Karl Malden Gone
Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:
Actor Karl Malden Has Died at Age 97, According to His Family [3:30 p.m. ET]
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If Only Janet Could Have Choreographed
Filipino prisoners pay tribute to Michael Jackson
Inmates in a Philippines prison honored the late pop icon Michael Jackson the way they’ve always celebrated his music, officials said, by dancing.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
(UPI) - Hundreds of inmates in a Philippines prison honored the late pop icon Michael Jackson the way they’ve always celebrated his music, officials said, by dancing.During the past two years, the more than 1,000 prisoners of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center have routinely danced in unison to Jackson’s “Thriller” album. The spectacle of the orange uniform-clad men’s synchronized dancing not only attracted hundreds of curiosity-seekers to the prison but a video of it became an Internet sensation. The 4-minute video clip attracted 23 million views after being posted in 2007.”He is like the God to them. It is Michael’s music that gives them international recognition,” Byron Garcia, a security consultant at the prison told Xinhua inside the sprawling jail.After Jackson died Thursday, the prisoners decided to perform to four Jackson songs in a row as a final tribute.
The 1,581 inmates, serving sentences up to 10 years for murder, rape and drug crimes, Saturday danced to an audience of about 500 visitors and journalists, the Chinese news service reported.
The Man Who Gave Us HAROLD AND MAUDE
Hal Ashby, turbulent genius of the ’70s
AMPAS
A special Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences salutes Oscar winning film editor and director Hal Ashby on Thursday, June 25, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The conversation will be followed by a screening of Ashby’s 1971 bittersweet romance “Harold and Maude.”
The late director’s brief run, including ‘Harold and Maude,’ ‘The Last Detail’ and ‘Coming Home,’ put him in the upper strata of filmmakers.
Hal Ashby is the cinematic equivalent of a supernova. The director’s work burned startlingly bright for a brief period in the 1970s — before his demons, including drug abuse, got the better of him, extinguishing his star shortly before his death in 1988.
Now, the director of such seminal films as “The Last Detail,” “Shampoo,” “Coming Home” and “Being There” is being rediscovered in a confluence of upcoming events (not to mention the biography “Being Hal Ashby: Life of a Hollywood Rebel” by Nick Dawson, which published in March). On Thursday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences pays tribute with a screening of his eccentric 1971 love story, “Harold and Maude.”
Jon Voight, who won an Oscar for 1978’s “Coming Home,” will join Judd Apatow, Cameron Crowe, Seth Rogen, Oscar-winning scribe Diablo Cody and Variety editor Peter Bart at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater for a panel discussion and Yusuf Islam will perform two songs from “Harold and Maude” that he recorded as Cat Stevens. The academy will then screen Ashby’s work at the Linwood Dunn Theater beginning with “The Landlord” and “Shampoo” on Friday and continuing with other films through Sunday.
Tonguing All Of Humanity
Iconic Signed Photo of Albert Einstein Sells for $74K
Saturday , June 20, 2009
CONCORD, N.H. — One of the original signed prints of Albert Einstein sticking his tongue out at photographers has been sold by a New Hampshire auction house for $74,324.
Bobby Livingston, of RRAuction.com in Amherst, says the picture was taken in 1951 after a 72nd birthday celebration for the physicist.
Einstein had nine prints made. He signed the print that was auctioned on Thursday and gave it to journalist Howard K. Smith. In his inscription, Einstein said his gesture was aimed at all of humanity. Livingston says it also was aimed at the Red Scare and the McCarthy anti-Communist hearings of the 1950s.
“The advent of the entry of pornography into the mainstream.”
FBI files show wide “Deep Throat” investigation
By MATT SEDENSKY
MIAMI (AP) - Newly released FBI files show agents across the country and at the highest level of the agency investigated “Deep Throat” - the 1972 porn movie, not the shadowy Watergate figure - in a vain attempt to roll back what became a cultural shift toward more permissive entertainment.
The documents released to The Associated Press show the expanse of agents’ investigation into the film: seizing copies of the movie, having negatives analyzed in labs and interviewing everyone from actors and producers to messengers who delivered reels to theaters.
All of it in a failed attempt to stop the spread of a movie that some saw as the victory of a cultural and sexual revolution and others saw as simply decadent.
“Today we can’t imagine authorities at any level of government - local, state or federal - being involved in obscenity prosecutions of this kind,” said Mark Weiner, a constitutional law professor and legal historian at Rutgers-Newark School of Law. “The story of ‘Deep Throat’ is the story of the last gasp of the forces lined up against the cultural and sexual revolution and it is the advent of the entry of pornography into the mainstream.”
Farrah Gone
Farrah Fawcett Dies at 62, Succumbs to Cancer
Ryan O’Neal: ‘After a Brave Battle with Cancer, Our Beloved Farrah Has Passed Away’
Farrah Fawcett, the 1970s “It Girl” who was known for her cascading golden hair and bombshell body, died in a Santa Monica hospital today, ABC News has learned. She was 62-years-old.
Fawcett first stepped into the spotlight playing Jill Munroe in the TV series “Charlie’s Angels” in the 1970s. The series became a smash hit and Fawcett quickly became an iconic pin-up model for millions of men. She pioneered a feathered hairstyle dubbed the “Farrah Do” or “Farrah Hair” that remained in vogue throughout the decade.
She later went on to earn one of three career Emmy Award nominations for her role as a battered wife in the acclaimed television movie “The Burning Bed.”
Coconut Fingering Record Broken by Malaysian Kung Fu Master
Coconut Kung Fu finger sets record
(00:54) Rough Cut
Jun 21 - Malaysian Kung Fu king, Ho Eng Hui, pierces four coconuts with his right index finger in just over 30 seconds, breaking his own personnel record.
Americans Abandoning The Arts
NEA reports decline in arts audiences for 2008
6:12 PM, June 15, 2009
Audiences for the arts in the U.S. continue to decline and age at significant rates, according to a report released Monday by the National Endowment for the Arts. But the Internet holds out hope, as more people are going online to experience culture.
Nearly 35% of U.S. adults – or about 78 million people – attended an art museum or an arts performance in 2008, said the report. That’s down from about 40% in 1982, 1992 and 2002. In particular, audiences for classical and jazz concerts have declined by double digits since 1982, the most of all the art forms.
Surprisingly, the largest drop in arts consumption comes from people ages 45 to 54, which has traditionally been the most dependable group of arts participants.
The NEA report said that college-educated Americans – including those with graduate degrees – are cutting back on their arts consumption across all forms. Ballet attendance by this demographic has dropped by 43% since 1982.
“When heat pounds like a sledgehammer…”
…It’s time to pour those steaming cups of coffee and tea over ice.
Don’t Charge Joseph Carnevale
Barrel ‘monster’ gets N.C. student arrested
Police call it vandalism, but supporters say it’s creative street art
RALEIGH, N.C. - When Joseph Carnevale chopped up three stolen orange and white traffic barrels from a construction site to create a massive sculpture of a roadside monster thumbing a ride, the North Carolina college student said he saw it as a form of street art.
Raleigh, N.C., police just saw vandalism.
They dismantled the 10-foot “barrel monster” and arrested Carnevale. Hundreds of online supporters want the charges dropped and the publicity has turned the history major and part-time construction worker into a local celebrity.
At least three Facebook support groups have formed to support Carnevale, including “Don’t Charge Joseph Carnevale,” boasting more than 800 members.
Raleigh police spokeswoman Laura Hourigan said the charges won’t be dropped, despite the company’s stance.
Sliders For No Money Down
White Castle printable coupon: Free Original Slider
At White Castle, get a free Original Slider via this printable coupon. That’s the best deal we’ve seen for an Original Slider from White Castle. Deal ends July 12.
Pablo’s Love Pad Goes Public
Painter’s Love palace unsealed
Hot spot
The French chateau where Picasso lived and now lies buried with his ‘green-eyed beauty’ has opened to the public, writes Matthew Campbell.
The dining room smells strongly of wood smoke. Drops of paint cover the floor upstairs. Pablo Picasso’s spirit haunts the imposing fortress in whose grounds he is buried with Jacqueline, his last love.
Vauvenargues chateau in southern France has opened to the public for the first time, offering a rare glimpse into the home of one of the greatest figures of 20th-century art.
The red-shuttered chateau is where Picasso lived with his second wife from 1959 to 1961 and where he created some of the greatest work of his later years.
Much to the excitement of Picasso fans, the house — abandoned by Jacqueline and Catherine, her daughter, to caretakers after the artist’s death in 1973 — is just as they left it, giving it the uncanny air of a time capsule.
In a sparsely decorated bedroom, a 1950s telephone sits on the bedside table. On the floor is a giant, Swiss cowbell.
“Each morning, Picasso, already in his late 70s when he moved into the chateau, would see if he still had the strength to lift it.”
Lucy In The Sky With The Wolf
Real ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ gravely ill
By Gregory Katz, Associated Press
They were childhood chums. Then they drifted apart, lost touch completely, and only renewed their friendship decades later, when illness struck.
Not so unusual, really.
Except she is Lucy Vodden — the girl who was the inspiration for the Beatles’ 1967 psychedelic classic “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” — and he is Julian Lennon, the musician son of John Lennon.
They are linked together by something that happened more than 40 years ago when Julian brought home a drawing from school and told his father, “That’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds.”
Just the sort of cute phrase lots of 3- or 4-year-olds produce — but not many have a father like John Lennon, who used it as a springboard for a legendary song that became a centerpiece on the landmark Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
“Julian got in touch with me out of the blue, when he heard how ill I was, and he said he wanted to do something for me,” said Vodden, who has lupus, a chronic disease where the immune system attacks the body’s own tissue.
Lennon, who lives in France, sent his old friend flowers and vouchers she could use to buy plants at a local gardening center, since working in her garden is one of the few activities she is still occasionally well enough to enjoy.
Biggest Banksy Exhibit Yet in Bristol - Identity Still Unknown
Banksy back in Bristol for biggest British exhibition
Banksy, the graffiti artist, has returned to his home city of Bristol to set up his biggest ever British exhibition.
The artist - whose identity is the subject of speculation - has installed the works in Bristol’s City Museum and Art Gallery inside a giant burned out ice cream van.
The van, which sits under a giant melted cone, appears alongside dozens of sculptures, oil paintings and his trademark stencils.[ click to continue reading at The Telegraph ]
New Vegemite
Australia’s Vegemite gets 1st makeover in 85 years
Posted: 06/14/2009 11:11:54 PM PDT
ADELAIDE, Australia—The iconic Australian food spread Vegemite is getting a makeover.
Kraft Foods Australia announced Sunday that a creamier variation of the product would be on store shelves July 5 alongside the original, which has been a staple in pantries Down Under almost since its invention here in 1922.
“With such a well-loved, iconic brand, we wouldn’t create something using the Vegemite name unless we were absolutely sure Australians would love it,” said Simon Talbot, Kraft Australia’s head of corporate affairs.
Vegemite—a salty, slightly bitter spread made from brewer’s yeast—is such a part of Australian lifestyle that it even made mention as a sandwich in the 1980s hit song “Down Under” by Men at Work. Australians spread it on toast or crackers, top it with tomatoes or avocados, use it to flavor soups and gravies, pack a jar when traveling and write home for more when living abroad.
Eno Plays The Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House’s white sails turn into giant canvas for spectacular light display
Bathed in an ever-changing display of brilliant light, this is Sydney Opera House as you’ve never been seen it before.
Called 77 Million Paintings, the installation is the work of artist and music producer Brian Eno and features 300 of his drawings.
He told the BBC he wanted people to ’surrender to another kind of world,’ as they watched the transformations.
Spectacular: Sydney Opera House is lit up by a stunning array of ever-changing colours and patterns
‘All the things that humans do, including imagining, are the way we deal with emergencies including the global financial crisis,’ he said.
‘So to imply, “oh God, there’s a crisis, no time for imagining any more” - it’s not true.
‘This is the time for imagining and the way we learn to imagine, one of the ways we learn to imagine, is through the experience of art.
‘The human ability to imagine made people capable of surviving.
‘By allowing ourselves to let go of the world that we have to be part of every day, and to surrender to another kind of world, we’re allowing imaginative processes to take place.’
Glowing: The work, called 77 Million Paintings, was designed by Brian Eno who used 300 of his drawings to create it
