The News Of …

Nashville. A man who was in the audience at a recent Tracy Morgan show in Nashville said that the well-known comedian and “30 Rock” actor went beserk when talking about how he’d treat a gay son: “I’d kill him.”
Audience member Kevin Rogers, who is gay, wrote about the June 3 show on Facebook:
“I’ve been a big fan of his since his days at SNL. The show was your typical hysterical dick, cum and pussy humor… I have to say it was hilarious and well worth at least 40% of the $86 we spent per ticket to see him. I figured at some point the gay jokes would fly and I’m well prepared for a good ribbing of straight gay humor” – Rogers wrote.
However, Rogers said that this didn’t feel like humor; Morgan’s whole demeanor changed when he started in on the gay jokes and that he seemed “truly filled with hate against us.”
“He said if his son that was gay he better come home and talk to him like a man and not [he mimicked a gay, high pitched voice] or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N (one word I refuse to use) to death” – Rogers wrote. “Tracy then said he didn’t fucking care if he pissed off some gays, because if they can take a fucking dick up their ass… they can take a fucking joke.”
Rogers said that about a dozen people walked out.
Truth Wins Out Social Media Director Evan Hurst said that if these allegations are true, Morgan went too far.
“Comedians have long pushed the envelope in tackling controversial subjects” – he said. “Indeed, it’s part of their job description, and good comedians are able to do this and keep everybody laughing at the same time. However, abject hatred directed at vulnerable kids is not comedy, by anyone’s definition. If these reports are true, we expect a full explanation and apology.”

Tracy Morgan.

Read the rest of this entry »

With another year’s tribute to the best in country music having come to a close, the winners of the 2011 CMT Music Awards were named in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday night – June 8.
The Kid Rock hosted event (which was held at Bridgestone Arena) saw Taylor Swift take home the top honor of Video of the Year for ‘Mine,’ which was voted on by fans.
Upon being named as the CMT victor, Miss Swift was brought in via video where she thanked her many loyal supporters from Milwaukee – where she’s currently located for her ‘Speak Now’ tour.
Other big winners at the CMT Music Awards included Blake Shelton as Male Video of the Year for his hit single ‘Who Are You When I’m Not Looking’ while Miranda Lambert garnered Female Video of the Year for ‘The House That Built Me’.
As for the show, the audience was treated to performances including The Band Perry’s rendition of ‘Love the Way You Lie’/'You Lie’ and Toby Keith’s ‘Made In America’, as well as duets by Kid Rock with both Wynonna Judd and Sheryl Crow.
Top country acts such as Sugarland, Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts and Luke Bryan also churned out performances while celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Scotty McCreery, Cheryl Hines, Kristin Chenoweth and Justin Bieber were among those on-hand for the festivities.
The show was closed out with an energetic offering by Jason Aldean and Ludacris – who performed Aldean’s hit song ‘Dirt Road Anthem’.

CMT Music Awards 11.

Read the rest of this entry »

Social activist Anna Hazare took a more aggressive stand against the government on Wednesday as he observed his one-day fast against the police eviction of Baba Ramdev and his supporters from Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan festival grounds.
Speaking at Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial to an assembly of mostly urban elites Mr. Hazare first condemned the incident on early Sunday. “Police lathi [baton]-charged children and women sleeping at midnight. This is throttling of humanity, throttling of democracy.”
‘Shame’ hollered back the crowd, whom the police put at around 3,000, as it sheltered under a white tent on a day when the temperature was around 36C.
“What’s the difference between British rule and the democratic rule?” said the septuagenarian activist, who models his life and habits on Gandhi. “It’s comparable to Jallianwala Bagh” – he said, alluding to the 1919 action by colonial police on an unarmed gathering at a garden in the northern Indian city of Punjab that left many dead.
Mr. Hazare then dwelt on the drafting of the Lokpal Bill, which aims to set up an anti-corruption ombudsman’s office. He said the government is “creating hurdles on the drafting of the Lokpal Bill. If government continues to do so we will have to wage a second war of Independence all over the country.”
He told the government not to see his movement as something apart from it: “We are one. You just have to give up the feeling of being superior.”
“The government has forgotten that people are the owners and it is their servant. We have to change this perception” – he said.

Anna Hazare.

Read the rest of this entry »

All this summer, HBO is featuring documentary films in its line up, so all this summer, we’ll be reviewing them.
On one hand, it makes complete sense to create a documentary about Bobby Fischer. He was a child prodigy, the world chess champion, and an insane person. All of those elements can add up to remarkably compelling storytelling. On the other, Fischer is undoubtedly a relic of another time whose 15 minutes of fame seemed artificially stretched beyond their breaking point by a people as obsessed with him as he was with chess.
In ‘Bobby Fischer Against the World’, director Liz Garbus pieces together a monumentally beautiful documentary that’s only slightly uninteresting.
The doc does a fantastic job of telling Fischer’s life story inasmuch as it consists mainly of childhood fame, an iconic match to become world champion, and a pathetic downhill slide into paranoia and death. Yes, he is an incendiary figure that helped launch a giant chess craze in the United States during a time where any fight between the Soviets and the Red, White and Blue would have caused a sensation. It’s also true that he was infuriating – and that’s might make him interesting for some. Unfortunately, Fischer isn’t very compelling past his achievements. He’s a cultural marker that maintained a spotlight because he refused to play by the rules, not because he had anything profound to say.
Garbus seems to anticipate this and loads the film with fascinating figures discussing their rocky friendships with the champ in attempt to give his life true context.

Bobby Fischer.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hollywood, CA, 06.05.11 – The show started badly with host Jason Sudeikis opening the 2011 MTV Movie Awards with a monologue featuring five Arnold Schwarzenegger jokes that would not have made the writer’s cut on Letterman, much less Leno.
The show had its racy moments – even by MTV standards, whose are rather loose on its award shows when it’s looking for shock, controversy and ratings. Justin Timberlake grabbed Mila Kunis’ breasts while she held on tightly to his penis.
Timberlake, known to push the limits on TV – think wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl and the SNL hit Dick in a Box – met his match as Rob Pattinson was on prowl.
Pattinson (who won the Best Kiss award for his smooch with Kristen Stewart) instead kissed Twilight co-star Taylor Lautner. He later told ‘Water for Elephants’ co-star Reese Witherspoon “But I did fuck you,” and too quickly to be bleeped by censors. Even live shows have a three-second delay, so the censors can hit the button, so it’s a curiosity why this language malfunction was left in. Oh, MTV, we just love your fake daring.
Yet Pattinson was in rare form and plowed on. He suggested Witherspoon had trouble speaking while in a girdle, has a penchant for tequila and that she may or may not be “33 percent lesbian,” as an embarrassed Witherspoon hid her face and laughed from her seat. Pattinson concluded his remarks by saying: “It’s not always a bad thing to have sexual chemistry with your mother,” once again referencing his unseen part in ‘Vanity Fair.’

Robert Pattinson.

Read the rest of this entry »

All eyes are on Apple Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco on Monday and whether Steve Jobs will unveil Apple iPhone 5. Most observers say Apple will not unveil the next generation iPhone though launch of the new power-packed iOS 5 is on the cards. A minority of analysts believe Apple will surprise everyone by revealing the iPhone 5.
However, a silent onslaught on iOS and iPhone is brewing in the Android world. A slew of Android devices slated to hit market are 4G-enabled, NFC capable, with some having ultra-high resolution cameras.
The endearing Android line-up has already caused apprehension in the iOS camp. Here is a quick glance at what is cooking in the Android camp -
T-Mobile is blazing the summer Android launch trail by announcing the HTC Sensation 4G, Samsung Gravity Smart and Samsung Exhibit 4G in quick succession. while HTC Sensation 4G will be released on June 15, the other two hand sets will also come sometime this month.
Sprint has lined up three handsets, HTC Evo 3D, the Motorola XPRT, and the Motorola Titanium. While the XPRT will arrive on June 5, the other two are likely to come in the near future.
AT&T was up to speed by the announcement of Android-based Pantech phone Crossover. To be available on June 5, it will come at 69.99 dollars with a two-year agreement.
Though Verizon appears not to have any earthshaking smart phone announcement to make, it has showcased 4G LTE version of the Galaxy Tab 10.1.
And then there is talk about HTC Evo 3D. Leaks suggest HTC is mulling the release of the new Android phone on AT&T and T-Mobile.

Worldwide Developers Conference.

Read the rest of this entry »

Los Angeles. James Arness, the towering actor best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon, the commanding symbol of frontier justice on the landmark TV Western series ‘Gunsmoke,’ died Friday. He was 88. Mr. Arness died of natural causes at his home in Brentwood, family spokeswoman Ginny Fazer said.
‘Gunsmoke’ debuted on CBS on September 10, 1955, and, with the start of ‘The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp’ on ABC four days earlier, a new era in television horse operas was launched – the adult Western. But whereas ‘Wyatt Earp,’ starring Hugh O’Brian, ended its run in 1961, ‘Gunsmoke’ ran until 1975, far outdistancing its many competitors and becoming one of the longest-running prime-time series in network TV history.
In the process, Mr. Arness became one of television’s most enduring stars, returning as Dillon in a handful of ‘Gunsmoke’ TV movies in the late ’80s and early ’90s.
At 6-foot-7, Mr. Arness was a bigger-than-life actor who filled the boots of the mythic Dodge City lawman in the series, which earned praise for breaking TV Western-genre conventions with its strong dramatic stories and psychologically complex characters.
“Matt” – Mr. Arness once said, “is very human and has all the failings and drives common to anyone who is trying to do a difficult job the best he knows how.”
“Gunsmoke” had been a groundbreaking hit radio show, with William Conrad providing the authoritative voice of Dillon, for three years when CBS began looking for an actor to star in the TV version.

James Arness.

Read the rest of this entry »

A very pregnant Pink checked into the hospital around noon on Thursday in preparation to give birth, RadarOnline.com reports. She and husband, Corey Hart, are expected to welcome their baby sometime soon.
The 31-year-old singer was photographed walking into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at 12:30 pm with Hart.
“Pink’s baby was breached, so they were going to schedule a C-section if the baby didn’t correct its position” – a source close to the pair told RadarOnline. “Her last check-up was on May 12 and she was expected to give birth three weeks from then, so today is perfect timing!”
The 31-year-old has gotten into the habit of tweeting about her pregnancy and the latest in the slew of pregnancy-related posts reads: “New Moon in Gemini today a good time to start something new…. Also called the Honey Moon. #intoit.” Gemini is the Zodiac sign associated with people born between May 21 – June 21.

Pink.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rep. Anthony Weiner struggled to explain how a picture of somebody’s bulging underwear briefly appeared on his Twitter account, claiming in a back-to-back string of interviews that he was clearly hacked – but hinting the photograph could have been an image of him.
“I have photographs. I don’t know what photographs are out there in the world of me” – he said in one cable news interview, asked whether he’d ever snapped a photo like that of himself.
In another interview, Weiner acknowledged “it could be” the case that one of his private photos spilled onto the Internet. Or, he said, one could have been manipulated or pulled in from ‘somewhere else.’
Talking briefly to reporters outside his office Thursday morning, the congressman made clear he was not interested in sitting down for more questions.
“I made it very clear I did not send that picture, that my Twitter account had been hacked, and the prank apparently has been successful. But after hours, almost 11 hours of answering questions … today, I’m going to have to get back to work” – Weiner said.
Rep. Anthony Weiner struggled to explain how a picture of somebody’s bulging underwear briefly appeared on his Twitter account, claiming in a back-to-back string of interviews that he was clearly hacked – but hinting the photograph could have been an image of him.
“I have photographs. I don’t know what photographs are out there in the world of me” – he said in one cable news interview, asked whether he’d ever snapped a photo like that of himself.

Anthony Weiner.

Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday is Ascension Day. Many churches will also mark it on Sunday, but unlike Easter, it will draw little attention. Two thoughts immediately come to mind when I think about the doctrine of the ascension – one comic, and one imaginative.
A friend of mine in seminary had just finished writing his Presbyterian ordination exams. “How’d it go?” I asked. “Bad” – he said, shaking his head. “The theology exam was all about the doctrine of the ascension. I couldn’t think of what to say so I just wrote, ‘Beam me up, Jesus.’”
It was true. Little time in class had been spent discussing Christ’s ascension. I suspect that has resulted in few Presbyterian sermons about the ascension.
That is too bad. Though the meaning of the ascension may be hard for some to understand, it carries important theological significance. Much more than Jesus being beamed upward, the ascension offers believers tangible promises of hope and power.
But many of us face the same problems my friend did. How do we speak of an event that defies easy explanation?
I think this is where imagination comes into play.

Ascension Day.

Read the rest of this entry »