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…

Well, it may not be 7 towers, but does anyone think that it’s interesting that after Bono writes about the low-income tower development in Dublin about 2 decades ago that he’s investing with the rest of the band in building towers of their own?

That’s why I found the Irish Independent article this morning quite intriguing. The biggest difference between the ones Bono was singing about and the ones being built is the economic class level of the people. Still interesting nonetheless.

Over on Youtube you can find a parody of “Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own” called, well, see the title of this post. The sound on my computer doesn’t work, but I had big laughs watching this as a silent movie. I can only imagine how much better it might be with sound. DC Luigi does an excellent job aping Bono’s “moves.”

Interesting article from The Independent, where 13 current music managers talk about what they do, answering the same set of questions.

Interesting to see how many name Paul McGuinness when asked who the “all-time top manager” is, and a couple even name U2 as the current band they’d most like to be managing.