1988 "LIBERACE: BEHIND THE MUSIC"

 1988 "LIBERACE: BEHIND THE MUSIC"





go to HULU --it;s being shown for free there now ...

 MUST THE WORD "BEHIND BE USED IN ALL MOVIES ABOUT HIM?

 Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
	Victor Garber	...	Liberace
	Saul Rubinek	...	Seymour Heller
	Michael Dolan	...	Scott Thorsen
	Maureen Stapleton	...	Frances Liberace
	Shawn Levy	...	Glenn

 GONNA WATCH & COMPARE TO LAST WEEK'S CAMPY, LAUGHABLE "BEHIND THE CANDELABRA"

PAL'S CABIN CLOSES IN WEST ORANGE, NJ

.



"Liberace would earn a few extra bucks giving piano lessons to Don Horn and his brother, Marty Jr'


( "the Pine Room, helped launch the career of an 18-year-old piano player from Wisconsin named Wladziu Valentino Liberace. The flamboyant performer played at Pals for six months, earning $40 a week; the piano Horn bought especially for him is still in the bar, known as the Tap Room..."

( SO MUCH LIBERACE LATELY, HUH READERS?)
________________________________________________________________________________

BEING THE POP CULTURE NUT I AM I RAN TO "PAL'S CABIN" ABOUT 10 YRS AGO, WHEN I READ THIS BIT OF TRIVIA IN "THE STAR LEDGER", MY PARTNER, AT THE TIME, AND I DECIDED TO STAY & EAT WHILE WE SAW THE PIANO.

 WE HAD A DELICIOUS STEAK DINNER--A BIT PRICEY,  BUT AT THE TIME I THOUGHT WELL WORTH IT.

I HAVE ALSO ATTENDED THEIR CATERING HALL, MAYFAIR FARMS, FOR CATERED EVENTS--GREAT FOOD/GREAT SERVICE...

PAL'S CABIN CLOSES TOMORROW JUNE 1, 2013.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PIANO, GUYS?

HERE'S MORE ON "PAL'S CABIN":

Pals Cabin — a favorite haunt of Babe Ruth, who loved to chow down on its hot dogs after a round of golf at nearby Crestmont Country Club — would make any short list of Jersey food landmarks.

Don Horn, Jr, left, with his father Don Horn, Sr, center, and brother Marty Horn at their legendary restaurant Pals Cabin in West Orange. Patti Sapone/The Star-Ledger   

The legendary restaurant will soon be torn down to make way for a CVS. (WTF???)

"Our customers say, 'I can't believe you're closing'" says Marty Horn, grandson of the original co-owner and one of four brothers who now run Pals Cabin. Smiling, he added, "They don't have to pay my bills."

The bills include $20,000 a month for gas and electric and nearly $200,000 a year in property taxes.
"That's a lot of burgers we have to sell," Horn said. "Sometimes you have to look at it and say you have no choice financially."

The sprawling restaurant will eventually fall to the wrecking ball, but the name will live on; the family is considering opening Pals Cabin burger joints — on the order of Smashburger or Five Guys — in North Jersey..."

 "It was the Depression, but people were flocking in here," Don Horn recalled.

His mother was the one who named the restaurant. "As Marty and Roy were leaving the building one day," Don Horn wrote in an unpublished history, "the topic of conversation became what to call the little summertime venture. Marty's wife, Kathryn ... said, 'Since you two are pals and it is a little cabin, so why not call it Pals Cabin?'"..."

( READ ENTIRE ARTICLE ON NJ.COM)

ALMODOVAR'S NEWEST: " I'M SO EXCITED! "

 


 FROM "THE GUARDIAN" 
Philip FrenchThe Observer, Saturday 4 May 201

"I'm So Excited!" is more of an Almodóvar film than a pastiche of anyone else's and begins with a brief prologue on the ground beside the emblematically named Peninsula Airways' airbus.

 The movie's only major stars, Penélope Cruz and Antonio Banderas, make cameo appearances as a pregnant wife and her uxorious husband, working respectively as a baggage truck driver and chocks inspector. They're involved in a minor accident beside the shiny, pristine plane before cheerfully leaving another ground staff member to clear up.

This innocent negligence leaves the undercarriage seriously damaged and Peninsula flight 2549 from Madrid to Mexico City is on the route to disaster. Fifty years ago last month, in my first Observer film column, I reviewed a Hollywood movie about the adventures of three airline hostesses called Come Fly With Me, taking its name from the Sinatra number sung over the opening credits. I'm So Excited! might well be called "Come Die With Me".

Shortly after take-off, the discovery of the undercarriage problem is covered up and the passengers in the packed economy class are drugged into a deep sleep. The theatrical red curtain between them and the business class passengers is kept drawn. There are only seven people in business class – a famous dominatrix (the Argentinian Cecilia Roth), a rich lothario, a honeymoon couple, a clairvoyant (Lola Dueñas), a mysterious Mexican and the inevitable decamping financier. They soon get to know of the plane's problems because the chief steward is incapable of telling a lie, having been traumatized some years before by helping conceal the accidental killing of a deranged passenger..."

TRAIN KILLS MONTCLAIR TEEN--AWFUL!

Northjersey.com : News

Update: Pedestrian killed by train in Montclair's Watchung Plaza

AWFUL!!! TOO AWFUL & TOO CLOSE TO HOME!!!

I WAS WAITING AT THE NEXT STOP--WALNUT STREET-WHEN I, AND OTHERS,  BEGAN TO REALIZE THE 11:05 AM TRAIN EAST TO PENN STATION NY WAS LATE.
IN THE DISTANCE WE HEARD MULTIPLE, OMINOUS FIRE TRUCKS & SIRENS.
EVENTUALLY AN ANNOUNCEMENT ALERTED US THE TRAIN SERVICE WOULD BE SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY DUE TO A TRESPASSING  ISSUE.

THIS CRYPTIC ANNOUNCEMENT HAD SOME WAITING PASSENGERS CHECK THEIR ALERTS/ APPS, ETC. AND THEY ALL STATED THE SAME MESSAGE.

NOT HOPING FOR THE WORST I CONTINUED MY DAY & FOUND OUT ON THE WAY BACK HOME THAT IN FACT A DEATH HAD ENSUED- A PASSENGER WHO WAS ON THE TRAIN IN QUESTION, RELAYED THE DETAILS. THEY WENT ON LOCK DOWN.
I WAS NATURALLY STUNNED.
SO SAD!
HERE ARE THE DEVASTATING DETAILS:

Shortly after 11 a.m. this morning, a Midtown Direct train, No. 6226, struck and killed a person on the tracks west of the Watchung Plaza Train Station, in what NJ Transit is calling a "trespasser fatality."

STAFF PHOTO BY GEORGE WIRT

Police investigate the death of a person struck and killed by a train this morning at the Watchung Plaza Train Station. 

NJ Transit has confirmed that the person killed was Eamonn Wholley, an 18-year-old Montclair resident. NJ Transit spokesperson John Durso Jr. said that there were 30 people on the train, and no injuries.

"According to witness accounts, the trespasser climbed an embankment, crossed the tracks, positioned himself in front of the oncoming train and did not attempt to move," Durso said.
David Uslan, who was on the train when the accident occurred, said that police walked through the train and announced that there had been a fatality.

"Apparently, the conductor saw it all," said Uslan, who noted that a therapist who was on board the train talked to the conductor about it.

New York City-bound commuters waiting in Watchung Plaza for the DeCamp No. 66 bus said that, as the train approached the station, it was repeatedly blowing its horn with a sense of urgency.
"The engineer was blowing his whistle more than usual. I thought that was weird," said a woman waiting for the bus.

A half-hour after the accident, the train remained stopped at the station as police and NJ Transit officials conducted an investigation. Some of the passenger cars were stopped atop the trestle spanning Watchung Avenue.

Bus commuter Elaine Bromka said she had never seen such a large police presence in town. "I counted 22 vehicles," Bromka said.

Four fire trucks and at least six police cars were on site when The Times arrived at 11:25 a.m.
 
 I AM SHAKEN

GOD BLESS EAMONN WHOLLEY AND HIS FAMILY.

WHY?

CNN INTRODUCES NEW TALK SHOW...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(FROM CNN ONLINE):

Acclaimed Talk-Show Host George Stroumboulopoulos Joins CNN with New Friday Night Program

  "Born and raised in Ontario, Stroumboulopoulos graduated from Humber College in 1993 with a diploma in radio broadcasting.  Stroumboulopoulos’ broadcasting career included talk and music radio production, television presenting, and hosting documentaries, and he has been honored eleven times by Canada’s prestigious Gemini Award for his television work.  He is also an outspoken advocate for numerous Canadian and international philanthropic humanitarian broadcasts, including Canada for Haiti and One Million Acts of Green, and he is the first Canadian National Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Program.

Stroumboulopoulos currently hosts George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, which airs nightly on CBC television, and The Strombo Show, music and talk program which airs weekly on CBC Radio2.  Among his guests were Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Bradley Cooper, Naomi Watts, Robert Pattinson, Bono, and Clint Eastwood..."

 

"Special Premiere of Weekly CNN Talk Show “Stroumboulopoulos” Airs Sunday, June 9^th; Series to Air Regularly Fridays at 11pmET Beginning June 14^th

CNN welcomes popular Canadian talk show host George Stroumboulopoulos to its Friday lineup. “Stroumboulopoulos” will premiere on Sunday, June 9^th at 10pm ET following the season finale of Anthony Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown.” 

On June 14^th the show will air in its regular timeslot; airing Fridays at 11pm ET. First guests will be rapper Wiz Khalifa, actress Ellen Page and Walking Dead comic book author Robert Kirkman.

The new talk show will explore the worlds of art, pop culture, politics, tech news and sports, through the eyes and the words of their most interesting figures. George Stroumboulopoulos is praised for being a masterful interviewer, whose intimate style keeps guests at ease and audiences intrigued.  “Stroumboulopoulos” is THE show to watch this summer.


“Stroumboulopoulos” will begin its 10 week run and will bring viewers compelling interviews with Keanu Reeves, Martin Short, Betty White, Bill Maher, Sharon Stone, as well as author Eckhardt Tolle, and filmmaker Werner Herzog among others slated to appear on the show..."

NYC BIKE SHARE PROGRAM-A GOOD IDEA?

 

 

 In the USA/NYC Citibank is the sponsor of the program. Critics of the program involve ma & pa bike rental places as well as delivery/loading people who are claiming they block their limited area where some of the racks are placed. I guess this affects parking spaces as well. Only time will tell. NYC has tried other programs unsuccessfully before-others with minimal to high success rates-we'll see. Even the newly appropriated bike lanes are a problem for bikers-esp. in midtown where pedestrians use these lanes to avoid the crunch of the sidewalks; making the bikers impossible to stay on course.

_________________________________

NBC NEWS ONLINE:

The privately funded Citi Bike bike-share program is launching with 6,000 bikes at 330 docking stations in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn

NYC's Bike Share, Largest in Nation, Launches

New York City's long-awaited and much-hyped bicycle-sharing program has finally begun.

An annual membership costs $95 and a day pass will cost $9.95.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan are set to christen the beginning of bike-sharing at a docking station near the Brooklyn Bridge Monday morning.

  The privately funded Citi Bike bike-share program is launching with 6,000 bikes at 330 docking stations in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. Officials hope to expand to 10,000 bikes and 600 docking stations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. (what???good???bad???)

On Friday, the blue bicycles started appearing in docking stations throughout the city.

More than 9,000 people who have signed up for the program will be able to ride starting Monday. The bikes will be available to anyone starting June 2.

_______________________________________________________________

As of May 2011 there were around 375 bike-sharing programs around the world (CHINA having the largest, I believe)

I FIRST SAW THIS IN PARIS IT'S A BIT DIFFERENT:

Bicycles are made available for shared use to individuals on a very short term basis.

Bicycle sharing systems can be divided into two general categories: "Community Bike programs" organized mostly by local community groups or non-profit organizations; and "Smart Bike programs" implemented by government agencies, sometimes in a public-private partnership.

The central concept of these systems is to provide free or affordable access to bicycles for short-distance trips in an urban area as an alternative to public transport or private vehicles, thereby reducing traffic congestion, noise, and air pollution.

 Bicycle sharing systems have also been cited as a way to solve the "last mile" problem and connect users to public transit networks.

Public bike sharing programmes address some of the primary disadvantages to bicycle ownership, including loss from theft or vandalism, lack of parking or storage, and maintenance requirements.

However, by limiting the number of places where bicycles can be rented or returned, the service itself essentially becomes a form of public transit, and has therefore been criticized as less convenient than a privately owned bicycle capable of point-to-point transport.

 Government-run bicycle sharing programs can also prove costly to the public unless subsidized by commercial interests, typically in the form of advertising on stations or the bicycles themselves.
_____________________________________________________________________________
ALREADY??????????????????????????????????????WTF??????????????


LOLOLOL--UPDATE :(MAY 30, 2013):

A 24-year-old Bronx man tried to make off with an improperly docked Citi Bike early Thursday morning, only to be promptly stopped by cops, the Daily News reports. Anthony Jones allegedly tried to filch one of the pricey blue behemoths from the W. 40th Street station in Midtown after a legit renter failed to securely anchor the bike in place.

The News reports that Jones was halted by nearby police, and faces charges of grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and perhaps most damningly, failure to pay the bike’s rental fee, the tabloid reports.

What a laudable display of NYPD vigilance! Could it possibly be because Citi Bike thefts are categorized as grand larcenies, meaning each bike that goes missing drives up the department's meticulously managed crime statistics? Quite possibly.

“If one of them gets stolen or vandalized now we’ll get stuck with a number for the grand larceny,” a Manhattan cop told the Post. “You know it’s going to happen. They’re going to get stolen or vandalized.”

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY-"DOODLE GOOGLE" WINNER

Today's Google Doodle may be the most moving logo Google has ever posted.

The Doodle was created by a 12th grade Wisconsin student in honor of her best day: the day she was reunited with her father who returned home from Iraq after 18 months of military service. She is the winner of the sixth annual U.S. Doodle 4 Google competition.

"When I was 10 years old, my dad came home from war. This was my best day ever," according to Sabrina Brady of Sparta, Wisconsin.

"Her creative use of the Google letters to illustrate this heartfelt moment clearly resonated with voters across the country and all of us at Google," Ryan Germick, Doodle Team Lead, wrote in a blog post.

But the appearance of her Doodle, titled "Coming Home," on Google's home page all day today is just the beginning for Sabrina. She also won a $30,000 college scholarship (she plans to attend the Minneapolis College of Art and Design this coming fall), a Chromebook computer, and a $50,000 technology grant for her school.

Google also handed out four $5,000 scholarships to four other National Finalists in the Doodle 4 Google competition.

(BTW, REMEMBER ON MONDAY AT 3PM TO HAVE A MOMENT OF SILENCE FOR THOSE STILL FIGHTING & THOSE WHO HAVE DIED FOR OUR FREEDOM--TAKE TIME TO ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR VETERANS--REMEMBER MONDAY AT 3PM...trivia: it's actually a Congressional law--who knew??? lolol)

CAROLE KING AWARDED AT THE WHITE HOUSE TODAY

 

Carole King set to receive Gershwin Prize for Popular Song (FIRST WOMAN EVER)...

(WHAT A COINCIDENCE I AM READING HER MEMOIR: "A NATURAL WOMAN" & CAME ACROSS THIS BIT OF NEWS...GREAT YEAR FOR A MUSICAL LEGEND!)

Carole King set to receive Gershwin Prize for Popular Song

Adam Bernstein (" THE WASHINGTON POST")

Reporter:

One fine day in 1957, a 15-year-old named Carol Klein got off the express train from Brooklyn to Manhattan with schoolbooks under one arm and sheet music under the other. She wore bobby socks, white sneakers and a black skirt with a pink poodle embroidered on it.

Starting with the “A”s in the phone book, she began visiting music industry executives, hoping that her aggressive piano playing and perfect pitch would land a contract. At Atlantic Records, impresario Ahmet Ertegun called her “soulful” but sent her on her way. ABC-Paramount invited her to record four of her songs, including a thankfully forgotten number titled “Baby Sittin’ ” (“You know the baby I mean — he’s 17”) .
 

• 
  

After a career spanning five decades, more than 20 solo albums and numerous high-profile honors, the 71-year-old King is the first woman to receive the Library of Congress’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.

The award, established in 2007 to celebrate the music-writing team of George and Ira Gershwin, will be presented at the White House on Wednesday, after a Tuesday concert in her honor at the Library of Congress. Previous winners include Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

In a rare and brief phone interview last week as she wandered around Manhattan’s Upper West Side, King was friendly but not rock-star boastful. She stopped in front of Carnegie Hall, where she gave two sold-out concerts in 1971. She did not linger on that point but instead uttered the old joke of how to get there: “Practice, practice, practice.”

For someone who has spent a lifetime expressing herself in music, she is not overeager to describe the process of writing.

Of lyricist Gerry Goffin, her first husband and early musical partner, she says: “He taught me a lot about the mood of a song, how to set the mood with chords and melody, that major chords can sound very majestic. He didn’t say that. He’d say, ‘I like that one.’ ”

So did millions of record buyers. The pair had a prolific and commercially successful run of pop songwriting — bookended by “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?” for the Shirelles in 1960 and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” for Aretha Franklin in 1967.

King transitioned to performer in a way many “hired gun” songwriters of that era did not. Her breakthrough was the Grammy Award-winning 1971 soft-rock album “Tapestry,” which sold more than 13 million records, clung to the Billboard charts for 302 weeks and helped set the template for the singer-songwriter genre of deeply personal stories set to music.

Songs on the LP included “I Feel the Earth Move,” notable for its rollicking sexuality, the up-tempo tale of relationship rot, “It’s Too Late,” and the reassuring ballad “You’ve Got a Friend,” which provided the only No. 1 hit for her friend James Taylor.

At the peak of her selling power, King left Los Angeles for the backcountry roads of Idaho in 1977. Moving off the grid aligned with the “hippie queen” image she conveyed from photographs of the era showing her with cascades of curly hair, often beside horses or Indian-print drapery.

(I SAW MS. KING PERFORM YEARS AGO IN PHILLY--WOW!--SHE'S EVERYTHING I WANTED HER TO BE AND MORE!---ONE OF THE BEST CONCERTS I HAVE EVER SEEN)

Klein, eventually known as Carole King, wrote in her recent memoir, “I shudder to recall . . .”
The bright side was that her work could only get better. And by any measure, it has.
After a career spanning five decades, more than 20 solo albums and numerous high-profile honors, the 71-year-old King is the first woman to receive the Library of Congress’s Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The award, established in 2007 to celebrate the music-writing team of George and Ira Gershwin, will be presented at the White House on Wednesday, after a Tuesday concert in her honor at the Library of Congress. Previous winners include Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Paul McCartney and the team of Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

ANTI-GAY RALLY (MAY 20, 2013) IN VAIN?? ATTACKS LATER -AGAIN

 

 Thousands Rally in NYC in a Defiant and Spirited Response to Anti-Gay Murder (by "GAY MARRIAGE USA")

(update (may 28, 2013: now 9 attacks--one last sat-we gotta do something folks!)

"An estimated crowd of more than two thousand this evening marched and rallied in New York City in response to a spate of anti-gay crimes in Manhattan in recent weeks.

The wave of anti-gay violence came to a head on Saturday May 18th with the murder of Marc Carson who was shot dead in Greenwhich Vilage. The suspect in that fatal incident has been charged with a hate crime.

Members of the LGBT community and their allies assembled outside the LGBT Center of NYC on West 13th Street.

 By the time the march began the crowd had swelled to well beyond initial
expectations.

Led by representatives of the LGBT Center, the Anti-Violence Project, relatives of Marc Cason, religious leaders, Edie Windsor (DOMA plaintiff), and elected officials, the group marched towards the scene of Carson’s death at West 8th Street and 6th Avenue.

 Participants waved signs and chanted along the march route. A large number of police were in attendance.

Inspiring and upliftying speeches were given by representatives form a range of LGBT organizations and other community groups. The aunt of Marc Arson spoke on behalf of Marc’s family and accepted the condolences offered by those in attendance. Leaders from LGBT affirming churches provided input from a religious perspective. Nick Porto and Kevin Atkins, attacked in an unsolved anti-gay assault on May 5th, also spoke.

Much to the irritation of a number of rally attendees, no elected official spoke in relation to the recent rise in anti-gay violence in the city. The event ended with a minute’s silence to honor the death of Marc Carson..."
_________________________________________

THEN THIS HAPPENS???? UNBELIEVABLE


A gay couple was attacked early Tuesday in SoHo and a man was beaten in the East Village, hours after thousands marched to protest the killing of a gay man and several other bias attacks that have shaken the community, officials said.

Mayor Bloomberg said at a news conference Tuesday that "New York City has zero tolerance for intolerance."

"We are a place that celebrates diversity ... hate crimes like these are an offense against all we stand for as a city, and we will do everything possible to stop them," Bloomberg added.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said the two men in the SoHo attack were walking on Broadway between Prince and Houston streets at about 5 a.m. when two men started yelling anti-gay remarks in English and Spanish. The victims, 41 and 42, are Hispanic.

The men were both punched, and one suffered an eye injury, sources said.

TODAY (MAY 22, 2013) I FIND OUT ONE MORE VIOLENT, HOMOPHOBIC BASHING IN THE EAST VILLAGE :Gornell Roman was charged Wednesday with assault and aggravated harassment after a hate crime against former Philadelphia promoter Dan Contarino.  The attack was one of two hate crimes authorities announced Tuesday following the killing of a gay man over the weekend.

--WE GOTTA DO SOMETHING AS A COMMUNITY--WTF????

" 60 MINUTES" (CBS) MAY 19, 2013: WOW !!! 3 GREAT SEGMENTS

1-------PRIVACY GONE...
"A Face in the Crowd: Say goodbye to anonymity:
Over the last 10 years, the ability of computers to identify faces has gotten 100 times better, a million times faster, and exponentially cheaper.

Yet facial recognition technology is still a work in progress. While investigators in the Boston marathon bombing had multiple images of both suspects, the technology did not come up with a match. They were not identified by their faces, but by their fingerprints! Authorities won't say what went wrong. One possibility is that government data banks - through which the photos would've been searched - are not big enough.

As we discovered, the FBI is working on expanding its database. Businesses are tapping facial recognition to sell us stuff and computer scientists are upgrading the technology..."

(THIS IS NOT EVEN MENTIONING "GOOGLE GLASS"--WHICH OPERATES IN A SIMILAR FASHION: Essentially, Google Glass is a camera, display, touchpad, battery and microphone built into spectacle frames so that you can perch a display in your field of vision, film, take pictures, search and translate on the go...)
______________________________________________________________________

2------CAMP 14...
"-North Korean prisoner escaped after 23 brutal years
 By all accounts, a modern-day concentration camp, a secret prison hidden in the mountains, 50 miles from North Korea's capital, Pyongyang. It's called Camp 14, and according to human rights groups, it's part of the largest network of political prisons in the world today.

Some 150,000 people are believed to be doing hard labor on the brink of starvation in these hidden gulags. But it's not just those who have been accused of political crimes, it's their entire families -- grandparents, parents, and children -- a practice called "three generations of punishment."

North Korean prison escapee describes a life of hunger

Very little was known about Camp 14 until a young man showed up in South Korea with an extraordinary tale to tell. His name is Shin Dong-hyuk and, as we first reported in December, he said he had not only escaped from Camp 14, but he was born there. He's believed to be the only person born and raised in the camps who's ever escaped and lived to tell about it..."
_______________________________________________________________

3------ RICHER NOW...
It's been almost four years since Michael Jackson died, but he continues to make headlines. Some of them coming out of a Los Angeles courtroom right now where his mother is suing for damages over his death from a powerful anesthetic in June 2009. But the headline of this story is that Michael Jackson is making more money after his death than he ever did when he was alive.

 The most remarkable financial and image resurrection in pop culture history. And get a rare look at what Michael Jackson left behind. The Michael Jackson brand is alive and well. Well-paid that is. Extremely well-paid.

Barcelona, Spain. The 297th performance of the Michael Jackson IMMORTAL World Tour. Cirque du Soleil produces the show featuring their acrobats and contortionists, but Michael Jackson -- or at least his music -- is the star.

Backstage at Cirque du Soleil show ''Immortal''

John Branca: We sold 230,000 tickets in two days in Japan. We did 90,000 people in Moscow. 190,000 people in Mexico City alone..."

"STEFON" (BILL HADER) LEAVES SNL...WTF?

 

UPDATE: MAY 29, 2013--HADER WILL HOST A SHOW ON THE TCM NETWORK CALLED "TCM'S ESSENTIAL JR." TO INTRODUCE CLASSIC MOVIES TO CHILDREN...GREAT!

The Brilliant Bill Hader to Leave ‘Saturday Night Live’

By DAVE ITZKOFF 

"With just one departure, “Saturday Night Live” is losing its excitable “Weekend Update” city correspondent, Stefon; its frenetic incarnations of James Carville, Al Pacino, Vincent Price and Julian Assange; and any number of unctuous, self-satisfied game show hosts.

 NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!..lol

All of which is to say that Bill Hader, an eight-year veteran of “Saturday Night Live,” will be leaving that NBC late-night franchise when its season ends on Saturday.

“It was a hard decision, but it has to happen at some point,” Mr. Hader said in an interview. “It got to a point where I said, ‘Maybe it’s just time to go.’ ” 

Mr. Hader, 34, joined “SNL” as a featured performer in the fall of 2005 and was promoted to a full cast member the following year. He quickly became known for his offbeat celebrity impersonations, as well as portrayals of original characters like Stefon, a breathless aficionado of obscure New York nightclubs, and Vinny Vedecci, an Italian talk show host.." 

ON A MORE DEPRESSING NEWS--WE HAVE TO STOMACH THE ALWAYS ANNOYING KANYE WEST TO SEE HADER'S FINAL APPEARANCE ON SNL THIS COMING WEEKEND. KANYE THIS WEEK (BEING THE SPOILED-OVERRATED CELEBRITY HE CONTINUES TO BE--GOOD LUCK, KIM K.-SOUNDS LIKE A HORRIBLE FUTURE DAD)

This weekend, Ben Affleck is scheduled to host “Saturday Night Live” for the fifth time. Affleck’s appearance is competing with other big SNL stories though, including cast members leaving and Kanye West going off on a rant on the show before his appearance as a musical guest.

 West performed Wednesday night at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City for Adult Swim’s upfront presentation, and he had some unkind words about the idea of participating in any SNL skits this weekend.

“[I had a friend ask me, ‘Are you gonna go on] SNL and you’re going to do like a skit about the paparazzi and shit and like humanize yourself?’ I ain’t here to apologize to no motherf---ers man,” West reportedly said, according to Complex.

“Hell nah I ain’t doing no motherf---ing SNL skits, this my goddamn life. This ain’t no motherf---ing joke. That’s it. Stop that s--- right there.”

  This isn’t the first time West has dissed SNL — he did it in his 2010 single “Power”-WHY DO THEY KEEP HAVING HIM BACK--YUK! DISGUSTING!

LEAVING AS WELL IS SETH MEYERS--TOO BAD.
THEY BETTER KEEP BOBBY MOYNIHAN--HE'S HYSTERICAL!

 


AND WHY DO THEY KEEP KENAN THOMPSON? HE'S ALWAYS THE SAME--NO RANGE AT ALL ( I ALWAYS THOUGHT THEY NEEDED THE TOKEN BLACK GUY FOR SKITS INVOLVING AFRICAN AMERICANS--ONLY RECENTLY DID THEY HIRE, JAY PHAROAH
WHO'S GREAT AS OBAMA & REALLY HAS RANGE).


 

 

AMERICAN IDOL WINNER! MY PICK--YES!

 AFTER TRYING OUT 3 TIMES FOR "AMERICAN IDOL"

 I AM HONORED TO ANNOUNCE THE "AMERICAN IDOL" SEASON 12 WINNER:

CANDICE GLOVER
CANDICE GLOVER
CANDICE GLOVER
 


CANDICE GLOVER
CANDICE GLOVER
CANDICE GLOVER

WATCH OUT FOR THIS NEW STAR WILL BE SHINNING EVEN BRIGHTER IN THE FUTURE...

WEEKLY SHE GAVE ME CHILLS WHETHER BELTING OUT STANDARDS, POP SONGS OR HER ORIGINAL SONG, "I AM BEAUTIFUL".

I PREDICTED THIS WIN ALL ALONG; HOWEVER, THE AMERICAN PUBLIC HAS SURPRISED ME IN THE PAST SO I WAS NEVER 100% SURE. WHAT I WAS SURE ABOUT WAS THAT THIS WAS NEVER THE END OF THE ROAD FOR A TALENT AS HUGE AS CANDICE'S.

I OFTEN COMPARED HER TO THE AMAZING JENNIFER HUDSON AND TONIGHT THEY PERFORMED A DUET--IT WAS "HAIRS IN THE BACK OF MY NECK" FANTASTIC!!!

KUDOS CANDICE!
GODSPEED...

YOUR JOURNEY & WIN BROUGHT ME TO JOYFUL TEARS...YOUR VOICE AND THE SOUL YOU BRING TO EVERY SONG ROCKS!!!

 _______________

( Candice Rickelle Glover (born November 22, 1989) is an American singer from St. Helena Island, South Carolina. This makes her the fifth female winner ever to win American Idol)
_______________

KREE HARRISON (WHO AS A CHILD SANG ON THE OLD "ROSIE O'DONNELL SHOW") WAS THE RUNNER-UP.
NOT BAD KREE, MANY RUNNER-UPS HAVE MADE AN AMAZING CAREER AS WELL. GOOD LUCK.
GEEZ,  JENNIFER HUDSON CAME IN 7TH AND NOW LOOK AT HER.

 (you can download past performances of Candice Glover & the others now)

BARBARA WALTERS RETIRES-2014

 

 

 

 Barbara Walters to retire next year at age 84.

____

TODAY ON "THE VIEW" SHE PERSONALLY ANNOUNCED HER UPCOMING RETIREMENT IN 2014. 

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“I am not walking into the sunset,” she said. "I do not want to appear on another program or climb another mountain. I want instead to sit on a sunny field and admire the very gifted women - and OK, some men too - who will be taking my place."

 Walters, who began her career at NBC in 1961, was the first woman to co-host a news program when she became news anchor at the “Today” show in 1974. She broke through another glass ceiling when she became the first co-anchor of a network evening newscast after joining ABC Evening News in 1976. She interviewed every president and first lady from the Nixons through the Obamas. (ABC online)

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I WISH HER WELL...

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So many superlatives have been attached to her. In many ways she has always reminded me of Margaret Thatcher; except Walters has been the iron fist of television. 

Her reputation for control -for the sake of quality & self glory- is legendary; however, any male counterpart would have just been accused of being efficient. KUDOS!

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Trivia: her dad, Lou Walters, ran one of the most legendary nightclubs ever in NYC: "THE LATIN QUARTER" in1942 at 1580 Broadway at 47th Street. 

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Walter's candid book "AUDITION" tells a life of struggle, regrets and triumphs (a good read).

"COAL MINERS DAUGHTER" COMING TO BROADWAY-YAY!

 

 FINALLY , NOT ANOTHER REVIVAL !

New Girl's Zooey Deschanel to Play Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter on Broadway

_________________________________

DESCHANEL IS NO STRANGER TO SINGING, BTW...

(She is a member of the folk duo "She & Him") 

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 “Loretta Lynn and her music have been inspirations for me for as long as I can remember,” Deschanel also stated. “She is a true legend and to be chosen to play such an iconic woman is a dream come true.”

Coal Miner's Daughter follows Lynn's life from her impoverished Kentucky childhood to working her way to becoming known as the "First Lady of Country Music." Lynn first published her autobiography in 1976, with a film adaptation following in 1980. Sissy Spacek earned an Oscar for playing Lynn.

______________________________

Deschanel's many film and TV credits include Elf, Our Idiot Brother, 500 Days of Summer, All the Real Girls, Weeds, Failure to Launch, Yes Man, Almost Famous, Once Upon a Mattress and Your Highness. 

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It’s a long way from Butcher Holler to Broadway in New York City," Lynn said in a statement. "I never imagined I’d see Coal Miner’s Daughter on a movie screen, and now I can’t believe it’s going to be on a stage for people to see. I’m going to be right there in the front row. And I know Zooey is going to be great – she sings and writes her own songs just like I do, and we even have the same color eyes!”

______________________________

 Deschanel lobbied for the role when the kernel of a Broadway show was being thought about by the show's team. They refused to consider Zooey till Lynn herself met Deschanel in Tennessee and anointed her for the role. Who's gonna argue with the great Loretta Lynn?

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According to Lynn:

It’s a long way from Butcher Holler to Broadway in New York City," Lynn said in a statement. "I never imagined I’d see Coal Miner’s Daughter on a movie screen, and now I can’t believe it’s going to be on a stage for people to see. 

I’m going to be right there in the front row. And I know Zooey is going to be great – she sings and writes her own songs just like I do, and we even have the same color eyes!”

(read more on "Broadway Buzz" online)

RALLY TO CHALLENGE HATE CRIMES -IMPORTANT

AUTHOR JUDY BLUME & HER FANS (A NJ NATIVE, BTW)

JUDY BLUME -AMONG OTHERS- IS JUST ONE NEW JERSEYAN WITH GIFTED TALENTS--HERS BEING OF THE LITERARY KIND. FROM EDISON TO STREEP WE PRODUCE AMAZING PEOPLE WHO INSPIRE AND HAVE MADE OUR LIVES BETTER. JUST IN MY TOWN ALONE THERE IS A BUZZ ALDRIN DAY COMING UP AT OUR UNIVERSITY AND LIBRARY.

BUT I DIGRESS.

ALTHOUGH I HAVE NEVER READ A JUDY BLUME BOOK, SHE HAS BEEN THE VOICE OF MANY YOUNG ADULTS' LIVES. AS A FORMER TEACHER I SAW HER INFLUENCE IN THE STUDENTS, TEACHERS AND PARENTS ( THE WOMAN DOES HAVE 88,000 FOLLOWERS ON TWITTER, AFTER ALL).

HER MOST FAMOUS BOOKS ARE:
1970'S "ARE YOU THERE GOD?IT'S ME MARGARET"
1972'S "TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE NOTHING"
1973'S "DEENIE"
1975'S "FOREVER"


"ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY" HAS A GREAT ARTICLE THIS WEEK; FINALLY ONE OF HER BOOKS -"TIGER EYES"- WITH THE HELP OF HER SON, THE DIRECTOR OF THE PROJECT, WILL BE TRANSLATED TO FILM.
HER SON FELT HE COULD TRANSLATE "TIGER EYES" BEST DUE TO THE LENGTH OF THE STORY & HIS PERSONAL, CLEARER VISION REGARDING THE IT.

THEY  ONLY  HAD $3 MILLION TO SPEND ON THIS PROJECT & LITTLE WENT TO MARKETING. THE FILM WILL ONLY BE RELEASED IN 20 THEATERS. IT WILL ALSO BE AVAILABLE ON ITUNES AND ON DEMAND.

JUST A SHOUT OUT FOR THIS TALENTED MOTHER ON MOTHER'S DAY.

HYSTERICAL !!!! DON'T FORGET TO LAUGH

 

HOW DO COURT RECORDERS KEEP STRAIGHT FACES????
These are from a book called Disorder in the American Courts and are things people actually said in court, word for word, taken down and published by court reporters that had the torment of staying calm while the exchanges were taking place.

ATTORNEY: What was the first thing your husband said to you that morning?
WITNESS: He said, 'Where am I, Cathy?'
ATTORNEY: And why did that upset you?
WITNESS: My name is Susan!
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ATTORNEY: What gear were you in at the moment of the impact?
WITNESS: Gucci sweats and Reeboks.
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ATTORNEY: Are you sexually active?
WITNESS: No, I just lie there.
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ATTORNEY: What is your date of birth?
WITNESS: July 18th.
ATTORNEY: What year?
WITNESS: Every year.
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ATTORNEY: How old is your son, the one living with you?
WITNESS: Thirty-eight or thirty-five, I can't remember which.
ATTORNEY: How long has he lived with you?
WITNESS: Forty-five years.
_________________________________
ATTORNEY: This myasthenia gravis, does it affect your memory at all?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And in what ways does it affect your memory?
WITNESS: I forget..
ATTORNEY: You forget? Can you give us an example of something you forgot?
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ATTORNEY: Now doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep,
he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
WITNESS: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
____________________________________

ATTORNEY: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
WITNESS: He's 20, much like your IQ.
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ATTORNEY: Were you present when your picture was taken?
WITNESS: Are you shitting me?
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ATTORNEY: So the date of conception (of the baby) was August 8th?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: And what were you doing at that time?
WITNESS: Getting laid
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ATTORNEY: She had three children , right?
WITNESS: Yes.
ATTORNEY: How many were boys?
WITNESS: None.
ATTORNEY: Were there any girls?
WITNESS: Your Honor, I think I need a different attorney. Can I get a new attorney?
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ATTORNEY: How was your first marriage terminated?
WITNESS: By death..
ATTORNEY: And by whose death was it terminated?
WITNESS: Take a guess. ATTORNEY: Can you describe the individual?
WITNESS: He was about medium height and had a beard
ATTORNEY: Was this a male or a female?
WITNESS: Unless the Circus was in town I'm going with male.
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ATTORNEY: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
WITNESS: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
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ATTORNEY: Doctor , how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
WITNESS: All of them. The live ones put up too much of a fight.
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ATTORNEY: ALL your responses MUST be oral, OK? What school did you go to?
WITNESS: Oral...
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ATTORNEY: Do you recall the time that you examined the body?
WITNESS: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM
ATTORNEY: And Mr. Denton was dead at the time?
WITNESS: If not, he was by the time I finished.
____________________________________________
ATTORNEY: Are you qualified to give a urine sample?
WITNESS: Are you qualified to ask that question?

______________________________________
And last:

ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No..
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: I see, but could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.


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MORE HATE FOR GAYS (END UP IN HOSPITAL)-WTF????

 


Another Anti-Gay Hate Crime In NYC Puts Two Men In The Hospital --WTF!!!!!!

Less than a week after eight men allegedly beat boyfriends to a pulp for being gay, another horrifying anti-gay assault takes place in the neighborhood. This time it occurred near the 33rd Street PATH Station.

Two New York City men were arrested today in connection with the brutal beating of two gay men near PATH's 33rd Street station in Manhattan. Police are working to see if there is any link between this incident and one that occurred near Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

Police say early the two victims were denied access to an after-hours billiards club. They were then approached by a group of men who allegedly shouted gay slurs and beat the men, according to police.

The alleged attack continued after the victims tried to escape and ended up across the street near the 33rd street PATH station.

Two suspects were arrested as others got away on foot. The suspects were identified as Asllan Berisha, 21, and Brian Ramirez, 21, both of New York City.

Both of the men received treatment for severe facial injuries at Bellview Hospital, with one having to undergo eye surgery due to the attack.

LENA HORNE: 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF HER PASSING

 

 Lena Horne, Singer and Actress, Died at 92

(read more in "THE NEW YORK TIMES" online)

Lena Horne, who broke new ground for black performers when she signed a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio and who went on to achieve international fame as a singer, died on Sunday night in Manhattan. She was 92. 

 A PIONEER WITH GRACE, VISION, BEAUTY, TALENT AND GUTS.

Alicia Keys needs to start making her biopic--they were separated at birth as far as I'm concerned--GO ALICIA!!! Make us proud...

She was in“Thousands Cheer” (1943), “Broadway Rhythm” (1944), “Two Girls and a Sailor” (1944), “Ziegfeld Follies” (1946), “Words and Music” (1948) — to sing a song or two that, she later recalled, could easily be snipped from the movie when it played in the South, where the idea of an African-American performer in anything but a subservient role in a movie with an otherwise all-white cast was unthinkable.

 

Enlarge This Image

"Ms. Horne in 1981 after she won two Grammy awards for “Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music.” 

(SIDEBAR: I WAS TAKING FIGURE SKATING AT THE TIME & WAS THE ONLY MAN IN CLASS EXCEPT FOR MY TEACHER--WE WOULD TALK ABOUT LENA ALL THE TIME--HE HAD GONE TO SEE HER ON BROADWAY TONS OF TIMES THEN--I AM THINKING OF HIM TODAY TOO--HOPE YOU'RE WELL JOHN-HE WAS A FORMER ICE CAPADES DANCER)

Her death, at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, was announced by her son-in-law, Kevin Buckley. She lived in Manhattan. In a message of condolence, President Obama said Ms. Horne had "worked tirelessly to further the cause of justice and equality."

Ms. Horne first achieved fame in the 1940s, became a nightclub and recording star in the 1950s and made a triumphant return to the spotlight with a one-woman Broadway show in 1981.

She might have become a major movie star, but she was born 50 years too early: she languished at MGM for years because of her race, although she was so light-skinned that when she was a child other black children had taunt..."

 

SPIRE INSTALLED ON WTC TOWER--FULL OF PRIDE TODAY !

 

 

 

 

Spire permanently installed on WTC tower

(USA TODAY)

  --A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building...

The 408-foot spire will serve as a world-class broadcast antenna.

(Photo: Mark Lennihan, AP)

"To cheers from spectators and workers alike, construction crews set a silver spire atop New York City's One World Trade Center on Friday to bring the structure to its full 1,776 height and cap an emotional 12-year effort to restore a key part of the city skyline shattered by the 9/11 terror attacks.

The 408-foot spire, which weighs 758 tons, includes a broadcast antenna and a light that will be visible from miles away to serve as a both a beacon for aircraft and a permanent signal of triumph over extremists who jolted the city and the country.

"This really is a symbolic moment because this building really represents the resiliency of this country," Port Authority Vice Chair Scott Rechler told TODAY's Matt Lauer, who was perched on the 104th floor to witness the process. "These people, the thousand men and women who have worked here tirelessly, really as a tribute for the people that perished on 9-11 right on this site."

The needle will be held in place by a temporary structure until iron workers finish off the permanent base in the coming weeks.

The 1,776 feet — or 541 meters — is symbolic of the year 1776, when the U.S. declared its independence.

 The tower is slated to open for business in 2014. Tenants include the magazine publisher Conde Nast, the government's General Services Administration and Vantone Holdings China Center, which will provide business space for international companies..."