Adam sells to Bruce Willis

We never imagined that Bruce Willis and U2 bassist Adam Clayton would ever have anything in common. But it turns out they do: this stunning co-op on Manhattan's exclusive Central Park West. The New York Post first reported that Willis was in contract to buy the home, but Zillow and other reports followed up, saying that it was originally listed by Clayton back in October for $8.695 million. Willis scored the three-bedroom, four-bathroom home for $8 million.

Bono, Brian Williams join NJ superstorm relief fund's board

Bono and NBC news anchor Brian Williams are the newest board members of a charity launched by the New Jersey governor and his wife to help victims of Hurricane Sandy.

With their appointments, announced Tuesday, they join Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and other celebrities on the board.

So far, the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund has raised more than $32 million from more than 22,000 donors worldwide.

Known for his humanitarian efforts, Bono said he was inspired by the work of volunteers after the superstorm hit. Williams grew up at the Jersey Shore.

The Oct. 29 storm was one of the worst to strike the Northeast U.S. It is blamed for more than 130 deaths and tens of billions of dollars in property damage.

Bono AKA Techie Man

Bono has been singing the praises of technology and it paid off. As an investor and cofounder of the AIDS programs ( One and RED) he has been devoting his time to eradicating poverty and AIDS related issues. Bono traded emails with MIT Technology Review deputy editor, Brian Bergstein about his role in tech, vaccines and information services. A couple of those questions highlighted our interests.

MIT: It's 2013, and Millions of people are still short of food or proper medical care. Have technologists over promised ?

Bono: The tech that’s been delivered has been staggering in its measurable achievements.

MIT: What should be the role of technology in making a better world? Are some problems beyond its reach, like poverty?

Bono: Technology has already helped tackle extreme poverty in Africa. Extreme poverty is the empirical condition of living on under $1.25 a day. Nelson Mandela once demanded we be the “great generation” to beat extreme poverty, noting how we have the technology and resources to achieve this extraordinary vision. And we do. We could achieve it by 2030, maybe before.

MIT: You admired Steve Jobs. Did he make the world better or just make nice computers?

Bono: I think a large part of the reason Apple and Steve Jobs have beguiled so many is that they are a gigantic company that put greatness ahead of the bottom line, believing that great profitability would follow in the long term. He told me he would love to spend more time on philanthropy and would get to it one day. He wasn’t interested in half doing it, as is obvious with his personality. Still, Apple very quietly has contributed more than $50 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria through the sale of (RED) iPods, Nanos, etc. They are the biggest corporate donor. Tim Cook is passionate about this stuff.

MIT: If you had a budget equivalent to the one that put astronauts on the moon, what problems would you try to solve?

Bono: There’s an exciting thought. The Apollo program in its day was 4 percent of the federal budget. All U.S. overseas assistance is just 1 percent, with 0.7 percent going to issues that affect the poorest people. I believe that extreme poverty is the biggest challenge we have. That term is a complex one, but on many aspects, we know what works. For example, with Apollo-level resources, you could finish the job on HIV/AIDS. Get rid of it, done. Malaria too.

MIT: Do you despair? If not, why not?

Bono:  Like any parent, I wonder what kind of world we’re leaving behind. But I’ve also been blessed to be involved in some great movements that helped bring major challenges—like debt or AIDS or malaria—from the margins to the mainstream. These social movements are the things that make the real difference, people from different walks of life coming together to stand up for what they believe in.  Whether they do it by marching, by writing, by tweeting, by posting, by singing, or by going to jail. It’s hard not to be an optimist when you see what happens when people join forces.

Well the God I believe in isn’t short of’ cash, MISTER

Listening to some music a mix of U2 and well the 80’s and of course a mix in of current music. I began to think about how U2 has sifted through various images of religion, what does that mean to you and me? Our team posted the question this week. “U2 Music inspires you to do what?

Faithful U2 Fans

Give us some ideas. What does U2 music mean to you?” Inspired by U2 or is it inspired by Bono? At this point the lines are blurred, Bono is the ultimate front man, and yea we heard that Laim was voted the best front man in the latest issue of RS.

Maybe its religion that inspires you, maybe the thought that you are part of something greater and that you have someone watching out over you could that be inspiring?  It’s not any big secret. Bono, the Edge, and Larry Mullen Jr. had their own Bible study group in the pre-U2 days.

Their second album, October, is loaded with Christian images, and during its recording, critics hailed U2 as a Christian band, something that U2 has always denied. Bono got to hang out with Pope John Paul II before his passing in 2005. They’re just a rock & roll band, right?

Interesting if you label them a Christian rock band you have people from the right screaming how you can even think of them in such a fashion however a few churches are turning to U2. USA Today reports that the U2 Eucharist is a “traditional Episcopal liturgy” that refers to some of U2’s best-selling songs such as “Beautiful Day” and “Pride (In the Name of Love)” as hymns.

We shared stories about this concept before it involves combining U2 songs with related religious montages. Reverend Paige Blair, a parish priest in York Harbor, Maine, incorporated some of U2’s lyrics during a sermon in July 2005. Since then, she’s gone on to assist 150 churches with their own U2 Eucharists, and the idea are spreading like wildfire across 15 states and seven countries.

They’re not worshiping Bono, but choosing to use him and the band’s work as an example of spreading the word.

I thought about the question myself and as the editor of U2TOURFANS I wondered if I should share my personal thoughts. The team all agreed that I should at least share something with you the reader.

So here goes. “Well the God I believe in isn’t short of’ cash, MISTER!!” Think about that line for second, Churches all around the world ask you for a donation. Ask you to put faith in…. Fill in the blank.

Faith and Hope

I put my faith in God, Inspired ? Sure I am inspired daily by lots of images, music, and words. I can say that U2 has created a place for me to express and share my views with like minded people.

The bottom line; you don’t have to like my views, agree or believe however you should respect one another. It’s really that simple.

U2

U2’s music is a vessel to which we all could use to take a ride on. Bono has been blessed by the hand of God, he once said  “I just go where the life is, you know? Where I feel the Holy Spirit,” Bono told Christianity Today. “If it’s in the back of a Roman Catholic cathedral, in the quietness and the incense, which suggest the mystery of God, of God’s presence, or in the bright lights of the revival tent, I just go where I find life. I don’t see denomination. I generally think religion gets in the way of God.

“I am just trying to figure it out. Everybody wants to make an impact with their life, whether it’s small scale with friends or family—that’s really big, is the truth—or whether it’s on a grand scale, in changing their communities and beyond.

I just want to realize my potential.” He recalled one pastor’s recent advice: Stop asking God to bless what you’re doing. Find out what God’s doing. It’s already blessed. “That’s what I want,” Bono said. “I want to align my life with that.”

What do you want to align your life to?

U2 give to charity

RONAN McGREEVY:

U2 have given away the profits from their Irish concerts to charity, the band’s manager Paul McGuinness has revealed.

The band donated €5 million from their three Croke Park concerts in 2009 to Music Generation, a charity that provides funding for structured music education across the country.

Their three Croke Park concerts in 2005 would probably have generated similar revenues, while the band also played two concerts at Slane Castle in 2001.

Mr McGuinness said it had been the band’s practice “going way, way back” to give the profits away but it “was discreetly done in the past”.

He added: “Obviously we cover what the concerts cost to produce and there’s been a profit for a considerable time, and those profits have been distributed here.”

New album on horizon 

He also confirmed that the band are working on a new album to follow up their last release, No Line on the Horizon.

“I’m hoping that they will finish the album soon and it will be out this year.”

U2 guitarist The Edge turned up yesterday for the announcement that the Government will co-fund Music Generation from 2014 with a view to taking over the funding of the project in 2016.

U2 stepped in after the government stated in 2009 it could not afford to roll out a pilot project nationwide. The band provided €5 million with an extra €2 million coming from The Ireland Funds, including a $1 million donation (€760,000) from Bank of America.

Music Generation schemes are operating in Cork city, Laois, Louth, Mayo, Sligo and Wicklow. The money will allow for expansion into a further four areas: Offaly, Westmeath, Carlow and Limerick city.

Some 5,000 children have benefited from it either through structured lessons or through the buying of instruments.

The Edge said U2 had decided to lend its name to Music Generation because it would “be enhanced by association” with the band. “In most cases it isn’t, and it is not appropriate. In this case we really wanted to put our names to this because we feel strongly about it.”

He said the band had benefited from having music lessons in Mount Temple school, where they had all met, and he hoped others would be able to do likewise. “We also had the encouragement to use the music rooms when we first formed the band,” he said. “At that stage none of the members of the band had an idea where it would lead. We were just doing it because it was fun. The chance to pass that opportunity on is important.

“There’s been a tendency over the years for music not to be a top priority. The great thing about Music Generation is that it is putting it back where it should be as a top priority around the country.”