July 2007 Archives

Edge's House

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My Misadventures in Ireland: Edge's House

by Brenda Clemons, U2 Station Staff Writer

Bono's security guard told us where Edge lived. The throbbing in my head made the up hill walk long and torturous. We stopped long enough to watch the sun rise over the Irish Sea. The changing hues of pink and purple only added to the vision of the dolphins playing; the purple hues of the sky being reflected off the splashes the dolphins made while jumping and singing.

When we arrived at the house that was supposed to be the home of Edge; I immediately thought that we had been on the receiving end of a practical joke. There was nothing about this place that looked like it belonged to a world famous rock star. There were no gates, no security systems, I didn't see any guards. In fact, the property looked very ordinary as if it belonged to the average family. The house would not have stood out at all if it weren't for the color--pink. Yes, dear U2 fans, The Edge lives in a pink house.

Bridget immediately went about inspecting the property. She walked around and found a few things that would seem ordinary if this were an ordinary house -- but it wasn't an ordinary house. This was the house that was supposed to belong to a legendary guitarist, therefore, a toilet sitting in the backyard was a remarkable object of interest. "Look", she exclaimed, "it's The Edge's toilet! He has a toilet sitting in his back yard." I am not as impressed as Bridget and I simply shrug my shoulders and say, "So? He is probably having his bathroom renovated."

ginsbergdoc_tn.jpg

In an exclusive interview, Bono can be seen on the special two-disc DVD documentary called "The Life and Times of Allen Ginsberg". The DVD went on sale Tuesday, July 17, and can be purchased through the official website or through Amazon.com

Information on the documentary is available on the official web site, which also features a brief video clip of Bono's interview. According to a press release, Bono speaks for about 15 minutes on the second disc of the set.

Below are further details on the official DVD release.

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ALLEN GINSBERG (Deluxe 2-Disc Set)

PRODUCT DETAILS --

Actors: Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Ken Kesey, Joan Baez, Timothy Leary, Norman Mailer and others.
Director: Jerry Aronson
Format: Black & White, Color, DVD-Video
Region: 1
Language: English
Sound: Mono
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Number of discs: 2
Rating: NR
Studio: New Yorker Video
DVD Release Date: July 17, 2007
Run Time: 84 minute (feature) + 6 hours of extras

Top Byrd Adviser Leaving Hill, Joining ONE

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Paul Kane, Washington Post

Sen. Robert C. Byrd (D-W. Va.) has lost one of his most trusted advisers in Tom Gavin, the communications director for the Appropriations Committee. Gavin is leaving Byrd's staff to join the ONE Campaign, the non-profit group co-founded by U2 singer Bono designed to lobby Washington about fighting third world poverty and HIV/Aids.

A veteran of Capitol Hill for a dozen years, Gavin has been the top flack for Democrats on the Appropriations Committee since 2000, explaining the intricacies of up to $1 trillion in discretionary spending under the panel's authority to uniformed hacks such as Capitol Briefing.

While relatively new to the lobbying scene, ONE Campaign has begun putting together a powerful team of insiders. Gavin's hiring comes six months after the non-profit lured away Susan McCue, the chief of staff to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), to run its shop.

"ONE is going to raise the nation's awareness to these crises, and band millions of people together to fight extreme poverty," McCue said today of Gavin's hiring. "This new communications team will help to take ONE's message to people from coast to coast, and help to achieve a great victory for our world."

Bono's win is Byrd's loss, however. Intensely loyal to Byrd, Gavin has lately had to beat back questions and rumors about Byrd's health as the senator approaches his 90th birthday and has had a tremor common among elderly grow more pronounced in recent years. In May, Terry Sauvain, Byrd's longtime top aide, resigned from one of the most powerful staff positions in Washington, stepping down as staff director for Appropriations after 40 years in public service. Sauvain remains a part-time employee for the senator this summer as some of the last spending bills are being approved by the committee this month.

The African Well Fund's 5th Annual "Build a Well for Bono's Birthday" fundraising drive has raised over $34,000. All proceeds of the fundraiser will go directly to African Well Fund partner Africare, a leading non-profit organization assisting Africa, to fund clean water projects throughout the continent.

Schenectady, NY (PRWEB) July 5, 2007 -- The African Well Fund is excited to announce that this year's fundraiser to "Build a Well for Bono's Birthday" has raised more than $34,000 to fund clean water projects in Africa. This marks the 5th year in a row that U2 fans from around the world have come together to honor Bono's May 10th birthday by raising money for clean water in Africa. All proceeds of the fundraiser will go directly to African Well Fund partner Africare, a leading non-profit organization assisting Africa, to fund clean water projects throughout the continent.

The Birthday fundraiser was launched on March 22nd, World Water Day, in honor of Bono, lead vocalist of the Irish rock band, U2. Unique fundraising strategies were used to collect the funds through May 15th : An Ebay photo auction of donated U2 concert photos raised more than $7,000! Donations were also boosted by the proceeds from the sale of a second U2 fan project, The Little Red Book of Poe-ee-tree, a collection of poems and short stories written by a handful of U2 fans scattered across the globe. After donating, fans signed an online birthday card for Bono at the African Well Fund web site www.africanwellfund.org . Their signatures and birthday greetings were incorporated into a beautiful hand made card that was sent to Bono in Dublin.

My Misadventures in Ireland: Why it is Never a Good Idea to go to Bono's House Drunk at 1:00 am

by Brenda Clemons, U2 Station Staff Writer

While in Ireland I met Bridget. Bridget grew up in East Berlin during the cold war. She became a U2 fan when her older sister brought home a copy of "The Joshua Tree" which had been smuggled in from West Berlin. To Bridget, U2 were pure magic (never having been exposed to spirituality or religion; she could not understand any other concept but magic.) Now that the cold war was over and the Berlin wall had crumbled, Bridget was free to travel as she pleased. She came to Ireland to meet the people whose music was so special to her.

It was Bridget's last night in Ireland and we had spent the night drinking Guinness after Guinness after Guinness. I don't know how many of you have ever been drunk on Guinness--but let me tell you that every idea starts to sound like a good idea (maybe this is how the Pop lemon came about!). It was after 1:00 a.m. and the pubs were all closing. We had been drinking for hours when Bridget decided that we were going to Bono's house. "okay!", I said. We put our drunken heads together and decided that we had enough money between the two of us to take a cab to Bono's house and then take the DART back to Dublin at 6:00 a.m. the next morning.

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