Many of you have probably seen the recent photos and stories about the new Edun clothing line. The label was created by Bono, his wife Ali Hewson, and New York Designer Rogan to provide an alternative to the socially unconscious, mass-produced fashions that saturate the industry.

By using fair trade practices and natural materials such as organic cotton, the revolutionary Edun brand promotes a new way of thinking about how we shop and more importantly how we treat those who are responsible for producing the goods.

The styles are a mix of earthy simplicity and delicate beauty, with offerings for both men and women. Eccentric accents such as pocket poetry and buttons shaped like hearts add the special touch that makes this collection unique.

With prices starting at $55, the fashions don’t come cheap, but for those of us willing to pony up the extra money, the reward is purging all of the “polyester-white-trash-made-in-nowhere” clothes from our closets.

Dive in folks — the new Edun website can be found by copying and pasting this link into your browser:

http://www.edun.ie/

The only band that could ever steal me away from U2 has a new album coming out in a couple months, a new single (”Speed of Sound”) now hitting radio, and a promotional machine that’s cranking up much like U2’s does for a new album and single.

And just like the days when A Rush of Blood to the Head was released, the Coldplay-U2 comparisons are starting to fly in full force. From this interesting article about the business side of things comes a quote from NME:

“Coldplay follow a tradition of great British bands,” said Julian Marshall, news editor of New Musical Express. “I have heard the full record. It is easily as strong as their last album. I think they are now up there with U2.”

No doubt there will be more of that. Much more.

I’m going through my notes from San Diego and catching up on email, and I thought I’d share some updates with you:

1) When asked if U2 would perform the banjo version of Vertigo, Paul McGuinness gave a good, hearty laugh and said, “I don’t think so”. Bummer - that would be a fun mid-show thing for the Chicago or Boston audience!

2) In that same conversation with Paul, I asked if we’d ever see the Dalton Brothers ride again. He said, “Probably not.” I still hold out hope that they’ll have the urge to do two kinds of music - country and western

3) I caught up with Neil McCormick to see how things are going since the Doppelganger book hit bookshelves in the US. Here’s what he had to say:

“Someone did turn up at a very rare gig I played with a copy of the book to sign, which was nice. The book is already in its third print in the US, which is great and it will come out as a mass market paperback in the Uk this summer, where Penguin books have high hopes for it (it was previously released as a large format trade paperback). I’ve sold the film rights too, although I have doubts about whether it will ever actually be made. It is kind of a hard to film story. And who would play Bono? And yes, I plan to do more recording. I have so many albums in my head … it is all about finding the time (and the budget) to get them out of my head and into the world. I expect The Ghost will be back next year”

So…here’s the question to the readers: Who should play Bono? My guesses: Bono himself, Robin Williams, or Colin Farrell. What do you think?

I winced when I read that headline, didn’t you?

LONDON (Reuters) - Middle-aged musicians who have neither burned out nor faded away — yet may be some years past their creative peaks — are pulling in the real money in today’s topsy-turvy music industry.

But what’s cool about this article is…U2 are not mentioned in the list of aging rockers!

Unrelated side note: Achtoon Baby will be delayed even more than usual due to cartoonist’s minor health problem. No big deal–I’m just feeling run-down lately, and my head weighs about 45 pounds, probably. Solemn vow: will take better care of myself.

I’m wondering if anyone else out there was left scratching their head while watching VH1’s All Access: U2 program this evening.

The program, which includes excellent behind-the-scenes exclusive interviews with the band as they prepare for the Vertigo World tour…all stuff fans will want to watch again and again…seemed to not realize that Opening Night was in San Diego on March 28.

The whole program is designed to show “Opening Night” as they get ready to embark on their tour. A few problems with this….about 50 minutes into the program, the setlist shown that’s being narrated as “battling nerves and nausea, the band continues to tinker with the setlist” is not from Opening Night. The setlist, as well as the band’s outfits, seem to model the Anaheim 4/2 show. There’s a shot of tickets being scanned while interviewing Paul McGuinness - those tickets are dated April 1 (Anaheim).

Did anyone else have a good laugh when the narration said “In the middle of rehearsals, U2 had to fly off to New York to make music history” - but the band was walking off of their Popmart plane? Classic.

The live video footage at various spots also did not model what happened in San Diego - for example, the band did not walk around the ellipse with spotlights at the start of Love and Peace at either show….and the sound of the airplanes at the start of Love and Peace do not appear with the song unless the song is used as an opening song for the concert. Also, they modeled the build-up by showing Love and Peace, then Sometimes, then lead into Vertigo - implying Vertigo was later in the setlist, which it was not for either San Diego show. Not to mention…mixing in video footage from Live from Boston from Elevation with the Vertigo tour footage - to quote Rocky Horror…”let’s do the time warp again!”

Don’t get me wrong - this program is an *awesome* look inside the creative process. My point is - if you’re going to be promoting throughout the program as leading up to Opening Night, then don’t show things and piece together interviews that didn’t happen at Opening Night, as well as show footage that matches the narration.

Side note…look at the wristband colors of those in the audience during the live footage at the end - neither wristband color was handed out in San Diego - the audience pictured wasn’t there Opening Night either.

So…for all of the readers out there - can you name the night the footage was shot? The wristband to gain access to the floor that night was orange. Maybe you might see yourself in the audience!

40 - slow it down…
Originally uploaded by cindiann.

cindiann took this in Anaheim and shared it with our @U2 Flickr group, and I have to blog it for all to see.

Quite possibly my favorite pic of the tour so far.

BTW, those of you using Flickr (and even those not), let me encourage you to keep track of your favorite tour photos. You’ll need them later in the year.

Hint for Flickr users: when you see a photo you like, click the small, gray “Add to Faves” link above the image.