Kia concept car 'Provo' reminds some of IRA terror


DUBLIN (AP) Kia's new concept car, the Provo, is designed to provoke comment. But to many across Britain and Ireland, the name sounds like a celebration of terrorism.

British lawmakers appealed Tuesday in the House of Commons for the South Korean car maker to junk the name of its planned mini sports coupe because "Provo" is the street name for the dominant branch of the outlawed Irish Republican Army. The Provisional IRA killed nearly 1,800 people during its failed 1970-1997 campaign to force Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom.

Kia insisted the Provo an experimental prototype unveiled this week for the International Geneva Motor Show and years away from production was named to suggest "provocative," not IRA bombings and shootings. And in a follow-up statement, Kia said it would be certain not to market any future car as a Provo in the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland.

"I accept that this was a mistake made by the company and I know that their decisive action will be welcomed by many people, in Northern Ireland and beyond, whose lives have been affected by the murderous actions of the Provisional IRA," said Gregory Campbell, a British lawmaker for the main Northern Ireland party, the Democratic Unionists.

Not everybody took the matter as sternly as Campbell. The idea of a car called the Provo going on sale in Belfast sparked a rapid-fire battle of Ulster wits across the Internet.

On an Irish news aggregator called the Broadsheet, posters noted that the car's detailing was in orange, the favored color of the British Protestant majority. "Does my bomb look big in this?" asked one. Another noted the car needs no satellite navigation system, because the car "already knows where you live."

Kia is hardly the first automaker to stumble when picking model names that don't sound stupid worldwide.

In Spanish, Chevy's Nova meant "doesn't go," Mazda's LaPuta translated as "the whore," and the Nissan Moco as "booger."

The Honda Fitta raised eyebrows across much of Scandinavia, where the word refers to women's private parts. When Toyota launched the MR2, they soon found saying those letters and numbers in French made it sound as though the car smelled of excrement.

And of course, to the military-minded or excessively nervous, Kia's own corporate name suggests "killed in action."

Hendrix at 70: New album offers different look


NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Jimi Hendrix recorded everything. More than 40 years after his death, though, the tape is finally running out.

"People, Hell & Angels," out Tuesday, will be the last album of Hendrix's unreleased studio material, according to Eddie Kramer, the engineer who recorded most of Hendrix's music during his brief but spectacular career. That ends a four-decade run of posthumous releases by an artist whose legacy remains as vital and vibrant now as it was at the time of his death.

"Jimi utilized the studio as a rehearal space," Kramer said. "That's kind of an expensive way of doing things, but thank God he did."

The 12 tracks on "People, Hell & Angels" were recorded in 1968-69 after the Jimi Hendrix Experience disbanded. There's a changeable roster of backing musicians, including Buddy Miles and Billy Cox, who would briefly become Hendrix's Band of Gypsies. Stephen Stills, recently of Buffalo Springfield, even popped up on bass on one track.

It was a difficult period for Hendrix as his business and creative endeavors became entangled, and he retreated to the studio to seek inspiration.

"Jimi used that time in the studio to experiment, to jam, to rehearse, and using this jam-rehearsal style of recording enabled him to try different musicians of different stripes and backgrounds, because they offered a musical challenge to him," Kramer said. "He wanted to hear music expressed with different guys who could lend a different approach to it. And as part of this whole learning curve, what emerged was this band that played at Woodstock in '69, that little concert on the hill there."

Many of the songs have been heard in different versions or forms before, but the music here is funkier than his best known work at times sinuous, at times raucous. Horns pop up here and there. He's a cosmic philosopher riding an earthbound backbeat on "Somewhere." He's a groovin' bluesman enveloped in a bit of that purple haze on "Hear My Train a Comin'." He challenges a saxophone to a fist fight on "Let Me Move You." Then he channels James Brown on "Mojo Man" and ends the album as if shutting down an empty cinder-block club on a lonely stretch of dark highway with "Villanova Junction Blues."

Hendrix died not long after making the last of these recordings. He'd already disbanded the players and was working with the Experience again in 1970 when he died of asphyxia in September 1970 at 27.

The last of the studio albums was timed for the year he would have turned 70. But in the 43 years that have passed since his death, he's remained a fixture in American popular culture in much the same way Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash have endured. Still a radio staple, his image and music pops up often in commercials. There's a biopic on the way with Andre Benjamin tackling the lead role. Even his out-there sense of fashion remains relevant.

Driving that image is the continued importance of his music, inspiring entranced young guitarists to attack his work in an endless loop of rediscovery over the decades. Tastes and sounds may change, but Hendrix always remains close at hand.

Maybe it's because he was so far ahead of his time, we still haven't caught up.

"He was a psychedelic warrior," said Luther Dickinson, Grammy-nominated singer-guitar of the North Mississippi Allstars. "He was one of those forces that pushed evolution. He was kicking the doors down. He was forcing the future into our ears."

For Dickinson and his brother Cody, it was Hendrix's post-apocalyptic psych-rock epic "1983 ... (A Merman I Should Turn to Be)" that blew their minds. But he means different things to different musicians. He played the chitlin circuit in the South before being discovered as a rocker in Europe and his music was also steeped in the blues, R&B and jazz.

"As a songwriter, he had the thing like Billy Gibbons (of ZZ Top) and a few current guys like Dan Auerbach or Jack White," Dickinson said. "They have the ability to take a near-cliche blues guitar lick and turn it into a pop hook. Hendrix had that. That was one aspect. Also, he wrote some of the most beautiful guitar melodies. His ballads, there's nothing to compare them to. Obviously he learned a lot from Curtis Mayfield and R&B music, but he took it so much farther."

It's that soulful side that first inspired Michael Kiwanuka, a young singer-songwriter who grew up in London thousands of miles away from Dickinson's home in Hernando, Miss., yet was seized by Hendrix just as forcefully.

He first saw Hendrix in a documentary that was paired back to back with his performance at Woodstock. Kiwanuka was 12 and new to the guitar. He experienced a lot of sensations at once. First, there was the music. He wasn't drawn to the rip-roaring psychedelia the Dickinsons favored, but the R&B-flavored classics like "Castles Made of Sand" and "The Wind Cries Mary." The child of Ugandan immigrants also was amazed by Hendrix's natural hairstyle, which closely resembled his own.

"I'd never seen an African-American, a guy of African descent, playing rock music," Kiwanuka said. "I was listening to bands like Nirvana and stuff at the time. That's what got me into rock music the electric guitar. Every time I saw a modern black musician it was like R&B, so I'd never seen someone play electric guitar in a rock way that was African. That inspired me as well on top of the music. And you think, 'Oh, I could do that.'"

"People, Hell & Angels" will likely continue that cycle of discovery. And though it may be the last of studio album, it won't be the last we hear from Hendrix.

"This is the last studio album, but what's coming up is the fact that we have tremendous amount of live recorded concerts in the vault," Kramer said. "A lot of them were filmed, too, so be prepared in the next few years to see some fabulous live performances, one of which I've already mixed. We're waiting for the release date God knows when but at some point in the future there's a ton of great live material."

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Online:

http://jimihendrix.com

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Follow Music Writer Chirs Talbott: http://twitter.com/Chris_Talbott.

British "Batman" turns out to be Stan the delivery man


LONDON (Reuters) - It wasn't Batman, it was a joker. A day after making headlines around the world for handing over a suspect to police dressed as Batman, the identity of Britain's mysterious caped crusader has been revealed as Stan, a takeaway food delivery man.

Police in Bradford, northern England, were baffled when a portly figure in an ill-fitting Batman costume brought them a 27-year-old man wanted for burglary in the early hours of February 25 before disappearing into the night.

They released closed-circuit television footage of the incident on Monday and after much speculation, the masked hero disclosed his true identity to media on Tuesday. He was not Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne, but driver Stan Worby, 39.

He also said he had not brought the man in as part of any crime-fighting crusade. He had simply agreed to accompany a friend to the police station to offer him moral support, and had decided to wear the Batman suit as a practical joke.

"Obviously it was done as a joke," he told ITV's Daybreak programme, saying he was "gobsmacked" by the attention.

Worby said he had been to London's Wembley Stadium earlier in the day to watch local team Bradford City play in the English Capital One (League) Cup football final and had worn fancy dress for the occasion.

While there, Worby was contacted by his friend and agreed to take him in on his return from London.

"Obviously he wanted to get straight down there and I wanted my bed as it was half (past) one in the morning," Worby said.

He also insisted the pictures which showed he perhaps lacked the body of a superhero were unfair.

"I've got my full tracksuit underneath," he explained.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Nigella Lawson pays homage to Italy in new cookbook


NEW YORK (Reuters) - British television celebrity and best-selling cookbook author Nigella Lawson recalls that when the other girls wanted to be French, she wanted to be Italian.

"As a teenager, what drew me was the combination of familial warmth and glamour that was somehow both earthy and chic," Lawson said about Italy, where she lived between high school and college.

Her eighth cookbook, "Nigellissima," focuses exclusively on 120 Italian-inspired recipes.

"Somehow by speaking Italian, I came into the person I am," the 53-year-old, Oxford-educated cook added.

London-based Lawson, who is appearing in the U.S. cooking show "The Taste," spoke to Reuters about creating recipes and about how her most joyful moment in the kitchen is opening the fridge, seeing what is inside and trying to make something taste good from it, which she admits is "absolutely the antithesis of a cookery book."

Q: Is this your first Italian cookbook?

A: "It sort of is, and isn't. It's the first that's just Italian, or Italian-inspired. Because Italy has been such a big influence in my life, in my cooking life, there are actually more Italian recipes in my other books. But this is the only time I've done a book with such a narrow focus geographically."

Q: How would you describe your take on Italian cuisine?

A: "I suppose what I bring to it is a slightly more contemporary, urban edge in the sense that I live a busy modern city life, whereas so many Italian recipes come from a time when women were expected to spend a long time in the kitchen. I suppose I bring a kind of temporary impatience because it's the way I live now."

Q: How did you learn to cook?

A: "I've never learned to cook. I just cooked from when I was a child, always. I come from a large family and my mother believed in child labor, so I've cooked since I was about six. I do come from a food-obsessed family. That helps. I did have to teach myself how to cook weighing and measuring. It was an education in itself, and an interesting one."

Q: Do you create the recipes in your books?

A: "Well, they're mine, and if they're not I will always say. I think it's improper not to credit recipes. Often I credit someone even if I've changed it enormously because I feel for the reader it's very interesting to see the evolution of a recipe. So I will go back through the mists of time (to trace) how this recipe evolved."

Q: How does being a home cook, rather than a professional chef, influence your approach to preparing food?

A: "Cooking for me is in part an evangelical zeal that I want to share. If I've loved a book that I've read, I want to share that as well. A chef needs to feel they're being original. I just have the home cook sensibility: not wanting to waste money or time.

"Generally I make sure that if I buy a certain stash of ingredients, I can cook many different dishes. Cooking is not about heaping in ingredient after ingredient after ingredient. If I read a recipe and I'm exhausted by the time I finish reading the ingredients list, I know I'm never going to cook it."

Q: Did you enjoy co-hosting the reality TV show "The Taste?"

A: "I had a certain amount of trepidation but I really enjoyed it ... Because it was really about the taste of the food and not about personalities, I didn't think it was going to descend into the cruelty of some reality TV, that would appall me."

Sicilian Pasta with Tomatoes, Garlic & Almonds

Serves 6

1 1 4 pounds fusilli lunghi or other pasta of your choice

salt for pasta water, to taste

8 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes

6 anchovy fillets

2 tablespoons golden raisins

2 cloves garlic, peeled

2 tablespoons capers, drained

1/3 cup skinned almonds

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil leaves from small bunch

basil (approx. 1 cup, packed )

Put abundant water on to boil for the pasta, waiting for it to boil before salting it. Add the pasta and cook following the package instructions, though start checking it a good 2 minutes before it's meant to be ready.

While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce by putting all the remaining ingredients, except the basil, into a processor and blitzing until you have a nubby-textured sauce.

Just before draining the pasta, remove a cupful of pasta-cooking water and add 2 tablespoonfuls of it down the funnel of the processor, pulsing as you go.

Tip the drained pasta into your warmed serving bowl. Pour and scrape the sauce on top, tossing to coat (add a little more pasta-cooking water if you need it) and strew the basil leaves on top.

(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Philip Barbara)

Bruce Springsteen to return to London festival


LONDON (AP) Bruce Springsteen is returning to headline the London Hard Rock Calling festival, a year after authorities pulled the plug on his duet with Paul McCartney for violating a curfew.

The American rock star brings The E Street Band back to the event that is moving to a new location at the city's Olympic Park.

Concert organizers Live Nation are leaving Hyde Park amid friction between fans and the neighborhood's well-heeled residents, many of whom gripe about the late-night noise.

Springsteen had already exceeded the 10:30 p.m. curfew by half an hour when he welcomed McCartney on stage last July. They sang the Beatles hits "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Twist and Shout." But officials turned the microphones off, and they were forced to leave the stage in silence.

Springsteen will headline the second night of the two-day festival on June 30. Other acts include Kasabian, Paul Weller, the Black Crowes and Alabama Shakes.

Live Nation Entertainment is holding a series of concerts at the former Olympic venue this summer including the Hard Rock Calling and Wireless festivals after gaining exclusive rights to the venue.

The 560-acre (227-hectare) site of the 2012 Summer Games is due to reopen to the public in stages between July and early 2014.

Bieber apologizes to angry fans for late UK show


LONDON (Reuters) - Canadian singer Justin Bieber apologized on Tuesday after fans booed him for turning up nearly two hours late to a London concert, blaming technical issues for his late performance.

The 19-year-old teen idol had been scheduled to take the stage at London's O2 Arena at 8.30 p.m. but said in a Twitter message that the time was pushed back to 9.35 p.m. due to "some technical issues".

Many fans, and the venue itself, appeared not to have got the message after complaints poured in that Bieber was nearly two hours late when he finally appeared at around 10.20 p.m..

"Last night I was scheduled after 3 opening acts to go on stage at 935 not 830 but because of some technical issues," Bieber wrote on Twitter, the micro-blogging site where he boasts the largest following of more than 35 million people.

"I got on at 10:10..so...I was 40 min late to stage. there is no excuse for that and I apologize for anyone we upset. However it was great show and I'm proud of that."

In the third of four tweets, he vowed to run on time on Tuesday, and in the final message said his relationship with the media, which picked up on fans' displeasure following Monday night's concert, was "not always easy but I'm trying".

The popular Sun tabloid newspaper said many fans, some of them as young as five years old, had gone home by the time Bieber began while others voiced frustration.

There was no on-stage apology, although the O2 Arena did later address fans, popularly known as "Beliebers", apologizing in a Twitter message to "all the Justin Bieber fans for the lateness of his show tonight".

Bieber is due to play the same venue on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Many people voiced their frustration at having to wait, while others reacted angrily to the headlines.

"Justin Bieber is my fave person but 2 hours late on stage is a joke!" fan Jess wrote on Twitter. "Does he realize that he has fans under the age of 10?"

Others jumped to his defense early on Tuesday.

"Feel really bad for @justinbieber now! Yes he was late but he put on a flipping good show! It was amazing," said one.

Not all reviewers were quite so kind for the singer who was named by Forbes magazine in 2012 as the third most powerful celebrity in the world.

London's Evening Standard awarded the "Baby" singer two stars, saying he turned "victory into defeat".

"By the end, the O2 was barely half-full and when Bieber asked 'Who's seen me play before?', he might have been better wondering who would spend time, money and adoration on seeing him again," wrote critic John Aizlewood.

Bieber's visit to Britain has probably not been his best.

On March 2, the day after he turned 19, he tweeted "worst birthday" amid reports some of his entourage were turned away from a London nightclub because they could not supply adequate proof of their age.

Bieber, who was discovered on YouTube in 2008, last month became the youngest artist to land five chart-topping albums in the United States following the release of his latest record, "Believe Acoustic".

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

Czech court acquits heavy metal singer over fan death


PRAGUE (Reuters) - A Czech court on Tuesday acquitted the frontman of U.S. heavy metal band Lamb of God of manslaughter charges in the death of a fan at a concert in Prague three years ago.

The prosecution had accused Randy Blythe, 42, of pushing 19-year-old fan Daniel Nosek off the stage, causing him to hit his head when he tumbled onto the floor. He was taken to hospital where he died several weeks later from his head injury.

The presiding judge ruled that Blythe's actions did not constitute a crime. No further explanation of the verdict was immediately available. Prosecutors immediately appealed against the acquittal to the Czech High Court.

Blythe, who was charged with causing an injury leading to death, admitted to shoving a fan off the stage during the 2010 Prague show but said he believed the person was unharmed.

He said he did not learn of Nosek's death or the prosecution over the incident until police arrested him at Prague airport when the band returned for another gig in June last year.

Blythe was released on bail and travelled back to the United States, but returned for his trial. He would have faced up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

(Reporting by Jan Korselt; Writing by Jan Lopatka; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Actress Geena Davis critical of Oscar host


SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) Academy Award winner Geena Davis on Monday waded into the ongoing controversy over this year's Oscars ceremony by saying host Seth MacFarlane's routine was disrespectful to women, particularly the performers who were being honored.

The "Thelma & Louise" star said MacFarlane's much-criticized routine last month overshadowed the win of an animated film with a strong female character.

"It's a shame that that triumph was enveloped in an awards ceremony containing disrespect for women," Davis told members of the California Assembly during a ceremony in Sacramento. "But it helps illustrate how tone-deaf we can still be regarding the status of women."

She commended "Brave," which won best animated picture, as setting a positive example for girls.

Davis, who won a best supporting actress Oscar for "The Accidental Tourist" in 1988, was in the state capital as one of 11 California women honored for their achievements.

She is chairwoman of state Commission on the Status of Women and Girls and founded a nonprofit that promotes gender equality in the media.

Last week, two female state lawmakers sent a letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences asking it to condemn MacFarlane's quips about nude scenes and the attractiveness of several female actresses as degrading toward women. At one point during the Oscars ceremony, MacFarlane performed a song about "boobs" and referenced several rape scenes among his list of movies with actresses appearing topless.

The academy issued a general statement defending MacFarlane and saying the award show is about "creative freedom."

Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, a Santa Barbara Democrat who co-authored the letter, said Monday that she was disappointed the academy did not address her concerns.

"I might say after last Sunday's Academy Awards, we need you more than ever," said Jackson, referring to Davis' work on gender issues as she introduced the actress and other honorees on the Senate floor.

In her remarks to Assembly members, Davis said much work remains to ensure equal opportunities for young women. The state commission she leads is focused on the areas of women and families in the military, in business, health and safety, education, and gender equality in the media.

Davis also referenced Lavonne "Pepper" Paire-Davis, a women's baseball league star in the 1940s and the inspiration for "A League of Their Own." The Los Angeles native, who passed away last month, once described playing baseball as being as second-nature to her as breathing, she said.

"Every girl in California should be able to pursue a dream that's as natural to her as breathing," Davis said. "We need to support them to make sure they have the messages and the tools to get there."

Suspect in acid attack on Bolshoi chief detained


MOSCOW (AP) Police have detained a suspect in the January acid attack on the artistic director of the Bolshoi ballet, the Interior Ministry said on Tuesday.

Sergei Filin was left with severe burns to his eyes and face when an unidentified attacker threw sulfuric acid in his face on Jan. 17 as he was returning home from work. He is now undergoing treatment and rehabilitation in Germany.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that a suspect in the attack was detained on Tuesday and is being questioned at a Moscow police station. Police officers are also searching the suspect's home, the statement said, without providing any details on the suspect.

Bolshoi Theater spokeswoman Katerina Novikova said she does not know if the suspect is related in any way to the famed theater. She said police were not present at the theater on Tuesday.

The Bolshoi Theater is one of Russia's premier cultural institutions, best known for "Swan Lake" and the other grand classical ballets that grace its Moscow stage. But backstage, the ballet company has been troubled by deep intrigue and infighting that have led to the departure of several artistic directors over the last few years.

Filin's colleagues have said the attack on the former ballet star could be in retaliation for his selection of certain dancers over others for prized roles. Filin told Russian state television before he checked out of a Moscow hospital that he knew who ordered the attack but wouldn't give names.

In a February interview with the Snob magazine, the Bolshoi's general director, Anatoly Iksanov, said the attack on Filin was inspired by longtime leading dancer Nikolai Tsiskaridze.

"I don't blame that particular crime on him, but I'm accusing Nikolai of escalating the situation at the theater, of putting psychological pressure on the theater's staff and management, on Filin, on myself and teachers," he said.

Tsiskaridze, a long-time critic of the theater's management, has denied the allegation and accused Iksanov and his allies of fueling the dispute.

Many ballet stars, including Anastasia Volochkova, have sided with Tsiskaridze. Alexei Ratmansky, the Bolshoi ballet's artistic director from 2004 until 2008, likened the atmosphere at the theater to "a disgusting cesspool" and said that the attack stems from "by the lack of any ethics at the theater."

Ratmansky is now an artist-in-residence at the American Ballet Theater.

TV show jokes about alcoholism among Ariz. tribes


FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) Arizona tribal members say they're shocked by a television sitcom that made fun of one of the most pervasive social ills on American Indian reservations alcoholism.

One of the characters on the CBS show "Mike & Molly" joked about drunken Indians in Arizona, a state that is home to 21 federally recognized American Indian tribes. Although drinking and selling alcohol largely is banned on reservations, it can easily be found in border towns, brought in by bootleggers or sneaked past authorities.

No one disputes that public intoxication is a problem on and off the reservations, but tribal members say alcoholism often is linked to poverty, hopelessness and a history of trauma within American Indian families that is hard to overcome. American Indians and Alaska Natives die at a higher rate from alcoholism than other Americans, according to federal data, and authorities say alcohol fuels a majority of violent crimes on reservations.

"You can see somebody who is drunk and tripping over themselves and it's easy to make fun of them," said Erny Zah, a spokesman for the Navajo Nation, which extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. "But the disease itself isn't funny, the coming home late at night, possibly beating on family members, the absence of family members, the fear it instills in a lot of children."

The Native American Journalists Association called on CBS to apologize, saying it's inexplicable for a highly entertaining show to resort to humor at the expense of Arizona tribes. The group urged screenwriters to think twice about what might offend minority groups and to work to overcome stereotypes.

"I think a lot of times people make excuses for when they do those type of jokes or sarcasm," said NAJA President Rhonda LeValdo, who is from Acoma Pueblo in New Mexico. "To me, it's not funny making fun of a minority group. Are we supposed to be the entertainment for mainstream?"

The joke about American Indians in Arizona last week was brief and made by Mike's mother on the show, played by Rondi Reed. The show that airs on Mondays debuted in September 2010, starring Billy Gardell and Melissa McCarthy as a couple who found love at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting.

CBS spokesman Chris Ender declined to comment.

Not all viewers were offended by the joke, with some posting on the show's Facebook page that anyone who didn't like it can tune out.

Racheal Povatah, a member of the Hopi tribe in northern Arizona, didn't watch the episode that included the joke but heard about it and was offended. Despite a strong cultural and traditional background, she said tribal members turn to alcohol, drugs and self-destructive behavior to mask the pain of trauma they have suffered.

"Sometimes it's a decision it doesn't seem like we can make on our own, it's just there," she said. "There's so much that goes along with it."

Zah said an apology won't fix the negative perception of American Indians that the show perpetuated, and joking about alcoholism disregards the progress tribes have made or their contributions to address alcoholism.

"I would hope the rest of the country would be educated enough to understand we are more than what that comment made us out to be," he said. "We have educated people who are in the highest parts of the government, science, everywhere within this country."