Bono's daughter targeted by kidnappers

Digital Spy

Bono's daughter was targeted by kidnappers when she was just four years old, it has been revealed.

 

Jordan Hewson, who is now eighteen, was at the centre of an $8 million plot in 1994 when five Irish criminals spent six months staking out the singer's Dublin mansion.

 

Frances, the daughter of gangster Martin 'The General' Cahill, has claimed in her new book that the plans were dropped after her father forbade the gang from going ahead with the plot.

:o :o

Hallmark joins Bono’s efforts against AIDS in Africa

 

Kansas City Star, October 12, 2007

 

Gene Meyer

 

 

 

Hallmark Cards Inc. is joining a growing list of U.S. companies and others who are teaming up with Bono of U2 to fight AIDS in Africa.

 

The Kansas City greeting card producer on Thursday unveiled an initial line of 23 greeting cards and other products affiliated with the fundraising initiative known as (Product) Red, created by Bono and Bobby Shriver, nephew of John F. Kennedy and son of R. Sargent Shriver, the first head of the Peace Corps.

 

Donations from the sale of products will help raise money for the Swiss-based Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

 

A larger collection of 150 additional cards and gift items is scheduled to appear in stores and online in January.

 

Eight percent of what Hallmark charges retailers for those products will be donated to the fund to help fight AIDS in Africa and also to provide jobs and support the economies of communities where some of the (Product) Red products are being made.

 

Hallmark said the partnership marks the "largest social-impact initiative" in the history of the company.

 

The company estimates that the donation from the sale of each $4.99 (Product) Red greeting card with sound, for example, will provide a contribution large enough for a single-dose treatment to reduce the risk of transmission of HIV from mother to child during childbirth.

 

Since (Product) Red's creation in March 2006, participating companies, including Sprint Nextel, have raised more than $45 million, chiefly by donating an average 40 percent of their profits from the sales of selected products.

 

The fund has raised about $10 billion and committed $7 billion to help prevent or treat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in 136 countries.

 

More details about the effort can be found by going online to www.hallmark.com/red, www.joinred.com and www.theglobalfund.org.

 

 

© Kansas City Star, 2007.

 

Irish consortium to build U2 Tower

 

RTE, October 12, 2007

 

 

 

 

An Irish consortium has been selected to design and build the EU200m landmark U2 Tower in Dublin docklands.

 

Work is due to begin next year and to be completed in 2011.

 

Geranger Ltd., a consortium consisting of Ballymore Properties, Patrick McKillen and August Partners (U2 Band members and management) has been selected as the provisional preferred bidder to design, construct and finance the U2 Tower and Britain Quay Building.

 

The Dublin Docklands Authority chief executive has said that the building will be breathtaking and inspirational and will offer spectacular views over Dublin Bay.

 

It will include a hotel and residential and retail areas, as well as a recording studio for the band.

 

John McLaughlin, Director of Architecture for the Docklands Authority, said Geranger memebers bring a wealth of experience in delivering tall buildings across the U.K. and further afield.

 

"This consortium working with Norman Foster will deliver an enduring landmark for Dublin," he said.

 

 

© RTE, 2007.

 

Special for @U2: Interview with Stephen Catanzarite

 

Catanzarite is the author of the recently published book Achtung Baby: Meditations on Love in the Shadow of the Fall, in the 33 1/3 series by Continuum.

 

@U2, October 12, 2007

 

 

 

 

You mention Candida Bottaci at Principle in your acknowledgments, saying that she helped you get on the right track early on; I'm curious about the guidance she offered.

 

Also, was it a conscious choice to not include any direct quotes of lyrics, or did that have to do with the red tape of getting permission to use the lyrics?

 

My guess is that these questions might be related...

 

Ms. Bottaci contacted me shortly after word got around that I was writing the book and, as I recall, she just wanted to know what 33 1/3 is. So David Barker at Continuum sent her a bunch of books from the series. She didn't try to throw up any road blocks to the project or anything, but she did advise me that quoting lyrics would require a license (which I pretty much knew). I don't know that I would have quoted lyrics extensively in the book, but I know I didn't want to bother with a bunch of legal/financial hassles while trying to write it. So it was sort of conscious and sort of mandated.

 

I actually found the "constraint" of not be able to quote lyrics rather freeing and inspiring creatively—it pushed me to take the book in some different directions. I'm happy, for the most part, with how it all turned out. I have no regrets about any of the choices I made. The only thing I knew I wanted going into the writing of the book was to do something original and bold for an album I obviously treasure. That is a tall order, since other writers have done such great, creative things in the 33 1/3 series.

 

Who do you see as your target audience? Who do you hope picks up the book? How is this book being marketed?

 

None of that really matters to me—I wrote the book I wanted to write. This is the same book I would have written if I were self-publishing it or just writing it down in some notebook, never to see the light of day.

 

I ask about audience because you had said in your Credo that your intention was to write a "catholic" book. Could you tell me more about this intention? I'm also interested in the story of your contact with the folks behind 33 1/3. Did you approach them after reading other books in the series?

 

I stressed "catholic" with a small c because it means universal. I want the book to reach as many people as possible. As for 33 1/3, I had a couple books, and my best friend from college wrote the Beastie Boys book, so that's what motivated me to submit a proposal. Continuum is a great company to work for.

 

Bill Flanagan in his U2 at the End of the World presents the "plotline" of Achtung Baby as a relationship in trouble. Was this an inspiration for the story that runs through your book?

 

No. Flanagan's book is great (I quote it and cite it—it is the best U2 book on the market), but from the time the album came out, everyone picked up that the album was about a relationship in trouble. Lots of critics wanted to link it to the fact that the Edge's marriage was dissolving around the time of the recording (which I wanted to stay away from because I don't know a thing about the man's personal life and it has next to nothing to do with my engagement with the album). So Flanagan is not unique in that regard. His book is wonderful, and his thoughts on the "plot" of the album are great—I just happen to think he didn't go far enough. The plot in my story is about love in the shadow of the Fall. That's more than just "a" relationship in trouble. That's ALL relationships in trouble. And I don't think anyone else has picked up on that in reviewing the album—the Fall of Man theme—even though to me, it was an obvious thing from the first time I listened to the album, which was on the first day it was released.

 

"Until the End of the World" is a Jesus/Judas story, as you point out, but it is also a relationship story. How come you did not link it in with the other songs by incorporating it into your "man and woman" story?

 

Variety. I wanted it to be a chapter that is sort of an "intermezzo" and to have a different focus and flavor. That's why it is called "A Word from Our Sponsor." It's like a commercial break—a commercial for evil and betrayal. I also wanted to deal in a more universal way with the nature/reality of evil and betrayal. The focus of the book is love in the shadow of the Fall—it is more interesting to think about the love between Jesus and Judas in that song, frankly. I agree, it is a relationship story—the relationship between Jesus and Judas. As you know, the song was based on Brendan Kennelly's Book of Judas. [i think they actually came out around the same time—AP]

 

How come—particularly in discussion of "Mysterious Ways," with its celebration of feminine genius—you don't quote any women writers/poets/mystics etc?

 

I wrote the book I wrote, I quote the people I quote. They are the poets and writers and saints that came to mind as I worked on the book. I guess I could have quoted Flannery O'Connor, Julian of Norwich, St. Therese, and even Germaine Greer...but the fact is I worked with and under the inspiration that came to me at the time; my inspiration is my inspiration—yours is yours. I don't subscribe to some sort of "fairness doctrine" when I am writing. If that is a weakness in the book, so be it. But I would also say, being a man, that there is something about the album itself that is particularly male-centric. And in that regard, it is not a particularly flattering portrait of men!

 

You pick up on something interesting when you talk about the album being "male-centric." Was this also why, in the relationship story, there is more emphasis on the bad choices made by the male character?

 

I think that the album is written from a male perspective...and I think it is the whole "boy" becomes a "man" thing that infuses that album...and I'm a man, a son, a husband, a father, and I recognize how I make some stupid choices based on my own selfishness in all of those roles.

 

So I focus on the man because that is what I hear in the songs -- a male perspective...you might hear something very different...I think it would be fascinating to read an interpretation from a female perspective.

 

What was your motivation to stick with describing the songs in how they relate to personal, one on one relationships, and not examine their relation to how the Fall plays out in political life? (Especially given Achtung Baby's relation to the landscape of the early 90s, the fall of the Wall, the Gulf War, etc)

 

Because I believe the personal trumps the political on the album. I know all about the landscape of the early 90s in relation to the album, and in the epilogue I discuss some of that and some of the more political issues and events surrounding and perhaps informing the album. But the focus of my book was on the personal in the midst of a universal condition. Besides, the whole fall of the Wall / Gulf War angle has been done (to death, in my opinion). Flannagan covered that in his great book -- I felt no need to go down that road very far. Had I done so, and done it properly (because I happen to be very much interested and engaged with politics and statecraft) the book would have ballooned to three times or more its size. Such a book would not be a 33 1/3 book.

 

I should also say this -- I never really bought the whole Gulf War as a major influence on the album theory. Maybe on the Zoo TV tour and the live performances, but on the album itself I have always found that dubious. As I say, the personal clearly trumps the political, in my view.

 

© Angela Pancella, 2007.

 

 

U2 tower sounds great :dance: :) :dance: :wub:

Yep....we should go there when it's finished :w00t:

IT´S A DEAL TWINK :friends:

:wub:

can I come :unsure:

Of course :yahoo:

:yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

thank you girls :heart: group hug!!!

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/202/smiley027pd2.gif

 

Edited October 13, 200717 yr by ~Maria~

:yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

Bono tells bankers, you, too, can make a difference

 

Boston Globe, October 17, 2007

 

Kimberly Blanton

 

 

 

You've got stuck in a moment and now you can't get out of it.

 

These lyrics to a song by Irish rock band U2 might best describe the mood at the Mortgage Bankers Association's big annual conference this week in Boston.

 

There were dour panels on subprime loans gone bad. Plunging profits spawned predictions of massive layoffs in the industry.

 

But for the bankers and loan brokers in attendance, the glum mood was broken somewhat by U2 singer Bono, the featured speaker at the association's gathering at the Hynes Convention Center. Bono is on the lecture circuit, using his rock superstar status to advocate for aid for the poor and disease-wracked of Africa.

 

"You're sitting there thinking you're having a bad day, and he's talking about millions of people in Africa -- the poverty," said Maureen Ostrom, one of thousands who caught Bono's speech at 8:30 a.m.

 

"It was just so inspirational," she said, as co-worker Sal Mazzocca, seated next to her, sang a few bars of the U2 hit "Running to Stand Still."

 

The thousands who crowded into the auditorium sat in rapt attention as Bono told a story of an Ethiopian father who once begged the singer to take his son home to Ireland with him so the boy would not die of starvation or AIDS.

 

With panels such as Subprime Market Portfolio Solutions for the Practitioners on the agenda yesterday, Bono's appearance created the buzz among attendees. So much so that those who didn't hear him regretted it right away.

 

"We were bummed we missed it," said Mary Pirello, who heard a rumor that Bono -- said to be just 5 feet 6 inches tall -- wore platform shoes on the podium. His outsized image was projected on two giant video screens flanking the stage in the hall.

 

With thousands of subprime loans falling into foreclosure across the country, the mortgage industry is struggling because investors are refusing to put more capital into a troubled sector. And with thousands of borrowers losing their homes to foreclosure, some in the industry are engaged in some serious soul-searching.

 

But for an hour or so yesterday, Bono, the bankers said, transported them out of their day-to-day worries. Though he has urged wealthy nations to forgive the debts of poor countries in Africa, forgiveness of domestic mortgages was not on Bono's agenda yesterday.

 

He instead charmed the bankers and lenders with stories about his "bad boy" days as a rocker. He also appealed to the audience's collective conscience when he urged them to do humanitarian work or give to charities, even during tough times.

 

"It's star power," said Brian Thomas, a Wells Fargo amp; Co. employee attending the conference from Minneapolis.

 

And all this talk about Bono's "really important" humanitarian work is great, said Ken Kummerer, who works for Southwest Securities in Chicago. But most who were there "love him because he's Bono," he said.

 

Said Valerie Harden, who works for JPMorgan Chase in Florida, "The reason people liked him was we're so wrapped up in ourselves -- what's the interest rate and are we going to hit our quotas. He found the really important thing in life is to help people."

 

Security around Bono's visit was tight. Perhaps Bono didn't want U2's guitarist, the Edge, to learn that he was speaking -- as he joked to the crowd -- to a convention hall filled with bankers in black and blue suits. Bono also prohibited photographers, though a few attendees snapped pictures with their cellphones.

 

And Bono's speech was strictly off the record, according to Mortgage Bankers Association staff, who were instructed not to talk to the press about it. Bono, who told the audience he flew in to Boston on a private jet, was whisked away after his talk.

 

Brandon Fox noticed "the mood has been a little lighter" since Bono's appearance.

 

"Maybe," said Fox, who works for eMortgage Logic in Fort Worth, "Bono did it."

 

 

© Globe Newspaper Company, 2007.

 

19.10.2007

The Joshua Tree: Remastered

 

'The Joshua Tree will prove a braver and better record than anything else that's likely to appear in 1987. ' (NME) The Joshua Tree has been meticulously remastered from the original analogue master tapes to mark 20 years since its release.

 

"There has been continuous demand from U2 fans to have The Joshua Tree properly re-mastered," says Paul McGuinness. "As always, the band had to make sure it was right, and now it is."

 

In 1987, The Joshua Tree reached Number 1 around the world and won a Grammy for "'Album of the Year', while U2 won the Brit Award for Best International Act and Time Magazine put the band on its cover, proclaiming them 'Rock's Hottest Ticket'.

 

Including the singles I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Where The Streets Have No Name and With Or Without You, The Joshua Tree went on to sell in excess of 20 million.

 

The album will be available in four formats:

• A standard CD featuring liner notes from Bill Flanagan, lyrics and unseen photographs from long time collaborator Anton Corbijn.

• A double 12" gatefold vinyl format, with the original album pressed across two 180 gram audiophile discs.

• A deluxe edition including a second CD of b-sides and demos from the original album sessions.

• A limited edition box set containing two CD's and a DVD featuring The Joshua Tree Tour live from the Hippodrome in Paris and other rare video footage.

 

The CD track listing is as follows: Where The Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, With Or Without You, Bullet The Blue Sky, Running To Stand Still, Red Hill Mining Town, In God's Country, Trip Through Your Wires, One Tree Hill, Exit and Mothers Of The Disappeared.

 

 

That was from the official site :w00t:

The details :dance:

 

 

THE JOSHUA TREE 2007

Twenty years after its original release, The Joshua Tree has been remastered for release in a series of special formats. As well as a fourteen track bonus-CD of b-sides and rarities, the 2007 release features a live concert DVD from Paris in 1987, liner notes from band and producers and previously unseen photos in a limited edition booklet.

 

 

 

In 2007 The Joshua Tree, remastered, arrives in four different formats including a bonus audio CD of b-sides and rarities, a live concert DVD shot in Paris in 1987 and booklets featuring liner notes from the band and unseen photography from Anton Corbijn. Here’s all the detail.

 

CD format:

 

The CD format features remastered audio, liner notes by Bill Flanagan (author of “U2 At The End Of The World”) and previously unseen Anton Corbijn photos.

 

Tracklist for The Joshua Tree:

Where The Streets Have No Name / I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / With Or Without You / Bullet The Blue Sky / Running To Stand Still / Red Hill Mining Town / In God’s Country / Trip Through Your Wires / One Tree Hill / Exit / Mothers Of The Disappeared

 

Deluxe format:

 

The deluxe package comprises The Joshua Tree CD (as above), and a Bonus Audio CD. The bonus audio CD features b-sides and rarities from the Joshua Tree sessions. The 2-CD format also includes a 36 page bound book, featuring liner notes by Bill Flanagan with a special essay by The Edge, previously unseen photos by Anton Corbijn and handwritten lyrics by Bono.

 

Tracklist for the Bonus Audio CD:

Luminous Times (Hold On To Love) / Walk To The Water / Spanish Eyes / Silver And Gold / Sweetest Thing / Deep In The Heart / Race Against Time / Where The Streets Have No Name (Single edit) / Silver And Gold (Sun City) / Beautiful Ghost/Introduction to Songs of Experience / Wave Of Sorrow (Birdland) / Desert Of Our Love / Rise Up / Drunk Chicken/America

 

Box Set format:

 

The 3 disc box-set format contains The Joshua Tree CD, the bonus audio CD (both as above), and a Bonus DVD. This package also includes a 56 page hardback embossed book, featuring previously unseen Anton Corbijn photos, handwritten lyrics by Bono and liner notes by Bill Flanagan, Bono, Adam Clayton, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois, Anton Corbijn, Steve Averill, David Batstone, René Castro and a special essay by The Edge.

 

Content for the Bonus DVD:

U2 Live from Paris - filmed at the Hippodrome de Vincennes in Paris, on July 4 1987, on the European leg of The Joshua Tree tour. The tracklist is as follows: I Will Follow / Trip Through Your Wires / I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / MLK / The Unforgettable Fire / Sunday Bloody Sunday / Exit / In God’s Country / Electric Co. / Bad / October / New Year’s Day / Pride (In The Name Of Love) / Bullet The Blue Sky / Running To Stand Still / With Or Without You / Party Girl / 40

Outside It’s America – a 40 minute documentary

With Or Without You – music video, alternative version

Red Hill Mining Town – music video directed by Neil Jordan.

 

Double vinyl album:

 

The double vinyl format of The Joshua Tree includes a 16 page booklet containing lyrics and liner notes by Bill Flanagan, as well as previously unseen Anton Corbijn photos.

 

Tracklist for The Joshua Tree double vinyl album: SIDE ONE Where The Streets Have No Name / I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / With Or Without You SIDE TWO Bullet The Blue Sky / Running To Stand Still SIDE THREE Red Hill Mining Town / In God’s Country / Trip Through Your Wires SIDE FOUR One Tree Hill / Exit / Mothers Of The Disappeared

 

:dance: :dance: :dance:

Helena and Josh on guest list for Bono and Ali's T-shirt launch

 

Hello Magazine, October 18, 2007

 

 

 

Bono and his designer wife Ali Hewson clearly have one of the largest contact books in showbiz - as they proved at the launch of their Edun fashion label's latest charity T-shirt. An eclectic roll call of celebrities, from Rosario Dawson and the US president's niece, Lauren Bush, made time in their busy schedules to attend the LA event. Also there were Helena Christensen and Josh Hartnett who, according to reports, have been romantically involved since the summer but weren't giving too much away at the bash.

 

The mum-of-one apparently fell for Josh, who earlier this year was being linked to Scarlett Johannsson and Sienna Miller, after setting out to pair him off with her actress pal Rosario. But in the end she decided she liked him herself.

 

As well as hunky Josh by her side, the lucky Danish supermodel also found herself enjoying the company of another Hollywood heart-throb – Sean Penn. Oscar winner and political activist Sean was seen chatting animatedly to Helena, who had photographed a host of A-listers such as Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler for the T-shirt's ad campaign.

 

It's the second year running Helena has become involved with Ali and Bono's socially conscious clothing brand Edun and the ONE campaign to make poverty history. "It's really great to meet all these people" says Helena of the photo shoot experience. "I have great respect for them all. I've known Bono since I was 20, and I've been hugely inspired by his efforts."

 

© HELLO!, 2007.

 

Are they Joshua Trees?

 

The Mirror, October 19, 2007

 

 

 

BONO wants to chop down trees in his back yard to make way for a private recording studio.

 

The U2 frontman wants the hideaway even though he has already submitted plans for a massive studio in Dublin's Docklands.

 

The singer, 47, and his wife Ali have applied to Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council to build a "small performance study" beside his Killiney home.

 

But the campaigner's green credentials have been called into question by the application.

 

Bono and Ali are also seeking permission to build a gardener's shelter.

 

Liam Brophy, of CMB Design Group, submitted the plans for Temple Hill on Vico Road on behalf of the celebrity couple.

 

Mr Brophy said: "The trees were planted by the owners 20 years ago. In order to facilitate the temporary structure, a number of trees will be removed.

 

"Only the less mature trees will be removed." The deadline for objections is November 8.

 

© Mirror, 2007.

 

hmmmm... :thinking: