Bono at Saint Paul de Vence, France

U2 frontman Bono takes part in a photoshoot in the South of France to wish all of his fans a Happy New Year Featuring: Bono Where: Saint Paul de Vence, France When: 06 Jan 2013 Credit: WENN.com






via FB ultraviolet-u2.com

Music Generation Beneficiary of $1m Bank of America Charitable Foundation Grant

Music Generation(Ireland’s National Music Education Programme, initiated by Music Network and funded by U2 and The Ireland Fund), in partnership with The American Ireland Funds, today announced it is the beneficiary of a $1m grant from Bank of America Merrill Lynch through the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. Music Generation is Ireland’s national music education programme initiated by Music Network and enabled by a €7m philanthropic donation from U2 (€5m) and The American Ireland Funds (€2m) that provides access to subsidised high-quality music education for children and young people. The Bank of America Charitable Foundation Grant forms part of The American Ireland Fund’s €2m fundraising target for the programme.

Peter Keegan, Country Executive for Ireland at Bank of America Merrill Lynch explained the decision behind the grant, “We are delighted to support this important initiative which will have a real impact on the lives of young people in Ireland by providing high quality tuition. Irish musical achievements have long been celebrated the world over and we are proud to reinforce Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s commitment to the arts and education in Ireland, by nurturing the talents of a new generation. We look forward to working with Music Generation as the programme develops further throughout Ireland in 2013.”

The $1m grant comes as Music Generation announces its expansion into a further four areas of the country: Offaly, Westmeath, Carlow and Limerick city. These areas now join forces with the other local Music Education Partnerships currently established in Cork City, Laois, Louth, Mayo, Sligo and Wicklow. The Partnerships work with Music Generation and co-fund a range of subsidised music tuition for children and young people. To date over 5,000 children have received tuition through the programme that provides employment opportunities for some 120 music tutors across the six counties.

Kieran McLoughlin, President & CEO, The Worldwide Ireland Funds said, “Bank of America Merrill Lynch has shown tremendous commitment to the development of the arts in Ireland.  This magnificent gift will benefit young people and communities across Ireland at a time when philanthropy counts most. We are delighted to be in partnership with U2 and Bank of America Merrill Lynch in unlocking the musical talents of the next generation.”

As Music Generation prepares to expand into a further four areas, providing thousands more children with access to music education, Music Generation Chairman Tony Ó Dálaigh said, “The Board of Music Generation and our local partners throughout the country are particularly grateful to U2, The American Ireland Funds and Bank of America Merrill Lynch for the extremely generous donations that have allowed Music Generation become the organisation it is. Quite simply, without their investments Music Generation would not be happening and we view this grant as a further endorsement of this unique music programme.”

http://www.musicgeneration.ie/

Larry Mullen`s The Man on the Train , Our Review

We have recently  had the pleasure of watching the movie starred by Donald Sutherland and Larry Mullen Jr , The Man on the train, directed by Mary McGuckian (remake of the 2002 French film L'homme du train).  Here is our review. 

Larry Mullen Jr is an integral part of the Irish rock band U2 and we’re used to seeing Larry somewhere in the background, drumming away. He seems quite happy not being in the limelight like the rest of his band mates. Therefore it is refreshing to see him step out of his comfort zone and have all the attention focussed on him.

The start of the movie hints at an unusual storyline and it turns out exactly like that. Larry is a man of few words in general and in the movie this is very well portrayed. The character he plays (the man on the train) is a loner who doesn’t mingle and interact with others – in fact; he seems to look uncomfortable whenever in the company of strangers. I particularly liked the fact that the small time where the movie plays off is never mentioned. When the stranger steps off the train, you see a signboard with the first half of the name blocked out. All that can be seen is ‘ville’ – and this sets the tone of the mystery. As the story progresses, one doesn’t know exactly why he is a loner – the movie doesn’t reveals this and for some reason it works very well to enhance the feeling of suspense. The unlikely friendship between the man on the train and the professor has an impact on both men; albeit very subtly throughout the movie.

We get to know why the stranger is in town – he and a few of his cronies are planning to rob the bank. As the stranger and the professor’s relationship grows slowly over a period of days, both changes in subtle, almost-unseen ways. The man on the train somehow, gives the older professor ‘permission’ so to speak, to dare to be the man he always wanted to be but never had the courage to take that step out of his comfort zone to do so. The professor – masterfully played by Donald Sutherland – is a man who slowly peels the layers off from the stranger on the train and in its place shows us a man who has a liking for poetry and paintings – so unlike what one would expect. And that in itself dismisses the comparison that all undesirable characters have no appreciation of the finer, more defining things in life.

We get to see the stranger’s hesitation about whether he should go ahead with the bank robbery and when asked by the professor if he was going to go ahead with it – his decision will be based on whether someone pitches up or not. The man on the train’s character charms the professor and leaves him with a sense of envy to be like the stranger – seemingly carefree – so much so that he frequently comments about things he thinks the stranger is/has done in his life while he never did.

Larry seems to be in control of his character and his character’s emotions – something that seems to come effortlessly to him.  As D day approaches, you start hoping that the stranger does not go ahead with the crime of robbing the bank – because it becomes clear that it might not be that well organised anyway – and could very well go wrong.

When the big day arrives and the man on the train is about to leave the professor’s house, there is a sense of reluctance from both characters. The professors tells the stranger that there is a train leaving at 9.15am in case he changes his mind – and I found myself holding thumbs that the stranger follows the older man’s advice.

The bank robbery, thank goodness, isn’t very violent – just a lot of swearing –as the 4 misfits rush into the building, faces covered with balaclavas and screaming commands to frightened personnel and customers. What happens next is something totally unexpected and it immediately raises the question whether things turned out that way because it was a bad idea from the beginning or perhaps intervention from another source? A shooting ensues and the stranger is badly hurt – so much so that he’s rushed to the local hospital after 2 gang members got away and the other one is arrested by the local police.

The ending of the movie is a pleasant, unexpected surprise! I do not want to spoil it for anyone who’d like to see the movie, but it leaves you with a few questions and what I like about this, is it makes you think – almost as if you can decide your own ending and why it happened that way. I do like movies/stories that leave out some details, especially towards the end, so that it can make you think.

The movie score was co-written by Larry Mullen and if you listen carefully, there is a bit of a U2 hint in the instruments. In my opinion, the music complimented the movie very well – it enhanced the mostly dark moments splendidly. It was strange to see the world famous rock star sporting dark hair, moustache and a goatee – but it does suit him quite well – he looked very much in control as would be expected from the character he played. And oh, yes, the man has beautiful hands – they feature quite a lot in the movie and speak a language of their own. And another plus in the movie – Larry’s lilting Irish accent is well in place – somehow I couldn’t imagine him speaking with an American accent at all!

This movie will not be in everyone’s taste and is definitely not a Hollywood blockbuster with Oscar potential, but it definitely does have a certain charm that manages to draw you in.

Would I recommend it to anyone? Most definitely; yes, but don’t expect an over-the-top production because ‘The man on the train’ is not that at all! If you feel like watching something a little different than the usual same old stuff, mass produced in Hollywood, then this movie is a good candidate to watch. I’m certain you’ll end up enjoying it. I can’t wait to see what Mr. Mullen comes up next – especially with a new production being filmed in Dublin, Ireland. 

 MJ for Mysterious Distance ©

To read what Larry had to say about the making of The Man on the Train,click here.

LARRY MULLEN JR. AT THE IRISH FILM INSTITUTE

Larry Mullen Jr. and Kate O’Toole to join director Mary McGuckian at the IFI for the opening night of new Irish film Man on the Train on Jan 11^th

Founding member of U2 Larry Mullen Jr. makes his acting debut in Mary McGuckian’s new Irish film Man on the Train. He will be taking part in a Q+A alongside McGuckian and co-star Kate O’Toole after the opening night screening at 18.30 on Jan 11^th at the IFI.

Irish director Mary McGuckian (This is the Sea, Best) translates Patrice Leconte’s 2002 film of the same name into this leisurely tale of two very different men, a teacher and a thief, who meet by chance and bond over their curiosity about each other’s lives. The original pairing of Jean Rochefort and Johnny Hallyday is replaced by a garrulous Donald Sutherland and a taciturn Larry Mullen, Jr.

The story begins with the thief arriving in a small town whereupon he is shown a small act of kindness by the teacher (the characters’ names remain unknown), after which he moves in and enjoys his hospitality and that of his ladyfriend (Kate O’Toole) while planning the robbery of the town’s bank.

Fascinated by and envious of the lifestyle led by the other, the two men come to a mutual respect and understanding. More of a gentle character study than a plot-driven heist movie, it’s a film of great charm.

The world’s most famous Northsider

'Finglas – A People’s Portrait' shows how the area’s stereotypical image of a troubled suburb is only one side of its story. The Northside People is proud to bring you edited extracts from the book.

IT’S safe to say he’s Finglas’s most famous former resident. Yet Ballymun also claims him as one of their own. So where exactly is Bono from?

“Oh that’s a very, very deeply upsetting and divisive question. There was a load of rows on Cedarwood Road about that very fact, because when we moved to Cedarwood Road everyone was saying we lived in Ballymun.

“Then at some point, I think when the seven towers were built and had built a reputation, some of the snobs around wanted to say, ‘no, no, no we’re from Finglas.’ So I asked my dad, who worked in the postal service, and he said, believe it or not, one part of the road is Ballymun and one part of the road is Finglas, so you can say what you like.”

Born in 1960, Paul Hewson was the younger of two boys. His mother, Iris, and father, Brendan Robert, who was known as Bob, both grew up on the Oxmanstown Road, near the Phoenix Park. They married in 1950 and lived in Stillorgan for a time before moving to Finglas just weeks after their second son was born.

From the age of three, Paul befriended neighbour Derek Rowen. From then on they did everything together, including later changing their names to Bono and Guggi.

It was on the streets of Finglas in their teenage years that Bono, Guggi and a new member of their gang, Gavin Friday, first changed their names. Their assumed identities was just one aspect of the surrealist group they formed called Lipton Village, something they used to embrace their somewhat outcast status.

“To balance the joy and the fun that I had growing up there was definitely always a threat of violence. That’s just a fact. I would say it to my Dad later and he would say, ‘I don’t remember that at all.’

“There was another life. There was a whole other thing going on because teenage boys are full of testosterone. Humour. I do remember a lot of humour, even though there were some people around who you’d have to dodge.

“Maybe they couldn’t stand us because we were laughing at them behind their backs, because that was our revenge. Our revenge was humour and we developed a whole sort of surreal way of seeing the world which was sort of part Monty Python and part the Mighty Boosh before the Mighty Boosh was invented.”

The friendship they forged and their collective love of music would eventually make the trio among Finglas’s most famous exports. But during their early years the local celebrity was puppet maker and Wanderly Wagon star Eugene Lambert, who lived around the corner on Sycamore Road. “The first autograph I ever got was Eugene’s. I knocked on the house. I don’t know why, we were just messing, sure kids. But I loved that they were there.”

Less than a decade later, when Bono’s band U2 hit the big time, the tables were turned.

“The first time I did the Late Late show, I came back and went to Superquinn in Finglas and I was mobbed for the first time. I’d love to tell you they were gorgeous teenage girls that were mobbing me, but it was a load of old dears who’d seen the Late Late show and who wanted my autograph.”

It wasn’t Bono’s first memorable encounter with Superquinn. At around the age of 15 he got his first proper job in the supermarket.

“I don’t think I did very well. They weren’t very happy with my performance. I just remember very long hours, like ridiculously long hours, seven in the morning ‘til nine at night, for very little pay.

“This was starting to bother me, so I said I’ll go and talk to whoever it was in Superquinn and say, listen these hours are a bit mad for the money. Maybe you could think about upping the money or downing the hours.

“I went in and they said, ‘Ah yeah, thanks for coming in and we’ve been wanting to speak to you, you’re fired.’ I had a Raleigh Chopper, which was a fairly posh bike, it was a second-hand one. It was parked in the dairy and I was so annoyed that I got on the bike, imagining myself to be Marlon Brando in The Wild One, and cycled through the shop and out the automatic doors.”

Bono’s mother died in 1974, when he was just 14 years of age. He continued to live with his father until 1982 when he married his girlfriend Alison Stewart. U2’s first two albums, Boy and October, were written while he was still living in Finglas.

Dalkey is now the place he, his wife and four children call home. But Bono says he still has friends in, Finglas, and returns to the area at Christmas. He says he is impressed by the changes he sees.

“It’s very beautiful. It’s grown into itself and it’s beautiful now and seems so much more organised and much more sophisticated.

“Cedarwood Road has lost that brand spanking new feel, but it’s weathered well and it feels like a really easy neighbourhood to be in.”

Bono is now a global superstar, one of the world’s best-known musicians and one of the most politically influential figures of his era. He says that Finglas played a big part in the person he became.

“I can’t imagine it any other way. The way you see the world is shaped way before you go into the world. It’s shaped through the way you see a community. It’s shaped through the way you see a street.

“Your relationships on those streets are, you know, you will always behave in a similar fashion when you move out. I live comfortably all over the world and people say it’s incredible that you really are a ‘wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home’ person.

“I love being at home. I love being at home with Ali and I love being at home with the kids, but I am partly that because of the way I grew up in Finglas or Ballymun or whatever you want to call it.

“Sleeping on a couch, or because my mother died when I was a kid I was in the house on my own a lot of time, so I’d knock on the door of the Hanvey’s at tea time, you know, or the Rowen’s at lunchtime.

“I’ve just become that person who is comfortable wherever I am, through that. It might be London, it might be New York, but that ability to feel comfortable where I am was definitely instilled in me on Cedarwood Road.”

• This is an edited extract from Finglas – A People’s Portrait. The full text of the interview with Bono can be read in the book, which is available in all good bookshops.

http://www.dublinpeople.com

Bono on How Technology Can Transform the World

To say that Bono is the lead singer of the rock band U2 is like saying that Thomas Edison invented the record player: it leaves out a lot of biography. The 52-year-old Irishman (born Paul Hewson) is also a technology investor and an activist who cofounded the ONE and (RED) organizations, which are devoted to eradicating extreme poverty and AIDS. He has spent years urging Western leaders to forgive the debts of poor nations and to increase funding for AIDS medicines in Africa.Bono answered questions over e-mail from MIT Technology Review’s deputy editor, Brian Bergstein, about the role technologies—from vaccines to information services—can play in solving our biggest problems.

Bono with Bill Clinton in New York City in 2011; with Steve Jobs in San Jose, California, in 2004; and with nurse Abena Wonka at a community clinic in Accra, Ghana, in 2006

It’s 2013, and millions of people are still short of food or proper medical care. Have technologists overpromised? 

The tech that’s been delivered has been staggering in its measurable achievements. For example, antiretrovirals, a complex 15-drug AIDS regimen compressed into one pill a day (now saving eight million lives); the insecticide-treated bed net (cut malaria deaths by half in eight countries in Africa in the last three years); kids’ vaccinations (saved 5.5 million lives in the last decade); the mobile phone, the Internet, and spread of information—a deadly combination for dictators, for corruption. 

But to maximize the massive effect technology can have, you need a network of efforts, a system of interventions, supported by citizens who share social capital. That’s what drives substantial progress sustainably. There is no silver bullet to ending extreme poverty and disease, no magic technology. That takes commitment, a lifetime of it, plus resources, political will, and people standing up to demand it. Technology provides the means, however. 

What should be the role of technology in making a better world? Are some problems beyond its reach, like poverty?

Technology has already helped tackle extreme poverty in Africa. Extreme poverty is the empirical condition of living on under $1.25 a day. Nelson Mandela once demanded we be the “great generation” to beat extreme poverty, noting how we have the technology and resources to achieve this extraordinary vision. And we do. We could achieve it by 2030, maybe before. The digital revolution that we are living through, the rapid advances in health and agrotechnology—these things have become core weapons in responding to Mandela’s clarion call. They enable people to get on with it themselves, to fight their way out of the condition they find themselves in. In Africa, things are changing so rapidly. What’s been a slow march is suddenly picking up pace in ways we could not have imagined even 10 years ago. Innovations like farmers using mobile phones to check seed prices, for banking, for sending payments … to the macro effect we saw with the Arab Spring thanks to Facebook and Twitter.

But people can use technology for bad as well as good. The social systems and the social capital within networks must be strong and positive to nurture a progressive use of technology. Let’s be honest. 

U2 on Holidays

Adam was spotted in Sri Lanka and Bono in Switzerland (probably in a ski resort), while Larry took his time to have a pint in a pub in Howth (Ireland).