There is a new series called “Political Animals” premiering on USA Network Sunday night….
I heard an interview with Sigourney Weaver on NPR this morning and I’m intrigued…
It also stars Ellen Burstyn….
Hard to tell how it’s going to turn out from what I’ve seen and heard so far, but I’m going to try to watch and find out….
It’s probably either going to be total trash or extremely good….or both!
Filed under Entertainment, Politics, Television, Uncategorized
Really cute new video from Cheyenne Jackson- one of my Broadway favorites- for his new Pop Song Single:
What a nice way to start the weekend!
Filed under Broadway, Entertainment, Television
Today seems to be weird news day….
I hate fireworks. Probably because my Mother always screamed about the possibility of them blowing off your fingers…
Somehow, she didn’t cover this risk…..
Back in those days, well-breed Southern Ladies did not discuss penises, so that was probably the reason.
But this would have really been a deterrent!
From Huffington Post:
Let this be a warning to those who take firework safety lightly.
Authorities told MLive that a Michigan man blew off part of his genitals with fireworks last Monday.
Assistant Chief Terry Flynn of the Grand Traverse Metro Fire Department told The Huffington Post that his men responded to the scene and discovered the unidentified man “bleeding profusely from the genitals.”
Flynn said the man lit a mortar and, when it didn’t go off, he walked towards it only to have it blow up between his legs.
Flynn declined to give the man’s name or release his medical condition, citing medical privacy laws.
Filed under Entertainment
Well, I’ve seen Taco Bell’s in Gas Stations, but nothing like this….
Personally, if you are going to combine food and beverage services with a Funeral Home, I would prefer a bar…
From The Huffington Post:
EASLEY, S.C. — A funeral home in northwestern South Carolina will be offering what it calls the Starbucks experience to those needing comfort, or just a cup of coffee.
Robinson Funeral Home in Easley is building a coffee shop attached to the funeral home.
The Coffee Corner will feature Starbucks coffee and food and also will be open to those who don’t need services from the funeral home. Chris Robinson says the Coffee Corner will include a fireplace, TV and Wi-Fi.
Starbucks employees will train employees at the funeral home later this month before the shop opens.
Robinson says there’s nothing like food or coffee to help comfort those who’ve experienced a loss.
via Funeral Home In South Carolina To Sell Starbucks Coffee.
Filed under Entertainment, Food
Books, that is….
Her tell-all about her relationship with John Edwards is officially a flop-selling only about 6000 books…
I couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to read this trash and I’m glad to see my instincts were correct….
There is some hope that the American Public still has a minimal level of standards remaining….
The only shock here is that you can make the NY Times Best Seller list by only selling 6000 books….
Now if Rielle and John will just shut up and go away….
From the NY Post, Page Six:
Rielle Hunter has gone quiet after less than hoped-for sales of her memoir — she’s scheduled no additional tour dates to promote her tell-all about her relationship with John Edwards, “What Really Happened.” After a serious media blitz, which included interviews with ABC’s Chris Cuomo and appearances on “The View” and “Piers Morgan Tonight,” Hunter, the mother of Edwards’ daughter, Quinn, has sold 6,000 copies of her story, Bookscan told Page Six — enough to crack the New York Times best-seller list but “not big enough to make the major New York houses sorry” for not choosing it, Publishers Weekly said. A rep for Hunter told us: “Rielle’s book tour has not been canceled. She completed her scheduled media appearances, and there are still requests that she’s considering.” But the rep added that no other tour appearances are currently planned. Hunter reportedly got a small advance from boutique publisher BenBella Books because larger publishers feared women would not buy it.
via Rielle Hunter finally silenced as her book flops – NYPOST.com.
Edina Monsoon, of “Absolutely Fabulous” fame, is 54 today….
Only a few months older than me….
Jennifer Saunders is a comic genius…
And not just because she so accurately portrayed me in my 30’s and early 40’s….
And I had several friends trying out for the role of “Pats”….
One was more successful than others….but wait for the book!
Filed under Entertainment, Gay, Television
I’ve always been a student of History, so I’m excerpting a bit from a very interesting article on the history of male stripping from Slate.com…
Hot topic- in more ways than one- since “Magic Mike” opened last weekend.
Being a History major in College, I was there the first day “Magic Mike” opened to be sure it was historically accurate. That was a a key concern for me. I’ll probably have to watch it a couple of more times on DVD to double check a few things…
And, all kidding aside, it really is a surprisingly good film….
With some really hot guys who strip…
When Magic Mike shimmied its way to almost $40 million at the box office this past weekend, it wasn’t the first time that men stripped down on screen. Male strippers have been a recurring plot point in recent decades, tearing off their pants in everything from Summer School to The Full Monty to a wide range of sitcoms and a legendary Saturday Night Live skit. This past May the New York Times even declared that male stripping was finally “hitting the mainstream.”
When did men start stripping professionally?
The mid-to-late 1970s. While musclemen have been paid for popping their pecs and otherwise showing off their bodies since at least the late 19th century, it’s only in the ’70s that stripping became a co-ed profession. And there are only a few known reports of male strippers before the late ’70s. In 1973 Jet told of one such dancer who “peeled down to a black G-string, handcuffed himself to the fence outside” Big Ben and bore a banner labeling him as “The body divine—Angel, the lovely male stripper. Book him.” According to the article, no producers came calling, but the cops did. This was a common problem for the early male stripper. Another early appearance of the term comes in a 1974 report on Deviant Behavior, mentioning male strippers in a report on “Marginally Illegal Occupations and Work Systems.” Through the mid-’70s men who took off their clothes in public were likely to receive a citation for indecency.
However, over the course of the late 1970s male dancers became a regular feature at strip clubs across the country. Some strip clubs reserved a few nights each month for male strip shows, with audiences restricted to “ladies only.”
More: The real Magic Mikes: Who were the first male strippers? And what are male strip shows really like?.
Filed under Entertainment, Movies
The news just broke this morning that Andy Griffith has died….
Most people will always remember Andy Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor of Mayberry….
I’ll always remember him for his great performance as Lonesome Rhodes in the great film “A Face in the Crowd.”
He should have at least gotten an Oscar nomination for this….
And I wish more people would watch the film today….
Rest in Peace, Andy….you won’t be forgotten….
Filed under Broadway, Entertainment, Movies, Television
This is sad news…
Robbie Douglas, aka Don Grady, has passed away…
I loved watching this show when I was a child and Robbie was my favorite…
I’m not going to analyze it any deeper than that….
From The Huffington Post:
Don Grady, who was one of television’s most beloved big brothers as Robbie Douglas on the long-running 1960s hit “My Three Sons,” died Wednesday. He was 68.
His “My Three Sons” co-star Barry Livingston, who played youngest brother Ernie, confirmed Grady’s death to The Associated Press. Livingston said Grady had been suffering from cancer and receiving hospice care at his home in Thousand Oaks, Calif. But the exact cause and place of death were not immediately clear.
“It’s the oldest cliche in the world when TV brothers start referring to each other like biological brothers, but he was the oldest, and somebody I looked up to and learned from a great deal about life,” Livingston said.
More: Don Grady Dead: Composer, Star Of ‘My Three Sons’ Dies At 68.
Filed under Television
It seems more people are reading books now than ever before…
This is some surprisingly good news from Alexis Madrigal in The Atlantic. I encourage you to click the link and read the full article.
My bet is this is due to e-readers, like the Amazon Kindle. I’ve always read a lot, but the Kindle has put me into overdrive due to the ease of carrying it around and the ability to instantly obtain new books related to one you have just finished.
My guilty pleasure is mysteries set in various time periods in England, but I also read a lot of history, biographies and popular/literary fiction. I go right from one book to another on my Kindle.
Of course, this doesn’t mention the quality of what people are reading, only the quantity….
Remember the good old days when everyone read really good books, like, maybe in the post-war years when everyone appreciated a good use of the semi-colon? Everyone’s favorite book was by Faulkner or Woolf or Roth. We were a civilized civilization. This was before the Internet and cable television, and so people had these, like, wholly different desires and attention spans. They just craved, craved, craved the erudition and cultivation of our literary kings and queens.
Well, that time never existed. Check out these stats from Gallup surveys. In 1957, not even a quarter of Americans were reading a book or novel. By 2005, that number had shot up to 47 percent. I couldn’t find a more recent number, but I think it’s fair to say that reading probably hasn’t declined to the horrific levels of the 1950s.
All this to say: our collective memory of past is astoundingly inaccurate. Not only has the number of people reading not declined precipitously, it’s actually gone up since the perceived golden age of American letters.
Filed under Books, Education, Entertainment, Uncategorized
Lost in the 21st Century 