photo courtesy of (RED) / (c) (RED)

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is reporting on a special appearance by Bono yesterday at the annual Starbucks managers conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Bono was there to support the new partnership between (RED) and Starbucks during the holiday season. The article quotes Starbucks SVP Michelle Gass: “If every single Starbucks customer bought one (RED) Holiday Exclusive (beverage) for a week, we would save 15,000 lives for a year in Africa.”

The (RED) Holiday Exclusive beverages will be the peppermint mocha twist, gingersnap latte and espresso truffle. They do not cost extra, and will be launching on November 27.

The article also states:

Starbucks paid an undisclosed licensing fee to (RED) and will donate directly to the Global Fund. The partnership is a multiyear commitment and could help thousands, depending on sales.

Bono remarked, “I was going to jump out of a cranberry scone, but maybe not.” He then went on to salute Starbucks for giving money to the Global Fund, saying that it was not charity, rather commerce.

I was in San Francisco last week and for some reason, I felt that spending part of an afternoon visting the scene of Bono’s Rattle and Hum “Rock ‘N’ Roll Stops The Traffic” graffiti incident would be just a totally rad idea. I even took a video. Upon reflection, I realize this was a very dorky thing to do. And so it goes …

Here’s Bono spray painting the Vaillancourt Fountain at Justin Herman Plaza:

Er, here’s me:

Listen: U2Source.com has audio of a 1987 interview in which Bono discusses/defends/regrets the graffiti. (The best part is the very, very end of that interview where Bono mentions what his father thought of the incident.)

-This post brought to you by Scatter O’ Light.

While indulging in some 80s nostalgia tonight on VH1 Classic, I was prompted to go to the channel’s Web site, which I haven’t visited in at least a year.

When I arrived, it was as if they knew I was coming—parading all sorts of artists’ videos in front of me that I love (Duran Duran, Peter Gabriel, etc.) and then in a flash, I saw it: what they call “Box Set: U2.”

Basically, it’s a treasure trove of videos from one artist (in this case, U2) that you can click and play for free, then rate, comment on, etc.

What’s more—there are also interview clips like this one featuring Bono (with Larry) talking about “Vertigo.”

What a nice surprise!

The Miami Heat basketball team always had some “Born To Run” or “The Rising” playing around its facilities thanks to the musical taste of ex coach and current team president Pat Riley.  Now the team is searching for a brand new “Beautiful Day.” Based on musical taste alone, the Heat seems to have the right guy to make the transition.

New coach Erik Spoelstra, who will be 38 next week, started attending U2 shows in college 18 years ago.

“Where The Streets Have No Name is absolutely my favorite concert song by any group,” Spoelstra says. “I think even a couple of these guys (on the team), I don’t think they would ever admit it, but even they would get energized.”

It’s appropriate. The first sentence of that song is “I want to run.” Spoelstra does want to play more of a running game this season.

Spoelstra has his own admission: he even dug U2’s kitschy Zooropa phase.

“I am not a groupie,” he insists. “I have seen them six or seven times. It’s not like I’ve seen them 100 times, like Pat with Springsteen.”

Hopefully this year’s team can “Walk On” to a repeat performance of their 2006 run, where the franchise won its first NBA title.

Post brough to you by: Ethan Skolnick

As a female, I felt guilty at the Women’s Conference in Long Beach, Calif., on Wednesday.

The speakers lined up for this day devoted to women’s empowerment, hosted by California first lady Maria Shriver and her Terminator husband, aka California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, were a gal’s powerhouse: Condoleezza Rice, Madeleine Albright, Cherie Blair (wife of Tony), Gloria Steinem, Christiane Amanpour, and Billie Jean King, to name a few.

Some men were there, too, such as Warren Buffett and Michael J. Fox.

Oh, and this guy named Bono.

And he was all I could concentrate on throughout the day. He would be speaking at the end of the conference. I arrived at 7:30 a.m.

It was a long day.

I sort of listened to Rice in conversation with journalist Campbell Brown and Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo. I tried to take in Shriver’s heartfelt comments about her family and politics. I really wanted to hear Amanpour.

But at the beginning of the day, as soon as I heard “Beautiful Day” over the public-address system, my mind went elsewhere. I thought I’d hang out in the exhibit hall, figuring that free samples of Lean Cuisine and organic makeup would get me in a girlier mood. Nope. Hanging high up on the wall, right next to a huge poster of Steinem, was one of Bono. He hovered over me relentlessly after that.

The ONE and RED campaigns shared a booth space, where a video played with info about the two projects, including some footage of Bono, of course. I have seen every U2 video ever made, but I was still mesmerized.

So by the time 5 p.m. arrived, my Bono meter was buzzing and I had given up on role models of female empowerment.

But as soon as he came on stage, “Pride (In the Name of Love)” playing in the background, I let go of my guiltiness at wishing that tennis champ King, who spoke before him, would hurry up.

I’ve seen Bono speak about his humanitarian efforts a few times now in person; I get the same chills every time. For people who love U2 just for their music, and perhaps applaud but don’t focus much on Bono’s work to end poverty around the world, it’s that same feeling you get when the band comes out at the beginning of a concert. Bono’s words, whether sung or not, are always lyrical.

His speech, as it turned out, was deeply empowering for women, especially when he said the following:

“A continent burns and we smell the smoke. It stings our eyes; it sears our consciousness. But maybe not as much as it should, because we live with it, don’t we?

“I’m not saying this just to flatter you. Because not even this rather indiscreet rock star would have the audacity to use gender stereotypes in the presence of the great Gloria Steinem. I say it because it’s true. Because the emergency hits women where they live more than most men. As hard as it is to ask fans at a rock show to think about the value of a child’s life far away, or to ask Boardroom U.S.A., or political America for that matter, you do not have to explain to the women of America, the mothers of America, the value of a child’s life far away.”

It took a man to hit me over the head with the message that women can fight fires, too.

You can watch a video of Bono’s entire speech on the ONE campaign’s Web site.

Ireland’s Hot Press is sharing their 30 years’ worth of covers online. According to their site, “As the story unfolds, we’ll get the opportunity to gaze in wonder at U2 before they were shaving (more or less!), on their very first cover story.”

They’ve unveiled Volume 1 from 1977-1978 online. Check it out - and check back to their site often as they’ll be adding more volumes over the next few months.