Pete The Chop

As an American immersed in following the current Presidential race, I especially look forward to Saturday nights because SNL is funny again. And the skits that are working are the ones that feature dead-on impersonations of the current candidates for office (and former winners). Darrell Hammond nails GOP contender John McCain and former President Clinton, and Tina Fey couldn’t be better as Vice Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin.

Last night, in a sketch making fun of the recent Katie Couric interview with Palin, they couldn’t help but reference her encounter with our favorite front-man (though in reality, they only spoke by telephone).

In case you missed it, I’ve posted it here. I hope you’ll laugh as hard as I did…

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SNL Crowns Bono “The King of Ireland”

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You may know me as a U2 fan, but I’m also a marketer at heart, and have spent the past 11 years of my life helping businesses market themselves online. The release of U2 - A Diary is fun for me because I get to combine my main personal hobby with my career. Sure, Omnibus Press has been (and will be) doing some marketing of the book, too, but I’m taking it upon myself to spread the word as far and wide as possible.

That’s where you come in. I can’t spread the word about U2 - A Diary without your help, so here’s what I’m proposing we do together:

You send me five questions you have about the book, about U2, about me, etc., and I’ll send you back five answers that you can publish on your blog, your web site, your MySpace page, or anywhere people can read it without having to register or pay. If you don’t like the answers I send you, you don’t have to post the interview.

If you DO post the interview somewhere, you’ll be eligible to win a free copy of the book (I’ll sign it if you want) when I get my copies, and a $50 gift certificate from Amazon.com or iTunes (U.S. store only). Here’s how it’ll work:

1. After you post the interview, send me an email with a direct link to it. You have until next Sunday, October 5, to post the interview and email me a link to it. Send the link to matt@atu2.com.
2. On Monday, October 6, I’ll write a post here on U2diary.com that links to all the interviews and set up a survey for readers to vote for their favorite interview.
3. The winner of the Best Interview as chosen by other U2 fans will win a copy of the book and a $50 Amazon.com or iTunes (U.S.) gift certificate.

What’s in it for you? Hopefully some good content and new visitors for your blog or web site, a chance to learn a little more about the book, and a chance to win a free copy and a $50 credit at Amazon.com or iTunes. What’s in it for me? A chance to spread the word about U2 - A Diary on your blog or web site, and hopefully sell a few more copies to people who otherwise might not have known about the book.

So, if you’re ready, email me your questions now! I’ll send answers ASAP, and your deadline to post the interview is next Sunday, October 5.

What if you don’t have a blog or web site?

Don’t worry. I’ll do another contest soon for those of you who aren’t bloggers/web site owners. You’ll still be able to win a copy of the book (but not the extra $50 gift certificate). Stay tuned for more….

(Thanks to Rohit Bhargava for the inspiration behind this idea.)

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If you’re in the mood for a new piece of U2 fashion but don’t want to pay the high prices, then Circuit City has the item for you. Sure, you might already have this CD in your collection, but it comes with an iron-on of the album art. Of course, for those more trendy and crafty, you might decide to make a throw pillow or book bag out of it. That’s the beauty - you can turn it into whatever you want! And the price couldn’t be better. CD and iron-on..$12.99 at the store. Not bad, all things considered.

The other 11 covers are with other artists’ CDs, so it’s not a U2-only type of promotion going on.

I know it’s been available since July…it’s just that I don’t shop there very often and never noticed it ’til now.

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Tired of $30+ T-shirts?

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I’ve just update the Where to Buy U2 - A Diary post with a bunch of new online stores selling the book. The list jumped from 11 countries to 18, and I’m always looking for more. If you know of an online store selling the book but not on my list, please leave a comment to let me know!

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Time to share another book sample, don’t you think? I was just browsing through the Book Sample category to see what I’ve previously shared, and realized that almost all of my earlier samples are from the 1980s. So, here’s a look at the diary entries for three days in February, 2002 — an important trio of days for U2 and Bono.

February 1
Still at the World Economic Forum, Bono meets with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who promises that Africa will be the main topic of discussion at the upcoming G8 Summit in Canada. Later, Bono offers comments to delegates gathered for an evening concert. There are reports that Bono also sings during the concert, but these reports are never confirmed.

Meanwhile, U2 lose some of its musical gear when a pipe bursts, causing an eight-foot tidal wave to rage through the Crosbie Business Centre in Dublin. U2 and the Corrs both use the facility for storage. Fortunately, much of U2’s most important equipment is with them in New Orleans.

Edge Counts His Blessings After the Dublin Flood

“We lost an awful lot of instruments…. The storage area where we had all our equipment was completely flooded. But luckily my main guitars were with us in New Orleans … the Gibson Explorer that I’ve had since I was 17-years-old, and the amplifier I’ve used on every album for every show since we got a record deal.”

February 2
On day three of the World Economic Forum in New York, Bono sits on a panel and debates foreign aid with US Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill. Many summit participants crowd the stage afterward to get Bono’s autograph.

Later in the day he joins Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates to announce the creation of a new organization, DATA, whose purpose will be on eliminating extreme poverty and AIDS in Africa. The name is an acronym for “Debt AIDS Trade Africa.” Gates announces that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will pledge $50 million to support the DATA agenda. The formation of DATA shifts the burden of scheduling and promoting Bono’s humanitarian activities away from Principle Management.

Meanwhile, the rest of the band attend a Super Bowl party at the House of Blues in New Orleans.

February 3
- Superdome, New Orleans. U2 performs at halftime of Super Bowl XXXVI. Bono walks through the crowd to take the stage as ‘Beautiful Day’ begins. A larger version of the Elevation Tour’s heart is used for the stage, surrounded by people on the field and in the heart. As ‘MLK’ starts, a screen rises from the back of the stage, which scrolls the names of the people who lost their lives on 9/11. The scrolling continues through most of ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, before dropping to the ground. As the band’s performance comes to an end, Bono reveals the US flag-like lining of his jacket. Unconfirmed reports later say that only Bono and Edge perform live and Adam and Larry are pre-recorded.

An Almost-Super Disaster

Bono explains how U2’s Super Bowl performance almost ended before it began.

“Our idea was to have a music crowd on the pitch and then walk through that crowd to get up on the stage. I had on these earphones that were wireless. The band are walking through the crowd [sic; only Bono walked through the crowd] and there’s a camera right in front of me, and the punters start slapping me on the back. I realise that the tiny wires of my earplugs are vulnerable. All one person has to do is pull the wire, and I’m off air. I would hear nothing. Off the air in front of a billion people! And this is going out live, and there’s nothing you could do. So because this wire had been left exposed, I just started to quietly panic. But if you look at the film of that, you’ll see me swaggering with the most annoying smirk ever seen. You just think: That guy is such a prat!”

U2’s performance is well received by both football fans and the media, as well as by other musicians who performed prior to the game including Paul McCartney and Mariah Carey. Many call it the best Super Bowl halftime performance ever. All That You Can’t Leave Behind reaches number 25 on the charts after the Super Bowl. As for the game, the New England Patriots beat the St. Louis Rams 20-17 on a field goal on the game’s last play.

After the game, U2 and friends enjoy a celebratory dinner in the French Quarter. Though he’s allergic to red wine, Bono has a glass and later passes out on the floor in the restaurant’s bathroom.

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Belfast Telegraph,

U2 guitarist The Edge has revealed how he has fulfilled a dream by buying a £12m luxury yacht.

It was recently claimed that Bono had splashed out a small fortune on the Cyan, a 140-foot yacht with six cabins and accommodation for 12 guests.

But Edge spoke out last night to the Irish Independent to put the record straight.

"It's not Bono's yacht at all, it's mine. Bono doesn't know a thing about boats," he said.

"For years it was a dream of mine to own a yacht, but to be honest, it was a bit out of my league. So myself and a few friends got together, chipped in, and bought the Cyan. I don't know where the story that Bono owns it came from."

And Edge's wife Morleigh Steinberg has spent the past few months in the south of France overseeing a total redesign of the yacht, which included a new paint job.

Edge added: "She's now been totally refurbished and we're really happy with her. Morleigh has totally overseen all the work onboard and it's great. So it's now a really hip ship!"

The Cyan has a long list of luxuries, including an on-deck jacuzzi, a state-of-the-art music system, a swimming platform, large dining area and a luxury bar. It was built in 1997 by Codesca Yachts and commanded a charter price of between €140,000 and €175,000, depending on how long it was being hired for.

Edge and Bono own a luxury villa beside the beach in Eze-sur-mer on the French Riviera, where neighbours include superstars Elton John, Tina Turner and Michael Flatley.

While Bono has often been snapped on the beach or entertaining friends during his annual break, Edge and his family are very rarely pictured on their holidays there.

Edge also owns a home in Killiney in south county Dublin, as well as a property near Malibu in America.

And the guitar ace, who recently starred in a documentary film with guitar greats Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Jack White of The White Stripes, is now dividing his time between enjoying the yacht and finishing the next album.

A spokeswoman for the band revealed: "There won't be much public activity from the band until next year. They're still perfecting the album, which won't be released until next year."

And she said that their office was receiving constant queries from fans and reporters alike over whether the band would play Croke Park, the Phoenix Park or the O2 venue as part of next year's world tour.

"The tour plans haven't been confirmed at all, but they certainly will be playing Dublin. It is their hometown after all," she added.

Copyright © 2008 Belfast Telegraph.

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Bono says Africa has the potential to become a major food producer rather than the epicenter of much of the world’s starvation. Speaking Thursday at the launch of the Irish Hunger Commission Report, the Irish rock star-turned-activist said its ideas could transform the world’s poorest continent. “Africa can be a breadbasket, a net producer. That is [...]

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This morning, Bono took a few minutes out of his meetings with world leaders to speak with CNN about the ONE Campaign and a bit about the politics going on. Check out the 7 minute interview below:
Embedded video from CNN Video

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Bono on CNN American Morning

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The still-semi-popular CBS reality show, Survivor, is headed back to Africa for the first time in several seasons — the latest installment kicks off tonight, in fact, with the survivors trying to live and win in Gabon.

Bono and Ali’s EDUN clothing line has gotten on board the Survivor excitement with the creation of a new, limited edition t-shirt made in Africa and supporting the EDUN brand’s work there. The shirt is black and, on the front, shows the Survivor slogan — “Outwit. Outplay. Outlast.” — in the shape of the African continent. On the back there’s a very small Survivor logo near the neckline.

The shirt costs $24.95 and looks pretty nice as far as I’m concerned. But the folks at the Ecorazzi blog wonder if it’s appropriate to be talking about outwitting, outplaying, and outlasting on a continent where there’s so much hunger and death:

I don’t know about you but “Outwit, Outplay and Outlast” in the shape of Africa might have a double meaning not intended by the creators. In a country where 60% go to bed hungry every night, only 37% have access to clean drinking water, and 150 of every 1000 children born will die before age 5 — those words ring rather harshly.

What are your thoughts? Is it tacky?

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Edun Teams Up with CBS’ Survivor

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Virgin Radio will cease on Monday at 7:45 a.m. and Absolute Radio will take its place. Just because Absolute Radio hasn’t begun yet doesn’t mean that they’re not already giving swag away!

They’ve got a contest to win copies of the Under A Blood Red Sky DVD, CD, and T-shirts up on their site. You can enter the contest here.

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Absolute Radio UABRS Contest

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"As the sun arcs over the Manhattan skyline and the markets start dancing nervously out of time, the lyrics I’ve been scribbling over breakfast have been removed and replaced by spreadsheets with large numbers in tiny font as we wrestle with EU budgets in advance of meetings later today with Presidents Sarkozy and Barroso."

Thus writes Bono on the Financial Times Millennium Development Goals Conference diary. Bono shares his blogging duties with Jeffrey Sachs.

We'd love it if he'd blog about music.

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Not to be confused with Cedarville University’s upcoming U2 Academic Conference, the fine folks at IBM are offering “U2 University (U2U) - The Premier U2 Technical Event” in various venues in the US and the UK to allow techincal training on IBM’s products.

What’s even more confusing for U2 fans is that IBM is offering “U2 Podcasts” with the description “Not the band but still entertaining.”

Personally, I find the @U2 Podcast to be more entertaining…but then again, I might be a bit biased!

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IBM’s U2 University

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U2 guitarist The Edge has revealed how he has fulfilled a dream by buying a £12m luxury yacht.

It was recently claimed that Bono had splashed out a small fortune on the Cyan, a 140-foot yacht with six cabins and accommodation for 12 guests.

But Edge spoke out last night to the Irish Independent to put the record straight.

“It’s not Bono’s yacht at all, it’s mine. Bono doesn’t know a thing about boats,” he said.

“For years it was a dream of mine to own a yacht, but to be honest, it was a bit out of my league. So myself and a few friends got together, chipped in, and bought the Cyan. I don’t know where the story that Bono owns it came from.”

And Edge’s wife Morleigh Steinberg has spent the past few months in the south of France overseeing a total redesign of the yacht, which included a new paint job.

Edge added: “She’s now been totally refurbished and we’re really happy with her. Morleigh has totally overseen all the work onboard and it’s great. So it’s now a really hip ship!”

The Cyan has a long list of luxuries, including an on-deck jacuzzi, a state-of-the-art music system, a swimming platform, large dining area and a luxury bar. It was built in 1997 by Codesca Yachts and commanded a charter price of between e140,000 and e175,000, depending on how long it was being hired for.

Edge and Bono own a luxury villa beside the beach in Eze-sur-mer on the French Riviera, where neighbours include superstars Elton John, Tina Turner and Michael Flatley.

While Bono has often been snapped on the beach or entertaining friends during his annual break, Edge and his family are very rarely pictured on their holidays there.

Edge also owns a home in Killiney in south county Dublin, as well as a property near Malibu in America.

And the guitar ace, who recently starred in a documentary film with guitar greats Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin and Jack White of The White Stripes, is now dividing his time between enjoying the yacht and finishing the next album.

A spokeswoman for the band revealed: “There won’t be much public activity from the band until next year. They’re still perfecting the album, which won’t be released until next year.”

And she said that their office was receiving constant queries from fans and reporters alike over whether the band would play Croke Park, the Phoenix Park or the O2 venue as part of next year’s world tour.

“The tour plans haven’t been confirmed at all, but they certainly will be playing Dublin. It is their hometown after all,” she added.

- Belfast telegraph

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U2 guitarist splashes out on £12m yacht

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Bono is writing a daily blog from the Millennium Development Goals summit in New York for The Financial Times.

So far, the U2 singer has written about why he thinks Europe needs Africa, as well as why aid should be seen as “a leg-up, not a hand-out”.

He also revealed details of a meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

He said: “Sarko is a real physical presence in a room. He might even be taller than me…animated, funny one minute; annoyed the next.”

The Millennium Development Goals are set out by 189 United Nations member states. The eight separate goals aim improve international development by 2015.

Writing on the blog, Bono said that he wants to meet with US Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama in the near future.

- NME

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U2’s Bono turns blogger

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We start this week a new page dedicated to your relationship with a u2 song. What u2 song do you like most? Why? Do you really know the meaning of the lyrics of that song? Is there any special event related to a song? This page will host your comments and stories about your favorite song. The [...]

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