Newstator

Clint Eastwood With An Empty Chair

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 10:52:00 +0000

The idea must have seemed sure-fire when Mitt Romney's advisors hatched it: Highlight the final night of the Republican National Convention with a surprise appearance by that long, tall drink of gritty Americana, Clint Eastwood.

The beloved movie star and filmmaker surely would confer some of his abundant credibility on the Republican presidential nominee, still trying after six years of running for the White House to persuade some voters of his authenticity.

Eastwood would then flee into the swampy Florida night and Romney would launch his acceptance speech. Instead, Eastwood's 12-minute rhetorical ramble — featuring his conversation with an empty chair that represented President Obama — became the target of decidedly mixed reviews for the film icon, inspired a social media pile-on and diverted at least some attention from Romney's nomination acceptance speech on the crowning night of his political career.

Republican Party regulars watched gleefully as Eastwood took the stage at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Thursday night and slammed Obama for the "national disgrace" of allowing 23 million Americans to remain unemployed. He told the chair, "When somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go." He suggested Vice President Joe Biden amounted to nothing more than "a grin with a body behind it."

Talk radio star Rush Limbaugh said Friday he "loved" the shtick, certain that it had gotten "under Obama's skin." A lot of other conservatives said they felt that way too.

If Obama was sweating, he tried not to let it show. He tweeted out a photo of himself sitting in a chair marked "The President," with the text: "This seat's taken."

Top Romney campaign strategist Stuart Stevens insisted that the Eastwood "improv" (the staff thought he would sit in the chair, not use it as a prop) was not a problem and that Romney laughed at it as he waited in the wings to make his acceptance speech.

But that did not appear to be the sentiment from at least some of Team Romney, with advisors the day after the close of the convention shifting the conversation to anything but their Hollywood pitchman.

And, on the network morning television shows, Romney's wife, Ann, sounded less than thrilled with the Eastwood performance.

She told ABC's "Good Morning America" she was "grateful for his support" but quickly shifted to much more effusive praise of Olympic athletes and Mormon church friends who had addressed the convention earlier in the evening.

She also quickly segued away from Eastwood's bit when speaking with "CBS This Morning." "You can never take away from the fact that this country is in trouble" she said, "and people are looking for real leadership and that I know that Mitt is the man for this moment."

A Romney campaign official, who asked not to be named in order to discuss internal planning, said Eastwood had gone on for about twice as long as expected. Although staffers had seen some of the actor's notes before he took the stage, they didn't have any control over the message.

"You don't edit Clint Eastwood," the official said.

A rising GOP star, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he "cringed" at the Eastwood appearance, which implied a couple of off-color references by the imaginary Obama. Walker said he would have preferred to see prime-time appearances by the Romney family friends who made emotional speeches during the lightly televised portion of the program before 10 p.m. EDT.

Other fans of Eastwood were not as kind.

"Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic," tweeted film critic Roger Ebert. "He didn't need to do this to himself. It's unworthy of him."

Republican political consultant Mike Murphy tweeted that he was "dying" to read a full account of how the "Clint train wreck actually happened. Incredible." Murphy on Friday added: "Some senior Romney genius (amazingly) didn't know a basic showbiz rule dating back beyond the Ed Sullivan show: Always clear the material."

A representative of Eastwood's production company said he was not granting any interviews Friday. But his longtime agent, Leonard Hirshan, said most of the calls he had received were from Republicans who liked the empty-chair riff.

As with any self-respecting 21st-century pop culture phenomenon, the Eastwood moment quickly developed its own social media afterlife.

One wag created a Twitter handle, @InvisibleObama, for the unseen chief executive. It had more than 52,000 followers by Friday afternoon. Social networks teemed with photos of "Eastwooding," people (and even pets) gesturing to empty chairs.

Comedians considered what the party in power would have to do next week at the Democratic National Convention to top Eastwooding. "To restore balance to the universe," said Patton Oswalt, "Obama must have Tommy Chong onstage at the DNC, talking to a steak." Seth Myers of "Saturday Night Live" offered another option: "[Vice President Joe] Biden has to go shirtless for DNC to top it."

Blue Moon what is that means?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 10:40:00 +0000

Tonight's blue moon may not be as rare as it sounds, but it's still special — as is every glorious full moon, whichever color you use to describe it.

Actually, the term "blue moon" is something of a misnomer. There's no reason for the full moon to be any bluer than usual (thoughit's certainly possible for the moon to take on a blue tinge). Instead, it has to do with the extra occurrence of a full moon in a given calendar cycle.

Various cultures have used different terms to describe that extra lunar cycle — Adhik Maas for Hindus, or an extra month of Adarfor the Jewish calendar. The Maine Farmers' Almanac used the term "blue moon" to describe an extra moon in a particular quarter of the year.

Then, in 1946, an amateur astronomer named James Hugh Pruett wrote about the phenomenon for Sky & Telescope magazine, in the context of the old saying that a rare occurrence happened only "once in a blue moon."

Only problem was, he got it wrong.

Pruett described the blue-moon phenomenon as the second full moon in a calendar month. Sky & Telescope stuck with that, and the definition has been used (and hotly debated) ever since. If you go along with the definition, then tonight's full moon is blue due to the fact that it follows a full moon on the night of Aug. 1.

There's another long-debated issue surrounding blue moons: You could argue that they happen way too often to be considered as rare as a "blue moon" in the proverbial sense. The interplay of the lunar and solar calendars dictates that a blue moon should occur, on average, every 2.7 years.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson summed up the issue a couple of days ago in a Twitter update: "A month's second full moon is the blue moon. Not rare. More frequent than presidential elections, yet nobody calls them rare."

Technically speaking, the moon is already a few hours past its full phase — but it's still well worth taking note of, and not just because it's the last blue moon until July 31, 2015. It provides a fitting opportunity to pay tribute to history's first moonwalker, Neil Armstrong, who passed away last weekend. In fact, Armstrong's family is urging you to look at the moon in Neil's honor.

"The next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink," the family said.

Google Doodle Celebrates Educator Maria Montessori

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 10:31:00 +0000

Google on Friday honored Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori with a homepage doodle celebrating her 142nd birth anniversary.

The drawing (below, right) features some of the tools that form the basis of Montessori's educational methods, which emphasize hands-on, individualized learning within mixed age groups in a child-friendly setting.

Montessori was born in 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy and early on rejected the traditional gender roles of her time, choosing to attend technical school, which few girls did, according to her NNDB biography. Upon graduation, she continued her education at the Regio Istituto Tecnico Leonardo da Vinci, where she excelled and developed a passion for the biological sciences.

In 1890, she applied to University of Rome but was denied entrance to the medical program because of her gender. Instead, she enrolled to study physics, mathematics, and the natural sciences and was eventually allowed to study medicine. In 1896, she presented her thesis to an all-male board and they were so impressed that they awarded her a full medical degree, making her the first female doctor in Italy.

After working in insane asylums with mentally handicapped children, in 1904 she began re-engineering the field of children's education. She believed that all children have an inner drive to learn, and that children learn best when in a safe, hands-on learning environment.

Montessori also found that children help teach each other when put into groups with other kids of their own age range. She believed that teachers should pay close attention to students, not the other way around.

Her early efforts were so successful that she amassed a large following of parents and teachers who wanted to learn her methods. She later gained support from Thomas Edison, Helen Keller, and Alexander Graham Bell, who founded the Montessori Educational Association, headquartered in Washington D.C.

Montessori died in 1952 in The Netherlands. Her methods are still in use today in public and private schools all over the world.

Google's co-founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, both went through the Montessori education system and have credited it for their success.

"I think it was part of that training of not following rules and orders and being self-motivated, questioning what's going on in the world, doing things a bit different," Page said in an interview with ABC (below).

For more on Google's doodles, meanwhile, see the slideshow below. Recently, the company has honored Amelia Earhart, jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé and Robert Moog, considered by many to be a pioneer in the electronic music space, as well as artist Keith Haring, zipper pioneer Gideon Sundback, and Howard Carter, a British archaeologist best known for uncovering the tomb of King Tutankhamen in Egypt.

Maria Montessori: Is the Montessori method any good?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 01 Sep 2012 10:26:00 +0000

Google celebrates the 142nd birthday of Italian physician Maria Montessori. Does Montessori's 'child-centered' method work?

In 1907, Italian physician Dr. Maria Montessori opened the first Casa Dei Bambini to work with poor children in the slums of Rome, presenting the world with a living example of her scientific theories of education.

Google

At the beginning of the 20th century, Italy's first female physician, Maria Montessori, sought to turn education on its head. Using methods developed through her work with developmentally disabled children, Montessori created a 'child-centered' approach that emphasizes rich environments, freedom, and respect for the student's point of view.

"Education is not what the teacher gives," wrote Montessori, a devout Catholic whose classical empiricism echoes that of St. Thomas Aquinas, in a 1946 book. "[E]ducation is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words."

Instead of emphasizing drills and memorization, with students all doing the same thing at the same time the same way, the Montessori method deploys student-selected work, small-group instruction, a lack of exams and grades, and collaboration, often between students of different ages. Montessori stressed the importance of developing social skills alongside academic ones.

Her approach has caught on. The International Montessori Index estimates that there are some 4,000 certified schools in the United States and about 7,000 worldwide. ('Montessori' is not trademarked, and other estimates say there are roughly 20,000 such schools around the globe.) In the United States, this includes hundreds of public schools, as well as some high schools.

But does it actually work? How does a Montessori education stack up to a conventional one?

The evidence tilts in Montessori's favor. A 2006 study of 112 students in a Montessori school and conventional public schools in Milwaukee found that the Montessori students performed significantly better on both cognitive and social measures.

Half of the students in the study were 5 years old, and half were 12. The Montessori 5-year-olds performed better than those their age at other schools when it came to identifying letters and words, solving basic math problems, and ordering and categorizing. The young Montessori students interacted more positively on the playground and were more likely to deploy reasoning in social negotiations, often with appeals to abstract values such as justice and fairness. The researchers found no differences between the spatial reasoning, vocabulary, and concept formation skills between the two groups of 5-year-olds.

The differences between the two groups of 12-year-olds were less pronounced, but still present. Essays written by Montessori students used more complex sentence structures and were rated as more creative, but the students in the conventional public schools appeared to have "caught up" on many of the researchers' other measures. The Montessori students tended to select more constructive responses to hypothetical social problems, and they reported feeling a stronger sense of community at their school.

In a 2006 interview with Scientific American, University of Virginia psychologist Angeline Lillard, who led the study, speculated that the less-conspicuous differences in academic performance between the Montessori and non-Montessori 12-year-olds could have been a result of the school being only three years old when the 12-year-olds enrolled back in 1997. Lillard noted that it takes time for a school to put Maria Montessori's method into practice.

"This was very authentically implemented Montessori," she told Scientific American. "It's actually a fairly small percentage of schools that are this strict.

Other studies loosely corroborate Lillard's findings on the effectiveness of a Montessori education, but they vary in the details. A 2009 study, also in Milwaukee (which is attractive to researchers because students are placed via lottery), found that high school students who had attended a Montessori school performed significantly better on math and science tests, but not in English and social studies.

What accounts for the outcomes among Montessori kids? It could be that the Montessori method teaches them to be more motivated and focused. A 2005 survey of 290 middle-school students by psychologists Kevin Rathunde and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi found that the Montessori students were more likely to report being driven by an interest in academic tasks, and that they were more likely to report getting joyfully immersed – feeling "in the zone" – when doing their work.

Such finding would be very much in line with Montessori's educational philosophy, which emphasizes devoting long uninterrupted blocks of time to tasks. "The child who concentrates," wrote Montessori in her book The Absorbent Mind, "is immensely happy."

The same holds true for adults, even into old age. A number of studies have found that Montessori-based activities can benefit the elderly, particularly those experiencing dementia.

So if the Montessori method is so effective, then why are most American students still getting twelve years of standardized, test-driven, teacher-centered, school-bell-interrupted pedagogy? Part of the reason is that the Montessori method is so tricky to implement. Read this sweet, yet daunting, essay, "Owner’s Manual for a Child," written by author and educator Donna Bryant Goertz, who founded a Montessori school in Austin, Texas.

Taking the perspective of a toddler writing to a parent, Goertz describes how demanding child-centered learning can be. She writes:

"I want to be like you. I want to be just like you, but I want to become like you in my own way, in my own time, and by my own efforts. I want to watch you and imitate you. I do not want to listen to you except for a few words at a time, unless you don’t know I’m listening. I want to struggle, to make a grand effort with something very difficult, something I cannot master immediately. I want you to clear the way for my efforts, to give me the materials and supplies that will allow success to follow initial difficulty. I want you to observe me and see if I need a better tool, an instrument more my size, a taller, safer stepladder, a lower table, a container I can open by myself, a lower shelf, or a clearer demonstration of the process. I don’t want you to do it for me or rush me or feel sorry for me or praise me. Just be quiet and show me how to do it slowly, very slowly."

Goertz's essay is directed at parents, not teachers, but it's easy to see how only the most skilled and patient educators can consistently adhere to this method, even as the child is ultimately leading the way.

Catching Fire Casting: Why Sam Claflin Is the Perfect Finnick Odair

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 10:05:00 +0000

Catching Fire Casting: Why Sam Claflin Is the Perfect Finnick Odair

Image Credit : Kevin Winter/Getty Images

What can you tell me about Sam Claflin, the actor who's now officially playing Finnick in my fave book series ever?

—Vespa R., via the inbox

You speak of Catching Fire, the second in The Hunger Games trilogy, and of Sam Claflin, a kid I've had the pleasure of meeting in person. Yep, like fellow Hunger hunk Josh Hutcherson, he's also got a Kristen Stewart connection, thanks to his costarring role in Snow White in the Huntsman. No, I do not know what he thinks of the whole Rupert Sanders-cheating-in-the-car incident. But I know plenty else. In fact, if you're obsessed with actors who actually have a lot in common with their characters—and Jennifer Lawrence haters, I'm looking at you—you have a lot to like in this latest casting news.

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PlayAccording to a report “The X Factor” judge is getting cold feet. Find out if Britney will be tying the knot with fiance Jason Trawick.

Let's start with the surface stuff. Claflin's got green eyes. Really. Not blue. Not gray. Green. Fans came down hard on Jennifer Lawrence for her lack of brown-ness, but maybe they can be happy with Claflin's eye color; Finnick Odair's eyes are also green. I've seen them. So there.

If that isn't enough, here are some more facts that prety clinch it for the guy:

Claflin's childhood clearly prepared him for the bloody Panem arena. "My parents bought me this book called Twisted Tales when I was a kid, which is all the fairy tales turned on their heads," he told E!'s Marc Malkin. "At the end of Cinderella, the prince finds out she's not a princess...so he chops her head off."
He's said he spent his teens in "one of the roughest schools there is." And, in the same way that Finnick has a "self-effacing humor," according to the books, Claflin is down-to-Earth too. When I interviewed him last year, he modestly explained, "I come from the bottom of the ladder. I'm from Norwich. Not many people seem to know about it. It's that sticky-outy bit over there. You know, in the east."

Find out exactly how much Jennifer Lawrence is getting for Catching Fire!

Fans of the books also know that Claflin has a true love, Annie Cresta. Claflin, meanwhile, has a real woman he's pretty crazy about: fiance Laura Haddock, 26, a British actress who appeared in Captain America: The First Avenger. "Back in London and reunited with @laurajhaddock," he Tweeted a few days ago after a trip to South Africa. "Happy happy happy. Sun shiny day as well. Good timing. Hope you all have a good one x."
And oh: Like career tribute Odair, Claflin has a mentor. "Johnny Depp gave me the best advice," Claflin told me after costarring with him in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. "He said, ‘Keep your feet on the ground. Stay grounded. Remember where you came from'."
Finally, the kid knows from pain. I won't spoil what happens to Finnick in the Suzanne Collins series, but Claflin does know what it's like to be knocked out of a competition. Before he became an actor, he wanted to be a pro soccer player, but a busted ankle killed that plan. It's a loss for the Norwich soccer team, but definitely a gain for Hunger Games fans.

Meet Sam Claflin's new castmates in Catching Fire

http://www.eonline.com/news/340102/catching-fire-casting-why-sam-claflin-is-the-perfect-finnick-odair

Official: Sam Claflin is Finnick Odair in 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'

Image Credit: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

Ending weeks of speculation, Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman) has officially been cast as the dashing former Hunger Games champion Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Lionsgate announced today. The British-born Claflin, 24, had been the front-runner for the coveted role since mid-July.
Of all the new characters in Catching Fire, Finnick looms largest. After he won his Hunger Games for District 4 when he was 14 thanks to his prowess with a trident, Finnick’s rakish good looks and louche charm helped him become something of a celebrity in the Capitol. (MILD SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Along with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the 24-year-old Finnick is among the previous champions forced to return to the arena for the 75th annual Hunger Games, also known as the Quarter Quell. Katniss is initially wary of him — in Suzanne Collins’ bestseller, when they first meet, Finnick is wearing nothing but a fishing net with some strategically placed knots. But along with his former mentor Mags (Lynn Cohen), Finnick proves to be a powerful ally once they get to the arena.

The role marks yet another remarkable step forward in the lightning-fast rise of Claflin’s career. He first appeared in a supporting role in the Starz miniseries The Pillars of the Earth. In 2011, he starred in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as the young romantic lead (i.e. the Orlando Bloom role). And earlier this summer, Claflin vied for Kristen Stewart’s affections in Snow White and the Huntsman.

He joins Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, and Amanda Plummer as one of the main new additions to the Hunger Games franchise. Director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) is due to begin shooting this fall, and the film is set to arrive in theaters on Nov. 22, 2013.
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/08/22/hunger-games-catching-fire-finnick-sam-claflin/

Avril Lavigne to marry Nickelback's Chad Kroeger

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 11:19:00 +0000

A spokeswoman for Avril Lavigne has confirmed a People magazine report that says the pop-punker is engaged to Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger.

The magazine says Kroeger popped the question after a six-month courtship that seemingly flew completely under the radar of media outlets and fans alike.

Nickelback lead vocalist Chad Kroeger proposed to Lavigne with a 14-carat diamond ring on Aug. 8, People magazine says. (Rick Osentoski/Associated Press)

Nickelback appeared to verify the news Tuesday, posting on its website and official Twitter account, "Congrats Chad and Avril!" along with a link to the People article.

Lavigne retweeted the Nickelback note on her Twitter account and then tweeted her thanks to the multiple congratulations that came her way.

People says the romance began after the two got together in February to co-write a song for Lavigne's upcoming fifth studio album.

Kroeger, 37, has never been married before. People says the Hanna, Alta., native proposed to Lavigne with a 14-carat diamond ring on Aug. 8.

Lavigne, 27, of Napanee, Ont., filed for divorce from fellow Canuck rocker Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 in 2009 after three years of marriage.

The engagement was trending on Twitter on Tuesday night with many expressing their surprise at the news.

Lavigne surged to fame with her 2002 album Let Go. Kroeger has served as lead vocalist and guitarist for Nickelback since the band formed in 1995.

Avril Lavigne and Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger aren’t just making music together. They’re getting hitched.

A spokeswoman for Lavigne confirmed a Tuesday report from People magazine that the Canadian couple became engaged earlier this month after dating for six months.

The magazine says Lavigne was introduced to Kroeger in February when they met to co-write a song for Lavigne’s upcoming album.

“A romantic relationship blossomed as they spent time writing together,” said a friend of Lavigne.

It will be the first marriage for 37-year-old rocker Kroeger and the second for 27-year-old pop singer Lavigne. She filed for divorce in 2009 from Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley after three years of marriage. Kroeger popped the question on August 8, presenting Lavigne with a 14-carat diamond ring.

“He makes her so happy,” a family source told People. “Both of their families could not be more excited.”

Lavigne surged to fame with her 2002 album “Let’s Go.” Kroeger has served as lead vocalist and guitarist for Nickelback since the band formed in 1995.

The relationship has been quiet to say the least. Lavigne was dating Brody Jenner -- Kim Kardashian’s stepbrother -- until they appeared to quietly part ways in January. She was Jenner’s date to Kardashian’s ill-fated wedding to Kris Humphries last year.

Amber Portwood Leaves Leah With Gary

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 02:25:00 +0000

Amber Portwood has had a difficult situation on Teen Mom. She has struggled with addiction and her relationship with Gary, the father of her 3-year-old daughter Leah, has not been easy either. Now that there is just two episodes left in the series, fans will see the downward spiral that ended in her signing her parental rights away.
Leah's house was vandalized prior to her returning home from rehab and because of that, she isn't allowed to have her daughter overnight. On tonight's episode, after a fun day of mother-daughter bonding, Amber and Leah are forced to part ways and Leah isn't happy.

It's a sad moment and even sadder to think about how things ended up for Amber. She is currently in an Indiana jail and won't be released for several years. Amber still gets to see her daughter, but the situation is far from ideal.

To see more Amber Portwood, tune in to the final two episodes of Teen Mom airing tonight and August 28 at 10/9c on MTV.

Remember back in the day when Amber Portwood was a bright-eyed PYT with a fit n' fine body that wasn't covered in dermals and thumb piercings? Neither do we. This troubled gal has been through so much since she first appeared on 16 and Pregnant that we barely recognize her nowadays!

Not only did Amber tattoo her entire stomach with a giant photo of her daughter's face, she pierced various parts of her hot bod, started wearing false nails and eyelashes, and gained a small amount of weight. The latter is to be expected considering that Amber is on-and-off her bipolar medication (which can cause weight fluctuation), and we can't imagine the food is that healthy in prison.

Oh, right –– we forgot to mention the biggest change of all! Amber is currently locked in the clink, where she'll remain for up to five years. Thanks to her sentence, Abs had to trade in her fashionable sweats for an orange jumpsuit. It's like they put her in jail and forced her to commit a fashion crime, sigh.

Obviously, Amber looked great back in the day, but a little weight gain in moderation never hurt anyone, and if you look past the bright orange, Amber actually looks pretty healthy in her most recent pics. Do you prefer her new or old look?

Phyllis Diller, Hilarious Comedian, Passed Away on her 95

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 08:05:00 +0000

By Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times Television Critic

I love Phyllis Diller, and I refuse to change the tense of that emotion with her passing because the love is most certainly still alive.

I love Phyllis Diller because she was hilarious, because she did stand-up before it seemed women were legally allowed to do stand-up and because well into old age she could still rock a mini-dress.

But most of all, I love Phyllis Diller because she was the first woman I ever saw who clearly and joyfully and consistently simply did not give a damn.

About what men thought, about what women thought, about what anyone thought.

It didn't matter if she was standing her ground with Bob Hope, mixing it up with Merv, holding down a Hollywood Square or joining Orson Welles, Don Rickles and Sammy Davis Jr. at Dean Martin's roasts of people like George Burns, Betty White and Ronald Reagan (whom she nailed by zinging Nancy, in retrospect perhaps the single bravest comedic moment in history).

She inevitably looked like a Barbie doll left out in the backyard during a rainstorm followed by a drought, sounded like she had consumed a pack of Camels and six highballs for breakfast, and she owned the joint.

In the late '60s and early '70s, there were a lot of women trying to own the joint, women who talked a good game about not giving a damn. Many of these women were wise and witty, outraged, outrageous and very important. But when you came right down to it, Gloria Steinem always looked slim and fabulous, and even Bella Abzug had her hats.

Phyllis Diller, on the other hand, didn't try to pretend that looks didn't matter while secretly straightening her hair. She didn't try to look her best and hope her talent would carry her through. She took the whole Cosmo Girl package, turned it inside out and covered it in spray paint and glitter glue.

The light-socket hair and kabuki makeup, the sequins and the metallic gloves, even the cigarette holder were all just props. What made Diller a walking, talking embodiment of liberation lived south of the wig hat, that molten voice and utterly unfeminine laugh, the wide-open lipsticked mouth, the rolling eyes, the loose-limbed gait all screamed of a woman utterly comfortable with who she was.

PHOTOS: Notable deaths of 2012: Classic television

Never mind that much of her humor hit middle octave notes of "I'm so fat, I'm so ugly, my husband doesn't want to have sex with me." The way she delivered the lines made it clear that although she was making a joke about herself, she was not making a joke of herself. In fact, the joke was the joke — it was funny to see her fretting about her looks, or her cooking, or her marriage, because it was so clear that she did not care, and neither, by the way, should you.

Her humor may have been self-deprecating, but it was never self-hating. Unlike other comedians who mine the negative — Joan Rivers, Woody Allen, even Sarah Silverman — Phyllis Diller clearly loved being Phyllis Diller. Rivers, who followed the trail Diller blazed and widened it considerably, had a similar sense of comedy; both women regularly exploited their appearances for laughs and both were plain-spoken about their extensive plastic surgery.

The differences were there too. Diller was wacky, while Rivers aimed for glamour.

Yet where Rivers played as neurotic and insecure, Diller projected a woman utterly self-assured. She was loud, brash, absurd and impossible to ignore, four things that were revolutionary for a woman at the time. For a woman of any time. The fact that she didn't appear to take herself very seriously made what she was doing seem even more serious — like Lucille Ball, she was entirely her own creation. But while Ball established herself as part of a couple, albeit the alpha member, Diller did it on her own — "Fang," her longtime "husband," was a piece of fiction; she didn't use her real life as fodder for her act. Phyllis Diller was a self-made woman, created by her own self from scratch.

It's easy enough to draw a line from Diller to a nursery full of modern comedians, and not all of them female. Tina Fey's Liz Lemon owes so much to Diller it's a wonder that"30 Rock" didn't have her on the show (as sister to Elaine Stritch's Colleen, how was this opportunity missed?) and Louis C.K. has a decided Dillerian streak of knowing and cheerful self-abasement.

But it wasn't just the comedy that made Phyllis Diller an icon. It was her ability to achieve grace through outrageousness. She was Cruella de Vil crossed with Auntie Mame, she was Fanny Brice as rendered by Andy Warhol. Year after year after year, she walked out onto 100 stages, in front of a million cameras, looking like pop culture's crazy great aunt, refusing to age, refusing to change, the personal as political in a feathered mini-dress and pink fright wig.

Year after year after year, a woman completely and inarguably herself. I think of Phyllis Diller, of what she did and how long she did it and the only truly appropriate reaction is a heartfelt and very appreciative "damn."

By Megan Buerger,

Phyllis Diller, the cackling comedian with electric-shock hair who built an influential career in film and nightclubs with stand-up routines that mocked irascible husbands, domestic drudgery and her extensive plastic surgery, died Aug. 20 at her home in Brentwood, Calif. She was 95.

Her manager, Milton Suchin, confirmed the death but said he did not know the cause.

Veteran comedian Phyllis Diller has died at the age of 95. Bill Whitaker looks back at her life and sarcastic, self-deprecating humor.
Although there has been a long history of comic actresses, Ms. Diller was among the first to tackle the male preserve of stand-up comedy. She used her first husband for comedic fodder by disguising him as a fictitious character named “Fang.” Her jokes — roasts of Fang’s drinking habits, sexual shortcomings and professional failures — reversed traditional household roles. She once said, “His finest hour lasted a minute and a half.”

Ms. Diller also joked that, much to her chagrin, he was her manager. She complained that he “couldn’t sell Windex to a Peeping Tom.”

Pacing the stage, she spoke grumpily about her unhappy sex life (like bouncing on a trampoline, she said), her lackluster kitchen skills (though she boasted of her recipe for “garbage soup”) and her struggle to keep up with totems of sexual and domestic bliss (Marilyn Monroe and Donna Reed, respectively).

“Would you believe that I once entered a beauty contest?” she said. “I must have been out of my mind. I not only came in last, I got 361 get-well cards.”

Susan Horowitz, a stand-up comic and author of the 1997 book “Queens of Comedy,” called Ms. Diller a significant figure in American culture who rose to success through her wickedly self-mocking style.

“The self-deprecation made her more endearing, more comfortable for people,” Horowitz said. “Everything she did was for the purpose of getting ahead.”

Ms. Diller’s comedic cadence — a series of staccato one-liners — was strategically crafted. Following in the groove of her mentor, Bob Hope, she rhythmically fired off punch lines on top of one another so the jokes built a momentum.

In a typical rant about her mother-in-law, whom she often called “Moby Dick,” Ms. Diller laid on the ridicule line by line.

She described her in-law’s dress size as “junior missile.” Ms. Diller continued: “She went swimming off the coast of Florida, three Navy planes identified her as Cuba.” Her in-law was so large, Diller said, that once a month she was “shoved through the Holland Tunnel to clean it.”

Flicking her cigarette, Ms. Diller delivered the final snickering blow: “If you get in an elevator with her, well, you’d better be going down.”

Ms. Diller’s stage appearance was ghastly — and highly calculated. Operating under the belief that attractive women could not be taken seriously in comedy, she wore shapeless, short dresses, allowing her to poke fun at her flat chest (she claimed to be the only woman in America with two backs) and her toothpick “bird legs.”

Clownlike and outlandish, she accessorized with long velvet gloves and calf-length boots. She dyed her hair platinum blond (“to reflect light,” she said) and teased it into an Einstein-like frenzy, feeding her persona of a crazed, incompetent ugly ducking. She later wore a collection of outrageous wigs. The uglier the funnier, she said.

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Rihanna Admit Her Feelings With Chris Brown to Oprah

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:12:00 +0000

Three years after Rihanna was beaten by then-boyfriend, Chris Brown, the singer says she still "truly" loves him.

Rihanna welcomed Oprah to her home in Barbados for an emotional interview – which aired on Oprah's Next Chapter Sunday – where the singer spoke at length about her relationship with Brown.

"I'm single, but we have maintained a very close friendship since the restraining order has been dropped," the 24-year-old told Oprah. "It's not easy."

The Grammy award winner also confirmed what many had suspected – that the former couple reconnected in St. Tropez earlier this year.

"We went to a mutual friend's party on a yacht. It's awkward because I still love him," she said. Adding that when she's around Brown she has to "maintain this poker face."

During the sit-down Rihanna said she is still concerned about Brown's welfare.

"I truly love him," she continued. "And the main thing for me is that he is at peace. I'm not at peace if he is unhappy or he is still lonely. I care. It actually matters that he finds peace."

When Rihanna sat down with Oprah Winfrey on Sunday night (August 19), the topic everyone wanted the singer to open up about was her much-discussed, tabloid-heavy relationship with her ex, Chris Brown, years after he assaulted her over Grammy weekend in 2009.

And, she candidly discussed the nature of her relationship then, and now, with the singer.

Rih and Brown began dating one another as up-and-coming teen stars and quickly emerged as one of the hottest young couples in music before that fateful night in February 2009.

Looking back on their time together, she said during "Oprah's Next Chapter," "I think he was the love of my life. He was my first love, and I see that he loved me the same way. We ran free, we ran wild. We were going at a really rapid pace that we forgot about ourselves as individuals. We needed something to completely shut that off. "

While the pair has been linked romantically in the years since they split in the wake of the incident, Rihanna shared that the two are just friends these days. "We've been working on our friendship again. We have maintained a very close friendship ever since the restraining order was dropped. ... We're very, very close friends," she told the talk show maven. "We built a trust again and that's it. We love each other and we probably always will, and that's not anything that we're going to try to change. It's not something you can shut off.

"No, he's in a relationship of his own. I'm single but we have maintained a very close friendship," she continued. "We've just worked on it little by little. And it's not easy." And, that means that sometimes they have run-ins with one another, including a highly publicized encounter at a party in France earlier this summer. "Yes I did [see him]. We went to a mutual friend's party on a yacht. It's awkward because I still love him ... my stomach drops, and I have to maintain this poker face and not let it get to the outer part of me," she said. "I have to maintain that and suppress it. When you don't understand those feelings you can make a lot of mistakes."

Rihanna explained during the interview, shot in her native Barbados, that her own anger for Brown was a mirror image of the feelings she held for her father. After she "repaired" her relationship with her dad she could then forgive Brown.

"I have forgiven [Brown]. It took me a long time. I was angry for a long time. I was resentful. I was dark. It was coming out in my music. It was coming out in my attitude. It was heavy," she said, explaining that she would push men away before she let go of all the negative events from her childhood, including watching the abusive relationship her father had toward her mother.

"I thought I hated Chris and I realized it was love that was tarnished. It looked like hate because it was ugly, it was angry, it was inflamed, it was tainted and I realized that what it was is," she said. "And the minute I let go of that, I started living again."

What did you think of Rihanna's on-air honesty? Let us know in the comments!

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"The Expandable 2" Review

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 06:00:00 +0000

"The Expandable 2" Review

LOS ANGELES—Capping off summer time season box office with intense activity, "The Expendables 2" provides the send-off that excitement lovers are looking for before the more calm speed of drop produces. As he shown with the unique sequel, Sylvester Stallone grasps the action-oriented DNA of the films' badass throw of reprobate mercenaries with an instinct resulting from a multitude of category tasks.

Without spending whenever on installation, the follow up discovers Barney Ross (Stallone) and his list of hard-bitten mercenaries on a hidden objective to draw out a kidnapped China billionaire in Nepal, where they discover that someone has gotten there before them—Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger), another surgical for their service provider, Mr. Chapel (Bruce Willis). Liberating Trench and the billionaire from their captors, the team profits to the Declares, where Chapel faces Barney with an distressing reminder: The Expendables' head owes Chapel $5 thousand in seized cash from a past job. But he is ready to create a deal if Barney takes on a new task.

The capture is that he will need to place Church's surgical on his team, China technical professional Maggie (Yu Nan). Since the Expendables are an all-male team, the inclusion of a lady almost instantly tosses team characteristics out of kilter. Their task is to recover an undisclosed product from a high-tech digital secure onboard a fallen planes that has gone down in Albania. Although new team participant and Afghanistan vet Billy.

(Liam Hemsworth), an professional sniper, hesitantly informs Barney that this is his last getaway, the relax of the Expendables appreciate another objective, such as second-in-command Lee Xmas (Jason Statham) and associates Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Cost Street (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews).

As soon as Maggie has decoded the secure onboard the gone down planes and produced the content, the Expendables are ambushed by an Southern Western criminal activity cartel led by the rude Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme), who causes Barney to turn over it from the secure and then eliminates a key team participant. Maggie later reveals that the product thieved by Vilain is a small computer containing the place of a five-ton storage cache of plutonium that the Soviets stored in an discontinued my own during the Freezing War.

Motivated as much by vengeance as their realigned objective to avoid Vilain from promoting the weapons-grade atomic content to a list of willing customers, the Expendables take off in search of their enemies, with Barney's instruction top in their minds: "Track them, find them, destroy them."

While most of the unique film's activity took place in Latina The usa of america, Expendables 2 relocates to Location, which provides properly extensive views and reliable places for the Southern Western configurations. Taking over guiding responsibilities from Stallone, Simon Western maintains the hardboiled activity and wisecracking throw characteristics of the unique, directing some of the B-movie tonal components he might have grabbed guiding Con Air. Handling the complexness of tricks, planes and automobile pileups and regular shootouts that consist of many of the operating time is a significant task that Western completes with elan, even including surprising elegance notices to some otherwise schedule moments. Abetted by cinematographer and action-adventure professional Shelly Jackson, whose photographic camera positioning and activity are spot-on, the activity choreography never disappoints. Several gunfights, battle set items and battle moments are muscularly held and efficiently reinforced by Todd E. Miller's modifying, though the actual audio amount develops recurring and wearying.

With such an extensive throw, there's a risk that the quality of activities might be watered down by the quality of identifiable stars. But co-screenwriter Rich Wenk and Stallone have nicely given both significant gamers and cameo stars their own often quite -humorous personality and conversation. When Schwarzenegger is on-screen, much of the chit chat is at the former Florida governor's expense—though, much as ever, he gets some unforgettable collections himself.

Working with a quite schedule action-adventure situation, the filmmakers can keep the throw to effectively complete their tasks. Since many of the brings have well-known individuals from past films and operations, activities are a mix of action-hero impassivity and sendups of acquainted figures. Stallone anchor bolts the throw with a sometimes nuanced presentation of Barney's mix of personal and professional devils and performs it immediately as a aluminum foil to Statham's put-upon partner. A delayed landscape with Van Damme's appropriately rude rogue reveals that Stallone's still got the charm to bring an very well held battle series. Lundgren gets great comedian usage out of Gunner's lunkheaded personality, while Fashion and Workers keep down the stalwart battle veterans' shtick.

Despite key tasks, Hemsworth and Yu don't add much to the outfit, and Throw Norris as Booker and Jet Li as Yin appear too temporarily to create much effect. Many might wonder about Schwarzenegger's come back to activity films and might be satisfied that the brief part of Trench is an ideal fit, ornamented with some of the best conversation in the program. While he's every bit as creaky as the other investigates his age, depending more on very large weaponry and reducing spontaneity than disarmed battle, Schwarzenegger still can grab a landscape, particularly in the ultimate set item where he's combined with Willis, who is based more on smirking risks than major activity until the ultimate fishing reel.

Pyrotechnic and computer graphics attributes are excellent on a affordable funds, and though the soundtrack would have helped from an improved rate of modern strikes to acquainted oldies, Mark Tyler's ranking provides the activity without frustrating it.

"The Expendables 2," a Lionsgate launch, is ranked R for powerful weakling assault throughout. Running time: 102 moments. Movement Image Organization of The usa of america ranking meaning for R: Limited. Under 17 needs associated with mother or father or mature protector.

Expendables 2 stuntman killed on set

Police in Bulgaria say a stuntman has died and another has been seriously injured while filming an explosion scene on the set of The Expendables 2.

Police said Friday the two men, whose names and nationalities were not disclosed, were performing a stunt involving an explosion on an inflatable boat on the Ognyanovo dam, just outside the capital, Sofia. The incident occurred late Thursday.

The injured man has undergone a five-hour operation and his condition was stable, doctors are quoted by the BTA news agency as saying.

In a statement, the production company Nu Image/Millennium Films confirmed the "unfortunate accident," adding "the filmmakers are working closely with the authorities."

The new film, starring Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a follow-up to the 2010 original.

Billed as a return to the old-school action flick genre, The Expendables saw Stallone team up with action stars of the past and present, including Dolph Lundgren, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, wresting star Steve Austin, UFC champion Randy Couture, footballer Terry Crews and veteran villain Eric Roberts. Schwarzenegger and Willis appeared in cameos.

Joey Kovar the Real World : Hollywood Actor Dead in His 29th

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 05:30:00 +0000

"Real World: Hollywood" superstar Joey Kovar was found deceased on Saturday (August 17) in his local Chi town, MTV Information has verified. The truth superstar and ambitious acting professional was 29.

A representative for the system released a declaration soon after the terrible news: "MTV is greatly saddened to understand that Joey Kovar of 'The Actual World: Hollywood' has approved away, including, "We provide our sympathies to Joey's close relatives members, buddies and lovers."

Joey Kovar was found at his buddy's home and it's considered his loss of life is connected to medication, according to a review on TMZ. A rep for Kovar informed the website that he was found by a women buddy who known as 911 after she saw him blood loss. Government bodies arrive at the landscape, where he was noticeable deceased.

Joey Kovar popularly fought his addictive problems while on the "Real Globe," even making the display halfway through the period in 2008 to get into rehabilitation. He eventually came back to the, but remaining again for worry that he might backslide. On the gathering unique, Kovar distributed that he had been clean for a season. However, he ongoing to fight devils, later showing on the VH1 truth display "Celebrity Rehab" last season, after he relapsed and started using medication and euphoria again.

He sat down with authors from MTV's Distant Management weblog during his time on the "Real World" and started out up about his battles and his choice to shift returning into the home.

"You know, I think in a way, I did experience a little bit tricked — by some [castmates] more than others," he said at enough time. "It was my knowing that things would modify around the home to be able to help keep me on the street to restoration but, unfortunately, the very first evening returning from rehabilitation, every buddy but Will and Debbie went out and got horrible. To me, that was a little horrible.

"But I am all about being good these days, and I do not and will not keep a grudge on anyone for anything. At once, I was a very adverse person and organised a lot of grudges — most of my lifestyle was one disappointment after another. Now I'm in a very different place. The more good I am and the more I send, the better excellent my lifestyle is and has been."

Share your condolences with Joey Kovar's close relatives in content.

Hunger Games success mind-blowing for Hutcherson

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 04:58:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES - Acting professional Josh Hutcherson never noticed when he took on the part of Peeta Mellark in "The Hunger Games" how big an effect the post-apocalyptic achievements movie would have on well-known lifestyle.

The actor, 19, still discovers it "mind-blowing" that the movie depending on the best-selling sci-fi books by writer Suzanne Collins became a box workplace hit in cinemas this previous Objective, getting in $685 thousand globally.

The movie recognizes edgy teenager heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) fight in a public battle-to-the-death that has been requested by a totalitarian govt. In the procedure, she becomes a shining example of wish for independence. Hutcherson shows Peeta, Katniss' battling associate and really like attention.

The DVD is set for launch just after late night on Saturday, loaded with extra functions and meetings, and the movie follow up, "Catching Flame," is due in cinemas in Nov 2013.

Hutcherson talked to Reuters about the social effect of the sequence and developing on-screen chemical create up with Lawrence.

Q: You've had a few several weeks to consider the achievements of "The Craving for food Movie games." Are you amazed at how well the movie has done?

A: "It's still mind-blowing to me. I think we all type of noticed there was a fairly big fan platform for the guides, but I never predicted individuals to be this insane about it and it to be this effective. Our primary goal was to create an excellent movie and I think that's what we did."

Q: Which factors of "The Craving for food Games" tale do you think talk out loud most greatly with fans of modern pop culture?

A: "The press and truth TV is a large element of our lifestyle now and we're seeing that extrapolated to the most excessive later on (in the movie) ... and the concept there are motions all over the globe now. Folks are arriving together and status up for something they believe in and I think that's what this tale is all about. More than ever, individuals have this energy and sensation they need to do right and increase up and talk out."

Q: The DVD comes loaded with extra functions such as meetings, video journal and a look at the creating of the movie. Which do you think fans will appreciate the most?

A: "I'm always really inquisitive to see how a publication can change into a movie and on the DVD there's an eight-part small sequence generally going through the whole procedure of publication to movie and that's really awesome. Within that you see a lot of our exercising and the composing procedure ... even though I resided it, I'm thrilled to see it on the DVD and see what it's like from set to complete."

Q: The "Hunger Games" guides get gradually deeper and more aggressive as Katniss' trend increases against Chief executive Snow's oppressive program. How do you think this will be addressed later on movies, which are ranked PG-13?

A: "We didn't shy away from the assault, but simultaneously, we didn't have to go visual with it. So, I think it'll be identical in the second movie as far as the activity goes. As far as the overall tale going to a deeper position, I think sometimes in lifestyle, it can be very black and harsh and very actual, and I think by composing the publication that way, Suzanne created it experience actual for me. That's something adolescents are able to see ... the tale is about wish and increasing up against something. Even though it's black at periods, it still has this mild being, Katniss, and her capability to try to begin this big activity to fight."

Q: Discussing of Katniss, you and Jennifer won the MTV Movie Prize for best hug in May. It had been covered with the celebrities of creature of the night connection "Twilight" nowadays. Feel much better to win?

A: "Jennifer and I are such individuals. One of the complicated areas for us is to create believe that we're in really like on display. It seems so goofy at periods because we're in really like with each other in actual lifestyle as really individuals and just changing that powerful over was like, 'can we actually do this? We're so wacky and foolish together, can we actually create believe that that we're seriously lovers?' It's excellent to know that individuals say 'yes, you can.'"

Q: What are you most thrilled to discover in "Catching Fire?"

A: "Katniss and Peeta's connection because Peeta likes Katniss and can't help himself from adoring Katniss. At once he seems like Katniss is just enjoying the experience for everybody else and she doesn't actually have any actual emotions for Peeta. As an actress, it's difficult to perform that, yet also really fun and complicated. I can't delay to jump into that element." — Reuters