Category: News

The first of Billy Corgan’s former bandmates has rejoined the fold following the surprise announcement that Corgan intends to reunite his platinum-selling alternative-rock group the Smashing Pumpkins. Jimmy Chamberlin said on Friday that he is eager to make music with Corgan again. His position is no surprise, since he drummed with Corgan in the short-lived band Zwan, as well as performing on several tracks for the Great Pumpkin’s first solo album, “The Future Embrace,” released last Tuesday.

But the status of former Smashing Pumpkins guitarist James Iha and bassist D’Arcy Wretzky remains a mystery.

“All I can say is that the Smashing Pumpkins are Billy, James, myself and D’Arcy,” Chamberlin said. “In an ideal world, that’s what it will end up being. The hope is that everybody will come to the table, but I can only speak for myself in saying that I’m in, and I’m excited.”

Chamberlin said he has not spoken to Wretzky since she left the band in August 1999. He communicates with Iha by e-mail, and though they have not discussed the Pumpkins reunion, “I intend to reach out to him.”

The drummer said he and Corgan have been talking about reforming the band “for some time,” but he doesn’t know whether the singer and songwriter has spoken to Iha and Wretzky, or if Corgan simply “opened the door” for them to return when he placed two full-page advertisements last week in the Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune.

“It’s still all very new, and I don’t know if anybody really knows what’s going on,” Chamberlin said. “We really haven’t sat down at the table and figured out the nuts and bolts.”

Pop star Michael Jackson began a vacation at a prince’s palace in the tiny Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, his first trip overseas after being acquitted of child molestation charges, an official close to the royal circle said Thursday.

Jackson arrived with his three children on a private plane from Europe on Wednesday night for an indefinite stay, said an official. Jackson was found not guilty of child molestation in a California court on June 13.

He chose Bahrain because of his brother Jermaine’s first hand experience visiting the kingdom, the official said. “He’s come here to retreat and relax and enjoy the calmness of Bahrain,” the official said, adding that no other member of the Jackson family accompanied the pop star.

Another official said Jackson was a guest of Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the king’s son, in one of the royal palaces. Sheikh Abdullah, believed to be in his early 30s, is a friend of Jackson’s brother Jermaine. He described the visit as “very very private.” Jermaine Jackson has close links with Bahrain’s royal circle. In January, he and Sheikh Abdullah announced plans to launch a charity theme song written by the royal.

[Source]

Update: Michael Jackson + Video Game fans, check this out.

I just read this article below and I think its ridiculous, how could David Beckham not have the rights to a tattoo located on his own body??

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David Beckham is facing a legal battle over who owns the right to his tattoos, because body artist Louis Malloy fears the British soccer star is making money from his designs.

Malloy designed and inked nine of Beckham’s tattoos, including the famous guardian angel on his upper back, and is determined to sue should the Real Madrid ace use the images in an advertising campaign.

The 42-year-old claims Beckham, who is married to ex-Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, tried to force him to sign a confidentiality agreement, but he refused.

Malloy says, “I was contacted recently and told they wanted to use some of them in a campaign. I said we’d have to draw up a license agreement but then it got too complicated. So I said, ‘I own the copyright, they are my intellectual property, I drew them, I didn’t copy them from other sources.’

“They still think they’re the owners of the images but if they use them without my permission I’d sue. There’s no doubt about it.” [Source]

Interesting F1 race today in the States, only 6 cars competed because the other 14 cars boycotted the race. CNN has the full details. [Link]

In a last minute decision, Roger, Dave, Richard, and Nick have put their differences aside and will re-form in support of Sir Bob’s Live8 concerts. Thats going to be one crazy concert! [Link]

Me and Nat are up now watching Michael Jacksons four SUV’s convoy head towards the courthouse. The jury has reached a verdict and they will be reading it as soon as Michael arrives. Watching the convoy heading towards the courthouse reminded me a lot of when I watched OJ Simpsons chase on TV back in Canada. I love this live stuff and I hope he turns out not guilty.

Update: Michael is NOT guilty of any of the 10 counts.

Dortmund, one of 12 host cities for the 2006 World Cup, is hurriedly building wooden sex huts with the aim of encouraging discretion among prostitutes and their clients. According to Reuters, “experts estimate as many as 40,000 prostitutes may travel to Germany to offer their services to fans during the tournament.” To make them comfortable, “Dortmund plans to arrange the Dutch-designed huts … in an area with condom machines and snack bar.” Like a highway rest stop, but cooler. “We don’t want a situation where prostitutes and their clients disturb residential areas,” says an official. [Link]

We are in The Onion!

KUWAIT CITY—In light of the country’s recent decision to allow women to vote and hold public office, observers around the world have noted that Kuwait appears to have discovered the fairer sex. “The boys in Kuwait are really taking notice of how much the girls have changed over the country’s long political winter,” said Fouad Ajami, an expert in Arab affairs. “They’re no longer shyly avoiding women they’re not related to or clumsily shooting them for not wearing veils in public.” Ajami added that he was not entirely surprised by Kuwait’s discovery, given its long history of teasing women, calling them names, and stoning them to death for being unclean.

[via]

It’s official… [Link]

A former Nazi graphic designer is suing Volkswagen, seeking credit for helping to design their famous logo. Nikolai Borg, 86, who now lives in Austria, says he has paperwork that can prove his involvement in the development of the VW logo 65 years ago. He doesn’t want any cash, says his lawyer—he just wants to live to see his work acknowledged. Volkswagen denies that Borg was involved in the design. The legal case begins next week in a Vienna court. [Link]

Autoblog just posted pictures of the new Porsche Cayman. The Cayman will have a 3.4-liter boxer engine which will deliver 295 horsepower and will be able to hit 0-100 in just 5.1 seconds. The Cayman will go on sale next January. Click here for more pictures.

This is going to be the coolest thing! iRobot, the makers of Rooma the robot vacuum cleaner are coming out with the Scooba. The scooba is a Robotic Floor Washer and its exactly what I need for my hardwood floors. The scooba works by first vacuuming up the flotsam and jetsam, then applying a liquid cleaner, and following up by drying the floor. Its coming out in the fall so it will be on my Christmas wishlist.. Videos and more info here. Here is a picture of my roomba in action.

Husband forces wife at gun point
A Kuwaiti woman recently filed a complaint with the Farwaniya Police Station accusing her husband – who was armed with a gun – of forcing her to sign on a promissory note for KD 15,000, reports Al-Anba daily. The husband admitted to the charge saying she owes him the money. In a similar incident, an Egyptian man filed a similar case with the same police accusing a compatriot of forcing him to sign a promissory note for KD 1,000 under threat of using firearm. Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti woman recently filed a complaint with the Jahra police accusing her ex-husband of kidnapping their children, reports Al-Rai Al-Aam daily.

Wife assaulted: A female Kuwait University student, recently filed a complaint with the Salwa Police Station accusing her husband, an employee of Kuwait Airways Corporation (KAC), of assaulting her. The wife has submitted two medical reports to substantiate her claim, reports Al-Rai Al-Aam daily.

3 Filipinos robbed
Police are looking for five unidentified persons for robbing three Filipinos in Jabriya, reports Al-Rai Al-Aam daily. In their complaint to police, the victims said the men broke into their apartment, beat them and escaped with KD 600, gold worth KD 1,500, and cellphones.

Time to upgrade… [Link]

update: done, I am now 1.5.1

I was just catching up on some news on the Arab Times website when I came upon this article about a Jordanian man who had sex with a Kuwaiti girl. The guy was given 15 years in jail followed by deportation. The thing is though from what I read in the article is that she consented to the sex. She just didn’t want him to lose her virginity (ie. she wanted it from the back) but when he did lose her virginity she went and reported him to the police. According to her he sweet talked her into having sex with him although she didn’t want to. Come on, thats total bullshit.

He then asked her to close her eyes saying he has a surprise for her. He then talked to her in a soothing way which made her unable to resist him. He asked her to have sex and the woman is said to have requested him not to ‘damage’ her hymen. However, the man failed to keep his word as she found herself bleeding.

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