Jenni Rivera, big-voiced Queen of Banda, dies at 43

Jenni Rivera, big-voiced Queen of Banda, dies at 43

Born in Long Beach, California, Jenni Rivera was at the peak of her career as perhaps the most successful female singer in grupero, a male-dominated regional style influenced by the norteno, cumbia and ranchero styles.

A 43-year-old mother of five children and grandmother of two, the woman known as the "Diva de la Banda" was known for her frank talk about her struggles to give a good life to her children despite a series of setbacks.

She was recently divorced from her third husband, was once detained at a Mexico City airport with tens of thousands of dollars in cash, and she publicly apologized after her brother assaulted a drunken fan who verbally attacked her in 2011.

Her openness about her personal troubles endeared her to millions in the US and Mexico.
"I am the same as the public, as my fans," she told The Associated Press in an interview last March.

Rivera sold 15 million records, and recently won two Billboard Mexican Music Awards: Female Artist of the Year and Banda Album of the Year for "Joyas prestadas: Banda." She was nominated for Latin Grammys in 2002, 2008 and 2011.

Transportation and Communications Minister Gerardo Ruiz Esparza said "everything points toward" the wreckage belonging to the plane carrying Rivera and six other people to Toluca, outside Mexico City, from Monterrey, where the singer had just given a concert.

"There is nothing recognizable, neither material nor human" in the wreckage found in the state of Nuevo Leon, Ruiz Esparza said. The impact was so powerful that the remains of the plane "are scattered over an area of 250 to 300 meters. It is almost unrecognizable."

Augusta Ada Byron-Lovelace, the world's first computer programmer

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852), born Augusta Ada Byron and now commonly known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. Her notes on the engine include what is recognised as the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine. Because of this, she is often considered the world's first computer programmer.

Ada was the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron and his wife Anne Isabella Byron. She had no relationship with her father, who separated from her mother just a month after Ada was born, and four months later he left England forever and died in Greece in 1823 when she was eight. As a young adult, she took an interest in mathematics, and in particular Babbage's work on the analytical engine. 

Between 1842 and 1843, she translated an article by Italian mathematician Luigi Menabrea on the engine, which she supplemented with a set of notes of her own. These notes contain what is considered the first computer program – that is, an algorithm encoded for processing by a machine. Ada's notes are important in the early history of computers. She also foresaw the capability of computers to go beyond mere calculating or number-crunching while others, including Babbage himself, focused only on these capabilities.

Ed "Cass" Cassidy, World's Greatest and Oldest Rock Drummer Passes away

ARROYO GRANDE, CA (IFS) -- He left us at 7:30 this morning... It was an easy passing.  Glad I got to spend nearly 25 years playing and recording with him.  He was my Guru, being able to still play drums into his late 80's is amazing!
Thanks to you for putting out "On The Blue Road" !
All My Best,
Merrell


SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 9 (UPI) -- Drummer Ed Cassidy, a co-founded of the 1960s rock band Spirit, died last week in California at the age of 89, former bandmates said.
Cassidy was battling cancer at a San Jose assisted-living home when he died Thursday.
A Facebook posting by Cassidy's stepson and Spirit guitarist Randy Cassidy said his stepdad was "one of the world's drummers," The Hollywood Reporter said Sunday.

Ed Cassidy was noted for his shaved head and performing drum solos with his bare hands. He earned the nickname "Mr. Skin," which was the title of a song on their 1970 album "Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus."
Ed and Randy Cassidy formed Spirit in Los Angeles and released their first album in 1968. Ed Cassidy, was 28 years older than 16-year-old Randy and came from a jazz background.

The differences in age and musical chops proved not to be a detriment to Spirit's success, The Reporter said. The group released 11 albums between 1968 and 1977 and several singles.
The group was also the headliner at Led Zepplin's first U.S. gig in 1968.

PSY's anti-American rap comes back to haunt

Weekend Christmas concert for president is still on
By Mark C. Brown

My, this is awkward.

PSY, this year’s instant celebrity with “Gangnam Style,” has been all over the internet, television and iPods.

What no one has been listening to up till now is “Dear American,” a 2004 protest song in which PSY joins others in protesting American policies in Korea and Iraq. According to sources including the Washington Post and New York Magazine, the rap translates to:

Kill those (expletive) Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives

Kill those (expletive) Yankees who ordered them to torture

Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers

Kill them all slowly and painfully
Now my skills in Korean rap are non-existent, but running the original Korean text through several online translators do consistently bring up Yankees (spelled Yang Ke) and the “killing slowly and painfully” part comes through pretty clear.
This news comes at a very inconvenient time, given PSY is due to perform for President Obama and others at a Christmas concert in Washington D.C. on Sunday. According to the Post a petition has already been started to remove him from the bill. Some websites have tried to explain the changing nature of Korean attitudes toward the United States, but given the political atmosphere of the past few months subtleties and varying translations aren't going to win the day.

If anyone out there is fluent in Korean, here’s the song. Let us know what you hear.
UPDATE: PSY owns up to his words and issues an apology. He is quoted in Rolling Stone saying:

"As a proud South Korean who was educated in the United States and lived there for a very significant part of my life, I understand the sacrifices American servicemen and women have made to protect freedom and democracy in my country and around the world," said Psy in a statement. "The song – from eight years ago – was part of a deeply emotional reaction to the war in Iraq and the killing of two innocent Korean civilians that was part of the overall antiwar sentiment shared by others around the world at that time. While I'm grateful for the freedom to express one's self I've learned there are limits to what language is appropriate and I'm deeply sorry for how these lyrics could be interpreted. I will forever be sorry for any pain I have caused anyone by those words.
"I have been honored to perform in front of American soldiers in recent months – including an appearance on the Jay Leno show specifically for them – and I hope they and all Americans can accept my apology. While it's important we express our opinions, I deeply regret the inflammatory and inappropriate language I used to do so. In my music I try to give people a release, a reason to smile. I have learned that though music, our universal language we can all come together as a culture of humanity and I hope that you will accept my apology."

Via the Associated Press, the president indicated he will attend Sunday's concert, which is customary for the office.

Judge bans Russian punk band clips from Internet

Judge bans Russian punk band clips from Internet

Nov. 29, 2012, 9:51 AM EST

By WENN

A judge in Russia has ordered websites in the country to remove videos featuring female punk band Pussy Riot from their online content.

Three members of the group were jailed for two years in August after being found guilty of hooliganism for performing a protest song against President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow church. A clip of the rebellious act, and several others featuring the band, have appeared on video-sharing websites around the world, but now a court in Moscow has banned the footage from appearing online in Russia.

Judge Marina Musimovich said the video "has elements of extremism, in particular there are words and actions which humiliate various social groups based on their religion." Owners who do not comply with the order could have their websites blocked in the country.

Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina, and Yekaterina Samutsevich were jailed in August over the stunt. Samutsevich was later freed on appeal, but Tolokonnikova and Alekhina are serving out their sentences at remote labor camps in the former Soviet Union.

Matt Lauer "Calling It a Day" Leaving Today Show

Report: Matt Lauer Leaving 'Today Show'

54 Comments

By AOL TV Editors  Posted Apr 6th 2011 06:30PM

202190

First Meredith Vieira, now Matt Lauer. Reports are surfacing that the longtime anchor will soon leave NBC's 'Today.'

According to 'Entertainment Tonight,' Lauer will leave the top-rated daytime show when his contract is up. However, don't panic just yet -- Lauer's under contract until Dec. 31, 2012.

NBC issued the following statement to the New York Post regarding the possible departure of both of 'Today''s anchors: "There seems to be an awful lot of speculation around news anchors these days, and it's not our practice to comment on any of it. Matt Lauer has a long-term contract with NBC News and 'Today.'"

Lauer has spent 13 years in the co-anchor seat, but he's been with 'Today' since 1994.

News of Lauer's intention to resign comes on the heels of widespread speculation regarding Vieira's departure after her contact expires in September 2011.

Lauer's former 'Today' co-host Katie Couric also made headlines for her expected June 2011 departure from 'CBS Evening News.' Couric is rumored to be looking at launching a daytime talk show with former NBC honcho Jeff Zucker.

Earlier this week a representative for 'Today' released this comment: "The 'Today' show anchors are currently under contract and firmly in place."

Natina Reed, singer and star of 'Bring It On', dead at 32

Blaque's Natina Reed died tragically in a hit-and-run accident early Saturday morning in Atlanta, but the singer is being remembered fondly by Kurupt, the father of her son.

Though they never married, Tha Dogg Pound rapper and Reed were engaged in the early 2000s and have a 10-year-old son, Tren Brown, together. Reed, who was crossing a street when she was struck, died two days shy of her 33rd birthday. On Sunday evening (October 28), Kurupt (born Ricardo Emmanuel Brown) expressed his profound loss and extended his gratitude for the outpouring of well-wishes in a statement to MTV News.

"Myself and Tren, Natina's son, would like to thank everyone for their love and support during this tragic time," he said. "This is a tremendous loss to our family. Natina was a great person and I wish everyone had the opportunity to meet her and know her as I did."

Blaque were among a string of girl groups, including 702 and 3LW, that dominated the charts in the late 1990s. But Reed and her groupmates Brandi Williams and Shamari Fears had something of a fairy R&B godmother in TLC megastar Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who mentored the group and even made cameos in their videos until her own tragic death in April 2002 at age 30. (In an eerie turn, the energetic femcees known to have shared a close bond, fell a decade apart, both in car accidents and right around the same age.)

The trio enjoyed music industry success with singles like the aforementioned "808" and "Bring It All to Me"; their videos are a veritable time capsule of pre-millennium urban sounds and styles, from mid-riff-baring metallic jumpsuits to platform sneakers. They even took their act to the big screen, playing Compton, California-bred cheerleaders in the 2000 classic "Bring It On."

Reed's death prompted eulogizing as news made its way to the Net over the weekend. A distraught Williams posted this message on Twitter: "Last night the world was changed forever, life will never be the same....she was my sister."

Meanwhile, the trio's "Bring It On" co-star Grabielle Union was brief but equally poignant, writing, "#RIP #Sad #BringItOn."

Although earlier reports cited an unidentified hit-and-run driver as culpable in Reed's death, a Gwinnett County police spokesperson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that "as of right now, it does not appear that the driver has any fault in this event," adding that it he actually contacted police about the accident and wasn't expected to face any charges. Reed was apparently standing a roadway late Friday night, and officials are seeking assistance from "anyone who might have information about anything that could help us determine why she was there."

The R&B musician died after being struck by a car on Saturday. She was 32.


Natina Reed, an R&B singer with the girls’ band Blaque, died early Saturday after being struck by a car just north of Lillburn, Georgia, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Authorities reportedly ruled out a hit-and-run contrary to earlier online reports. Reed would have turned 33 on Sunday.

Reed was a rapper-singer for Blaque, an R&B group from the late-90s, with a number of hits including “808” and “Bring It All To Me.” She also had a brief acting career including a role as a member of the East Compton Clovers cheerleading squad in the movie “Bring It On.”

Reed was engaged at one-time to rapper Kurupt. She gave birth to their son, Tren Brown, in 2002.
She was reportedly working on a solo rap album and a potential reunion with Blaque at the time of her death.