Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful!
When British journalist Samantha Brick penned an article in the UK’s Daily Mail lamenting that her looks have been a detriment to her both her social life and career, it set off a backlash of “Oh no she didn’t!” heard around the world.
“There are downsides to being pretty — the main one being that other women hate me for no other reason than my lovely looks.”
Pitting women as a bunch of pit bulls that superficially judge each other based on looks, she admonishes that women, in mean girl spirit, turn outwardly into haters, sabotaging friendships, holding pretty girls back from promotions as well as being a perceived threat to their relationships.
“I’m not smug and I’m no flirt, yet over the years I’ve been dropped by countless friends who felt threatened if I was merely in the presence of their other halves. If their partners dared to actually talk to me, a sudden chill would descend on the room.”
And the Nominees Are…
Who doesn’t love the movies? I admit it, I could sit through the entire Oscar broadcast, which, including the walk down the red carpet, is about five hours and ten minutes. Thank god for TiVo. I don’t have to miss a second while getting up for snacks and running for bathroom breaks.
This year Billy Crystal is hosting. This makes number eight for him. Have you noticed that he’s starting to resemble the actual Oscar statue itself? Personally, I think they need someone a little edgier. Maybe it’s my snarky personality, but I like my award shows to have a little bite to them. These are the people who get paid obscene amounts of money for going to ‘work’ which has to be more fun than summer camp.
Wellington twin sisters, Suncoast High students reward young readers with bikes
Wellington twin sisters, Suncoast High students reward young readers with bikes
By Kevin D. Thompson and MICHELLE KAPLAN
Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Laura and Megan Kohner, of Wellington and Suncoast High School, knew nothing about running a charity when the urge to start one struck their older brother Andrew and their friend Cody Ellsworth in 2008.
Now the sisters have taken over the effort to promote literacy and physical fitness among elementary school students and are being recognized for their efforts – sometimes loudly, proudly so.
“Bike Twins! I remember you guys!” Laura, 17, recalled one youth who benefited from Bikes for Kidz calling to them outside an area library.
Continue reading Wellington twin sisters, Suncoast High students reward young readers with bikes…
Interview with Robby Takac – Goo Goo Dolls
Robby Takac, bassist for the Goo Goo Dolls, has to pause for a split second and think, “Where am I? Oh, Grand Rapids,” he replied with a laugh. But ask him again in a few more weeks, the answer may come harder.
This summer the Goos, as they are affectionately known, will be making a whirlwind tour that includes stops in Scotland, Ireland, Japan and England. Perhaps this tour should have been called “Dizzy up the Boys.”
Continue reading Interview with Robby Takac – Goo Goo Dolls…
Howie Mandel – Expect the Unexpected
Expect the unexpected when Howie Mandel performs live. No one knows what’s going to happen – not even Howie.
Mandel’s unique style of comedy touches a chord with his audience, because he gives his listeners a chance to get a little bit closer to the child inside. He brings us down that road where playfulness and pranks rein supreme, where it’s ok to laugh, even if it’s at ourselves.
“I finally found a place for this humor, this kind of behavior,” he said. “What I once got expelled for, hit for, punished for, I now get paid for.” Taking the stage for Mandel appears effortless. It is-and it isn’t.
While some performers admit to having the jitters before coming out on stage, Mandel said that it’s just part of the ride.
“I love being on stage. The spotlight is like sunshine, it’s where I’m most comfortable.”
3 Doors Down: Profile
3 Doors Down
Current Members:
Brad Arnold – lead vocals
Matt Roberts – guitar
Chris Henderson – guitar
Todd Harrell – bass guitar
Greg Upchurch – drums, percussion
Even Superman can’t score a record deal if the music is no good. But when radio station WCPR in Biloxi, Mississippi was inundated with phone calls requesting a song called “Kryptonite” by local band, 3 Doors Down, they realized that the band had quiet the following – and was growing by leaps and bounds.
Roger McGuinn: Artist, Guitarist and Techie
Roger McGuinn is a bit of a paradox. It’s a rare occurrence when art and technology find a home in one heart, but here it dwells.
The front man, the guitarist, the folk rocker, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, is best known for being a member of the Byrds, back in the day. Today, as a solo artist, McGuinn is on the road a lot. However, he is not touring solo. His wife Camilla and he are very much partnered on this venture.
One has only to read her blogs to feel a part of this journey. Camilla has blogged their adventures and the people they tour with, as well as strangers met along the way. Her descriptions of the places they go are very much postcards from the road. McGuinn likens it to the On the Road segments with Charles Kuralt.
“We always liked Charles Kuralt. He made it romantic and fun to travel the back roads of America. We prefer to be on the road …it’s more fun, there’s room service, maid service…at home it’s a lot of work.”
Continue reading Roger McGuinn: Artist, Guitarist and Techie…
Lindsey Buckingham – Still Looking Forward
Lindsey Buckingham isn’t looking back too much these days. It could be because the future for him is now.
In the last ten years, he’s married, started a family, and birthed a new album that is as intimate and personal a portrait as any artist may dare to venture.
But for him, taking risks may be his proverbial fountain of youth. After all, he did it with Fleetwood Mac. Following the commercially successful Rumors, which catapulted the band into rock icon status, Buckingham could have followed the same recipe and spoon-fed fans a Rumors II. Instead, he followed it up with the quirky, Tusk, a 180-degree departure from Rumors.True to his word, at 58 he’s still not stopped thinking about tomorrow.
“I think what happens is usually a lot of people are either kind of tapped out with their creativity by the time the get to a certain point, or they’re in a position where they’re willing to rest on the their laurels on the body of work that they have. It’s very important for me to keep fresh. What I think is important goes back to Tusk…it kept me musically honest… I subverted some of the commercialism, that’s what you have to do, otherwise you paint yourself into a corner.”
Continue reading Lindsey Buckingham – Still Looking Forward…
So, What Does Bo Know?
So you think you know Bo?
Bo Diddley, that is, the consummate performer, musician, humanitarian and even actor. As a Founding Father of rock-n-roll, he is known to many as “the Originator” for taking the Blues and infusing it with what he was influenced by-Chicago street music, hambone, the strumming of guitar mixed with the rhythm that comes from slapping the guitar, knee and chest, while soulfully singing the lyrics. Mix that with some harder edge guitar and you’ve got the signature “Bo Diddley beat”-a sound best described as “shave and a haircut, two bits.” Think U2′s “Desire” or Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” and you’ve got it. Bo was born Ellas Bates on a farm in Mississippi, near the Louisiana border, on December 30, 1928. His cousin, Gussie McDaniel, later adopted him. He took her last name and moved with the family to the South side of Chicago at age five. He got the name Bo Diddley when he became a Golden Gloves boxer.
Bo’s sister gave him his first guitar. He picked it up and taught himself to play. “I started training myself… if somebody else could do it, I could do it too.” What else do we know? Bo is still going, on the road, playing, performing, keeping the legacy alive.
“I’m playing old and new songs…trying to stay outta trouble,” he laughs.
That’s what everyone knows.
Joe Piscopo – Just Your Average Work’n Joe
Going through airport security Joe Piscopo, known best for being a Saturday Night Live alum, is talking on his cell phone, arranging interviews and signing autographs to fans who obviously feel comfortable enough to walk up and ask. Security checks his bag, as he says with a laugh into the phone, “I’m just going through security…I think they’re going to take my toothpaste.” Across two time zones and three states, in one afternoon, he manages to take some time out to catch us up on what he’s been doing.
Piscopo, 55, is going through a divorce. Although he can’t talk about it much, his wife, Kimberly and he have been together for 19 years, married for 9 of them. They have three young children, two daughters Alexandra, 7 and Olivia, 2 and a 4-year old son, Michael. Piscopo has another son, Joey 27, from a previous marriage.
“In my business pain is good, being on stage is cathartic and therapeutic…at this point particularly…Personal turmoil aside,” Piscopo reports, “the kids are doing good.”
Continue reading Joe Piscopo – Just Your Average Work’n Joe…
Dashboard Confessional – Chris Carrabba Lets Us In – A Little Bit
Dashboard Confessional is the band’s name, but don’t ask founder Chris Carraba to give up his sins or reveal too much personal information. If you want him to bare his soul, give a listen, that information is contained in the lyrics of his songs.“I put a lot of myself into my songs,” he confessed.He was willing to give up a little piece of himself, if only maybe accidentally. Mere small talk seems to give way to his deeper self that unfortunately, he couldn’t hide if he tried. As he talks about the band and where they’re going, it’s easy to see that they have now come to that point where through hard work and very little exposure, they’re about to break – big time. “We’ve never been on the radio, we’ve had no radio support…now the song, Stolen, which is about Florida, is burning up the charts,” he said. Continue reading Dashboard Confessional – Chris Carrabba Lets Us In – A Little Bit…
Kathleen Madigan – Irreverent Style in a Small Package
If Kathleen Madigan ever had to go into the witness protection program she could hide in South Florida, no problem. She would blend right in because she drives a Cadillac and you can’t see her head over the steering wheel.
Madigan 40, native of St. Louis and a comedian who gained face recognition on NBC’s reality show, Last Comic Standing, is thinking aloud about her blog that appears on her website — where she writes down exactly what’s on her mind.
For instance, in her blog for November, she’s in Vegas and comments on fellow comedian, Howie Mandel.
Mandel was headlining at the MGM – why????
Who is paying for this???? He’s nice but dear Lord.
“I don’t know that I like the blog… my dad is a lawyer and judge… I don’t know if you should write shit down. What if I get involved in some sort of caper and Howie Mandel was murdered. They would see what I said about him on my web site…I don’t know if it’s the best idea…but it’s fun and people do like reading it.”
That’s how Madigan thinks. She describes her comedy as cynical and sarcastic, but not angry. As
she puts it while laughing, it’s “E Z to understand.”
Continue reading Kathleen Madigan – Irreverent Style in a Small Package…
Memory Lane – Leaves You Aching For More
Don’t go see this band…Ok; you’ve been warned…you’ll be sorry.
The next morning when you rise to find your hips hurting, your shoulders sore, and your body radiating a dull general ache from dancing like a fool – echoes of “I told you so,” will ring in your ears.
When you can barely whisper a “good morning,” because you were singing at the top of your lungs, while you were dancing like a fool, you’ll remember that you had been warned.
Four guys – DJ DC, Popeye, MR (Motivated Radiated) William T and Smoove, yeah, just smooooove, whose harmonies could put the Temptations to shame sing soft, smoldering jazz, ala Nat King Cole, smoky blues from the likes of Muddy Waters and an array of music that ranges from Marvin Gaye to Prince, closing the generation gap.
Mississippi Blues – Ben Prestage
Some might say that Ben Prestage has the muddy waters of the mighty Mississippi Delta coursing through his veins in order for him to suck the pain right out of that guitar and play the blues the way they were meant to be played — from the depths of the soul.
It could be genetic, inherited from his sharecropper grandfather who picked cotton under the hazy Mississippi sky.
Whatever “it” is, Prestage, 27 years young, has a much older soul and it makes its presence known when he plays. The emotion of the music is painted on the face of his audience, who range in age from teens to people well in to their sixty’s. They sit at full attention, drawn to him, coming up to greet him, to introduce themselves, to talk about music and shake hands during his breaks.
Not many area musicians can say that they actually earn a living playing. Most know better than to quit their day job and make their passion their full time gig.
“I love to play for people, it makes me happy…I’m lucky enough that it can be a full time job and I have the freedom to travel around and meet tons of people from all over the country…I get to play little places like this to big blues festivals.”
Tonight Prestage is playing to the hometown crowd at the Exodus Café in Port St. Lucie, it’s standing room only and the atmosphere is comfy. The crowd knows him and he knows his audience.
Littly Italy in the Palm Beaches – FORGEDDABOUDIT!
Mama Mia, for a few special days, Abacoa Town Center will be transformed from the trendy little Mediterranean-style, upscale shopping center to what resembles a corner of New York City’s Little Italy complete with an outdoor market, strolling according players and opera sung from the balconies above, all in preparation for the three-day event known as the Feast of Little Italy from November 7-9.
The Feast allows participants the opportunity to immerse themselves, experiencing the sights, sounds and smells of a bustling Italian neighborhood.
Continue reading Littly Italy in the Palm Beaches – FORGEDDABOUDIT!…
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