Music News You Can Use: Pop-Rock and Cheap Tix

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

Calling all Parawhores… Pop-punkers Paramore might be winding down from their exhausting year-round tour for Riot!, but that doesn’t mean jack. Fiery frontwoman Hayley Williams and the studs are releasing a live CD/DVD set, promoting their cuts on the Twilight soundtrack (including the very epic “Decode“), and just won mtvU’s Woodie of the Year. We could care less about some blood-thirsty teeny-bop flick and MTV’s sorry attempt at an “indie” college station, but a little more of Paramore never hurts.

Speaking of that one “music” network… ‘Tis a pop killer’s dream come true: TRL is finally coming to an end, which leaves us wondering what trashy reality TV show is lined up to take its slot. The upside: time to shed those memories of watching hormonal teens cutting class to hold up signs in front of Times Square, promising nothing but shoulder cramps and a quick glimpse of your favorite popstar (he actually waved at me). Question is, was it worth it?

Probably not, but I know what is… Concert tickets! Ticketmaster is finally dropping those scandalous convenience fees that we all cringe over (*shudder*). As an “experiment,” the ticketing giant is hoping to boost sales after a 76% decrease in earnings since last year. So no need for the double take, the price you see on the drop-down menu is the exact price you pay! Yay!

Oh yeah, about the music… Emo-esque pioneers Jimmy Eat World will be celebrating their 10-year anniversary of album Clarity in a tour starting Febuary 2009; Say Anything’s lyrically-gifted singer Max Bemis and Saves The Day’s Chris Conley and David Soloway are collaborating for a new band project dubbed Two Tongues, which will also be released in February; New artist Santogold is pulling a Puff Daddy and is dropping her name to only Santi; And Mitch Mitchell, the acclaimed drummer of the Jimi Hendrix Experience, died of natural causes Wednesday.

And last but not least… South African singing legend Miriam Makeba died Sunday after collapsing during a benefit concert in Italy. The songstress, also known as “Mama Africa,” is widely recognized as the anti-apartheid activist who was exiled from her country, and later returned as a United Nations goodwill ambassador. Makeba was 76. To hear what singer Harry Belafonte and P+P founder Farai Chideya have to say, check here.

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International News Roundup

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

Suicide Bombs Just Won’t Stop Afghanistan took another grieving day today after a Taliban suicide bomber packed a tanker truck chock full of explosives and detonated it in Kandahar’s temporary council office. Felt throughout the city, the bomb killed six people, wounded 40 and caused five houses to cave in on themselves. Few newspapers or Web sites ever analyze what bomb-wounded really means: these folks may not be dead, but they’re badly burnt, some of them maimed or blinded, nursing gashes and lost limbs. Even one dead or one wounded is still too many.

Another Bomb and…Attending School is a…Sin? And in the same article as above, we learn that in another part of Afghanistan, the Nangarhar Province, not only did a Taliban suicide bomber slam into an American military convoy, killing what media outlets have estimated at between 56 and 74 people, but also that two as-yet-unidentified motorcyclists sprayed eight adolescent girls on their way to school with battery acid. Why? Because they were women attempting to receive an education.

When Will the Congo Heal If it’s not Belgian oppression, it’s widespread rape. If it’s not rape, it’s coerced fighting. Young men in eastern Congo have run from their homes, choosing displacement over membership to rebel forces. These men have explained the rebels beat their home doors down, seeking new ranks, stopping at nothing to gain new hands to help their cause.

Europe Wants no More from Russia (With Love or Not) Tired of facing the fact that more than 60 percent of its energy comes from imports (two fifths of that Russian in source), the EU is planning a supergrid of internal power supplies (e.g. increasing dependence on North Sea area wind farms) that would rely less on Russian monopoly.

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Daily News Roundup: We Bringin’ SexyBack!

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

NEWS ALERT: Fashionable clothing visits the White House. Obama’s been getting a lot of crap this week for dressing like “the dorky dad,” but whatever our President-elect lacks in style, his wife makes up for and then some. Michelle Obama hit up the White House in a smokin’ hawt frock on Monday and although it’s now Thursday, I’m still feeling the sizzle of it. Here are some ideas as to why I can’t get our First Lady in Red outta my head.

Wanna work for Obama? You better check yo’self first. Folks seeking cabinet or other high-ranking positions in the Obama administration are forced to fill out a seven-page application that asks 63 questions covering every bit of history—personal, financial, occupational, spousal, and so on—that could be “a possible source of embarrassment for you . . . or the president-elect if it were made public.” Undocumented household help? Busted! High-priced traffic ticket? Uh-oh. Unruly pet dander around the house? Shame. On. You.

So Palin did know a thing or two about Africa after all. Last week, Fox (of all networks) broke a story on Palin’s confusion about Africa: Is it an animal? Vegetable? Mineral? Continent? Or country? Her lack of world knowledge may sound plausible, but nope—the whole story was a hoax dreamed up by some oddball filmmaker. Psyche!

Who’s “proud” of Barack Obama? Guess. (Oh gee-gosh-golly, you bet those hockey mo ms get so gosh darn proud of the kiddies when they score a mean win.)

Pro-lifers are getting in gear to protest. The day after Obama is sworn into office, the Washington D.C. pro-life movement is set to hold a three-day protest in the streets and in front of nearby abortion clinics. These folks are concerned about Obama’s record on pro-life issues. The cardinal arch-bishop of Boston, Sean O’Malley, has even alleged that Obama is “possibly in the pocket of Planned Parenthood.”

Speaking of all things pro-life, the pregnant dude is pregnant again! W00t! W00t! The trans-dude who rocked the world by giving birth last June (and maintaining every bit of his masculinity all the while) is due to pop another one out. Good ol’ Barb Walters has the scoop on the story. Tune into ABC tomorrow night at 10 p.m. to get all up in his business.

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