This is a hilarious video from “The Onion” that shows how a modern news story is put together…..
If you can call it news….
It’s satire but, like all good satire, has a lot of truth in it….
NSFW due to language….
Hat Tip to my friend Kirk for sending this to me!
Filed under Journalism, Media, Television
Another big reason to support President Obama’s economic and tax proposals…
From HuffingtonPost.com:
Bill O’Reilly threatened to quit his show if President Obama raised his taxes.
Speaking on his Monday show, O’Reilly delivered a stinging rebuttal to Obama’s speech from earlier in the day. In that speech, Obama introduced his so-called “Buffett Rule” and said that the rich should pay more in taxes. This did not sit well with O’Reilly, who accused Obama of using misleading statistics and of endangering the business climate.
He used himself as an example, saying that he could not ensure his continued tenure on Fox News if his taxes were raised to 50 percent.
“My corporations employ scores of people,” he said. “They depend on me to do what I do so they can make a nice salary. If Barack Obama begins taxing me more than 50 percent, which is very possible, I don’t know how much longer I’m going to do this. I like my job, but there comes a point when taxation becomes oppressive. Is the country really entitled to half a person’s income?”
Of course, if O’Reilly were to leave his show, he might cease to become someone with, in his words, “more power than anybody other than the president.”
WATCH:
via Bill O’Reilly Threatens To Quit His Show If Obama Raises His Taxes (VIDEO).
Never have children….
Never adopt children….
Never even talk to children…..
They will get their revenge eventually….
And it’s also a really good idea to avoid making nudie movies….
From The Huffington Post:
Broadway, hide your wire coat hangers. Joan Crawford’s daughter, Christina Crawford, is developing a one-woman show where she not only plans to reveal new secrets about her life with Mommie Dearest, Joan Crawford, but also show never before seen home movies of the screen legend in the nude.
“I began my career as an actress and I’ve always loved the theater,” Crawford tells me. “The Play is based on two of my books, the 30th Anniversary Edition of Mommie Dearest and my third book, Survivor — both of which were best sellers. It covers a long period of time and a much more complete story.”
Additionally, Christina reveals that she has discovered Joan’s (she never refers to her as her “mother”) blue movies — naked home videos that she cannot believe the controlling star never destroyed.
“I never knew that they existed before a year ago and never saw them before a month ago,” Crawford says. “I remembered her telling me about her married lover, Charles McCabe; however I never saw photos of him, till the home movies, when they were hunting, fishing, and canoeing in The Poconos.”
Christina says the most shocking thing she discovered during her research was Joan’s quiet desperation in her later years. But she still cannot forgive her mother for the childhood she had to survive, which included being beaten by wire hangers.
“Forgiveness is a two-way street and she never took responsibility for her behavior,” Christina tells me. Which is why she has chosen to call her show that she hopes to take on the road before Broadway, “Surviving Mommie Dearest.”
via Christina Crawford To Reveal Mother Joan Crawford’s Naked Home Videos.
Filed under Broadway, Entertainment, Movies, Television
Cheyenne Jackson is one of my favorite Broadway performers. He is not only immensely talented and gorgeous, he also does a lot of good work for AIDS and Gay causes.
I’ll always remember when Steve and I saw him and his partner walking up 8th Avenue with their dog just after we saw him in “Finian’s Rainbow”. They looked so nice and normal.
Congratulations to Cheyenne and Monte!
From The Hollywood Reporter:
The thespian, who stars as the coach of rival singing group Vocal Adrenaline on “Glee” and is a frequent guest star on “30 Rock,” married his longtime boyfriend over the weekend.
Cheyenne Jackson married his longtime partner physicist Monte Lapka, in the Hamptons on Saturday.
“It’s official, after 11 years together, Zora’s no longer a bastard,” Jackson tweeted, referring to the couple’s dog. “Married the best man I’ve ever known.”
The actor-singer is perhaps best known for his role on Fox’s Glee, as the coach of rival singing group Vocal Adrenaline, and his frequent guest stints on NBC’s 30 Rock
via ‘Glee’s’ Cheyenne Jackson: 5 Things to Know – The Hollywood Reporter.
Filed under Broadway, Entertainment, Gay, Uncategorized
Not too bright behavior from a certain ABC Executive…..
Doesn’t he know Erica has outlasted more husbands, careers – and ABC Executives- than we can count?
With only three weeks of ‘All My Children’ left to go in the soap opera’s legendary 41-year run, the show’s stars are finally starting to speak out. Susan Lucci blasts ABC daytime exec Brian Frons in an epilogue to the upcoming paperback edition of her book, ‘All My Life,’ saying “I watched Brian Frons’ decisions destroy the production of our show and the lives of people on both sides of the country.”
According to the New York Post, which obtained text from the epilogue, Lucci’s criticisms weren’t limited to Frons’ business decisions — she also says that Frons appeared “self-congratulatory” when he informed the ‘AMC’ cast of the decision to cancel the long-running soap, and that he “has what, for me, is that fatal combination of ignorance and arrogance. I cannot fathom any network executive choosing to alienate millions of loyal viewers in these economic times.”
Don’t think that this is the first time Frons will hear of Lucci’s discontent. The star says she personally told him, “I think our being in this position is the result of some very bad decisions by you,” including the hiring of Chuck Pratt as head writer in 2008, moving the show to Los Angeles from new York, and getting rid of creator Agnes Nixon.
Speaking of Nixon, the ‘AMC’ creator promises that there will not be any lack of drama in the series’ broadcast finale, especially since she’ll continue with the show as a consultant when it moves online. She told the Chicago Tribune, “We’re going to have a hiatus, you know, for three months. And the head of Prospect Park [the production company taking over the shows] said, ‘We’ve got to have a big cliffhanger for that three months.’ And so I came up with one which I can’t tell you. But they loved it.”
via ‘All My Children’ Drama: Susan Lucci Blasts ABC Exec for Cancellation.
Filed under Entertainment, Television, Uncategorized
Brought to you by the American Dope Growers’ Union and the classic original cast from Saturday Night Live in 1977…
Filed under Entertainment, Television
Let’s leave Rick Perry alone for few minutes and talk about someone truly important; Eydie Gorme is 80 today…
She’s such a part of the 20th Century Music scene, I couldn’t let this milestone go unnoticed. She’s one of the last of the great Broadway belters. I somehow think you could hear Eydie even without the microphone, no matter how big the house…
She also has one of the longest musical partnerships- and marriages- in Show Business with her husband, Steve Lawrence.
They are so “Vegas in the ’60’s” you can’t help but love them. They are iconic 20th Century entertainment figures.
I bet Rick Perry even listened to her back when he was a cheerleader at Texas A&M….
Happy Birthday, Eydie. I hope you have many more!
Here she is in 1966:
And a little Steve AND Eydie:
Filed under Broadway, Music, Television
In honor of Martha Stewart’s 70th Birthday today, I thought I would share my favorite “how to” project from her TV show.
I saw her do this years ago and that’s when I realized she apparently lived in an alternative universe where they don’t have the $2.50 Cleaners to do your tablecloths and other large items….
And I wondered who the hell had a laundry room big enough for one of these…
If you had a laundry room that big, then you had to have a staff to iron your tablecloths for you and didn’t need one of these…
Still, I love her….and her staff.
The large ironing tables at D & F Workroom in New York City, where Martha recently had some upholstery done, inspired her to devise this oversize ironing board. You can make one to fit on a flat surface in your laundry room. Not only is this board a practical solution to working with unwieldy expanses of fabric such as large tablecloths and heavy curtains, but it is also firmer and tauter than the standard board, making clothes and linens easier to press. The secret to creating the right give in the surface is Bump, an extremely thick English table flannel commonly used as an interface for winter draperies or to buffer large tablecloths. When the top layer of the board, which is made of muslin, becomes discolored from ironing, simply tear it off and replace with a fresh piece.
Tools and Materials
Piece of 3/4-inch-thick high-grade plywood, 30 by 45 inches
2 pieces cotton or wool felt, 34 by 49 inches
1 piece Bump, 36 by 51 inches
1 piece medium-weight cotton muslin sheeting, 38 by 53 inches
Several feet of 1/2-inch cotton twill tape
Folding tool (a letter opener is ideal)
Fabric glue
Oversize Ironing Board How-To
1. Cover plywood with two layers of felt. Wrap one side to the back of the board, and staple midway along the side, 1 1/2 inches in from edge. Wrap fabric over opposite side; staple directly opposite first. Repeat on other two sides. Working out toward corners, continue adding staples in pairs on opposite sides of plywood. Miter corners by pinching felt together at each corner so it’s centered diagonally, letting excess fabric stick up. Secure each side with two staples. Press excess fabric straight down diagonally, and secure raw edges with staple. Use folding tool to smooth down corners as you work. Make sure corners are as neat as possible.
2. Cover the felt with a layer of Bump flannel. Use same stapling technique as for felt. Fold corners neatly and staple.
3. Iron muslin; wrap over Bump, and secure with staples, following steps listed above.
4. Trim fabric close to staples, then glue lengths of 1/2-inch cotton twill tape over staples and unfinished edges. Press down with folding tool. Wipe off excess glue.
Filed under Entertainment, Television
I always loved her on “Laugh In” when I was a kid…..
Here she is at her best….
She kind of reminds me of a friend of mine….
Filed under Entertainment, Television
I don’t want to get my hopes up, but if this continues to spread from the UK to the US, this just might be the beginning of the end for Fox News.
This story is definitely worth watching. It’s lead to resignations at the highest levels of the Murdoch properties such as the “Wall Street Journal” and the closure of their flagship UK newspaper. It’s also claimed the head of Scotland Yard and the London Police, as well as a top aid to the PM.
If they have hacked phone records of prominent US citizens, politicians, journalist and 9/11 Victims in the USA, as has been alleged, this just might bring down Murdoch and his entire empire-including Fox News.
From RawStory.com:
A former producer with Fox News claimed in a lengthy essay gaining new traction this week that the conservative television station has a “Brain Room” in its New York headquarters which enables employees to view private telephone records with ease.
Though published years ago, the allegations have returned to relevance in the wake of the phone hacking scandals that have rocked News Corporation to its very core, threatening to topple one of the world’s largest and most powerful media conglomerates.
According to former Fox News executive Dan Cooper, whose gripes with his former employer run quite deep, Fox News chief Roger Ailes allegedly had him design the so-called “Brain Room” to facilitate counter-intelligence efforts and other “black ops.”
In a lengthy 2008 diatribe said to have doubled as a book pitch, Cooper claimed his own phone records had been hacked by Fox News employees, who he says used them to pinpoint him as a source used by David Brock, who founded liberal watchdog group Media Matters.
“Ailes knew I had given Brock the interview,” he wrote. “Certainly Brock didn’t tell him. Of course. Fox News had gotten Brock’s telephone records from the phone company, and my phone number was on the list. Deep in the bowels of 1211 Avenue of the Americas, News Corporation’s New York headquarters, was what Roger called the Brain Room. Most people thought it was simply the research department of Fox News. But unlike virtually everybody else, because I had to design and build the Brain Room, I knew it also housed a counterintelligence and black ops office. So accessing phone records was easy pie.”
That wasn’t the last time word of Ailes’s “Brain Room” surfaced: in a recent piece for Rolling Stone, journalist Tim Dickenson discusses Cooper’s allegations too, focusing on the man Ailes allegedly picked to run the secretive office.
“Befitting his siege mentality, Ailes also housed his newsroom in a bunker,” Dickenson wrote. “Reporters and producers at Fox News work in a vast, windowless expanse below street level, a gloomy space lined with video-editing suites along one wall and an endless cube farm along the other. In a separate facility on the same subterranean floor, Ailes created an in-house research unit – known at Fox News as the ‘brain room’ – that requires special security clearance to gain access. ‘The brain room is where Willie Horton comes from,’ says Cooper, who helped design its specs. ‘It’s where the evil resides.’
“If that sounds paranoid, consider the man Ailes brought in to run the brain room: Scott Ehrlich, a top lieutenant from his political- consulting firm. Ehrlich – referred to by some as ‘Baby Rush’ – had taken over the lead on Big Tobacco’s campaign to crush health care reform when Ailes signed on with CNBC.”
While none of these claims have been substantiated, they seem increasingly plausible given the widening coverup of Murdoch’s British hacking scandals, which have grown from the desk of just one allegedly “rogue” journalist to topple some of Murdoch’s top deputies, including the former publisher of The Wall Street Journal and the chief of News International, which oversees News Corp.’s British newspapers.
Cooper’s phone records as well would not be the first time Fox News or U.S. News Corp. employees have been accused of hacking. According to The New York Times, a New Jersey company called Floorgraphics accused News Corp. in 2009 of hacking into their password-protected computer systems to obtain proprietary information, then allegedly spreading “false, misleading and malicious information” about the firm, causing them to lose important contracts.
News Corp.’s response to the scandal was to buy Floorgraphics outright, after offering a $29.5 million settlement.
Cases like Floorgraphics’ are hardly unique: in recent years, the Times noted, News Corp. has paid over $655 million in settlements and hush money to keep allegations of anti-competitive and illegal behavior under the rug.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice have launched their own investigations into whether News Corp. participated in the hacking of 9/11 victims or U.S. officials.
via Former Fox News producer claimed network’s ‘Brain Room’ led to phone hacking | The Raw Story.
Lost in the 21st Century 