NEW YORK (AP) – Incubus’ lead singer pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was fined $250 for carrying a switchblade in his bag while trying to board a plane.

Brandon Boyd, 28, said Tuesday he bought the switchblade while he was in Amsterdam and brought it back in his suitcase. Later on, he went camping with his family and brought the blade with him in his toiletry bag and forgot about it.

“I had finally found a use for it: Camping,” he said. “I totally forgot about it in my bag.”

Boyd was stopped U.S. Airways terminal at LaGuardia Airport when baggage screeners spotted the knife in his carry-on luggage.

Boyd was charged with criminal possession of weapon and was released after four hours in a holding cell. The charges were later reduced.

Incubus, the rock band formed in 1991 in Calabasas, Calif., has produced five albums and achieved chart success with hits such as “Pardon Me” and “Drive,” which reached the Billboard Top 10 in 2001. The band has a new album, “Live at Red Rocks,” scheduled for released Nov. 23.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – For relatives and friends of U.S. troops serving in Iraq, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” was the place to be.

Studio audience members, all with a military connection, were surprised with the gift of a free cruise at a taping Tuesday. The episode of the syndicated talk show, with guest Tom Hanks, aired Wednesday.

A total of 250 seven-day cruises for four, along with taxes and fees, were given in appreciation of troops deployed from three California bases: Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Camp Pendleton and Fort Irwin.

Celebrity Cruises is providing the vacations, available at any time to allow for troops overseas to take part on their return, according to a spokeswoman for the show.

DeGeneres also joined with the USO to send more than 5,000 care packages to the audience’s relatives and friends in Iraq. The episode will be repeated on Thanksgiving on the Armed Forces Network.

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