TUESDAY, LARRY KING STYLE!

Shelby Lynne

It's been well over a year since I have written a Blog similar to a Larry King blotter in USA Today. So, here goes! Al Neuharth (yes, founder of USA Today) once wrote back to me. That was 16 years ago, but Al did write back! Did I mention that Ben Stein was curious about a source I had after commenting on an article he wrote? Yeah, it's true. Curiously, Ben hasn't replied to a handful of relevant e-mails since. But then, one look at Ben's career in Wikipedia and you kinda get the idea he's a busy guy. Elsewhere, I see in our local newspaper that Jerry Seinfeld is appearing at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace for two nights in August. I missed Damon Wayons in Vegas last year. I always enjoyed him in television's "My Wife and Kids". This has really been my friend Singer/Songwriter Bud Buckley's year! He has a new CD, he's just filmed a live performance in Clearwater, Florida and he has a touring schedule for Florida venues along with appearances for those in New York who have followed Bud's career that is honed much like one of his Taylor Guitars...with great devotion! Seraphine has penned a cool blog on graffiti versus art. Back in Ohio, several street gangs regularly defaced a retaining wall so many times that someone finally came up with the idea to sponsor an art contest for the rival gangs to submit a colored pencil rendering of a mural. In the end, a handful of gangs were each given a portion of the wall to paint. That's my last mention of Ohio, although I can barely believe Eric Carmen of The Raspberries lives there...saw him in concert at Kings Island Amusement Park where The Brady Bunch filmed an episode. Very cool! Green Tea has penned a blog about books that stay with you after you read them. I had this same feeling about the Jodie Foster movie "Stealing Home", but few shared my enthusiasm...but then, it is my enthusiasm. Ta-Da! ...Hey, is it me or are the girls of the U.S. Women's Open getting cuter? Christie Kerr and Lorena Ochea come to mind. And in tennis, the very married Maria Sharapova has been working on getting her game back after serving erratically of late--so they say. To quote the late Dudley Moore, "Of course we all know who 'they' are". Pete Rose still isn't in the Baseball Hall of Fame...nor should he be. I predict that my pal and radio legend Doug Miles will go national. US technology giant Apple has seen profits beat forecasts, but warned that current quarter profits would falter. How have they held on? I mean, have you seen those motivational CD's with Bill Gates and Warren Buffet on the cover? No, I never mastered the MacIntosh. Probably because I'm a writer and not a graphic art designer. Carl Icahn is the only billionaire I know of who trots out the same greenmailing line for decades and gets away with it. All of which leads me to ask. "When is enough, enough?" Are you following The Olympic Torch through China? I really wish they'd give up on bashing Tibet and Taiwan. Shelby Lynne...if you're reading this, schedule a concert in Phoenix and mail me a front row ticket. She's fun, has a lot of sass and boy does she have a great voice. Remember James Brown asking John Belushi in The Blues Brothers movie: "Have you seen the light?" Well, Arizona's state airport is getting status lights...I like that name, "status lights"...to alert pilots if it's unsafe "to use, enter or take off on a runway". Hmm...I guess I have too much common sense for my own good. Why not just give air traffic controllers the raise they deserve and the technology upgrades to avoid runway incursions altogether? Lastly, The 12 nominees for this year's Mercury Prize will be announced "later". I have to laugh, because the nominations will be announced today. So much for "later". Maybe they meant later today. I dunno...But this Award is for all albums made by UK and Irish acts. Last year, you'll recall that The Klaxons won with their release Myths of the Near Future. The 2008 shortlist includes (drum rolls on kitchen table tops, please): Radiohead, Coldplay and Duffy. The prize and a £20,000 cheque will be presented to the winner as it has since 1992, when Primal Scream won for for Screamadelica.See ya later!

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