There’s only a few things in life that rank right up there for me as ‘great ways to wake up in the morning.’ This morning, I log into U2.com to find Adam’s video of Larry hard at work in the studio. It’s 49 seconds of pure Mullen with a hint of Clayton. You have to be logged in to view it. I must say, Adam knows what the fans want!

I know the ladies out there have a crush on our Hitman, but more and more guys are coming out and admitting they have a crush on him too - and it’s not just Boy George this time!

In Sunday’s Irish Independent, Brendan O’Connor admitted that he has a man crush on Larry as well. Here’s what he had to say about spotting him this past Saturday:

A LARRY MULLEN spotting in Eden. While the ignorant among you may think, “Jesus, O’Connor, give us a proper spot. He’s only the drummer. What about a spotting of Bono, or the other fellah, the Edge,” that’s where you’d be wrong. A spotting of the lesser-spotted Larry is the ultimate. You’d catch Bono out on the town any night between Wednesday and Sunday and the Edge is fairly common too. Adam Clayton and Larry are the real exclusives. And there’s also the fact that God, Larry looks good. If Irishmen were to admit to a slight man-crush, most of them would probably say Larry.

If nothing else, he gives great hope for Irish guys. He shows we can be good-looking in an old-fashioned, handsome, movie-star way. If Irish guys are attractive, it’s usually in the rugged or interesting-looking way, boxers’ noses and big jaws and stuff, or we have a great personality or something else useless like that. Larry just looks good like Brad Pitt looks good. Larry is eye candy.

And age isn’t diminishing him. And he always had the dignity to appear troubled by the worst excesses of U2 — like the Pop album.

I love the line “Larry is eye candy.”

Thanks to Amanda for pointing us to this article on Billboard’s site. According to dance act Underworld’s Karl Hyde, Brian Eno and U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. were among the people they turned to for advice to help sort through nearly 200 pieces of new music when finalizing their fifth album Oblivion With Bells. Underworld’s Karl Hyde and Rick Smith have been recording since the 70s, and are probably best known for their contribution to the soundtrack of Trainspotting. Wonder if this is indication of what LMJ’s been listening to on his time off? (Now I’m waiting for a full-on rock sound with an “on-fire” guitar intertwined with Moroccan-inspired spiritual music with a hint of Arabic themes, all wrapped up in trance/dance… I love the off-season speculation preceding a U2 release!)

This list of Chuck Norris-style facts is making the rounds and was sent to me by @U2’s Marylinn Maione. The following facts were edited by me–I thought they were funniest.

Note: if one of you came up with this, good job, and if you know who wrote this, could you send that person my way? I wish I would have thought of it! Cartoon possiblities abound.

Larry Mullen Jr does not play drums, he beats them.
The real reason Larry couldn’t be the leader of the band was his 17 different kinds of awesome caused fans’ heads to explode during concerts. To balance out the situation the lamest was selected.
Larry Mullen Jr CHOOSES when to grow wrinkles.
Larry Mullen Jr’s body naturally produces his own styling gel.
Once at a press conference, Larry Mullen Jr. was asked what he thought about drum machines. There were no survivors.
Larry Mullen Jr does not run. Instead the ground beneath his feet rotates faster.
Larry Mullen Jr’s rhythm keeps the rotation of the Solar System in balance.
Larry Mullen Jr does not need to adjust for tempo. Time adjusts itself out of fear.
Larry Mullen Jr owns Norway.
When asked why he never gets to solo Larry Mullen Jr replied “I don’t want to shatter your perception of reality.”
When Larry Mullen Jr gets drunk he actually gains braincells.
Larry Mullen Jr once met Chuck Norris and it was declared a “draw.”
When the Grim Reaper dies Larry Mullen Jr. will come to collect him.
Larry Mullen Jr has two settings. Drum, and be annoyed at Bono.
NATO made Larry Mullen Jr grow his hair to produce air drag to slow him down. Be glad it does.
Larry Mullen Jr’s *glare* cannot be photographed by man-made cameras.
The British retain possession of Northern Ireland only because Larry Mullen Jr. lets them.
Larry Mullen Jr’s heart is a smallblock V8 engine.
Larry Mullen Jr. will never die. The only way he can die is if you kill him. Larry Mullen Jr. would like to see you try.
Larry Mullen Jr challenges statues to staring contests. The score so far?
LARRY MULLEN JR - 1,345,147
STATUES - 0

Where’s the NYC fan posse these days? Larry’s in New York and he has a “mangled foot”? C’mon, Applers — we need details.

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 !!

This isn’t dated, but judging from the description of “chin-length dirty blonde hair that was somewhat greasy,” we can assume this was the Vertigo tour. Apparently when our favorite drummer was in Boston last year, he made quite an impression on a waitress who posted this on bitterwaitress.com:

Early one evening I approached a new two-top and noticed that one of the guys looked familiar…he had chin-length dirty blonde hair that was somewhat greasy and chiseled features, but looked like he’d been on the business end of some hard living for quite some time. I said to the bartender, “The guy at table five looks familiar…he kind of looks like David Beckham’s older, drug-addicted brother.” It was only when I took his order and noticed his Irish brogue AND remembered that U2 was playing that night that I realized I was waiting on their drummer. I have to admit I was a little flustered but not as flustered as I’d be if I met Tom Waits or Bob Dylan. Anyway, he was very lovely, very quiet and polite and a decent tipper. People sitting at the tables right near him didn’t even realize who he was. The manager went over to him with a copy of the restaurant’s menu and very quietly said she’d comp his meal if he signed the menu. He smiled and said “That’s a tough deal to beat.” He left me $20, pretty generous considering if he’d been charged his bill would’ve been only about $25. He definitely looks older but you can still tell how H-O-T he was fifteen years ago. Oh, hilarious sidebar to the story: he came back in the very next day and had lunch and the bartender waited on him…she just happened to be wearing her brand new U2 t-shirt that she’d bought at their concert the night before. She felt like a dumbass but he smiled and said “Nice shirt.”

…for “Sexiest Vegetarian of 2006.” Yes, the fine folks at PETA have their annual poll of the sexiest vegetarians in the world.

Who’s Larry up against? Well, Sir Paul McCartney, Moby, Prince, Ziggy Marley, Alec Baldwin, Andre 3000 and - yes, “Weird” Al Yankovic. Also on the list - Kenny Loggins and Michael Bolton.

To add to the competition - let’s give Morrissey something else to be peeved about U2 (as he’s up against Larry too) - so, go cast your vote for Mr. Mullen today!

No, Larry’s not in Boston yet (as of 10 a.m. today), but Mexican newspaper El Universal has spotted both him and Bono vacationing in Alcapulco as guests of the Camil family this past week. The photo gallery can be found here.

Yes, that is a spiderman backpack Larry is carrying. (Great choice in superheroes, imho). Looks like he was spending quality family time there - nice to see

The photo captions are in Spanish - translation loosely says that Bono was visiting Guy LaLiberte, the creator of Cirque Du Soleil in Guadalajara, as well.

And for those in Boston…the weather folks are predicting 3 inches of snow for today and a Nor’Easter for tomorrow into Tuesday. You think Bono will integrate “let it snow” into the lyrics tonight?

@U2 was able to talk with TNA’s Craig Evans after the October 19 show in Washington DC about the tour officially continuing past Portland, Oregon, as well as about Larry’s armbands.

Evans was unable to confirm that the tour was continuing, however, he did say that an answer should be made “in short order.” It is anyone’s guess as to what the definition of “short” is.

He also said that Larry’s armbands were “a preventative measure” and that “Larry’s feeling great and is in fine form.” The armbands could be seen on both arms during the show. This photo was taken by Phil R. during Yahweh. More photos from Phil of the DC show will be available soon.