NEW iPHONE; $200 CHEAPER!!

From Fortune Magazine:

By Scott Moritz, writer

AT&T (T) is planning to put some extra shine on the even sleeker new Apple iPhone.

When the 3G iPhone is introduced this summer, AT&T, the exclusive U.S. iPhone sales partner with Apple, will cut the price by as much as $200, according to a person familiar with the strategy.

AT&T is preparing to subsidize $200 of the cost of a new iPhone, bringing the price down to $199 for customers who sign two-year contracts, the source says. Apple is expected to have two versions of the new iPhone, an 8-gigabyte-memory and a 16-gigabyte-memory model with price tags widely expected to be $399 and $499.

The new iPhone will be 2.5 mm thinner than the 11.7 mm original. The iPhone will also have a GPS chip for navigation and other location-based services. (MORE)

ZOMBIES ATTACK AMERICA

The Zombies featuring original members Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent are heading out on a 19-city North American tour beginning on July 3rd in Detroit. Jefferson Starship will be appearing at several stops on the tour.
The Zombies featuring Colin Blunstone & Rod Argent North American tour dates (subject to change):
July 3 - Detroit, MI - Downtown Detroit New Center
July 5 - Milwaukee, WI - Summerfest at Summerfest Grounds
July 10 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun
July 11 - New York, NY - Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza
July 12 - Atlantic City, NJ - Trump Marina
July 13 - Westhampton Beach, NY - Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center
July 15 - Alexandria, VA - Birchmere
July 17 - Anaheim, CA - Grove Of Anaheim (with Jefferson Starship)
July 18 - North Las Vegas, NV - Cannery Casino Hotel
July 19 - Agoura Hills, CA - Canyon Club
July 20 - San Francisco, CA - Grand Ballroom at Regency Center (with Jefferson Starship)
July 23 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
July 24 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
July 25 - Langley, BC - Gateway Cascades Casino
July 26 - Calgary, ALB - Deerfoot Inn & Casino
July 27 - Edmonton, ALB - Century Casino
July 29 - Saskatoon, SAS - Dakota Dunes Casino
July 30 - Regina, SAS - Casino Regina Show Lounge
July 31 - Winnipeg, MAN - Club Regent Casino
Ron Argent says that he's amazed that the group was able to leave such a rich musical legacy behind, despite only being a working band for a few years: "The thing is that really the Zombies, you know professionally, we were only together for... I mean, we were semi-professionally

... we were together for a couple of years, and then from '64 to '67 it was just a three-year period that we were together professionally. And even though 'Time Of The Season'... It was, I guess, 1969 by the time it was a hit in the States, but we were actually only together for those three years."
The Zombies are best remembered for their classic 1960s hits "She's Not There," "Tell Her No," and "Time Of The Season."
Blunstone and Argent reunited in 2004 for the Zombies studio album As Far As I Can See... (MORE)

The Indiana Strategery

Barack Obama capped off a long campaign day in Indiana by playing a game of pickup basketball. He donned sweat pants and a USMC shirt to take on some area high-schoolers. Obama's team won 15-5.

I Need That Record! Trailer!

Trailer for "I Need That Record: The Death (or Possible Survival) of The Independent Record Store."

Starring: Thurston Moore, Mike Watt, Ian Mackaye, Noam Chomsky, Legs McNeil, Glenn Branca, Lenny Kaye (Patti Smith Group), Chris Frantz (Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club), Pat Carney (Black Keys), BP Helium (Of Montreal), and Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers)!

Coming soon...

BRAINIACS UNITE!! BRAINPOWER RANKINGS

A new study by Bizjournals that ranks the brainpower levels of America's 100 largest metropolitan areas finds that Madison, Wisconsin leads the pack.

"The study's objective was to identify those metros that have the highest levels of collective brainpower, as indicated by their residents' educational attainment," wrote G. Scott Thomas on bizjournals.com. Find your city's ranking here.

ROLLING STONE'S BEST OF ROCK 2008

BEST REUNION

Led Zeppelin

"They went onstage not only like they were Led Zeppelin, but Led Zeppelin with something to prove," says drummer Jason Bonham, an obsessive fan since boyhood who had the best seat in the house — behind the kit, in place of his late father, John — for the band's first full-length concert since 1980, at London's 02 arena on December 10th, 2007. Despite months of rehearsal with guitarist Jimmy Page, vocalist Robert Plant and bassist John Paul Jones, Bonham confessed he felt "nauseous right before we went on." But as soon as Zeppelin opened with "Good Times Bad Times" — a song they never played live in its entirety — "we were all in. We weren't going through the motions anymore." The most hysterically anticipated show of last year and arguably the biggest rock reunion ever, Zeppelin's performance was a total victory, covering the hits and deep corners of their catalog. The show was also rich in the improvised thrills that were a hallmark of the band's Seventies gigs. Even in rehearsals, Bonham says, songs "changed every day. The main structure was always there, but Robert would pitch the melody differently. Jimmy would change a guitar part." Page, Plant and Jones have all said they are open to more shows, and promoters say it could be the biggest tour ever. But Plant is touring with Alison Krauss this summer, and Bonham insists he doesn't know when or if it will happen. "I keep away from the politics of it," he says. "If there is anything I've gained from this, it's that I have three new friends to talk to — not as if they're my uncles." And if the phone call comes? "I'm there." DAVID FRICKE
For the rest of Rolling Stone's Best of ROCK 2008, click HERE

EARTH DAY

Earth Day is Tuesday April 22nd, and many Earth Day events are happening this weekend! Not sure yet how you'll be celebrating Earth Day? Find an event near you on the Earth Day website. Hundreds of Earth Day events including the Sunday concert on the National Mall in Washington DC, special Earth Day film screenings and festivals, and campus Earth Day celebrations will be showing selections from the Live Earth Film Series. (MORE)

Funniest Comedy Sketch Ever?

The Top 50 Comedy Sketches of All Time!!!
There's no more sure-fire way to kill something's intrinsic comedic value than to try to examine what makes it funny. The minute you start thinking, you stop laughing. So why, then, have Nerve and IFC.com devoted an enormous amount of time, manpower, monetary resources, server space and posh catered lunches to the pursuit of ranking the boob tube's finest sketch comedy offerings?
(See ALL of them HERE)

JUST FOR FUN!!!!

Old Arcade Games

1({}) VDAY Event in New Orleans

On Saturday, April 12, "The Vagina Monologues" come to New Orleans in a star-studded performance at the New Orleans Arena, which is the culmination of the 10th anniversary of V-Day, a two-day event Ensler is calling V to the Tenth.

Today and Saturday, the Superdome will be transformed into "Superlove," a free event that includes performances, storytelling circles, workshops, speakers and wellness activities such as yoga and massage.

Ensler chose post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans as the site of the 10th anniversary celebration because she has been working since the storm with local groups including the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women and Katrina Warriors.

Ensler said that what happened in New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast after the storm reflects the challenges that women face worldwide -- violence, racism, lack of health care and education, financial insecurity, and the failure of local and national governments.

She is bringing 1,200 women from the Gulf Coast who have been displaced and unable to return home since the floods.

"They will arrive on 17 buses," says Ensler, who will greet them upon their arrival.

Participating in the Saturday night performance are Calpernia Addams, Lilia Aragon, Stephanie Bataille, Jennifer Beals, Peter Buffett, Didi Conn, Rosario Dawson, Jane Fonda, Salma Hayek, Kristen Krepela, Christine Lahti, Ali Larter, Liz Mikel, Doris Roberts, Leslie Townsend, Kerry Washington, Monique Wilson and Oprah Winfrey, with musical performances by Faith Hill, Jennifer Hudson, and New Orleans' own Charmaine Neville.

The celebrities and speakers are paying their own expenses and giving their services for free.

The production at the New Orleans Arena has been modified with new material, including a new monologue that will be delivered by Oprah Winfrey called "Hey Miss Pat!" (MORE)

An Inconvenient Truth 2.0

In Al Gore's brand-new slideshow (premiering exclusively on TED.com), he presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists were recently predicting, and challenges us to act with a sense of "generational mission" -- the kind of feeling that brought forth the civil rights movement -- to set it right. Gore's stirring presentation is followed by a brief Q&A in which he is asked for his verdict on the current political candidates' climate policies and on what role he himself might play in future.
(SEE SHOW HERE)

A speech delivered forty years ago tonight in Memphis

The New MTV?

LOS ANGELES - (Business Wire) MySpace, the world’s biggest and most popular social network, and three of the world’s largest music companies, SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, Universal Music Group, and Warner Music Group (NYSE:WMG), today announced the formation of a landmark joint venture, MySpace Music. The new company marries the most popular music community in the world with the most comprehensive catalogue of music content available online, unveiling a host of new music services and monetization models. The financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.

The product vision for MySpace Music is to build on the existing traffic, credibility, and popularity of the MySpace Music platform (http://www.music.myspace.com) by creating a fully integrated 360 degree global music solution. MySpace Music will feature the network’s first integrated e-commerce solution and evolve the user’s ability to discover, share, and socialize by adding commerce and music management tools. The new offering will seamlessly transform the MySpace Music experience into a groundbreaking mix of community, commerce, and discovery. The product will roll iteratively in the coming months.

The MySpace Music product will integrate new content and music capabilities across three primary areas: the MySpace Music home page, the site’s more than 5 million artist profile pages, and individual user home pages, providing bands and fans multiple touch points to discover, share, and purchase music and merchandise in one place for the portable device of their choosing. MySpace Music empowers bands and fans with unprecedented digital music service and e-commerce platform within MySpace that will include DRM-free digital downloads, ad-supported audio and video streaming, a mobile storefront (powered by News Corporation’s Jamba mobile company), as well as various sponsorship solutions.

For users, MySpace Music will have the richest music experience on the Web by enabling the site’s global community to discover music and then download, stream and personalize music content. The personalized music management product will allow users to control their entire MySpace Music experience directly from their user page by creating playlists and having access to enhanced purchase opportunities and search functionality.

For the labels’ artists, the formation of MySpace Music will offer them the opportunity to provide their fans with digital downloads as well as mobile ringtones, SMS, and artist wallpapers, all directly from their artist profiles. Additionally, artists will be able to evolve their MySpace experience beyond the promotional by now monetizing their full repository of content with a 360 degree solution including not only the sale of digital content, but also physical goods such as t-shirts and concert tickets. (MORE)

McCAIN TO CAMPAIGN AT BURNING MAN

Senator and presumptive Republican Presidential nominee John McCain has rocked the political world by announcing his intention to bring his campaign to Nevada's Black Rock Desert this summer, during the counter-cultural art event known as Burning Man.

"While our opponents would callously ignore them, this proud American believes that even temporary cities deserve the attention of the President of the United States," said McCain senior staffer Mark Dosenberner. "We are proud that Black Rock City will be a stop on the 'Straight Talk Express' tour this summer." (MORE)