News: September 2007 Archives

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September 29, 2007

Bono Receives 2007 Liberty Medal

(AP) PHILADELPHIA - Irish rocker and activist Bono, accepting the Liberty Medal on Thursday night for his humanitarian work in Africa, exhorted Americans to keep working to solve the world's problems and spoke of those who are without freedom.

"When you are trapped by poverty, you are not free. When trade laws prevent you from selling the food you grew, you are not free," said Bono, wearing his trademark sunglasses even at night as he stood just steps away from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell.

"When you are a monk in Burma this very week, barred from entering a temple because of your gospel of peace ... well, then none of us are truly free," he said.

Bono and the organization he co-founded -- Debt AIDS Trade Africa received the award from former Liberty Medal recipient Pres. George H.W. Bush at the National Constitution Center.

The award comes with a $100,000 prize, which Bono said will be donated to the organization.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, former finance minister of Nigeria who sits on the group's policy advisory board, accepted the award for the Washington-based group.

Bono, who fronts the band U2, co-founded Debt AIDS Trade Africa in 2002 to work with religious groups on global disease and hunger issues.

In 2005, U2 also was a headliner for the Live 8 concerts held to raise awareness about African poverty and pressure world leaders to cancel debt for the poorest African nations.

Calling America "my country," Bono said he's a fan of the United States despite its problems because of the country's contributions to the world.

"Your America is where Neil Armstrong takes a walk on the moon," Bono said. "Your America gave Europe the Marshall Plan. Your America gave the world the Peace Corps."

"America is not just a country, it's an idea, isn't it? It's a great and powerful idea," he said. "The idea that all men are created equal, that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Bono exhorted Americans to pledge to continue to help the world.

"America has so many great answers to offer," he said. "We can't fix all the world's problems, but the ones we can we must."

The Liberty Medal was established in 1988 to honor individuals or organizations whose actions represent the founding principles of the United States.

Last year, former presidents Bush and Bill Clinton won the medal for putting politics aside to help raise more than $1 billion for disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 tsunami in southeast Asia. Previous winners have included Afghan President Hamid Karzai, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

The medal was first awarded in 1989, and six recipients have subsequently won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Posted by Jonathan at 01:14 AM | Comments (0)

September 14, 2007

My Misadventures in Ireland; What's The Point?

My Misadventures in Ireland, What's The Point?

By Brenda Clemons, Staff Writer

It would be several years before I returned to Ireland. During that time alot changed for me. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma (a form of cancer closely related to leukemia). I endured eight months of intensive chemo therapy. My father was diagnosed with lung cancer almost a year to the day after I received my diagnosis. I survived but my father did not. He passed away only a month after I finished chemo therapy.

But, it wasn't all bad. I couldn't work during chemo and in order to keep myself from going insane I did volunteer work for a social justice organization in Washington , DC. On the days that I was able to get out of bed; I rode the train in to DC and did typing, filing, organization, helped with press conferences, and attended Congressional hearings.

It was through the volunteer work that I finally met Bono. Imagine that! I ran all over Ireland trying to meet this guy; when all I had to do was be myself. I have never mentioned to him the night I spent outside of his house but I bet he would laugh. At my volunteer job I must behave and pretend that I am not much of a U2 fan, because to do otherwise might very well cause me to lose the privilege of being able to work with him. Don't get me wrong; it's not that Bono doesn't want fans working with him, but it would not go over well if I went running into Senate chambers screaming, "Oh My God! Bono!".

My second trip to Ireland was not a U2 hunt. This trip was for me to unwind, release negative energy, and revive my spirit. Of course, I did stop in at Dockers, only to find that "Paddy" had sold the pub to someone else. Things had already begun to change down at the docks. New, modern buildings were going up and it no longer felt so unsafe to be down there.

I splurged on myself and spent a night at the Clarence. It was a Saturday night and people were coming and going; so I wasn't paying much attention until I heard someone say, "Hey, Googie." I turned around to find Bono's friend Googie standing right behind me. I introduced myself and said that I liked his paintings (which were on display all over the Clarence). Googie announced that this called for, "group hugs all around," and so we hugged.

In another part of the hotel, my friend Christa sat smoking a cigar. Gavin Friday spotted her and approached her. "Excuse me, but are you smoking a cigar?", he asked. Christa grew up in Hollywood so celebrities do not impress her in the least. Christa replied, "Yeah, so what?". Gavin said, "It's just that I have never seen a woman smoke a cigar, before." Christa just shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm on vacation."

And so it was that we were invited to hang out with Googie and Gavin (I must say that the photos I have seen of Gavin do not do him justice. This guy is gorgeous.) Of course, lots of alcholic drinks were consumed by everyone and I soon lost count of the glasses of vodka that came my way. Things got really fuzzy really quick. I do remember that Christa pointed out to me that everyone laughed at my stupid jokes. Gavin and I talked about spirituality.

I know some of you have asked what the point is to my stories. Some of you have even been outraged by my misadventures. The point is this: you never know what tomorrow may bring. Things can be going along just fine and then one day you wake up with cancer; or something else happens and your life is over. You can't put off until tomorrow the things that you really want to do because tomorrow might not come. Yeah, you have probably heard this before, but it's true. I know because I have lived it.

So make each day an adventure! Sure, some adventures might be complete screw ups like having to spend the night drunk sitting outside of someone's house. But, it is out of these misadventures that you become a more complete person. Out of these misadventures comes many golden moments and you just might wake up one day to find yourself sitting right next to Bono during a Senate hearing.

Posted by Brenda at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2007

Bono's tribute to Pavarotti

U2 frontman Bono has paid tribute to the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti on the band's website. Here is his full message.

Some can sing opera, Luciano Pavarotti was an opera.

"No one could inhabit those acrobatic melodies and words like him.

He lived the songs, his opera was a great mash of joy and sadness; surreal and earthy at the same time; a great volcano of a man who sang fire but spilled over with a love of life in all its complexity, a great and generous friend.

Great, great fun, The Pavlova we used to call him. An emotional arm twister if he wanted you to do something for him he was impossible to turn down. A great flatterer.

When he wanted U2 to write him a song he rang our housekeeper, Theresa, continually so we talked about little else in our house.

When he wanted U2 to play his festival in Modena, he turned up in Dublin unannounced with a film crew, and door-stopped the band. His life and talent was large but his sense of service to the weak and vulnerable was larger.

We wrote Miss Sarajevo for him. He had worked on the humanitarian crisis that was the war in Bosnia.

We travelled together on a UN air force flight to Mostar... all of us earnest in hard hats, just about strapped into this industrial aircraft with the big man handing out parmigiano from Reggio Emilia, "the best cheese in the world" he kept saying, deadpan, to make us laugh.

In Pesaro, in his summer house, he lived an almost bohemian life with a recording studio set up in an out house - but did all his vocals in his bedroom... there was a hammock hung between two marine pines for a siesta.

He liked to eat, sleep and then warm up his vocals, though I remember more eating than warming up. When we first recorded with him I left a stone heavier than I arrived.

Intellectually curious, couldn't stick to his own generation - loved new ideas, new people, new song forms.

A sexy man whose life lit up again when he fell in love with Nicoletta and as he watched Alice play in the yard. He loved all his daughters so much.

The sadness of losing his only boy his only silence.

I spoke to him last week... the voice that was louder than any rock band was a whisper. Still he communicated his love. Full of love.

That's what people don't understand about Luciano Pavarotti. Even when the voice was dimmed in power, his interpretive skills left him a giant among a few tall men."

Posted by Jonathan at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)

September 06, 2007

Tenor Luciano Pavarotti dead at 71

(CNN) Famed opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who appeared on stage with singers as varied as opera star Dame Joan Sutherland, U2's Bono and Liza Minnelli, died Thursday in Italy after suffering from pancreatic cancer, manager Terri Robson said in a statement. He was 71.

"The great tenor, Luciano Pavarotti, died today at 5:00 a.m. at his home in Modena, the city of his birth,"according to Robson.

"The Maestro fought a long, tough battle against the panceatic cancer which eventually took his life. In fitting with the approach that characterized his life and work, he remained positive untill finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness.

The porty singer retired from staged opera in 2004, but was on a "farewell tour" of concerts when he was diagnsed with pancreatic cancer in 2006 and underwent emergency surgery to remove the tumor.

Although the remaining concerts of his tour were canceled, his management said that he hoped to reume the tour in 2007.

But in early August, Pavarotti was hospitalized in Modena with a fever and released 17 days later after undergoing diagnostic tests.

Pavorotti is survived by his wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, and a daughter, Alice, along with three grown daughters by his first wife, Adua Veroni, whom he divorced in 2000, and a granddaughter.

According to Robson, his wife, daughters and sister, along with other relativces and friends were at his side when he died.

Posted by Brenda at 09:31 AM | Comments (0)

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