Entries from February 2006 ↓

Gilberto nicks one right at the death to give Arsenal a share of the points with visiting Bolton.

(More later after I help Wooly move)

U2 wins big, Macca gets mashed, and Sly gets funky. Just some of the highlights of last night’s excellent Grammy telecast.

EDIT: 7:15 PM:

Wow! Two pretty negative responses, and I didn’t even talk about what I thought of the show. I need to make something clear: I really couldn’t give two shits about who wins what award. While I strongly disagree with Barry’s assessment of the latest U2 album, that’s really the whole point. I like it, and I don’t need to know that it won x number of awards etc, to encrease that enjoyment.

What really drew me to the telecast was the fact that there were 26 performances scheduled. It started off with Gorillaz, who weren’t too hot, and Madonna, who kinda was. (Seriously, she looked pretty good considering her age.) Then came Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder who did an impromptu acappella performance of “Higher Ground.”

Coldplay played their new single, “Talk”, and Chris Martin tried to pull off a Bono impersonation, but it just wasn’t happening. When U2 took to the stage a bit later, they showed Chris and the boys how it’s done with a blistering version of Vertigo, and in one of the better collaborations of the evening, teamed up with Mary J Blige for a powerful version of “One”.

Paul McCartney got 10 minutes of airtime, and used it to feature his latest single, “A Fine Line” from his album “Chaos & Creation in the Backyard”, and the Beatles’ “Helter Skelter.”

While I’m not a fan of either of these artists, I found myself enjoying both John Legend and Kanye West’s performances. The former a low key performance at piano, the latter a big marching band production of his hit “Gold Digger” with Jamie Foxx.

What was supposed to be a highlight of the show fell kinda flat. There was a tribute to Sly & The Family Stone, and it was just awful. It was kinda cool to see Sly Stone, but he looked competely out of it.

Bruce Springsteen performed “Devils & Dust” from his album of the same name. I really like the album, and it was cool to see Bruce with just him and his guitar.

Jay-Z renewed his partnership with Lincoln Park to perform their mash-up “Numb/Encore”, and in the biggest surprise of the night, Paul McCartney walked on stage to join in a performance of “Yesterday.” Completely unexpected, but pretty cool, despite my distaste for Lincoln Park.

Finally, there was a tribute to New Orleans featuring The Edge, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello and Dr. John. It was a nice touch, but seemed rushed and unrehearsed.

For video of the show, photo galleries, and a complete list of winners, check out Grammy.com.

U2 is scheduled to peform two songs tonight, including a duet with Mary J Blige during tonight’s Grammy Awards.

The band has been nominated in five categories:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
The Emancipation of Mimi – Mariah Carey
Chaos And Creation in The Backyard – Paul McCartney
Love Angel Music Baby – Gwen Stefani
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb – U2
Late Registration – Kanye West

SONG OF THE YEAR (Songwriters award)
Bless The Broken Road – Rascal Flatts
Devils & Dust – Bruce Springsteen
Ordinary People – John Legend
Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own – U2
We Belong Together – Mariah Carey

BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE BY A DUO OR GROUP WITH VOCAL
Speed of Sound – Coldplay
Best of You – Foo Fighters
Do You Want To – Franz Ferdinand
All These Things That I’ve Done – The Killers
Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own – U2

BEST ROCK SONG (Songwriters award)
Best of You – Foo Fighters
Beverly Hills – Weezer
City of Blinding Lights – U2
Devils & Dust – Bruce Springsteen
Speed of Sound – Coldplay

BEST ROCK ALBUM
X&Y – Coldplay
In Your Honor – Foo Fighters
A Bigger Bang – The Rolling Stones
How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb – U2
Prairie Wind – Neil Young

The Grammys are broadcast live at 8PM ET on CBS. Also scheduled to perform are Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, Sir Paul McCartney, and a whole bunch of others whom I don’t care about:

Mariah Carey, John Legend and Kanye West, Faith Hill and Keith Urban; Christina Aguilera and Herbie Hancock; Sugarland; Jamie Foxx with Kanye West; an all-star tribute to Sly And The Family Stone featuring Maroon 5, will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas, Robert Randolph, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Joss Stone and John Legend; and current two-time nominee Hezekiah Walker & Love Fellowship Choir join Mariah Carey.

Thierry Henry scored his 200th goal for the club, and Emmanuel Adebayor scored in his Arsenal debut as the Gunners win 2-0 over Birmingham City.

In the wake of the past week’s drama, an away win was the best possible response. To top it off, the defense kept a clean sheet. Now, no one’s saying that we’ve found our new back four, but they did the job today, and it’s a crucial three points in the bag.

The artist lineup for Bonnaroo Festival 2006 was announced today, and it’s quite impressive:

Radiohead, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Phil Lesh & Friends, Beck, Elvis Costello & the Imposters, Bonnie Raitt, Death Cab for Cutie, moe., Bright Eyes, The Neville Brothers, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Buddy Guy, Damian Marley, Ben Folds, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Dr. John, Matisyahu, G. Love & Special Sauce, My Morning Jacket, Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder, Steel Pulse, Mike Gordon and Ramble Dove, Cat Power, Medeski Martin & Wood, Nickel Creek, Gomez, Atmosphere, Steve Earle, Blues Traveler, Amadou & Mariam, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Dresden Dolls, Son Volt, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Jerry Douglas, Soulive, Rusted Root, Devendra Banhart Band, Donavon Frankenreiter, Mike Doughty, Sasha, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, The Magic Numbers, Bill Frisell, Seu Jorge, Bettye LaVette, Dungen, Shooter Jennings, Rebirth Brass Band, Robinella, Andrew Bird, Steel Train, Jackie Greene, Devotchka, The Wood Brothers, dios (malos), Toubab Krewe, The Motet, Marah, I-Nine, Balkan Beat Box, The Cat Empire

Ticket details from bonnaroo.com:

Tickets for the 2006 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival will go on sale
Saturday, February 11, at 10:00 AM Eastern Time through Bonnaroo.com
All tickets are 3-day weekend passes which include camping & parking (except for RVs and other oversized vehicles, which will require an additional pass, see below).

• Prices do not include service and shipping charges.

• Service charges are $15.00 PER TICKET. This includes a $3 fee for Coffee County and $1 for charity.

• You will be offered two shipping options: UPS 2 nd Day Air- No Signature Required for $9.50 per order OR UPS Second-Day Air Signature Required for $11.50. Shipping costs for International Orders vary based on the country to which the order is being shipped.

• There is a limit of 10 tickets per order.

Yet another cool show, but Highbury’s the priorty this year!

I’ve been singing the praises of Mozilla’s Firefox browser for a while now, and yet again, they’ve lived up to the hype. A security vulnerability was discovered earlier this week, and by last night, they had an update available for download.

Get the latest version, complete with the latest security patches, here: