2003

The Old Man of the Mountain, New Hampshire’s natural stone profile that looks like a gnarled human face, fell from its mountainside overnight on Friday. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the damage, but it has long been aware that the natural profile could slide. There had been several efforts over the years to stabilize it. The profile, about 40 feet high and 25 feet wide, was one of the most photographed sites in the state and was considered New Hampshire’s state symbol, appearing on travel brochures and even the state quarter. It was located in Franconia State Park, about 70 miles north of Concord, and to the west of Interstate 93, about 1,200 feet above Profile Lake.
“You don’t think about it much, but it’s what everybody comes to see, it’s our thing. And now it’s gone,” quoted a resident of Franconia, NH.
Source Yahoo.com.

Hip Hops biggest names come together in this summer

On the gossip front, an up coming wedding involving two of the most identifiable names in music will take place shortly. Canadian jazz singer Diana Krall who and British rock and roll Hall of Famer Elvis Costello plan to marry, according to sources. Krall’s “Live in Paris” won a Grammy award in February for best jazz vocal album and has always had one of the sexiest and smoothest voices going, along with fantastic piano chops. She met Costello at last year’s Grammy awards ceremony. No specific date has been set for the wedding.
Source Yahoo.com.

After spending a year travelling the globe, Paul McCartney will wrap up his tour behind 2001

Observers are calling the launch of Apple Computer’s digital music service the iTunes Music Store an overwhelming success, Billboard Bulletin reports. The service, which went live Monday, sold an estimated 275,000 tracks at 99 cents apiece in its first 18 hours, according to major-label sources.
All songs — including exclusive material and videos from U2, Eminem, Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan, Sting, and others — can be previewed for free as 30-second samples. All can be burned to a CD and are automatically synched to an iPod.
The feat is especially remarkable when considering that the offering is available only to the limited universe of users of Apple computers. The launch thereby sets the stage for a race between a host of media and technology companies to create and effectively promote similar services for the much bigger Microsoft-equipped PC market.
“There is going to be a race to see who can get to the Windows market and start to replicate this,” says the head of new media at one major label. “The question is [whether] someone else wants to put up the kind of money that Apple is to let people know they’re there.”
Apple says it plans to make iTunes compatible with the PC by the end of the year. Sources tell Bulletin that two major labels have already cut wholesale agreements with Apple for the Windows version of the service.
Source Billboard.com.

Modest Mouse, Hot Hot Heat, Sahara Hotnights, !!!, the Kills, Radio 4, Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Northern State, and the Pattern have been tapped to perform at the Village Voice’s third annual Siren Music Festival, set for July 19 at Coney Island, N.Y.
As with last year’s edition, which played host to Sleater-Kinney, the Donnas, and the Shins, the free, all-ages festival will feature performers from noon to 9 p.m. on two outdoor stages at the Coney Island amusement park.
More acts are expected to be announced for the festival in the coming weeks, and local bands and DJs will be added to the lineup. Past editions of the festival have also featured art exhibits and multi-media installations as well as late-night burlesque shows and other special events.
For updates and more information, visit the event’s official Web site at Siren.com
Source Billboard.com.

Even before before the tragedy in West Warwick, RI, that left ninety-nine dead,-metal band Great White wasn’t everybody’s favorite band of the moment. However, The band has just announced they will jaunt out on a summer outing that will benefit the victim

John Medeski has contributed an original, jazz flavored score to Dr. Sax and the Great World Snake, a double-disc reading of a lost screenplay by legendary American writer Jack Kerouac. Graham Parker, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jim Carroll, Robert Hunter, Kate Pierson and Robert Creely are the musicians and poets who have lent their voices to the project. The screenplay is based on Kerouac