Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
'Informercial King' Billy Mays Found Dead in Home
Television pitchman Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets — died Sunday, MyFOXTampa.com reports.
Commentary: Farrah in the morning
(CNN) -- She would come walking across the lawn just after sunrise.
The days and nights had been long; everyone else, as darkness turned into dawn, looked wrung out and worn down and weary.
She just glowed.
"Morning!" she would say, flashing that zillion-watt smile, greeting each of us by name.
"Morning, Farrah," we would say back, feeling gray and dull in her presence.
This was at the La Quinta resort near Palm Springs, California, almost 20 years ago. The only piece of writing of mine that was ever turned into a feature film was being shot there. Farrah was one of the female leads.
At least she, and we, thought she was. More on that later.
She seemed to be an awfully nice person. That much I can tell you, from my limited time with her as she made that movie. She did her best to try to make the people around her forget just how all-reaching her fame was. There is a stratum of renown that is separate from the variety that accrues to most performers; Michael Jackson, who died on the same day as she, knew that type of renown, and so did she. Regardless of the role, she was always destined to be, in the eyes of the public, Farrah. That had to have been both a blessing and an encumbrance.
Most people in show business would do just about anything to possess that level of connection with the people out in the seats -- to move through life having everyone in the world feel they know you. It must be difficult, though, to bury yourself in a fictional part when, inside, you are resigned to the idea that, to the unseen ticket buyers in the darkness, you are, now and always, Farrah.Any person with whom she had contact, however brief, would remember it for years. She understood that. She was golden, literally; it was her calling card. At breakfast, on the mornings she would join the crew, we would sit around long wooden catering tables, and there was a what's-wrong-with-this-picture aspect to the scene. These were mundane meals, and she was anything but. Or that's what we thought. Farrah? She was just getting ready to put in a day's work.
The movie itself -- it was called "Funny About Love"-- turned out to be quite forgettable. The male lead was played by Gene Wilder; the three women in his life were played, as the script was written, by Christine Lahti, Mary Stuart Masterson and Farrah. Everyone on the set seemed to get along, but what do I know? I'd never been on another set. After a lifetime of grunted hellos from assistant city editors, this was quite a change. Those dawns on the desert, those cast-and-crew breakfasts, those "Morning!"s from Farrah as she strolled across the grass.
Steve Allen, a luminary in the early days of television and a cogent observer of the world around him, said that when people see a person who is regularly on TV, it is as if the television performer emits a glow. The glow is invisible, yet it's there. And when a person who once was constantly on television suddenly isn't on television anymore, Allen said, it is as if the glow evaporates. It's gone.
Maybe he was right -- but with Farrah, the glow endured. It never went away. Another accomplished television performer -- Phil Donahue -- argued that there was no essential difference between Frank Sinatra's fame and the fame of a local TV weathercaster. Donahue's point was that you're either famous or you're not; there's no in-between. If you deliver the weather news on your town's most popular station, then everyone within the county line knows you. You're Sinatra.
The theory made a certain sense, but there was that qualitative difference to Farrah's fame. She could not have gotten rid of it if she had wanted to.
Yet no one always wins. The most blessed among us are subject to hurt. Here is what happened with that movie that was filmed on the desert:
Months after the final scenes were shot, I received a phone call from one of the producers. Opening weekend was approaching.
"Farrah's not in the movie," he said.
I didn't process the words.
"She asked for her name to be taken off the credits?" I said.
"No," he said. "She has been cut out of the final film."
The powers that be with the authority to make such decisions, the story went, after some screenings in front of test audiences had decided that the movie didn't work well with Farrah in it. So every single one of her scenes had been excised. The movie had been recut as if she had never existed.
Even when you're golden, it seems, life can blindside you and try to make you feel small. Even when, to those on the outside, it appears that you have everything, it can vanish. Somewhere, in metal film cans on some shelf or other, there are colorful motion images of a beautiful woman doing her job, images the world has never seen. "Morning!" she would call on her way to breakfast. She carried the sunrise with her.
Chocolate Banana Pops
Ingredients and Materials:
3 bananas not overly ripe
5oz semi-sweet chocolate
5oz white chocolate
3tsp shortening
Rainbow sprinkles
Chocolate sprinkles
6 popsicle sticks
Parchment paper
Measuring spoons
2 small bowls
2 spoons
Cutting board
Recipe makes 6 chocolate banana pops.
Directions:
Step 1: Peel the bananas and cut each in half. Push a popsicle stick part way through the cut end of the banana so it looks like a popsicle. Set the popsicles on a cutting board or plastic plate, and place them in the freezer while you prepare the remaining ingredients. Having the bananas cold will help the chocolate harden faster.
Step 2: Lay a sheet of parchment paper on the counter. Set out sprinkles. Put semi-sweet chocolate and 1½tsp of shortening in a bowl. Microwave the chocolate at 100% power for 30 seconds. Stir and repeat. Repeat a third time, if necessary, until the chocolate is completely melted. Repeat the process with the white chocolate.
Step 3: Take 1 banana out of the freezer at a time. Place it on the parchment paper and pour your chocolate of choice over the top. Turn the banana to coat all sides.
Step 4: Decorate the banana with the desired sprinkles. Hold it for about a minute so the chocolate can set, then replace it in the freezer.
Step 5: Scrape extra chocolate off of the parchment paper and add it back to the respective bowl. Re-melt it in a microwave for 30 seconds if the chocolate becomes too thick to pour. Repeat the coating and decorating process with the remaining bananas.
After all the bananas have been covered in chocolate and decorated, keep them in the freezer for 45–60 minutes. Enjoy!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Lennon Landmark Becomes Jackson Memorial
Fans have turned the Imagine Circle at the Strawberry Fields section of Central Park into a memorial for Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.
TIME Mag Rushes Out Jackson Issue
The last time the magazine published a special edition in between weekly issues was in the days following 9/11.
Family and Friends to Mourn Farrah Fawcett at Private Los Angeles Funeral
Family and friends will gather to mourn the death of Farrah Fawcett during a private funeral service at the Catholic cathedral of Los Angeles next Tuesday, June 30.
The service for the former "Charlie's Angels" star will take place at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels at 7 p.m. ET, church officials told Reuters.
Fawcett, who died Thursday at the age of 62 after a long battle with cancer, will be laid to rest in a private ceremony open by invitation only.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Michael Jackson Dies
Michael suffered a cardiac arrest earlier this afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and paramedics were unable to revive him. We're told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back.
A source tells us Jackson was dead when paramedics arrived.
Once at the hospital, the staff tried to resuscitate him but he was completely unresponsive.
We're told one of the staff members at Jackson's home called 911.
La Toya ran in the hospital sobbing after Jackson was pronounced dead.
Michael is survived by three children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II.
Reports: Michael Jackson Hospitalized for Cardiac Arrest
DEVELOPING:
Michael Jackson has been rushed to a Los Angeles hospital, according to a report from TMZ.
The legendary singer, 50, reportedly went into cardiac arrest and had to receive CPR in the ambulance. According to E!, he was rushed to UCLA hospital.
According to TMZ, he was picked up at his home in Holmby Hills.
A rep for Jackson was unavailable for comment. FOXNews.com has not yet confirmed this information.
Sanford Harsh on Clinton’s Affair
Governor Mark Sanford stood teary eyed -- admitting to his extramarital affair with an Argentinian woman. This revelation ended his tenure as chairman of the Republican Governors Association and, most likely, any chances of the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
Sanford, however, did not resign his position as South Carolina's Chief Executive. That has foes on both sides of the political aisle crying foul (a shameless reference to his alleged dove hunting trip to Argentina).
This was also different from the position Sanford took in 1998 when then-President Bill Clinton was caught in an affair with intern Monica Lewinsky. In a Post-Courier article (9/12/98) Sanford is quoted as saying "it would be much better for the country and him personally (to resign). I come from the business side. If you had a chairman or president in the business world facing these allegations, he'd be gone. "
Sanford served in Congress from 1995-2001 and voted for three of the four articles of impeachment against Clinton.
In a June 4 interview with FOX News, Sanford talked about the impeachment of former President Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky affair. Here's a sampling of what the governor said:
"I think that there were enough sordid details to get people genuinely ticked off at... the irreverence for the office. "
"You know, if somebody's getting (oral sex) in... the Oval Office... that's enough to tick off pretty much every soccer mom in America, and a whole lot of soccer dads."
"So, people were, I think, genuinely offended -- from either an ethical or moral standard on what had gone on."
"You ask any guy, particularly one in office, 'You've been screwing around on your wife?' Maybe there's 1 percent or maybe there's 2 percent or maybe there's 5 percent. But 95 percent of the time, whoever it is, is gonna say 'No.' And so, I think the public said no matter what Clinton did, whether he did or he didn't do whatever it was that happened with Monica Lewinsky, is that guy gonna stand up and admit it? They said no, he's not."
Sanford became part of that rare 1, 2 or 5 percent Wednesday, when he admitted on national television, "I have been unfaithful to my wife."
Farrah Fawcett Dies
We've learned Farrah Fawcett died at 9:28 AM today. Ryan O'Neal and Alana Stewart were at her bedside. She was 62.
She died at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica in the ICU. Her only child, Redmond, was not present.
The "Charlie's Angels" star was diagnosed with anal cancer back in 2006.
Who Cares About Jon & Kate Plus 8 OR Their Kids???
By BARRY KOLTNOW
The Orange County Register
We live in fast and fascinating times.
Let me give you an example.
Three weeks ago, I had never heard of Jon and Kate Gosselin. Two weeks ago, I had heard of Jon and Kate Gosselin, but didn't care about them. Now, they really annoy me. A week from now, I hope I never have to hear their names again.
If you have never heard of Jon and Kate, please allow me to ruin your day. The Gosselins are a Pennsylvania couple with eight children 9-year-old twins and 5-year-old sextuplets. That adds up to eight, right? I faked a sick day when they taught addition in math class.
Anyway, the reason I have grown to dislike these people, even though I don't know them, is that Jon, Kate and their brood live their lives on a reality show on the cable network TLC. I didn't even know that TLC had a reality show. Apparently, the cable channel does have a reality show, and it is called "Jon & Kate Plus 8."
I am proud to say that I have never watched their show, even though it recently entered its fifth season. Many other people have never watched it, but the recent fifth-season premiere attracted 9.8 million viewers. That is double the audience that watched the fourth-season finale.
The reason for the increased audience, of course, is that the taint of infidelity reared its ugly head on the show, and apparently, 4.9 million additional people felt compelled to tune into the show to see who cheated, who didn't cheat and what would become of the faltering Gosselin marriage? From what I have heard, Jon was caught exiting a nightclub at 2 a.m. with a mystery blonde. That's what started the infidelity rumors. There also were rumors swirling around Kate's possible dalliance with a bodyguard. Then the divorce rumors really kicked in, and the rest is some demented version of history.
Have I mentioned that I don't care?
Well, that's not entirely true. I do care that these people have become tabloid and Internet superstars for nothing more than allowing their tawdry lives to be exhibited in public like a pack of wild Kardashians. More important, why do the tabloids, celebrity magazines and cable television give these people so much attention?
I would like to introduce a new concept. No, it's not a new concept. It's a very old concept that I am reintroducing for the benefit of the media. This novel concept is called a slow news day. It used to happen all the time. People got over it. They waited until real news happened again. It always does. But nobody wants to wait for anything anymore. The tabloid media, and the people who support it, would rather manufacture news than allow it to happen naturally.
That is the foundation of reality television and celebrity-based media. They produce fake news and fake drama to fill the void left by no news and no drama. I understand their motivations, money and desperation. The celebrity media has grown exponentially in recent years, and all these new media outlets desperately need content. Reality television is providing it. And both are making plenty of money by exploiting families like the Gosselins.
They can do what they want. Everybody is entitled to make money off a gullible public. And the public is certainly entitled to watch these human train wrecks. I know that explains some of the fascination. Everybody slows down at an accident scene. Besides, watching losers like Jon and Kate makes people feel better about their own lives.
But I don't have to play along.
I am not going to watch "Jon & Kate Plus 8" this season. I won't watch it next season, if there is a next season. Even if it goes on for the next 10 years, I won't watch. I really don't care what happens to these people. There is nothing that these pseudo-celebrities can do that would entice me to turn on their TV show.
If it turns out that Jon has eight more children with a secret wife in New Jersey, I won't watch.
If Kate leaves Jon and moves in with the Octomom, I won't watch.
If Jon and Kate go on "Dancing with the Stars," I won't watch.
If the sextuplets audition for "American Idol," I won't watch.
If they attempt to save their marriage by installing a stripper pole in their bedroom, I won't watch.
If Jon and Kate go out on a double date with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, I won't watch.
If it is revealed that Jon and Kate are actually deep-cover spies for an unfriendly regime, and agreed to have eight children and be on an American reality show as a cover for their intelligence work, I won't watch.
A Fashion 'Statement' That I Just Don't Get
Baggy shorts that are 3/4's in length. They look absolutely ridiculous to me.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
10 Off-the-Wall Hot Dogs
Bored with the simple meat-and-bun duo and its traditional mustard, ketchup and relish toppings—the hot dog (in all its finely-ground glory) is ever ripe for a wacky culinary reinvention. We searched far and wide for the craziest creations. From a deep fried French fry-encased frankfurter on a stick to a hot dog pierced with spaghetti noodles, below you’ll find 10 inventive variations on the famous ballpark snack that will have you saying “hot diggity dog” in disbelief.
Ditch Dogs
That which combines two of the most popular American foods is the Ditch Dog, served at Ditch Plains in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. For $14 dollars, hungry New Yorkers can score a slightly-charred potato bun filled with a hot dog and topped with a Gruyere/American/Parmesan mac ‘n’ cheese blend. Photo courtesy of AlwaysHungryNY.com
Spaghetti Dogs
Not that we have anything against a meal that looks like it was made in the Play-Doh Fun Factory press—we’re just not sure if we would eat it. That said, the creation of this meal is actually not very labor intensive: Simply puncture slices of raw hot dog with uncooked spaghetti noodles and boil. Photo courtesy of BoingBoing.com
Corn Dog Casserole
This uncommon casserole takes comfort food to a whole new level. Layers of hash brown patties, crumbled bacon, baked beans, corn and French fries are topped with quarter-inch slices of cooked corn dogs and drizzled with yellow mustard. Photo courtesy of Jessica&Eli via ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com
Le Pogo et Frites
The French fry-encased frank is one of many South Korean meat-on-a-stick specialties sold at road-side artisan stands. The above creation is food blogger Phil Lee’s American version of the east-meets-west treat—for which he substituted corn meal batter and homemade French fries. Photo courtesy of Phil Lees/LastAppetite.com
Chinese Hot Dog
At Eden Wok, the glatt kosher Chinese and sushi restaurant in New York City, diners can find egg roll-wrapped hot dogs on the appetizer menu. The hot dog is encased in a sheet of egg-dipped and deep-fried dough—and goes for $2.50. Photo courtesy of Debbie Lee/oneannieatatime.com
The Hamdog
Mulligan’s Bar in Decatur, Georgia, is home of the Hamdog. Herein lies the contents of this creation: One hoagie roll, one hot dog wrapped in a half-pound of beef patty then deep-fried and topped with chili, bacon and a fried egg. Photo courtesy of TexasBurgerGuy.com
The Chihuahua
Crif Dogs, the popular New York City eatery located in the East Village, is beloved for its variety of wrapped and overloaded franks. This particular culinary explosion contains a hot dog blanketed in bacon then capped with sour cream and avocado. Photo courtesy of Chelsea Peretty/chelseaperetti.blogspot.com
The Cornhole
We’re not entirely sure how you go about eating this, but we can guarantee that the calories consumed are devastating. From the center moving outwards, there is corn on the cob wrapped with hickory bacon, which is then surrounded by alternating hotdog slices and Colby-Jack cheese sticks before being encased in ground beef. Photo courtesy of Joe T. and EOB via ThisIsWhyYou’reFat.com
The Hot Dog Flower
Serious Eats contributor Tom Ngo swears by this cumin-flavored skewered sensation—served from a food truck parked directly under the Manhattan Bridge in New York City’s Chinatown. At the recession-friendly price of $1 dollar each, these creatively carved dogs are the epitome of urban street meat. Photo courtesy of Tom Ngo/SeriousEats.com
Hot Dog Summer Roll
Boldly going where no cook has gone before, Jill Snyder, from season five of Bravo’s cooking show Top Chef, created this spring roll-inspired hot dog during a Quickfire Challenge. Wrapped in rice paper and filled with various vegetables, this dish may have left a bad taste in the judges’ mouths because she had to pack her knives at the end of the episode. Photo courtesy of Jenna/ModernDomestic.com
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Commentary: Let's aim for Mars - by Buzz Aldrin
(CNN) -- Four decades have passed since the summer of 1969, when Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and I flew America's first lunar landing mission.
The passage of time has not faded either the memory of that summer or the importance of what we achieved, for our mission was about more than just exploring the moon.
On July 20, 1969, Neil and I were peering out the window of our lunar lander, the Eagle, as it descended toward the lunar surface. The ship's computer was steering us toward a field of boulders the size of cars.
That same computer -- with less power than today's pocket calculators -- was signaling that it was overworked and dangerously overloaded. Our single tank of fuel was nearly empty as we approached the surface, invisible to us, cloaked in a cloud of swirling dust.
Neil took manual control and flew us toward a smoother terrain. Then, as the shadow of our landing gear appeared etched onto the surface in the gloom, a light on our console flashed that contact had been made.
"Houston, Tranquility Base Here," Neil radioed to the listening world back home. "The Eagle has landed!"
For more than two hours, we explored the moon's dusty surface. We could easily tell that the planet we had landed on was very different from our home. The horizon visibly curved away in the distance, a sign of the moon's much smaller landscape.
When my boot struck moon dust, the soils flew away in a straight line, a sign of the lighter gravity load, one-sixth that of Earth. When I looked around the stark landscape, it was a magnificent desolation.
An uninviting world greeted us in eerie silence, hostile to our presence and to all visitors from Earth.
The following day, we rocketed up off the surface, rejoined Mike Collins orbiting alone in our command ship, the Columbia, and headed home to a hero's welcome.
That welcome took us all around the world in parades, banquets and greetings from millions. I was astonished that so many had followed every facet of our flight from start to finish, almost as if they were part of the adventure. That spirit, of a world come together in celebration of a peaceful scientific achievement, was perhaps our greatest legacy.
More than just exploring a hostile new world, Apollo 11 was about bold vision and great risk, about the obstacles a great nation could overcome with dedication, courage and teamwork. It was about choosing a goal that exceeded our grasp -- and then reaching across history to make it happen.
For me, the most difficult part of the mission wasn't what happened during the flight but what happened after we came home. Without a new mission to train for, I felt lost and without a purpose. My personal life was marked by deep depression and bouts of drinking. Nothing I did seemed to have meaning or motivation for me.
I left the Air Force, the space program, and was adrift. But then, as I began to recover my bearings, something wonderful happened. I met a woman, Lois Driggs Cannon, who helped me to climb out of my depression and see a role for me in space -- but this time while on Earth.I came to dedicate my life to opening space to the average person and crafting designs for new spaceships that could take us far from home. But since Apollo ended, such travels were only in our collective memory.
For these past decades, our country has achieved great things in space. It has built a reusable spacecraft and flown it more than 100 times. It has orbited great observatories that have unlocked the secrets of the universe.
Most impressively, it has helped construct an orbiting laboratory that offers the prospect of long-term research into the effects of space flight, research that can not just improve the health and safety of our astronauts but also of people on Earth. But what America hasn't done is inspire the world -- and itself --with a bold vision for our future in space.
We have remained, since our Apollo days, locked in Earth orbit. But five years ago, NASA was tasked with returning to the moon by 2020, rerunning the moon race that we won 40 years ago. Not surprisingly, this new race has failed to ignite the imagination of young Americans -- or their leaders.
What we truly need is not more Cold War-style competition but a destination in space that offers great rewards for the risks to achieve it. I believe that destination must be homesteading Mars, the first human colony on another world.
By refocusing our space program on Mars for America's future, we can restore the sense of wonder and adventure in space exploration that we knew in the summer of 1969. We won the moon race; now it's time for us to live and work on Mars, first on its moons and then on its surface.
Exploring and colonizing Mars can bring us new scientific understanding of climate change, of how planet-wide processes can make a warm and wet world into a barren landscape. By exploring and understanding Mars, we may gain key insights into the past and future of our own world.
Just as Mars -- a desert planet -- gives us insights into global climate change on Earth, the promise awaits for bringing back to life portions of the Red Planet through the application of Earth Science to its similar chemistry, possibly reawakening its life-bearing potential.
Four decades ago, I was privileged to have been part of a great mission of exploration and discovery. But America's future in space has only just started. It is time for us to continue the journey.
Ed McMahon Dies at 86
Ed McMahon, the loyal "Tonight Show" sidekick who bolstered boss Johnny Carson with guffaws and later carved out his own niche as the host of "Star Search," has died at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 86.
According to his publicist Howard Bragman, the former "Tonight Show" announcer passed away at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in California this morning.
Earlier this year, McMahon was in and out of the hospital for pneumonia and other medical issues, according to sources close to him.
While Bragman did not give a cause of death, he said McMahon had "a multitude of health problems the last few months."
McMahon had bone cancer, among other illnesses, according to a person close to the entertainer. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.
White Noise - Rating
- 4 StarsMichael Keaton stars as architect John Rivers, whose life is shattered by the death of his wife, Anna (Chandra West). Contacted by a man (Ian McNeice) who professes to be getting messages from Anna through Electronic Voice Phenomena, the dubious John ultimately becomes convinced of the communication's validity and is soon fixated on trying to contact her himself. But his investigation into EVP inadvertently unlocks a door to another world.
As Shuttle Lifts Off, NASA Can Man Destruct Switch—Just in Case
“If something happens when it’s just off the pad, there’s only a couple of seconds [to react],” says Bryan O’Connor, a former shuttle commander and NASA’s chief of safety and mission assurance.
But the danger continues as the craft streaks upward. If a spaceship’s flight controls or engines malfunction, toxic fuel and fast-moving debris could threaten people below. After about 2 minutes, the spent solid rocket boosters drop away, taking the charges with them. After that, problems severe enough to threaten people on the ground would leave the crew with two options: Enter orbit and fly around the Earth for a landing at California’s Edwards Air Force Base, or steer into the ocean. Ditching at sea would be extremely dangerous—astronauts would need to exit the ship at 20,000 ft., without the benefit of ejection seats. “After Challenger, we installed parachutes, survival suits and individual rafts, as well as an extendable pole used to clear the escapees from the wing when they exit the hatch [while in flight],” O’Connor says.
NASA’s next space vehicles will include a rocket-powered escape pod for launch emergencies.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Wow! Can't Wait For This One
First Photos from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland Starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Hathaway
Disney has released the first promotional photos from Tim Burton’s upcoming 3-D version of Alice in Wonderland, and they look every bit as creepy and demented as you’d expect. Above you can see Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen.
For some reason I didn’t realize that the movie was already in production, but now that I’ve seen these pictures I’m pretty psyched to see what else Burton can come up with. Hopefully this will be another movie that actually takes 3-D to some interesting places. The cast also includes Mia Wasikowska (In Treatment) as Alice, plus Crispin Glover as The Knave of Hearts, Stephen Fry as The Cheshire Cat, Michael Sheen as The White Rabbit, Alan Rickman as The Caterpillar, Timothy Spall as The Bloodhound, and more! Alice in Wonderland hits theatres on March 5th 2010. What do you think of these images?
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Walter Cronkite Reportedly Gravely Ill
NEW YORK - CBS isn’t commenting on reports that veteran newsman Walter Cronkite is gravely ill.
The 92-year-old former anchor of “The CBS Evening News,” who has been ailing for some time, has reportedly taken a turn for the worse, according to TVNewser and other online sites.
CBS News spokesman Kevin Tedesco had no comment on Friday.
Bob Schieffer said, “All of us are praying for the best, and our thoughts are with Walter’s family.” The host of CBS’ “Face the Nation” and a longtime Cronkite colleague, Schieffer noted that he had no current news on Cronkite’s condition.Friday, June 19, 2009
Pixar Grants Girl's Dying Wish to See 'Up'
HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.
From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.
After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.
The company flew an employee with a DVD of Up, which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie.
The animated movie begins with scenes showing the evolution of a relationship between a husband and wife. After losing his wife in old age, the now grumpy man deals with his loss by attaching thousands of balloons to his house, flying into the sky, and going on an adventure with a little boy.
Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film.
With her daughter’s vigil planned for Friday, Lisa Curtin reflected about how grateful she is that Pixar – and "Up" – were a part of her only child’s last day.
“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” said Curtin, 46. “I just know that word ‘Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”
Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.
Colby was diagnosed with vascular cancer on Dec. 23, 2005 after doctors found a tumor in her liver. At the time of her death, her stomach was about 94 inches around, swollen with fluids the cancer wouldn’t let her body properly digest. The rest of her body probably weighed about 45 pounds, family friend Carole Lynch said.Colby had gone to Newport Elementary School and was known for making others laugh, family friend Terrell Orum said. Colby loved to dance, sing, swim and seemed to have a more mature understanding of the world than other children her age, Orum said.
On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens" but was impressed by the previews to "Up."
“It was from then on, she said, ‘I have to see that movie. It is so cool,’” Lynch said.
Colby was a movie fan, Lisa Curtin said, and she latched onto Pixar’s movies because she loved animals.
Two days later Colby’s health began to worsen. On June 4 her mother asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see "Up." However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered, Lisa Curtin said.
By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.
At that point, Orum, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help.
Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum guessed a name and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said.
Pixar officials listened to Colby’s story and agreed to send someone to Colby’s house the next day with a DVD of "Up," Orum recalled.
She immediately called Lisa Curtin, who told Colby.
“Do you think you can hang on?” Colby’s mother said.
“I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” the girl replied.
THE MOVIE
At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins’ home with the DVD.
He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie and the group settled in to watch Up.
Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film.
At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.
The employee left after the movie, taking the DVD with him, Lynch said.
“He couldn’t have been nicer,” said Lynch who watched the movie with the family. “His eyes were just welled up.”
After the movie, Colby’s dad, Michael Curtin, who is divorced from Lisa Curtin, came to visit.
Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.
Among the Up memorabilia the employee gave Colby was an “adventure book” – a scrap book the main character’s wife used to chronicle her journeys.
“I’ll have to fill those adventures in for her,” Lisa Curtin said.
Add ‘Year One’ to list of Biblical Plagues
Right after “rain of frogs” and “swarm of locusts” on the list of biblical plagues, add “Year One,” a crassly juvenile spoof of the Old Testament that’s sure to be a pox on its creators and its audiences alike. Theater owners are advised to smear some lamb’s blood on their doors until this blight passes.
Jack Black and Michael Cera star as Zed and Oh, two cavemen who are banished from their tribe for their lack of skills as, respectively, a hunter and a gatherer. And because Zed ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, which was forbidden, and also apparently failed to make him any smarter.
The structure of “Year One” is painfully minimal, existing only to tack on jokes that seem to have been made up on the spot — and if you’ve ever endured an evening of improv comedy, you know that formula winds up delivering lots of misses for every rare hit. Ramis and co-writers Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg mostly avoid the easy anachronism jokes, to their credit, but instead they wind up plumbing the depths of poop, fart, urine, foreskin and gay-panic humor.
Since Zed is a loudmouth braggart and venal coward, while Oh is a mealy-mouthed doormat, one assumes that Ramis was shooting for some sort of Hope & Crosby/Abbott & Costello—type interplay, but instead we wind up with Black and Cera playing pretty much the exact same characters they portray in practically every movie they make.
Woman Illegally Downloads 24 Songs, Fined to Tune of $1.9 Million
(CNN) -- A federal jury Thursday found a 32-year-old Minnesota woman guilty of illegally downloading music from the Internet and fined her $80,000 each -- a total of $1.9 million -- for 24 songs.
Illegal downloads of musical files will cost a Minnesota woman $1.9 million, a jury has decided.
Jammie Thomas-Rasset's case was the first such copyright infringement case to go to trial in the United States, her attorney said.
Attorney Joe Sibley said that his client was shocked at fine, noting that the price tag on the songs she downloaded was 99 cents.
She plans to appeal, he said.
Cara Duckworth, a spokeswoman for the Recording Industry Association of America, said the RIIA was "pleased that the jury agreed with the evidence and found the defendant liable."
"We appreciate the jury's service and that they take this as seriously as we do," she said.
Thomas-Rasset downloaded work by artists such as No Doubt, Linkin Park, Gloria Estefan and Sheryl Crow.
This was the second trial for Thomas-Rasset. The judge ordered a retrial in 2007 after there was an error in the wording of jury instructions.The fines jumped considerably from the first trial, which granted just $220,000 to the recording companies.
Thomas-Rasset is married with four children and works for an Indian tribe in Minnesota.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Polls Find Rising Concern With Obama on Key Issues
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Barack Obama faces growing concerns among voters over government spending, the auto industry bailout and other economic policies, according to two opinion pollsreleased on Wednesday.
Obama, who took office in January, remains popular with Americans, although his overall job approval rating slipped to 56 percent, down 5 points from April, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll.
But 58 percent of respondents said Obama and Congress should focus on keeping the budget deficit down, even if takes longer for the economy to recover. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the federal deficit could top $1.8 trillion this fiscal year -- by far a record.
Nearly 70 percent said they had concerns about federal intervention in the economy, including Obama's decision to take an ownership stake in General Motors and the prospect of more government involvement in healthcare. Obama has made healthcare reform a top priority of his administration.
Just 37 percent of respondents said Obama was taking on too many issues and 60 percent said he had to focus on so many things because the United States was facing so many problems.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Make a Quick, Spicy Sauce for Last-Minute Dinners
If you lack for foodie friends, you might not have heard all about sriracha, a pan-Asian chili sauce that's potent but not too spicy. One blogger suggests a quick tweak that makes it more mellow and perfect for meat flavoring.
Ed Schneider writes in at Mark Bittman's New York Times blog with this finding:
... If you add some Worcestershire sauce you get the world's best condiment for breaded pork cutlets or other crisp, rich, greasy things. It's kind of like tonkatsu sauce, but spicy and not as sweet.
Michael Douglas Wanted to Impregnate Catherine Zeta-Jones on First Meeting
A slew of stars including Hugh Hefner, Matthew McConaughey, Annette Bening, Warren Beatty and Melanie Griffith strutted into the Sony Studios in Los Angeles last week to honor Michael Douglas as he received AFI’s 37th Annual Lifetime Achievement Award. However, the entire evening Michael barely took his eyes off his stunning wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, and it seems he made his intentions very clear the very first time they met.
"My very first impression was that he was very funny and very charming," Catherine Zeta-Jones told Tarts. "And straight away he was very direct that he wanted to be the father of my children. So that was it ..."
The two have since had two children, Dylan, 8, and Carys, 6.
Although Douglas is still clearly mesmerized by his leading lady, he was less-than-impressed when a reporter asked Zeta-Jones first of all what she was wearing.
"I’m being honored for a Lifetime Achievement Award and you ask my wife what she is wearing. Not even the second question, you ask it straight up," he said while walking away, before reluctantly being enticed back.
But according to Michael Douglas’s 92-year-old father Kirk, he didn’t want his son to even enter show business.
"For years I tried to get him out! I thought he was going to be a lawyer and I would encourage that but my son never listened to me," Kirk exclaimed. "He's too young or I'm too young for my son to have a life time achievement award. I don't know how I feel. I have mixed emotions."
Drive-Ins Are Back, but It’s a Secret
The drive-in-movie theater celebrated its 75th anniversary last year. As the story goes, Richard Hollingshead Jr. experimented with the format in 1933 by showing movies in his driveway in Riverton, N.J. He hung a bed sheet between two trees and placed a Kodak film projector on the roof of his car.After a rise in popularity through the 1950s, interest in the drive-in theater steadily waned (there aren’t any left in the New York metropolitan area). But over the past few years a new style of drive-in has cropped up, aided in part by the increased use (and the drop in price) of digital projectors, and it’s not too different from Hollingshead’s early experiments.
They’re called “guerilla drive-ins,” or mobile movies, because there is no permanent theater. Organizers screen the movies on warehouse walls and in parking lots. And screenings don’t usually take place in the same location twice. Viewers sign up for a service that e-mails them with the time and location a few days ahead of each screening. The movies are generally free, and organizers accept donations to fund the few hundred dollars it takes to secure the location and projector.
Bryan Kennedy, 28, an iPhone developer in San Francisco, runs MobMov.org a site that lists more than 240 guerilla drive-in chapters around the world.
He started MobMov in 2005 while a student at University of California, Berkeley. Using a digital projector he had just bought for his home and an inexpensive FM transmitter to send the sound to a car’s stereo, he showed “The Graduate” with no ambitions of grandeur.
“It was very organic,” he said. “There were three cars at the first show. Then some people said I should come up with a name and a Web site. And then random people started calling me about the next screening.”
Eric Kurland was one of those random people. “He lived in L.A. and asked if I was set up to do chapters in different cities,” Mr. Kennedy said. All of a sudden, the Hollywood chapter of MobMov was born. Today, Mr. Kennedy’s site includes a tutorial on how enterprising people can start their own MobMov: how to set up an outdoor theater, what to look for in a digital projector, how to hook up a projector to a car, where to buy an FM transmitter, legal issues and more.
The roots of the guerilla drive-in movement has been traced to Santa Cruz, Calif., where Wes Modes started a collective to screen outdoor movies around 2001.
A Times story from 2004 described a very renegade process with primitive equipment and little regard for the law. In those early days, the Santa Cruz Guerilla Drive-In trespassed on property — looking out for police — and did not secure rights to show the movies.
“It was definitely an inspiration,” Mr. Kennedy said. “It was the name — guerilla drive-in — that really inspired this.”
Mr. Kennedy went to one of the Santa Cruz Guerilla Drive-Ins before starting MobMov. “It’s really cool. You know you sit on the grass and watch a movie outdoors,” he said. He also explained that what he wanted to create was a more authentic drive-in experience (i.e., watching movies from inside a car), though he had never been to one himself.
“Drive-ins are interesting because it’s a customizable experience,” he explained. “You can bring your kid, who may spend the entire time crying in the back seat, but that’s fine — you roll up your window. Or you can roll down your windows and interact with the other people. It’s up to you.”
Every MobMov screening has an intermission, during which audience members can interact, which Mr. Kennedy said, is his favorite part of MobMov.
Last weekend, MobMov showed “The Sting,” the 1973 classic with Paul Newman and Robert Redford. It was projected against the wall of a hangar on a decommissioned military base on San Francisco’s Treasure Island to an audience of around 50 cars, Mr. Kennedy said.
He expected to show a movie every other week — workload permitting — and has upgraded his equipment considerably since that first screening in 2005. But he still doesn’t charge a fee. He has tried to come up with a business plan to monetize the growth of the MobMov movement, but he hasn’t figured out a way to accommodate profits with the good-natured vibe of the experience. “Nothing seems to fit,” he said. At least it doesn’t cost much to put on.
“My biggest expenses are the movie licensing fees,” he said. “And I rent a car to run the projector. I live in the city so I don’t have a car.”
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Letterman Apologizes
Yet similar jokes never drew much objection from Palin's camp until Letterman's gag last week about Palin's daughter getting "knocked up" by baseball player Alex Rodriguez during a visit to a New York Yankees game -- a line Palin suggested was really a reference to her 14-year-old daughter, Willow, who attended the game.
On Sept. 2, during the presidential campaign, Leno, for example, told this joke on "The Tonight Show": "Governor Palin announced over the weekend that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant. And you thought John Edwards was in trouble before! Now he has really done it."
On Oct. 10, O'Brien, then host of "Late Night," quipped: "Sarah Palin is going to drop the first puck at the Philadelphia Flyers hockey game. Then Palin will spend the rest of the game trying to keep the hockey players out of her daughter's penalty box."
Never fully disappeared
While the pregnant-daughter theme was most common on late-night shows during the fall campaign, it has never fully disappeared. And Letterman told far fewer of these jokes than some of his late-night brethren.
Through mid-March, Leno had made 15 jokes about the Palin daughter's pregnancy, Stewart had told four on "The Daily Show," and Letterman checked in with eight, according to an analysis of late-night humor by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a nonpartisan research organization affiliated with George Mason University.
The comedian most likely to bash Bristol Palin? O'Brien, with 20 jokes at her expense.
"Saturday Night Live" has also parodied the Palin family in questionable ways. In a skit last September, a mock reporter joked about incest in the vice presidential candidate's family, saying, "I mean, come on. It's Alaska!"
Palin not only didn't protest, she appeared as a guest on the program a few weeks later.
Monday, June 15, 2009
You Don't Know Jack
Hunch
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Stories Behind 10 TV Theme Songs
1. "Suicide is Painless" - M*A*S*H*
The song was written by Robert Altman's son, Mike Altman, when he was only 14 years old. The tune was written by Johnny Mandel, a musician who worked with Count Basie, Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee (among others). Mandel sings the song as well. When Altman wrote the lyrics, he told producer Ingo Preminger that he just wanted a guitar in return, but Preminger insisted that he be paid the regular way and set up a contract that would give Altman royalties. He ended up making more than a million dollars, at least according to his dad, who directed the movie. Incidentally, Robert only received $75,000 for directing it.
2. "Those Were The Days" - All in the Family
According to series producer Norman Lear, the reason Carroll O'Connor and Jean Stapleton sang the theme song themselves was simply to save costs. Although it was the same thing at the beginning of every episode, there were a few different versions. In one, Archie hugs Edith at the end. In another, Edith smiles at Archie and he returns the look with one of irritation. And we shouldn't be surprised that the lyrics and music were so memorable: songwriting duo Charles Strouse and Lee Adams were very good at their jobs, having already won a couple of Tony Awards (Bye Bye Birdie and Applause). Another interesting tidbit: after the theme song aired for the first few times, viewers wrote in and complained that they couldn't understand what the actors were supposed to be saying, especially the line "Gee our old LaSalle ran great." If you've ever wondered why that line is so clearly enunciated in the theme song, that's why - Jean Stapleton recorded her part again and made sure to speak ridiculously clearly during those words.
3. "The Addams Family Theme" - The Addams Family
Composer Vic Mizzy wrote the theme song, which is pretty well known, but what isn't as commonly known is that he wrote the theme song for another very popular sitcom from the same era. "The Munsters?" you might be wondering. Nope - the other theme song is a true testament to Mizzy's versatility - it was Green Acres. Mizzy also contributed parts to the Mr. Ed and Petticoat Junction theme songs. He still receives royalties every time The Addams Family theme is played, even when it's on an organ at a baseball game. (Photo from VicMizzy.com)
4. "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" - The Beverly Hillbillies
This tune joins the elite group of T.V. theme songs that were so popular they actually ended up on the mainstream music charts. The song was written and composed by Paul Henning, who was also the series' creator. The man who sang the song, Jerry Scoggins, was a stockbroker trying to break into the music business when he landed "The Ballad of Jed Clampett." This luck break paired him with the legendary Foggy Mountain Boys, who played the music that backed him. The Foggy Mountain Boys, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, were already well established in the country and bluegrass world and had been members of the Grand Ole Opry for years... which probably helped the theme song reach #44 on the charts in 1962.
5. "The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle" - Gilligan's Island
What ended up being one of the most recognizable theme songs of all time started out as a very amateur recording done in a noisy house. Sherwood Schwartz, the show's creator, couldn't afford to rent a recording studio to get the theme down, so he called in a favor from a friend with the necessary equipment. The only day they could all do it in time for the pilot was a day that his friends were preparing for a big charity event at their house, so the song had to be recorded when waiters weren't clattering silverware and plates and serving trays around. It took forever to adjust the levels just right; they finally got a usable take just as guests were arriving for the event. It's not exactly the one we know today - Sherwood had injected a sort of calypso solo that didn't make the cut - but it's the general theme. And for the first season, the portion of the lyrics that served as a roll call completely neglected poor Mary Ann and the professor, saying, "The movie star and the rest, here on Gilligan's Isle!" Schwartz said he never had an inkling that the professor and Mary Ann would become such popular characters and therefore didn't think to name them in the theme song. Although this changed by the second season, Dawn Wells and Russell Johnson liked to send each other birthday cards and presents with the signature "The Rest" as a nod to the first theme song.
6. "Happy Days" - Happy Days
For the first two seasons of the show, the theme song was simply an oldie but goodie - Bill Haley and the Comets' "Rock Around the Clock." And it served the purpose just fine - it was so popular, in fact, that the song recharted after nearly 20 years. After season two, though, they decided to use an original song instead of Bill Haley's, and fans were already familiar with it since it was being used as the closing theme music. "Happy Days" got bumped up from the end of the show to the front, and the song has been stuck in our heads ever since. It was written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel, who gave us the lyrics and music to a ton of other memorable theme songs: Laverne and Shirley, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, Wonder Woman and the score for H.R. Pufnstuf. "Happy Days" was performed by a roster of studio musicians, including some of the same guys who sang The Partridge Family theme song. As popular as the Happy Days theme song was, they decided to record a new version of it for the show's final season. It didn't go over as well.
7. "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" - Cheers
The famous theme song was nearly just a recycled song from a Broadway musical called Preppies. The producers of Cheers heard it and thought it would be perfect for their new show if the lyrics were just changed up a little. Gary Portnoy and Judy Hart Angelo, the songwriters, were understandably thrilled - but the producers of Preppies weren't. They refused to give up rights to the song. Portnoy and Angelo were devastated, but the producers of Cheers told them not to worry - they should just take a shot at writing something totally new. The first version, a pretty blatant rip-off of their first song, was quickly rejected. After reading a script, the duo took a third shot, which was closer - the producers loved some of the lyrics - but still no cigar. Version #3 was rejected. Portnoy and Hart were getting a little dejected and concerned that they were going to get fired any second, and to make matters worse, Gary and his girlfriend had just broken up. This set the mood for version #4, a melancholy little tune about the Red Sox losing, being too poor to pay the electric bill and needy girlfriends who wanted to get married. They almost decided it was too depressing for a sitcom, when they came up with the line "Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name," and the whole song turned from depressing to hopeful. The folks at Cheers loved it, but changed the opening lines from "Singing the blues when the Red Sox lose, it's a crisis in your life," to the now-famous, "Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got." The rest is history.
8. "Jeannie" - I Dream of Jeannie
There were three theme songs composed for the show about a blonde genie and her Master - the first season featured an instrumental waltz over the opening credits. And no less than Carole King wrote a theme song for the series, but Sidney Sheldon rejected it. The winning song that we know as the I Dream of Jeannie theme song today was composed by Hugo Montenegro. And, believe it or not, there were lyrics to the song. Written by Buddy Kaye, this gem was never used for the show:
Jeannie, fresh as a daisy. Just love how she obeys me, Does things that just amaze me so. She smiles, Presto the rain goes. She blinks, up come the rainbows. Cars stop, even the train goes slow. When she goes by, she paints sunshine on every rafter, sprinkles the air with laughter, we're close as a quarter after three. There's no one like Jeannie. I'll introduce her to you, but it's no use sir, cause my Jeannie's in love with me.
9. "Thank You For Being a Friend" - Golden Girls
Unbeknownst to me, this song wasn't original to our four happening grannies. It was first recorded in 1978 by Andrew Gold, who hit #25 on the Billboard charts the same year. Cynthia Fee sang it for the show, though.
The song was later reworked a third time for the opening credits to The Golden Palace.
10. "The Facts of Life" - The Facts of Life
If you didn't already know this, prepared to be floored: Alan Thicke, better known as Jason Seaver to legions of kids who grew up in the late '80s and early '90s, co-wrote "The Facts of Life." He also co-wrote and sang the theme song to Diff'rent Strokes. At the time, Thicke was married to his co-writer Gloria Loring, who sang the "Facts" song you probably remember. There was also an earlier version that featured the cast of the show singing the wise lyrics, but it was only used for the first season.