Actor Tony Curtis Dies

Cover of The Defiant Ones

Oscar-nominated actor Tony Curtis died at age 85 Wednesday evening of cardiac arrest at his home in the Las Vegas-area city of Henderson, Clark County Coroner Mike Murphy said Thursday.

In 1958, "The Defiant Ones" brought him an Academy Award nomination as best actor for his portrayal of a white racist who escaped from prison handcuffed to a black man, Sidney Poitier. The following year, he donned women's clothing and sparred with Marilyn Monroe in one of the most acclaimed film comedies ever, Billy Wilder's "Some Like It Hot."



His first wife was actress Janet Leigh of "Psycho" fame; actress Jamie Lee Curtis is their daughter.

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Utah police investigate plural family for bigamy - Yahoo! News

Update on "Sister Wives" plural family.

Utah police investigate plural family for bigamy - Yahoo! News

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Amazing Star Salaries

Ophrah Winfrey, Charlie Sheen, Hugh Laurie

I set out to find out the salary of contestants on "Dancing With the Stars" trying to find out what attracted participants.  It was plain that nonentities like Bristol Palin were looking for a paycheck and possible linkage to a regular hook-up. Stars in the declining years of fame like Florence Henderson and David Hasselhoff probably were looking for an additional fifteen minutes of attention and maybe a renewed interest leading to regular employment.


Each DWTS contestant is paid $200,000 for the season regardless of how long they remain on the show.  First, second and third place winners are paid an additional bonus and the ultimate winner receives a bonus of $100,000 dollars. Not bad for limited talent, a little publicity, and another line on the resume.

As always when surfing the internet, one click leads to another, so let me share some of the interesting information I found.

• Oprah Winfrey gets paid $315 million-a-year for her talk show topping a list of the highest paid talk show hosts in the US, with her staggering wage more than the combined total of the next four top earners, Judge Judy Sheindlin and David Letterman, who earn $45 million and $28 million respectively, ‘Tonight Show’ star Jay Leno on $25 million and Conan O’Brien, who gets paid $10 million.
• Jennifer Lopez will rake in $12 millon per season while Ryan Seacrest paycheck will be $15 million annually, triple his salary from last season.
• Charlie Sheen of "Two and a Half Men"  is paid $1.8 million per episode while co-star Jon Cryer nets $550,000 per episode.
• Law and Order SUV stars Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay both earn $395,000 while David Caruso, CSI: Miami rakes in $375,000.
• Hugh Laurie, Dr. Gregory House earns $400,000 in season five of the award winning series.
•  Jersey Shores Snooki will earn $30,000 pr episode, up from $2,200 in season one.
• NCIS star Mark Harmon makes $325,000 while Michael Weatherly makes under $100,000.

For more detailed information, see the related articles below.

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"Sister Wives" Take Center Stage

Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, Kody Brown, Christine Brown, Robyn Brown

Last night I watched the first offering of TLC's "Sister Wives".  Don't ask me why, but I thought I might learn something about the women who accept polygomy as their life style of choice. Chalk it up to curiosity.


Polygamist Kody Brown is the show's husband to three wives and father of thirteen children. I could understand why Kody never stopped grinning as the head of a plural family, but I never understood the upbeat wives and children.  Everyone seemed accepting of the unorthodox communal life and no one addressed the emotional stress or financial burdens in a family trying to meet the needs of seventeen individuals. As the show progressed, we find that Kody is "courting" another woman who he has selected to be wife number four.  The new wife -to-be has three children of her own to bring to the family relationship.


It may be interesting to watch as this nationally broadcast reality show progresses, just to see if all the smiles continue from day to day. Somehow it was hard for me to believe the “unexpectedly tight-knit and loving relationships between Kody’s wives” that TLC presented. Time will tell if normal human disagreements, jealousy, and dissatisfaction prevail and are addressed or if the boring family of unnaturally happy faces continues.

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First Lady's Stunning Attire

Check out our First Lady's stunning attire at the White House State Dinner welcoming Mexican President Felipe Calderone and his wife Margarita Zavala. I could not be more proud of her. Some haters said her "arms were fat" (ha ha ha) and some said "her chest was swishing out". Of course everything the Obama's do is a subject for criticism. Michelle Obama has the right idea...hold your head up high and do your thing. Love her to death!


First Lady Michelle Obama continued her movie star glam style streak at the annual Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards dinner, stunning in a red gown. See the related articles for additional photos of her unique fashion statements.


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Most Hated Sports Figures

Image via Wikipedia

Right now, LeBron James is one of the most polarizing figures in sports. Even Michael Jordan in talking smack about him, which must be humiliating. Barry Petchesky ‘s blog Deadspin comments on James’ Q Score citing that just 14 percent of the general population has a favorable impression of LeBron James, compared with 39 percent “who think he's a big selfish jerk who drove a stake through the heart of Cleveland”. (Petcheskh’s words, not the poll's.)


That's bad. In one survey, he's the sixth most hated athlete in the country, behind Michael Vick, Tiger Woods, Terrell Owens, Chad Ochocinco and Kobe Bryant. Most impressively, James didn't earn his infamy by committing some horrible transgression, like killing dogs, breaking up a marriage, or starring on a VH1 show.

But LeBron is far from unique in the pantheon of hated sports figures. Here's a look at  others who are possibly hated more than Lebron.  

Last year, quarterback Mike Vick topped a Forbes poll of the most hated persons in sports.
This year, he walks off with that "honor" for a second straight year.

The rest of the 2010 top five consists of Raiders owner Al Davis, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, golfer Tiger Woods, and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

You'll discover that there are many list available and the names of hated sports figures vary from list to list. There have been people who have stolen elections and started illegal wars. Ask some Iraqi civilians shredded by cluster bombs if Michael Vick is the worst person. It's sad someone can rape someone and get away with it, and he's not the most hated guy in sports. It's funny where we put our time and our energy.  Why waste your time on hating someone.  Love is the answer and it's much more fun.

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Kevin McCarthy "Body Snatchers" Star Dies

Kevin McCarthy

Actor Kevin McCarthy, who played the frantic doctor trying to save his friends and neighbors in the science-fiction movie classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," has died at age 96. McCarthy was born in Seattle on Feb. 15, 1914.


McCarthy died Saturday, said Cape Cod Hospital spokesman Dave Riley, who wouldn't reveal the cause of death or any other details.

McCarthy's acting career took off in 1938 with his Broadway debut in "Abe Lincoln in Illinois."

Soon after, he became an early member of the Actors Studio and was chosen by Elia Kazan to play Biff, the son of Willy Loman, in the London production of "Death of a Salesman." He repeated the role in the 1951 film starring Fredric March and earned an Oscar nomination as supporting actor.

But while he would consistently win praise for his acting during a long and busy career, his most lasting fame would come for "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." In the 1956 film, he vainly tried to warn residents in his small town of the evil pod people from outer space who were quietly taking over the personalities of everyone on Earth.

McCarthy had appeared in several other films and had a string of TV anthology-series credits behind him when he was cast as Dr. Miles Bennell in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," director Don Siegel's thriller about an unsuspecting California town whose residents were being replaced by emotionless alien clones grown in oversized seed pods.


In the film's most memorable scene, McCarthy's frantic Bennell runs into traffic, screaming to motorists, "Stop and listen to me! …. They're not human! … Can't you see? Everyone! They're here already. You're next!"

"Body Snatchers" flopped at the box office, considered too bleak for audiences of the time. It was elevated to classic status, and its star to iconic status, after such critics as Francois Truffault hailed it and late-night television programmers embraced it.

McCarthy dismissed assertions that "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was an allegory about the communist infiltration of America or an indictment of McCarthyism.


Sources: Wikipedia, IMBD, LATimes, Yahoo News

Schwarzenegger’s daughter reveals details of growing up in famous family | The Upshot Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News

Katherine Schwarzenegger, the oldest child of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and journalist Maria Shriver, has penned a new book, scheduled for release tomorrow, about how she and other young women deal with body-image issues. Something that's key for girls trying to gain perspective these sensitive matters, she argues, is sustaining a close relationship with their families.


Schwarzenegger’s daughter reveals details of growing up in famous family The Upshot Yahoo! News - Yahoo! News

 

Schwarzeneggar Family

 

 

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Paris Hilton Banned from Wynn Resorts

LV Metro Mug Shot-Paris Hilton-2010

Drug arrests and celebrities seem to go together.
Paris Hilton was arrested in Las Vegas for cocaine possession. Police found a small amount of the substance on the socialite and reality-TV starlet after a black Cadillac Escalade she was riding in was pulled over. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed the arrest to MTV News.


A traffic officer stopped the SUV shortly before midnight on Las Vegas Boulevard near the Wynn Hotel Casino after noticing the scent of marijuana billowing from the vehicle. An officer told MTV News that cocaine fell out of Hilton's purse as she pulled out some lip balm. She was booked into the Clark County Detention Center and later released Saturday (August 28) at 2:45 a.m. on her own recognizance. Cy Waits, who is reportedly dating Hilton, was arrested for driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol and remained in custody Saturday morning.

The heiress has a history of getting in trouble for possessing substances and hitting the road. Hilton served 23 days in jail in 2007 for violating probation stemming from a 2006 DUI bust. Hilton had another run-in with the law over alleged drug possession earlier this summer. The star was detained in South Africa at the World Cup for marijuana possession, but the case against Hilton was later dropped after officials learned that someone else in her group was smoking.


Paris Hilton has been banned from two Las Vegas resorts, and her boyfriend was dismissed as a nightclub partner. This came after the heiress was arrested and later charged with felony cocaine possession and her boyfriend was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The boyfriend in this incident is just the latest for Paris. To be a partner in a Las Vegas casino or club requires a gaming license, something a conviction could put in jeopardy for her boyfriend.

Bristol's Dancing with the Stars

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas

Talk about fifteen minutes of fame, first Levi Johnston gets a reality show and now baby mama Bristol competes on the eleventh season of "Dancing With the Stars". Bristol will partner with two times champ Mark Ballas who is in his 7th season.


Bristol Palin, former first daughter of Alaska, is a "spokesperson" for the prevention of teen pregnancy and for other teen issues. As an advocate for the protection of life, Palin wanted to share her story with other teens who may one day face a similar situation. So, what's the best way to do that? Join a popular T. V. show, make money, and keep your face in the news.

Bristol has moved to Los Angeles, hired a nany for little Tripp, and is rehearsing for the show.  Levi is shocked by the revelation, but wishes Bristol well.

Another 15 minutes of fame "star",Gate crasher and D. C. Housewife Michaele Salahi — yes, the same one who yesterday revealed she’d be auctioning off her infamous red sari — is going to be posing naked for Playboy. How naked?

According to TMZ, the answer is: “full-frontal, birthday suit naked.”


Ain't America wonderful?

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Religion and Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" Rally, Washington D. C.

In public appearances and on his Fox News show, Glenn Beck has made religion a central part of his message, although he rarely refers to his Mormon faith. I guess he's too busy talking about our president's faith and providing the world with his own explanations about the president's beliefs.

Salt Lake City lawyer and member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Stephen Owens didn't follow his in-laws to Glenn Beck's Washington rally. When he read that fellow Mormon Beck publicly questioned President Obama's "version of Christianity" the day after the rally, he was so angry that he wrote a letter to the local newspaper.

"I think it's arrogant of anyone to say whether someone is a Christian or not," said Owens, a 42-year-old Democrat. "My view of that is, if someone says, 'I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ,' then they're Christian, and who am I to say, 'No, you're not,' let alone [to] the president of our country? I was offended at that."

Michael Otterson, managing director of public affairs for the church, said that opinion of Beck is just as divided among Mormons as it is elsewhere. While Mormons consider themselves Christians, key tenets of the Mormon Church are disputed by mainstream Christian denominations - a disparity that critics say adds to the irony of Beck questioning another person's Christian faith.


There are more than a dozen Mormon members of Congress from across the political spectrum, from Nevada Sen. Harry Reid on the left to Sens. Orrin G. Hatch and Robert F. Bennett - both Republicans from Utah - on the right. But Beck, whose Washington rally last weekend drew upward of 87,000 people, may be the highest-profile Mormon on the national stage.

A Time magazine poll released last week showed that 29 percent of Americans hold unfavorable views of Mormons, compared with 43 percent who had unfavorable views of Muslims, 17 percent who felt unfavorably toward Catholics and 13 percent who viewed Jews unfavorably.


During Romney's 2008 presidential bid, some viewed his Mormon faith as a liability. A Pew survey at the time showed that 25 percent of Americans - including 36 percent of evangelical Republicans - expressed reservations about voting for a Mormon for president.
 
I guess we're lucky that Glenn Beck says he has no interest in running for president.  Guess it's more fun to sit back and comment about the president than to walk in his shoes.  You make lots more money that way.