I did a search for “Larry Mullen” and “drum kit,” and I caome across a thread on the Phil Collins Forum. Of course my first thought is: “There’s a Phil Collins forum?” Apparently so, and they were debating the merits of our favorite drummer. I just found it interesting to see what perhaps less biased music fans (OK, less U2-obsessive fans) think. Although of course I think the second guy is WAY off base.

Some of the comments (unedited):

• You have to check out U2 early work to fully appreciate the guys talent. He’s from the “Ringo” school, imo….. He plays for the song. Very musical and locks in superbly with Adam Clayton.
• Bloody Sunday… listen out for the Hats and snare work… very shaky, timing all over the shop…and dynamics between snare and hats are terrible…
• Larry Mullen plays what the song needs, no more, no less. His timekeeping is rock solid, and his drum parts, while not being flashy or particularly technical are always inventive, interesting and perfect for the song.
• I agree Larry Mullen Jr is a good drummer and very creative. I put him with the greats of drumming …
• I must say I was never impressed by his playing, sorry guys! As apposed to you know who…… (***I can only assume they’re comparing him with Phil. –SM)
• Larry Rocks - if we could all be so creative. He is one of Steve Gadd’s favourite drummers, that’s good enough for me!
• Larry has a feel and sense of time nobody can match. I dont think you guys understand how much talent it takes to play with sequencing and click tracks and still sound fresh. You cant judge this guy by his chops because he could careless about chops. He is a musician not just THE DRUMMER. It all sounds simple until you sit down behind his kit and try to duplicate the drum parts yourself. I bet every one of you would sound like crap !!

Mary J. Blige performed an abbreviated version of “One” with 3rd place contestant Elliott Yamin last night. They omitted the second verse. This was the first time I’ve heard a U2 song on American Idol, not that I watch it obsessively or anything like that. The performance was 10% Yamin, 90% Blige. And, you know, either you like Mary’s version or you don’t. The easy-to-please audience at the Kodak Theater ate it up.

Bono in Dafara
Originally uploaded by u2page.

Reuters has been writing a Blog tracking Bono’s movements during his current trip in Africa, and if you haven’t been following along, there are some interesting posts there.

Included:
- A slideshow of photos from the visit
- A story on a trip to the Ghana stock exchange. When Bono learns that the stock symbol GGB stood for Guinness Ghana, he exclaimed: “As an Irish man I want you to know it is a little confusing that Guinness is more popular in Africa than in Ireland.”
- Blog readers submitted over 200 questions to Bono, and he answers a few.

Check it out, if you haven’t already.

The folks at DATA have sent out an email to their listserv asking people to participate in an exciting event next Tuesday, May 23. Their site says:
*****
Join Americans from around the country on Tuesday, May 23rd, as NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams broadcasts a portion of Bono’s much-anticipated trip to Africa, live from Ghana, Africa.

Click here if you’d like to host your own ONE Watch Party!

Tuesday evening, May 23rd, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams will broadcast live from Africa for the first time ever. Please join us as we help Bono focus the world’s attention on stories of hope and inspiration from Africa. Invite your friends, family, and neighbors to come together and learn more about ONE, global poverty and AIDS, and how we can all make a difference.

We hope you will be a part of this exciting evening. Register your watch party below. Then email your friends. Make sure that they know about Tuesday evening’s broadcast and the watch parties. Click here to review the Toolkit for more information about how to set up your watch party. We will stay in regular touch with you, providing tips, checklists, and ideas between now and May 23rd.
*****

The DATA site also has a daily blog (which appears to be different than Blog Red). It’s worth checking out.

So, I’m in my local grocery store and on the PA system, they’ve got their satellite radio station playing. Not MUSAK, but real music. Suddenly as I’m about to enter Aisle 4, I hear Stuck in a Moment…and I think “hey, that’s cool!” As soon as that song concludes, I’m now in the dairy department and I hear another familiar tune - it’s the Corrs with Bono with Stars Go Blue. I think I’ve hit the jackpot.

Then, in the checkout aisle when that song concludes, they have TV screens that entertain you while you’re waiting to be checked out…and running along the bottom is a Reuters news story about how Bono’s in Africa. Now I think, “Ok - enough already.”

Driving into work today, WBOS-FM is playing Streets, and when that song concludes and I’m channel surfing, MIKE-FM is playing Numb.

Suddenly, I’ve discovered that it’s a bit too overwhelming, even for an uber-U2 fan, to have so much U2 in such a short amount of time.

Luckily for me, there’s a website i can go to: http://www.bonofatigue.com.

I’ve realized I’m not the only one who may feel a bit oversaturated in regards to U2 or Bono. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still enjoying the fact that I have reminders everywhere (heck, even my car’s license plate) that I am indeed a U2 fan and I let it show…but from time to time, I am reminded that it’s OK to feel it’s a bit too much. (However, could that be considered an oxymoron?)

If you happen to be in Dunedin, Florida tonight with nothing else to do, stop by in your U2 gear and watch a baseball game…and raise money for the African Well Fund’s “Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday” campaign. Here’s the scoop from the AWF folks:
—————
Dunedin Blue Jays to host Bono birthday fundraiser ball game!

AWF is thrilled that the Toronto Blue Jays minor league team in Dunedin, Florida will be hosting a Bono birthday night on May 10th, to fundraise and promote Bono’s birthday -

Wednesday, May 10
Knology Park, Dunedin (Clearwater/St. Petersbury metro area)
Dunedin Blue Jays vs. Palm Beach Cardinals - 7:00 PM
To purchase tickets for this game call: (727) 733-9302

Play Baseball to Build A Well for Bono’s Birthday
The Dunedin Blue Jays are excited to be holding a promotion for our 4th Annual Build A Well For Bono’s Birthday fundraising drive. This will be the very first fundraiser of its kind for AWF. Local supporters of the AWF and Africare (as well as the usual baseball fans) are encouraged to come out and support the Blue Jays and AWF!

U2 fans and others inspired by Bono’s activism on behalf of Africa are invited to make a donation in his honor at Knology Park on May 10th. This year the funds raised will be used for a clean water project in Zimbabwe.

**Any fan wearing U2 apparel will get in the game for only $3. So come out and watch some baseball, listen to some U2 music, and help a great cause.

That’s Bono the title line refers to — he’s the “tightly handled” one. So says the mayor of Grand Rapids in this WOOD-TV (such unfortunate call letters!) story about the challenge of covering Bono’s visit to Grand Rapids tonight.

Hey — we can relate.

@U2 has a staffer in the neighborhood and has been trying for weeks to get a press credential to cover this. We’ve been credentialed in the past by U2 themselves, by DATA, by the King Center, by the National Civil Rights Museum, by the World Affairs Council, by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, etc., etc.

But asking the Economic Club of Grand Rapids to credential us for a speech? We may as well have been asking them to turn water into wine. Not a chance in you-know-where.

Oh, well. Life goes on. We can all guess what Bono’s gonna say tonight, anyway, right? Something about using buckets of water to put out fires….

I was reminded today about how it’s becoming harder and harder for people to show some restraint and *wait* until an album release day.

Just saw that the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ new album, “Stadium Arcadium” has been leaked on the ‘net and that their representatives are in pursuit of who leaked it. As this is becoming more and more of a problem in the music industry, a new law is now in place to prohibit people to pirate new releases. Last year, Congress passed something called the Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005 where it states:

This has been floating around the Zootopia boards on U2.com, so thanks to them for pointing this out.

When Edge helped to reopen the Preservation Jazz Hall in New Orleans on April 28 with the help of Music Rising, he took part in the opening by joining with the band to do a Ragtime version of Vertigo. Who knew Vertigo could translate so well among the different genres of music?

It’s the middle video on MSN’s recap of the New Orleans Jazz Fest.

Following in the footsteps of the Bloom County and Opus comic strips, Scott Adams has brought Bono to the comic Dilbert today. (Comic strip is (c) Scott Adams, Inc / Distributed by UFS, Inc.)