Monday 18 August 2008

Italy Bans Net Users From The Pirate Bay

Popular violent stream site The Pirate Bay has been blocked by internet serving providers (ISPs) in Italy, as piece of a major shake up to prevent Italians downloading music and films illegally.


The ban came after a deputy populace prosecutor issued an "urgent decree", that suggested net users should be prevented from visiting the land site, which lED to ISPs blocking The Pirate Bay.


This hasn't deterred owners of the torrent site, as founder Peter Sunder tells TorrentFreak: "We're working on setting up a really annoying system for them to filter."




More info

Friday 8 August 2008

Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt Twin Pics Sold to Hello! Magazine

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt throw sold their baby photos!


Hello! magazine has reportedly secured a multi-million buck deal for the undivided first pictures of the superstar Couple's new-born twins.


The magazine outbid rival publication OK! for the rights to publish photos of Knox and Vivienne.


A powder store insider reveals, "This is one of the publishing sensations of the decade - Brad and Angelina are the dream span of the glossy magazine world and we expect to triple our circulation because of the public's fascination and interest in the yoke and their children."


Hello! has brought its publication date forward to Monday August 4 to capitalize on the publication coup.


The twins - Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline - were born on July 13 at the Lenval hospital in Nice, southern France.


Hello! also secured the rights to the first photos of Jolie and Pitt's first daughter together, Shiloh Nouvel, world Health Organization was born in Namibia in 2006.


The dyad have also adopted terzetto children: six-year-old Maddox, from Cambodia; Zahara, aged triad, from Ethiopia; and four-year-old Pax from Vietnam.


The couple have previously aforesaid the return from the pictures (rumored to be at least $10m) will go to charity.


A spokesperson for Hello! was "ineffective to comment on this matter" when contacted by Showbiz Spy.




More information

Tuesday 1 July 2008

Michelle Williams Denies Snubbing Heath Ledger Family

Michelle Williams has denied snubbing the New York premiere of The Dark Knight because of an on-going feud with with her former boyfriend Heath Ledger's family.

The actress has been at the centre of recent reports of a bust-up between herself and the tragic actor's family over the handling of his estate.

But the star's rep Mara Buxbaum is keen to put the rumours to rest once and for all, insisting the actress is not feuding with the Ledgers - and insisting Williams never intended to walk the premiere's red carpet.

She says, "There is misinformation all over the place. (The premiere) was never on her calendar and she's not in the movie. This isn't a press event for her. She's not going, there is no reason."

Ledger's parents and sister are expected to jet to New York from their home in Perth, Australia, to attend the premiere on 14 July - six months after Ledger took an accidental overdose at his Manhattan apartment.

Thursday 19 June 2008

Osmonds

Osmonds   
Artist: Osmonds

   Genre(s): 
Pop
   



Discography:


Love Me For A Reason   
 Love Me For A Reason

   Year: 1974   
Tracks: 11


The Plan   
 The Plan

   Year: 1973   
Tracks: 12


Crazy Horses   
 Crazy Horses

   Year: 1972   
Tracks: 12


Osmonds   
 Osmonds

   Year: 1970   
Tracks: 10




Following the breakout succeeder of the Jackson 5 in 1970, it was practically inevitable that a preexistent quintet of brothers, world Health Organization had already enjoyed about a decade in the national spotlight, would follow them to teen idol superstardom. With dynamic youngest brother Donny as a focal detail (much like Michael was for the Jacksons), the Osmonds did on the dot that, enjoying a run of massive popularity during 1971-1972. While their success as a unit began to wane and had flickered out by the final stage of 1974, the Osmonds spun cancelled a long-lived show business vocation for Donny (as well as baby Marie), and the former members of the mathematical group level enjoyed a successful retort as area artists.


Innate to George and Olive Osmond of Ogden, UT, brothers Alan (born June 22, 1949), Wayne (born August 28, 1951), Merrill (born April 30, 1953), and Jay (born March 2, 1955) began vocalizing together in 1959, honing their performance skills at kinfolk entertainment venues such as county fairs and entertainment parks. At this point, the brothers in the main american ginseng barbershop harmony, mixture some gospel tunes into their repertoire as well. In 1962, George took the boys to Los Angeles, hoping to secure an audition for The Lawrence Welk Show; after Welk refused to get word the group, their beginner relieved the disappointment with a trip to Disneyland, where the brothers gave an impromptu concert with some other barbershop iV employed by the ballpark. The Osmonds were signed on as regular night performers, and luck smiled on them just a few weeks later when the father of popular vocalizer -- and new minted diversity show emcee -- Andy Williams caught their roleplay and recommended them to his word. Five days in front Christmas in 1962, the Osmonds made their national television receiver debut on The Andy Williams Show, on which they would continue to appear regularly until its cancellation in 1967. About a year after that initial appearance, younger brother Donny (innate December 9, 1957) formally joined the mathematical group as well, and the Osmonds presently began to broaden their musical ambit with clear-cut come out songs.


Following the demise of the Williams series, the Osmonds stirred on to The Jerry Lewis Show, where they stayed until 1969. In 1970, the commercial explosion of crime syndicate bubblegum groups such as the real world Jackson 5 and the fictional Partridge Family made the Osmonds obvious candidates for pop stardom. MGM chief Executive Mike Curb signed the Osmonds and sent them to ferment with Muscle Shoals studio owner and notable R&B producer Rick Hall. Hall's staff songster George Jackson had penned a sure-fire strike coroneted "Unrivalled Bad Apple (Don't Spoil the Whole Bunch)," which appeared on the group's debut album, Osmonds. Released as a individual at the selfsame beginning of 1971, "Unrivalled Bad Apple" shot up the charts and landed in the top spot for v weeks, eventually establishing the Osmonds as recording stars after nigh a tenner in the public eye. A steady flow of hits continued unabated through 1972, including "Double Lovin'," the Top Five hits "Yo-yo" and "Down by the Lazy River," "Hold Her Tight," and "Dotty Horses." Their albums sold well overly; Osmonds went atomic number 79, as did its four-spot followers: 1971's Homemade and the 1972 triumvirate of Phase III, The Osmonds Live, and Dotty Horses. What's more, Donny's concurrent solo career was in replete drop as good, with "Go Away Little Girl" topping the singles charts in 1971.


The Osmonds' momentum was slowed a bit in 1973 with The Plan, a construct album around their Mormon faith that failed to unite with the record-buying populace to the same degree (although it was surprisingly democratic in the U.K.). Younger sister Marie Osmond began making public appearances with the mathematical group later on that class at the geezerhood of 13 (although she was never an official member) and scored a solo gain with "Newspaper publisher Roses." In the close, changing tastes and an surfeit of spinoff projects proven to be as well much for the original Osmonds to lowest as a group; 1974's "Honey Me for a Reason" was the quintet's lowest Top Ten individual, by which item Donny and Marie had established their have fall apart careers (although they oft recorded as a duet play over the next few years). The group didn't formally disband until 1980, only as a unit they had long since ceased to be a commercial force in pop music.


Donny made a brief retort in the late '80s as a present-day dance-pop vocalizer and Broadway performer, as well as reuniting with his sister in the previous '90s for a daylight speak evidence, Donny & Marie. Marie had a few hits on the country charts in the '90s and was featured on one season of the ABC video show Dance With the Stars in 2007. Beginning in the early '80s, the four-spot eldest members of the Osmonds -- Alan, Merrill, Wayne, and Jay -- performed together as a country act as under the name the Osmond Brothers and achieved respectable commercial success. In 1996, Alan retired from acting, and Jimmy Osmond took his lieu. They continued to release albums available through their web site and The Osmond Family Theatre in Branson, MO.






Friday 13 June 2008

Semi-Pro Makes Big Comeback -- On DVD

The Will Ferrell comedy Semi-Pro, a disappointment when it was released in theaters last March, where it earned only $33 million domestically, bounced back on the video charts last week. Apparently time to come out while interest in the NBA Finals was high, the basketball comedy debuted in first place on all three major charts -- sales, rental and Blu-ray high definition.


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Friday 6 June 2008

John Lennon - Ono Wins Fight To Keep Lennon Tapes Private

JOHN LENNON's widow YOKO ONO has won a legal bid to stop a video company from airing footage of the late Beatle smoking marijuana.

The nine-hour film - owned by Massachusetts-based World Wide Video - also shows Lennon discussing putting the hallucinogenic drug LSD in former U.S. President Richard Nixon's tea.

The company claims 24 raw tapes showing three days in Lennon's life in February 1970 - weeks prior to the Beatles' breakup - do not belong to Ono and attempted to sue her for copyright infringement.

Last month (Apr08), Lennon's widow filed a lawsuit to try and ban the video from the public domain.

On Wednesday (21May08) U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel ruled in favour of Ono on two counts.

Zobel told the court that Ono did not do anything constituting infringement - from performing copyrighted work publicly, or distributing or publicly displaying the videos.

He said: "What the plaintiff suggests just doesn't fit. It seems to me the defendant's motion is well taken because there was no infringement."

World Wide Video, which paid more than $1 million (GBP500,000) for the footage almost premiered it last year (07), but it scrapped the screening following an order from Ono's legal team.




See Also

Saturday 31 May 2008

British Sea Power surfs rising tide

English bands never seem content to be pretty good; they’re always aiming to be the greatest band in the world.
Longtime indie darling British Sea Power cast its bid this year with its third album, cheekily titled “Do You Like Rock Music?” Recorded around the world at considerable expense, the album has an epic sweep that broadened the group’s base and caused old fans to cry sellout.
Was it worth it? Based on Tuesday’s show at the Paradise, sure. But the band hasn’t changed much, at least onstage. British Sea Power is still moody and textured, with literate songs that have enough lovely melodic bits to keep you hooked. This is a band fond of upfront bass lines, one-chord guitar drones and vocals that stop just short of betraying emotion. It’s no surprise that Rough Trade, the British label known for cerebral guitar bands, has this outfit on the roster. While there were echoes of earlier British bands, notably pre-Goth Cure and post-punk Wire, British Sea Power never got too caught up in the ’80s.



The band was all business, dressing identically in military haircuts and plain T-shirts and saying almost nothing between songs. When fans upfront shouted song requests, a set list was passed into the audience so fans could shout for the correct number.
British Sea Power played nearly all of “Rock Music” while avoiding a few of its formative singles. There were moments of pure pop (the new “Waving Flags” was a beauty), but most of the set was given to longer, moodier epics. The recurring lyric theme of lost souls drifting in a ship of state lent itself to trippy instrumental sections and a few angry outbursts.
True, the band fell back on a few of the same tricks; half the songs seemed to end with accelerating on a single chord. But the set began and ended with epics that brought out the group’s best.
The opening “Lights Out for Darker Skies” was grand and atmospheric, a three-part piece that built tension while never quite cutting loose. Guest violinist Abi Fry proved a valuable addition, taking more flashy solos than either of the band’s guitarists.
The longtime set-closer, “Lately,” was proudly excessive, leading to a frantic jam that found guitarist Yan borrowing lyrics from Neil Young’s “Powderfinger.” Hoisting their guitars for maximum feedback, the mates of British Sea Power proved that they indeed love rock music.
BRITISH SEA POWER at the Paradise, Tuesday night.

Friday 30 May 2008

Disney - The Things They Say 8413

"A lot of DISNEY stuff and classical. She likes GOOD CHARLOTTE. And she likes her granddad (LIONEL RICHIE)'s music. She likes old stuff. She's a CURE fan ... She likes THE CURE - she kicks her legs." JOEL MADDEN on his daughter HARLOW's taste in music.




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Rhapsody

Rhapsody   
Artist: Rhapsody

   Genre(s): 
Metal: Power
   Rock
   Metal: Progressive
   Folk
   



Discography:


The Magic Of The Wizard's Dream   
 The Magic Of The Wizard's Dream

   Year: 2005   
Tracks: 8


Tales From Emerald Sword Saga   
 Tales From Emerald Sword Saga

   Year: 2004   
Tracks: 16


Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II - The Dark Secret   
 Symphony Of Enchanted Lands II - The Dark Secret

   Year: 2004   
Tracks: 12


Symphony Of Enchanted Lands 2: The Dark Secret   
 Symphony Of Enchanted Lands 2: The Dark Secret

   Year: 2004   
Tracks: 12


Power Of The Dragonflame   
 Power Of The Dragonflame

   Year: 2002   
Tracks: 11


Power Of The Dagonflame   
 Power Of The Dagonflame

   Year: 2002   
Tracks: 11


Rain Of a Thousand Flames   
 Rain Of a Thousand Flames

   Year: 2001   
Tracks: 7


The Dark Secret   
 The Dark Secret

   Year: 2000   
Tracks: 5


Holy Thunderforce   
 Holy Thunderforce

   Year: 2000   
Tracks: 6


Holy Thunderforce   
 Holy Thunderforce

   Year: 2000   
Tracks: 3


Dawn of Victory   
 Dawn of Victory

   Year: 2000   
Tracks: 10


Symphony Of Enchanted Lands   
 Symphony Of Enchanted Lands

   Year: 1998   
Tracks: 10


Emerald Sword (Ep)   
 Emerald Sword (Ep)

   Year: 1998   
Tracks: 3


Legendary Tales   
 Legendary Tales

   Year: 1997   
Tracks: 10




Rhapsody is a alloy outfit composed of Fabio Lione (vocals), Luca Turilli (guitar), Alex Staropoli (keyboards), Alessandro Lotta (bass voice), and Alex Holzwarth (drums). The radical was formed in Italy in the late '90s by Turilli and Staropoli. They recruited Daniele Carbonera to serve as their drummer. The band was already working on a debut, 1997's Legendary Tales, before they connected with Lione (known as Joe Terry during his time in the band Labyrinth), phoning him from the studio to arrange for him to bring together them. The band followed up that record album with an EP, entitled Emerald Sword, and the record album Symphonic music of Enchanted Lands the undermentioned year. Shortly later on the release of Symphonic music, Carbonera foregone. His replacement was launch in the personage of Holzwarth. They would non release any longer corporeal until 2000 in the form of an EP (Holy Thunderforce) and an record album (Break of the day of Victory). In 2001, the mathematical group released Rainfall of a Thousand Flames and then in 2002, Power of the Dragon Flame. Symphony of Enchanted Lands, Vol. 2: The Dark Secret appeared in fall 2004; the following year the band was strained to change its name, choosing Rhapsody of Fire, due to right of first publication issues.






Michael Douglas to haunt his old Girlfriends

At the New York junket for his new movie 'The Spiderwick Chronicles', director Mark Waters revealed the cast of his upcoming romantic comedy 'The Ghosts of Girlfriends Past'.
The cast includes Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner and Breckin Meyer, and Waters revealed that Michael Douglas is set to join the line-up.
Speaking about the 'Wall Street' actor's role in the film to Comingsoon.net Waters said: "(He'll be playing) the Marley character, the old ghost who's dead, Uncle Wayne. He's a '70s playboy...and he wears Bob Evans shades."
McConaughey replaced Ben Affleck, who was originally lined up to play the lead role. 
Waters told Comingsoon.net what he thought that McConaughey brought to the table: "There's something great about Matthew. He has an aspect of him that he can get away with murder with women."
He continued: "He's the kind of guy where women are apologising to him when he breaks up with them, because he's so charming. It's always been such a delicious concept of taking a Christmas Carol and making a romantic comedy out of it."
In the film, McConaughey plays a womaniser who attends the wedding of his younger brother (Breckin Meyer) and bride (Lacey Chabert).
There, he's haunted by several old flames, including the bride's best friend (Jennifer Garner).

NZ opera singer dies after being hit by car

Acclaimed Christchurch opera singer Seamus Casey has died in a Sydney hospital a week after being hit by a car.Casey, 27, was on life support in Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital since the incident last Tuesday when he was on his way to work.He suffered severe head injuries and a broken leg and was in a critical condition, prompting doctors to advise his family they should turn off life support.Casey, who attended Burnside High School in Christchurch, did a Diploma of Performing Arts at the Hagley Theatre Company before moving overseas to pursue a successful career in opera.He last performed in Christchurch in February 2006 when he was raising money for a 12-month stint with the Australian Opera Studio in Perth, The Press newspaper reported.He had been selected to join the Dame Malvina Major Emerging Artists programme in 2002 and was named as vocal award winner in Christchurch's 2000 Young Performer of the Year.It is understood Casey's funeral will be held in Christchurch next week.




- NZPA

Redshift and Ultradyne

Redshift and Ultradyne   
Artist: Redshift and Ultradyne

   Genre(s): 
Electronic: Progressive
   



Discography:


Ultradyne And Redshift  Ep   
 Ultradyne And Redshift Ep

   Year: 2000   
Tracks: 3




 






Ex Corrie star Sanderson joins Heartbeat

Former 'Coronation Street' star Nikki Sanderson is set to join the cast of 'Heartbeat'.
The 23-year-old actress will play the part of Dawn Bellamy, a niece of the late Phil Bellamy, in the ITV drama.
Sanderson quit 'Coronation Street' in 2005 when her character Candice left Weatherfield to become a stylist for Status Quo.
She has since appeared in 'Holby City', 'New Street Law' and 'X Factor: Battle of the Stars'.
Speaking about her new role, the actress said: "I'm so excited about starting on 'Heartbeat' and meeting all of the cast.
"My family and I have always loved the show, and I can't wait to put on the Sixties clothing."
Heartbeat producer Archie Tait said: "Nikki will be a fantastic addition to the show. Dawn is a great character who is certain to spice things up in Aidensfield."

Bette Midler tickles Sin City with 'Showgirl' residency

Bette Midler [ tickets ]'s over-the-top Las Vegas extravaganza, "The Showgirl Must Go On," debuted in February with a 19-date sellout, and now the Divine Miss M. is gearing up for her next round of performances.The show at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace returns for a four-week summer run starting June 24. After a break, Midler will return to the Sin City venue for nearly 30 more performances stretching from Oct. 7 to Dec. 31. Details are listed below. "The Showgirl Must Go On" plays approximately 100 times per year, five nights a week at the 4,300-seat theater, which is dark on Mondays and Thursdays. Tickets prices range from $95 to $250.The 90-minute spectacle features a repertoire complete with some of Midler's favorite characters, like Delores Delago--the wheelchair-bound mermaid--and Soph, the oldest living showgirl in Las Vegas. It also includes a 13-piece band, 20 female dancers and Midler's backup singers, the Harlettes, performing in front of a glittering, Broadway-style backdrop."I've been hoarding feathers and fans and sequins and rhinestones for the last 50 years and, hey, I'm throwing 'em all on stage," Midler said in a press statement.Last spring, the superstar signed a minimum two-year deal to perform at the $95 million Colosseum, which was built in 2003 for Celine Dion's "A New Day" spectacular.During her 40-year career, Midler--known for her bawdy humor, revealing costumes and distinctive voice--has earned four Grammys, four Golden Globes, three Emmys and a Tony. Her most recent album releases include 2006's "Cool Yule," 2005's "Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook" and 2003's "Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook." Fans can also catch the multi-talented performer in her latest film, "Then She Found Me," which also stars Helen Hunt, Colin Firth and Matthew Broderick.