Death List Members in the News
May 2007
Charles Nelson Reilly
January 2007
Bobby Hamilton
December 2006
Gerald Ford
November 2006
Jack Palance
August 2006
Fidel Castro, Kirk Douglas, John Madden
July 2006
Keith Richards, Ozzy Osbourne, Gerald Ford, Tony Stewart, Phyllis Diller,
B.B. King, Dale Jarrett, Arnold Palmer
May 2006
Keith Richards, David Blaine
April 2006
Tony Stewart, Gerald Ford, B.B. King, Queen Elizabeth, Mickey Rooney, Bob
Barker, Harry Morgan, Charlton Heston, David Blaine, Vin Scully, Muhammad
Ali, Hugh Hefner, Arnold Palmer, Jerry Lewis
March 2006
Courtney Love, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, Jerry Lewis, Osama Bin Laden,
Queen Elizabeth, Ozzy Osbourne, Gerald Ford
February 2006
Walter Cronkite, Brian Dennehy, Don Knotts, Willie Mays, Vin Scully, Tony
Bennett, Courtney Love, Bob Barker
January 2006
Gerald Ford, Tony Stewart, B.B. King, Walter Cronkite, William Shatner, Courtney
Love, Nick Nolte
December 2005
Richard Pryor, Ozzy Osbourne & Queen Elizabeth, Nick Nolte, Hugh Hefner,
Tony Bennett, Tony Stewart, David Blaine
November 2005
George Michael, Courtney Love, William Shatner, Muhammad Ali
October 2005
Rosa Parks, William Shatner, Joe Namath, B.B. King, Jerry Lewis, Tony Stewart,
Arnold Palmer, Richard Pryor, Jack Klugman, Michael Waltrip, Hugh Hefner,
Dale Jarrett
September 2005
Courtney Love, Ozzy Osbourne, B.B. King, Michael Waltrip, Willie Nelson, Courtney
Love, Jerry Lewis, Arnold Palmer
August 2005
William Shatner, Vin Scully, Ron Popeil, Hugh Hefner, Dale Jarrett, Keith
Richards, Ozzy Osbourne, John Madden, Courtney Love, Richard Pryor, Sterling
Marlin, Tony Stewart, Tony Bennett, Don Knotts, Jerry Lewis
July 2005
Muhammad Ali, Courtney Love, Kirk Douglas, Bob Barker, Ozzy Osbourne, Tony
Stewart, Dale Jarrett, Phyllis Diller, Michael Waltrip, Gerald Ford, Mickey
Rooney, Jack Klugman, Keith Richards, Nick Nolte, Rosa Parks,
Luther Vandross
June 2005
Jim Otto, Vin Scully, Tony Bennett, Gerald Ford, Tony Stewart, Queen Elizabeth,
Muhammad Ali, Ozzy Osbourne, Jack Klugman, John Madden
May 2005
Michael Waltrip, Queen Elizabeth, Fidel Castro, Tony Stewart, Walter Cronkite,
Arnold Palmer, B.B. King, George Michael, Vin Scully, Keith Richards, Don
Knotts, Brian Dennehy, Michael Waltrip, Wilford Brimley, Ozzy Osbourne, Willie
Mays, Bob Barker, Nick Nolte, Jim Otto
April 2005
Larry Hagman, Richard Pryor, Willie Mays, Phyllis Diller, David Blaine, Tony
Stewart, Queen Elizabeth, Muhammad Ali, Nick Nolte and William Shatner, B.B.
King, Ozzy Osbourne, Rosa Parks, Luther Vandross, Pope John Paul II
March 2005
March 31 - Ozzy Osbourne
March 31 - Pope John Paul II
March 30 - Courtney Love
March 28 - Phyllis Diller
March 27 - Vin Scully
March 22 - Pope Jonn Paul II
March 22 - Fidel Castro
March 22 - Ed Asner
March 22 - Bob Barker
March 21 - Ozzy Osbourne
March 21 - B.B. King
March 17 - Phyllis Diller
March 16 - Arnold Palmer
March 15 - Keith Richards
March 14 - Muhammad Ali
March 13 - Jack Palance
March 13 - Jack Klugman
March 12 - Sterling Marlin
March 10 - Fidel Castro
March 8 - Joe Namath
March 7 - Charlton Heston
March 7 - Jerry Lewis
March 4 - Horatio Sanz
March 2 - B.B. King
March 2 - Ozzy Osbourne
February 2005
Pope John Paul II, Wilford Brimley, Tony Stewart, Queen Elizabeth, Willie
Nelson, B.B. King, Ozzy Osbourne, Dale Jarrett, Fidel Castro, Phyllis Diller,
Courtney Love, Gerald Ford, Larry Hagman, Rosa Parks, Mickey Rooney, Hugh
Hefner
January 2005
Willie Mays, Ozzy Osbourne, Arnold Palmer, B.B. King, Vin Scully, John Madden,
Johnny Carson, Brian Dennehy, Kirk Douglas, William Shatner, Rosa Parks, Jerry
Lewis, Courtney Love, Pope John Paul II, Willie Nelson, Mickey Rooney, Gerald
Ford, Bob Barker
December 2004
Richard Pryor, Queen Elizabeth, Ozzy Osbourne, Keith Richards, Rosa Parks,
Nick Nolte, Don Knotts
November 2004
Kirk Douglas, Ozzy Osbourne, Arnold Palmer, Jerry Lewis, Larry Hagman, Johnny
Carson, Queen Elizabeth, B.B. King, Muhammad Ali
October 2004
Courtney Love, Keith Richards, Tony Bennett, Fidel Castro, Ernest Borgnine,
Mickey Rooney, Willie Nelson, Jack Klugman, Jack Palance, Pope John Paul II,
Hugh Hefner, Rodney Dangerfield
September 2004
Courtney Love, Arnold Palmer, Rosa Parks, Rodney Dangerfield, Bob Barker,
Nick Nolte, Tony Bennett
August 2004
Arnold Palmer, Rodney Dangerfield, Bob Barker, Brian Dennehy, Ernest Borgnine,
Rosa Parks, Walter Cronkite, Willie Mays, Pope John Paul II, Fidel Castro,
Julia Child, Jerry Lewis, Mickey Rooney, Joe Namath, B.B. King
July 2004
Rosa Parks, Courtney Love, Fidel Castro, Nick Nolte, Don Knotts, Larry Hagman,
Kirk Douglas, William Shatner
March 31, 2005: Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne Flee House Fire
LONDON
— Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne had to flee their English country mansion
last week after a fire broke out in the living room, a British newspaper reported
Thursday.
The couple were alerted by a fire alarm and ran into their backyard when the blaze broke out late Friday at their house in Buckinghamshire county, northwest of London, the Sun tabloid said.
A spokeswoman for Buckinghamshire Fire Service confirmed that two fire engines had been sent to a blaze at a house in the area. Two men and a woman were treated for minor smoke inhalation, she said.
Fire officials were investigating the cause of the blaze.
The fire was the latest in a series of domestic mishaps to befall the former Black Sabbath frontman and his manager-wife, who is a judge on the TV talent show "The X Factor."
Last November, Ozzy Osbourne unsuccessfully tackled a thief as he raided the house and stole a large amount of jewelry. And in December 2003, Osbourne was in a coma for eight days after breaking his collarbone, several ribs and a neck vertebra in a quadbike accident on the grounds of the home.
from the Associated Press
March 31, 2005: Pope's Health Worsens Again
VATICAN
CITY — All roads were closed to the Vatican late Thursday evening as
the health of Pope John Paul II took another downturn and the Roman Catholic
sacrament for the gravely ill and the dying once known as "Last Rites"
was administered.
The leader of the Roman Catholic Church developed a high fever earlier Thursday as a result of a urinary tract infection, his spokesman said. The development came one day after the 84-year-old pontiff began receiving nutrition through a feeding tube.
Sky Italia, a TV station owned by FOX News Channel's parent company News Corp., reported the pope's condition was "grave but stabilized."
The pope was at the Vatican receiving antibiotics, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls told The Associated Press by telephone Thursday.
"The Holy Father today was struck by a high fever caused by a confirmed infection of the urinary tract," Navarro-Valls said. "The medical situation is being strictly controlled by the Vatican medical team that is taking care of him."
The pontiff was given the Catholic sacrament that used to be known as "Last Rites" but is now for both the seriously ill and dying, FOX News has confirmed. The ritual can be administered more than once, and is often given to patients about to have a major operation.
As the midnight hour neared in Rome, police set metal barriers to block the pathways to the Vatican.
In Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, archbishop of the District of Columbia, called a press conference and asked for prayer for the pontiff.
"Pray for the holy father, that he may recover and be able to communicate," McCarrick said. "If this is not the Lord's will, may he not suffer. He's going through a period of suffering. We worry about him."
At the Gemelli Polyclinic, the hospital where the pope has been treated before, an emergency room chief said there were no plans to admit John Paul "at the moment," the Italian news agency ANSA reported.
His assessment could mean that the Vatican medical staff feels confident it can handle the latest medical crisis with the sophisticated medical equipment installed at the Vatican. But it could also mean that the pope's condition was considered so precarious it would be better not to move him immediately.
About 100 people gathered in Rome's St. Peter's Square late in the balmy evening in a sign of concern over the pope's fragile condition.
"There's nothing we can do but pray. We're all upset," said Agriculture Minister Giovanni Alemanno, who was in the crowd.
"I was in the car and I heard on the radio about the grave condition of the pope. I immediately thought I would come to St. Peter's," said Antonio Ceresa, a Roman.
Some Italian media were reporting the pontiff's condition was actually improving slightly.
The Italian news agency Apcom, without citing any sources, reported that John Paul's condition was "stable" in the early morning hours Friday, several hours after he started receiving antibiotics. ANSA said the pope "seems to showing a first positive reaction" to antibiotic therapy.
The "Last Rites" ritual is the Roman Catholic sacrament reserved for both the gravely sick and the dying and involves anointing the ailing person with special oils.
Currently known as the "Sacrament of the Infirm" since it is also now done for the gravely ill, it used to be known as "Last Rites" or "Extreme Unction" because it was reserved only for the dying in the past.
The sacrament is often misunderstood as signaling imminent death. But it is performed not only for patients at the point of death, but also those facing grave illness or a serious operation — and it may be repeated.
Earlier Thursday, Apcom and ANSA said the pope had suffered an alarming drop in blood pressure Thursday evening local time.
A urinary infection can produce fever and a drop in blood pressure, said Dr. Marc Siegel, a specialist in internal medicine at the New York University Medical Center.
The pope's risk of such an infection is heightened because he is elderly — which suggests his prostate is probably enlarged — debilitated and run down from the illness that recently sent him to the hospital, Siegel said.
Urinary infections tend to respond well to antibiotics, given either as pills or intravenously, Siegel said.
Lights in the papal apartment above St. Peter's Square were on until about 11 p.m. Rome time, generally well past the papal bedtime. The light remained on in the Apostolic Palace's nursing station on the same floor as the pope's apartment.
Police cars and other vehicles were seen going in and out of the Vatican gates as the evening wore on, and a small crowd of Italians who were following news on television began gathering at the edge of the square.
Hospitalized twice last month following two breathing crises and with a tube placed in his throat to help him breathe, John Paul has become a picture of suffering. When he appeared at his apartment window Wednesday to bless pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, he managed to utter only a rasp.
Later that day, the Vatican announced he had been fitted with a feeding tube in his nose to help boost his nutritional intake.
The use of the feeding tube illustrates a key point of Roman Catholic policy John Paul has proclaimed: It is morally necessary to give patients food and water, no matter their condition.
As Parkinson's disease and other ailments have left him increasingly frail, the pope has been emphasizing that the chronically ill, "prisoners of their condition ... retain their human dignity in all its fullness."
The Vatican's attitude to the chronically ill has been apparent in its bitter condemnation of a judge's order two weeks ago to remove a feeding tube from Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged American woman who died Thursday.
Vatican Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, reacting to Schiavo's death, denounced the removal of her feeding tube as "an attack against God."
While John Paul is fully alert, some see parallels in the two cases.
Under John Paul, Vatican teaching on the final stages of life includes a firm rejection of euthanasia, insistence on treatments that help people bear ailments with dignity and encouragement of research to enhance and prolong life.
A 1980 Vatican document makes the distinction between "proportionate" and "disproportionate" means of prolonging life. While it gives room for refusal of some forms of aggressive medical intervention for terminally ill patients, it insists that "normal care" must not be interrupted.
John Paul set down exactly what that meant in a speech last year to an international conference on treatments for patients in a so-called persistent vegetative state.
"I should like particularly to underline how the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act. Its use, furthermore, should be considered, in principle, ordinary and proportionate, and as such morally obligatory."
John Paul's 26-year papacy has been marked by its call to value the aged and to respect the sick, subjects the pope has turned to as he battles Parkinson's disease and crippling knee and hip ailments.
The Rev. Thomas Williams, a Rome-based theologian, said there are parallels between Schiavo and John Paul, based on the church teaching that such feeding is required. "In that sense, there is a great similarity," he said.
But he pointed out that the pope has been fully conscious and running the church. Court-appointed doctors had determined that Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery before her death. Schiavo's parents had argued that she could get better and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water.
It is not clear who would be empowered to make medical decisions for an unconscious pope. The pope has no close relatives, but the Vatican has officially declined to comment whether John Paul has left written instructions.
from the Associated Press and Fox News' Greg Palkot and Catherine Donaldson-Evans
March 30, 2005: Courtney Love to produce and star in Lovelace
Los
Angeles -- Colourful U.S. diva Courtney Love, emerging from more than a year
of legal woes, has agreed to play legendary porn star Linda Lovelace in an
explosive movie comeback.
The industry bible Daily Variety said that the 40-year-old actress and singer was attached to a biopic of the life of Deep Throat star Lovelace being developed by producer Jason Blum's firm Blumhouse Production.
The movie, tentatively titled Lovelace, will trace Lovelace's life from the age of 17, through her brief porn career and her subsequent life as a militant feminist until her death after a car accident in 2002 at the age of 53.
Love, the widow of grunge rocker Kurt Cobain and lead singer for the band Hole, will produce the film along with Blum, while Merritt Johnson has been assigned to write the script.
from Reuters
March 28, 2005: Exclusive Interview : Phyllis Diller
It’s
not supposed to be intimidating talking to a comedienne, but it is. Not that
Phyllis Diller, a world-famous icon, is anything but gracious and nice. She
was the first to break ground as a female standup when most women thought
their choices were working as a nurse or a teacher: plus Diller is a an accomplished
actress, classical pianist, painter and good Samaritan. If only we had more
Phyllis Dillers, I think, the world would not only be a little kinder to each
other but people would sure laugh a lot more.
Diller is currently working on a film project called “The Book of Daniel,” where, she said, “I play a dying woman. I haven’t read the script because all I have to do is die (laughs).” The film is written and directed by a good friend of hers, Jack Kinny.
Diller has had to say no to a few movies because of her health, but she still keeps busy with many projects, including a documentary called “Good Night, We Love You,” (a behind the scenes look at the world of Phyllis) which won first prize and the Governor’s Award at the San Diego Film Festival. Diller has no big method when it comes to acting, rather “I just try to completely understand the character I’m playing. When I do standup, however, I have to be silent for five minutes before I go on, to get it all together.”
And she follows a few comedians with major interest, including Eddie Izzard and Wendy Liebman (both favorites) as well as Joy Behar (“she’s wonderful”) and Richard Jeni.
For those comedians just starting out, Diller gives some good advice.
“Decide whether you have a chance or not, you should be able to know from the audience rather early. If you feel you really have it, you should go full speed ahead, and work mainly on material. The lack of material is one of the terrible shortcomings of newcomers,” she added.
Lack of material is something that will never happen to Diller, and if you read her new biography, “Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse,” you’ll know why. The ups and downs of a career totaling fifty years is at once surprising and thoughtful.
“For thirty years, people have been begging me to write my biography. The reviews have been spectacular, and I’ve been thrilled,” said Diller.
In the book, Diller talks about playing classical piano with numerous symphonies; her symphony dress is now in the Smithsonian Institution, along with her jokes and the dress she wore on a tour with Bob Hope to Vietnam.
“I also have a new career, I paint and people are crazy about my work
and it’s great,” she said.
Obviously, many people are still crazy about Diller herself, for there is
a new film in the works based on her life. Patricia Clarkson plays Diller
in the film, which is being made by Camelot Productions. And on St. Patrick’s
Day, Mayor Hahn declared it Phyllis Diller Day in honor of her 50th year in
showbusiness.
Diller summed it all up when she was talking about her book; “It’s been a rich and interesting life.”
Indeed it has.
from Moviehole.net, Lisa Carroll
March 27, 2005: Scully goes smaller
Vin
Scully has sold his home in the Pacific Palisades section of Los Angeles for
$8.6 million. The longtime Los Angeles Dodgers broadcaster moved to a smaller
house that he bought early last year in the Westlake Village area.
The Palisades home has eight bedrooms and nine bathrooms in slightly more than 10,000 square feet. It is on nearly an acre. The traditional-style house, built in 1980, also has two master bedroom suites and a black-bottom pool.
The home Scully bought has five bedrooms and 51/2 bathrooms in 6,300 square feet. The house, on about 1.5 acres, was built in 2000. It was assessed at about $3.8 million.
Scully, 77, has been a sportscaster with NBC since 1982, covering baseball, among other subjects.
from the Orlando Sentinel
March 22, 2005: Doctor: Pope Not Headed to Hospital
VATICAN
CITY — Pope John Paul II is vomiting, suffering strong headaches and
not responding well to his medications, an Italian news agency reported Tuesday,
but the pontiff's chief doctor dismissed speculation the pope will be hospitalized
again.
The Apcom news agency, quoting unnamed sources, also reported that John Paul was suffering from overall weakness as he recovered from surgery to ease a breathing crisis.
But the head of the pope's medical team, Dr. Rodolfo Proietti, ruled out media speculation that the pope's health had deteriorated suddenly and that he might be sent back to the hospital.
John Paul has scaled back his appearances since his back-to-back hospitalizations and has designated cardinals to take his place during this week's busy Holy Week ceremonies. The Vatican as only confirmed one appointment for the pontiff — an Easter Sunday blessing.
The pope did not name a stand-in, however, for a Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum on Good Friday evening, raising the possibility he would participate in some fashion, although it appeared doubtful he would go to the site.
Vatican Television officials said they had installed cables and other equipment in the pope's apartment above St. Peter's Square for the possible transmission of a video to be seen by the pilgrims gathered at the Colosseum.
The pope has made three public appearances since being discharged from the hospital — his latest on Palm Sunday when he blessed the crowd silently from his third-floor window. During that appearance, the pontiff pressed his hand to his head and pounded a lectern in apparent frustration over his difficulty in responding to the crowd.
It was the first time in 26 years as pope that he was unable to preside over the Mass ushering in Holy Week, the most important season on the Christian calendar and long one of his favorite appointments.
While his physical condition is "fragile," John Paul is "perfectly sound mentally," Cardinal Camillo Ruini, who stood in for the pope on Palm Sunday, said in an interview with the Italian religious affairs weekly magazine Famiglia Cristiana. Ruini said the pope "continues to carry out the acts of government and to assume the major decisions, as he has always done."
The 84-year-old pope has been convalescing at the Vatican following Feb. 24 throat surgery to insert a tube in his windpipe and ease his second breathing crisis in less than a month. He also suffers from Parkinson's disease, which affects muscle control and makes it difficult for him to speak clearly.
The pope's gaunt appearance the few times he has been seen has led to speculation in the Italian media that his condition has suffered a sharp setback. Vatican officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have denied there has been any sudden crisis but acknowledged the convalescence may be behind schedule.
No details on his state of health have been released since the pope's return
to the Vatican on March
The Vatican, however, says the pope is carrying out his major duties. On Tuesday,
it reported the pope had named new bishops in the Ivory Coast and Spain. Under
church law, only a pope can nominate bishops.
from the Associated Press
March 22, 2005: Castro takes a $550-mn hit
MEXICO
CITY: Most people would be flattered if Forbes estimated their personal fortune
at $550 million - but Cuban president Fidel Castro is not, apparently, one
of them.
Cuba's embassy in Mexico issued a stinging rebuke on Wednesday of the Forbes article without mentioning the magazine by name, calling it "a repugnant example of a campaign of lies" by "an American magazine of decaying credibility".
"It is a clumsy slander and a repugnant example of a campaign of lies perpetrated in the United States with the sole aim of justifying the criminal blockade of Cuba," the embassy said in a press statement.
Embassy officials could not immediately explain why the statement was released in Mexico, rather than in Havana, the Cuban capital.
In a story published on Tuesday about the fortunes of rulers and heads-of-state, Forbes estimated the communist leader's net worth at $550 million, but acknowledged "these estimates are more art than science". "In the past, we have relied on a percentage of Cuba's gross domestic product to estimate Fidel Castro's fortune," the article stated.
"This year we have used more traditional valuation methods, comparing State-owned assets Castro is assumed to control with comparable publicly traded companies."
The magazine said Castro "derives his fortune from a web of State-owned businesses", including a convention center and retail and pharmaceutical businesses.
The embassy denied that, saying "income from Cuban State-owned companies are used exclusively for the benefit of the people, to whom they belong."
While the embassy did not dispute that Castro travels in a convoy of black Mercedes-Benzes, it claimed Cuba was the only country in Latin America to fight inequality.
from the Associated Press
March 22, 2005: Ed Asner still acting at 75, plays grumpy recluse
LOS
ANGELES - At 75, most actors might think twice about accepting a role that
required them to be on location in the woods and naked from the waist up amid
bugs, mud and rain. Not Ed Asner.
The Emmy Award winner plays a grumpy man living in the middle of nowhere, without electricity, gas or phone in the upcoming Hallmark Channel movie "Out of the Woods."
"I loved the script, I loved the character," Asner said. "I wanted to do this very badly because it was the best writing I had seen in a long time."
Asner's character runs into trouble when his lawyer-grandson arrives to gain control of the elderly man's savings. The movie's realism appealed to Asner, best known as gruff station manager Lou Grant on the "Mary Tyler Moore" show.
"This movie deals with the real vicissitudes of life, and while dealing with those changing and challenging circumstances, this story shows the positiveness of what can come out of hard times," he said.
from the Associated Press
March 22, 2005: Bob Barker donates
$1M to Northwestern
'Price is Right' host endows law school course on animal rights
Game
show host Bob Barker has donated $1 million to Northwestern University's School
of Law to endow a course on animal rights law, the school announced Tuesday.
The Bob Barker Endowment Fund for the Study of Animal Rights Law will allow students to earn credits on topics such as how humans interact with and use animals, species protection and international wildlife law, according to the university.
Barker, the host of "The Price is Right" and longtime animal rights activist, has given similar funds in recent years to law schools at Duke, Stanford, Columbia and UCLA.
"We intend to train a growing number of law students in this area of the law in the hope that they will ultimately lead a national effort to make it illegal to brutalize and exploit these helpless creatures," Barker said.
Law school students should expect to deal with an animal law issue as some point in their careers, law school dean David Van Zandt said. Experimental animal cloning is an example of intellectual property context where animal law issues have emerged, he added.
Barker, who has hosted the game show for more than three decades, often advises viewers to spay or neuter their pets.
from the Associated Press
March 21, 2005: "The Osbournes" Bleeps Off
It's
all over but the cussing.
The final episode of MTV's The Osbournes airs Monday night, three years after the nuclear-meltdown family paved the way for the Gottis, the Gastineaus and the Lacheys.
"You have to end on top," matriarch Sharon Osbourne told the Associated Press in an interview distributed Monday.
Though their influence as the first familial notables to make their lives a prime-time gawkfest will long reign, Ozzy, Sharon, Jack and Kelly's run as ratings stars is long over.
Viewership this season was about one-fifth of what it was during the show's heyday in 2002, when upwards of 8 million tuned in each week to see the profanity-favoring heavy-metal clan cope with dog poop, dentistry and noisy neighbors.
In Monday's New York Post, patriarch Ozzy likened the show's trajectory to a subject on which he presumably is well-informed: Parties.
"At the beginning, it was great," the rock star said in the paper. "But you know, if you're going to a party every night, the first couple of nights, you go, 'Hey, hey, this is fun!' But on the third night, you're going to be like, [Bleeping] hell, another party.' Eventually you're going to get pissed off."
For the Osbournes, the money was plentiful--they reportedly netted as much as $20 million just to reup with MTV when the show hit it big back in 2002, even winning the family an Emmy for Best Reality Show--but the fun was short-lived.
Within weeks of the first-season finale, in the midst of the family's pop-culture "It" moment, Sharon Osbourne was diagnosed with cancer. Her battle against the disease was chronicled on the show, as was a myriad of other major and minor disasters: Kelly's rehab stint (which followed Jack's rehab stint); Ozzy's ATV accident (which preceded Ozzy's admission he was overmedicated); and Sharon's talk show.
Monday's non-hyped series finale will see Dr. Phil McGraw go all Dr. Phil on the Osbournes, and dissect the mostly functioning dysfunctional family.
Unlike
the rest of the shows from the fourth season, featuring footage shot last
year, the Dr. Phil episode was taped just weeks ago. Because of the layoff
between shoots, Ozzy Osbourne had almost forgotten what it was like to be
trailed by MTV's cameras. The feeling came back fast.
"I got kind of hot around the collar," Ozzy told the Post. "I thought, [Bleeping] hell, how did we live with that for all that time."
Now that the show has wrapped, Sharon Osbourne said the family is considering selling the Beverly Hills mansion featured in The Osbournes, saying it feels more like an office than a home.
With the cameras off, the clan is scattering. Jack, 19, and Kelly, 20, are moving out of the 90210 digs for good, Sharon told the AP. Ozzy, 56, is back in record stores Tuesday with the box set, Prince of Darkness.
The swear words, presumably, are forever.
from E! Online News , Joal Ryan
March 21, 2005: At almost 80, B.B.'s got the blues and that ain't bad
For
60 years, B.B. King has traveled the length and breadth of America to tell
millions of listeners about the pleasure and pain that is the essence of the
blues.
King will turn 80 in September, yet he shows no sign of slowing down. Despite his age and the diabetes he's battled since 1990, he will play 200 nights this year armed with nothing but his distinctive voice and a guitar named Lucille - including a sold-out show Thursday at Potawatomi Bingo Casino.
So what's left for a legend to look forward to? His new CD, "B.B. King: The Ultimate Collection," was released last week, and in June, groundbreaking for the $10 million B.B. King Museum will take place in Indianola, Miss., near his hometown of Itta Bene. It's an 80th birthday gift of sorts for the man best known as "the king of the blues."
King recently took some time to chat by phone.
Q. How does it feel to be turning 80?
A. Don't rush me. I'm only 79 until September 16th! Right now, I'm in good
health. I never thought I'd get to be this age. I'm diabetic, but I take care
of myself, and I feel fine. . . . I've been on the road all my life, and I
don't see any reason to stop now. As long as I feel good, I'm going to keep
right on going.
Q. You've got a lot of kids.
A. I do. I've got 15 children by 15 different women. I know I wasn't the best
father because I was always on the road, but I provided for them all, good
educations and such. But I don't really discuss them or their mothers out
of respect for their privacy.
Q. Talk about the best moment in your life.
A. Well, I'm proud of the fact that I've met four sitting presidents (Gerald
Ford, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and the current President Bush). I've
also met the pope. But as far as best moment, I'd have to say it was being
honored at the Kennedy Center in 1995.
Q. What's the worst?
A. When I was 9. My mother died.
Q. What was it like to grow up in racially segregated Mississippi?
A. I was born in 1925 in a rural area of the Delta. We just understood what
the rules were, and we lived by them. Everybody knew that was the way to stay
out of trouble. I never really understood segregation until I was about 16
years old. Up until that time I thought it was perfectly normal to drink out
of a certain water fountain or eat at certain restaurants. I never knew any
other way.
Q. What inspired you to become a musician?
A. I was poor! We never had anything when I was growing up, never had our
own home. I picked cotton for a dollar a day, I baled hay by hand, planted
corn and soybeans. Then I was offered $3 a day to drive a tractor. But once
I got better on the guitar, I could stand on Church Street in Indianola (Miss.)
and make $50 or $60 in one evening. Now, why would I want to keep driving
that tractor?
Q. You stuttered when you were younger. How did you cope with that?
A. I still stutter sometimes. As for singing, it's never been a problem. I
can't really tell you why, but the stutter just goes away when I sing. . .
. Eventually I learned to bring it under control. I must have, all right,
'cause I was a disc jockey in Memphis from 1948 to 1952, and people said I
was pretty good.
Q. How did you develop your signature style of playing?
A. Asking me to tell you how I developed my style is almost like asking me
how I learned to talk. I was always crazy about the steel guitar sound from
the country music songs. I also loved the sound of Hawaiian slide guitar.
They were so mellow and good and I wanted to learn to make those sounds. The
problem is I could never master either of them!
Somewhere along the way I guess I started to bend the guitar string while I made a trilling motion with my hand. Without me really being aware of it, my ears would tell me that it sounded good. Now that style is just a part of me, and I can't pick up a guitar without doing it.
Q. How did your guitar come to be known as "Lucille"?
A. In 1949 I was playing a club just outside of Memphis. Actually, . . . it
wasn't so much a club as a shack with a big room in it. For heat the manager
lit a garbage can full of kerosene.
Well, don't you know these two men got to fighting over a woman and one of
them knocked over that can. The whole floor instantly lit up like a river
of fire and everyone, including B.B. King, went running for the door.
It was after I got outside that I realized that I left my guitar behind. I
ran back in to get it, but the fire was so hot that the building started to
collapse around me. I almost lost my life. I was pretty badly burned, but
at least I saved my guitar.
The next morning I learned that the woman that those two men were fighting over was a waitress named Lucille. I named my guitar after her to remind me never to do something so stupid again.
And since you asked, here's a funny story. I got 16 different Lucilles. Every time I needed my guitar repaired, I'd send it to the factory. And while they were working on it, they'd loan me another one.
Only thing is, when I got my regular guitar back, I never did send back the loaner! So over the years I built up a pretty good collection. And when I travel, I only have two Lucilles on the road with me at a time.
Q. In 1951 you had a hit "Three O'Clock Blues." What did that do
for your career?
A. Well, I'd already recorded several records by that time, but "Three
O'Clock Blues" was a success, and it sure changed my life. I didn't get
rich off it, but the record made the Billboard R&B charts and stayed there
for a while. That helped black people to know my name outside of Mississippi,
Tennessee and Arkansas. I say black people, 'cause I wasn't playing for white
audiences at that time. I had a second hit the next year with "You Don't
Know Me."
Q. You're working on a new album right now.
A. I'm so excited about this project that's coming together. It's going to
be a series of duets with other musicians. We've already done the first track
with Elton John - actually, I should say Sir Elton John - and it went very
well. Next month we'll be doing songs with Sting, U2, Van Morrison and a few
others. I'm looking forward to doing one with Bono. If he can write another
great song for me like "When Love Comes to Town," I'll fall down
on my knees and thank him.
Q. Name some people who are going to keep the blues alive in the next few
years.
A. Oh, that's so hard. We've got a lot of young men who can play much better
than I can right now. What I do is, I try to entertain the people as best
I can. I play, I sing, maybe make people laugh a little. But these younger
guys, their technique and natural playing can just run circles around me.
There's Robert Cray, John Mayer, Keb' Mo', Johnny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd
and a bunch more that are just excellent.
from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Larry Widen
March 17, 2005: Autobiographies prove that comedy is not pretty
The late comedian Marty Feldman observed that "the pen is mightier than the sword and considerably easier to write with."
His
witticism comes to mind in reading new memoirs from two very different comic
entertainers: Phyllis Diller's Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse and Gene Wilder's
Kiss Me Like a Stranger.
Diller was a groundbreaking stand-up who opened the door for generations of female comedians. Wilder was the star of classic film comedies in the 1970s and '80s, partnering with the likes of Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor.
Diller and Wilder are alike, however, in that they had easy access to their anger in crafting memoirs that seem motivated at least in part by a desire to skewer inadequate friends, lovers and colleagues. Both claim to have reached a safe harbor in their lives, but they've obviously sent their baggage ahead.
Diller's tough-talking tome is more interesting. Lampshade gains some levity from slices of Diller's stand-up routine that punctuate the passages. The title comes from one of these: "You think I'm overdressed? This is my slip. ... No, I'm going to tell you the truth about what I'm wearing. I used to work as a lampshade in a whorehouse. I couldn't get one of the good jobs."
Her chief adversaries are her two husbands: one a slug and the other a drunk. But she also encounters a parade of people who — inexplicably in her view — dislike her.
Diller made a meal ticket of her broken nose, crooked teeth and raucous laugh. She reinvented herself on stage as an inept housewife married to the dimwit "Fang."
Her journey is fascinating in many ways. Fueled in the 1950s by ambition and the need to support a husband and five children, she entered the nightclub circuit of San Francisco, New York and Chicago.
Although she struck a chord with audiences, the comedy world did not greet her with open arms. Diller suffered slights at the hands of contemporaries like Jackie Mason and Victor Borge but formed lasting bonds with talk-show host Jack Paar and screen legend Bob Hope.
Diller's career spanned decades, but she and her family paid a steep price for that success. Her oldest son did not see her for many years before his death from cancer.
So it's not a funny story, except for some of those jokes. ("I was the world's ugliest baby. When I was born, the doctor slapped everyone.")
Speaking of needing a slap, Wilder purports to show his search for love and art but only documents his lifelong love affair with himself.
Kiss will be most disappointing to fans of the gifted actor and his performances in films like The Producers (1968), Blazing Saddles (1974) and Young Frankenstein (1974). He worked with the top actors and directors of his time, but they are mere props in this story, mirrors used to reflect the author. Among the exceptions are Brooks and Carol Channing, veterans of stage and screen whose personalities bleed through by virtue of their extreme eccentricity.
His "loves" are similarly featureless. Like Diller, he harbors a deep dislike of his first spouse, a fellow actor, and has long been estranged from his adopted daughter.
Given that part of the story is framed in a therapy session, it may be appropriate that passive aggression flows through the narrative. Wilder's most famous partnerships were with Pryor, a troubled comic genius with whom he starred in four films, including Silver Streak (1976) and Stir Crazy (1980), and his third wife, comedienne Gilda Radner of Saturday Night Live fame, who died of cancer in 1989 at 43.
Although he alludes to "moments of magic" in both relationships, the stronger impression he leaves of Pryor and Rad-ner is that they acted badly, Pryor because of drug problems and Radner because of her anger during the cancer treatments. He recalls, "I had begged her to treat me at least with the kindness that she showed to every stranger she met."
The book's title is taken from a remark of Radner's that took on added significance for Wilder when he found his true love: his current wife, Karen. The most passionate parts of Wilder's narrative are those that describe Karen, his successful auditions and his own fight with cancer, which appears to have been remarkably free of ill temper.
If you're a fan of Diller or Wilder, you'd be better served by buying a DVD and savoring the illusions they spent a lifetime creating. The reality, it seems, is no laughing matter.
from the USA Today, Susan Kelly
March 16, 2005: Arnold Palmer easing into a new role at Masters, just socializing this time
ORLANDO,
Fla. (AP) - Arnold Palmer is going to the Masters without his golf clubs.
"I'm not going to play in anything at Augusta this year," Palmer said Wednesday. "I'm going to say hello to my friends and do a couple functions that I would like to do, and then come back home."
Palmer played in his 50th consecutive Masters last year and said he would no longer compete in the major championship he helped put on the map with charisma and four green jackets.
But as the Masters approaches, Palmer realizes he will have to adjust to being at Augusta National without having a spot in the field.
That means no practice rounds, not even the Par 3 Tournament. And while Palmer said he might consider becoming an honorary starter, it won't be this year.
Instead, he'll attend the Champions Dinner on Tuesday night and chairman Hootie Johnson's buffet on Wednesday, and spend time in between chatting with his legion of friends and fans.
"I have no intentions of going on the golf course," Palmer said. "I'm just going to socialize. I may change that in years to come. But at the moment, I just feel like I want to get my feel for not playing in Augusta. For 50 straight years, I played and I loved it. And I would still enjoy it.
"But I just want to get the feel for not doing anything."
This could be the first year without Palmer or Jack Nicklaus, a six-time Masters champion, since 1954. Nicklaus had planned to play, but he said chances were between "slim and none" that he would play the tournament because he wants to spend time with a family still grieving over the recent drowning of his 17-month-old grandson.
Nicklaus said he would be at the Champions Dinner and probably would play a practice round, perhaps even the Par 3 Tournament. And he did not rule out playing Thursday if he felt up to it.
Palmer had said he would stop playing the Masters in 2002, when Johnson sent a letter to past champions indicating they should no longer player after 65. The policy was rescinded, and Palmer played the next two years to bring his record streak at Augusta National to an even 50.
While he plans to leave Thursday morning at the latest, Palmer will still watch the Masters.
"That's something that is still left," Palmer said. "I enjoy watching it."
from the Canadian Press, Doug Ferguson
March 15, 2005: Rolling Stones Album
Rolling
Stones frontmen Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are currently stationed in
France, writing songs for the forthcoming album from the Stones.
Writing for the newest Stones album began in 2004, with Mick, Keith, and a recently cleared Charlie Watts writing songs in Paris along with producer Don Was to help them along the way. Was said in 2004 the the writing was going well with Jagger and Richards doing most of the writing themselves, playing various instruments on what Was claims to be good songs. Was continued to say that the Glimmer Twins were doing better than ever.
No word has been released as to when the world will see the release of a new addition to the already huge studio album catalog of the Stones.
The last projects to get 'licked' from the Stones was Bridges To Bablyon, released in 1997, Forty Licks was released in 2002 with 4 new songs, and various live albums and DVDs in between.
In other news, Mick Jagger made a surprise appearance on stage in London with Ronnie Wood on March 13. Playing songs from across his career at the Royal Drury Lane Theatre with his Ronnie Wood And Fiends Show, Wood performed with guests including Beverly Knight and Andrea Corr, before inviting his Rolling Stones bandmate to join him. The duo performed a version of the Rolling Stones track "Dance".
from ultimateGuitar.com
March 14, 2005: Muhammad Ali to Receive Prestigious Honor
BERLIN,
Germany -- Muhammad Ali will receive a prestigious German prize in December
in recognition of his commitment to the U.S. civil rights movement and his
work as a U.N. peace ambassador, organizers said.
The former heavyweight boxing champion will receive the Otto Hahn freedom medal Dec. 17, the German Society for the United Nations said in a recent statement. It noted that Parkinson's disease "has been unable to halt him in his commitment to society."
Previous winners of the medal, named for the Nobel Prize-winning chemist, include Mikhail Gorbachev, Simon Wiesenthal and Yehudi Menuhin.
from the Associated Press
March 13, 2005: Palance: It's all about 'a good role'
Around
Hollywood, Jack Palance is known as the guy who never watches his own movies.
"That's pretty true," says Palance, 86. "I think I made 125 films, and I may have seen 10. I don't like to go see movies. I do the film and the hell with it."
But an advance copy of Panic in the Streets, one of three film noir classics out on DVD Tuesday, found its way into Palance's DVD player.
The acclaimed 1950 Elia Kazan-directed thriller was Palance's first movie. It won an Oscar for best writing of a motion picture story. Palance plays Blackie, a hoodlum who kills an illegal immigrant and is then hunted by police who fear he may carry the plague.
"I'm just enjoying the fact that it's coming out," Palance says. He remembers Blackie as one of his favorite roles.
"I just like a good role," he says. "Bad guy, good guy, it doesn't make a difference."
Was it hard portraying a killer? "Not really," Palance says. "You don't have to kill somebody to know what it's like."
Panic in the Streets, like other titles in the Fox Film Noir series, has been restored and remastered. Did Palance notice the difference?
"Not really," he says. "I tried to watch it all the way through, but I fell asleep."
In addition to Panic, the other titles coming out as part of Fox's Film Noir series are:
•Laura (1944), about a detective who falls for the woman whose murder he is investigating.
•Call Northside 777 (1948), starring James Stewart as a reporter who questions whether the right man has been convicted of a murder. It won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best motion picture.
The next films in the series, due by summer, include House of Bamboo, Dial M for Murder, Nightmare Alley and The Street With No Name.
from the USA Today, Thomas K. Arnold
March 13, 2005: When a life could hinge on a name
What: "The Value of Names," at Queens Theatre in the Park.
Why: Jeffrey Sweet's drama about naming names features two big names from theater and television.
Jack
Klugman, the three-time Emmy winner who starred in "The Odd Couple"
and "Quincy," and Louis Zorich, who appeared in "Brooklyn Bridge"
and "Mad About You," star as an actor and director who become bitter
enemies during the McCarthy era. They are forced to confront one another after
not speaking for 30 years.
"It's a good story," Klugman said during a break from rehearsals in White Plains. "It's very tight."
Klugman plays the comic Benny Silverman, who was blacklisted in the 1950s after being identified as a Communist by director Leo Gershen, played by Zorich. The play, directed by James Glossman, also features Megan Muckelmann as Silverman's daughter, an aspiring actress.
Zorich and Klugman first performed the 1982 play three years ago in Lincoln, Neb. Klugman, 82, said the plot is based on the real-life experiences of theater legends such as Elia Kazan and Clifford Odets, who made difficult, controversial decisions when ordered to name friends and colleagues who may have been Communists.
The six-week tour returns Klugman to the stage, where his career began.
"I started in theater," he said. "I love theater, but I made money in television."
When and where: 8 p.m., Friday, 2 and 8 p.m., Saturday, at Queens Theatre in the Park, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. More shows on March 20, 23, 26 and 27.
How much: $26-$32, $23-$29 seniors, $17-$20 students.
Getting there: Take exit 9E or 9P from the westbound Grand Central Parkway and follow green signs to the theater. Or take the No. 7 train to the Shea Stadium-Willets Point stop. The theater is near the Queens Museum of Art and the Unisphere.
More questions? Call 718-760-0064.
from Newsday, Carl Macgowan
March 12, 2005: Sterling Marlin says he's still looking for more
Sterling Marlin will be 48 in June, but he's not ready to hang up his helmet just yet. And he's hoping to continue his career with Chip Ganassi Racing, the team for which he now drives the No. 40 Dodges.
"I'd like to run a couple more years," Marlin said. "Chip said something about us talking about the future. I've just got to get with him and sit down what he wants to do. We need to get our ducks in a row.
"A few people have walked up to me and asked me when my deal is up with Chip, but I like where I am. If I can stay here, I'll stay here."
Marlin won here in 2002, then won again two races later at Darlington. But he has not won a race since, a drought of 98 races.
"We know we have a team that's capable of winning in this series," Marlin said. "There's no doubt in my mind I can still get the job done. We've just got to get everything working right and go out and do it."
from the Charlotte Observer, David Poole
March 10, 2005: Castro puts pressure on Cubans
What
sounds like a 1950s vision for the future -- a pressure cooker in every kitchen!
-- is Fidel Castro's latest attempt to reassert control over his nation's
centralized economy.
On an island where much still resembles the 1950s and where low-cost, slow-cooked beans and rice accompany most meals, Castro's appetizing promise to make 100,000 pressure cookers available every month won a standing ovation from women Tuesday.
But more important to Castro, the program could wipe out what has become a popular private business of making pressure cookers from cheap aluminum.
Cuba was forced to allow some private business in the mid-1990s after the withdrawal of Soviet aid and trade. Those modest reforms were seen as temporary, but necessary, evils. But after a slow recovery, Castro believes the island is ready to return to a more centralized economy.
In Tuesday's 5½-hour speech -- long enough to boil beans into mush -- Castro said the pressure cookers would be available starting in April.
At subsidized prices, the cookers will cost about the same as the homemade ones: about $5.50. And they can be paid for in monthly installments.
The program recalls the early years after the Cuban revolution when the government was the distributor for all goods. Now, only a few foodstuffs are available on the government ration.
from the Associated Press
March 8, 2005: Namath puckers up again
In
an appearance Monday on ESPNews' The Hot List, Joe Namath picked an inappropriate
time to offer a one-liner about his ill-chosen "I want to kiss you"
comment to ESPN sideline reporter Suzy Kolber during the New England Patriots-New
York Jets game Dec. 20, 2003.
Telling host John Buccigross he has been sober for more than a year, Namath added, "If I see Suzy around here, I'm going to ask her if I can give her a little kiss."
Kolber said in a statement through ESPN, "This happened over a year ago and I've moved on."
from the USA Today, Rudy Martzke
March 7, 2005: Heston's health failing
Hollywood
legend Charlton Heston's family and friends are shocked by the speed of his
mental and physical decline, as his Alzheimer's disease worsens.
The 80-year-old Oscar-winner was first diagnosed with the degenerative mental disorder in 2002 and quickly gave up his role as president of America's National Rifle Association.
And pals are devastated the Ben Hur star rarely remembers who they are.
A close friend says: "It's tragic to see him this way. Like all Alzheimer's patients, he has some good days but mainly bad ones. Sometimes he recognises family members, other times he's oblivious to everything.
"His decline has been faster than anyone expected."
His wife Lydia is constantly at his bed side caring for him, and Nancy Reagan has leant her support after she nursed her husband, former US President Ronald, through the same illness.
The friend adds: "Nancy's calls offering support mean the world to Lydia."
from Ireland Online
March 7, 2005: Jerry Lewis touts device that relieved his chronic pain
RALEIGH,
N.C. -- In 1965, at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, Jerry Lewis was hurling
himself off a piano for laughs when he landed hard on a microphone cable and
nearly severed his spine.
For the next 37 years, his public persona may have been The Kid or The Nutty Professor, but privately, when the curtain closed, he lived the agony of the chronic pain sufferer. Now, at 78, he's trying to keep others from having to do the same.
"I was addicted to Percodan for 13 years," said Lewis, who now meets with health-care providers to talk about the pain that drove him to the brink of suicide. "I was taking 13 a day because of the pain." He wants patients to know about alternatives. "The doctor will give them a prescription for dope," he said in an interview. "I want the doctor to suggest they go to a pain specialist."
More than 50 million Americans suffer chronic pain, according to statistics collected by the American Pain Foundation. Two-thirds of us will have back pain at some point. One in four Americans has some type of arthritis. Those numbers will increase as baby boomers age, said Susan McLean, the foundation's director of communications.
For Lewis, relief came in 2001 in the form of a pacemakerlike device implanted under the skin near the spine. Wires send pain-blocking electrical stimulation to his spinal cord. He was so happy with the results of his surgery that he became a paid spokesman for Medtronic, which makes the device.
Dr. Thomas Buchheit, co-director of Carolina Pain Consultants in Raleigh, said therapies such as spinal stimulation have improved in the last decade. Board-certified pain specialists may be aware of procedures that primary care doctors don't know about. "What we're really trying to do, "he said, "is offer therapies that change the disease, change the symptoms, and avoid the need for chronic medication."
Lewis said he tried many medications with little success. Although adrenaline kept him going onstage, he couldn't sleep more than a few hours or walk more than a few steps.
"I
got to a point in pain that I hoped they would take the spine out. . . . You
are intolerant. Impatient. Angry. Depressed. You would need 11 and a half
pounds of Prozac a day, if it ever could help you at all. . . . with my neurostimulator,
everything changed. My family has a wonderful day with me now."
Penney Cowan, founder and executive director of the American Chronic Pain Association, said many people who call her are near suicide. "Unless you've lived with pain, you don't understand how controlling it is," she said. As for worries about Vioxx and similar drugs, "most people would choose to live 10 years pain-free rather than 20 years with pain."
from the Raleigh News & Observer, Vicki Cheng
March 4, 2005: SNL's Horatio Sanz brings show to WSU
For
the first time ever, live from Winona State University, it's Horatio Sanz.
With more than 900 university fans in the audience, the Saturday Night Live
comedian gave an improvisational show with fellow comedians Thursday night
at WSU's Somsen Auditorium.
Holding the familiar WSU purple banner in front of his body, Sanz was greeted with deafening applause from the nearly sold-out crowd. Current SNL comedian Rob Riggle and former SNL member Jerry Minor, along with Ed Furman and Brett Gelman, joined Sanz for the show.
"We'd like to invite you all back to our hotel room," Sanz said to the audience. "We're staying at the Sugar Loaf Motel. We only have one Jacuzzi, but we can all fit in."
Sanz declared the act "a fresh, improv show" never heard before. The comedians requested topics from the audience to spark monologues and dialogues. In typical college student fashion, students shouted ideas from "weed" to "porn" to "astronauts."
The five comedians had the audience in hysterics throughout the show.
Beforehand, Saint Mary's University sophomore Adam Beck said he's watched Sanz on SNL for the past six years. "I've been pumped for over a week about this," he said. "I think he's hilarious and I'm looking forward to having a good time."
WSU professor Todd Paddock said he couldn't miss the show. "For $10, you can't pass this up," he said.
Though he's boisterous and animated during a performance, Sanz is reserved and calm one-on-one. Sanz said he enjoys improv and has "no aspirations to do anything serious."
Far away from the excitement of New York City, Sanz said he's enjoying his trip to Winona. A visit to Target was a highlight because it's not something he usually gets to do.
"I love being in a small town," he said. "In a small town, people appreciate entertainment, and I think they're excited to see me."
And Sanz wants to make sure they see him. He spent Wednesday night in Winona at Schyde's Drinks and Whatnot and will return to the downtown bar district for another night.
"It feels very cool to meet the fans in an intimate setting," Sanz said.
from the Winona Daily News, Anne Jungen
March 2, 2005: U2, Sting Join B.B. King
Blues legend to celebrate eightieth birthday with duets album
U2,
Sting, Elton John and Van Morrison are among the artists set to collaborate
with B.B. King for the blues legend's duets album to be released later this
year.
The record is just one of several celebrations surrounding King's eightieth birthday (September 16th). In June, ground breaking on the long-planned B.B. King Museum in his hometown of Indianola, Mississippi, will take place, with benefit concerts to raise funds to take place this summer. (Mississippi also recently declared February 16th "B.B. King Day.") King will also be the subject of the upcoming book B.B. King's Treasures, a collection of photos, remembrances and memorabilia from the thirteen-time Grammy-winner.
Tonight in Anaheim, California, King continues his trek across North America. Before he heads to Europe in the summer, he will make a stop at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in April and play a three-night stand at his own New York City club in June.
B.B. King North American tour dates:
3/2: Anaheim, CA, The Grove of Anaheim
3/3: Santa Ynez, CA, Chumash Casino
3/5: Tucson, AZ, Tucson Convention Center
3/6: Phoenix, Dodge Theater
3/16: Spokane, WA, Spokane Opera House
3/18: Lincoln City, OR, Chinook Winds Casino
3/19: Lincoln City, OR, Chinook Winds Casino
3/20: Vancouver, Orpheum Theater
3/23: Minneapolis, Orchestra Hall
3/24: Milwaukee, WI, Potawatomi Casino
3/25: Merrillville, IN, Star Plaza Theater
3/26: Merrillville, IN, Star Plaza Theater
3/27: Cleveland, State Theater
3/29: Waukegan, IL, Genesee Theater
3/30: South Bend, IN, Morris Performing Arts
4/1: Atlantic City, Tropicana Casino
4/2: Montreal, Place des Arts
4/3: Ottawa, National Arts Center
4/4: Hamilton, ON, Hamilton Place Theater
4/5: London, ON, John Labatt Center
4/7: Albany, NY, Palace Theater
4/8: Westbury, NY, North Fork Theater
4/9: Trenton, NJ, Trenton State College
4/28: New Orleans, Fairgrounds Racetrack
5/5: Lake Buena Vista, FL, House of Blues
5/7: Myrtle Beach, SC, House of Blues
5/17: Norfolk, VA, The NorVa
5/18: New Brunswick, NJ, State Theater
5/20: Verona, NY, Turning Stone Casino
5/28: Fort Worth, TX, Billy Bob's
6/1: New York, B.B. King's Blues Club
6/2: New York, B.B. King's Blues Club
6/6: New York, B.B. King's Blues Club
from Rolling Stone, Jessica Robertson
March 2, 2005: Ozzy Osbourne congratulates Prince Charles on upcoming marriage
ALICE
SPRINGS, Australia -- Ozzy Osbourne sent his congratulations to Prince Charles
on his upcoming marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles.
Charles was in Alice Springs on Wednesday during a five-day tour of Australia that has been overshadowed by scrutiny of his wedding to Parker Bowles, which has fazed some observers because the couple's romance began before Diana, Princess of Wales, died.
Osbourne weighed in on the issue while in Sydney to host the first MTV Australia Video Music Awards, calling Charles a "mate" and saying he should be allowed to marry Parker Bowles in peace.
"It's his business you know. His first wife got killed so what's he expected to do, be single for the rest of his life? If he likes her and she likes him or whatever, good luck on them," Osbourne, the former lead singer of Black Sabbath, told reporters.
Charles, the 56-year-old heir to the British throne, has a hectic agenda on his last official trip before his April 8 wedding, cramming five Australian cities into as many days.
from Macleans.ca (Maclean’s Canada magazine)
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