Seven of the Top 15 albums at the current time are women,” said Joe Galante, chairman of Sony BMG Nashville. “I’m struggling to say it’s bad.”
Women feel less respect
Even when women have success, they said, they aren’t always given the respect in the industry that is paid to male artists.
“You just have to work 10 times harder,” Hill said. “You can ask my husband. He sits there and witnesses it still to this day, the things I have to get done for my career. It takes me 10 times the amount of work to get it done because I am a woman.”
For instance, Hill said, when working with a male video editor, her wishes to add a scene are not immediately carried out. She’ll tell the editor, “No, I said to put this in. No, I asked for this to be put in.” “Five, 10, whatever times. But if my husband were to say, ‘Remove that shot,’ it’s gone.”
As for songwriting, a good song is a good song, regardless of the writer’s sex, said Hillary Lindsey, who co-wrote “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” which won a Grammy for Country Song of the Year, and “This One’s for the Girls.” (However, Berg said she gets her songs recorded by male acts only when she hires a man to sing the demo.)
But Lindsey said she is treated differently than male songwriters during music publishing negotiations. “When you are negotiating deals, I always feel like they are trying to pull something over on me because they think I’m not as smart,” she said.
Change is up to women
The female artists said if things are going to improve, then it’s up to women — both consumers and artists — to make the change.
“It’s the women that buy the records, and the women that buy the tickets, and it’s the women that watch the Oprah show,” McEntire said.
“Now if women are complaining about women not selling enough records or tickets or winning awards or being nominated, women have got to stand up for themselves and say, ‘Hey, let’s support women,’ instead of being catty, jealous, envious, backstabbing or whatever the situation is. The women have to team together and say, ‘Let’s make the women’s group stronger.’
“If you are going to buy a ticket, go buy a ticket to a woman’s show. If you’re going to buy a record, go buy a woman’s records. Support the women.”
Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles said, “Hey sisters, get out there and buck up. Put on a better show, write a better song. This is reality. We’re not going to re-invent the wheel. Going around and harping about it won’t change it. It’s got to change it from the inside — bigger, better, faster, more — or accept it, either one.
“I want to put on the best show out there, period. I want to write the best song that connects with the audience. I don’t get caught up with what all of it means. If you do your best, the proof is in the pudding.”
http://www.rctimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/ENTERTAINMENT01/711040431/1005/MTCN0303
John - :smirk:
Andrew already posted this in a thread.....
http://www.shaniaforums.com/showthread.php?t=45480
dreamer
11-06-2007, 1:06am
it can't hurt one more time:)
Music executives say awards oversights slight men, too
Sales count, but votes are subjective
By BEVERLY KEEL
Staff Writer
Failing to get a well-deserved Entertainer of the Year nomination is not exclusive to female artists, said several record label chiefs.
This year's likely female nominees were Martina McBride and Faith Hill. McBride had a successful headlining tour and a consistent television presence. She produced her album and co-wrote several of the songs, including "Anyway," which is nominated for CMA Single and Song of the Year.
Faith Hill co-headlined the highest-grossing multi-year tour in country history.
But her husband, Tim McGraw, the other half of that tour, wasn't nominated either.
Sony BMG Nashville Chairman Joe Galante said entertainer nominations are largely based on album and ticket sales, but voting is subjective.
"I could have had this conversation with you several years ago when Kenny Chesney was the biggest ticket-seller and wasn't nominated for anything," he said.
The country music industry rewards dues-paying, said Luke Lewis, chairman of Universal Music Group.
It seems that Shania Twain had to sell near 20 million records before she got an award from the CMA," Lewis said.
"There's no denying it's political and some of it has to do with whether or not you are a songwriter or do outside songs. There seems to be a lot of variables when it comes to these award nominations and wins that don't have anything to do with how many tickets or records you sold.
"The CMA membership on occasion does themselves a disservice not considering those things. You know there are viewers at home that wonder about the integrity of the process when the people they know sold a lot of records or tickets don't get acknowledged like they feel they should."
The entertainer category has never truly been clearly defined, said Mike Dungan, president and CEO of Capitol Records Nashville.
"Is it truly entertainer or is it a popularity contest for who is truly the biggest artist? People have their own personal qualifiers for that. I think that over the past 10 years, certainly Martina and Faith should have been by all reasons entertainer nominees, given their magnitude in this business."
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/ENTERTAINMENT01/711040433/1005
Industry insiders have different takes on women's struggle
Radio selections, audience likes, song quality cited
By BEVERLY KEEL
Staff Writer
Opinions differ as to who is to blame for difficulties women face in country music:
• Female artists are not creating unique music that is appealing to listeners.
"There's not a block anywhere or a plan by somebody that I know who makes decisions to hold women back in any way, shape or form," said Joe Galante, chairman of Sony BMG Nashville. "The system is there; it's about individual artists breaking through. You could have had this story two years ago about women in the format and say, 'There is nobody there,' and then have Carrie Underwood.
"I have been through this several times in my career. Women had a tougher time than men. People would say, 'It's not worth signing a woman.' Right after that, the Judds would break. We've gone through this before, then we'd look at the top of the charts and see a lady named Faith Hill. It comes back to the artist; it's not the sex."
President and CEO of Capitol Records Nashville Mike Dungan said despite obstacles women face, it's clear that when a female artist delivers music people want, they will buy it — pointing to Underwood's massive sales.
"The songs that are written for women often sound like you've heard them before. … By and large, the music cranked out by female artists over the last three or four years hasn't been as strong as it needs to be."
• Female country music fans don't prefer females.
Galante and Dungan said that female consumers, who represent at least 75 percent of the country audience, often prefer male artists, with the exception of younger fans. "Not all women like all women," Galante said.
• Industry gatekeepers throw up roadblocks.
Luke Lewis, chairman of Universal Music Group Nashville, disagreed with the notion that females don't buy albums of female artists, citing recent sales of Underwood, Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Martina McBride and others.
He said the problem is with the industry gatekeepers, particularly those who program country radio stations.
"There does seem to be a sense that (radio programmers) think there's a low tolerance in general for a preponderance of female artists on the radio at a particular time, whether it's how many times in an hour you hear one or whatever.
"Sometimes you wonder whether it's somebody who has it in their head that women don't want to hear women singers, or they don't want to hear them as much. It just seems insane to me. How can the biggest country album of all time be by a country female?
"Twenty-two million people have bought Shania Twain's Come On Over. I've got to believe a lot of them were women. You go to her shows and most of them were women. That seems to fly in the face of any research anybody cooked up."
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071104/ENTERTAINMENT01/711040432/1005
ShaniaKoukla
11-06-2007, 6:45pm
Thanks Andrew
StarryShania
11-06-2007, 8:19pm
Thanks for posting those.
Hockeystick
11-07-2007, 1:06am
Interesting articles on the women of country, a tough and silly town run by men, but it doesn't seem they give much Shania credit either except a few things Lewis said.
BMI Awards London 2007
Any Man of Mine reach 4m airplay!!!
http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/535579
ShaniaKoukla
11-10-2007, 10:00am
Awesome, Snow Patrol is on there 2!!! Love them.
mcjessica
11-10-2007, 10:30am
Awesome! :)
dreamer
11-10-2007, 8:52pm
thanks much
StarryShania
11-10-2007, 10:32pm
BMI Awards London 2007
Any Man of Mine reach 4m airplay!!!
http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/535579
Whoo goo Any Man Of Mine !
It's my 1st or 2nd favourite Shania song. :D
dreamer
11-10-2007, 11:10pm
in the above article it said COO sold 22 mil in the us is that an update(finally)
ShaniaKoukla
11-11-2007, 10:38pm
Found this old article from 2002 before James Brown died:shocked:
Hot Topic
Performance Art
Is Shania Twain worth $300,000? James Brown, $50,000? Evan Serpick looks at the fees musicians charge for concerts -- and tells you which stars are worth the money
DIVA DOLLARS 300,000 smackeroos will get you a private concert with Twain
By Evan Serpick
It's long been the music industry's worst kept secret: The REAL money is made on tour. With all the cash labels spend to record, promote, and market CDs, they usually wind up keeping most of the profits. For artists to bring home the bacon, they gotta sizzle on stage.
Clear Channel College Entertainment keeps a list on its website of booking fees for various artists, providing a telling look into the machinery of the concert biz. I reviewed the list and found some truly startling things. For your perusal -- and, if you have a couple hundred grand lying around, your consideration -- these are 10 of the best and worst deals available.
BEST DEALS
1. Basement Jaxx, $10,000 I think my bar mitzvah DJ cost more than this -- and HE didn't even have a second turntable, let alone some of the best dance tracks ever.
2. James Brown, $50,000 Okay, so he's old and fat, he sweats a lot, and by now, I can do better splits than he does. It's still James Brown, and I'd pay 50 Gs to watch him eat a salad.
3. The Flaming Lips, $7,500 What? These guys put out arguably the best album of the last 10 years (''The Soft Bulletin'') and they make less money in a night than my uncle Phil, the barber (but he does give some snaaaaazzy haircuts).
4. The Beta Band, $5,000 Radiohead'll run you $100,000. For a fraction of that, you can host their opening act and hope Thom Yorke and Co. tag along. It's worth it either way.
5. Dilated Peoples, $7,500 For the $125,000 you'd have to pay for a night with P. Diddy, you could get this expert indie crew -- who rap circles around Puffy the magic drag -- to crash on your couch for, like, a month.
6. Blind Boys of Alabama, $6,000 Great live band, worth every penny. And if you pay 'em in Monopoly money, who's gonna know?
7. Ja-Rule, $60,000 to $75,000 ''Ja Rule'' goes for $125,000, but according to this list, if you add a hyphen, the price drops by 50 percent. What a bargain.
8. Local H, $8,000 They recently auctioned off a live show on eBay. The winning bid was $9,701 -- poor bidders could've saved some cabbage if they'd done a little research.
9. Vanilla Ice, $5,000 For an extra thou, you get to dangle him off the stage by his ankles.
10. 6 Gig, $500 I have no idea who they are, but I'm willing to pay the fee to find out.
WORST DEALS
1. Carson Daly, $35,000 What the hell could he POSSIBLY do that's worth that much money?
2. Creed, $200,000 I think I might pay this fee just to get them into my basement so I can lock the door and lose the key.
3. Henry Rollins Spoken Word, $10,000 to $12,500 I've spoken a few words to Henry Rollins. Trust me, it ain't worth 10 grand.
4. Huey Lewis, $100,000 This is the God's honest truth: Lewis played a free show in the lobby of a hotel I stayed at in Kansas last summer. I went to bed early.
5. Rockapella, $10,000 I REALLY don't like the sound of that.
6. Paula Poundstone, $15,000 I hear there's a discount for elementary schools. (Ouch. Sorry.)
7. Insane Clown Posse, $20,000 Why don't you just spill a couple bottles of RC Cola on the floor and throw up on yourself. That'll only run you about $3.50.
8. Barenaked Ladies, $100,000 It's been one week since I lost my mind, and I'm still not willing to pay anywhere NEAR that.
9. 3 Doors Down, $50,000 Why don't you go back and try the first two doors, okay, fellas? Maybe deaf people live there.
10. Shania Twain, $300,000 This has to be a joke, right? I mean, for that money, I'd rather watch 3 Doors Down six times in a row.
dreamer
11-11-2007, 10:42pm
Wtf!!
dreamer
11-11-2007, 10:59pm
indeed
mcjessica
11-11-2007, 11:20pm
If I had the money I'd pay that much and invite all you guys! :p :funny:
I don't get what the big deal is, if I were her I'd charge that much too.
Otherwise you'd constantly have to do random shows.
I'd imgaine there would be a lot of requests if that wasn't the price.
ShaniaKoukla
11-11-2007, 11:26pm
If I had the money I'd pay that much and invite all you guys! :p :funny:
I don't get what the big deal is, if I were her I'd charge that much too.
Otherwise you'd constantly have to do random shows.
I'd imgaine there would be a lot of requests if that wasn't the price.
Aww you're sweet. I know I think she's worth more and worth every penny.
dreamer
11-11-2007, 11:27pm
darn right
eilleen333
11-12-2007, 3:48am
I don't really get what it's about, but is this wat you have to pay to have them perform somewhere?
FinnFreak
11-12-2007, 4:06am
That's what the old article says. :p
...and the event organizers/promoters still make a hefty profit.
John - ;)
EilleenTwain88
11-12-2007, 4:16am
That's what the old article says. :p
...and the event organizers/promoters still make a hefty profit.
John - ;)
And that was the situation in 2002? I wonder if her prize has gone up! or down after all these years of silence?
FinnFreak
11-12-2007, 4:27am
And that was the situation in 2002? I wonder if her prize has gone up! or down after all these years of silence?
...or, IF she does those out-of-tour performances at ANY price... I think those figures were from the COO years...
John - ;)
And that was the situation in 2002? I wonder if her prize has gone up! or down after all these years of silence?
I would say it probably has gone down
mcjessica
11-12-2007, 10:54am
...or, IF she does those out-of-tour performances at ANY price... I think those figures were from the COO years...
John - ;)
That's what I was thinking too.
I doubt she would even do them anymore.
If she does I'm guessing it would probably be less,
but it would probably be extrememly difficult to try and organise it.
That's what I was thinking too.
I doubt she would even do them anymore.
If she does I'm guessing it would probably be less,
but it would probably be extrememly difficult to try and organise it.
Good points
dreamer
11-12-2007, 3:40pm
i agree
Hockeystick
11-12-2007, 9:29pm
Who sets these prices? Someone from the industry, say the record label? Or does Shania want that kind of doe for a private concert? That is a heck of a lot of money.
Maybe if I win 20 million in the lottery. :funny:
Has Shania ever given a private concert?
Did she not turn down Prince William, who is a fan, for his birthday a few years back?
dreamer
11-12-2007, 9:51pm
:dunno:
FinnFreak
11-13-2007, 4:59am
hmmm... I guess it's a question of supply & demand... ;)
News & Observer, Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill - NC - Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Pachelbel, posies and pecs
Dispatches from the Father of the Bride blog
By Dan Barkin, Staff Writer
Editor's note: Dan Barkin, a deputy managing editor at The News & Observer, will walk his daughter, Hilary, down the aisle when she marries her fiance, Travis Holtzhauser, in June. Barkin shares his ongoing matrimonial education in his blog, Father of the Bride. Here are some recent excerpts. Follow along daily at http://fatherofthebride.newsobserver.com
Facing the music -- Oct. 9
I noticed my wife and daughter staring at my daughter's laptop in the kitchen the other night. They were listening to various selections of music for the wedding. Now, clearly, there are some boundaries in the choice of music. For example, you don't want "Who Let the Dogs Out?" as the bridesmaids are coming down the aisle. (God, I love that joke.)
"Canon in D" is more appropriate for the processional. Although, according to this site (http://www.ourweddingsongs.com/), Shania Twain is popular.
I never heard about "Butterfly Kisses," a daddy-daughter dance staple, until a few days ago. And, what, Barry White, for the garter toss? I'll keep you posted on the upcoming play list.
http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/770477.html
John - ;)
mcjessica
11-13-2007, 10:42am
My cousin had FTMO as her wedding song.
haha my parents think I'm crazy because I already have it planned but I want WYKM.
Hockeystick
11-13-2007, 10:47am
hmmm... I guess it's a question of supply & demand... ;)
So its a stock market thing, like say made by economists on Wall Street? :funny:
StarryShania
11-13-2007, 8:30pm
That was pretty rude.
I could watch Shania Twain forever and not get tired of going to her shows. Even if it's $300,000 for a private one.
Hockeystick
11-14-2007, 12:09am
That was pretty rude.
I could watch Shania Twain forever and not get tired of going to her shows. Even if it's $300,000 for a private one.
Just a silly goof. :)
Of course, me too, I'd never get tired and if I had that kind of money, but that is partially my point. I wonder who fixes these prices and if its ever been done before?
Okay, before I mentioned if I won 20 million in the lottery, I'd accordingly inviting you all as guests to the big night. You think Shania would accept an invite to perform around a campfire guitar in hand with the Shania Forum family in attendance? :p
FinnFreak
11-14-2007, 6:38am
FXstreet.com - The Foreign Exchange Market, Barcelona, Spain - Wed, Nov 14 2007
Lessons from the Pros
How To Spot A Bubble
By Edward Ponsi
Whenever traders speak about bubbles, they usually cite some anecdotal evidence that demonstrates just how irrational investors have become. By the late stages of the Nasdaq bubble, it was impossible to go anywhere in the U.S. - to a party, to the grocery store, to your dentist - without hearing about the booming U.S. stock market. Well, here is the latest symptom of investors gone wild - according to the Daily Yomiuri Online, a hit song in China contains the following lyrics:
Use intuition to buy stocks and make money
I won't be excited unless my investment goes up multiple times
I won't be excited unless my investment hits irrational highs
As stock investors, we must persist
From: "I'll Never Sell the Shares Even After My Death,"by Kaijie Gong
According to the article, the song is popular in karaoke bars, along with Gong's other hits, "Stock Investment is Like a Song of Sadness," "Investors Have No Time to Sleep," and "Stocks are Playing with our Hearts." As bad as the Nasdaq bubble was in the year 2000, I can't ever recall hearing Shania Twain or Metallica singing about the markets back then.
http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/analysis-reports/lessons-from-the-pros/2007-11-14.html
:really: - hmmm... "We live in a greedy little world..." (2002) - but when was it written..?
John - ;)
StarryShania
11-14-2007, 10:44pm
Just a silly goof. :)
Of course, me too, I'd never get tired and if I had that kind of money, but that is partially my point. I wonder who fixes these prices and if its ever been done before?
Okay, before I mentioned if I won 20 million in the lottery, I'd accordingly inviting you all as guests to the big night. You think Shania would accept an invite to perform around a campfire guitar in hand with the Shania Forum family in attendance? :p
Aw that's sweet of you ! I'd do the same. :D It would be fun.
I sure hope she would since all of us here are her biggest fans and deserve it. ;)
Hockeystick
11-14-2007, 11:25pm
Aw that's sweet of you ! I'd do the same. :D It would be fun.
I sure hope she would since all of us here are her biggest fans and deserve it. ;)
:) :up:
As a side note, oddly enough John's last article deals with the stock market. Whoa.
mcjessica
11-15-2007, 12:07am
Okay, before I mentioned if I won 20 million in the lottery, I'd accordingly inviting you all as guests to the big night.
That's what I said I'd do too.
How awesome would that be...
just the people from the forum?
Quick everyone run out and get some lottery tickets! :funny: :p
vBulletin® v3.8.4, Copyright ©2000-2010, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.