The Pink Logs may have met their match this week. Pictured below are our friends LMFAO being entertained with The Logs as they played football, nursed and...well...uh...who knows with LMFAO?!? We cannot confirm where this took place, but we believe somewhere deep in the hills of Hollywood. Now that The Pink Logs are running for President, they are doing whatever they can to get votes. See here who else is voting PINK!

Hal Stokes

Hal Stokes - Global Head of Music/Bebo

Give a brief history of how Bebo got started.

Michael and Xochi Birch are the founders of Bebo.  Michael and Xochi met at University in London, started a company called birthdayalarm.com, which was a great success - and still is. From there they created Bebo and gave it life in 2005.  Bebo snowballed in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand - it was a case of the right thing at the right time.  The US is now opening up nicely, as well as many territories in Europe.  Our main offices are in London and San Francisco. 

How did you get connected with Bebo and what were you doing previously?

My initial brief was to build better relations with the labels and artists.  I was in a band in America. I'd spent the best part of three years touring a record that we made in 2005.  It became apparent to me quite early on that the label system of doing business was broken for 9 out of 10 signed bands, so we morphed our aspirations of selling ten million records into making a living from the old-school system of playing live.  We built a touring machine and discovered that a band makes more money selling t-shirts and tickets than they do from records.  We worked our digital presence really well which connected all the dots from city to city and allowed us to build, maintain and ultimately inform a network of fans and friends from coast to coast.  Problem is you need liver made of concrete and eyelids made of steel to survive.  So, I knew and understood social networking and its application to music.  We were the first band to launch on Bebo and I heard they were looking for someone to engage with the music industry.  I'd been in bands for 15 years, so I knew a lot of industry people.  Initially I took the job on a part-time basis and ran it in conjunction with band life, but I quickly found that I was much better at doing what I do now than I ever was playing guitar, so I jumped in whole-heartedly.  

To a person or band that has never heard of Bebo, what can they expect when creating an account?

Right now, our music service pretty much mirrors that of most other Social Networks.  The overall experience of Bebo is arguably a lot cleaner and simpler than the others; and it allows for far more self-expression and discovery by users and bands.  However, I'm really focused on what we're about to launch.  I can't say too much as it's all in the works and being wrought into life right now.  But, I can say, Bebo is going to be the ultimate destination for an artist, label and music fan. Fans will be able to discover and engage like never before; Artists are going to be able to express, reach and ultimately garner all the creative, commercial and promotional opportunities like never before.  

Tell us about some of the features/widgets that Bebo has exclusively.

Well, we're trying to be as open a network as possible, but not so open that we become cluttered with useless applications.  We vet our partners carefully and make sure all widgets and app's are good for Bebo and good for the users - so we offer the perfect middle ground: we're not a closed portal, but we're not a junkyard either.  The new music platform will be packed with new features that you won't find anywhere else.  One of my current favorites already on Bebo is the ability for users to copy any 'skin' (a profile imagery/design) they like to their own profile; so, if they love Supergrass, they can visit Bebo.com/supergrass and copy the band's skin.  It's a great way for artists to fly their flags all over Bebo, and it's a great way for users to declare who they are and what they're all about.

How does the web site stand out from the other popular active sites?

As said, we're cleaner and smoother.  Users have far more scope to create their own identity and engage with content; from there they interact with their friends, and use the site to express who they are and what they like.  To put it in perspective, our users spend an average of 40 minutes on Bebo, that's in comparison to an average of 9 minutes by users of other sites - that is a hugely significant difference.  Bebo is all about content, discovery and self-expression.

There has always been negative press associated to social networking sites when it comes to security and minors. What has Bebo done, to ensure it's users that they are safe?

You'll notice that Bebo tends to get praised for our aggressive attention to safety and security - in fact we just won the 'Best Social Network Award' from Which? Magazine, partly due to our rigorous safety standards.  We have a huge amount of staff who work solely in security and safety; monitoring the site and reviewing tip-offs or complaints, etc.  We also have executives in the company who work closely with governments and associations to make sure we're as advanced and compliant as we can be.  So, in short, if you want a safe and secure online experience, Bebo is the place to be.  

What does Bebo have in store for the near-future?

We recently launched Open Media on Bebo, which allows our partners complete control over their presentation and content via branded channels.  They can monetize this directly; it's almost like they've got a piece of Bebo real-estate for themselves.  With what we're looking to do with music; we're set to become the ultimate social media network.  Whether your poison is music, video, blogs, socializing or all of it...we will be the very best place on the planet to engage with it. We've done some hugely strategic deals, which will deliver premier features and functions to our artists and users. 

Describe a day in the life of Hal.

I split my time pretty evenly between LA and London.  I try and roll in as late as possible and pretend that it's all due to an insouciant disposition.  I'm trying to retain the myth of being a rocker y'see... but...in reality, I usually wake up early, look at the day's events, have a cuppa with the missus, read some papers on the train, hit the emails at the office and then spend the day running around town to trying to make all the ideas happen that are stuffed into the burgeoning 'ideas' folder.  I'm a big fan of mixing business with pleasure, so if I can do things over Breakfast, Lunch of Dinner, I try to.  I'll usually go out to see great bands by night.  I'd like to tour again for fun to I keep my finger on the pulse of 'working band life' - I guess that'll be my summer holiday.

What are some of your personal success stories with the company so far?

When I started, most labels and artists either didn't know who we were or didn't see the sense of dedicating any time or resources to the network.  That's now all dramatically changed, and progressively so.  Bebo has very strong links with the music industry now and we're progressively a bigger priority for them.  The UK has been hugely successful and we're starting to translate this to the USA by working with some of the biggest labels and artists in the business, and - importantly - some of the best new and emerging talent.  I'm determined to make Bebo the ultimate destination for unsigned talent, by giving them the tools and opportunities to reach out to the network and get noticed by the right people - we're moments away from seeing some of our bands signed by both majors and independents - if I can get 4 or 5 artists launched or signed every year, and a thousand others on their way, I'd be happy.  I work with some of the best people in the game at Bebo; the new initiatives that we've been working on will be realized throughout 2008 making Bebo the ultimate online destination.  I think 2008 is going to be a year of success for me and for Bebo.

Random Question Time

First web site you check after starting your computer:

Bebo of course ;-)  Quickly followed by VBS.tv

First music video you remember seeing:

There She Goes - The La's

Coffee or tea:

Tea - I'm a fully paid up life-time member

How many times did you brush today?

My teeth?  Twice, when I woke up, and after breakfast.  If that's a crack at the Brits... have you been to Memphis! ;-)

David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar?

Neither, Bon Scott

Cat Power - New York, New York (Matador)

Born in 1972, Chan Marshall went through a lot as a child. She was a product of her environment. She grew up eating government cheese, went dumpster diving while her parents were at concerts and lived in various states. She was born in Atlanta, but as her parents divorced, she moved around a lot and ended up living in North Carolina, Tennessee and South Carolina. In the early 90s, Marshall dropped out of high school and started to perform music as Cat Power in Atlanta. In 1992, she moved to New York City and started to experiment with her music. A couple of years later, Cat opened for Liz Phair and in the audience was Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth and Tim Foljahn of Two Dollar Guitar who encouraged Cat to record her music. She released two independent albums continuing to experiment with her sound and finding herself. By 1996, Cat signed with Matador Records and released her third album, What Would The Community Think. After touring to support the album for three months, Cat had thoughts of retiring from music and started to baby-sit after moving to Portland and then to South Carolina. One night after having a difficult time sleeping, Cat began to write again. She wrote most of what ended up being the majority of her album Moon Pix.

Cat had also recorded three other albums that were well-received from critics and fans alike. In January, she released her eighth album, Jukebox. Except for two songs, the entire album is a collection of cover songs. The song debuted at #12 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart selling nearly 30,000 copies in the first week. Some of the covers on the album include songs from Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin. One of the fan favorites is her elegant cover of Frank Sinatra's New York, New York. The vocals are soothing and take you to that corner jazz club where you would expect the Rat Pack to show up. Listen to New York, New York. For more music, contact information, tour dates and more on Cat Power, log on to her MySpace or her website.

Just plain foolish.

It's rare, indeed, to find a former member of a hardcore punk band turn to the acoustic singer/songwriter gig...but then again, Frank Turner isn't your average musician. Born in Bahrain but raised in the UK, Frank spent four years with the critically acclaimed band Million Dead before the ever-popular "creative differences" contributed to the demise of the group. Ears still ringing from four years of constant touring, Frank decided to pursue "the lighter side" of his music and began to perform solo, armed with just an acoustic guitar. However, a quick glance at song titles such as "Thatcher Fucked the Kids" and "Heartless Bastard Motherfucker" reveals that Frank didn't exactly leave his hardcore roots behind, an observation reinforced by his signing with Million Dead's former label, Xtra Mile. A pair of EPs and a full-length album (Sleep Is for the Week) later finds Frank creating quite a buzz in the UK, having been championed by BBC DJ Steve Lamacq. In 2007 Turner further expanded his musical horizons to the US, playing at SXSW and embarking on a tour with former Far frontman Jonah Matranga.

Currently Frank is getting radio support from such US tastemakers as Indie 103.1 KDLD Los Angeles, KNRK Portland, KRBZ Kansas City, WEQX Albany and XM Radio. Frank is in the process of putting the finishing touches on his album and is touring the US and the UK for the next couple of months. For tour dates, songs and additional information on Frank Turner log on to his web site

FROM THE GUTTER TO THE STARS: A pair of longtime Alt-faves has teamed together under the rather inauspicious moniker "The Gutter Twins"...but Mark Lanegan and Greg Dulli have lived the Fatboy Slim paraphrase above, taking the first single from their new project, "Idle Hands" (Sub Pop), and doing the devil's work all the way to the top of the Mediaguide Alternative Specialty Song chart. And that's not all: their forthcoming album, Saturnalia, also debuted high on the Album end, bowing at #4. Lanegan and Dulli, who have previously been involved in such Alternative staples as Screaming Trees, Afghan Whigs, Queens of the Stone Age and the Twilight Singers, will be criss-crossing America in March before embarking upon a Euro jaunt in April. Check out www.myspace.com/theguttertwins for all the sordid details. All in all, it wasn't a bad week for the Alternative old guard: Foo Fighters debut at #6 on the Song side with "Long Road to Ruin" (Roswell/RCA), helping full-length Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace rebound to the #5 slot on the Album index, while Morrissey bows at #8 with "That's How People Grow Up," a new song from his upcoming Greatest Hits (Decca/Polydor), which makes an initial appearance itself at #13 on the Album end. Meanwhile, R.E.M. appears on the Song chart at #11 with "Supernatural Superserious," the first release from their forthcoming Warner Bros. effort Accelerate, while Moby moves 19-7 with "Alice" (Mute). Amongst 21^st Century acts, the Raveonettes made a pair of impressive moves, jumping 18-10 on the Song side with "Dead Sound" (Vice), allowing full-length Lust Lust Lust to leap 7-2 on the Album chart. Also moving up among the newcomers is Welsh chanteuse Duffy, who's "Mercy" (Mercury) rises 7-4 on the Song chart, garnering enough airplay to also rank at #10 on the Album index.

Some of the bumper stickers we've come across lately:

- Born Free. . . Taxed to Death
- Conserve toilet paper, use both sides
- Don't come knocking if the car is rocking
- Don't Steal...The Government hates competition
- 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name
- Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don't have a film facility.
- Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.
- Hard work has a future payoff. Laziness pays off now!