travis barker

Music News You Can Use: Musicians for Charity, and Stuff

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

JT lies about taking a break, but for a good cause… Although Justin Timberlake said that he won’t be working on his solo music for a while, Mr. SexyBack has posted a new song on his MySpace, titled “Follow My Lead,” which will benefit Shriners Hospitals for Children. The download includes interviews and a live performance of the song. It also features new artist Esmee Denters, who is signed to Timberlake’s label, Tennman Records. Pretty hot track!

Rihanna’s following the lead… For charity, that is. The glam singer is featured in a new commercial for Gucci’s upcoming Tattoo Heart Christmas Collection, where 25% of all sales will go to UNICEF. It is a very strange ad indeed, and the songstress looks a bit smug and lonely if you ask me. Chris Brown, where you at? You be the judge, check it here.

Is Coldplay “Lost?”… They are swimming around Internet rumors saying the longtime quartet has broken up. The news was posted by NME early Wednesday, but was taken down after a few hours. Though it might be a false alarm, lead singer Chris Martin might have been the one who set it off.

Blink 182, remember them?… Of course we do. According to former member Mark Hoppus, it seems like a couple of serious events have brought the trio back to talking terms, all after a bitter breakup in 2005. A refresher: Blink’s producer Jerry Finn died in August, while drummer Travis Barker survived a deadly plane crash in September. Suffice to say, another comical music video would be awesome to see.

First MySpace, now YouTube?… Music and the Internet is collaborating once again via YouTube Live for a streamed event that will feature artists like Will.i.am, Akon, Katy Perry, and Joe Satriani. The event will be held in front of your computer screen on Saturday November 22, at 5 p.m. PST and 8 p.m. EST. Really, who’s going to spend a Saturday night in front of their computer? (Ahem…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
No Comments »

The Week in Gossip: Hip, Hip, Hooray for Out-of-the-Closet Clay!

Friday, September 26th, 2008

Wait, Clay Gaiken is . . . gay? People magazine has the “exclusive” on something Kathy Griffin’s been screaming from rooftops for years. That is, Aiken is not-so-into his Claymates. The American Idol runner-up has struggled for quite sometime to keep his closet door bolted shut, but there’s no keeping a baby out of anything. The arrival of his son prompted Aiken to bite the bullet (so to speak) and come clean. Now, if only we can get a certain American Idol host to do some similar ‘fessing up . . .

And, umm, did LiLo just say what we think we thought we’ve been thinking since . . . ? Yep, Lohan’s gay too. She officially (and finally!) confirmed that she’s been dating Samantha Ronson for “a very long time” during a phone interview with Loveline’s Stryker. The convo was supposed to be all about the DJ AM crash, but the status of Lohan’s sexuality was just too pressing to pass up.

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , ,
No Comments »

Ask A Small Plane Pilot: What’s Up With the All the Crashes, Dude?

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008

http://mike.kruckenberg.com/images/bi_plane.jpg
You know those little tiny planes that people like to fly for fun and some people take as air taxis? I have a friend who flies one of those itty bitty planes and keeps offering to take me out on a ride one day. I constantly demur, because, well, tragedies like this happen. As you’ve probably heard, Travis Barker and DJ AM are in critical condition, and are expected to make a full recovery, but their friends, including Chris “Little Chris” Baker, 29, of Studio City, Calif.; and Charles Still, 25, of Los Angeles, Calif. both passed away (along with the two pilots.)

While the risk of commercial airline crashes are still smaller than automobile crashes at 1 in 11 million, vs 1 in 5000 driving, private plane crashes seem to happen all the time. That’s because they are statistically more likely to happen. If you think about the most famous deaths related to airplane crashes, they are all in small planes: John F. Kennedy Jr., Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Denver, Randy Rhoads, Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, “The Big Bopper,” all died in small plane crashes. Sometimes they were the pilots.

Small planes crashes are more frequent in part because of an inability to counter electromagnetic surges; they are more vulnerable to a faltering GPS system; weather can upset a smaller, lighter plane more easily, whereas a monstrous Boeing 747 can weather the weather. And there’s always pilot error to consider: small planes are more likely to be flown by hobbyists; you can’t just whisk off to a nearby state for a day in a 747.

I asked my pilot friend, Bryan Keith, who flies small planes as a hobby, about small plane crashes. Of the Barker/AM crash he says: He says, “Most pilots are always pissed about the bum rap that general aviation gets. Mainstream news stories about plane crashes are almost always sensational and factually inaccurate.” He explained that we have Small Plane Bias and tried to set the record straight.

(more…)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
6 Comments »