The Statue of Liberty | blog

Paul McCartney came to Citi Field on Friday night to bring a new ballpark one thing that can’t be built in: memories. No one was better qualified.

As a 23-year-old Beatle, Mr. McCartney introduced rock to a stadium audience on Aug. 15, 1965, when the Beatles played a 34-minute set at Shea Stadium, which Citi Field replaced. The Beatles returned to Shea in 1966 on what would be their last tour.

Mr. McCartney was also at the final concert at Shea Stadium, joining the headliner, Billy Joel, on stage last year. Mr. Joel returned the favor on Friday night, singing, whooping and splashing piano chords in “I Saw Her Standing There.” In case the Mets weren’t enough, now Citi Field has musical continuity.

On Friday night, in the first of three shows at the stadium, Mr. McCartney reminisced about 1965, imitating the muffled and distorted sound the Beatles got through the old stadium’s P.A. system, which by all accounts was drowned out by screaming girls. (Nearly 44 years later, somewhat older women seized their cue to scream.)

By: nytimes.com      Read more >>

Dozens of big-name performers and actors gathered at a major charity concert in New York to pay tribute to iconic anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela on his 91st birthday.

Gloria Gaynor kicked off the gala at the majestic Radio City Music Hall, in the heart of Manhattan, with a rousing performance of her 1978 disco hit “I Will Survive.”

Celebrities on the performance list included Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and the first lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, as well as Queen Latifah, Wyclef Jean, Lil’ Kim, Gloria Gaynor, the Soweto Gospel Choir and African artists Angelique Kidjo, Baaba Maal and Sipho Mabuse.

Hollywood stars that support the Mandela Foundation charity at the event included actors Forest Whitaker, Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, and Matt Damon.

The “Mandela Day” gala crowns a week of celebrations honoring the legendary rights activist, who battled apartheid in South Africa before becoming the country’s first black president from 1994 to 1999.

But the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize winner, whose health is increasingly fragile, is not attending.

Organizers hope that “Mandela Day” will become an event observed around the world paying tribute to the South African leader’s accomplishments.

By: AFP      Read more >>

Robert De Niro and former tennis champion John McEnroe are among victims of a multi-million pound New York art scam, according to the US authorities.

Lawrence Salander, the owner of Manhattan’s Salander-O’Reilly Galleries, is accused of selling art belonging to other people and keeping the proceeds, selling the same piece of art more than once, and luring wealthy investors into bogus or non-existent investment opportunities.

According to the authorities, he used the proceeds of his fraud to fund an opulent lifestyle of private jet trips, a lavish party for his wife and the purchase of a 66-acre (26-hectare) country estate, as well as in a failed effort to corner the Renaissance art market.

By: telegraph.co.uk     Read more >>