More Beyoncé BuzzBeyoncé was given an unusual honor by Australian scientists last week when they named their latest discovery, a rare breed of horsefly, after the songstress. Researchers decided on the name after noticing its giant golden behind made it “the all-time diva of flies.”
“It was the unique dense golden hairs on the fly’s abdomen that led me to name this fly in honour of the performer Beyoncé,” said Bryan Lessard, a member of the Australian national science agency CSIRO. Lessard says naming gave him “the chance to demonstrate the fun side of taxonomy – the naming of species.” The fly, Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae, was first identified in Northern Queensland back in 1981, the same year Beyoncé was born.
Express yourself this way
In a new interview with Newsweek, Madonna addressed the similarities of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” to her own 1989 hit “Express Yourself.” Recalling her first listen of Gaga’s song, Madonna said, “I thought, ‘This is a wonderful way to redo my song.’ I mean, I recognized the chord changes. I thought it was . . . interesting.” Before anyone goes thinking this is the start of another celebrity feud, Madge also had some compliments to throw Gaga’s way in another interview, this time on the BBC’s Graham Norton Show. “When I first saw her I was really impressed by her. She was cool, she did remind me of me back in the day.”
OUGAVE75GTRS?
Guitar god Eddie Van Halen has donated 75 guitars from his personal collection to Los Angeles area public schools. The rocker collaborated with the Mr. Holland’s Opus Foundation to give the guitars to schools that don’t have the resources to properly fund their music education programs. “Music is the universal language,” said Van Halen. “It has the ability to transcend and convey every human emotion that exists without saying a word.” The guitarist explained the giveaway as being a way to improve the lives of others through music. “Music education and families are dealing with the economic times, and I wanted to help them. If I can help a kid discover a liking, or even a passion for music in their life, then that’s a wonderful thing. Music has provided a good life for me and hopefully it can help make life better for others with this donation.”
Now all your friends can share in your terrible taste in music!
Last Thursday marked the introduction of a new Facebook feature that will allow users to listen to and chat about each other’s music in real time. “Listen with” works in conjunction with a number of Facebook-integrated streaming services, such as Spotify, MOG and Rhapsody, and plays whatever music your friend is listening to in said service when you click on the music note button next to their name. The new feature also incorporates Facebook chat to let users to join in on conversations about a particular song and can allow up to 50 people to “listening with” at the same time.
