David Bowie to Appear on SpongeBob

photo courtesy of artistdirect.com

David Bowie, a popular rock n' roll star is going to star on an episode of SpongeBob Squarepants. His character for his appearance will be named Lord Royal Highness and is supposed to air sometime next year. He says that he is "thrilled" to be guest starring on the show. "Bowie commented: "It's happened. At last. I've hit the Holy Grail of animation gigs" (courtesy of news.yahoo.com)
Bowie also appeared in the movie "The Prestige" released earlier this month which is still in theaters. It has become one of the most popular movies in theaters at the time.

Aiken Appearing on "Days of Our Lives"

photo courtesy of photo.sing365.com

Clay Aiken, runner up in the second season of "American Idol," will be appearing on the hit soap opera "Days of Our Lives" and singing two songs on the show. The two songs are one from his new album "A Thousand Different Ways" and "O Holy Night" from his 2004 CD "Merry Christmas with Love" CD. The episode he will be on is scheduled to air December 22. Aiken is a native of Raleigh NC and the 27 year old has been having a very successful music career ever since debuting on the show, with his fans being called "claymates." His newest CD "A Thousand Different Ways" was released earlier this year.

Snoop Dogg Arrested Yet Again

photo courtesy of music.msn.com

Snoop Dogg, aka Calvin Broadus, a popular rapper and movie star, was arrested last Thursday on " suspicion of being a felon in possession of a gun and of transporting marijuana." Officers approached him for an "unspecified vehicle code violation in the passenger loading and unloading zone, and then discovered a gun and marijuana in his vehicle." He has been released on 35,000 dollars bond, and is scheduled to go to court on December 12. His attorney says "There was no basis for this arrest, We believe that once this is cleared up, all charges will be dismissed." This is Snoop Dogg's second arrest in 2 months this , he was arrested earlier for trying to board a plane with a "collapsible 21-inch police baton". (all quotes courtesy of mtv.com)

Former Backstreet Boy and Boyfriend Receive Threats

photo courtesy of chinadaily.com

Lance Bass, a former Backstreet Boy (who announced in July that he was gay) and his partner Reichen Lehmkuhl (winner of The Amazing Race season 4) have been receiving threats. Lehmkuhl,served in the Air Force and was released on honorable discharge five years ago. He also has debuted on soap operas and sitcoms over the years. He says "There was definitely an institutionalized acceptance of people being homophobic and telling gay jokes and making homophobic remarks - really, really mean homophobic remarks to the point of, 'Kill gay people," (courtesy of jam.canoe.ca) The pair has been receiving threats because of Lehmkuhl being gay and being in the military. "There are threats that come in from people who do not want me to be so public and expose what is going on in the military." (courtesy of jam.canoe.ca) The threats are forwarded to their security and the more serious threats are even given to the FBI. Lehmkuhl has also written a book entitled "Here's What We'll Say: Growing Up, Coming Out, and the U.S. Air Force Academy."

Inducted into the Hall of Fame

Photo courtesy of cmt.com

Jimmy Buffet, Hugh Prestwood, and Jim Weatherly were all inducted on Sunday October 22, into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. Buffet was inducted into the songwriter-artist category and honored by "Big and Rich" singing his own song "Margaritaville." Weatherly and Prestwood were both inducted into the songwriter category. Prestwood has written songs for big hits such as Trisha Yearwood, Randy Travis, and Shenandoah. Weatherly has written hit songs for Gladys Knight & the Pips and Bryan White. This award show is followed by the CMA's which take place on November 6.

Sara Evans and her divorce

photo courtesy of accesshollywood.com

Sara Evans, a popular country music star and recent contest on "Dancing With the Stars", has filed for divorce from her husband, Craig Schelske. Evans quit the show Dancing With the Stars, because she feels she needs to deal with the divorce, but most importantly be with her kids. "Sara alleges in court documents that Craig is guilty of verbal abuse, harassment, excessive consumption of alcohol and adultery" (courtesy of insideronline.com) She also wants custody of their three kids. Evans has also claimed that her husband inappropriate pictures of himself with other women on his computer. Schelske however "has requested that his wife and her attorneys immediately reveal what factual basis they had to make such vicious and untrue allegations. Believing that they have no adequate factual basis for the outrageous claims, he has requested that sanctions be imposed under law and that the allegations be stricken from the record." (courtesy of insideronline.com)

Keith Urban in Rehab

photo courtesy of msnbcmedia.msn.com

Keith Urban, the popular country music star checked himself into a rehab facility with wife Nicole Kidman by his side. He said that he is sorry for all the pain this has caused. "I deeply regret the hurt this has caused Nicole and the ones that love and support me,' said Keith. 'One can never let one's guard down on recovery, and I'm afraid that I have. With the strength and unwavering support I am blessed to have from my wife, family and friends, I am determined and resolved to a positive outcome."(courtesy of cmt.com) His most recent concerts have been cancelled. His new CD, "Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing" is still scheduled to be released on November 7th nationwide and his hit single from that CD "Once in a Lifetime" is at #6 on the Billboard Charts. Hopefully, Urban will successfully overcome this addiction and will soon once again by gracing the stage and our ears for his fans.

Goo Goo Dolls

photo courtesy of krltfm.com

The Goo Goo Dolls recently released their newest album called "Let Love In" which is the bands eighth album. They have been together as a band since 1986, and have had several multi-platinum albums and top songs. The bands lead singer, Rzeznik, went back to his hometown to write some of the songs. He says that "When you drive down the street and you see the park and the bleachers where you first kissed a girl, you drive passed the house you grew up in...you see the post office where your father worked...It gives you a lot of hope and perspective." There song "Better Days" on Let Love In, "was adopted by CNN as an anthem of sorts for the hurricane recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina." (Courtesy of googoodolls.com)

Tim McGraw Starring in Flicka

photo courtesy of filmweb.no

Tim McGraw, a popular country music star, is starring in another big screen movie. "Flicka," is a story about a teenage girl who finds a wild horse on her parent's ranch. Although he father (McGraw) forbids her to ride the horse, because he is so wild, she does anyway, and names him Flicka. The movie is the story of how his daughter wants to prove to her father that she is capable of one day taking over the family ranch. McGraw's song "My Little Girl" debuts in the movie. The soundtrack for the movie is also available. He has won numerous awards such as ACM Award- Single & Song of the Year, People's Choice Awards - Favorite Country Male Artist, Grammy's- Best Male Country Vocal Performance, CMT Awards- Most Inspiring Video- "Live Like You Were Dying") just in 2005 alone. He is also married to successful country artist Faith Hill.

Casting Crowns

photo courtesy of ccmni.mmgi.org

Casting Crowns, a popular Christian Band, was recently featured in a big screen movie. Their song, "Voice of Truth" is played during the movie "Facing the Giants", and also is a big theme throughout the movie. The movie which opened on September 29 around the nation, it is about "the heart-warming story of a downtrodden Christian high school football coach who turns to God when everything seems to be going against him. Trusting God to do the impossible, Coach Grant Taylor and his Shiloh Christian Eagles soon discover how faith plays out on the field … and off." (courtesy of castingcrowns.com) Casting Crowns also has a new album which came out October 3rd, "Lifesong LIVE"

Kenny Chesney

photo courtesy of cdn-channels.netscape.com

Kenny Chesney is a popular country music star and the reigning Academy of Country Music Entertainer of the Year. He has won various awards including The Triple Crown Award, the Voice of Music Award, Artist of the Year, various videos of the year, and so many others. He has released 13 albums, his newest, "Kenny Chesney LIVE" which was released on September 19 of this year. He is known for his carfree personality, but he says that "Look, I believe we're here to enjoy life, to have fun… to get into it with our buddies and tear it up… but you can search your soul AND have fun, I think that without fun, you couldn't go deep, because it would be too painful and heavy… Because if you're gonna really look inside, you need to know you can have relief." (courtesy of kennychesney.com) He also received the ASCAP Voice of Music Award this year, given for the first time in more than a decade to recognize Chesney's gift for communicating people's truths through song.

Keith Urban

photo courtesy of img.timeinc.net

Keith Urban, a popular country music star, has a new album coming out on November 7th called "Love, Pain & the Whole Thing." He helped write at least 10 out of the 13 songs that are in the album. He was born in Austrailia and began winning local country music talent shows, by tweleve he was booking his band in local clubs, and at 15, he quit school to pursue his music career. After hitting in big in Australia he decided to come to the U.S and head to Nashville. He has realeased 3 albums. "Somebody Like You" a song that was released in 2002 on the CD "Golden Road", and stayed at # 1 for eight consecutive weeks, which is more than any other country artist in 2002. He most recent album out now is "Be Here" in which "Urban has made the most ambitious and heartfelt music of his career to date -- a song cycle that reflects Urban's great musical range and personal point of view as never before. But like all great music, in the end, ultimately it's all about expression and communication for him" (couresty of keithurban.com) Keith Urban is also married to Nicole Kidman, whom he married on June 25th of this year.

Glass Armonica

photo courtesy of thrivalproductions.com

The Glass Armonica was created by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. It is said to be one of his favorite inventions. It is played on the same principle as a wet finger on a wineglass. There are many glass bowls that are individually turned so that they do not need to be filled with water. They are tipped on their sides and are placed inside of each other which are propelled by a foot pedal. Mozart in fact even composed two of his works for the Glass Armonica.

MMHHMM

photo courtesy of persweb.wabash.edu

Relient K is well-known popular punk Christian Band. They have been a band for over 6 years, and have produced 6 albums. Their latest is MMHMM, in which the band says is their all time favorite. The band collected all the cheesy phrases and puns that they heard over time, and put them into their songs. They say that although they have recieved criticism for not including the word Jesus in their songs, they are still a Christian group. They say "We’re not trying to hide anything with the songs on this record, just to get what we feel out there, We’ve also found it to be the hardest thing in the world to say ‘Jesus’ in a song and not be cheesy, so we definitely have our own way of singing about spirituality. But in the end that’s who we are and what we believe in. We hope between that and the music, it connects with someone out there.” (courtesy of RelientK.com) I was actually was going to go to a concert by them tomorrow night, but plans fell through. I did see them in concert once, and it was so much fun! I really like the funny lyrics that are present in their songs.

Blood: Water Mission

photo courtesy of wer-uk.org

Jars of Clay, a Contemporary Christian band, has started a project called the Blood: Water Mission. The Blood: Water Mission's goal is to provide 1000 new wells for people in Africa. People in Africa die and become sick from dirty water everyday due to waterborne illnesses. Many people have to walk sometimes 10 miles to get to a clean water source, and sometimes young girls must drop out of school so that they can walk to a well, to get clean water for their families. ONE DOLLAR can provide enough clean water for an african for one YEAR! Imagine if everyone of us gave one dollar, imagine all the lives that could be changed as a result of that. This quote by author Donald Miller sums up the purpose of this mission: "The crisis in Africa is difficult to translate to those of us living in the states. Our hearts do not know where to begin. Of the greatest accomplishments of Bloodwater Mission has been their ability to sort through the chaos to match provision with need. Clean water prevents many diseases that can prove fatal to a person suffering from AIDS. Clean water, then, guards clean blood. The simple gift of a dollar provides invaluable clean water for one African for One year. Our calling, then, is to give from our undeserved provision into their undeserved need. In doing so, we participate in the search and rescue mission God is orchestrating in this fallen world." (Courtesy of BloodWaterMission.com)

"I Loved Her First" Hits # 2

photo courtesy of heartlandcountry.cc

Heartland, a small town band from Alabama recently hit national charts with their single, "I Loved Her First" hit # 2 on the Billboard Country Charts. The band played locally in their hometown and surrounding areas, but this song has really thrust them into the spotlight. Many say that this band is the most talked about new act in the country music industry. They recently just released their first album, which includes their hit single. "I Loved Her First" is a song from a father to his daughter on her wedding day. It talks about how he loved her before anyone else did, and how fast she grew up into the young lady that is getting married. He also talks about how he won't get in the young man's way and how he knew that it was only a matter of time til his daughter fell in love with the young man once they met. It is a really sweet song, that most daughters and fathers can connect with. Heartland is a band that I am sure wil continue to become a more well known band as they release more and more great music.

Aaron Carter.....Engaged?

photo courtesy of showbizz.net

Well it is true that the 18 year-old pop star Aaron Carter was engaged, in fact he was engaged to his older brother Nick Carter's (of the Backstreet Boys) ex-girlfriend, Kari Ann Peniche. Peniche who is 22, is a former Miss Teen USA and a former playboy playmate. He broke off the engagement a week after he proposed onstage in LA. Carter claims,"I got caught up in the moment and proposed. I then realized it was a hasty thing to do and I am not ready for marriage quite yet."