Bono is now officially a knight! The U2 vocalist was awarded British knighthood yesterday at a very informal ceremony. I mean, it’s Bono, I bet they couldn’t keep things formal if they tried haha. Anyways he was awarded for his work campaigning against poverty and AIDS in Africa. He’s been really active in this matter too, and it’s really great that he got recognized for it.

He says his son was really disappointed that he didn’t get a lightsaber, because he thought he was gonna be a Jedi Knight! Haha~ now I wonder who put THAT idea in his head. *cough cough*

Still, he can’t use the title “Sir” like the other knights because he’s Irish, and the title’s reserved for citizens of the United Kingdom or British Commonwealth countries. Oh and btw, it’s just an honorary title, so there shall be no jousting involved. Go Bono!

I uploaded this video on Dream Studio, because I think it’s really cool. This is the song “Here It Goes Again” by “OK Go”. Can you imagine doing this in real life? Haha I bet it would be really fun. If you can’t see the video up there, you can CLICK HERE. The song is nice, but if you haven’t heard this yet, you’ll probably not really notice the music because of all that good treadmill action. Haha, enjoy~

If your answer is yes, then why? For some people it’s a status symbol, for others a useful gadget, others just got it as a gift, but for others it redefines their passion for music, for life, and for living each moment. Just how much of ourselves is reflected by the music we listen to? Or are we actually defined by the music we put in our playlists?

Why are we willing to pay so much for such a small thing? If you ask people, they will have their own definition of what music is to them, and how the iPod fits in to all that. From the days of the first portable mp3 players, music lovers have been going for these devices, hardly caring about how they look, or what else they can do, only that they can play music. As for me, my iPod’s LCD got busted around a month ago, but it’s still enough for me to know what’s going on. It’s old, it’s scratched, but it’s working. And when I’m riding down busy streets at night listening to some good music, I know that that’s enough for me.

From the beginning, Simon Cowell didn’t like this one. What was it with this silver-haired, dancing, harmonica-playing guy that made people doubt and believe all at once? Well I, for one, liked him the moment he opened his mouth in the auditions. But even if I did, I was skeptic of his ability to really stick it out till the end. I certainly couldn’t imagine him actually winning back then. He proved me, and probably almost all of America, wrong.

What’s up with him now? Well he, unlike the other AI winners, seems to have a clear, iron-clad vision of what he wants to do with this  opportunity. In fact, he says that even if he didn’t join the show, he probably would have still “made it” as big, eventually that is. Before American Idol, he was already aggressively pushing his musical career forward, taking “every gig I could possibly take.”

Prior to his self-titled major debut (from winning AI), which by the way hit platinum just this January, he had already released two albums. Since he wasn’t under any contracts for them, he was still allowed to join the competition. So why the term “problem child” if he’s so naturally talented and driven? Actually, it’s because he’s so driven that he’s gotten away with breaking the rules.

I’m talking about the unspoken rules of debuting in the mainstream. Usually (or always, until Hicks), the winners of AI don’t get much say in their debut. But for Taylor’s album, he got to write 4 of the songs, and only worked with one producer. The songs have a genuine Taylor Hicks flavor. In other words, he was able to keep a great amount of control over his album.

I guess that’s ideal. In the end, I guess even if the media leaves him, he will still get the support of the fans who voted for him till the end, and who’ve grown to love the soulful music of the Silver Fox.