AWF is celebrating Bono's 50th Birthday

The African Well Fund has launched its eighth annual Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraiser. (http://www.africanwellfund.org/Bono-Well-2010.html) To honor the U2 lead singer’s 50th birthday, the nonprofit is aiming to raise $50,000 during the 50-day period of March 22 to May 10. All funds raised will benefit a community water and sanitation project in the Buhera District of Zimbabwe that will be implemented by Africare, African Well Fund’s partner.

“It makes me proud to be a part of the U2 fan community and, in my opinion, there is no other community like it and that’s why this year, in honor of Bono’s 50th birthday, we’ve decided to set our highest goal yet to raise $50,000 in 50 days,” said Rob Trigalet, board chairman for the African Well Fund. “We know that it will not only take people donating but, just as important, we’ll be asking everyone who supports us to help spread the word through Facebook, Twitter and the various blogs and fan sites that our supporters may be involved with. We think this is a great year to try and really get the word out to as many people as possible.”

To reach the $50,000 goal, the African Well Fund is accepting donations through its website , selling a limited-edition print by artist Azalea Millet, selling limited-edition merchandise through Zazzle  (http://www.zazzle.com/africanwellfund), and auctioning U2 live photos and U2 360 Tour concert tickets on eBay.

Millet has donated limited-edition hand-signed and numbered prints that will be sold for $50 through our website beginning Monday, March 29.

“I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for AWF and its mission to provide villages in Africa with clean water by building wells,” said Millet, whose artwork has also been used as the inspiration for this year’s Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday logo and merchandise. “I want to show my support by doing all I can to help them raise money to meet their goal of $50,000 for Bono’s 50th birthday.”

The U2 live photo auction (http://myworld.ebay.com/theafricanwellfund/), the third auction of U2 concert photos taken by fans and professional photographers that the African Well Fund has hosted, will be held from Sunday, April 18 through Sunday, April 25. The 2007 photo auction raised over $7,000 for that year’s Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraiser; the 2006 photo auction raised over $11,000 for that year’s fundraiser.

General admission tickets for U2 360 Tour dates in Salt Lake City , Anaheim and Philadelphia will be auctioned between Monday, May 3 and Saturday, May 8. In 2009, auctions of U2 concert tickets raised nearly $500 for that year’s Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraiser.

All donors will be invited to add their birthday wishes to a card that will be sent to Bono via Principle Management.

“Bono has referred to this fundraiser as his ‘favorite birthday gift,’” Trigalet said. “I really believe that this year might be the best one yet.”

Donations from the seven previous Build a Well for Bono’s Birthday fundraisers have totaled over $170,000 and have been used to fund water and sanitation projects implemented by African Well Fund partner Africare to benefit more than 28,000 people in Angola, Liberia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Bono, the Irish rock star, is being hailed as “the worst investor in America” as his five person investment team Elevation Partners reels from a series of unprofitable investments.

It’s believed that the rocker has lost millions by investing with Elevation, although a precise figure has yet to be released.

What’s certain is that the U2 front man has put significant money into Elevation, which investment trade papers are calling arguably the worst run institutional fund of any size in the United States.

Bono is listed as one of the five members of the firm’s investment team, and their fund claims that its “mission is to help media and entertainment businesses develop and market great content.” But in the process it has made an unprecedented string of disastrous investments which, observers say, even bad luck could not explain.

The most well-known of the Elevation investments is in Palm, which made an unsuccessful stab at the smartphone business dominated by Apple’s iPhone, and handsets powered by the Google mobile operating system known as Android.
Investors had hoped that Palm’s new line of Pre handsets would allow the company to be a modest competitor in the smart phone industry but instead it has spent massive amounts for very slim returns and remains in trouble as it tries to reach even fairly modest sales goals.

- IrishCentral.com

Elevation was recently quoted in Reuters saying that it still has faith in Palm, a company in which it bought a 25% stake in 2007. It is astonishing, say Wall Street observers, that Elevation would publicly say it still has faith in a company which is close to non-existence.

Whitney Tilson, managing partner of T2 Partners, a New York-based hedge fund, recently told MarketWatch in reference to Palm, “There is a 90% chance that they go bankrupt or get acquired within a year.

U2 WAR ALBUM for Sunday Features WAR U2 Peter Rowan as boy

To millions of U2 fans, Peter Rowen is the child whose mournful face stares out from the covers of “Boy” and “War.” Now, 30 years since he modeled for the iconic images, he still attracts attention.

Peter grew up in Dublin, where his older brother Guggi befriended Bono, when he was still known as Paul Hewson.

“Bono [came] over to our house quite a bit,” Rowen says. “My eldest brother, Clive, says Bono used to eat us out of jam sandwiches! I remember Bono and [his wife] Ali coming, much later, for Sunday dinner.”

U2 first had Rowen photographed in 1979 for the EP “Three.” He later appeared on the European version of “Boy” and the breakthrough third album, 1983’s “War.”

Bono spent St. Patrick’s Day in Nairobi, Kenya, where he attended a Pan African Media Conference to discuss important issues affecting the continent.

“I am happy to be in Kenya and also participate in the Pan African Media Conference since there is so much to learn, share and speak about in Africa,” the U2 lead singer told The Daily Nation newspaper.

Bono featured as a panelist at the conference, as Africa is a subject that has long been a passion for the 50-year-old Dubliner.

“The conference attracted my attention because I am one of those who believe in brand Africa, a better Africa for Africans,” Bono said as to why he was attending the event.

Bono co-founded the One campaign, which raises funds to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa, and is a vigorous activist for debt cancellation in African countries.

His efforts so far have led to the scrapping on $70 billion worth of debt, and that money has been put to good use in the community.

“The money was used by various governments in keeping more than 35 million children in Africa in schools and that is what I want to see happening more,” added Bono.

- IrishCentral.com

OASIS star LIAM GALLAGHER has taken aim at rockers U2 – insisting he has never met a true fan of the band.

The singer’s brother Noel has previously slammed the musicians for turning their gigs into a guilt trip for fans by using the shows to talk about politics.

Now his sibling has blasted the Beautiful Day hitmakers, because he’s convinced the group must pay people to come to their concerts to “make them look good”.

He says, “I have never seen a U2 fan. I have never seen anyone with a U2 shirt or been around someone’s house that has a f**king U2 record. Where do their fans f**king come from? Where are they?

“I reckon they buy them. With all the money they’ve made, they just bought a load of people and every time they do a gig they get a shovel and pile them into their gigs to make them look good.”

- ContactMusic

New York, NY, March 20, 2010 –(PR.com)– cNoteART is pleased to announce the introduction of its cNOTE (100) SERIES. U2’s “One” is one of only six songs featured in this premium, fine art collection. The other songs are Louis Armstrong’s “What a Wonderful World,” The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song,” Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” and Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.”

“U2’s artistic and commercial success is only matched by its altruistic achievements,” Erik Rosen, Founder of cNoteART, said. “ Their song, ‘One,’ reflects their multifaceted success. It is one of the Band’s most admired songs and a certifiable commercial success. The band also uses the song in concert to promote human rights causes and the ONE Campaign is the name of Bono’s charitable organization.”

Details:
- Acid Free, Archival, Museum Quality Materials
- Hand Signed and Numbered
- Limited to 100 Collector Prints
- Size: 11” x 14”

For more information, please visit www.cNoteART.com or (617) 834-9600.
U2’s “One” http://www.cnoteart.com/cnote/One_100.html
cNOTE (100) SERIES http://www.cnoteart.com/cnote/100.html

About cNoteART: Turn Any Song into Modern Art. A cNOTE is a musical image. It is Music transformed into Fine Art. Colored Rectangles in cNOTE images represent musical notes. Wider rectangles equal notes of longer duration. Rectangle color indicates a note’s pitch. Erik Rosen discovered cNOTE during a stem cell transplant. cNoteART is the only source for cNOTEs. We use the finest materials and offer a 100% Proof Guarantee on custom pieces. Prices range from $100 to $10,000.