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."
In the March 9 edition of the Taipei Times a piece by Ninon Godefroy ran with the headine “The quiet, gentle rhythm of Taiwan.” It started with the line “Taiwan is a small, humble place. There is no Eiffel Tower, no pyramids — no singular attraction that draws the world’s attention.” I laughed out loud at that. This was out of no disrespect for the author or the piece, which made some interesting analogies and good points about how both Din Tai Fung’s and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) meticulous attention to detail and quality are not quite up to
April 21 to April 27 Hsieh Er’s (謝娥) political fortunes were rising fast after she got out of jail and joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in December 1945. Not only did she hold key positions in various committees, she was elected the only woman on the Taipei City Council and headed to Nanjing in 1946 as the sole Taiwanese female representative to the National Constituent Assembly. With the support of first lady Soong May-ling (宋美齡), she started the Taipei Women’s Association and Taiwan Provincial Women’s Association, where she
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) hatched a bold plan to charge forward and seize the initiative when he held a protest in front of the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office. Though risky, because illegal, its success would help tackle at least six problems facing both himself and the KMT. What he did not see coming was Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (將萬安) tripping him up out of the gate. In spite of Chu being the most consequential and successful KMT chairman since the early 2010s — arguably saving the party from financial ruin and restoring its electoral viability —
It is one of the more remarkable facts of Taiwan history that it was never occupied or claimed by any of the numerous kingdoms of southern China — Han or otherwise — that lay just across the water from it. None of their brilliant ministers ever discovered that Taiwan was a “core interest” of the state whose annexation was “inevitable.” As Paul Kua notes in an excellent monograph laying out how the Portuguese gave Taiwan the name “Formosa,” the first Europeans to express an interest in occupying Taiwan were the Spanish. Tonio Andrade in his seminal work, How Taiwan Became Chinese,
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