Youtube on The Huffington Post

Iran Targets Online Critics Worldwide, Relatives Back Home

2009-12-04T05:27:49Z

In recent months, Iran has been conducting a campaign of harassing and intimidating members of its diaspora world-wide -- not just prominent dissidents -- who criticize the regime, according to former Iranian lawmakers and former members of Iran's elite security force, the Revolutionary Guard, with knowledge of the program.

Part of the effort involves tracking the Facebook, Twitter and YouTube activity of Iranians around the world, and identifying them at opposition protests abroad, these people say.

Read more: Protests, Youtube, Iran, Twitter, Critics, Facebook, World News

Diane Passage: Male Pole Dancers Are on the Rise

2009-12-03T17:31:00Z

There is a bar in New York City that my girlfriends and I frequent that has floor to ceiling stripper poles for us to play on. We love to flip upside down, spin and try to out-do each other. Not too long ago, a drunken frat boy seemed to be so inspired by our friendly competition that he took to the pole himself doing an impressive "flagpole" move. A flagpole requires intense midsection/core muscles and is difficult for most women to do. As impressive as this guy was, his friends walked away embarrassed, women laughed, and the manager told him to stay off the pole because men are "not allowed." It's kind of an unspoken guideline that the general public prefers a woman letting loose on a pole instead of a guy in the crowd awkwardly showing off his upper body strength.

This is a common mind-set in the world of pole fitness as well, despite the increasingly positive image of pole dance as a mainstream form of exercise and expression. Typical fitness activities are open to males and females to participate, and while pole dance is known as a feminine sport, there are some organizations that are working to make it more male-friendly.

YouTube has become a hub for pole dancers to share their videos while learning from other users' videos. I was navigating through some vids a couple of years ago and I came across PoleDanceFan. PoleDanceFan is Joel Lessing - a Midwestern family man who posts videos of himself performing amazing pole tricks in his basement. I wasn't sure what to make of PoleDanceFan at the time, because a man performing fluidly on a pole was a completely foreign concept to me, and something I didn't consider much of afterwards until recently. I revisited Lessing's page to find that his views and subscribers has drastically increased, and there are more male pole dancers coming out of the woodwork on YouTube.

Apparently there is enough of an increase in pole dancing men that competition organizers are seeing a need to accommodate. In October 2009, the Mr. Pole Fitness competition made its debut in the UK. Mr. Pole Fitness is one of the only pole dance competitions created specifically for men only. Creator Adam Jay, a pole fitness instructor based out of London, is aware of the steady increase in male students and wanted to inspire even more men to get involved. Jay says the Mr. Pole Fitness event generated positive interest and there are plans for a 2010 competition.

This week in Tokyo is the International Pole Dance Fitness Championship, which was only open to women in the past and now has a newly formed men's division. The IPDFC has six male finalists on its roster including Seattle's Robert S. Orr III. Orr has been pole dancing for over a decade and is self-taught due to the lack of studios established in the '90s, and the current pole dance studios do not allow men to take classes. As an answer to this dilemma, he opened his own studio several years ago called Free Movement Zone which is the only studio in the Pacific Northwest to offer co-ed classes. Orr has experienced some discrimination within the pole dance community and is loyal to those organizations that do welcome him. This year will be his third year of traveling to Canada to participate in workshops with an International Pole Camp. American pole dance organizations have been the least responsive to his requests to participate in competitions, classes and performances. Excluding men from pole studio classes is known to be a standard practice; however, many national co-ed gyms offer pole classes and they tend not to discriminate. Some health clubs, such as Crunch fitness, have male pole dance instructors regularly scheduled at some locations.

Watching men perform on the pole may not be for everyone. As I was discussing this topic with friends, the majority of both men and women were not turned on by the idea of watching a man work the pole. I personally am not a fan of a man who tries to imitate the sensual moves of a woman, but I do appreciate a man who demonstrates a masculine gymnastic style suggestive of what I might see in Cirque du Soleil - which does appeal to the masses.

Government Sued Over Social Media Surveillance Tactics

2009-12-03T11:51:53Z

Consumer watchdog group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has initiated a lawsuit against multiple U.S. government agencies for failure to disclose their policies regarding the use of social media for surveillance. According to the filing, the government has been making use of social media sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter to aid in various investigations where the crimes range from the relatively minor infringement of underage drinking to more serious endeavors, such as the coordination of protesters during the G-20 summit.

Tooth Pull Video Shows Girl's Baby Tooth Pulled Out By Remote-Controlled Car (VIDEO)

2009-12-02T02:19:15Z

When kids start losing their baby teeth, look out. Visions of quarters and dollars left behind by the Tooth fairy can inspire even the most pain-averse child to confront and pull a loose tooth.

This video chronicles one courageous girl's second tooth-pulling effort.

Much like the old dental-floss-tied-to-a-doorknob strategy, this child and her family have opted to yank out the girl's baby tooth as quickly as possible. Using what appears to be dental floss (mint or flavor-free?), they tie the child's tooth to a remote-controlled car, then launch the toy vehicle over over a cardboard ramp in their living room.

There is a cat involved and smiles--not tears. It's probably not the safest way to remove a tooth, but it looks like fun.

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Ramya Raghavan: A Live Stream to Save Lives: Alicia Keys and YouTube Team Up to Fight AIDS

2009-12-01T13:00:47Z

This post was co-written by Ramya Raghavan and Michele Flannery

It's no secret that AIDS is one of the deadliest diseases facing our world today. Since the beginning of the epidemic, almost 60 million people have been infected with HIV and 25 million people have died of HIV-related causes. But did you know that some of those hardest hit by AIDS are children? The disease has killed over 2 million children, and in sub-Saharan Africa it has orphaned close to 15 million.

That's why, today, on World AIDS Day, we're partnering with Alicia Keys and her organization, Keep a Child Alive, to present a live-streamed benefit concert at 8 p.m. (ET). We're also encouraging everyone to donate $5 to provide the life-saving medication, support, and orphan care to keep these children alive. Learn more from Alicia herself about this important effort:

You can make a difference today. Please tune in here at 8 p.m (ET) to watch Alicia Keys and donate to help save the lives of millions of children living with HIV/AIDS.

Michele Flannery, Music Manager, and Ramya Raghavan, Nonprofits Manager, recently watched The Lazarus Effect.

Google Wants To Stream TV On YouTube, For A Fee, Sources Say

2009-12-01T09:14:51Z

YouTube, which is already trying out the movie rental business, wants to get into TV, too.

Google's video site has been trying to convince the TV industry to let it stream individual shows for a fee, multiple sources tell me.

Penny C. Sansevieri: Eight Steps For Successfully Marketing Yourself Online

2009-11-30T14:13:56Z

Now that the Internet is the new "black" and everyone is hopping online in the hopes of finding their gold online, there are a few things that need to be considered before jumping headlong into an online campaign.

We've been doing "online" for a long while now and we've seen many changes, but one thing has remained consistent: regardless of where you go or how you pitch, you must know your market and understand how to effectively reach them and abide by the rules of the online road. Here are a few to consider:

1) The importance of research: when it comes to marketing online, there's a term I am often reminded of: "spray and pray." What this means essentially is that you spray a whole bunch of stuff out there and hope that it works. Guess what? It doesn't. The Internet is big, there's no argument there. But just throwing stuff out online and hoping it'll work will only waste your time and probably upset a few bloggers you actually don't want to tick off. Do your research. Find the sites appropriate to your market and then get to know what they review, what they don't review and how to pitch them. Most sites have targeted guidelines for submitting pitches and review copies. Abide by them.

2) It's all about relationships: remember that much like offline promotion the Internet is all about relationships. Make them, hone them, and keep them for the life of your career. So how do you go about making and creating relationships? By networking. Online networking or cyber-schmoozing is a way of getting to know who's out there and who you could help with your message. Getting to know topic-related blogs, e-zines and websites and engaging with them is important. Follow your market on Twitter, follow other authors in your genre, follow the trendsetters. Make sure that you're reading their blogs, commenting on their blog entries and offering helpful advice. Which leads me to point #3:

3) Networking online: Want to know the difference between networking online vs. in person? Online you can be in your bathrobe and slippers and no one will know the difference. Lead with helpful information, don't lead with your book. No one (but your mom) cares that you wrote a book. Your audience, whether it's your reader or a blog dedicated to your market, wants to know what the book can do for them. Be helpful. You'd never go to a live networking event, walk up to a group of people and say: "Hi, please read my fabulous book." You shouldn't do it online, either.

4) Understanding page rank: Page rank is important, more so than most people realize. Whether you're marketing yourself online or you've hired a company to do this for you, make sure that you are targeting sites with decent page rank. So, what's page rank? Well, it's a number between 1-10 that Google assigns a site to indicate its "importance" online. By importance I mean sites that have a lot of (quality) sites linking to them and sites that are getting a significant amount of traffic. If you or the company you hired is pitching you to smallish page rank sites (i.e. 0, 1, 2) you should consider it a wasted effort. Generally speaking we won't go after sites that are below a 3 page rank unless it's a niche topic/smaller market. Our company website sits between a 5 and a 6. The lower the site's page rank, the less exposure you're going to get. It's that simple.

5) How to manage the prize vault: to some book bloggers books are boring. Well, not boring exactly, but if you're giving away a prize you might want to consider pairing your book with someone else. Consider the partnerships you have and see what you can pair with your book. We recently paired a title we worked on with a Brita water pitcher because the author had a relationship with the company. When I called Brita to arrange this they jumped all over it and sent us more pitchers than we knew what to do with. Prize packs are a great idea if you can pull together some fun giveaways. But don't bribe bloggers to review your book. Offer them the prize packs for their readers. Bribing and reviews aren't kosher, especially online (yes, we've seen it done, it's not pretty).

6) Touring on blogs: there are a lot of blog "tours" that will take you on a tour online for two weeks, then you're done. Guess what? Another waste of time. Online marketing isn't done lickety split, it's done over a long (or at least longer than two weeks) period of time. A short two-week tour is fine and fun, but trust me, you'll need more to create a buzz online - which leads me to #7

7) Slow growth over time: despite all the hype, the Internet doesn't respond well to quickie, instant success, in fact most online folks really dislike this type of marketing. The key to a really successful campaign that has legs (meaning buzz) is a slow growth. Now, I don't mean years of growing an online campaign, but definitely longer than 48 hours as some online companies may want you to believe. The objective is to create a presence online and to dig into your market. Relationships, whether offline or on, take time. Grow them, nurture them, and they will repay you back over months and years to come. So how do you grow slowly? Well dig into Facebook, start a Fan Page and add friends, network, engage. Start a Twitter page and really work the Twitter-sphere. Engage, entertain, enlighten and always, always, always be helpful.

8) The big Internet secret: Understanding backlinks: I will write a separate blog on this topic, but for now understand that the importance of backlinks is significant. So what's a backlink? Well, it's a link going from a site appropriate to your topic back to your site. And how many of these do you want? As many as you can get. The biggest and best push with online marketing is the link building, but again, this needs to be grown slowly over time. Adding thousands of links in a week or a month will only get you in trouble with the governing body of the Internet: Google. I mean let's face it, 78% of us use Google as our default search engine and if Google pulls your site for overly aggressive link building, your online marketing campaign will come to a screeching halt.

9) Your website: I'm really surprised at how many Internet marketers overlook this important point, but many do. Your website, the place your online world calls "home", is very important. If you're working so hard online via networking and link building and then sending your readers to a site that's sending them into "surf shock" (i.e. the kind of shock you go into when you land on a ghastly site), then what's the point of marketing yourself online? Sending readers/buyers/fans to a website that is repelling them instead of attracting them is like advertising and bringing visitors to your beautiful store then locking the doors and not letting them in. I will address the importance of a good website in a separate blog post in the coming weeks, but for now know this: if your site isn't converting the traffic you're sending it then what's the point in sending people there? By converting, I mean getting readers/fans to do something, whether it's sign up for your ezine, your blog RSS Feed or follow you on Twitter. Studies have shown that less than 7% of web visitors are prompted to buy the first time they land on a site so don't expect immediate sales to correlate with your traffic. Getting them to come back is the key to making the sale. And how do you get them to come back? By getting them to sign up for something (permission-based marketing) and then keeping them in your loop or inner circle.

Wondering why I said eight tips in the article title and offered nine? Well, that's another piece of advice: always, always, always over-deliver online. There are too many people short selling their consumer with faulty or misrepresented ads, low quality product or promises they don't deliver on. While it may sometimes seem tempting, don't subscribe to shortcuts. Not only will they not get you anywhere, but they can damage your reputation. Often permanently.

Jose Antonio Vargas: Why Twitter is the Most Popular Word of 2009

2009-11-30T14:02:07Z

Of course Twitter is the most popular English word of the year.

Yesterday, the Global Language Monitor declared the San Francisco-based micro-blogging site as the top English word of 2009. In a decade marked by the growth of most everything Internet-related, this marked the first time a Web company has earned that distinction. MySpace (founded in 2003), Facebook (in 2004) and YouTube (2005) never made that spot in their early years.

But Twitter's achievement also underlines a sobering reality -- one that President Obama, a BlackBerry addict, hinted at in a town hall meeting in Shanghai two weeks ago. Asked via the Internet if the Chinese should be able to use Twitter freely, Obama responded: "Well, first of all, let me say that I have never used Twitter. My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone."

For all the buzz (our "first Twitter Christmas," the New York Times wrote Friday, noting how retailers like Best Buy use the site); all the magazine covers ("How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live," read a headline in June's Time magazine); all its undeniable impact in all aspects of life, from politics to entertainment (remember country-pop princess Taylor Swift thanking her Twitter followers during her speech at this year's MTV Video Music Awards?), Twitter is not mainstream.

Not mainstream in terms of size; since this summer, there's been report after report that Twitter's membership has peaked, not anywhere near the 300-million strong membership of Facebook.

Not mainstream in terms of usage; though many live, swear and exist through Twitter's 140 character limit, Twitter's retention rate, as been widely reported, is somewhere around 40 percent. (A caveat: that doesn't take into account people who use Twitter through third-party applications and mobile phones.)

Not mainstream in terms of omnipresence and ubiquity; Twitter ain't Google.

In other words, Twitter is not for everyone -- not yet, at least. Many people are confused by it. (If I had a dime for every time a friend or a relative who's not glued in front of his/her computer all day said to me, "I still don't get this Twitter thing!"). Others don't see how it relates to their everyday lives. ("So why do I need this again?") Broadly speaking, and with many exceptions, Twitter is still largely the province of the world's digital elites and early adopters, who from the streets of Tehran to the fragmented Republican Party are getting their message out, whatever that message may be, unfiltered, unedited, be it photos, videos, opinion or just plain news. And the message will get out. And the message will inevitably spread. It's no coincidence, by the way, that the top English words of the past few years, as surveyed by Global Language Monitor, are news-related. Last year, the top word was "change," in reference to Obama's improbable and winning campaign. Three years before that, in 2005, it was "refugee," in reference to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. In 2000, it was "chad" -- as in the hanging chads of Florida, which played a central role in the tight race between Al Gore and George W. Bush.

Twitter, after all, is about having a voice. Here in the U.S., it may mean tweeting about this or that party. Abroad, in authoritarian regimes such as Iran, it means tweeting about the fight for democracy.

"Twitter has gone in the way of YouTube. At first, people thought YouTube was silly and weird; they didn't know how to YouTube and what a YouTube channel was. Now YouTube is synonymous, the industry standard, for online video -- for everyday people to watch, upload and share videos," Scott Goodstein, the text messaging expert who ran Obama's social networking presence during the campaign, told me. "Twitter is going through the same process. Twitter has become synonymous with quick, short opinion and perspective -- coming from anyone, going everywhere."

The Web is flat. And in a world made smaller by the Internet and new technologies, Twitter forces us to become each other's witnesses, one tweet at a time.

That's why Twitter, only three years old, is the most popular English word of 2009.

Jim Cashel: A New Approach Towards Chinese Web Censorship

2009-11-30T12:41:01Z

During President Obama's recent trip to China, the US-China Joint Statement highlighted the need for improved bilateral communications in many areas. Unfortunately, one vital channel of communications is compromised: the Chinese government continues to heavily censor the web, particularly social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, most blogs, forums, wikis, and others). While the rest of the world strengthens both personal and professional communications on international sites, the Chinese aren't present.

This is a serious and intractable problem. Past entreaties to the Chinese government from both internal and external organizations have had little impact on censorship policy.

But this may change.

During his Shanghai town hall, President Obama made one bombshell announcement: the US would increase the number of American university students studying in China to 100,000 over four years.

While this new program is significant and beneficial for many reasons, it is likely to have marked impact on the state and effectiveness of Chinese censorship.

What better way to introduce Chinese youth to social media sites (and how to access them through various technologies) than to send 100,000 laptop-toting, Facebook-addicted American students to live in dormitories across the Middle Kingdom?

The State Department has yet to provide details on how this program will be organized. Nonetheless, Obama's student exchange program will not only improve language skills and mutual understanding, it will likely help open up the web in China as well.

YouTube: Alicia Keys Concert To Be Streamed LIVE (VIDEO)

2009-11-27T10:12:34Z

In October, YouTube hosted one of the biggest live streaming events ever held: a U2 concert generating more than 10 million streams across 7 continents.
Now YouTube is looking to repeat that success, with an Alicia Keys concert being live streamed on December 1st at 8pm ET

YouTube: Iraq Government Launches Online Channel (VIDEOS)

2009-11-25T15:36:49Z

*See video below*

The Iraqi government has launched an official channel on YouTube, the video sharing site, in an effort to better "share its message" with people in Iraq and beyond.

Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki introduced the official channel, which can be here and is listed under the username "Iraqigov", in video posted November 24, 2009.

According to the Independent, the government's YouTube outreach effort was unveiled at the tail end of Google CEO Eric Schmidt's visit to Baghdad.

The Prime Minister says in his introduction to the government YouTube channel,

The world has not seen what the Iraqi government has been able to achieve in regard to security, economy, politics and building a federal democratic system. [...] The government sees in this video technology an opportunity to show our achievements.

Eric Schmidt created a video welcoming the Iraqi government to YouTube and praising the government's dedication to openness and modernization (see the video below). Schmidt says in the YouTube post,

It's great that the Iraqi govt is introducing the Iraqigov YouTube channel so that we'll discover even more what's great about Iraq, this new country that's being built, the resurgence of a new society, and the amazing things they have in store for all of us.

Schmidt also recently announced that Google would be digitizing artifacts from Iraq's national museum.

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Jose Antonio Vargas: Anatomy (and Meaning) of the "Did You Know?" Video Series (VIDEOS, PHOTOS)

2009-11-24T12:00:07Z

Yes, technology is revolutionizing politics, from raising money through online donors to organizing and mobilizing supporters using Facebook and text messaging. Yes, technology is impacting businesses big and small, particularly how they pitch and sell their products in such a fragmented, almost ADD digital marketplace.

But most importantly of all, the onslaught of new technologies -- cell phones, video games, social networking sites, the Wikipediazation of information, the reach of YouTube and Skype, you name it -- have ushered a seismic shift in education: how our kids learn, how our teachers teach, how curriculum is shaped and presented, how individual students, powered by technology, process and experience what they're learning.

It's this shift, an education earthquake of sorts, that prompted Karl Fisch, formerly a math teacher and now the technology coordinator at Arapahoe High School, just outside Denver, to create the slideshow "Did You Know?" That was in August 2006. What happened next, within three years, illustrates the very nature of what I've called our evolving "Clickocracy": one nation under Google, with video and e-mail for all.

First, Fisch posted original slideshow on his own blog. It quickly fired up the education blogosphere of which Fisch, a long-time teacher, is one of the earliest pioneers. A few months later, he got an e-mail from Scott McLeod, then an instructor at the University of Minnesota and now an associate professor of educational administration at Iowa State University -- if you want to be a principal or superintendent, contact McLeod. McLeod loved the slideshow but also wanted to tweak it a bit, shave off about half a minute, jazz it up with photos and do a video, which he then posted on his own blog.

Then the mash-ups, the remixes, the parodies, the re-uploads on video sharing sites like Glumbert.org and Break.com came pouring in. The design company XPLANE contacted Fisch and McLeod and wanted to create a 2.0 version of the video, complete with animation, for free.

Why 'Obama Fried Chicken' Sign Was Blurred In Clipse 'Popular Demand' Music Video

2009-11-23T16:48:30Z

A restaurant in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brownsville that re-named itself "Obama Fried Chicken" in March is back in the spotlight after it appeared in -- and then disappeared from -- the music video by the rap duo Clipse.

Mike Ragogna: HuffPost Reviews : Beyonce, Rihanna, Buddy Holly, The Doors, Susan Boyle, and More

2009-11-23T00:12:31Z

Beyoncé - I Am...Yours

"You had me at hello," sings Beyoncé Knowles as the soul-pop diva embraces scores of outreached hands while working her way to the stage through a crowd of 1500 at the Wynn Hotel's Encore Theater in Las Vegas. Thus begins her new two-hour plus concert CD/DVD I Am...Yours taped in August that is meant to be an intimate, elegant framing of the singer, although that intimacy will seem super-sized when the program is broadcast on ABC-TV this Thanksgiving. This "concert" is a staged, stripped-down reconfiguration by Beyoncé and co-director Nick Wickham (filmed by Ed Burke) of her current touring extravaganza that covers her biggest hits (like "Halo," "Sweet Dreams," and "If I Were A Boy"), and even shoehorns-in a Destiny's Child tribute as she whisks us through her career highlights in two tidy acts plus an "intermission" that is nothing of the sort (it's a jazz medley with a dance payoff).

Beyoncé's performances are backed by her Suga Mama ensemble plus an orchestra whose satin interpretations pump lush over pomp (much like her Thierry Mugler wardrobe), and the retro, mood-lit platform casts the vocalist in a Diana Ross light--a comparison to the latter artist being an obvious intention. Beyoncé's I Am...Yours is a satisfying decade-and-then-some retrospective that reveals the artist's interesting back story with a personal warmth not always emphasized by our current cast of pop stars.

Start Here: "Halo," "Destiny's Child Medley," and "That's Why You're Beautiful"

Tracks:

CD 1
1. Hello
2. Halo
3. Irreplaceable
4. Sweet Dreams Medley
5. If I Were A Boy
6. Scared Of Lonely
7. That's Why You're Beautiful
8. Satellites
9. Resentment
10. Déjà Vu Jazz Medley
11. Déjà Vu

CD 2
1. I Wanna Be Where You Are
2. Destiny's Child Medley
3. Work It Out
4. '03 Bonnie & Clyde
5. Crazy In Love
6. Naughty Girl
7. Get Me Bodied
8. Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
9. Finale

DVD / Blu-ray
Act One - Intimate...
Scene One: Hello Introduction
Scene Two: Halo
Scene Three: Irreplaceable
Scene Four: Sweet Dreams Medley
Scene Five: If I Were A Boy
Scene Six: Scared of Lonely
Scene Seven: That's Why You're Beautiful
Scene Eight: Satellites
Scene Nine: Resentment

Intermission
Déjà Vu Jazz medley
Déjà Vu
Tap Sequence

Act Two - Storytelling
Scene One: I Wanna Be Where You Are
Scene Two: Destiny's Child
Scene Three: Beyoncé
Scene Four: Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)
Finale And End Credits

Bonus Feature
What Happens In Vegas... (Behind The Scenes)

FYI - Beyoncé just won Best R&B/Soul Female Artist at the 2009 American Music Awards

Rihanna - Rated R

Debuting tonight on the ABC-TV network is the Anthony Mandler-directed video for "Russian Roulette," the first single from Rihanna's new studio album, Rated R. The track--produced by label mate Ne-Yo--as well as the album, deviate from the path A Girl Like Me and Good Girl Gone Bad hip-hopped along, though familiar collaborators such as Chase & Status, Justin Timberlake, Tricky Stewart, and others reappear to lend support.

In many ways, especially after Chris Brown's alleged brutal attack earlier this year, the 21-year-old has every right to let loose the angry, and Rated R takes a walk on the primal side to achieve this. Actually, if these songs were any darker or more pointed in attitude, this album might have had to have been titled Rated NC-17. In some places, her Caribbean accent seems thicker than on her previous albums, perhaps due to this being more of a catharsis than a stab at six or more U.S. pop hits. "Hard" hits exactly in that way, though the Timberlake original "Cold Case Love" resides on the other end of the emotional spectrum.

Of course, guests include many producer/songwriter contributors, plus the eternally cool Slash adds a solid but whack guitar part on "Rockstar 101," an absurd track that normally wouldn't fit on an album like this but does because almost no musical stone is left unturned. From this perspective, Rated R succeeds for its guts and spilling of them, and it's nice that Def Jam allowed this artist to record the album she needed to as opposed to another volume of potential greatest hits.

Start Here: "Mad House," "Russian Roulette," "Cold Case Love," and "Stupid In Love"

Tracks:

1. Mad House
2. Wait Your Turn
3. Hard
4. Stupid In Love
5. Rockstar 101
6. Russian Roulette
7. Fire Bomb
8. Rude Boy
9. Photographs
10. G4L
11. Te Amo
12. Cold Case Love
13. The Last Song

Buddy Holly - Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings And More

With this six-disc box set, the final and best statement has been made on the music of Buddy Holly. Over the 203 preserved tracks, compilation producer and Holly authority Andy McKaie unites the early rocker's Brunswick, Coral, and Decca recordings with quite a few alternate takes, previously unreleased leftovers, every classic hit and b-side, and those now-famous apartment tapes...in short, everything. Additional remastering has been done expertly by sonic genius Erick Labson, and the 80-page book features annotations, important photos, and liner notes that couldn't be better by rock 'n' roll aficionados and wordsmiths, Billy Altman and Bill Dahl.

This is the type of box that deserves a Grammy, regardless of it being a mere six CDs as opposed to the dense, over-100-disc gatherings of past awards. Buddy Holly is not arguably one of the most important chapters of and most influential figures in music's recorded history, he simply is. And there's also no argument that Buddy Holly is the creative inspiration for generations of musicians both famous and obscure that have followed. If by some bizarre reason there isn't at least a nomination, then the oh-so-important Grammy board needs to collectively resign.

Start Here: Anywhere You Want

Tracks:

CD 1
1. My Two-Timin' Woman
2. I'll Just Pretend
3. Take These Shackles From My Heart
4. Footprints In the Snow
5. Flower Of My Heart
6. Door To My Heart
7. Soft Place In My Heart
8. Gotta Get You Near Me Blues
9. I Gambled My Heart
10. You And I Are Through
11. Down The Line
12. Baby, Let's Play House
13. Down The Line
14. You And I Are Through
15. Baby, It's Love
16. Memories
17. Queen Of The Ballroom
18. Memories
19. Moonlight Baby (aka Baby, Won't You Come Out Tonight)
20. I Guess I Was Just A Fool
21. Don't Come Back Knockin'
22. Love Me
23. Midnight Shift
24. Midnight Shift (false start/alternate)
25. Don't Come Back Knockin' (alternate)
26. Don't Come Back Knockin'
27. Blue Days, Black Nights
28. Love Me
29. Baby Won't You Come Out Tonight
30. I Guess I Was Just A Fool
31. It's Not My Fault
32. I'm Gonna Set My Foot Down
33. Changin' All Those Changes
34. Rock-A-Bye Rock
35. Because I Love You

CD 2
1. Rock Around With Ollie Vee
2. I'm Changin' All Those Changes
3. That'll Be The Day
4. Girl On My Mind
5. Ting-A-Ling
6. Rock Around With Ollie Vee
7. Modern Don Juan
8. You Are My One Desire (false start)
9. You Are My One Desire
10. Gone (incomplete)
11. Gone
12. Gone (alternate take)
13. Have You Ever Been Lonely (incomplete alternate)
14. Have You Ever Been Lonely (alternate)
15. Have You Ever Been Lonely
16. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man
17. Good Rockin' Tonight
18. Rip It Up
19. Blue Monday
20. Honky Tonk
21. Blue Suede Shoes
22. Shake Rattle And Roll (partial)
23. Bo Diddley
24. Ain't Got No Home
25. Holly Hop
26. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man
27. Bo Diddley
28. I'm Looking For Someone To Love
29. That'll Be The Day
30. Last Night (undubbed)
31. Maybe Baby (first version)
32. Words Of Love
33. Mailman Bring Me No More Blues
34. Not Fade Away (alternate overdub)
35. Not Fade Away
36. Everyday

CD 3
1. Ready Teddy
2. Valley Of Tears
3. That'll Be The Day (greetings to Bob Thiele)
4. That'll Be The Day (greetings to Murray Deutsch)
5. That'll Be The Day (greetings to Bill Randle)
6. Peggy Sue (alternate take)
7. Peggy Sue
8. Listen To Me
9. Oh Boy (undubbed)
10. I'm Gonna Love You Too
11. Send Me Some Lovin' (undubbed)
12. It's Too Late (undubbed)
13. Oh Boy
14. An Empty Cup (And A Broken Date)
15. Rock Me My Baby
16. Rock Me My Baby (alternate)
17. You've Got Love
18. Maybe Baby
19. Send Me Some Lovin'
20. It's Too Late
21. Tell Me How
22. Little Baby
23. (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care
24. Look At Me
25. Mona (rehearsal)
26. Mona (version 1)
27. Mona (version 2)
28. Mona (version 3)
29. Rave On
30. That's My Desire (two false starts plus undubbed master)
31. Well...All Right Well...All Right
32. Fool's Paradise (alternate take 1)
33. Fool's Paradise (alternate take 2)
34. Fool's Paradise (undubbed master)

CD 4
1. Think It Over (false start & rehearsal take)
2. Think It Over (undubbed alternate)
3. Think It Over (undubbed master)
4. Take Your Time (false start & alternate take)
5. Take Your Time
6. Fool's Paradise
7. Think It Over
8. Lonesome Tears
9. It's So Easy
10. Heartbeat
11. Love's Made A Fool Of You (undubbed)
12. Early In The Morning
13. Now We're One (fragment)
14. Now We're One
15. Come Back Baby
16. Reminiscing (undubbed)
17. True Love Ways (mono mix)
18. True Love Ways (stereo mix)
19. It Doesn't Matter Anymore (mono)
20. It Doesn't Matter Anymore (stereo)
21. Raining In My Heart (mono)
22. Raining In My Heart (stereo)
23. Moondreams (mono)
24. Moondreams (stereo)
25. You're The One
26. That's What They Say (w/fragment)
27. What To Do
28. Peggy Sue Got Married
29. That Makes It Tough
30. Crying, Waiting, Hoping
31. Learning The Game
32. Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie

CD 5
1. Slippin' And Slidin' (slow version #1)
2. Slippin' And Slidin' (slow version #2)
3. Slippin' And Slidin' (fast version)
4. Drown In My Own Tears (fragment)/Buddy & Maria Elena talking in apartment
5. Dearest (alternate take)
6. Dearest
7. Untitled Instrumental (a/k/a Buddy's Guitar/listed as "Tremolo Instrumental")
8. Love Is Strange
9. Smokey Joe's Café
10. Peggy Sue Got Married
11. Crying, Waiting, Hoping
12. That's What They Say (version 2)
13. What To Do
14. Learning The Game
15. That Makes It Tough
16. Baby Won't You Come Out Tonight
17. Because I Love You
18. Changin' All Those Changes
19. I'm Gonna Set My Foot Down
20. It's Not My Fault
21. Rock-A-Bye Rock
22. Brown-Eyed Handsome Man
23. Bo Diddley
24. What To Do
25. Peggy Sue Got Married
26. Crying, Waiting, Hoping
27. That Makes It Tough
28. That's What They Say
29. Learning The Game
30. Reminiscing
31. Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie
32. Dearest (version 2)
33. Slippin' And Slidin' (slow version 2)

CD 6
1. Baby Let's Play House (I Wanna Play House With You)
2. Down The Line
3. Wait Til' The Sun Shines Nellie (overdub version 2)
4. Reminiscing
5. Flower Of My Heart
6. Door To My Heart
7. Soft Place In My Heart
8. I Gambled My Heart
9. Gotta Get You Near Me Blues
10. Gone (version 3)
11. Rip It Up
12. Honky Tonk
13. Blue Suede Shoes
14. Shake Rattle And Roll
15. You And I Are Through
16. Baby It's Love
17. Memories
18. Queen Of The Ballroom
19. Love's Made A Fool Of You
20. Wishing (mono)
21. Wishing (stereo)
22. Maybe Baby
23. That's My Desire
24. Have You Ever Been Lonely (version 1)
25. Good Rockin' Tonight
26. Blue Monday
27. Ain't Got No Home
28. Holly Hop
29. Slippin' And Slidin'
30. You're The One
31. Love Is Strange
32. (Ummm, Oh Yeah) Dearest
33. Smokey Joe's Café

The Doors - Live In New York

Appearing in New York City for the last time before Jim Morrison died, The Doors blues-rocked for four nights at the Felt Forum, a smaller-than-the-Garden arena whose acoustics were preferred by the band after having played the larger venue in the previous year. Live In New York is a six-CD sprawl that presents all of the performances, those concerts having gone down as some of the band's most significant live works (over the years, only a few selected songs have been released across their box set and the album Absolutely Live).

These shows included takes on classic blues numbers and some of their oldest material as the band revisited their roots for revitalization, and the concerts also launched songs such as "Roadhouse Blues," "Ship Of Fools," and "Peace Frog" whose studio counterparts would later make up the core of the Morrison Hotel album. Each night's set list was altered at the time for freshness (the last night including John Sebastian sitting-in), and with Bruce Botnick's new mixes, the recordings themselves sound as immediate as if you were at the Forum during those legendary concerts.

Start Here: "Roadhouse Blues," "Light My Fire," "Little Red Rooster," and "Back Door Man"

Tracks:

CD 1
Start Of Show
Roadhouse Blues
Ship Of Fools*
Break On Through (To The Other Side)*
Tuning
Peace Frog
Blue Sunday
Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
Back Door Man*
Love Hides*
Five To One*
Tuning/Breather
Who Do You Love
Little Red Rooster
Money
Tuning
Light My Fire*
More, More, More
Soul Kitchen*
End Of Show

CD2
Start Show 2
Jim How Ya Doing?
Roadhouse Blues
Break On Through (To The Other Side)*
Ship Of Fools
Crawling King Snake
Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)
Back Door Man*
Five To One
Pretty Neat, Pretty Good
Build Me A Woman
Tuning/Breather
Who Do You Love*
Tuning/Breather
Wild Child*
Cheering/Tuning
When The Music's Over

CD3
Tuning/Breather
Light My Fire*
Hey, Mr. Light Man!
Soul Kitchen*
Jim's Fish Joke
The End
End Of Show

CD 4
Start Show 3
Roadhouse Blues*
Ship Of Fools*
Break On Through (To The Other Side)*
Tuning/Breather
Universal Mind*
Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) - False Start*
Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)*
Back Door Man*
Five To One
Tuning/Breather
Moonlight Drive
Who Do You Love*
Calling Out For Songs
Money*
Tuning/Breather
Light My Fire
More, More More
When The Music's Over*
Good Night - End Show

CD 5
Start Show 4
Roadhouse Blues*
Peace Frog*
Alabama Song (Whisky Bar)*
Back Door Man
Five To One
We Have A Special Treat
Celebration Of The Lizard
Alright Let's Boogie
Build Me A Woman
When The Music's Over*
More, More, More

CD 6
Soul Kitchen*
For Fear Of Getting Too Patriotic
Petition The Lord With Prayer
Light My Fire
Only When The Moon Comes Out
Close To You
The Encore Begins
Rock Me*
What To Do Next?
Going To N.Y. Blues*
Tuning/Breather
Maggie M'Gill*
Tuning/Breather
Gloria*/End Of Show

*previously unreleased

Susan Boyle - I Dreamed A Dream

It was lots of fun over this past year to read everyone's quick-witted and dim-witted blogs about Scottish singer Susan Boyle, the 48-year-old housewife who amazed millions of British and YouTube viewers with her renditions of "Cry Me A River" and Les Misérables' "I Dreamed A Dream." That title says almost everything you need to know about the self-proclaimed "wee-wifey," Boyle successfully having challenged convention while following her heart's desire by appearing on Britain's Got Talent. And when the middle-aged pop idol appeared on America's Got Talent, her eerily good take on The Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses" earned her a standing ovation, that performance expanding her presence in U.S. households beyond the internet.

This new album--naturally, titled I Dreamed A Dream--features a few of Boyle's most internationally popular reworks including the above-mentioned as well as covers of John Stewart's original "Daydream Believer" (the old Monkees and Anne Murray hit), and a touching version of Madonna's "You'll See." With faith playing a major role in her personal life, Susan Boyle's "Amazing Grace," "Silent Night," and "How Great Thou Art" were necessary inclusions, as were the self-confident and assertive "Who I Was Born To Be" and the song "Proud" that practically is an anthem for anyone who is, well, proud of their lives.

This will be an album to watch because it could very well shake up the Top Ten based on interest from mature and Christian demos as well as the extremely curious. You've got to root for the underdogs when they're this honest about their convictions, and Susan Boyle is like a singing Rocky of her generation on both sides of the pond. Sure, her vibrato warbles in spots, her read sounds a little lost when tackling lyrics that get wordy, and this will be a tough listen for anyone without ears for the easy listening format. But makin' rekkids is a new experience for Boyle, and she did it pretty well this time out without a trace of Mrs. Elva Miller on the microphone. In a year when Barbra Streisand can have one of the biggest albums of her career, Susan Boyle comes to the plate ignoring the signals. Watch her point the bat at us with an evil grin then proceed to hit a homer.

Start Here: "Wild Horses," "You'll See," and "I Dreamed A Dream"

Tracks:

1. Wild Horses
2. I Dreamed A Dream
3. Cry Me A River
4. How Great Thou Art
5. You'll See
6. Daydream Believer
7. Up To The Mountain
8. Amazing Grace
9. Who I Was Born To Be
10. Proud
11. The End Of The World
12. Silent Night

An Interview With The Jimmies' Ashley Albert

Mike Ragogna: How would you best describe a "Jimmie"?

Ashley Albert: "Jimmies," in the northeast, are sprinkles that you put on ice cream. "The Jimmies" had become my company name...what I like about it is that their only purpose on ice cream is to add a little extra fun. They have no nutritional value, they're not even particularly delicious, and there's no reason for them to be there except if you want to add a tiny bit more fun than what ice cream already offers. So I like the idea that The Jimmies are just there for a little extra fun. Make that a lot more fun.

MR: Yeah, and you can't say the word without smiling at the end of it. Nicely played!

AA: I'm a namer, like in general, and people come to me when they have babies, new businesses, books, or products, that's my thing. I would actually start a company that did that if I could think of a good enough name for it.

MR: There seem to be many Jimmies, but it's also your persona. How does that duplicity work in Jimmies World?

AA: Originally, when The Jimmies came about, it was just me. I got a record producer and made the album with him, then I had auditions in New York and cast the band. I'd never been in a band before, I didn't know anything, I just sort of went like, "I don't know, what's in a band...a bass player, a keyboard player, a drummer," so I sort of picked those instruments. It's always been a work-for-hire kind of thing, and I now have a stable of great guys I can call upon at any moment.

MR: You have a couple of different projects, the DVD/CD Trying Funny Stuff and the older CD Make Your Own Someday that's been out for a while, right?

AA: Yeah, that's been out for about three years, but it's never gotten any national distribution. So once I made this deal with Barnes & Noble, we decided to re-release it. It had been a pretty underground record, and it won a bunch of "Best Album Of The Year" raves and a bunch of awards, but really, only the parents who were in the super-super in-the-know had heard the record. Since the DVD was sort of a companion piece to the CD because it's all the music from it, we decided to release them both at the same time.

MR: So Barnes & Noble saw the genius of your Jimmies?

AA: Yeah, which is incredible because we did it independently. Usually, a big place like Barnes & Noble isn't interested in working with an independent artist, they want to work with major labels and distributors. It's very difficult, in general, for an independent artist to get brick-and-mortar stores. They really only want the franchise stuff that's on TV that's already guaranteed to sell. It's amazing, they have it on their overheads, and someone told me when they walked in the store, we were playing on their sound system. We're their "gift" buy, and they even have us on their end-cap...they've really gotten behind it. I get on the phone with them all the time, and for such a big company, it feels very personal and they're good people. So, I'm completely blown away, excited, and grateful that they're taking a chance on us.

MR: It's like you're trailblazing for independent artists as you elevate your presence there.

AA: Now we just have to get people to buy it so that more independent artists will be able to get in there!

MR: And even with a Barnes & Noble backing projects like these, artists like yourself who create children's music have a tough go of it since parents don't necessarily know what they're looking for. Like for most genres, touring seems to be the best way to support a project.

AA: We have a great booking agent, the same as The Imagination Movers, which is amazing. There are times when people call for them and when they can't afford paying for them, they kind of slide us into that slot if they still need a musical act.

MR: Who takes care of the details for your tours?

AA: I do everything myself from the negotiations of the contract to packing up the bubble machine to getting us hotel rooms.

MR: Taking the show that's on Trying Funny Stuff must be interesting to recreate on the road since there's a lot going on.

AA: It's a tremendous effort to get out there and tour, and like you said, it's so hard to get the awareness out to parents, even to come out to the shows. They just don't have time...if it's not on TV or they just don't know about it, you can't ask parents to do the investigative research to find out. So, I'm focusing on trying to find alternative ways to get in front of families, and that's more effective than doing one-off shows here and there.

MR: Making music for children that aren't super-young also must be challenging.

AA: The challenge for us, and also one of the great things, is that we're one of the few kid bands out there that are making music for elementary school-aged kids. A lot of the kids bands are aiming at the younger toddlers and pre-school kids, and there's not a lot of contact made with elementary school kids. The problem is the older kids will watch the young stuff until they get old enough, and then they move on to the Hannah Montanas and Jonas Brothers of the world. So, no one has to make music for that age group, they just get buckled-in, they just have to hook the older kids and the younger kids, then the middle kids will follow.

MR: Is there has to be a lot of satisfaction in directing music at that age group?

AA: I love that we're doing it for them, they're the best kids. They're not only the ones that are still young enough to be silly and laugh and have fun, but they're old enough that they have a sense of humor, a sense of language, and they're able to follow the nuances of puns and my style of ridiculousness.

1. What's That Sound?
2. Bedhead
3. Spanimals
4. The Peanut Butter Polka
5. Cool To Be Uncool
6. Do The Elephant
7. Teeth
8. What's On Your Shirt?
9. Punxsutawney Phil
10. Somebody's Birthday
11. Taddy
12. Huptsha Huptsha
13. Soaper the Scaredy-Bot
14. Tuesday Blues
15. Googlie Mooglie

INTERMISSION: Hey, check out the new Paramore video, "Brick By Boring Brick"!:

Pressing Press Releases:

MySpace Music Invites Fans to GET CLOSE TO LADY GAGA with New Contest

Site Premieres New Album from Adam Lambert Titled For Your Entertainment

Win a chance to meet Lady Gaga, attend her rehearsal and "Monster Ball" concert in Boston all while capturing it on camera. MySpace Music announced today an exclusive contest with international pop superstar Lady Gaga to win the chance to film the first U.S concert of her tour on December 1st in Boston, MA; the video will be edited and featured on the homepage of MySpace. The Fame Monster herself will be choosing fan-submitted videos claiming why they deserve to "get close" to the superstar. The contest kicks off today at Lady Gaga's official MySpace profile at: http://www.myspace.com/ladygaga. The chosen fans will be flown to Boston, equipped with cameras, to document her performance and share their experiences. The day they arrive they will head to the venue to watch Lady Gaga rehearse and meet and interview her. At the end of the night, the winners will hand in their cameras and their footage will be edited together into a comprehensive concert piece fully shot by her biggest fans and, in essence, creating three new official live videos for Lady Gaga.

In addition to the aforementioned contest, music fans can listen to Adam Lambert's highly anticipated debut album, For Your Entertainment, in full and for free exclusively on MySpace Music (http://www.myspace.com/adamlambert) and iLike (http://www.iLike.com/adamlambert) . The exclusive album stream will be available on MySpace Music and iLike a week in advance of For Your Entertainment's release on November 23, 2009.

GLEEFUL NEWS! - CAST VERSIONS OF "BOOTYLICIOUS," "IMAGINE," "TRUE COLORS," AND CAST MASH-UP OF "HAIR/CRAZY IN LOVE," AMONG SONGS FEATURED IN "GLEE" WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, ON FOX

Columbia Records and Twentieth Century Fox Television today released select songs on iTunes featured in this week's episode of GLEE, including cast versions of Beyonce's "Bootylicious," John Lennon's "Imagine," Cyndi Lauper's "True Colors" and a cast mash-up of "Hair" from the musical and Beyonce's "Crazy in Love."

In this week's all-new episode, airing Wednesday, Nov. 25 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX, WILL (Matthew Morrison) is concerned that SUE (Jane Lynch) is up to no good, so he pays a visit to an instructor of a competing Glee Club (guest star Eve) to see what information she might be leaking, which leads to the club getting a look at their hair-rising competition. Meanwhile, KURT (Chris Colfer) gives RACHEL (Lea Michele) a makeover to impress FINN (Cory Monteith), but he may have ulterior motives in the "Hairography" episode of GLEE.

In addition to these new songs, cast versions of Diana Ross and Lionel Richie's "Endless Love," The Pretenders' "I'll Stand By You," Jennifer Paige's "Crush," Paul Anka's "(You're) Having My Baby," Bill Withers' "Lean On Me," cast mash-up of The Police's "Don't Stand So Close To Me" with Gary Puckett and the Union Gap's "Young Girl," Ike & Tina Turner's "Proud Mary," "Defying Gravity" from Broadway's "Wicked," Billy Idol's "Dancing With Myself," Young MC's "Bust A Move," Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline," Sisqo's "Thong Song," Jill Scott's "Hate On Me," The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On," Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown's "No Air," Avril Lavigne's "Keep Holding On," Queen's "Somebody To Love," Heart's "Alone," Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," "Maybe This Time" from "Cabaret," Céline Dion's "Taking Chances," Rihanna's "Take A Bow," Carrie Underwood's "Last Name," Jazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows," Kanye West's "Gold Digger," REO Speedwagon's "Can't Fight This Feeling," Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It" and Duffy's "Mercy," as well as mash-ups of Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" with Usher's "Confessions Part II" and Beyoncé's "Halo" with Katrina and the Waves' "Walking on Sunshine," are also available for purchase via all digital service providers.

"Glee: The Music, Volume 1," which features music heard in the first season of the series, is currently available for purchase. Released on November 3, the album sold in excess of 113,000 units in its first week alone and garnered an astounding No. 4 spot on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart. And for fans who just can't get enough of GLEE's high-spirited music, "Glee: The Music, Volume 2" hits stores on Tuesday, Dec. 8.

GLEE, the genre-defying new musical comedy series, follows an optimistic teacher who - against all odds and a malicious cheerleading coach - attempts to save McKinley High's Glee Club from obscurity while helping a group of aspiring underdogs realize their true star potential. Starring Dianna Agron, Chris Colfer, Jessalyn Gilsig, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Cory Monteith, Matthew Morrison, Amber Riley, Mark Salling and Jenna Ushkowitz, GLEE is produced by Ryan Murphy Television in association with 20th Century Fox Television. Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan are co-creators of the series. Murphy, Falchuk and Dante Di Loreto serve as executive producers, while Ian Brennan serves as co-executive producer.

NORMA JEAN PERFORMING NEW SONG "KILL MORE PRESIDENTS" ON THE EXPLOSIONS 2009 TOUR

CREATING LIVE MUSIC VIDEO VIA FAN VIDEO CLIPS WITH PRIZE PACK GIVEAWAYS

NEW ALBUM OUT SUMMER 2010

Calling all Norma Jean fans--get your video phones & flip cams charged and ready to record the live performance of their new song, "Kill More Presidents," for their current EXPLOSIONS 2009 Tour. The band is asking fans to use their portable digital cameras to film the band playing the new song live and then upload to a microsite after the show. Norma Jean will then create a live music video with all material coming from fan submissions.

For those who submit video clips, Norma Jean offer a hefty set of prizes from such sponsors as Monster Energy, Activision/Tony Hawk RIDE, Alternative Press Magazine, Denny's, Keep A Breast, Rockett Clothing and Hot Topic. Those without a digital video camera can still submit their email address for the Norma Jean mailing list and enter to win the second tier prize pack. Winners will be chosen at random.

Norma Jean will be playing "Kill More Presidents" live on the 2009 EXPLOSIONS tour with support from Horse The Band, The Chariot, and Arsonists Get All The Girls. A new Norma Jean album is slated for summer 2010.

Click here for the contest microsite: http://www.normajeannoise.com/video/

PATTY GRIFFIN TO RELEASE GOSPEL-INSPIRED ALBUM

DOWNTOWN CHURCH TO BE RELEASED JANUARY 26, 2010

EMI/Credential Recordings is excited to announce that Patty Griffin is set to release Downtown Church, a gospel-inspired set on January 26, 2010. It is Griffin's seventh album and was produced by Buddy Miller. Downtown Church was cut live in The Downtown Presbyterian Church on 5th Ave. N. in Nashville over the first week of January 2009 with Griffin singing from the pulpit. It features vocal support from Emmylou Harris, Raul Malo, Jim Lauderdale, Shawn Colvin, Mike Farris, Buddy and Julie Miller as well as Regina and Ann McCrary, whose father was one of the founding members of the legendary gospel group the Fairfield Four. The musicians are bassist Dennis Crouch and drummer Jay Bellerose who played with Miller in the Alison Krauss/Robert Plant touring band, as well as long-time Griffin guitarist Doug Lancio, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, John Deaderick on piano and Russ Pahl on steel guitar among others.

The idea for Downtown Church started with EMI's Peter York suggesting to Griffin that she should consider doing an album of gospel songs. His suggestion grew out of a version of "Waiting For My Child," the song Griffin recorded with Mavis Staples for the Oh Happy Day compilation. Griffin's answer was simple: "That would be great, as long as Buddy Miller is producing it." She continued, "I still feel like black gospel music, what's come out of the United States from slavery, is really the foundation for almost everything that I love. I'm talkin' Beatles and everything. That, to me, is just basic. The foundation."

When Miller and Griffin started work on the record, the producer sent the singer his favorite gospel songs. "Buddy dumped so many songs onto my iTunes that it crashed," Griffin said. "That was a year before we even started making the record. And then he sent me a couple of CDs. There were like 100 songs to start. It was pretty fun going through all that stuff; I got through the first 50 and had everything I needed."

Like Griffin's previous six albums, Downtown Church is stylistically diverse, focusing not only on the black gospel tradition but also on the white Southern gospel songs of Hank Williams and Alfred G. Karnes (one of the dozens of artists not named Carter or Rodgers who were recorded by Ralph Peer in Bristol, TN, during the late 1920s), and one beautiful nod to Hispanic gospel traditions. Alongside, two Griffin originals and a closing hymn attributed to St. Francis of Assisi round out the record.

Her own contributions came after listening to a goodly handful of Bob Dylan's religious work. "Buddy sent me a lot of that stuff," she says. "It's just not my point of view. The songs I'm singing, I'm just interpreting someone else's ideas, and I'm not tied to those ideas. Listening to Dylan, who's contemporary, and who's in my genre, if I may be so bold as to say that, I felt like I really had to write my own and put a couple in there that feel like me."

Griffin and her band will be touring throughout 2010.

LISA GERMANO NEWS AND MORE

Ida Con Snock is the 21st full length album by legendary rambler, cartoonist, and "outsider" folk singer, guitarist Michael Hurley. The new album features Hurley accompanied by NYC's premier acoustic experimentalists Ida. Ida Con Snock was recorded at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock and Brooklyn Studios in Brooklyn engineered by Justioan Guip and Andy Taub respectively. Ida Con Snock is his second for the Gnomonsong label distributed by Revolver USA.

Ida's less-is-more finesse shines through brightly on these rich studio recordings, melding perfectly with Michael's inimitable playing, singing and songwriting. While many of his contemporaries have expired or are long past their creative prime, his muse is still at full strength. Many of these songs are already familiar to Hurley devotees: there are seven originals and five loving covers of 50's rock 'n' roll chestnuts, C&W and folk vintage here. They all bubble with laid back ease and tremolodic goodness.

Hurley's unque gifts as a songwriter are something that hasn't gone unnoticed by new a generation of respected musicians. In recent years, Michael was invited to tour with alt-country heroes Son Volt and Lucinda Williams. He's also shared bills with Smog and Palace Brothers; played with the Giant Sand rhythm section; and has appeared with and played on and been covered by Vetiver on record and onstage. His songs have also been covered by indie stars Cat Power and Yo La Tengo among many others.
http://www.snockonews.net/

Still harvesting and sustaining in the deep woods of Vermont , MV & EE (Matt "MV" Valentine, once the brawn of the Tower Recordings, and Erika "EE" Elder, CEO of Heroine Celestial Agriculture and The MV & EE Medicine Show) are following their 2008 release Drone Trailer with their feature-film-for-the-blind Barn Nova, which marks their return to the Ecstatic Peace! label.

MV & EE aspire to the sort of beautifully rewarding standard in their documented output that Sun Ra or The Grateful Dead achieved. It is with Ecstatic Peace! that their most consistent works have been born and continue reach fans with The Golden Road, their most constant band. Together with Doc Dunn (pedal steel, rhythm guitar, vocals, drums) and Mike Smith (Rickenbacker 4001, vocals) who appeared on Drone Trailer as well as J Mascis (drums, guitar, plate reverb) and Woods' Jeremy Earl (vocal, drums) they take you on the ride now known as Barn Nova and here they jam. Justin Pizzoferrato also appears contributing percussion, space echo and aiding once again at the controls. This album was recorded at MV & EE's own home studio "Maximum Arousal Farm" as well as their current local New England rooms of choice, "Bank Row" (an old mid 1900's bank) and J's home studio "Bisquiteen."

www.myspace.com/mveebummerroad
http://www.ecstaticpeace.com/kits/barnnova_kit.html

Magic Neighbor is the eighth album from singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Lisa Germano. The album was recorded by Jamie Camdiloro at his home in Los Angeles, produced by Germano. Magic Neighbor is her third release on Young God Records.

Germano didn't approach the recording with the intent of "making a record;" she just needed to address these songs and decide whether they'd be meaningful to anyone besides her. Lacking the means of recording at home she began working with Camdiloro where they'd left off with in the maybe world tracking voice and piano. Besides new songs, Lisa revisited older compositions that'd never been rendered properly, including some that were among the first she'd ever written. She re-worked some lyrics, added more instrumentation, and then brought in Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing) on acoustic bass and Greg Leisz on pedal steel. None of the arrangements were worked out beforehand; all the playing was improvised in the studio.

The final results are impossibly poignant and often heartbreakingly beautiful. Her production has a powerful, imaginative effect - seductive and truly magical. No one sounds like her. You get the feeling you're walking through her dreams as you listen. The intensity of feeling in her singing is a little frightening sometimes - it's like she's singing very close to your ear, leading you through her ultra emotional world. Magic neighbor was written about Germano's neighbor who put her two cats to sleep because... she wanted a new kitchen. But it's a positive record about trying to be happy with all the sad shit in the world, dealing with your own fights and being the mighty one who rises above it and contributes something of worth.
http://www.lisagermano.com/
www.myspace.com/lisagermano
http://younggodrecords.com/

"To start again, we're the lucky ones" opens "Shelter," the first track on The Swimmers' People Are Soft, and with it rings the sound of the band reinventing itself. Following the success of 2008's Fighting Trees--which garnered rave reviews from The Philadelphia Inquirer, Magnet, The Tripwire and Time Out Chicago--Steve and Krista Yutzy-Burkey, Scott French and Rick Sieber decided to start fresh by building a home studio from the ground up and recording a new album entirely on their own. The hard-won results feature intensely personal songwriting couched in distorted synthesizer hooks, crushing electric guitars and dark reverb swells. "It was a very focused and isolated time in the studio, and much of the grit was in the mixing process. These songs were darker and more intricate than the last record, and they demanded a very affected, refined sound," says lead singer/songwriter Steve Yutzy-Burkey.

Steve met his wife Krista, the Swimmers' keyboard player, when she was a harp performance major at a small liberal arts college in Indiana. At the same college, Steve played in various groups with bass player Rick Sieber, who was working towards a degree in Library Science. The three graduated and relocated to Philadelphia, where Steve, in response to an intriguing job listing, became a pipe organ tuner. There, he and drummer Scott French began recording music together as they repaired and tuned massive church organs. Their piano-pounding, vocal harmony-laden debut album was proclaimed by influential WXPN program director Bruce Warren to be " the best record not released in 2007," and Fighting Trees was subsequently picked up for release by MAD Dragon Records.

www.myspace.com/helloswimmers
http://theswimmers.com/press
www.maddragonrecords.com

What Will We Be is the sixth full length release from Devendra Banhart who exploded on the international music scene in 2002 quickly winning a coterie of devoted fans as well as an unusually hefty amount of critical kudos right from the outset. The new album was recorded in a sleepy Northern California town throughout the Spring of 2009 co-produced by Devendra and Paul Butler (from UK outfit Band Of Bees). What Will We Be is his label debut for Warner Brothers Records.

On What Will We Be Devendra attains the same clarity and focus as his groundbreaking solo work. The album is dominated by powerfully melodic, mid-tempo numbers played with relaxed expertise. But there's also ambitious stylistic range displayed with the inclusion of evanescent ballads like "Meet Me At Lookout Point," the epic riff-rocker "Rats" sprightly R&B flavored groovers on "Baby," and the sultry Latin-flavored stunner "Brindo," the Roxy-inspired "16th & Valencia, Roxy Music" among other pleasant surprises.

The basic recording line-up was Devendra on vocals and guitar; Noah Georgeson (producer of Banhart's last two albums, Little Joy, Bert Jansch and Joanna Newsome) on guitar and backing vocals, Greg Rogove (Priestbird) on drums and backing vocals; Luckey Remington (The Pleased) on bass and vocals and Rodrigo Amarante (Los Hermanos, Little Joy) on guitar and backing vocals. All the musicians involved played a part in arranging the songs recorded. Devendra and company took up residence in a private home, North of San Francisco, and set up a recording studio in it.

www.devendrabanhart.com
myspace.com/devendrabanhart

THE AVETT BROTHERS ANNOUNCE 2010 SPRING TOUR

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS PERFORMANCE ON JANUARY 23rd

The Avett Brothers are thrilled to announce their 2010 spring tour dates. With their album I and Love and You debuting at number 16 on the Billboard charts and selling over 40,000 units during the first week alone, these North Carolina rockers haven't shown any signs of slowing down.

On the heels of an extremely successful 2009 year with their critically acclaimed Rick Rubin produced album I and Love and You, and an extensive electrifying US tour, The Avett Brothers gear up to remind fans just how powerful a musical force this quartet is. Beginning their spring tour on February 4th in Athens, OH the band will travel throughout the US and end up in Cumberland, MD on May 28th (see below for full itinerary).

The Avett Brothers recently taped a special performance for PBS' Austin City Limits. Austin City Limits is the longest-running music series in American television history. With this performance, the Avett Brothers join the celebrated ranks with music legends and innovators from every genre including the likes of Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino. This momentous performance will air January 23rd on PBS.

This year, the brothers have been wowing late night audiences across America with performances on The Late Show with David Letterman , The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and more recently, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon where they debuted their second single "Slight Figure of Speech."

The video for "Slight Figure of Speech" premieres today on the comedy site, FunnyOrDie.com, with a guest appearance by funny man Andy Daly. The video was directed by fellow North Carolina native Jody Hill, the brain behind HBO's cult classic "Eastbound & Down".

Paste Magazine hails I and Love and You as one of the "Best Albums of the Decade". The Boston Globe calls The Avett Brothers' live performance "electric energy of rock 'n' roll with the spirit of old-fashioned storytelling". The Village Voice affirms they play "with the ferocity of a punk band, strumming them out with a hard locomotive chug, hopping in place, harmonizing in one moment and screaming hoarsely in the next." Esquire Magazine proclaims, "If they are sex, they are sex with the lights on."

THE AVETT BROTHERS 2010 SPRING TOUR DATES:

1/01 Atlanta, GA, Fox Theatre
1/03 Dallas, TX, Granada Theater
2/24 Athens, OH, Ohio University
2/26 Ithaca, NY, State Theatre
2/27 Cleveland, OH, House of Blues
2/28 Indianapolis, IN, Egyptian Room @ Murat Centre
3/02 Columbia, MO, Missouri Theatre
3/03 Midwest City, OK, Rose State PAC
3/05 Minneapolis, MN, First Avenue
3/06 Milwaukee, WI, Turner Hall Ballroom
3/07 Chicago, IL, House of Blues
3/09 Ann Arbor, MI, Michigan Theater
4/17 Oakland, CA, Fox Theater
4/18 Reno, NV, Grand Sierra Theatre
4/20 Boulder, CO, Boulder Theater
4/21 Boulder, CO, Boulder Theater
4/23 Tucson, AZ, Rialto Theatre
4/24 Mesa, AZ, Mesa Arts Center/Ikeda Theater
4/25 Indio, CA, Stagecoach Festival
4/27 Sacramento, CA, Crest Theatre
4/28 Santa Barbara, CA, Arlington Theatre
4/29 San Diego, CA, House of Blues
5/02 Wilkesboro, NC, MerleFest
5/28 Cumberland, MD, Del Fest: Allegany County Fairgrounds

THE GUESS WHO'S SO LONG, BANNATYNE (1971) AND ROCKIN' (1972) REISSUED ON CD

LIMITED EDITION REISSUES CONTINUE ICONOCLASSIC RECORDS' ACCLAIMED GUESS WHO REISSUE PROGRAM

First time on CD in U.S.

So Long, Bannatyne releases December 8, 2009; Rockin' releases January 12, 2010

Iconoclassic Records announces the latest releases in the label's continuing reissue program of the original albums by The Guess Who. SO LONG, BANNATYNE, originally released in 1971, will be reissued on December 8, 2009; ROCKIN' (from 1972) will follow on January 12, 2010. Both releases are now available for pre-order. Each album has been digitally remastered from the original master tapes by Grammy®-winning engineer Vic Anesini and features extensive liner notes with new interviews and song commentary from all of the living band members as well as producer Jack Richardson. Each CD edition is limited to 3,000 non-numbered limited edition copies.

The Guess Who proved they could weather a significant personnel change with 1970's commercially and artistically triumphant Share The Land, welcoming guitarists Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw onboard as replacements for Randy Bachman, with the guitarists joining long-standing members Burton Cummings (vocals, keyboards), Jim Kale (bass) and Garry Peterson (drums). The 1971 follow-up to Share The Land, SO LONG, BANNATYNE saw the band branching out, embracing more eclectic and less polished and commercial material, much of it with a considerably darker hue than the band's earlier hits and heavily influenced by John Lennon's visceral Plastic Ono Band.

Unprepared at the time for the band's latest evolution, at the time of its release BANNATYNE was saddled by many fans and critics alike with the tag of being the beginning of the end for the band as a vital hit-making proposition. But to a fresh set of ears, a fascinating lyrical continuity emerges that reveals a band and its principal writers burdened by success, cynical, tormented; the result being a kind of ad hoc concept record centering around themes of desperation, anger, disillusionment, resignation and an interminable bleakness, topics frontman Burton Cummings would continue to explore throughout the rest of The Guess Who's lifespan.

Iconoclassic Records' limited edition reissue of SO LONG, BANNATYNE appends the contemporaneous "Albert Flasher" b/w "Broken" single as bonus tracks, making this the definitive edition of a landmark album.

ROCKIN', originally released in 1972, represented a back-to-basics album for The Guess Who. Recorded and mixed in just 4 1/2 days of what were often live-in-the-studio sessions, ROCKIN' captures the band at its loosest, cracking jokes, remembering songs from their youth, and demonstrating the casual brilliance that marked one of rock's finest and most underrated ensembles. Frontman Burton Cummings recalls ROCKIN' as "the best GW time of my entire GW time...we started getting drum sounds about noon on Monday, and we turned in the finished, mixed masters about 3 p.m. on Friday."

The twin-guitars of Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw power one of The Guess Who's hardest rocking releases. Yet in true early '70s Guess Who fashion, ROCKIN' features an all-inclusive definition of rock, from the heavy riffs of opening track and single "Heartbroken Bopper," the '50s-styled boogies "Get Your Ribbons On" and "Running Bear," the harmony-driven "Smoke Big Factory," the socially conscious "Guns, Guns, Guns," and the psychedelic multipart suite that closed the original album.

A longtime cult-favorite among their fans, The Guess Who's ROCKIN' has been augmented with two previously unreleased bonus tracks exclusive to this limited edition release, including "Lost Sheep," a dry run for the "Hi Rockers!" medley that arguably betters its originally released counterpart.

Motion City Soundtrack Announce US Headlining Tour in Support of Major Label Debut

My Dinosaur Life - Due Out January 19th on Columbia Records

Tour Kicks-off with a Hometown Show on January 23rd at First Avenue in Minneapolis, MN

Motion City Soundtrack announce a US headlining tour in support of their highly-anticipated new album and major label debut - My Dinosaur Life - due out January 19th on Columbia Records. The tour kicks-off with a hometown show at First Avenue in Minneapolis and Motion City Soundtrack will be joined by fellow rockers Set Your Goals, This Providence and The Swellers for the entire tour. Tickets for the shows listed below go on sale at 10AM this Friday, November 20th.

The upcoming 2010 tour will be Motion City Soundtrack's first trek in over a year and first in support of their new album My Dinosaur Life. Produced by Blink-182's Mark Hoppus and mixed by Andy Wallace, this will be the band's fourth studio album and major label debut. Fans can pre-order the album now and the band is offering a special deluxe edition only available through the MCS store which you can access via the band's web site www.motioncitysoundtrack.com.

As the band gears up for the new album and tour ahead, fans and critics alike can follow Justin Pierre on the "Dino Trail" at www.mydinosaurlife.com and catch the guys when they join up with Weezer in December.

Check out www.motioncitysoundtrack.com for the most up-to-date information.

CASH MONEY FOUNDERS WILLIAMS BROTHERS & HIT ARTIST JAY SEAN TO APPEAR AT PACE UNIVERSITY FOR 'WHERE DO I SIGN?" SEMINAR NOV. 23rd

Professor Vernon J. Brown's class to spotlight relationship between entertainment lawyers and their clients

It's back to school for Cash Money CEOs and co-founders Ronald "Slim" Williams, brother Bryan "Birdman" Williams and their latest hit artist Jay Sean.

The principals behind the historic, New Orleans-based hip-hop label will take part in "Where Do I Sign?," Pace University School of Law Professor Vernon J. Brown's Entertainment Law class on the White Plains, N.Y., campus Monday evening, Nov. 23, from 6-8 p.m.

"The goal is to give my entertainment law students practical knowledge in working with their clients and interacting with label executives," Brown explains. "What artists expect from their attorneys and what they should expect from their clients. The class is like Inside the Actor's Studio for lawyers, offering practical advice for the way things actually work in the real world."

Brown has invited a number of his clients to address his class over the past four years, with the discussions focusing on how resolving legal issues has shaped the individual artists' and label executives' careers, with an extensive question-and-answer session. "My long-range goal is to give a similar class to junior high school and high school students, to make them aware of other careers that exist in the entertainment world other than as performers," he says.

The Williams recently marked the 10th anniversary of their distribution deal with Universal Music Group for their groundbreaking label, which over the years has produced hit albums by Lil Wayne, Drake, Jay Sean, Juvenile, B.G., Turk, Big Tymers, Mannie Fresh, Hot Boys and Baby/Birdman, two of Bryan Williams' hip-hop alter egos. Jay Sean is the label's latest success, with a chart-topping single in "Down" and his U.S. debut album, All or Nothing, hitting stores on Monday (11/23).

Brown, who has been Cash Money's business manager and attorney for 14 years and one of the industry's leading business managers for more than two decades, is a graduate of City College of New York, a licensed Certified Public Accountant who earned his law degree from Pace University, where he has taught Entertainment Law for the past four years. As Chairman/CEO of V. Brown & Company, he represents clients in all areas of entertainment, including fashion (supermodels Jessica Stam, Marisa Miller, Miranda Kerr, Coco Rocha), sports (Allan Houston, Charlie Ward, Ty Law, Michael Redd, Clinton Portis and Dwight Freeney), recording artists (Notorious B.I.G., Erykah Badu, Brian McKnight, Ne-Yo), film producers, performers (Steve-O) and directors (Harold "Hype" Williams).

TREY SONGZ GETS "READY" FOR THANKSGIVING BY ASSISTING HIS COMMUNITY
PETERSBURG, VIRGINIA IN HIS "FEED FOR LOVE CAMPAIGN"

R&B SUPERSTAR'S "SONGZ FOR PEACE FOUNDATION" TO GIVE 500 TURKEYS TO FAMILIES;
CHARITY EVENT SLATED FOR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24th;

*STUDENTS HAVE BEEN PRE-SELECTED*

Songbook Entertainment/Atlantic recording artist Trey Songz will celebrate the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday by giving turkeys to families in his home state of Virginia. The Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter's philanthropic "Songz For Peace Foundation" - in partnership with Richmond's 106.5 The Beat! - will give Thanksgiving turkeys to 500 families on Tuesday, November 24th in Petersburg, Virginia, beginning at 10:30 am. The 500 turkeys will be given to the families of children attending the 9 different schools in Trey's hometown of Petersburg, Virginia. 50 children will be selected from each school, with 100 children being selected from the singer's alma mater.

Trey's new album, "READY," made a phenomenal chart debut earlier this fall, entering Billboard's "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums" tally at #2. The album - which includes the hits "I Need A Girl," "LOL :-) (Feat. Gucci Mane and Soulja Boy Tell 'Em)," and "Successful (Drake & Trey Songz)" - also exploded into the #3 spot on the overall SoundScan/Billboard 200.
Trey is also becoming a major online superstar, with his www.TreySongz.com currently ranked as Atlantic Records' #2 most trafficked artist pages. Furthermore, Trey's loyal army of Twitter followers at @songzyuuup is nearing 500,000 and growing.

YouTube Captions Coming To Videos

2009-11-19T12:08:38Z

Google just announced that YouTube can now automatically generate captions and subtitles for videos in English. For now, this feature is only enabled on a handful of partner channels, but Google plans to make this feature available for all users in the future.

Penny C. Sansevieri: 10 Ways to Rock on Social Media and Still Have a Life

2009-11-16T15:09:02Z

It's true: social media is here--and there goes your life! Well, maybe not entirely but it sure seems that way sometimes, doesn't it? If you've held off joining the social media party because you were worried about what a time suck it would be, take heart! There are a lot of authors who feel the same way. I speak at conferences all the time and at almost every event I get at least a half a dozen people who insist they don't have time to devote to social media. Well, the fact remains you don't have time not to! But if you are still worried about the time commitment, let's take a look at how you can do this without dumping too much of your time into this effort. I mean an author's still gotta write, right?

When it comes to social media, understand this: sometimes more is not better; it's just more. You don't want to push yourself to too many sites because that can lead to fragmenting yourself too much online and, when you get fragmenting, you often get site abandonment. Meaning that you populate content on a (social media) site, only to forget it even exists.

1. Skim: the first phase of online promotion is often reading. This can be anything from Twitter posts to Facebook updates, blog posts and online articles. Here's a tip: skim. You'll want to be very selective with anything that you feel is worthy of an in-depth read. Save your time for the real important stuff and skim the rest.

2. Subscribe to RSS feeds, but only those you actually read: it's tempting to subscribe to a whole bunch of RSS blog feeds (just like it's tempting to get an email box full of newsletters but save yourself the hassle and only subscribe to content you can actually read). The same goes for people you follow on Twitter, if they don't add value, let them go. You don't need the noise.

3. Keep a timer nearby: if you are allocating time each day to your online activities, it's safe to assume you'll go over time unless you really police yourself. Get a kitchen timer and keep it near your desk, when the buzzer goes off, stop!

4. Automate whenever you can: automating can be the key to your online happiness. When you have autoresponders or auto content generators in place they can save you scads of time. An easy and quick way to implement example of this might be your newsletter sign ups. There are a variety of systems, one of them via Constant Contact that will allow you to easily automate sign ups. Even if you have a giveaway for signing up, the system can handle this too!

5. Consolidate your online presence: when you use sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Squidoo, you can really consolidate what you're doing online. Why? Because these three sites "talk" to one another, what that means is that if you update one, they all update. Makes it easy, doesn't it? While you still should visit each of these to populate them with content, you can also plug your information into one source and have it update all your properties. The 'source' can actually be your blog too. Using a site called Twitterfeed can update your Twitter account each time you update your blog, and there are widgets in Facebook and Squidoo that will do the same.

6. Get a routine: get yourself into a social media routine. You'll want to identify the best times of the day for you to blog, get active on Facebook, Twitter, etc., and then don't diverge from that. Stick to a schedule and a routine.

7. Cross-pollinate your stuff: much like my section on consolidating, you'll want to also cross-pollinate your content. Syndicated online articles are a good example of that. You can link to these articles from a variety of places. Your Twitter account for one will really benefit from this content, and you can also upload it to Facebook and Squidoo.

8. Do only essential things: you can waste a lot of your time online. By now you know that a million things can distract you; it's important to keep to the essentials. This means that you define what pushes your campaign forward and what doesn't. By doing this you will gain a better sense of where it's best to spend your time. For example, if blogging seems to get you a lot of new newsletter sign ups, continue doing it.

9. Don't follow the leader: while there are a lot of folks out there telling you what to do (including moi), you want to do what's right for you and your campaign, not what's popular. Twitter, for example, might make no sense for you at all. So don't just follow advice because you trust the source. Listen, learn, then do what will have the biggest impact on your campaign.

10. Create a plan: without a direction, any path will do. Make sure you have a plan for going online, don't just do it because it's "hip" or everyone else is. Make sure you spend some time creating a focused outline of what you'll do, what your goals are and what you need to attain to accomplish these goals. A plan will not only keep you focused, but also stay better on track with your marketing. A plan should include goals and a to do list so you make sure and sift through all the action items you need to create a rockin' online campaign.

These days, social media is a must for anyone promoting anything. But it doesn't have to mean that it's a time suck too. Keeping a social media presence also means managing it carefully. Know where to spend your time, what needs to be limited and where your efforts need to be expanded. Sometimes the quickest way to grow traction online is to isolate your efforts, while everyone is throwing it all "out there," you can create a focused plan that will not only gain you momentum, but readers as well.

Penny C. Sansevieri: Fifty Things Under $50 Bucks To Promote Your Book

2009-11-16T11:51:07Z

These days it seems like everyone's book marketing budget is a little tighter. If you're feeling the pinch, or if you're just looking for some great free stuff to do on your own, here are some tips that could help keep you on track.

1) Buy your domain name as soon as you have a title for your book. You can get domain names for as little as $8.95. Tip: When buying a domain always try to get a .com and stay away from hyphens, i.e. penny-sansevieri.com - surfers rarely remember to insert hyphens.

2) Head on over to Blogger.com or Wordpress.com and start your very own blog (you can add it to your Web site later).

3) Set up an event at your neighborhood bookstore. Do an event and not a signing, book signings are boring!

4) Write a few articles on your topic and submit them onto the Internet for syndication. You can submit them to sites like ezinearticles.com and articlecity.com.

5) Check out your competition online and see if you can do some networking.

6) Do some radio research and pitch yourself to at least five new stations this week.

7) Ready to get some business cards? Head on over to Vistaprint.com. The cards are free if you let them put their logo on the back, if you don't they're still really inexpensive.

8) Put together your marketing plan. Seriously, do this. If you don't know where you're going, any destination will do.

9) Plan a contest or giveaway. Contests are a great way to promote your book.

10) Google some topic-related online groups to see if you can network with them.

11) Send thank you notes to people who have been helpful to you.

12) Send your book out to at least ten book reviewers this week.

13) Do a quick Internet search for local writers' conferences or book festivals you can attend.

14) Create an email signature for every email you send; email signatures are a great way to promote your book and message.

15) Put the contents of your Web site: book description, bio, Q&A, and interviews on CD to have on hand when the media comes calling!

16) Submit your Web site to the top five directories: Google, MSN, Alexa, Yahoo, and DMOZ.

17) Write a great press release and submit it to free online press release sites like: PR4 - http://www.prlog.org/ , http://www.1888pressrelease.com, http://i-newswire.com, http://www.prfocus.com

18) Write your bio and have someone who can be objective critique it; you'll need it when you start pitching yourself to the media.

19) Schedule your first book event!

20) Start your own email newsletter; it's a great way to keep readers, friends and family updated and informed on your success.

21) Start a Twitter account and begin tweeting. If you don't think Twitter is significant, think again; it's been a major part of our marketing strategy for over 2 years now (before anyone even knew what Twitter was).

22) Develop a set of questions or discussion topics that book clubs can use for your book, and post them on your Web site for handy downloads.

23) Add your book info or URL to your answering machine message.

24) Start a Facebook Fan page. Fan Pages are much better than groups because they're searchable in Google.

25) See if you can get your friends to host a "book party" in their home. You come in and discuss your book and voila, a captive audience!

26) Find some catalogs you think your book would be perfect for and then submit your packet to them for consideration. If you're unsure of what catalogs might work for you, head on over to http://www.catalogs.com and peruse their list.

27) Go around to your local retailers and see if they'll carry your book; even if it's on consignment, it might be worth it!

28) Add your book to Google Book Search.

29) Research some authors with similar subjects and then offer to exchange links with them.

30) Start a Squidoo page and make sure it's linked to your Twitter Account and Facebook Fan page.

31) Make sure your blog is connected to Amazon.com via their Amazon connect program (yes, it's free).

32) Ask friends and family to email five people they know and tell them about your book.

33) Leave your business card, bookmark, or book flyer wherever you go.

34) Subscribe to Google Alerts and make sure that you are getting alerts under your name as well as your book title(s), brand, and keywords.

35) Pitch yourself to your local television stations.

36) Pitch yourself to your local print media.

37) Work on the Q&A for your press kit. You'll need it when you start booking media interviews!

38) Pitch Oprah. Go ahead, you know you want to.

39) Is the topic of your book in the news? Check your local paper, and write a letter to the editor to share your expertise (and promote your book!).

40) Stop by your local library and see if you can set up an event. They love local authors.

41) Do you want to get your book into your local library system? Try dropping off a copy to your main library; if they stock it chances are the other branches will too.

42) Go to Chase's Calendar of Events (www.Chases.com) and find out how to create your own holiday!

43) Going on vacation? Use your away-from-home time to schedule a book event or two.

44) If your book is appropriate, go to local schools to see if you can do a reading.

45) Got a book that could be sold in bulk? Start with your local companies first and see if they're interested in buying some promotional copies to give away at company events.

46) Don't forget to add reviews to your Web site. Remember that what someone else has to say is one thousand times more effective than anything you could say!

47) Trying to meet the press? Search the Net for Press Clubs in your area, they meet once a month and are a great place to meet the media.

48) Want a celebrity endorsement? Find celebs in your market with an interest in your topic and then go for it. Remember all they can say is no. Check out the Actors Guild for a list of celeb representatives.

49) Ready to get some magazine exposure? Why not pitch some regional and national magazines with your topic or submit a freelance article for reprint consideration?

50) Work on your next book. Sometimes the best way to sell your first book is by promoting your second.

Jose Antonio Vargas: Online Hit -- Manny "Philippines" Pacquiao

2009-11-14T05:25:14Z

Manny Pacquiao is the Philippines.

And on the social Web -- where the often overlooked Filipino diaspora gather on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube -- today is Manny Pacquiao Day, when the 5-foot-6-inch boxer faces Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto for a welterweight title at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Win or lose (and, for my money, he'll win), the 30-year-old Pacquiao has already secured his spot in boxing history. To his fans, he's "Pac-Man", "the fighting pride of the Philippines," "the best pound-for-pound professional boxer," "The Mexicutioner" -- referring to his wins over Mexican boxers Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Oscar De La Hoya.

No other boxer comes close, right now, to matching his popularity online.

Fox News Purges YouTube Of Its Videos

2009-11-13T17:00:54Z

Fox News has purged YouTube of hundreds of clips of its programs from power-users such as News1News, ConservativeNation, and GlennBeckDailyClips.

The YouTubers had supplied online media outlets with clips of Fox News programs, leaving many online outlets with videos that do not load.

Fox News had first requested the closure of News1News — which is seen as a progressive YouTube channel — leading many on the internet to cry that the cable news network was censoring the left while allowing the conservative news channels to remain up and running:

But Fox News' move appears to be limited to News1News, while other YouTube channels -- those viewed as having conservative leanings -- remain untouched. Chen points out that the Glenn Beck Daily Clips channel continues to operate, although it features 614 clips, as of last count, of Glenn Beck's Fox show. The Conservative Nation channel, with close to 200 clips, is also still online.

Thus, Fox's move will mostly affect stories posted on progressive-leaning blogs, such as Gawker, the Huffington Post and Truthdig, while leaving intact YouTube clips embedded at conservative Web sites. Instead of embedded video, visitors to those sites will now see a notice stating that the video in question is "no longer available."

Friday, however, sites like ConservativeNation and GlennBeckDailyClips received their notices and their accounts were suspended.

YouTube: 1080P High-Definition Videos Coming To Site

2009-11-13T07:52:56Z

LOS ANGELES — YouTube says starting next week it will support the same high-resolution video that can now be seen on flat screen TVs.

The online video unit of Google Inc. said Thursday it will support video playback in the full high-definition format known as 1080p, upgrading from the current 720p.

Alexei Dymovsky, Russia's Whistleblower Cop, Becomes Youtube Sensation

2009-11-11T12:39:07Z

MOSCOW, Russia -- Alexei Dymovsky sits in full uniform and stares at the camera with tired eyes.

Skippable Ads Being Tested On YouTube Videos (POLL)

2009-11-11T10:36:44Z

Google is experimenting with skippable, pre-load advertisements for YouTube videos. A short ad spot will play before select videos, though users have the option to "skip" them with a single click.

Mashable looks at why this is being done:

From the users' perspective, this isn't new; in fact, pre-roll advertisements are prevalent on many other video sites, such as Hulu. Google, however, aims to develop a new advertising model based on the user's behavior. When Google first started testing pre-roll ads, abandonment rates were as high as 70%. But it worked much better when users were watching longer (15 -- 20 minute long) clips, with completion rates being up to 85%.

TIME FOR YOUR THOUGHTS. TAKE THE POLL:

Facebook, Wikipedia Coach Vatican About The Internet

2009-11-11T07:50:00Z

VATICAN CITY — Executives from Facebook, Wikipedia and Google are attending a Vatican meeting to brief officials and Catholic bishops about the Internet and digital youth culture.

The symposium, which opened Thursday and runs through Sunday, also will address Internet copyright issues and hacking – including testimony from a young Swiss hacker and an Interpol cyber-crime official.

Chris Curtin and Bob Greenberg: Digital: Beyond Our Control, But Within Our Reach

2009-11-10T12:24:12Z

Consumers, advertisers, publishers and agencies are all hustling to keep up with the latest digital advancements. As advertisers, we've gone from controlled distribution via the Big Three television networks, radio and publishing to a world where the average consumer is exposed to nearly 3,000 commercial messages a day -- many through outlets that were not in existence five or 10 years ago. Yet, despite the increasing number of messages, people have become more skilled at tuning them out.

Though it's no revelation to say that old methods of marketing are losing effectiveness, many advertisers are still having a difficult time adjusting to this new world where emerging technologies are popping up faster than ever before in areas like social media, web and mobile applications, gaming, and cloud services. The model that seems to be working best is one where advertisers generate attention via engagement. Put simply: Advertising can stand out by inviting consumers in. Marketers should create campaigns and branded platforms that explain how to get more value out of products, and "why" someone should have them in the first place.

In other words, customers don't necessarily want to buy more. But they are demanding and expecting a lot more.

Need a pair of running shoes? Companies like Nike have created digital shopping experiences to help you select the right shoes based on your gender, your preferred running surface, the arch of your foot (Nike even explains how to measure your arch), and your running stride. At each step, Nike explains why the features of a particular shoe are best for you.

But even more importantly, Nike actively engages their customers in the sport of running and, subsequently, into the Nike brand. For instance, through the community-based platform, Nike+, runners are connected with other runners, have the ability to chart their running progress over time, and can create motivational music playlists.

Engaging your audiences through digital experiences that provide value or entertainment helps people connect with your brand willingly. A growing trend for marketers is the idea of co-creation, welcoming the input of customers to inform (and sometimes produce) products, services, and marketing campaigns. By influencing how a product is designed, engineered or launched, customers are given a personal stake in the brand and a reason to become advocates and share their stories. On the same hand, marketers benefit because they truly learn what customers want from the brand and why.

We know it works.

Take a traditional automaker like Fiat. In developing a new car from the ground up, Fiat is asking consumers to submit ideas for all aspects of the vehicle -- from the design to the marketing. The company is soliciting ideas from its Web site and the social media outlets Okrut, Facebook and Twitter.

The effort started in August, and almost 10,000 people have submitted close to 7,000 ideas. With that kind of consumer awareness and engagement, it's only fitting that the new car will be called Fiat Mio, or My Fiat.

In Japan, a band called "Sour" has shown how user-generated content can be effective without losing control of your brand image. The band sponsored a project in which fans created a music video via Webcam. The resulting music video, "Hibi no neiro," is a must-see -- even if you don't understand Japanese.

The band maintained control throughout, selecting the fans and writing the script. Yet it's an example of very cool user-generated creativity and digital engagement. The video has garnered more than 1.5 million YouTube views -- undoubtedly not all are Sour fans.

Today, at HP we are hard at work building a Web site - that is a less a destination and more of a digital experience, with a central nervous system that allows us to take our HP experience into the broader digital ecosystem.

And at the heart of the digital ecosystem are digital people. At HP, they are our focus. Digital people are all about personalization, making things a reflection of themselves. The new site allows them to do that. They like to share what they're up to and what they know. So, we're tapping the collective intelligence of our customers by hosting forums where they can help each other. It's been enormously successful. Instead of fielding calls, we're creating a community, providing better customer service and doing it more cost efficiently. This could work in virtually any environment.

Judging from what's out there-- and on the horizon--it looks like the advertising world finally realizes that while the digital space is beyond our control, it's certainly within our reach.

Deer Jumps Into Lion Cage At DC Zoo (VIDEO): Animal Escapes, But Is Put Down

2009-11-08T22:23:45Z

A wild deer jumped into the lion enclosure at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. on Sunday and inspired onlookers as it fought to escape from the big cats. However, despite breaking free, the Washington Post reports that the animal had to be euthanized. The deer had a serious wound on its belly.

According to the zoo's spokeswoman, the young female deer jumped a 3 1/2- to 4-foot retaining wall and landed in a moat surrounding the enclosure. It was then attacked by two female lions. Video of the encounter that has been posted to YouTube shows the deer escaping from one of the cats and jumping back into the moat.

The Washington Post reports that more than 100 zoo guests were at the enclosure at the time of the attack and a witness said people were shouting "Go! Go! Go!" and that "everyone was rooting for the deer."

WATCH: