I got a Ben & Jerry’s Chunkmail announcement this morning about how they’ve partnered with the ONE Campaign to end Global Poverty by selling their ONE Cheesecake Brownie flavored ice cream with the ONE logo on the packaging and encouraging people to sign up for the campaign.

Is it just me, or does it seem odd to help aleviate global hunger and poverty by eating gourmet, pricey ice cream?

What’s next? (RED)uced Fat Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ben & Jerry’s?

Don’t get me wrong - I fully support what the ONE Campaign stands for and is doing - and the way they are partnering with people to get their cause out there. But helping to end hunger by eating? Ironic.

The folks at the African Well Fund are in their final days of their “Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday” campaign. This year’s theme is “Walk to the Water: Walk With Me.” Below is their latest press release:

The African Well Fund is accepting donations for its sixth annual Bono’s Birthday Well fundraiser, “Walk to the Water … Walk with Me,” through Saturday, May 10, Bono’s 48th birthday. Donations can be made at http://www.africanwellfund.org/Bono-Well-2008.html.

Donors to the Bono’s Birthday Well are invited to sign their names to an online birthday card that will be forwarded to Bono. Last year Bono sent a thank-you note to African Well Fund that can be viewed at the well homepage, http://www.africanwellfund.org/Bono-Well-2008.html. The well page also includes flyers, banners and avatars that can be uploaded or forwarded to spread the word on the fundraiser.

The first Bono’s Birthday Well fundraiser was held in 2003 with the intent of collecting $1,000 to build one well in Bono’s honor. That year, the African Well Fund collected more than $10,000. The second year, $15,000 was raised. More than $26,000 was collected for Bono’s Birthday Well in 2005. Over $32,000 was collected in 2006.

Last year saw the largest Bono’s Birthday Well total to date, with more than $34,000 collected. Those funds were used toward projects at several schools in Uganda implemented in partnership with Invisible Children and Africare. These projects are currently underway.

Tax-deductible donations to the African Well Fund are used by our partner organization Africare to fund various water projects in Africa. To date, African Well Fund donations have given more than 100,000 people in 10 African nations improved access to water.

To update a story mentioned here a week ago (or so), Edge has announced he will donate 2 Gibson guitars and other personal items to the upcoming “Icons of Music” auction on May 31.

In an interview with the Associated Press by phone while the band was in the studio, Edge said, “No one could ever come close to repaying the debt of those who have established this form (of music) that we all take totally for granted, this hybrid of European melody and African-American rhythm that’s given us jazz and R&B and rock ‘n’ roll. There’s something powerful about musicians giving instruments they own to an auction to aid musicians who are going through a particularly difficult time.”

The AP story also said that Aaron Neville is scheduled to perform at the May 31 auction, held at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City. Edge will host the auction.

If anyone is planning on attending the auction, let us know. We’re looking for special correspondents to cover this event!

For those who didn’t get what they wanted at auction last year will have another opportunity at bidding on items generously donated from fellow musicians…Julien’s Auctions is hosting the “Icons of Music” auction to benefit Music Rising. The auction is set for May 31 at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City. There are a few locations hosting a viewing of the items:

Museo de la Moda in Santiago, Chile - March 25 thru April 18
Newbridge Silverware Vistior’s Center in Kildare, Ireland - May 2 thru May 14
Celebrity Vault in Beverly Hills, California - May 22 thru May 24
Hard Rock Cafe in New York City - May 26 thru May 30

Session 1 of the auction begins at 1 p.m. on May 31, with session 2 beginning at 6 p.m. The site is advertising a “Special Performance” at 5 p.m. that day. Who knows - maybe Edge will teach the winning bidder how to play the guitar they just won!

For more information about the auction, check out the official site here.

If you wish to order the catalog for $50, click here.

According to Multichannel.com, some of the items up for auction this year include: “a signed Miley Cyrus guitar, suits worn by The Beatles while promoting A Hard Day’s Night, a Miles Davis owned and used trumpet – 400 lots in all.” The site also mentions that, “Startup Auction Network, a Tulsa-based Web and cable network headed by a passel of former TV Guide Network executives in Oklahoma, will do a six-hour interactive Webcast of the auction, working with Julien’s Auctions of West Hollywood, Calif.”

So, if you can’t make it to NYC, you can still participate. Check your local cable operator to see if you get the Auction Network.

I know, I know. Shame on me.

Instead of staying home and watching Bono’s second appearance on Idol Gives Back, I opted to head to a fine Irish establishment in downtown Seattle with some friends to compete in pub trivia (if you’re curious, our team “Brown Sauce” came in third).

Since I missed the show, I was delighted to find this brilliant blog by Village Voice writer Tom Breihan. He offers a fair, if not somewhat sarcastic recap of the broadcast, moment by moment.

And now I don’t feel so guilty for missing it…

I just lost respect for yet another celebrity who is whining about Bono’s efforts in Africa: Stuart Townsend (notable more for his relationship with Charlize Theron, than for his acting, by the way).

Showbiz Ireland reports that the Irish actor is irritated that Bono’s energy is going toward African relief efforts instead of the campaign to save the historic Tara in his own country.

Here are my thoughts:

A) A man like Bono only has so much time in his day. Apart from being the biggest rock star in the world (and having commitments in the studio, etc.), he’s a businessman, a fashion mogul (via Edun) and finally a humanitarian. He has put all of his eggs in one basket, so to speak, to bring awareness to a place that is constantly ignored by the rest of the world. Cut him some slack. He’s doing a lot more than most celebrities, who are noted for their DUIs rather than their activism.

B) While Tara is undoubtedly a worthy cause (I’m not even from Ireland, and I added the ’cause’ to my Facebook page), its pending doom doesn’t include people dying. Africa does.

C) Just because Bono isn’t giving attention to this Tara campaign doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about his country. That’s like saying because Michael J. Fox is an advocate for Parkinson’s research that he doesn’t want a cure for cancer to be found. Bono can’t be every thing to everybody and his contributions to Ireland (in exports of CDs alone) are immeasurable.

My advice to Mr. Townsend: bring attention to the cause you support by making it about the cause. A lot more people will be on your side if you’re not busy bashing the world’s heroes, but instead bringing light to an under-represented topic.

@U2 readers who share Bono’s concern for Africa may be interested in this article by Bono’s friend and fellow activist Bob Geldof — a diary of his travels with President Bush in Africa, and Geldof’s unvarnished opinion, criticism and praise.

The Bush regime has been divisive — but not in Africa. I read it has been incompetent — but not in Africa. It has created bitterness — but not here in Africa. Here, his administration has saved millions of lives. – Bob Geldof

It’s a different kind of tour report…

On Saturday 16th February the Biography channel will be showing a programme at 9 pm entitled “Live Aid: how music changed the world,” which is bound to include a U2 mention, and then a biography of Bono at 10 pm.

I just stumbled upon this article on CNN that tells of the demise of Live Aid-like concerts due to…yep, the Internet.

Apparently artists are shifting to a more direct approach for soliciting charity donations, eliminating the need for a lot of work, time and money on their part (and the part of the organizers/producers, etc.).

I’m a little surprised to see this argument being made since I assume most artists have touted their chosen charities on their Web sites as long as the Internet has been in existence (U2 certainly has), and Live Earth wasn’t all that long ago.

But whatever the reason, I’m most surprised they didn’t mention U2 at all in their article because of their reputation for activism.

Unless of course that “mullet” they mention is in reference to Bono…

I’ll have to admit, I’m a faithful Mac user (except when I’m at work on my Dell), but the new (RED) PCs are tempting.

Because I have a Hotmail account, I was sent this advertisement, which features a gorgeous photo of the new Notebook.

With that bold red screen staring back at me, I couldn’t help but think of “Streets.” What a distraction that would be!