here’s the official announcement – November 16, 2009
Guitar virtuoso, Nuno Bettencourt, has joined forces with Rihanna and will be her 2010 world tour lead guitarist. The unexpected combination of Grammy Award winning R&B artist, Rihanna, and Rock guitarist, Nuno Bettencourt, has in fact become what Nuno says, “A great opportunity to blend our talents to create a high energy experience”.

It is clear Nuno has been one of the most influential rock guitarists of our time, and will continue to do what he does best, perform. As for the future of Extreme, Nuno explains, “NO… this is NOT the end of Extreme. We have a live DVD and CD coming out in early 2010 and we will be writing new material throughout the year. We had a great run across the globe on Saudades de Rock… and we’ll be back.”

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Here’s Nuno playing “Star” with his band Extreme live in Tokyo 2008:

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purchase music by The Outfield on CDUniverse.

Here’s a clip of Les Paul performing “I Can’t Get Started” in NYC back in 2006

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Paradise wherever you are…
- written by Neil and Tim Finn

download the mp3 of Paradise by The Finn Brothers (for a limited time via mediafire)
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Purchase Finn Brothers music at CDUniverse

Well, there appears to be a new option in the Boost Mobile world, and it’s called the Motorola Clutch (i465). It’s a bit more stylish, especially for a Motorola phone, and is the first iDEN phone with a full QWERTY keyboard. My son has been asking for it ever sincing noticing it on the Boost website. A buddy at work recently ordered one so I got a chance to check it out first-hand. It’s surprisingly small for a phone that features a full keyboard. the screen size is a bit small though and so is the keyboard. But I guess the size would be perfect for my 12 year old. It does seem to be a step up from the i776 since it has video recording capabilities but at VGA resolution, it’s a bit underwhelming. The surprising feature for me is the built-in alarm clock and calculator which were both sorely missed on the i776.

But the big dilemma for me personally is the fact that I’m trying to teach my son to control his cell phone usage and this new phone with its QWERTY keyboard, will probably encourage him to do the exact opposite and text more often. The i465 is probably a good choice for those on the $50 a month unlimited plan on Boost but not for those trying to minimize their usage on the pay-as-you-go plan.

sorry son but it looks like you’ll have to continue using the i776 for now.

detailed specifications for i465 :
Network : iDEN (800/900 MHz)
Size : 4.44 x 2.13 x 0.59 inches (112.8 x 54 x 14.9 mm)
Weight : 3.39 oz (96 g)
Battery Type : Li – Ion, 1130 mAh
Talk Time : 3.41 hours (205 mins)
Standby : 100 hours (4 days)
Main Display Resolution : 128 x 160 pixels, 65,536 colors, TFT
Camera Resolution : 0.3 megapixels VGA Resolution
Video : Yes
Multimedia Video Playback : H.263 , Video player
Memory Built-in : 20 MB
Full Keyboard : QWERTY
Connectivity : microUSB
Bluetooth : 1.2
Connectors : HeadSet Jack (2.5mm)
Other Features : Caller groups supported, Multiple Numbers Per Contact, Picture ID, Ring ID, Alarm, Calendar, Calculator, Voice Dialing, Voice Commands, Recording, Speaker Phone, Push-to-Talk, email, GPS
available since May 2009
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So where will Shields go from here?

Nothing’s definite at the moment but she tells More Magazine (in the upcoming May issue) she’s resilient and she’ll make sure that she won’t be “a Hollywood casualty.”

Here’s a preview of the More Magazine cover story:

About Lipstick Jungle: “Shields and her costars ‘talk every day, saying ‘I hate this!,’ adding that she just sent NBC Entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman an e-mail asking, “What the fuck?”

About her mom: “She came from Newark, New Jersey, from the opposite side of the tracks. My dad came from the upper-crusty side of the tracks. The tracks weren’t even in his neighborhood. And my mother was always adamant about being perceived as having class, not having been born into it. It plagued her, and I think she didn’t want me to know the insecurity of being rejected. She didn’t want me to grow up as the daughter of someone from Newark. The flip side, though, is that she would constantly throw it out at me. She wanted me to not forget where I came from, and how she was a streetfighter.”

About feeling “complete detachment” from her looks: She recalls being in a jazz dance class and falling whenever she tried to turn. The teacher chided her that she never watched herself in the mirror. “She said, ‘Look at yourself,’ and I didn’t want to. What if I didn’t like what I saw? What if I didn’t look like I did in magazines?”

About how her pregnancy helped her face the mirror: “It was life, and my body had this purpose so far beyond just being there to look at, or tan or shave. Suddenly I realized how good it had been to me over the years, and what it had sustained. And I was in my thirties at the time.”

About the way she looks now: “I’m proud of my longevity more than anything else. There’s a lot to be said for endurance. I’m trying to find the beauty in the whole picture rather than the crow’s feet. Sure, I wish I had the face I had a decade ago, but I don’t. People say, ‘I love my wrinkles.’ I don’t love my wrinkles – come on! But when you see certain women that we knew when we were younger, like Angelica Huston and Isabella Rossellini, and they’ve grown older in the public eye, what you’re responding to is their whole life imprinted on them.”

About the roles she gets now: “For years, I’ve been the youngest person on the set, and it occurred to me recently that I wasn’t 26! I’d read a script and say, ‘Oh, that’s a great character, that’s something I’d love to do.’ And they’d say, ‘Um, no, we’re thinking of you for the mother.’ And then I’d say, ‘Oh, of course! Of course! I knew that.’”

About caring for her aging mother: “I’ve spent a huge portion of my life taking care of my mother anyway. As an only child of an alcoholic, you’re the caretaker; it just happens. Then you think you’re done with it, you have your family and priorities, and all of a sudden, I’m doing it a hundred percent all over again. There’s no martyrdom – it’s a pain in the ass but it has to be done. I just think, you’re only given what you supposedly can handle.”
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Read the Brooke Shields interview in its entirety in the May 2009 issue of More Magazine.
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And just to make things crystal clear, I thought I’d post some guidelines on what I consider an appropriate comment on a blog.

1) First of all, the comment needs to be on-topic. In other words, you should be posting something about the subject at hand and not about what you ate last night at Wendy’s (well, unless THAT was what the blog was about. heh). If you want to post something off-topic or want to address another user, please use the forums to do so and not on the blog.

2) Your comment should be coherent and should add some value to the blog. If it’s something like “You rock dude!” or “you’re full of crap!” don’t count on your post showing up here.

3) Be respectful to the blogger and the other commenters on the site. I’m open to other points of view. We don’t HAVE to agree on every subject. We’re all human so we’ll never see eye to eye on every issue. But if you are going to disagree on something, please put some thought behind your statements and add information to back up what you’re saying. If you’re going to criticize, please be constructive about it and not throw a hissy fit. We’re all adults here so let’s act like it.

4) Don’t be crude. No foul language and no harassing other individuals here.

Now don’t let this discourage you from commenting here. I’m all for comments and feedback. But I feel that this process needs to be put in place to keep the site healthy and in good running order. Thanks for your understanding.

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**Update: 16Apr09 – After receiving feedback from all my regular commenters here, it appears that I may have overreacted in this situation. So, for now, I’ve opened comments back up for those that have “previously approved” comments. New commenters/visitors will still be moderated. Also, I’m going to be more proactive to placing those that don’t abide by these guidelines back into the “moderated” category.
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excerpt from Advertising Age:

Alpha Media Group closed Blender magazine today, eliminating about 30 jobs and reducing its portfolio of titles to Maxim alone. The April issue of Blender out now will be its last.

Alpha, the former Dennis Publishing, has endured a series of difficulties and hard choices since its acquisition by Quadrangle Capital Partners and magazine-industry veteran Kent Brownridge in August 2007. The new owners punctuated the $240 million deal by immediately closing Stuff magazine, a sort of laddie shopping title. Blender.com will continue, much as Stuff continues as “Stuff Magazine” at stuff.maxim.com.

Wetton Downes – Icon 3
Circa - HQ
Ben Folds – Stems and Seeds
Katy Hudson (AKA Katy Perry)
Yes – Alternate Generator (boot)
Neko Case – Middle Cyclone

I’m really enjoying the new Neko Case album. love her voice. Oh and there’s also a fairly recent Jimi Jameson CD that I might post about as well.

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here are the U.S. dates so far:

May 23, 2009 – Sacramento, CA – Raleys Field
July 18 (?), 2009 – Cadott, Wi – RockFest
August 21, 2009 – Louisville, KY – State Fair – Freedom Hall
August 23, 2009 – Des Moines, IA – State Fair – Grandstand

more to come…