And now for something completely different...

Here's a little Radiohead update from green plastic:

"Whew! What a last few days. Radiohead played a marathon set of 28 songs in front of 80,000 people at Bonnaroo last Saturday. According to the reviews sent to us, it was an awesome time. Bonnaroo grossed over $15 million making it the top-grossing festival in the world.

After leaving Tennessee, the band traveled North to Chicago where they played two sold out shows at the Auditorium Theatre. Reviews for the June 19th gig can be found here while last night's reviews can be found here. Many thanks to everyone that submitted!

Now Radiohead are on their way to California to play the final three stops on their North American tour. First stop will be in our neck of the woods at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley this Friday and Saturday. Hope to see you there!"

And here are some more photos of Thom and the boys that I took at last Saturday's Radiohead Show at Bonnaroo...


If you'd like to see more photos, please let me know. If you'd add a link to my blog from yours I'd be more than happy to reciprocate.

I really enjoyed hearing Big Ideas (Don't Get Any), it has always been one of my favorites. I appreciated the crowd's silence during Exit Music (I never saw a lighter light vigile quite like that) and How to Disappear. House of Cards really blew me away. I enjoyed Thom's sing-a-long to "this is what you'll get" and the crowd's spontaneous glow band light show to Everything in its Right Place. I wasn't sure what to expect with 80,000 festival fans at an outdoor venue in Tennessee. It turned out to be a spectacular event.

I hope you enjoy the photos. I'd appreciate any feedback.

50 cent in talks with Apple over low-cost computers

Mr. Negroponte, I'm afraid you have company. According to Apple Insider, hip-hop star, 50 Cent is in talks with Apple's Steve Jobs to help put affordable computers in the hand of less wealthy inner city residents.

"I'm creating a foundation that will be around for a long time, because fame can come and go or get lost in the lifestyle and the splurging," 50 Cent told Forbes Magazine. "I never got into it for the music. I got into it for the business."

From Apple Insider:

"The negotiations between the rapper and Apple are for a 'branding deal.'

50 Cent ranks amongst the world's richest celebrities, raking in over $67 million in 2005 from record sales and branding deals that include a line of sneakers, a video game and his G-Unit clothing line.

'[Jobs] is setting a new standard in the music business,' said 50's manager, Chris Lighty. 'Let's just say we get each other.'"

It will be interesting to see how this effort, both domestic and using Apple computers, compares to Nicholas Negroponte's initiative to put $100 laptops in the hands of children in lesser developed countries.

I am fascinated by the similarities and differences between poverty in the U.S. and abroad, and by what I see as the artificial separation between efforts to improve lives within the U.S. and in other parts of the world. Now that we have two independent efforts to address the growing digital divide, we may gain a better understanding of which strategies are more promising. We may also gain insight into the complexities of poverty that are country specific and those that are prevalent throughout the world.

They Call It Life

Have you seen the energy industry's response to concerns about global warming?

Well at least they're creative.

You Don't Say

Here are three things I'd like to highlight today:

Check out the World Bank's Private Sector Development Blog

It quoted Nobel Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu as saying,

"I’m of the attitude that, like in politics, development is local. You can have the grand view but if you don’t infuse the people at a grass roots level you’re playing marbles. I think what this shows is you’ve got the people, and if you just have enough confidence in them people are almost always amazing. And they’re amazing also in their resilience."

Also the Inter-American Development Bank's Mapping the Majority is a powerful tool for graphically representing development related phenomena.

Finally, I'm a big fan of google's customizable homepage. Mine includes my Gmail inbox, calendar, weather, news, etc. I'm excited about the new World Cup add-on Google has created. I'll get updated scores, standings, and highlights right from my main page. I like the sound of that.

John Mackey: Not Your Average Grocer

Whole Foods Market on 60 Minutes.

"Can you find virtue in a grocery store? John Mackey, the CEO and founder of Whole Foods Market, is convinced you can."

Watch the video

Benson Marathon June 2006

"Saturday June 3 & Sunday June 4, 2006 6am June 3 thru 6am June 5
TV Land welcomes Benson this quarter with a 48 hour marathon. Starring Robert Guillaume, this spin-off from Soap, begins as Jessica Tate sends her butler, Benson, to live with her widowed cousin, Governor James Gatling. In addition to performing his butler duties, Benson guides the governor on personal and political decisions. Watch as Benson trades barbs with Miss Krause, the no-nonsense housekeeper and Clayton Endicott III, the political aide, while showing his sensitive side to Katie, the governor’s daughter."