| Strictly a good time: Annual free Golden Gate Park bluegrass festival gets better -- and bigger -- with age. | | Posted Monday, October 09, 2006 11:08:50 PM by Blog57 Team | | Investment banker Warren Hellman surveyed the crowd that sprawled over Speedway Meadow as far as he could see, across JFK Drive and into the hills beyond. He pondered the improbable success of his sixth annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park, looking at a crowd he estimated to be at least 100,000. "First of all, the weather was fantastic," he said. "After we've done it as many times as we have, we're more grooved. We have more of a rhythm. I think the mix of groups was better. We had Elvis Costello, T Bone Burnett, Del McCoury. And, most importantly, I think the music is becoming more popular." He paused as security guards chased away an enthusiastic dancer who broke through the barricades to wriggle in front of the stage to some fiddle playing. "See even the guys causing trouble aren't 70-year-old guys," he said.... | |
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| | | Family members sue over truck explosion | | Posted Saturday, August 26, 2006 5:32:11 PM by Blog57 Team | | Four members of a Price family who say they were exposed to the full force of a "catastrophic explosion" that erupted last year when a semitrailer truck carrying explosives rolled on U.S. Highway 6 have filed a lawsuit over the incident. The plaintiffs - Evaline, Joel, Karen and Billy Joel White - were traveling home from Spanish Fork after attending a funeral when the truck tipped on its side near Soldier Summit and forced them to stop, the suit says. The rollover sparked several small fires, followed by an explosion that gouged a crater in the road and demolished the truck. Evaline was struck by metal from the exploding vehicle, according to the lawsuit. It says all four family members have suffered hearing loss, mental distress and post-traumatic syndrome.... | |
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| | | Bodine Bobsled Challenge set for Year 2 | | Posted Tuesday, August 22, 2006 3:05:21 AM by Blog57 Team | | LAKE PLACID, N.Y. -- The second annual Geoff Bodine Bobsled Challenge will be staged in January, and this time it will be integrated with the U.S. National Bobsledding Championships, organizers announced Monday. "We'll be able to promote the sport better and take the national championships to the nation," said John Morgan, a former U.S. bobsledder who helped organize the event. "Bobsled has a very prestigious trophy with the Billy Fiske Award and a wonderful heritage. We need to create more of a domestic presence." The Bodine Bobsled Challenge, which raises funds for the U.S. men's and women's bobsled teams, debuted in January with sponsorship from Chevrolet and featured 10 current or former NASCAR drivers competing in two races. The competitors were Boris Said and Kevin Lepage -- who each won a race -- Dick Trickle, Steve Park, Randy LaJoie, Joel Kauffman, Stanton Barrett, and Geoff and Todd Bodine.... | |
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| | | Billy Joel vs. Christie -- Who's Worse Off Now? | | Posted Tuesday, July 18, 2006 1:04:57 AM by Blog57 Team | | With word that supermodel Christie Brinkley is separating from her fourth husband, we couldn't help but wonder: Who's had a harder life post divorce -- Christie or her second ex, Billy Joel? Brinkley's rep confirmed on Tuesday the split from Peter Cooke, her husband of 10 years. She has a daughter with Cooke, a daughter with Joel, and a son with third husband Richard Taubman. Actually, a tragedy brought Taubman and Brinkley together. They met when both were passengers in a helicopter that crashed in Colorado in 1994. Ironically, they married near the site of the chopper crash but the union lasted for less than a year. Brinkley reportedly had to pay Taubman $2 mil as a parting gift to end the marriage. As for Joel's misfortunes, he was also married before and after Brinkley, though the latter nuptials in 2004 with then 23-year-old Katie Lee is still going.... | |
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| | | Billy Joel Loves Hamptons Living | | Posted Thursday, July 13, 2006 3:06:24 PM by Blog57 Team | | Billy Joel may have a New York state of mind, but hes just as at home in the Hamptons as in the Big Apple. Currently, the six-time Grammy winner resides in a renovated 18th-century residence in Sag Harbor. Joel tried to sell his Sag Harbor home and leave the Hamptons in 2005, even lowering the asking price from $5.4 million to $4.2 million, but he just couldnt get away. The 4,000-square-foot mansion has harbor views and features four fireplaces that Joel had installed, as well as two boat docks. Ex-wife Christie Brinkley recently purchased a Sag Harbor cottage of her own down the street from Joels home. Previous Hamptons homes have also made headlines for Joel. In 2002, he sold a 4,000-square-foot mansion in North Haven for $5.5 million, far less than the $7 million he paid.... | |
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