"Woman keeps hair appointment after car crash"

from msnbc via AP

Alaskan loses control of vehicle, crashes into salon's front window

SOLDOTNA, Alaska (AP) - A woman on her way to hair appointment crashed her car through the hair salon.

Della Miller, 73, crashed into Tina's Hair Pros' windows Wednesday, knocking one customer six feet across the room, Soldotna police officer Marvin Towle said.

The parking area in front of the salon was snow-covered.

Miranda Nelson, a stylist, said she was in the back room when she heard the crash.

"I thought a bomb had gone off," Nelson said.

Two large plate-glass windows were destroyed, walls were damaged, and the stonework front outside the salon was smashed, police said. Towle estimated damage to the building to be at least $15,000, and the car at $2,500 more.

Miller, who was not injured, was not cited for the crash.

She proceeded with her hair appointment.

"MTV Looks to Conquer Middle East Market"

By BARBARA SURK

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — MTV is hoping Hip-Hop and reality television tailored and sanitized for a more conservative Middle East will draw young Arabs away from dozens of locally produced music video channels that already dominate the market.

MTV Arabia, which launched over the weekend, will feature 60 percent international music and 40 percent Arabic music, along with local adaptations of the channel's popular non-music shows.

But MTV, which is known for airing provocative videos featuring scantily clad women, says the Arab version of the Pop-culture channel will show less bare skin and profanity.

"When we come to people's homes, we want to earn their respect," said Abdullatif al-Sayegh, chief executive of Arab Media Group, which along with Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks International owns MTV Arabia. He explained that there will be "culturally sensitive editors going through content of the programming."

The station launched at midnight Saturday, airing a pre-taped show featuring Grammy award-winning rapper and actor Ludacris, Senegalese-born soul superstar Akon, Lebanese rapper Karl Wolf and the Emirates underground hip-hop band Desert Heat.

By emphasizing local music talent and programs addressing the concerns of Arab youth, MTV Arabia hopes to set itself apart from the other satellite music channels that saturate the Mideast market.

"We are not only a music channel, we are an entertainment channel where young Arabs will get a voice," program director Patrick Samaha told The Associated Press.

Unlike its past forays into Europe and India, MTV is not entering a virgin music video territory. Over the past few years, there has been an explosion of satellite channels in the region that feature soulful male crooners from the Gulf and female singers from Lebanon and Syria.

MTV officials say this is why their channel is focusing on hip-hop and R&B, two music genres that are underserved despite being popular throughout the region.

But to please a more conservative audience, MTV Arabia will tailor some of its programming and keep provocative hip-hop videos featuring barely dressed women and alcohol to a minimum.

"We hope to provide a platform for Arab youth to break boundaries without disrespecting their tradition and culture," said Bhavneet Singh, managing director of the Emerging Markets Group, part of MTV Networks International.

MTV Arabia's flagship tailor-made show "Hip HopNa," which means "Our Hip Hop" in English, features Saudi Arabian rapper Qusai Khidr, who will audition the best local hip-hop acts in seven different Middle Eastern cities.

The winner from each city will have the chance to record a track for a compilation CD produced by Fred Wreck, a producer who has worked rap stars like 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg.

MTV expects "Hip HopNa" to be picked up by its other channels in the coming year.

MTV Arabia also will broadcast an Arabic version of the popular car makeover show "Pimp My Ride," as well as "Al Helm" ("The Dream"), which is based on the show "Made," in which MTV transforms awkward teenagers into the successful models or rap stars of their dreams.

Shows in Arabic will be subtitled in English for foreign viewers in the region, channel officials said.

"We have a possibility to copy, paste and cut programs," al-Sayegh said. "What we are saying to young people is it's OK to have fun, it's OK to be naughty as long as you don't lose yourself."

Associated Press Writer Paul Schemm in Cairo, Egypt, contributed to this report.

** check out mtva.com

"Tawana Brawley Kin Want Case Reopened"

NEW YORK (AP) — Twenty years after her allegations of a racially charged rape became a national flashpoint, Tawana Brawley's mother and stepfather want to reopen the case, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Glenda Brawley and Ralph King want to press Gov. Eliot Spitzer and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to re-examine the November 1987 incident, which a state grand jury ultimately concluded was a hoax, the Daily News reported.

"New York State owes my daughter. They owe her the truth," said Glenda Brawley. She reiterated her stance that her daughter was indeed raped by a group of white men who smeared her with feces and scrawled racial epithets on her body.

Representatives for Spitzer and Cuomo did not immediately respond to telephone and e-mail messages early Saturday.

Brawley was 15 when she went missing for four days from her home in Wappingers Falls, about 75 miles north of New York City. After being found, she made the shocking allegation that she had been abducted and raped by six white law enforcement officials.

The case quickly made headlines and drew the attention of the Rev. Al Sharpton, who became an outspoken advocate for the teen.

But a special state grand jury found evidence Brawley had fabricated her story. A former Dutchess County prosecutor who had been implicated in the case later sued Brawley, Sharpton and other Brawley advisers for defamation, winning a $345,000 judgment against the advisers and a $185,000 judgment against Brawley.

A spokeswoman for Sharpton, who was held liable for $65,000 in the case, did not immediately respond to an e-mail message early Sunday. The former prosecutor's lawyer did not immediately return a telephone message.

Brawley has changed her name and become a nurse, the Daily News reported.

"Led Zeppelin score Top 40 hit"

from nme.com

 

Led Zeppelin entered the UK Top 40 singles chart today at #37 with their song "Stairway to Heaven". The band made their back catalog available to download earlier this week, hence the new chart entry.

"Photo of the Day: 11/18/07"

Nice herba-licious bikini made out of Marijuana - aka 420, Mary Jane, Grass, Smoke, Pot, Ganja, Bud, Weed, Maui Wauie, etc... - Ace:)

"Brilliant Documentary: Good Copy Bad Copy"

I just stumbled onto this brilliant documentary called "Good Copy Bad Copy" this afternoon. While I try my best to stay informed of such types of things, this one simply slipped by me.

I can't recommend this documentary enough. Truly fascinating... Here's what Wikipedia had to say about it:

"Good Copy Bad Copy" is a documentary about copyright and culture in the context of Internet, directed by Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen, and Henrik Moltke. It features interviews with many people with various perspectives on copyright, including copyright lawyers, music producers and controversial music artists such as Girl Talk and Danger Mouse. The interviews with artists reveal an emerging understanding of digital works and the obstacle to their authoring copyright presents.

Originally created for the Danish National Broadcasting Television network, the film was eventually released for free on the internet. It first appeared on The Pirate Bay and then it was officially released under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license on the Blip.tv video sharing site.

So if you have an hour to spare, check it out below. You'll be happy you did. - Ace:)

"New sound, piracy make sweet music"

from orlandosentinel.com - by Michael Astor (AP)

BELEM, BRAZIL

This steamy city at the mouth of the Amazon River is a haven for pirates -- the digital kind who copy compact discs and DVDs by the thousands for illegal sidewalk sales.

Belem is also home to one of Brazil's most thriving Pop scenes: Tecnobrega, a musical movement that's expanding exponentially thanks to musicians and producers who see copying as a marketing tool rather than intellectual-property theft.

All across the city of 1.5 million, Tecnobrega's cloyingly sweet melodies and synthesizer-driven shuffle beats blast from cars, riverboats and curbside speakers set up by street vendors hawking the latest hits.

Though piracy is the bane of many musicians trying to control the sale of their songs, Tecnobrega artists see counterfeiters as key to their success. Artists, who make their money off live shows, deliver their CDs directly to the street vendors, who determine the price that market can bear. This "mix-tape" phenomenon is popular in other parts of the world, including Argentina and the United States.

"Piracy is the way to get established and get your name out. There's no way to stop it, so we're using it to our advantage," explains Gabi Amarantos, who frequently appears on Brazilian TV on the strength of bootleg sales of her CDs (from which artists don't get a cut).

Aspiring Tecnobrega artists also e-mail MP3s of their latest efforts to producers and DJs who burn CDs that go straight to the copiers and street-stall vendors nationwide, selling for as little as 50 U.S. cents. Legal CDs sell for about $17 at record shops.

"It's this really gritty, tacky, sleazy jungle music. It's just genius," said John Perry Barlow, a former lyricist for the Grateful Dead and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates protecting free speech in the digital age.

Barlow sees tecnobrega as following in the footsteps of his hallowed "Deadheads," whose trade in bootleg Grateful Dead tapes boosted the band's popularity for decades.

"It's making it possible for every kid in Brazil to know their songs by the time they turn 5," Barlow said.