Veteran British rocker Rod Stewart has been ordered to pay US$2 million to a Las Vegas casino for cancelling a show in December 2000.
A federal jury said Stewart should return the sum which he received as an advance from the Rio Hotel Casino for a New Year's Eve show which he cancelled after undergoing throat surgery.
"We felt it was only fair that if Mr Stewart didn't perform the concert that he should give the money back," said Jury foreman Stevan Jorgensen.
PHOTO: AP
US$25,000 worth of diamonds and platinum sit in Paul Wall's mouth, and syrupy Texas slang drips out of it. With the upcoming Tuesday release of his major label debut, The People's Champ, the rapper -- who's also basking in the spotlight of his appearance on Mike Jones' hit ode to cruising, Still Tippin -- keeps busy by selling jewel-encrusted teeth to his celebrity friends.
The rapper relies on a dizzying array of local vernacular to describe everything from attractive females ("honey dips") to rims ("swangaz") and tires ("vogues").
With the waters of Hurricane Katrina yet to recede, Randy Newman sang about a long-ago flood in Louisiana 1927 to open a benefit program spread across dozens of television networks Friday. Dr John ended a show suffused with the spirit of a musical city with a song that's only a wish now: Walkin' to New Orleans.
ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, UPN and the WB -- the six biggest broadcast networks -- aired it along with several cable networks. Viewers in nearly 100 countries were able to tune in.
"We've all heard the question," comedian Chris Rock said. "Why didn't these people just leave when they had the chance? But now we realize that not everybody can just jump into their SUVs and drive to a nice hotel. These people depend on public transportation and these people can't afford a nice hotel, because some of them work there. Now it's your chance to help them."
Mariah Carey and Neil Young were backed by gospel singers and Alicia Keys was joined by several gospel stars. U2 needed only one powerful voice, singer Mary J. Blige's, to enliven the rock band's anthem One.
BET was also appealing for help Friday for victims of a tragedy that struck the black community hard. Keys sang her hit If I Ain't Got You, and Patti LaBelle sang the Pretenders song I'll Stand By You.
Rappers Jay-Z and Diddy were 15 minutes late, but they made it worthwhile, presenting a US$1 million check to the Red Cross from the New York hip-hop community.
A city council committee has approved the demolition of a childhood home of former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, despite protests from opponents of a redevelopment plan.
The council's Housing Select Committee has decided that the property had no historical significance. The full council is expected to make a decision on Sept. 16.
"Ringo Starr lived in the Madryn Street house for about three months before he moved to Admiral Grove, where he lived for about 20 years," said Flo Clucas, the council's executive member for housing.
"John Lennon and Paul McCartney's childhood homes were preserved because they spent a significant part of their lives in them," Clucas said.
Renegade author Hunter S. Thompson lamented the onset of old age and his physical limits, then concluded, "Relax -- This won't hurt," in an apparent suicide note published by Rolling Stone magazine, his literary springboard.
The scrawled words -- perhaps the last he ever committed to paper -- were written on Feb. 16, four days before the self-described "gonzo" journalist shot himself to death at his secluded home near Aspen, Colorado, the magazine said.
The brief message, scrawled in black marker and titled "Football Season Is Over" (an apparent reference to the end of the NFL season he avidly followed as fan), reads as follows:
"No More Games. No More bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun -- for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your old age. Relax -- This won't hurt."
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50