For those of you who have grown tired of those Coldplay vs. U2 comparisons (or just want to see Bono duke it out with Chris Martin), here’s a little something from MTV. Of course, Bono doesn’t look (or sound) anything like Bono, but it gave me a little chuckle - in a sick, twisted, I’m embarrassed to admit it sort of way.

I’ll admit that sports don’t rank very high on my hobby list, but when the game collides with either of my chosen passions (U2 and films) I can’t help but sit up and take notice. And lately, U2 have been more present on the field than anywhere else.

First, those World Cup promos featuring U2 songs and voice-overs from band members got my attention. I’m in the say-it-ain’t-so camp about “Streets” being sold, but the other songs they used didn’t bother me so much. I even found myself perking up at the sight of “City Of Blinding Lights” footage spliced in with the game previews. As a result, I just HAD to watch several of the exciting matches (wasn’t Portugal great?!), so I suppose their marketing worked.

In the midst of all the hoopla, I was reminded of hottie David Beckham (I’d of course seen Bend It Like Beckham so I knew what he was all about), and today learned that he’s joined forces with Bono to promote the new Motorola RED phones in a celebrity-rich ad campaign. Power to them.

And finally, a coworker pointed me to this new ESPN article by Bill Simmons, which presents a hilarious YouTube Hall of Fame. Bono is right there at the top, where he should be.

CNN.com’s top story today was about how billionaire Warren Buffett has decided to give away most of his fortune with the majority of it going to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

If you’re wondering why we’re blogging about it on a U2 fan site, well…Bono has been a fan of Warren Buffett since before he embarked on the Heartland of America Tour:

“He’s Yoda to me,” said Bono, “the Jedi master of modern America. He’s also a deeply serious citizen with an ear for a great idea-in this case, that America should support an historic AIDS initiative for Africa. He cares about the way the USA is perceived in the outside world, and knows that this initiative could help that perception.” (courtesy of DATA.org)

The connection continues as Bono also sang at Warren’s wife, Susan Buffett’s private funeral. Their daughter serves on the Board of Directors for DATA and has grown close with Bono as a result.

On “The Daily Show” Wednesday night, Jon Stewart was talking to Anderson Cooper about his recent interview with Angelina Jolie. And this is what Stewart had to say:

“I say this to you now and I ask you to reaffirm it: I consider her the Bono of hotness.”

Not sure exactly what that means, but it still makes me laugh.

(Bono, with Sally Baden, an Oxfam policy advisor in West Africa, shows off his Make Trade Fair t-shirt while visiting in Dafara Village, Mali. Photo courtesy of Oxfam.)

During Bono’s recent trip to Mali, he visited Cotton Farmers with representatives from Oxfam. There’s a few more photos available on Flickr.

For more on his visit, visit Oxfam’s website here.

It’s not the first time Bono has partnered with Oxfam. He was part of an all-star photo shoot with items produced by farmers who want to trade their goods fairly.

(Photo courtesy of Oxfam / Greg Williams)

Ah, good fun was had by all today as the Christian O’Connell Breakfast Show did a spoof interview with one of their staff members and Bono. Brian, the reluctant staffer calling in from holiday in Sardinia, phoned in to do his “fantasy” interview with Bono.

He asked 14 questions and the responses were all soundbytes from one of U2’s songs. Here’s a *rough* transcription:

Hello, Bono?
“Hello Hello”
Do we have a bad connection here?
“Hello Hello”
Try holding your phone up to your ear, Bono. I know you’ve lost your car keys recently…any luck with that?
“I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.”
Did you check the last place you had them?
“I’ve been all over.” (from Beautiful day)
Ah, never mind. I’m sure they’ll turn up. Are you doing the marathon again this year?
“I want to run”
I’ve sprained my ankle and I know you’re a trained St. John’s Ambulance volunteer - what do you recommend?
“Elevation”
Ah, thanks, Bono. I’ve got a rash as well…
“Is it getting better?” (from One)
Not really, Bono, but I’ve got to go to the doctor’s, but I don’t want to go there on my own…
“I’ll go there with you” (from Streets)
Cheers, Bono. Why do you wear shades?
“Blinding lights” (from COBL)
Oh. I hear The Edge loves experimenting with cooking and his signature dish is a riff from the classic toad in a hole - what is it?
“A mole digging in a hole”
Well, anyway Bono, it’s been great chatting with you…
“I’ve gotta go”
Yeah, me too. You still playing those fruit machines?
“Yeah, I’m running outta change”
Ah, well anyway, thanks for coming on the show
“It’s all right”
Thanks.
“It’s all right”
Anyway…
“It’s all right”

If you want to hear it, visit Virgin Radio’s site and it’s about 30 minutes into the edited broadcast.

Just a few things to note:

CNN.com has a story about Celebrities and Africa…and it looks like Bono may be getting his wish to *just* be a rock star as this is the first story I remember reading about Africa on CNN.com that does NOT mention Bono in it…AT ALL! I guess we have Ms. Jolie to thank for this!

Listening to Virgin Radio today at work, they broadcasted a PSA for a blood drive (which apparently will be on Sunday)…you guessed it - the song playing in the background was Sunday Bloody Sunday.

It’s good to see Arthur Fogel and the folks at TNA start to let fans know a timeline for the rescheduled leg of the Vertigo tour. Something to keep in mind - some of the tour personnel who joined U2 last year (and who I’m sure U2 would want to have as tour staff again) are currently working the Madonna tour. According to Pollstar, Madonna’s tour concludes September 20th in Tokyo. Maybe this is part of the reason why the tour’s announcement is still forthcoming.

Catching up on some news from May, it looks like Edge joined many others at a $1,000 a plate fund raiser for Hilary Clinton in May: “More than a dozen vocal protesters were on hand to meet Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton at a celebrity-studded fundraiser in Beverly Hills on May 4th. Code Pink, a women’s anti-war group, protested for three hours outside the $1,000-a-plate dinner, which raised almost $1 million for the New York Senator’s re-election campaign. … Among those attending the event were Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, Billy Crystal, Rob Reiner and the Edge from U2 as well as Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton.” (story courtesy of www.westsidetoday.com)

And finally, Principle Management’s investment in Phantom FM, Dublin’s alternative radio station, will finally start broadcasting formally in August. You can listen to the station over the ‘net currently at http://www.phantomfm.com/index.htm and download their podcast. They’re also recruiting, so if you’re interested, check it out.

The site www.unison.ie has a story currently about the launch plans. Besides going into detail about the station’s financial strength with advertisers, the story also states: “Dublin radio has been accused of moving towards the middle ground as it chases the 15 to 35-year-old age group. But Phantom plans to offer a niche line-up which stays away from mainstream pop. No Girls Aloud or Shane Ward for Phantom - Phantom favourites include The Frames, The Strokes, The Arctic Monkeys and PJ Harvey. They are hardly obscure bands, but according to Phantom they don’t get a huge amount of Irish airplay at the moment.”

(Hmmm….Principle Management also represents PJ Harvey…I’m sure they wouldn’t object to having her music played more! Funny…there was no mention about playing U2 on the station).

No, this really didn’t happen…but for VH1’s show “Sledgehammer” it did!

Somehow I was living under a rock back in ‘01 it seems because I was watching VH1’s “40 Greatest Pranks” program today and in the top 20 was the prank of an old guy (looking like William S. Burroughs in the “Last Night on Earth video) in a wheelchair with 2 women dressed in nurse outfits trying to get their way into a U2 concert with the claim that he was Bono’s grandfather. This was originally broadcasted on VH1’s show, “Sledgehammer”…which appears to be another version of MTV’s Punk’d.

All 3 were talking with Irish accents, and they were showing a doctored photo of Bono (ZooTV era) and this old guy standing. They not only got past local security, but the footage shows the 3 of them with U2’s personal security and even stage manager Rocko prior to having him be wheeled into the heart with front row access in his wheelchair. His pass even had written on it “Bono’s Grandfather.” Footage shows him shaking his shilelagh saying “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” and “I’ll get in there with or without you.” You’d think the shilelagh would give him away!

Lest you fear that Harper Collins isn’t planning a big enough promotional push for U2 by U2, here’s an ad being drawn in chalk on the ground outside the Toronto Convention Center for Book Expo Canada.

The image is from photojunkie’s Flickr pool, and there’s a pic of the completed art work, too.

Information is from Torontoist.com.

You may have noticed references to “Sheila” on the blog for (Product) RED. Sheila was going to send blogs from Africa, but apparently her laptop died at some point during the trip, so her handwritten journal entries had to be transcribed. Her first journal entry (”The Long-Awaited Sheila Africa Blog Part 2″) is now up on (Blog) RED. She gives her full name at the end. You might recognize it…