Rapper signs deal with The Orchard

NEW YORK �

Lil Jon, world Health Organization was in musical limbo after his longtime record label TVT Records went bankrupt before this year, has reached an agreement that frees him from his TVT obligations while entering into a new venture with digital amusement company The Orchard, which is buying TVT's assets.

Lil Jon testament work with the Orchard's Brand Entertainment Group to develop "lifestyle-oriented marketing and promotion programs," as well as serve as a consultant for some of Orchard's artists, labels, and branding opportunities, according to a joint statement from both parties.

As part of the dish out, Lil Jon withdrew his objections to TVT's sale to Orchard. In

Ray Davies plots more 'Cafe' dates

Ray Davies [ tickets ] returns to North America in July for another round of acoustic shows behind his second solo album, "Working Man's Cafe."The former Kinks frontman has lined up four dates in Canada and three on the US West Coast, kicking off with a July 11 appearance at Ottawa's Bluesfest. The itinerary is included below."Working Man's Cafe," the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's second album as a solo artist, was recorded last year in Nashville, TN, and co-produced by Grammy-winning studio veteran Ray Kennedy (Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle). An edited version of the disc (minus two bonus tracks and liner notes) was given away in October with 1.5 million copies of the Sunday Times newspaper in the UK.The deluxe US version of the album, released Feb. 19, contains four extra bonus tracks and a separate DVD that includes a Davies short film about his 2001 "Storyteller" tour.Davies' previous studio effort was 2006's "Other People's Lives."Davies' previous non-Kinks output includes the 1985 film "Return to Waterloo," which he wrote and directed, as well as the film's soundtrack, on which he took a solo credit; 1998's "Storyteller," a live recording of a solo-acoustic performance; and last year's "Thanksgiving Day," a five-song EP.

House Reaches Agreement On New GI Bill That Doubles Education Benefits For Veterans

On Wednesday night, after more than a month of
intense wrangling, the House reached an agreement on a bipartisan war spending bill that includes generously expanded education and unemployment benefits for veterans as part of the 21st Century GI Bill. The measure is up for a vote in the House on Thursday (June 19), with a Senate vote expected on Tuesday and strong indications from President Bush that he is willing to sign off on the $165 billion war funding bill.

The agreement came just four days before the 64th anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's signing of the original GI Bill of Rights, which helped nearly 8 million World War II veterans attend college by guaranteeing a four-year education to those who'd served three years of active duty or more.

The new bill would provide more than $50 billion over 10 years in college funding for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, according to the Wall Street Journal, and it marked a rare permanent update to the GI Bill. Eligible veterans would receive tuition aid up to the cost of the most expensive public college in their state, in addition to a monthly housing stipend, more than doubling the value of the benefit from
$40,000 to $90,000.

The war funding bill was held up for more than three weeks due to disagreements between House Democratic leaders and the White House over spending priorities. The House had passed the tuition benefits a month ago but declined to provide additional funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate passed the bill a week later, but only after putting the money for the wars back in. The new version provides funding for the wars into June of 2009, the expansion of veterans' education benefits and a 13-week extension of unemployment insurance for all states.

Per the White House's demands, the bill does not include any policy restrictions on how the war funding can be spent, and it also provides $2.7 billion in aid for Midwestern states affecting by recent flooding.

"After 17 months of working with veterans' groups and colleagues, it appears that Senator Webb's goal of providing a comprehensive GI bill for our newest generation of veterans is about to be realized," said Jessica Smith, a spokeswoman for Jim Webb, the Vietnam veteran and Virginia Democratic Senator who introduced the update.

Though some House Democrats were not thrilled with all the provisions of the war funding bill, the Journal reported that they agreed to compromise with Republicans in order to pass the legislation before the July 4 recess and avoid a veto fight with the White House. The extension of war funding means that the winner of this year's presidential election will have the next say in how, or whether, to continue funding military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The compromise bill helped end a deadlock among Democrats, who agreed late in talks to drop a provision to pay for the new GI Bill benefits by imposing a half-percentage point income-tax surcharge on those with incomes exceeding $500,000 for single taxpayers, or $1 million for married couples, according to The Associated Press.

By gaining Republican support, Democrats were able to avoid relying on the votes of the more fiscally conservative "Blue Dog" Dems, who insisted that the estimated $63 billion in new GI Bill benefits should be funded, per budget rules, by a revenue increase or spending cut, instead of being added to the deficit. In order to achieve the bipartisan passage, Democrats had to agree to less robust unemployment benefits for veterans.

The president praised the bipartisan effort in a statement from his press secretary. "President Bush understands that military families throughout our country are making great sacrifices as their loved ones serve at home and abroad," it read. "Throughout his administration, he has been committed to ensuring that our service members and their families receive the highest level of support from our grateful nation. ... Yesterday, House leaders reached a bipartisan agreement on a supplemental war funding bill that would deliver critical support to our men and women in uniform. The president is pleased that Congress answered his call to ensure that military families will soon be able to transfer their unused education benefits to their spouse or children. This legislation will build upon the GI Bill's historic legacy of ensuring brighter futures for service members and their families. We urge both the House and Senate to immediately pass this bipartisan agreement."






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Grammy Award-Winning, Superstar Producer T-Pain Launches Full Service Digital Record Label, Nappy Boy Digital

World renowned producer and No. 1 hit selling artist T-Pain steps into the forefront of the digital music world with the launch of his full service, independent record label, Nappy Boy Digital.
Nappy Boy Digital provides a direct artist to consumer connection as well as an immediate outlet for T-Pain to release his latest and greatest tracks. Without the constraints of the traditional major label machine, Nappy Boy Digital will deliver new music directly into the hands of millions of online music lovers via all the major digital download sites.
"Nappy Boy Digital is a dream come true for me. I'm excited about bringing music by new artists to people fresh out of the studio," said T-Pain commenting on the venture. "My life and career so far has been about breaking barriers and this label allows me to continue that by delivering hit songs in real time, no red tape, just good music. You'll hear us in the clubs and on radio too, but you can discover our tracks where people spend most of their time, on-line. I'm very proud to be out front on an idea like this."
Since debuting in December 2005 with his monster hit, "I'm Sprung," Tallahassee, FL native T-Pain has amassed an impressive number of awards and recognition. In 2007, his number one single "Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin)" was one of the largest Billboard Hot 100 radio audience records of the year, was downloaded by more than 1.5 million people, and the ringtone was purchased by over 3 million. This brings the cumulative total of ringtones sold by him to over 15 million (excluding collaborations) and makes him the largest seller of ringtones to date.
The multi-talented rappa-ternt-sanga received the 2008 Grammy for Best Rap Song for his appearance on Kanye West's "Good Life," and was also nominated four other times including for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Kiss Kiss" with Chris Brown. T-Pain most recently touched the top of the charts with Flo-Rida on the ubiquitous number one single, "Low" and currently has collaborations on the airwaves with Mariah Carey and Lil Wayne on singles from both their respective albums. Billboard magazine snagged T-Pain for their cover in October of 2007, and other top-selling publications such as GQ, Vibe, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today have all written in-depth feature stories about his overwhelming popularity.
T-Pain's longtime rap collaborator, Tay Dizm serves as the first artist on his newly formed label, Nappy Boy Digital. The Miami-born MC has appeared on both of T-Pain's full length releases, Rappa Ternt Sanga (2005) and Epiphany (2007) and toured the globe extensively alongside T-Pain. Dizm's debut single, "Beam Me Up," was produced by Atlanta hitmaker Bangladesh and features T-Pain and heavyweight Florida rapper, Rick Ross. "Beam Me Up" was made available by Nappy Boy Digital as an itunes exclusive on May 20, 2008 and will receive a web-wide release in the first week of June. "Beam Me Up" will also impact mainstream urban radio on June 16, 2008.
As the brainchild of one of the most prolific artists of the 21st Century, T-Pain's Nappy Boy Digital is blazing a fresh trail in online music distribution. Leading the pack with five BET Award nominations (more than any other act), T-Pain will continue to be an innovative force in popular music thanks to the introduction of Nappy Boy Digital and it's first artist, Tay Dizm.

Pete Wentz Needs Pumping

Ashlee Simpson must already be restricting her new hubby's marital allowance -- the punkster can't even afford to gas up his ride!

Pete, his Pops, and his funky new tat were cruisin' through the San Fernando Valley when their wheels sputtered to a halt. He can hate 'em all he wants, but when Pete's in need, a papper's a friend indeed.





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Wonder Woman: Row, Row, Row Your Body

Lynda Carter called 911after discovering a body in the Potomac River.

Carter was out canoeing yesterday when she spotted a woman's body floating face down in the river. She called D.C. police, but did not call DC Comics.

The victim was wearing pearl earrings, a backpack and a raincoat ... before Labor Day.

Story developing ...



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Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry

   
Artist: Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry

   Genre(s): 
Blues
   

---

Discography:


   
 At the 2nd Fret

   Year: 1962   
Tracks: 10

---

 





Ben Mills

Sidney Sheldon Scholarship awarded

Grad student Kelly Fullerton gets screenwriting honor

Kelly Fullerton, a graduate screenwriting student at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, has been named the recipient of this year's Sidney Sheldon Scholarship Award for Screenwriting.


The award was presented on June 6 by Robert Rosen, dean of the school, at UCLA's James Bridges Theater during an event featuring student film screenings from the UCLA Festival of New Creative Work.


Fullerton was recognized for "Always a Bridesmaid," a romantic comedy about a girl who is tired of standing in the shadow of her married friends and decides to throw herself the wedding of a lifetime, sans groom.


With the intention of encouraging young writers, the late Sidney Sheldon established the annual award in 2004. In 2006, he donated his literary papers to the UCLA Arts Library Special Collections.


In addition to "Always a Bridesmaid," Fullerton has written the romantic comedies "29" and "Quality Start." As part of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television's recently established showrunner concentration, she's created two television pilots, "Bliss" and "Maudlin." Her stage plays include "The Wick Effect" and "Parachutes."

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Sag Members Divided Over Strike Talksbr

Screen Actors Guild President Alan Rosenberg has expressed frustration over dissension
within his union over bargaining strategy with the Alliance of Motion Picture and
Television Producers. In an interview with Broadcasting & Cable, Rosenberg said
that he wished the members of his union stood behind their negotiators the way the
members of the Writers Guild of America did theirs. The WGA, he said, "didn't get
the kind of resistance from their members that we get from ours." The dissension,
he indicated, is the reason that the union leadership has not called for a strike
authorization vote -- despite the fact that the current contract with the AMPTP expires
in two weeks. Asked when he might decided to ask SAG members to authorize a strike,
Rosenberg replied, "I really don't know. ... It depends on our assessment of whether
we can get it or not. I think we'd get it." In fact, the AMPTP noted Friday that
if a contract is not locked in by June 30, the current "de facto strike" will simply
be extended with TV and movie producers delaying production on new films and television
shows until an agreement is reached.

16/06/2008

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Reese Witherspoon And Ryan Phillippe Divorce

Actress Reese Witherspoon's marriage to Ryan Phillippe is officially over - their divorce was finalised on Thursday.
The couple ended its seven-year marriage when they separated in 2006 and the union was dissolved on 5 October, but the pair has only now fully resolved all financial and custodial issues.
Court documents filed in Los Angeles on Thursday reads, "(The court finds) the parties have settled all their remaining issues in these proceedings."
Witherspoon and Phillippe have since moved on to new relationships. The Legally Blonde star is currently dating Jake Gyllenhaal, while Phillippe recently went public with his romance with Abbie Cornish.
Witherspoon and Phillippe have two children - daughter Ava, eight, and son Deacon, four.

NearU Search Partners with Nakturnal agency on VIP SMS

Premium SMS Company powers VIP Pass Program for Entertainment Agency

PASADENA, Calif., June 11 -- NearUSearch
(http://www.nearusearch.com), a premium SMS search company, has inked a
deal with Pittsburgh, PA based entertainment agency Nakturnal
(http://www.nakturnal.net) to exclusively offer the agency's members and
clients a VIP Pass program. Through NearUSearch, Nakturnal members can
opt-in for a VIP Pass -- a monthly subscription that gives them advance
notice and same-day alerts of club dates and VIP discounts.

"Nakturnal's text-savvy audience is always in motion, looking for
cutting-edge entertainment. The pairing of SMS and entertainment allows
Nakturnal to send events and club discounts to its members and no one
misses a beat. It's a great fit," said Heather Mlodinow, NearU Search CEO.
Said Kellee Maize, Nakturnal founding owner, "Nakturnal is in the business
of guerilla marketing among other things. We need to be cutting edge and
texting through NearUSearch is the quickest way to reach our potential
audience for upcoming events." Nakturnal's position in one of the hottest
underground entertainment markets allows them unprecedented access to
Pittsburgh's independent arts and music scene. "Nakturnal's commitment to
independent spirit and local community is authentic and that's a big part
of the NearU partner philosophy," said Ms. Mlodinow. The VIP pass program
will launch in mid-June.

About NearU Search

NearUSearch is the leader in local search and premium text alerts. The
company uses ground-breaking search technology to power local search and
alert products through shortcode 63278. NearUSearch text products and
services are designed to provide lifestyle information on the go to users
who want to spend more time living and less time searching. The premium SMS
products developed by NearU Search are available for mobile phones on most
major U.S. carriers and boast the best response performance and uptime in
the industry.

About Nakturnal

Nakturnal is a female-owned and operated agency focused on bringing
together arts and corporate communities to create a more vibrant music &
entertainment scene. Offering access to cutting-edge "underground" markets
through unique promotional opportunities and thought-provoking events that
inspire, move, and excite people; we give talented artists and musicians a
platform; unite people from diverse backgrounds for entertainment and
networking purposes; raise awareness for worthy causes and issues; and
create options for young educated professionals in Pittsburgh similar to
what they can find in larger urban markets.




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Law & Order star is leaving series

'Law & Order' star Jesse L Martin, who plays Detective Ed Green in the police drama, is leaving the series.
Variety reports that it is expected that 'Transformers' star Anthony Anderson will replace Martin later this season.
Martin has starred in nine seasons of 'Law & Order'.
He is due to shoot one more episode before leaving the series.
Martin is set to play Marvin Gaye in a new film about the last years of the soul legend's life.
'Sexual Healing' will chronicle Gaye's self-imposed exile in Belgium and his return to the big time with the help of promoter Freddy Cousaert (James Gandolfini).
Filming is due to begin in April.

Eurythmics - Lennox Calls For Winehouse Photo Ban

EURYTHMICS singer ANNIE LENNOX has called on the paparazzi to leave AMY WINEHOUSE alone - insisting the troubled star needs time out of the spotlight to recuperate.

Winehouse has endured a long, public battle with drink and drug addictions, which saw her admitted to rehab earlier this year (08).

Lennox, a long-time anti-drugs campaigner, is troubled by the plight of the Back To Black hitmaker and wants to see her kick her problems once and for all.

But the 53-year-old insists the only way Winehouse can recover is if her ever present following of snappers back off and allow her to keep out of the public eye.

She says, "I wish somebody could stop everyone taking pictures of her and get her out of the spotlight. I want to see her healthy, not wrecked."

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