We’ve heard Bono talk about his unlikely friendship with the conservative US Senator Jesse Helms, and now Helms is returning the favor in his new book Here’s Where I Stand. In a chapter on his views on HIV/AIDS, Helms writes of his shifting views on the virus and gives Bono a metion. Speaking about the very unusual friendship between the two, he credits Bono with opening his eyes to the true nature of the disease. “Until then, it had been my feeling that AIDS was a disease largely spread by reckless and voluntary sexual and drug-abusing behavior, and that it would probably be confined to those in high risk populations. I was wrong.” If you’re so inclined, the book hits shelves today.

This is pretty cool. A fan going by the name “damo” put together this Flash movie using “Love and Peace or Else” as the soundtrack and lots of images with a message. (Cool to see a couple of my photos in there!)

damo himself explains it all just fine, so here you go:

Love and Peace or Else - U2, from damo’s magic blog.

Once in a while, watching awesomely bad TV has its benefits. Something drew me to VH-1’s “40 Hottest Over 40.” (That something was probably the fact that yer man is over 40 and definitely hot.) So I was pleasantly surprised to see Bono at No. 26 on the list.

Unfortunately, seeing him erased all others I’d seen before from my mind, so I don’t remember who he beat. Fellow Hall of Famer Bruce Springsteen came in at #23. But Tommy Lee (?!?!?!) came in in the Top 20, so obviously there’s no accounting for taste. Just take it for what it’s worth: a nice chance to see clips of your favorite singer.

It’s that time of year again, when media starts tossing around the names of supposed nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize. Although the actual nomination process is held in secret and nominees names are never released, Bono’s name has surfaced several times as a nominee for his work in Africa. This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that - in fact, Bono’s name has appeared in each of the last several years as a potential laureate. What are the odds? If you’re a betting person, then betting site betonsports.com is listing 5 to 1 odds that Bono will actually win. Winners will be announced the first week in October.

I’m sure I speak on behalf of many of our readers who follow more than just U2 (amazing as it may sound) when I offer the suggestion to our favorite group of Irish musicians that they should FINALLY allow fans to download copies of their concerts through U2.com for a nominal fee.

Starting on September 1, Pearl Jam will be allowing its fans to download for a very reasonable price high-quality, DRM-Free, digital recordings available just hours after the band’s live shows through the band’s website. Metallica fans have been able to download concerts, also for a reasonable price, for some time now either in mp3 format or FLAC lossless.

I think U2 fans would spend upwards of $20 (which is more than what Pearl Jam or Metallica charges) to be able to download a concert off of U2.com.

Here’s why I would spend money for this:
1) There are a bevy of sites online (too many to mention) that allow fans to download and upload concerts for free. However, bandwidth being what it is, as well as connection speeds globally, it can be a painful experience for those with limited connections.

2) I’d prefer to pay the band their royalties and legally download their material. (Call me old-fashioned, but if they created the music, then they deserve my cash). I’d also prefer a copy of the show vs. an overpriced T-shirt any day of the week.

3) It allows the fans to ENJOY the show for what it is - instead of having to sneak in recording equipment in places recording equipment doesn’t belong, and then having to worry about some idiot standing next to you screaming out “I LOVE YOU BONO” during the concert. (I’ll admit it - my apologies to anyone who tried recording the Worcester 3/13/92 show from the floor - I didn’t know bootlegging etiquette and I spoiled at least 1 recording of the show with my off-tune singing and i promise i’ll never do that again! - but i digress).

4) This is a benefit U2 could offer to U2.com subscribers - let’s face it, they have to figure out SOMETHING to lure tens of thousands of us to spend our $40 to renew in the winter. This would be a great benefit to the fanclub membership.

Here’s why U2 won’t do it (let’s be serious here - do you *really* think they’ll do it?)

1) They’re perfectionists. Every commercial release they’ve sold has been edited, then re-edited, and re-edited again. They don’t like to show their warts - even though those are the best parts of their live performance…shows they’re human.

2) If fans are already doing it (somewhat successfully) for 25+ years, then why should they spend their time here? Bono has said, “We tell people who come to our concerts that they can tape the shows if they want. I think it is cool that people are so passionate about our music.” However, Interscope has been cracking down on some sites for copyright issues - so, it would be nice to have U2 offer a legal alternative to fan favorite activity.

3) Have I mentioned they’re perfectionists?

Let’s face it, it’s a guaranteed revenue stream for them! Who wouldn’t want to make more money, right? Look at how successful Pearl Jam has been in releasing their live material - you can’t tell me that Principle Management hasn’t seen the greenbacks they’d get as a result of finally allowing legal downloading off of U2.com or iTunes. As a long time collector of live material, I would GLADLY pay U2 to allow me to download the material legally. Wouldn’t you want a copy of the concert you just witnessed to remember the night by? I know I would.

As a side note - U2’s tour management has been crunching numbers to see how to limit expenses to bring their live show to South America and to Australia - the band want to perform there, but freight charges and fuel is limiting their ability to travel (even though dates have been tossed around)….you can off-set these touring expenses through revenue generated from downloading the live material. So, Craig w/TNA…consider that when you’re crunching numbers during the third leg of the tour!

Call me silly, especially living with an audiophile - but I just discovered that Maxell is selling specialty earbuds that would match the U2 iPod. Boston-area retailer Newbury Comics had them in their newspaper ad today for the low-low price of $13.88 - online they range in price upwards of $25 plus shipping.

The September edition of Elle magazine (U.S.) features Ali Hewson and Rogan Gregory as part of the “Elle 25,” a sort of hot list for fashionistas. Ali and Rogan (sans Bono) are pictured wearing Edun clothing. The article by Jenny Feldman doesn’t provide a whole lot of new information for die-hard fans, but it’s worth reading if only for the excellent last line.

When Ali Hewson was growing up in Dublin in the ’60s, an American cousin used to send her hand-me-downs. “I was kind of antifashion,” Hewson says of her days in recycled threads and wellies. Since marrying a rock star–U2’s Bono, in 1982–and being thrust into the public eye, Hewson, 44, has become more style conscious. Then last year she decided to launch, of all things, and ecofriendly clothing line. “I want people to realize that they can effect change with how they spend their money,” she says. A mother for four who previously worked for Greenpeace and the Chernobyl Children’s Project, Hewson is a firm believer in changing the world in a “micro” way.

“It’s our hope that customers will start to care about organic clothing the way they now care about organic food,” Hewson says. To this end, she and Gregory shuttle among factories on three continents, where they help develop products based on existing resources. As for Bono, the self-dubbed Man Who Brought You the Mullet: “We try to keep him as far away from the fashion as possible,” Hewson says.

Flipping through the past two days’ worth of Boston Heralds, there were two very brief U2 mentions in the Inside Track column (by Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa with Erin Hayes):

First, apparently, Sharon Stone left behind both Bill Clinton’s and Bono’s phone number on some handwritten notes (including Post-Its) found on a phonebook in her rented apartment in London recently. The cleaning staff found them. (I’m surprised they haven’t popped up on eBay, but I guess some people have ethics or morals, thankfully).

Second, Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood was overheard telling Mick Jagger’s personal assistant, “Tell Paul McCartney and U2 that’s how it’s done,” after he finished their second Fenway Park show in Boston.

Nothing like some good old-fashioned rivalry

Who knew that you had to have a name that starts with the letter K to open in the U.S. … Kings of Leon, Keane, Kanye West. Made me wonder who else we might see on the 3rd leg…..

Killers
Kaiser Chiefs
Kid Rock
Kiss
Kasabian
Korn
Kraftwerk
Lenny Kravitz
BB King
Mark Knopfler

Or maybe they could lure these artists out of retirement:

Krokus
Kool & The Gang
Katrina and the Waves
Kansas

The possibilities are endless!

from Contactmusic.com:

Rock matriarch Sharon Osbourne has slammed Irish superstars U2 as “boring” and she finds their stage efforts especially pathetic.

The outspoken reality TV star has blasted the Irish rockers for treating their shows as a politically-laden news broadcast rather than a gig and insists they need to inject more energy into their performance.

Osbourne, whose husband Ozzy once bit the head off a bat on stage, says, “Talk about a knees-up? Have you seen U2’s live show?

“It’s boring as hell. It’s like watching CNN.”