Ted Nugent has been in the news of late for statements he made about President Obama at an NRA convention that drew the attention of the Secret Service.

He also pleaded out to something about killing a bear. In Alaska.

So he's a right-wing nutjob. Granted.

But look at these videos. He's better than ever on that old Gibson Byrdland guitar. You may not love his politics, his crossbow skills or longbow skills (or maybe you do; up to you), but the man hasn't forgotten how to rock.

If $35 bombshell blowouts and free-flowing champagne sounds like a great start to your weekend then reserve a chair at Hairroin Salon's next "Foxy Fridays" event. It takes place from 4 to 9 p.m. every Friday.
Signature looks include the sculpted "Curly Girl" and the tousled waves of "Beachy Finish."
Hairroin Salon is at 1520 N. Cahuenga Blvd., in Los Angeles. Space is limited, so reservations are recommended.
For more information or to book an appointment, visit the salon online or call 323-467-0392.

Clarins has teamed up with model Lauren Bush's FEED Project to fight worldwide hunger with a new cosmetics bag.
The new FEED 15 skincare pouch contains UV Plus HP Day Screen SPF 40, Moisture-Rich Body Lotion and Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector. With every bag sold, 15 meals will be provided through the United Nations World Food Program to school children in third-world countries.
Find it for $32.50 exclusively at Nordstrom stores and online.

In honor of Earth Day, Kiehl's Since 1851 has partnered with Spike Less, Florence Welch, Mark Ruffalo and Rosario Dawson to design limited edition artwork for its Rare Earth Deep Pore Cleansing Masque. A 5 fluid ounce jar of the detoxifying and hydrating mask retails for $23 with all proceeds benefiting Recycle Across America, a non-profit organization determined to make recycling easier. Available in stores and www.kiehls.­com.

Combine a spring break weekend, a St. Patrick's Day celebration, and the final day of a South by Southwest music festival and you can imagine the insanity reigning supreme all over downtown Austin on Saturday.

For this weary listener, operating on an average of four-plus hours of sleep each night, that meant seeking a little shelter from the storm, so to speak, so I made sure my day started at the Broken Spoke dancehall saloon on South Lamar Avenue where local mainstay singer/guitarist Cornell Hurd was presiding over his annual jamboree hoedown, which serves as a friendly reminder that this is still Texas and that you should smile when you say "country music."

I've been attending the South by Southwest music festival for many years, but I can't ever recall ever hearing the particular sound I encountered late Friday night at Stubb's: squealing. And I mean the kind of squealing that means only one thing - female hormones on the march.

The object of this spontaneous burst of youthful excitement was one Nate Ruess, the cuddly lead singer of fun., who will leave this festival as one of its biggest breakout stars. They are aptly named, as the energetic New York-based quintet plays nothing but pop-pop-pop music that's as sprightly and upbeat as it light as a feather. Like predecessors Sugar Ray and Sublime, fun. hints at reggae without ever actually playing it, and with an up-with-people high school musical vibe is about as perky as, well, as perky as the kids from Glee, who just happened to help introduce fun.'s "We Are Young" a few months ago. Since then, the tune has turned up on an episode of "Chuck" as well as a Super Bowl car ad; of such clever maneuvers are modern hit singles, and hit groups, born.

Speaking of maneuvers, take some Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark, add a few tart teaspoons of the Smiths and you've got the basic attitudinal snd well as musical formula for the Drums, another up-and-coming NYC band who followed fun. on Friday night and were quite the spectacle in their own right thanks to their frontman, Jonathan Pierce. The contrast between Ruess and Pierce was striking: While Ruess worked to and off the crowd with buoyant enthusiasm, Pierce worked mostly to himself and over the audience, prancing to and fro to his own inner Morrissey and gesturing to the crowd with bizarre boy scout-like hand signals. Nonetheless, he certainly got everyone's attention. No squealing, though.

"How important can this speech be if we're doing it at noon?" joked Bruce Springsteen as he began his keynote speech on Thursday at South By Southwest. "I mean, is any musician up at noon?"

Of course, Springsteen himself didn't make it to the podium until a little over 30 minutes past his scheduled start time (as they say: It's good to be the Boss), but it turned out to be well worth the wait for the packed house at the Convention Center Ballroom, as the pride of the old school Jersey Shore spent the next hour talking from both on and off his prepared notes about his journey from starry-eyed music fan to iconic all-American rock and roll icon.

Like any kid growing up in the '50s and '60s, Springsteen's key early touchstones were Elvis and the Beatles - though he admitted that it was the Beatles' scruffy British Invasion colleagues the Animals who really got to him with angry mid-'60s anthems like "It's My Life" and "We Gotta Get Out of This Place," the latter of which he performed on acoustic guitar, underscoring the working class desperation at its core. After he sang the final chorus -- "We gotta get outta this place, if it's the last thing we ever do/ We gotta get outta this place/ Girl, there's a better life for me and you" -- he smiled and noted that "That's every song I've ever written."

All in all, Springsteen's speech was one of SXSW's better keynotes (best one-liner: "They called me, Elliott Murphy, John Prine and Loudon Wainwright the 'new' Dylans. The old Dylan was only 30!"), and Bruce Day at SXSW ended last night with a lottery-ticketed show by the Boss and his E Street Band at the Moody Center. I didn't attend, but from all reports it was your typical crowd-pleasing Springsteen show. And in perfect SXSW storm fashion, who should appear onstage during the guest-filled encores than Animals lead singer Eric Burdon to reprise his old classic. Like the title of Springsteen's latest single, guess that's what you call taking care of your own.