The Hallelujah phenomenon

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Leonard Cohen?s song Hallelujah got a lift when it was recorded by Jeff Buckley for his Grace album (1994).

Photograph by: John Kenney , The Gazette

MONTREAL ? In the second of his two Bell Centre concerts last month, roughly midway through the second half of the show, Leonard Cohen sang Hallelujah.

Hardly surprising in itself ? it?s all but unthinkable that he could leave it out. But its placement in the set, as neither an early grabber nor a rousing climax, felt significant. The sellout crowd, as if caught off-guard, never quite mustered the cathartic chorus singalong that might have been expected. It was almost as if Cohen, in his respectful way, was downplaying the song?s astounding contemporary ubiquity, perhaps beginning to put the brakes on a runaway train.

But can Cohen in fact do anything to contain the song that is not only the most popular in his deep catalogue, but rapidly becoming one of the most covered and sung songs of all time? It?s a clich? to say that a song, once released, belongs to the people at large more than to its creator, but here is a rare case where that has been proven. The Hallelujah genie is well and truly out of the bottle.

It was only a matter of time until a whole book was written on the subject, and thankfully it?s been done by someone equal to the task. As his CV encompassing books about the Beastie Boys and Gregg Allman, and editorship of the hip-hop Vibe and alterna-rock Spin magazines would indicate, Alan Light is a man of catholic interests.

The Holy or The Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & The Unlikely Ascent of ?Hallelujah? (Atria, 254 pages, $28.99) combines broad music scholarship and insightful textual analysis with the narrative drive of a good detective novel.

Light was interviewed by email from his home in New York about the historic rise and spread of a song that languished unregarded for 10 years or more after its initial 1984 release, beginning to gather steam only when Jeff Buckley chanced upon a little-heard cover by former Velvet Underground member John Cale.

What?s your own history with Hallelujah? When did you first hear it?

I wish I had a better answer to when I first heard it, because I honestly can?t recall. I must have been aware of it in some form around when it came out, because I did pay at least peripheral attention to Leonard Cohen, if only because he was a McGill classmate of my father?s and so a running source of interest within my family. I saw him play at the Beacon Theatre in New York in 1988 or ?89. But like so many others, it didn?t really register with me until it started to become apparent as a phenomenon. As I tell in the book, it was when Hallelujah was sung at Yom Kippur services a couple of years ago that I first thought, ?Wow, this song really has reached another kind of standing in the world, hasn?t it??

Why do you think the song?s popularity had such a slow gestation? Is it a simple case of a song being ahead of its time? I was working in campus radio in Edmonton back when the Various Positions album was released, and partly with the incentive of Canadian content regulations, I played songs from it fairly often. But to be honest I barely noticed Hallelujah.

It?s hard to know ?why? it took such a long and circuitous path to popularity. Obviously, Jeff Buckley?s version (on the Grace album, 1994) really did re-contextualize the song, and in many ways made it easier for younger listeners to relate to it. But Grace wasn?t actually a hit, either. So it was the combined associations of Buckley?s death in 1997 and the new resonance that gave to the song, and the right evangelists at the right time, that started the snowball rolling.

Though he has never officially recorded it, Bob Dylan was ahead of the pack in recognizing Hallelujah. Dylan isn?t known for doing a lot of contemporary covers; what?s your theory on his affinity for the song?

What Cohen says is that Dylan liked the ?uplifting? feeling of the song, especially of the original last verse. But it is extraordinary, isn?t it, that Dylan picked up on this song so much earlier than the rest of the world. I suppose as someone who has explored biblical imagery so frequently, he would take notice of the writing ? and, I imagine, like so many other singers, he found something in this remarkable melody that he could connect with.

I?ve always felt John Cale has been under-credited as an evangelist for Hallelujah. How would you describe the role of his version in the song?s history?

Cale?s role was absolutely pivotal in the progression of Hallelujah. He did the edit of the song that shaped it into the form we have grown most familiar with ? the structure that Jeff Buckley utilized and that, in turn, has become the usual text of Hallelujah most people now know. Cale distanced himself from some of the song?s more grandly spiritual notions and made it something more tangible, the song of a younger man than what Cohen created, of someone grappling with the pain and disappointment of life and struggling to still find hope and faith, rather than the song of a survivor looking back on a life that he is trying to make sense of. I love Cohen?s last verse ? the ?Lord of Song? verse ? but it makes sense that it?s not something Cale would have felt as comfortable with.

Given the ever-growing list of covers, not to mention the countless amateur renditions on YouTube, it has become something of a parlour game to list favourites. Do you ever find yourself doing that? If so, what would be your personal Top Five?

My favourites change constantly. I think the way that Cohen sang the song on the last tour (and, I assume, on this one ? I haven?t seen a show yet, since he?s not in NYC until later in the month) is pretty definitive, and incorporates so much of what?s been found in the best interpretations while also retaining that wonderful final verse. k.d. lang does a pretty great version.

Cale?s, as you say, was revelatory. But then I?ll find something like the version sent to me just as I was finishing the book, by three teenage girls in?no kidding?North Pole, Alaska, who recorded it for a Christian website and did a really beautiful rendition of the song. I also love the ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro?s instrumental version, if only because it?s so easy to spend all your time talking about the lyrics and forget that any truly great song first resonates with listeners for its melody.

Sylvie Simmons, in her new Cohen biography I?m Your Man, calls Hallelujah ?an all-purpose ecumenical/secular anthem for the new millennium.? I?m especially intrigued by that ?all-purpose? idea. In your view can an interpreter err in either the ecumenical or secular direction? Is there such a thing as a wrong reading of the song?

It?s hard to talk about a ?wrong? way to sing Hallelujah. I think that part of the incomparable story here is the way in which the lyrics and the interpretation have been given permission to shift as necessary. The malleability of the words, and the ability to turn up or turn down the different elements of the song ? the spiritual side or the heartbreak or the sexuality, the celebration or the sorrow ? has been central to its universal embrace. It seems like the only way you can really mess it up is to try something extreme, like Bono?s awful trip-hop version or Susan Boyle?s nonsensical edit of the lyrics. If you just deliver the song itself, it still basically always works. And it?s amazing to me that it has retained its sense of solemnity without having been brutally parodied in some way that really popped its bubble ... maybe not a Weird Al Yankovic version, but some kind of spoof that would mean it had to go on the shelf for a while. But that just hasn?t happened yet.

Can you think of any near-equivalents to the Hallelujah phenomenon in popular culture? I can?t.

Not really. The unprecedented trajectory of the song is why I wanted to write the book. Is there a cult movie that wasn?t released but then discovered decades later and became a hit? At least it?s not the full Vincent Van Gogh situation ? Leonard Cohen was alive to watch the song reach the larger world. There are some other songs that have become modern global standards ? Bridge Over Troubled Water, Imagine, maybe A Change is Gonna Come ? but unlike Hallelujah, those were all recognized when they were first released, and didn?t take 15 or 20 years to get recognized.

Cohen himself has hinted that perhaps the song has been over-covered. Can there be too much Hallelujah?

I think there are some uses that need to be retired for a while. I don?t think there?s much to be gained from more uses of the song as the music for the Big Emotional Climax of TV dramas. But it?s kind of astonishing that something about the song still feels like a discovery, still seems cool, and powerful, and meaningful, to so many people, and that people can still find new meanings and new structures for it that work.

In some ways, the biggest revelation for me came in talking to regular people who have embraced this song as something really significant in their lives ? people who used it at weddings, funerals, religious services, very central and important moments. It?s very easy to be cynical about music today, and to decide that it?s been so commodified and cheapened that it?s just not as important as it used to be, that people don?t care about music the way they used to. But talking to people about Hallelujah, it?s evident that a truly great song can still be incredibly meaningful, and can still connect in a way that no other art can do.

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Source: http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/music/Hallelujah+phenomenon/7684504/story.html

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Dead guts spill history of extinct microbes: Fecal samples from archeological sites reveal evolution of human gut microbes

Dec. 12, 2012 ? Extinct microbes in fecal samples from archaeological sites across the world resemble those found in present-day rural African communities more than they resemble the microbes found in the gut of cosmopolitan US adults, according to research published December 12 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Cecil Lewis and colleagues from the University of Oklahoma.

The researchers analyzed 1400-8000-year-old fecal samples preserved at three archaeological sites: natural mummies from Caserones in northern Chile, and samples from Hinds Cave in the southern US and Rio Zape in northern Mexico. They also used samples from Otzi the Iceman and a soldier frozen on a glacier for nearly a century. They compared the now-extinct microbes in these samples to microbes present in current-day soil and compost, as well as the microbes present in mouths, gut and skin of people in rural African communities and cosmopolitan US adults.

The authors discovered that the extinct human microbes from natural mummies closely resembled compost samples, while one sample from Mexico was found to match that from a rural African child. Overall, the extinct microbial communities were more similar to those from present rural populations than those from cosmopolitan ones. The study concludes, "These results suggest that the modern cosmopolitan lifestyle resulted in a dramatic change to the human gut microbiome."

As Lewis explains, "It is becoming accepted that modern aseptic and antibiotic practices, are often beneficial but come with a price, such as compromising the natural development of our immune system through changing the relationship we had with microbes ancestrally. What is unclear is what that ancestral state looked like. This paper demonstrates that we can use ancient human biological samples to learn about these ancestral relationships, despite the challenges of subsequent events like degradation and contamination."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science.

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Journal Reference:

1. Raul Y. Tito, Dan Knights, Jessica Metcalf, Alexandra J. Obregon-Tito, Lauren Cleeland, Fares Najar, Bruce Roe, Karl Reinhard, Kristin Sobolik, Samuel Belknap, Morris Foster, Paul Spicer, Rob Knight, Cecil M. Lewis. Insights from Characterizing Extinct Human Gut Microbiomes. PLoS ONE, 2012; 7 (12): e51146 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051146

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.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/_1nGoYpDQdQ/121212205609.htm

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New way to look at dawn of life: Focus shifts from 'hardware' to 'software'

Dec. 12, 2012 ? One of the great mysteries of life is how it began. What physical process transformed a nonliving mix of chemicals into something as complex as a living cell?

For more than a century, scientists have struggled to reconstruct the key first steps on the road to life. Until recently, their focus has been trained on how the simple building blocks of life might have been synthesized on the early Earth, or perhaps in space. But because it happened so long ago, all chemical traces have long been obliterated, leaving plenty of scope for speculation and disagreement.

Now, a novel approach to the question of life's origin, proposed by two Arizona State University scientists, attempts to dramatically redefine the problem. The researchers -- Paul Davies, an ASU Regents' Professor and director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science, and Sara Walker, a NASA post-doctoral fellow at the Beyond Center -- published their theory in the Dec. 12 issue of the Royal Society journal Interface.

In a nutshell, the authors shift attention from the "hardware" -- the chemical basis of life -- to the "software" -- its information content. To use a computer analogy, chemistry explains the material substance of the machine, but it won't function without a program and data. Davies and Walker suggest that the crucial distinction between non-life and life is the way that living organisms manage the information flowing through the system.

"When we describe biological processes we typically use informational narratives -- cells send out signals, developmental programs are run, coded instructions are read, genomic data are transmitted between generations and so forth," Walker said. "So identifying life's origin in the way information is processed and managed can open up new avenues for research."

"We propose that the transition from non-life to life is unique and definable," added Davies. "We suggest that life may be characterized by its distinctive and active use of information, thus providing a roadmap to identify rigorous criteria for the emergence of life. This is in sharp contrast to a century of thought in which the transition to life has been cast as a problem of chemistry, with the goal of identifying a plausible reaction pathway from chemical mixtures to a living entity."

Focusing on informational development helps move away from some of the inherent disadvantages of trying to pin down the beginnings of chemical life.

"Chemical based approaches," Walker said, "have stalled at a very early stage of chemical complexity -- very far from anything we would consider 'alive.' More seriously they suffer from conceptual shortcomings in that they fail to distinguish between chemistry and biology."

"To a physicist or chemist life seems like 'magic matter,'" Davies explained. "It behaves in extraordinary ways that are unmatched in any other complex physical or chemical system. Such lifelike properties include autonomy, adaptability and goal-oriented behavior -- the ability to harness chemical reactions to enact a pre-programmed agenda, rather than being a slave to those reactions."

"We believe the transition in the informational architecture of chemical networks is akin to a phase transition in physics, and we place special emphasis on the top-down information flow in which the system as a whole gains causal purchase over its components," Davies added. "This approach will reveal how the logical organization of biological replicators differs crucially from trivial replication associated with crystals (non-life). By addressing the causal role of information directly, many of the baffling qualities of life are explained."

The authors expect that, by re-shaping the conceptual landscape in this fundamental way, not just the origin of life, but other major transitions will be explained, for example, the leap from single cells to multi-cellularity.

In addition to being a post-doctoral Fellow at the Beyond Center, Walker is affiliated with the NASA Astrobiology Institute in Mountain View, Calif., and the Blue Marble Space Institute, Seattle.

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Journal Reference:

1. Sara Imari Walker, Paul C. W. Davies. The Algorithmic Origins of Life. Interface, (in press) December 12, 2012 [link]

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/lrgjlyNOvwM/121212205918.htm

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Choo to Reds, Bauer to Indians in 3-team trade

CLEVELAND (AP) ? Shin-Soo Choo didn't want to be part of the Indians' future. So they're moving on without him.

Cleveland traded the talented outfielder to the Cincinnati Reds and acquired prized pitching prospect Trevor Bauer from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night in a three-team deal involving nine players.

The Indians obtained center fielder Drew Stubbs from Cincinnati and received Bauer, the No. 3 pick in the 2011 draft, along with right-handers Matt Albers and Bryan Shaw from the Diamondbacks.

"This is a trade that can impact our team not only for 2013, but for the future," Indians general manager Chris Antonetti said. "Three of the players we acquired we will have under control for at least the next three seasons."

Cleveland shipped Choo, infielder Jason Donald and about $3.5 million to the Reds, while sending left-handed reliever Tony Sipp and first baseman Lars Anderson to Arizona.

The Diamondbacks also received shortstop prospect Didi Gregorius from Cincinnati.

Choo, primarily a right fielder for Cleveland since he was acquired from Seattle in 2006, will play center and bat leadoff for Cincinnati.

"It was very difficult giving up home-grown talent, but we think Choo can fill the missing parts in our lineup both offensively and defensively," Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said in a statement. "He is an exciting player, and we expect him to set the table."

Dealing Choo was almost a necessity for the Indians. He was entering the final year of his contract and is eligible for free agency in 2013. The Indians have not been able to work out a deal with agent Scott Boras, who has turned down several extensions in recent years.

The 30-year-old Choo, from South Korea, batted .283 with 16 homers and 67 RBIs in 155 games last season. He had been considered a core player for the Indians, who collapsed in August and finished 68-94 ? two games out of last place in the AL Central.

"It was really tough," Antonetti said of trading Choo. "I talked with Shin-Soo tonight and expressed my profound appreciation for his professionalism. He is always one of the first to arrive for workouts, whether it is spring training or just a game."

With plenty of power in the middle of the lineup, Cincinnati has lacked a prototypical leadoff man to get on base consistently in front of sluggers such as Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, Ryan Ludwick and Todd Frazier. Brandon Phillips, who previously batted cleanup at times, was pressed into leadoff duty last season despite a .322 career on-base percentage.

Choo can also hit the ball out of the ballpark, but his .381 career OBP fits the bill at the top of the order. He also had 43 doubles and 21 steals this year.

The speedy Stubbs has played center exclusively for the Reds, helping them win NL Central titles in 2010 and 2012. He batted .213 with 14 homers and 40 RBIs last season, striking out 166 times in 493 at-bats. He has 100 stolen bases over the past three years, including 30 in 2012.

Antonetti said the team hasn't decided where Stubbs will play. Michael Brantley played center for the Indians last season, but has also spent some time in left.

"In Drew Stubbs, we received a great defensive player who brings an element of speed and power to our lineup," Antonetti said. "We are happy with the job Michael Brantley did for us in center field, but Drew is one of the best out there. He brings a great deal of athleticism to our team."

Bauer, one of baseball's top pitching prospects, became the first member of the 2011 draft class to reach the majors and went 1-2 with a 6.06 ERA in four starts for Arizona this year. The 21-year-old right-hander struggled with his control, compiling 13 walks and 17 strikeouts in 16 1-3 innings.

Bauer spent most of the season in the minors, going a combined 12-2 with a 2.42 ERA in 22 starts at Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno. He had 157 strikeouts and 61 walks while allowing 107 hits in 130 1-3 innings.

"We are getting a young pitcher with a ton of potential," Antonetti said. "He can be a top-of-the-rotation guy with development. He is somebody we have been interested in for a long time, since he was at UCLA."

Arizona general manager Kevin Towers said he was sorry to part with Bauer, but "we're fortunate to have a lot of pitching depth."

The 22-year-old Gregorius, considered a defensive whiz, spent last season with Double-A Pensacola and Triple-A Louisville before appearing in eight games for the Reds. He hit a combined .265 with seven homers and 54 RBIs in 129 minor league games, adding 21 doubles and 11 triples while scoring 70 runs.

The Diamondbacks have been looking for a shortstop to replace Stephen Drew, traded to Oakland in August after returning from a serious ankle injury. They were thought to be interested in Indians All-Star Asdrubal Cabrera, though Towers wouldn't comment on that.

Towers said Gregorius reminds him "of a young Derek Jeter." Gregorius will go to spring camp and compete for the starting job in the big leagues.

Arizona completed a $15.5 million, two-year contract with right-hander Brandon McCarthy on Tuesday and also acquired reliever Heath Bell from Miami earlier this offseason. Towers said those additions make it "highly unlikely" the team will trade slugger Justin Upton.

___

AP Sports Writer Mike Fitzpatrick and AP Baseball Writer Ben Walker in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/choo-reds-bauer-indians-3-team-trade-024607697--mlb.html

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Syria's chemical weapons pose a grave dilemma

Tensions continue to mount over Syria's chemical weapons (CW), with a report by NBC News in the US alleging that troops have been readying chemical stocks for use. Last week the US government repeated a warning that any use of CW by Syria would be crossing a "red line", a warning echoed by a wide spectrum of other governments. We examine what is known about Syria's stockpiles and what options all sides have.

Why is the Syrian government being warned again about CW?
Chemical weapons are banned by international treaty, one that Syria has not signed. They are classified as weapons of mass destruction, although they disperse rapidly in the air and do not really have the mass killing power of other WMD such as nuclear or biological. But as demonstrated in Iraq, they are good at killing in a crowded, confined area. That could make them useful against the urban insurgency Syrian president Bashar al-Assad now faces.

It also makes them frightening potential terrorist weapons. Foreign governments would undoubtedly be appalled at any use of CW against Syrians. But their main concern seems to be that CW could be smuggled out of Syria and fall into the hands of insurgents in neighbouring countries. Earlier this year the US, Jordan and other countries conducted exercises aimed at sealing Syria's borders if this seems likely.

Obama called CW "a red line" in August this year. What has changed since?
According to NBC News, US intelligence has evidence that CW are being "loaded into aerial bombs" at a known storage depot for CW 4 kilometres northeast of Al-Furqlus, near Homs. "My information is that the chemicals are not yet being mixed," says Bilal Saad of the Monterey Institute of International Studies in Washington DC.

This could mean that the Syrians are using binary weapons, probably for delivering the organophosphorus nerve agent sarin as its straightforward synthesis lends itself well to binaries. In the US's now abandoned binary sarin weapon, the M687 shell, stockpiled in the 1980s, the two harmless chemical precursors of sarin were put in separate canisters to avoid having to store the toxic gas. One was kept in the shell, the other loaded just before use. The post-launch acceleration ruptured the canisters, mixing their contents inside the spinning projectile to create sarin.

Does Syria indeed have sarin, and what else might it have?
According to data from open sources compiled by researchers at the Monterey Institute, Syria has dozens of storage facilities where sarin is kept in deliverable weapons, including Scud missiles, air-dropped bombs and artillery shells. It also has several hundred tons of blister agents such as the mustard gas used in the first world war, plus possibly the even more toxic nerve agent VX. This is why destroying Syrian CW dumps with bombing raids may not be a viable option, says Joe Cirincione of the security think tank the Ploughshares Fund in Washington DC: there are many depots and no one knows what all is in each. Moreover bombing could simply expose people to the gas, as US bombing of Iraqi sarin dumps did after the first Gulf war in 1991.

What can the rest of the world do in response?
It is not clear what happens if Assad, or someone else in his regime, crosses the CW "red line". No country has explicitly talked about military intervention, says Saad. The use of CW might make it easier to invoke the emerging international principle of "responsibility to protect" to justify intervening. No-fly zones and surgical strikes on presidential residences have been mooted. But so far the only action has been, again, to try to keep any chemicals within Syria: NATO approval to install Patriot anti-missile batteries along Turkey's border with Syria.

What happens next?
The Chemical Weapons Convention, unlike the ban on biological weapons, includes stringent protocols for policing countries for banned chemical agents. Whether or not Assad ever uses his stockpiled CW, whatever government succeeds him will be under massive pressure to join the treaty, which would be a step forward. US recognition of the main Syrian opposition group, expected this week, could be aimed partly at initiating such future cooperation, and at securing Assad's CW legacy under any successor government.

In the shorter term, Saad fears that Assad, with few other ways out, might use CW to call the bluff of those who talk of red lines and force them to react, which in turn might force allies such as Iran to become more actively engaged in the conflict, thereby regionalising it. The US and its allies might be able to keep the sarin inside Syria, but they may struggle to do the same with the political repercussions should Syria use any.

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The Secrets To Creating A Successful Ecommerce Website

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An ecommerce website is quickly becoming an important item of the contemporary business? success with the slow shift in business atmosphere to the on-line scenery. For your ecommerce web design to make any kind of significant factor the company will need a total knowledge of it?s? clients wants and needs. That is possibly the hardest part of the on-line business design.

Resources including internet analytic applications may supply early advice on how best to continue in to the internet business community. Designed testing to obtain understanding into customer traffic patterns allows the person to monitor the website traffic to be able to examine the general industry problems, quantity of guests clicking into the webpages of the websites etc. From the small out-of-the-cellar business for the large entities, regardless of business manner (B2B or B2C), building an e-commerce website has a tremendous value in today?s marketplace.

The topic of constructing an e-commerce site entails particular critical measures that the internet site programmer is needed to consider for preparation, growing and placing it into activity by making use of programs including Microsoft facilities.NET. There are a lot of comprehensive information concerning the selections of the styles the programmer wants for creating an e-commerce website. In this matter, it is essential to discuss about the term ?Handel? since it is extremely much a associated subject. A ?Handel? is essentially a collection of specialized segments that are utilized to execute specific repetitive usual measures including adding and removing products to and in the shopping cart software and other usual jobs which are connected to making ecommerce applications.

Constructing the best answer requires solving for the endgame. What?s the objective the website should attain? With this in mind, construct the website mechanics making use of reverse engineering, constantly maintaining the result in mind. It?s best to always attempt to create advantages and ease-of-use to ensure that the customer prevents any kind of distress in routing. Construct it and they may come! There are certain criterions that should be met to develop a better e commerce site. A better e commerce website must provide a clear view of the business?s real standing and should be complete and significant.

It is essential to produce an e-commerce site in this manner that it becomes able to provide within a very brief window of time. If you continue to concentrate on the question, ?why should a person purchase from me?? then your job may go through the largest end success. Another critical point regarding creating a better e commerce website is less the quantity of pages, better it?s for your outside world. The website should show the factors of guarantee or warrantee for the items and should be constructed in this type of manner so as to ensure the customer you will be there to assist the customer if something goes wrong.

Source: http://ninjaseomethods.com/the-secrets-to-creating-a-successful-ecommerce-website/

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Mexico tests DNA from Jenni Rivera plane crash

Photos and flowers honoring late singer Jenni Rivera, placed by fans next to religious images, are seen at the cemetery where her mother is buried in Hermosillo, northern Mexico, Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. U.S. authorities confirmed Monday that Rivera, a U.S.-born singer whose soulful voice and openness about her personal troubles made her a Mexican-American superstar, was killed in a plane crash early Sunday in northern Mexico. (AP Photo/Baldemar De Los Llanos)

Photos and flowers honoring late singer Jenni Rivera, placed by fans next to religious images, are seen at the cemetery where her mother is buried in Hermosillo, northern Mexico, Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. U.S. authorities confirmed Monday that Rivera, a U.S.-born singer whose soulful voice and openness about her personal troubles made her a Mexican-American superstar, was killed in a plane crash early Sunday in northern Mexico. (AP Photo/Baldemar De Los Llanos)

A rescue helicopter with members of the Mexican General Civil Aeronautic Directorate (DGAC) stand on top of the hill right next to the canyon where U.S.-born singer Jenni Rivera's jet crashed near the town of Iturbude, Mexico, Dec. 10, 2012. Rivera's life was cut short at its peak on Sunday by an airplane crash in northern Mexico that also killed six friends and co-workers. (AP Photo/Hans Maximo Musielik)

Photos and flowers honoring late singer Jenni Rivera, placed by fans next to religious images, are seen at the cemetery where her mother is buried in Hermosillo, northern Mexico, Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. U.S. authorities confirmed Monday that Rivera, a U.S.-born singer whose soulful voice and openness about her personal troubles made her a Mexican-American superstar, was killed in a plane crash early Sunday in northern Mexico. (AP Photo/Baldemar De Los Llanos)

In this photo released Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, by Indomina Media, shows singer and actress Jenni Rivera during the filming of her upcoming movie "Filly Brown." The film "Filly Brown" is expected to be released on the Spring of 2013. Rivera's life was cut short at its peak on Sunday by an airplane crash in northern Mexico that also killed six friends and co-workers. (AP Photo/Indomina Media)

Video cameras and flags used by the forensic experts are unloaded from a helicopter on top of the hill next to the canyon where an airplane crash occurred a day earlier claiming the life of U.S.-born singer Jenni Rivera near the town of Iturbude, Mexico, Monday Dec. 10, 2012. Rivera's life was cut short at its peak on Sunday by an airplane crash in northern Mexico that also killed six friends and co-workers. (AP Photo/Hans Maximo Musielik)

MONTERREY, Mexico (AP) ? Mexican authorities were performing DNA tests Tuesday on remains believed to belong to Mexican-American music superstar Jenni Rivera and six other people killed when her plane went down in northern Mexico.

Investigators said it would take days to piece together the wreckage of the plane carrying Rivera and find out why it went down.

Authorities, meanwhile, began looking into the history of the plane's owner, Starwood Management of Las Vegas. Another of its planes was seized in September by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in McAllen, Texas.

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it was sending a team to help investigate the crash of the Learjet 25, which disintegrated on impact Sunday with seven people aboard in rugged terrain in Nuevo Leon state in northern Mexico.

Human remains found in the wreckage were moved to a hospital in Monterrey, the closest major city to the crash, and Rivera's brother Lupillo was driven past a crowd of reporters to the area where the remains were being kept. He did not speak to the press.

A state official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, said investigators were testing DNA from the remains in order to provide families with definitive confirmation of the deaths of their loved ones.

Alejandro Argudin, of Mexico's civil aviation agency, said it would take at least 10 days to have a preliminary report on what happened to the plane.

"We're in the process of picking up the fragments and we have to find all the parts," Argudin told reporters on Monday. "Depending on weather conditions it would take us at least 10 days to have a first report and many more days to have a report by experts."

In an interview on Radio Formula, Argudin said Mexican investigators weren't sure yet if the Learjet had been equipped with flight data recorders. He also said there had been no emergency call from the plane before the crash.

Fans of Rivera, who sold 15 million records and was loved on both sides of the border for her down-to-earth style and songs about heartbreak and overcoming pain, put up shrines to her with burning candles, flowers and photographs in cities from Hermosillo, Mexico to Los Angeles.

Some Spanish-language radio stations played her songs nonstop.

"She really inspired us as female Hispanics to move forward in life," said fan Rosie Sifuentes at a vigil in Lynwood, California.

At Rivera's father's house in Lakewood, California, fans and neighbors walked up the driveway and hugged Pedro Rivera Jr., Jenni's brother.

A distraught Pedro recalled his last conversation with his sister at church when they were taking a collection to buy Christmas toys for needy children.

He said his sister gave him $5,000 to give to the children. "She said, 'I just want to see them smile. I just want to see them happy.' All she wanted was to see the happiness in people. And then she gave me a big hug. She said, 'I love you, brother.'"

He said he was later watching television and wanted to send a text message to his sister to say that he loved her. "But I didn't because I thought maybe she's busy, maybe she's just barely getting out of singing or something ... You just regret those moments."

Another brother, Juan Rivera, still held on to hope that his sister would be found alive.

"In our eyes, we still have faith that my sister will be OK. We have no confirmation of her body being recovered, dead or alive," he told reporters.

The California-born woman known as the "Diva de la Banda" died as her career peaked. She was perhaps the most successful female singer in grupero, a male-dominated Mexico regional style, and had branched out into acting and reality television.

A 43-year-old mother of five children and grandmother of two, she was known for frank talk about her struggles to give a good life to her children despite a series of setbacks.

She had recently filed for divorce from her third husband, former Major League Baseball player Esteban Loaiza.

Rivera recently won two Billboard Mexican Music Awards: Female Artist of the Year and Banda Album of the Year for "Joyas Prestadas: Banda." She was nominated for Latin Grammys in 2002, 2008 and 2011.

Besides being a singer, she appeared in the indie film Filly Brown, which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival, and was filming the third season of "I love Jenni," which followed her as she shared special moments with her children and as she toured through Mexico and the United States.

She also had the reality shows: "Jenni Rivera Presents: Chiquis and Raq-C" and her daughter's "Chiquis 'n Control."

Two of her five brothers, Lupillo and Juan Rivera, are also well-known singers of grupero music. Her parents were Mexicans who had migrated to the United States

The Learjet 25, number N345MC, with Rivera aboard was en route from Monterrey to Toluca, outside Mexico City, when it was reported missing about 10 minutes after takeoff.

The cause of the accident has not been determined

The plane was registered to Starwood Management of Las Vegas, according to FAA records, and was built in 1969.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, the twin-turbojet was substantially damaged in a 2005 landing mishap at Amarillo International Airport in Texas. It hit a runway distance marker after losing directional control. There were four aboard but no injuries. It was registered to a company in Houston, Texas, as the time.

The company is also subject of a federal lawsuit in Nevada.

QBE Insurance Corp. alleges that a Starwood aircraft was ordered seized by the DEA when it landed in McAllen, Texas, from Mexico on Sept. 12. The New York-based insurer sued in October to rescind coverage for the Hawker 700 jet.

Starwood, in a court filing, acknowledged that the DEA was involved in the seizure of the aircraft.

QBE, based in New York, said the DEA also seized a Starwood-owned Gulfstream G-1159A ? insured by another company ? when it landed in Tucson from Mexico in February. Starwood said in its court filing that it didn't have enough information to address the allegation.

Nevada secretary of state records list only one Starwood officer ? Norma Gonzalez ? but QBE alleges that the company is owned and managed by Ed Nunez, who, according to the lawsuit, is also known as Christian Esquino and had a long criminal history.

Starwood rejected the insurer's description of Nunez's role at the company.

According to QBE's lawsuit, Esquino pleaded guilty in federal court in Orlando, Florida, in 1993 to conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine.

QBE said Esquino also served two years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud involving an aircraft in Southern California in 2004. QBE said Esquino's attorney stated in court back then that his client had been under investigation by the DEA for more than a year.

Starwood said in its court filing that it didn't have enough information to address either the Florida or Southern California case against Esquino.

George Crow, an attorney for Starwood, did not immediately respond to phone and email messages left after business hours Monday.

There have been several high-profile crashes involving Learjets, known as swift, longer-distance passenger aircraft popular with corporate executives, entertainers and government officials.

A Learjet carrying pro-golfer Payne Stewart and five others crashed in northeastern South Dakota in 1999. Investigators said the plane lost cabin pressure and all on board died after losing consciousness for lack of oxygen.

Former Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker was severely injured in a 2008 Learjet crash in South Carolina that killed four people.

That same year, a Learjet slammed into rush-hour traffic in a Mexico City neighborhood, killing Interior Secretary Juan Camilo Mourino and eight others on the plane, plus five people on the ground.

___

Tamara contributed from Los Angeles. Raquel Dillon in Los Angeles and Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-12-11-Mexico-Jenni%20Rivera/id-40e41e372859429bb17aa361c11386ff

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