I just read that LA Lakers’ Pau Gasol has been awarded the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award because of his work for UNICEF. The Professional Basketball Writers Association each year awards a player, coach or trainer who shows exceptional service to the community.

According to the NBA website:

Gasol has been a tireless worker worldwide on behalf of various UNICEF causes. He has been a UNICEF Ambassador for seven years and traveled the globe working with programs aimed at nutrition and education for children.

“Pau’s work epitomizes all that is good about NBA players and their charitable works not only in their own communities but around the world,” said Doug Smith of the Toronto Star and the president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association. “Working to help children realize their potential and to provide them with opportunities they might not otherwise get truly characterizes outstanding service and dedication.”

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Video: UNICEF ambassador and NBA star Pau Gasol sings a karaoke rendition of “How to Save a Life” by The Fray (don’t give up your career as a basketball player just yet . Beforehand, Pau speaks about his involvement with UNICEF.

Previous winners of the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award include:

• Ron Artest 2010-2011 (Los Angeles Lakers)
• Chauncey Billups 2007-08 (then Detroit Pistons)
• Steve Nash 2006-07 (Phoenix Suns)
• Kevin Garnett 2005-06 (then Minnesota Timberwolves)
• Reggie Miller 2003-04 (Indiana Pacers)
• Vlade Divac 1999-00 (Sacramento Kings)
• Joe Dumars 1993-94 (Detroit Pistons)
• Magic Johnson 1991-92 (LA Lakers)
• Doc Rivers 1989-90 (Atlanta Hawks)
• Julius Erving 1982-83 (Philadelphia 76ers)

2012 NBA Play Offs

Tonight on the menu:

• The Boston Celtics at the Philadelphia 76ers (Boston Celtics leads the series 2-1)
• The Oklahoma Thunder (OKC) against the Los Angeles Lakers (OKC leads the series 2-0)

Anyways, it was a good excuse to follow the Real Jamie Oliver – and maybe he’ll return the favour.

In the meantime:
Jamie Oliver has put his celebrity stamp on many products, of course – including a nice set of bowls that we have in our cupboard. Feel free to check out these Jamie Oliver Products.

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Related:
Kitchen Utensils

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As a popular actor and somebody that actually wears the Burberry brand, he would be ideal for the marketing campaign, which now has to be redeveloped from scratch.

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Justin Bieber Silly Bandz!

Silly Bandz are the crazy right now. My son came home with a few of these squiggly wristbands in the shape of a few animals. He loves them, They are actively traded in the schoolyard, and sometimes kids are eager to trade just about anything to get a hold of them.

Celebrities like Sarah Jessica Parker have been spotted wearing them, and Justin Bieber just launched his own variety of Silly Bandz: Justin Bieber Silly Bandz!

The Silly Bandz fad in the U.S. has already slowed a bit, but Google has touted them as a sought-after stocking stuffer this Christmas. I suspect we’ll see it on my son’s wish list as well.

More about the Silly Bands (sorry: Silly Bandz) from a parenting perspective , on parentcentral.ca.

A lot of that income comes from touring, merchandising sales, product endorsements and sales of their catalogs, although that last ingredient has taken a nose-dive the past decade.

Here are the rock bands and solo artists that added most to their bottom line between June 2009 and June 2010:

1. U2 - $130 million
2. AC/DC – $114 million
3. Beyoncé Knowles – $87 million
4. Bruce Springsteen – $70 million
5. Britney Spears – $64 million
6. Jay-Z – $ million
7. Lady Gaga – $62 million
8. Madonna – $58 million
9. Kenny Chesney – $50 million
10. Coldplay (Tie) – $48 million
11. Toby Keith (Tie) – $48 million
12. Black Eyed Peas (Tie) – $48 million

U2 sold 1.3 million tickets during their worldwide at an average price of $94 a seat – and that’s only in North America…

AC/DC has been a steady high-earner for years and years. Did I head “Iron Man”?

Beyoncé was the endorsement Queen of this list: more than half of her total earnings came from endorsements with companies ranging from Nintendo to L’Oreal and of course her growing fashion line “House of Dereon”.

Oops – she did it again. Britney is back, and is in the top 5 of top-earning artists. And her image seems to be OK again too, looking at high-profile endorsement deals with Elizabeth Arden and the Britney for Candie’s clothing line. Hope she spent that money wisely…

Jay-Z had a new album (Blueprint 3) tour, as well as investments in the 40/40 nightclub chain, the Broadway show “Fela!” and the New Jersey Nets basketball team.

Lady Gaga had a worldwide tour with million-dollar endorsements from Polaroid, Virgin Mobile, Viva Glam and Monster Cable.

Madonna is still hip after all these years. She had her own episode in the Fox hit sitcom Glee, increasing her profile to a whole new audience.

Kenny Chesney is the 500 pound gorilla in the Country world. His closest competitor, Keith Urban, didn’t come close. And sponsorships from strong brands like Corona and MasterCard helped too, of course.

Black Eyed Peas also had a good number of endorsement deals, including Target, Honda, Bacardi and Apple.

You can read more about Forbes’ list in this picture gallery.

I find the whole public mud-slinging a far from elegant feature of the American society, which has become all celebrity-crazed and media-horny.

Even celebrities are allowed to make mistakes, and should be able to suffer the consequences thereof in private. I never liked the fact that even though people are presumed innocent until proven guilty, the North-American media are filling their newspapers, newscasts and talk shows with extensive coverage of “news” that is sheer gossip, and mentioning people (even ordinary people) with full name, address and phone number.

So, for all of you who like Tiger Woods just for his skill on the golf course, or his demeanour – here are some video clips of his endorsement ads:

2 Tigers for Accenture (no more…)

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Tiger can’t cash his big cheque (Gilette)

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What a skill… (Nike)

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…or maybe not as much… (bloopers, Nike commercial)

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(only human after all)

According to the Ticketmaster USA website, Springsteen and the E Street Band is the top selling act of all time at the Meadowlands having sold out 56 concerts to date:

• 19 at Giants Stadium;
• 37 at the IZOD Center.

Springsteen has always been a hot stadium act, but his performance at the Superbowl will only have enhanced the image that people have of The Boss. With his new album Working on a Dream he is at the top of his class yet again.

I could not find any tickets anymore…

Guess we will have to wait for some clips on YouTube, then.

Bruce Springsteen In Concert With Brandon Flowers of The Killers

The Boss surprised concert goers at the Pinkpop festival in Landgraaf, Netherlands on Saturday May 30 2009 when he was joined onstage by Brandon Flowers of The Killers. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band headlined the Pinkpop Festival and played the opening night of the three day event. He had a special treat in store for his fans – bringing out Killers’ singer Brandon Flowers on stage for a rendition of his 1975 hitsong Thunder Road.

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Thunder road live at Pinkpop (Landgraaf, the Netherlands). Brandon Flowers of The Killers joins Springsteen May 30 2009.

Now stock up on your favourite LeBron James gear:

Nielsen Online reported today that Twitter enjoyed a doubling in its user base last month, March 2009. And April will be even wilder, I suspect, with all the attention (read: hype) that celebrities like Ashton Kutcher*, Mrs. Kutcher (Demi Moore) and Oprah brought to the medium. Will the success last, though?What’s the problem?

The retention rates are still abysmal [this means "immeasurably low" according to Merriam Webster; OK, it's maybe not that bad]: only 40% of the new subscribers are still using the service ONE month later! The only silver lining is that it used to be even lower: 30%! David Martin, vp, primary research, Nielsen Online, sees this as thunderclouds hovering over Twitter’s head (head? Ah well… the virtues of having English as a second language, eh?)

Read the article about this research here.

* Ashton Kutcher had a Twitter challenge to get 1,000,000 followers (he was the first one to surpass that landmark). Demi Moore’s Tweets stopped someone from committing suicide (the story on CNN), and Oprah has carefully started Tweeting on April 17th.

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Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s cookware, bakeware, tableware and glassware are top notch, and consistently receiving good ratings from people who bought items from this line on Amazon.

Did you know that Gordon Ramsey (I mean: Ramsay) was born in Scotland and that he originally started as a professional football (North Americans read: soccer) player in the UK? And now he is one of the most successful chefs in the world.

Still don’t know who he is? Look at this bit taken from one of his very abrasive signature TV shows where he insults the chef – the hard way…

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Yes, Gordon Ramsay is no Susan Boyle…