Fergie's mother denies pregnancy reports & other: May 2008

Saturday 31 May 2008

Backstreet Boys plot initial US tour dates

With the "world" portion of Backstreet Boys [ tickets ]' current world tour behind its latest album, "Unbreakable," in full swing, the first US dates for the group have begun to turn up.The vocal quartet, which launched the tour's UK leg last night (5/7) in Liverpool, England, will hit at least seven US cities this summer, beginning with an Aug. 9 show in Kettering, OH. The US portion of the schedule is likely to grow in coming weeks as new shows are added to the itinerary.The full slate of international dates for the group can be found at Backstreet Boys' official website. Currently scheduled US shows are listed below."Unbreakable," the group's most recent album, hit stores last fall. The Boys' enlisted an all-star roster of producing talent, including Billy Mann (Sting, Celine Dion) and 'N Sync's JC Chasez, to complete the album, which is the follow-up to 2005's "Never Gone.""We spent about 14 months on it," the Boys' Brian Littrell told LiveDaily during an interview late last year. "We're happy and proud of the record. It's really the Backstreet Boys of old and where we're headed in the future. We've been at it for quite some time. It's still an honor to be in the fickle music business after 15 years and still making CDs and still having fans who want to hear the music. So we're proud of it."The album, which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart, marking the group's weakest chart performance to date, is Backstreet Boys' first effort without founding member Kevin Richardson, who departed the group on amicable terms in 2006."The first few days without Kevin were a little strange," Littrell told LiveDaily of working without one of the group's original members. "I have to say, not having Kevin there really allowed us to focus on the music and making the best record that we could. We really wanted to make a record for the fans and for ourselves that really didn't miss anybody. "Vocally, we wanted to have it as strong as it could be and the songs be as strong as they can be. A lot of people know what the Backstreet Boys sound like. It is what it is. We have to continue to sound like that with or without him."

Thursday 29 May 2008

Chris Rock - Fascinating Fact 5358

Comedian CHRIS ROCK has earned himself a place in the Guinness World Records after breaking the record for performing to the largest comedy audience in the U.K. on Friday (23May08). Rock's stand-up show at London's O2 Arena drew 15,900 fans - over 5,000 more than the previous record holder, British funnyman Lee Evans, who played to 10,108 people in 2005.

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Fuckpony And Matthew Styles And Jamie Jones

Artist: Fuckpony And Matthew Styles And Jamie Jones

   Genre(s):
Electronic

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Lady Judy

Year: 2007
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Emad Sayyah

Jonathan Rhys Meyers - Rhys-meyers Attacked For Dog Dinner

JONATHAN RHYS-MEYERS has come under fire from animal rights activists after his latest co-star, RADHA MITCHELL, let it slip that he ate dog while filming in China.

Mitchell coos about the movie hunk's "adventurous pallet" but officials at People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are less than impressed.

The actress insists dining out in rural China, where she and Rhys-Meyers, shot new film The Children of Huang Shi was a challenge - and her co-star decided to go native.

She says, "The challenge was ordering lunch and getting chicken claws, just these weird things that you don't expect and you're not used to so you're constantly adjusting.

"Jonathan did the dog's meat. We were in some restaurant and there was dog meat on the menu and there was someone next to us just sitting there with their Chihuahua in a handbag.

"I was thinking, 'That could've been dessert.'"

But PETA bosses are appalled that Rhys-Meyers, who plays British journalist George Hogg in the Roger Spottiswoode film, sampled man's best friend.

Spokesman Michael MCGraw rages, "Most people are appalled to hear about Jonathan Rhys Meyers eating dog flesh."

And he urges anyone sickened by the story to consider turning veggie: "They should take a look at what's on their own plates. Chickens and cows may not be as cute and cuddly as puppies, but when it comes to their ability to feel pain and suffer, they are no different from animals people call pets.

"The best way to avoid harming any animals is simply not to eat them and go veggie."

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Kylie's rocky start

Kylie Minogue almost cancelled the opening night of her world tour in Paris after being struck by a throat infection and technical problems.Minogue started her X2008 concert extravaganza in the world's romance capital on Tuesday night, but only after overcoming a string of problems.British tabloid the Sun reported that the 39-year-old pop princess, who recently battled breast cancer, had been ill with a throat infection since late last week.There were also technical problems with giant video panels and with using the massive stage floor as another screen."Considering Kylie couldn't sing on Friday and the problems with the stage on Monday night, it's a miracle the show happened at all," an unnamed source close to the singer told the paper.The newspaper said some of Kylie's team were also concerned that the show, which cost �10 million ($25 million) to produce, is too long and that the star has not included enough of her chart hits.Minogue performs 28 songs and makes at least seven costume changes in outfits designed by France's Jean Paul Gaultier. The show will go to Britain next month.

National Treasure - 5/20/2008

If there’s one thing every good paranoiac knows, it’s that the Freemasons founded America. But what nobody seems to know for sure is the reason they went to all that trouble. At last, director Jon Turteltaub brings to the screen a story bold enough to tell the whole story — or, at least, one version of it.

You see, the Masons weren’t always a massive fraternity of elderly men who carried out ancient rituals behind the closed doors of their lodges. Once upon a time, they were knights. The Knights Templar, to be precise. And the Templar discovered the greatest treasure in human history buried deep beneath the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. To keep their treasure safe from the greedy kings of Europe and England, they carried it across the Atlantic to the New World, where they eventually founded a country and built an elaborate system to protect their treasure forever. So begins the story of National Treasure.

Enter Benjamin Franklin Gates (Nicolas Cage), great, great, great, great grandson of some carriage boy who happened upon the secret of this treasure by pure happenstance. Sworn by his grandfather to guard the treasure in the spirit of his forbears, Gates is a self-described treasure protector. Oddly, however, he’s also a gullible dolt who hires international criminals to help him find the treasure he’s duty-bound to preserve in secrecy.

The first 15 minutes in which National Treasure’s story begins to unfold comprise a nearly unbearable montage of cheese-ball History Channel-esque footage of knights and revolutionary generals mixed in with random Masonic symbols. Christopher Plummer’s gee-whiz grandfatherly voice drones softly on for what seems like an eternity, setting up what may be the hokiest plot ever conceived. By the time the narrative gave way to the film’s first action scene, I — along with the rest of the audience — had all but written off National Treasure as a national travesty.

Full disclosure: I’m a third-degree Master Mason. My dad’s a Mason, and my great granddad was, too. As far as I know, the line of Masons in my family extends back hundreds of years. So I’ve heard my share of Masonic conspiracy theories and National Treasure’s Disney treatment of the subject doesn’t stand up to even the dumbest of them. Even so, something about this movie is undeniably fun.

What it is about National Treasure that turns an infantile treasure hunt into a worthwhile cinematic spectacle is difficult to put your finger on. It certainly isn’t Nicolas Cage’s flat, adolescent performance as the na�ve and unconvincingly brilliant Ben Gates. And it’s clear that director Jon Turteltaub (responsible for such film failures as Cool Runnings and Instinct) brings only the film’s lamest elements to the table. Still, it isn’t long before the movie’s unexpected charm kicks in and the well paced blend of action and quirky dialogue makes you leave your apprehensions about the undeniably stupid storyline behind. For this, we may have to thank producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Against all odds, this movie carries much of the same whimsical spirit and goofy charisma that made Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl such an entertaining experience.

Don’t get me wrong: Raiders of the Lost Ark this ain’t. It’s isn’t really even as strong as Pirates of the Caribbean. But once National Treasure gets going, it’s hard not to forget the story’s lamer points and get caught up in the action. Diane Kruger is smart and charming as National Archives conservator Abigail Chase. And, though frequently annoying, Justin Bartha serves up enough comic relief as Gates’s computer geek sidekick to keep the story from taking itself too seriously. But the biggest surprise delight of the film is Harvey Keitel, who steps in as the FBI agent who tracks the rest of these dorks across the country after they steal the Declaration of Independence, which it turns out is really a map that shows the way to the treasure.

Ultimately, National Treasure is not a great movie. As both a treasure hunting adventure and a conspiracy film, it falls short in many ways, not the least of which is a ridiculously moronic plot that defies reason at every turn. Still, if you can withstand the tedium of its opening montage, you’re bound to have a good time. But you’d do well not to think too hard about any of this film’s backstory.

The DVD adds a few deleted scenes (including an alternate ending), three featurettes, and the puzzle game you knew this film would have to include on the disc.

A new, two-disc DVD adds more bonus features, including additional deleted scenes and four more featurettes.

Two Masons and a blonde walk into a bar...

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Olli Mustonen, piano

Artist: Olli Mustonen, piano

   Genre(s):
Classical

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Works For Piano

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