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Singer Glen Campbell reveals he’s battling Alzheimer’s disease

A writer for The Indianapolis Star, in a review of a June 4 Glen Campbell concert in the Indiana city, wrote: “Facing a sold-out audience nestled in a world-class room, Campbell came across as unprepared at best and disoriented at worst. He mangled lyrics (despite unabashed use of video prompts on three onstage monitors), clanged countless off-key guitar notes and generated zero rapport with the crowd.”

On Wednesday (June 22), that writer was having an aha! moment. Campbell, 75, in an exclusive interview with People magazine revealed that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative neurological disorder. Campbell’s wife, Kim, sat in on the interview.

“Glen is still an awesome guitar player and singer,” Kim Campbell said. “But if he’s flubs a lyric or gets confused on stage, I wouldn’t want people to think, ‘What’s the matter with him? Is he drunk?’ ”

The couple said Campbell has suffered short-term memory loss “for years,” but the Alzheimer’s diagnosis only came six months ago.

“I still love making music,” Campbell said. “And I still love performing for my fans. I’d like to thank them for sticking with me through thick and thin.”

New Orleans area fans will have the chance to show Campbell some love on July 15, when his “Goodbye Tour” stops at the IP Casino and Spa in Biloxi, Miss.

Meanwhile, Campbell is at work on a new album, “Ghost on the Canvas,” and has a new single out titled “A Better Place.” The single includes the foreboding lyrics, “I need the ones I love Lord/More and more each day.”

Working on the album with Campbell is producer Julian Raymond, who gave the singer a cool late-career boost and introduced him to a new generation of fans with the 2008 album “Meet Glen Campbell.” On that one, Campbell covered songs by such modern rock acts as Green Day, Velvet Underground and the Replacements.

Campbell’s classic hits include “Wichita Lineman,” “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” “Galveston” and “Southern Nights,” written by New Orleans-born Allen Toussaint. Campbell, a native of the small town of Delight, Ark., (pronounced DEE-light), also paid homage to his home state with “Arkansas (Land of Opportunity).” He also starred along with John Wayne in the original “True Grit” movie (1969).

But the song that many people will always remember Campbell for is 1975’s “Rhinestone Cowboy.” Watch the video below:

Fed says recovery is slower than expected

The Federal Reserve acknowledged that the economy is growing more slowly than it expected. But it plans to complete its $600 billion Treasury bond buying program by the end of the month.

Concluding a two-day meeting, the Fed repeated a pledge to keep interest rates at record lows for “an extended period.” But it believes the main causes of the slowdown, such as high gas prices, are temporary and announced no new efforts to stimulate the economy.

As expected, the central bank said it would keep its massive holdings of Treasury bonds at current levels, an action designed to keep consumer and business loan rates at low levels.

Bernanke and his colleagues are trying to keep a fragile economy on track two years after the Great Recession officially ended.

A sharp spike in gasoline prices earlier this year has made consumers and businesses more cautious about spending. Unemployment is rising again and employers pulled back on hiring in May. Economic growth slowed to 1.8 percent in the first three months of the year. It is not expected to be much higher in the current quarter.

Bernanke has maintained that the slowdown is temporary. He predicts the economy should pick up later this year as the impact of high gas prices and supply disruptions caused by the March earthquake and tsunami in Japan abate. However, the Fed is now confronting renewed jitters that a debt crisis in Greece could spread to other heavily indebted European nations and send shockwaves through U.S. and global financial markets.

The Fed has kept rates at ultra-low levels since December 2008. When the Fed decides to abandon the “extended period” language, it would be viewed as a signal that the Fed was getting ready to reverse course and start boosting interest rates. Many private economists believe it will be another full year before the economy has recovered enough for the Fed to actually start raising interest rates.

The Fed is also winding down its bond-buying program, dubbed QE2, a short-hand for “quantitative easing.” It’s a wonky term economists use to characterize the Fed’s effort to drive down long-term interest rates by buying up Treasury bonds. QE2 marked the second round of such easing the Fed had taken; the first was in March 2009 at the depths of the recession.

Supporters say the bond purchases have worked, in part by keeping rates low and encouraging spending. Low long-term rates are vital for consumers buying homes and cars and for companies making investments.

They also argue that those lower rates fueled a stock rally. When Bernanke outlined plans for QE2 in late August 2010, the Standard & Poor’s 500 index was down 6 percent for the year. Eight months later, the S&P 500 was up 28 percent. Lower rates made stocks more attractive to investors than bonds, whose yields were falling.

Falling bond yields have also helped keep mortgage rates near record lows. The average rate on a 30-year mortgage has stayed below 5 percent for all but two weeks this year and was 4.50 percent last week. Still, low rates have done little to boost home sales, which fell in May to the lowest level in since November.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said the bond purchases gave a sagging economy a lift by slightly reducing borrowing costs for businesses and consumers and by raising stock prices to make people feel wealthier. Still, it didn’t much energize home buying or other major purchases.

“It wasn’t a slam-dunk success, but it was worthwhile,” Zandi said.

Critics, including some Fed officials, saw things differently. They warned that by pumping so much money into the economy, the Fed increased the risks of high inflation later. They have complained that the Fed’s outpouring of dollars hurt the dollar and contributed to a spike in oil and food prices. They also feared the bond purchases fed speculative buying that could inflate bubbles in prices of stocks or other assets.

Bernanke hit back at those critics in a speech last month. He argued that higher oil prices were due to Middle East turmoil and demand in fast-growing countries like China and blamed food-price inflation mainly on crop shortages caused by bad weather. And he said the falling dollar was largely linked to slower U.S. growth and the U.S. trade deficit.

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First ever drug to treat ‘Celtic Gene’ in cystic fibrosis sufferers

ScienceDaily (June 20, 2011) — An international research team led by Queen’s University have developed a ground breaking treatment for cystic fibrosis sufferers. The new drug will benefit sufferers who have the ‘Celtic Gene’, a genetic mutation which is particularly common in Ireland.

The study, which was carried out by scientists at Queen’s University Belfast, the University of Ulster, the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust and teams of researchers in Europe, USA and Australia found significant improvement in lung function, quality of life and a reduction in disease flare ups for those receiving the new treatment.

The drug (VX-770) is a significant breakthrough not only for those with the ‘Celtic Gene’, known as G551D, but also for all other cystic fibrosis sufferers as it indicates that the basic defect in cystic fibrosis can be treated. This is the first drug aimed at the basic defect in cystic fibrosis to show an effect. It is still too early to determine whether this treatment will improve life expectancy but the improvements in the breathing tests and the reduction in flare-ups would suggest survival will be better.

Stuart Elborn, Centre Director in the Centre for Infection and Immunity at Queen’s University and co-leader of the study said: “The development of this drug is significant because it is the first to show that treating the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis may have profound effects on the disease, even among people who have been living with it for decades. The remarkable reductions in sweat chloride observed in this study support the idea that VX-770 improves protein function thereby addressing the fundamental defect that leads to CF.”

Dr Judy Bradley, from the University of Ulster said: “This drug opens the defective channel in the lung cells of people with cystic fibrosis and allows proper lung clearance of bacteria. This is a ground breaking treatment because it treats the basic defect caused by the gene mutation in patients. Correcting the cells with this mutation shows that treatments aimed at the basic mutation can work leading to improvements in lung function and symptoms.”

Dr Damien Downey, from the Belfast Health and Social Care Trust said: “The success of this study illustrates the benefits that come from collaborative work here in Northern Ireland. Not only will this breakthrough help patients in Ireland and the UK but it has the potential to change the lives for those with cystic fibrosis around the world. As a result of the recent work researchers from Queen’s University, University of Ulster and clinicians from Belfast Health and Social Care Trust have been selected to join the European Cystic Fibrosis Society Clinical Trials Network. This means cystic fibrosis researchers in Northern Ireland will be collaborating with their European counterparts to work toward improved treatments for cystic fibrosis on a global level. “

The new drug will be submitted for licensing in the Autumn of this year and is expected to be available to patients by as early next year.

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The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Queen’s University, Belfast, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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Ode to happiness

21 June 2011 Last updated at 22:42 ET

By Genevieve Hassan BBC News entertainment reporter

Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves takes time out from his film career as his first “grown up children’s book” is published.

Keanu Reeves has developed a reputation in the media for being a bit glum and lonely.

In recent years, the notoriously private actor has suffered a series of personal tragedies including the deaths of his long-term girlfriend and baby daughter.

Then last year, a picture taken of Reeves sitting alone on a bench eating a sandwich fuelled his lonely image and sparked a “Cheer up Keanu” campaign on Facebook.

So a cursory glance at the 46-year-old’s first book – entitled Ode to Happiness – would seem to confirm the actor is thoroughly depressed and full of self-pity.

The slim, handstitched book is a poem penned by Reeves, with a line on each page accompanied by simple blotted ink drawings by Los Angeles artist, Alexandra Grant.

“I draw a hot sorrow bath/In my despair room,” the poem begins, before going on to mention his “regret shampoo”, “pain soap”, “I hate myself face cream” and “alone again silk pyjamas”.

If you’re now smirking at the strangeness of the sombre lines, that was Reeves’ intention as the book started out as a private joke between friends.

“Our friend [the book's editor Janey Bergam] sat at Keanu’s house one night listening to wonderfully sad self-pitying songs and Keanu, in the spirit of poking fun at them, began to write a poem,” says Grant.

Bergman passed the poem on to the artist who spent six months making it into a book to be handed back to Reeves as a gift.

“I thought it was fantastic,” says Reeves. “Holding it I just had this moment of looking at it and going ‘wow, if I’d like to have this, then other people would like to have this,’ so we tried to make it a work as a book.”

Reeves is keen to stress that the poem is not a true reflection of his personal life, nor was it designed to counteract his media-created lonely image.

“It’s only personal in the sense of looking out and regarding my sense of humour. I don’t usually take baths in my despair room with a misery candle burning,” he says.

He does admit however, to owning silk pyjamas and using face cream.

The challenge for Grant was creating the right kind of artwork to go with Reeves’ text.

Continue reading the main story

There is a kind of life experience in it. I was hoping people would find it relatable and hopefully transformative in a sense”

End Quote Keanu Reeves

“It needed images to match the power of the humour of each line, but also the sadness,” she says.

“The work I’m known for in the States has a specific look and I wanted to come up with something that matched the DNA of the poem.

“So thinking through what it would look like took a long time, but the actual making of it didn’t take as long because they’re very fast drawings.”

The resulting published work – which Reeves describes as a “grown up’s picture book” – is almost an exact replica of the original gift book.

The pair went to Germany to work with Gerhard Steidl – a renowned printer of arts books – to reproduce Ode to Happiness, printed on thick, quality paper with its own slipcase. And with it being limited to 4,000 copies, is almost a piece of art in itself.

“It’s very much an artist’s book – a book that’s meant to be held and touched,” Grant says. “We really cared about the quality of the paper as the drawings are really prints.

“I’d like to encourage people to cut it up – which sounds weird – but you could have this framed artwork if you wanted to.”

Although not entirely serious, Reeves thinks the book does have an element of self-help to it.

“There is a kind of life experience in it. I was hoping people would find it relatable and hopefully transformative in a sense,” he says.

“It does start off being a true moment – that time when you’re melancholic or sad, that kind of very insular moment. Hopefully looking at this you can come out of it and become objective about what circumstances you’re going through and maybe have a smile about it.”

Grant adds she has experienced a range of reactions to the book: “I’ve seen people cracking up over it.

“Then I showed it to someone at a bookstore in LA and she started weeping, so you never know what the reaction will be. It depends what people bring to the book but there’s a real power to it.”

Amidst Reeves’ poetic ponderings, he has been busy filming his latest movie in England, 47 Ronin – a take on a well-known samurai legend. He’s also producing a documentary called Side by Side which the actor describes as being “about the science, art and impact of digital cinema”.

Then there’s a possibility of a third Bill and Ted movie: “We did a draft [script] and then we went back with some notes and hopefully we’re getting another draft soon,” he says.

But what about more poetry collaborations with Grant? Reeves says the pair are planning a second book entitled Haikus of Hope, but he hasn’t started on it yet.

“I hope we get to do another book – I just have to get down and do the work.”

Ode to Happiness is published by Steidl.

View post:

Ode to happiness

21 June 2011 Last updated at 22:42 ET

By Genevieve Hassan BBC News entertainment reporter

Hollywood actor Keanu Reeves takes time out from his film career as his first “grown up children’s book” is published.

Keanu Reeves has developed a reputation in the media for being a bit glum and lonely.

In recent years, the notoriously private actor has suffered a series of personal tragedies including the deaths of his long-term girlfriend and baby daughter.

Then last year, a picture taken of Reeves sitting alone on a bench eating a sandwich fuelled his lonely image and sparked a “Cheer up Keanu” campaign on Facebook.

So a cursory glance at the 46-year-old’s first book – entitled Ode to Happiness – would seem to confirm the actor is thoroughly depressed and full of self-pity.

The slim, handstitched book is a poem penned by Reeves, with a line on each page accompanied by simple blotted ink drawings by Los Angeles artist, Alexandra Grant.

“I draw a hot sorrow bath/In my despair room,” the poem begins, before going on to mention his “regret shampoo”, “pain soap”, “I hate myself face cream” and “alone again silk pyjamas”.

If you’re now smirking at the strangeness of the sombre lines, that was Reeves’ intention as the book started out as a private joke between friends.

“Our friend [the book's editor Janey Bergam] sat at Keanu’s house one night listening to wonderfully sad self-pitying songs and Keanu, in the spirit of poking fun at them, began to write a poem,” says Grant.

Bergman passed the poem on to the artist who spent six months making it into a book to be handed back to Reeves as a gift.

“I thought it was fantastic,” says Reeves. “Holding it I just had this moment of looking at it and going ‘wow, if I’d like to have this, then other people would like to have this,’ so we tried to make it a work as a book.”

Reeves is keen to stress that the poem is not a true reflection of his personal life, nor was it designed to counteract his media-created lonely image.

“It’s only personal in the sense of looking out and regarding my sense of humour. I don’t usually take baths in my despair room with a misery candle burning,” he says.

He does admit however, to owning silk pyjamas and using face cream.

The challenge for Grant was creating the right kind of artwork to go with Reeves’ text.

Continue reading the main story

There is a kind of life experience in it. I was hoping people would find it relatable and hopefully transformative in a sense”

End Quote Keanu Reeves

“It needed images to match the power of the humour of each line, but also the sadness,” she says.

“The work I’m known for in the States has a specific look and I wanted to come up with something that matched the DNA of the poem.

“So thinking through what it would look like took a long time, but the actual making of it didn’t take as long because they’re very fast drawings.”

The resulting published work – which Reeves describes as a “grown up’s picture book” – is almost an exact replica of the original gift book.

The pair went to Germany to work with Gerhard Steidl – a renowned printer of arts books – to reproduce Ode to Happiness, printed on thick, quality paper with its own slipcase. And with it being limited to 4,000 copies, is almost a piece of art in itself.

“It’s very much an artist’s book – a book that’s meant to be held and touched,” Grant says. “We really cared about the quality of the paper as the drawings are really prints.

“I’d like to encourage people to cut it up – which sounds weird – but you could have this framed artwork if you wanted to.”

Although not entirely serious, Reeves thinks the book does have an element of self-help to it.

“There is a kind of life experience in it. I was hoping people would find it relatable and hopefully transformative in a sense,” he says.

“It does start off being a true moment – that time when you’re melancholic or sad, that kind of very insular moment. Hopefully looking at this you can come out of it and become objective about what circumstances you’re going through and maybe have a smile about it.”

Grant adds she has experienced a range of reactions to the book: “I’ve seen people cracking up over it.

“Then I showed it to someone at a bookstore in LA and she started weeping, so you never know what the reaction will be. It depends what people bring to the book but there’s a real power to it.”

Amidst Reeves’ poetic ponderings, he has been busy filming his latest movie in England, 47 Ronin – a take on a well-known samurai legend. He’s also producing a documentary called Side by Side which the actor describes as being “about the science, art and impact of digital cinema”.

Then there’s a possibility of a third Bill and Ted movie: “We did a draft [script] and then we went back with some notes and hopefully we’re getting another draft soon,” he says.

But what about more poetry collaborations with Grant? Reeves says the pair are planning a second book entitled Haikus of Hope, but he hasn’t started on it yet.

“I hope we get to do another book – I just have to get down and do the work.”

Ode to Happiness is published by Steidl.

View post:

Wimbledon 2011: Venus Williams saunters to first-round victory

Venus Williams hits a back-hand return winner during her first-round defeat of Akgul Amanmuradova at Wimbledon. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Venus Williams made a late decision to play at Wimbledon after injury and arrived late on to court on Monday but made up for lost time as she began her bid to win the title for a sixth time with a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 victory over Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan.

The five-times champion, seeded No23 in only her second tournament back after more than four months out with hip and stomach problems, was too good for the world No97 Amanmuradova and will now play the 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan.

Whether it was gamesmanship, trouble getting through the crowds or simple tardiness, Williams was 10 minutes late getting on to court, keeping Amanmuradova waiting in her chair, playing with her racket and generally getting cold.

When she did arrive Williams looked a little like she had come from a toga party and cut off her dress to make it more suitable for tennis. A “playsuit” is reportedly the best way to describe what she was wearing but she probably could have worn a trouser suit and still taken care of Amanmuradova, who had lost all three of her previous matches at Wimbledon.

The Uzbek was out for a month this season with a right elbow injury and she lacked the power to hurt Williams, who looked a little sharper than she had last week in Eastbourne, where she lost in the quarter-finals.

A poorly struck drop shot which bounced before the net handed Williams the early break in the fourth game and from then on, there was never any doubt about the outcome of the match.

As the set wore on, the Williams serve began to crank up to its normal level and she held the advantage to take it 6-3 before another break in the third game of the second put her in total command.

Two more breaks, in the fifth and seventh games, sealed victory and Williams will now play the oldest player in the draw, Date-Krumm, who was the day’s first winner with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Britain’s Katie O’Brien.

Last year’s Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva survived a first-round scare to defeat the promising young American Alison Riske 6-0, 3-6, 6-3.

The No2 seed is one of the players expected to mount a serious title challenge after her run to the final 12 months ago, where she lost to Serena Williams, but she will have to raise her game from this performance.

There looked little danger when Zvonareva, who also reached the final at the US Open in a stellar 2010, wrapped up the first set to love after only 25 minutes. The Russian’s placement and consistency were simply too much for Riske.

But the 20-year-old dug in to hold serve for the first time at the start of the second set, and from there the momentum of the match changed. Riske’s serve was proving a useful weapon but it was her willingness to move forward and attack the net that gave her the upper hand.

Suddenly it was Zvonareva who was making the mistakes off the ground and after breaking in the sixth game, Riske had little trouble polishing off the set.

The American was promptly broken at the start of the decider but she responded impressively to level at 2-2. Riske then had a chance for a second consecutive break but she could not take it, and that would prove to be her last opportunity.

Zvonareva piled on the pressure in the eighth game to gain the crucial break before confidently serving out the victory to set up a second-round meeting with a fellow Russian, Elena Vesnina.

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Wimbledon 2011: Venus Williams saunters to first-round victory

Venus Williams hits a back-hand return winner during her first-round defeat of Akgul Amanmuradova at Wimbledon. Photograph: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Venus Williams made a late decision to play at Wimbledon after injury and arrived late on to court on Monday but made up for lost time as she began her bid to win the title for a sixth time with a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 victory over Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan.

The five-times champion, seeded No23 in only her second tournament back after more than four months out with hip and stomach problems, was too good for the world No97 Amanmuradova and will now play the 40-year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan.

Whether it was gamesmanship, trouble getting through the crowds or simple tardiness, Williams was 10 minutes late getting on to court, keeping Amanmuradova waiting in her chair, playing with her racket and generally getting cold.

When she did arrive Williams looked a little like she had come from a toga party and cut off her dress to make it more suitable for tennis. A “playsuit” is reportedly the best way to describe what she was wearing but she probably could have worn a trouser suit and still taken care of Amanmuradova, who had lost all three of her previous matches at Wimbledon.

The Uzbek was out for a month this season with a right elbow injury and she lacked the power to hurt Williams, who looked a little sharper than she had last week in Eastbourne, where she lost in the quarter-finals.

A poorly struck drop shot which bounced before the net handed Williams the early break in the fourth game and from then on, there was never any doubt about the outcome of the match.

As the set wore on, the Williams serve began to crank up to its normal level and she held the advantage to take it 6-3 before another break in the third game of the second put her in total command.

Two more breaks, in the fifth and seventh games, sealed victory and Williams will now play the oldest player in the draw, Date-Krumm, who was the day’s first winner with a 6-0, 7-5 victory over Britain’s Katie O’Brien.

Last year’s Wimbledon runner-up Vera Zvonareva survived a first-round scare to defeat the promising young American Alison Riske 6-0, 3-6, 6-3.

The No2 seed is one of the players expected to mount a serious title challenge after her run to the final 12 months ago, where she lost to Serena Williams, but she will have to raise her game from this performance.

There looked little danger when Zvonareva, who also reached the final at the US Open in a stellar 2010, wrapped up the first set to love after only 25 minutes. The Russian’s placement and consistency were simply too much for Riske.

But the 20-year-old dug in to hold serve for the first time at the start of the second set, and from there the momentum of the match changed. Riske’s serve was proving a useful weapon but it was her willingness to move forward and attack the net that gave her the upper hand.

Suddenly it was Zvonareva who was making the mistakes off the ground and after breaking in the sixth game, Riske had little trouble polishing off the set.

The American was promptly broken at the start of the decider but she responded impressively to level at 2-2. Riske then had a chance for a second consecutive break but she could not take it, and that would prove to be her last opportunity.

Zvonareva piled on the pressure in the eighth game to gain the crucial break before confidently serving out the victory to set up a second-round meeting with a fellow Russian, Elena Vesnina.

Toast of the town

Posted: June 22Updated: Today at 1:43 AM
Kentucky distilleries expand amid bourbon boom

BRUCE SCHREINER Associated Press

LAWRENCEBURG, Ky. — At the new Wild Turkey bourbon distillery in central Kentucky, the grainy smell of fermenting corn wafts from giant tubs as workers add a touch of grain or tweak the temperature, just as they had for decades at the now-mothballed plant nearby.

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