Madonna Back On Tour

Madonna launched her first world tour in two years last Sunday, delighting an enthusiastic Los Angeles crowd by hanging herself from a cross, insulting President George Bush and dusting off some of the sexy moves that have sustained her career for more than 20 years. The 47-year-old dance diva spent two hours churning out most of the tunes from her new album, "Confessions on a Dancefloor," as well as a few old hits such as "Like a Virgin," "Ray of Light" and "Lucky Star."

The meticulously choreographed Vegas-style routine began 50 minutes late when a giant mirror ball was lowered from the ceiling to the end of a catwalk stretching deep into the floor. Out popped Madonna, in S&M-styled riding gear and whip, singing the new tune "Future Lovers" as four bare-breasted male dancers writhed around with ball gags in their mouths.

Later on, she donned a crown of thorns and suspended herself from a giant mirrored cross to deliver the ballad "Live to Tell." Video screens showed images of third-world poverty and reeled off grim statistics. A disco segment near the end, where she dressed in a "Saturday Night Fever"-style white suit to perform "Music" thrilled the crowd, as did the "Like a Virgin" routine, when she climbed aboard a carousel-style black leather saddle.

There was no encore, and the lights came up as soon as she had completed a medley of "Lucky Star" and latest hit single "Hung Up" while sporting an illuminated white cape with "Dancing Queen" embroidered on the back.

'Kat' Has Bright Future

“McPheever” wasn’t enough to carry hometown girl Katharine McPhee to victory on “American Idol,” but fans predicted she would end up a winner in the music industry.

“It’s gonna happen. Everything that she dreamed or wanted is going to happen,” said Leesa Bellesi, a dance instructor and writer from Laguna Beach. “She’s going to be the next Clay Aiken,” said Stephanie Miranda, a bartender from Covina wearing a “Got McPheever?” T-shirt. ...Read more here

"The Da Vinci Code" Opens Big

Moviegoers gave their blessing to the "The Da Vinci Code" over the weekend, spending an estimated $77 million to see the Tom Hanks religious thriller.

While the film didn't set a domestic box office record, it was the largest weekend opening of the year so far and became the second largest worldwide release after "Star Wars: Episode III." It garnered some $224 million worldwide, according to Sony Pictures. The film also was the best domestic opening for both Hanks and director Ron Howard.

Sony Pictures took a risk in the marketing of "The Da Vinci Code," keeping the adaptation of the Dan Brown best-seller under wraps until a few days before its opening.

The film received mixed reviews and protesters picketed outside a number of theaters, upset over the story's suggestion that Jesus Christ was married and had a child. But the controversy did little to deter moviegoers, who packed theaters in almost every country the film debuted.

Book "Cerfing" the Web

It's odd to hear Vinton Cerf, regarded as one of the founding fathers of the Internet, to gush over ink-on-paper books.

The electronic pioneer and computer scientist, who now works as Google's chief Internet evangelist, is also a bibliophile who has a collection of about 10,000 hard-copy volumes lining shelves at his home in McLean.

These days, Cerf is busy promoting Google's plan to marry his two passions -- books and the Internet -- by digitizing millions of library books.

That's the stated goal of Google's library project, to create a massive electronic card catalog that will help people find information in published books, much as Google already does with Web pages. ...Read more here

Rain, Rain Go Away

Storm-weary New England residents waded out into a fifth day of rain Tuesday as the region's dams kept a tenuous hold against cresting rivers and evacuees wondered what remained of their homes after water filled their basements and surged over some rooftops.

It seemed almost Biblical," Gov. Mitt Romney said Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America." "We're sort of making jokes about Noah and taking two of each kind of animal because we haven't ever seen rain like this."

A prolonged rainstorm clobbered the region all weekend, dumping up to 17 inches along the coast north of Boston. With more rain and possible thunderstorms expected at least through Wednesday, weather records are likely to fall, forecasters said.

"This is a serious, dangerous weather event that probably in more than 100 years of recorded weather will enter into the top five of serious, dangerous events in terms of precipitation," said meteorologist Charlie Foley of the National Weather Service in Taunton, Mass. "What we have here is too much water in too short a time."

Sunday, more than 5,000 graduates from 17 schools and thousands of their guests attended the Boston University 2006 commencement. University staff passed out plastic rain ponchos to graduates and guests, many of whom had filed into the field under umbrellas, creating a colorful canopy. Sunday also made for a horrilble day to celebrate "Mother's Day".

Pink Bats

Major League Baseball granted special permission for players to use the colorful bats - baby pink, at that - for Mother's Day. They're part of a weeklong program to raise money for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Derek Jeter, David Eckstein and Marcus Giles are among dozens of players who intend to try them Sunday. This is the first time pink has been approved for bats - dyed at the Louisville Slugger factory, they're usually black, brown, reddish or white.

What a great way to show support on Mother's Day. Kudos to Major League Baseball!!!

Rolling Stone's 1000th

Congratulations to "Rolling Stone" magazine and their 1000th issue. The best magazine on music available and has been around since 1967. The magazine covers have gotten most of the attention over the years, but the magazine itself is a great read.

Stop by the Rolling Stone web site and see the magazine covers thru the years and which covers the readers have selected as the best....For more Rolling Stone go here

Washington Nationals Have An Owner

As word spread through the home clubhouse at RFK Stadium that Major League Baseball had chosen a new owner for the Washington Nationals, most players shared two reactions. The first was: Finally! The other was: What, exactly, will this mean for the team?

Pitcher Joey Eischen felt the most immediate impact of Wednesday's news, saying he was told by manager Frank Robinson to take his golf clubs - normally an everyday sight in the locker room - out to his truck. "Change of regime, change of everything," said Eischen, a reliever whose second stint with the franchise began in 2000. "Maybe some other people would gripe if they took their favorite toy out of the clubhouse. I'm excited about the change. What's in the past is in the past. Today is a day of new. It's going to be great for this team. I'm really glad the league doesn't have any fingers on us anymore."

Major League Baseball at long last picked someone to buy the Nationals, choosing a group that's led by Maryland-based real estate developer Theodore Lerner and includes former Atlanta Braves executive Stan Kasten. "This has been a long journey. ... While I do apologize for the time, I think history will prove it maybe was time well spent," commissioner Bud Selig said in announcing the $450 million agreement.

"Wow, it's been some kind of day," Lerner said at a news conference with a dozen members of the ownership group. "It's something I've been thinking about all my life, from the time I used to pay 25 cents to sit in the bleachers at Griffith Stadium."

"I always felt like without ownership we were at a disadvantage," current Nationals manager Frank Robinson said. "Major League Baseball has done the best they possibly could toward us, but it was a very unique situation and we were not able to do things that other organizations are able to do."

Kasten called Robinson, Tavares and Bowden "three terrific professionals who have had to work under the worst conditions I've ever seen. None of us would ever want to be in that position. We're going to spend money on the minor leagues, player development and scouting," Kasten said.

Remembering The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War ended 31 years ago Sunday. The Vietnam War was the longest military conflict in U.S. history. The hostilities in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia claimed the lives of more than 58,000 Americans. Another 304,000 were wounded.

The Vietnam War was a military struggle fought in Vietnam from 1959 to 1975, involving the North Vietnamese and the National Liberation Front (NLF) in conflict with United States forces and the South Vietnamese army. From 1946 until 1954, the Vietnamese had struggled for their independence from France during the First Indochina War.

At the end of this war, the country was temporarily divided into North and South Vietnam. North Vietnam came under the control of the Vietnamese Communists who had opposed France and who aimed for a unified Vietnam under Communist rule. The South was controlled by Vietnamese who had collaborated with the French.

In 1965 the United States sent in troops to prevent the South Vietnamese government from collapsing. Ultimately, however, the United States failed to achieve its goal, and in 1975 Vietnam was reunified under Communist control; in 1976 it officially became the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

During the conflict, approximately 3 to 4 million Vietnamese on both sides were killed, in addition to another 1.5 to 2 million Lao and Cambodians who were drawn into the war. ...Read more here