Archive - Feb 2008

Grand Funk Railroad's concert at Chumash Casino (Santa Ynez, California) was cancelled due to illness.  Below is the concert schedule.

www.grandfunkrailroad.com/departures.htm

Let's see if they are going to cancel their next show on March 8th.

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Paris Hilton was ready to attend Academy Award ceremony.  She spent $3.8 million on her dress alone.  But the Academy banned Paris Hilton from Oscar Award and all affiliated after parties. 

Paris then wanted to attend Vanity Fair party, but Vanity Fair party was cancelled due to recent writers strike.   She ended up leaving town for her own party.

A few weeks ago, Paris Hilton's latest movie 'The Hottie and the Nottie' grossed about $9,000 in the opening weekend.  

This year's Academy Award had THE worst TV rating in Oscar History.  I am not surprised.  I don't find Jon Stewart remotely funny.  In fact, he is really annoying.  OK, I'll be honest, I hate that mofo.  Johnny Carson was the best.  Conan O'Brian was pretty good too.  I never watch Oscar award on TV.  It's a total waste of time. 

Also, this year, a lot of foreigners won major awards.  Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) gave his acceptance speech in Spanish.  I thought that was wrong.  Well, I guess it's good that Javier Bardem wasn't from Iraq. 

People obviously lose interest on Oscar because we have all the young bloods turning Hollywood into a freak show.   For example, Ryan Seacrest has a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame.  I rest my case. 

During the ceremony, they had a little segment where they showed all the past Oscar hosts.  From that video clip, they left out Whoopi Goldberg even though she had hosted 4 Oscars ceremonies.  They talked about it in The View (the morning show that Whoopi Hosts with three other ladies).  Whoopi was not angry about it.  Next day, the Academy apologized and everyone was happy.

Senior Corporal Victor Lozada, a motorcycle officer in the Traffic Division, was killed on February 22nd, 2008, while serving as part of an escort to Senator Hillary Clinton's motorcade near downtown Dallas. Sen. Clinton was on her way to a presidential campaign event. Sr. Cpl. Lozada's funeral was attended by over 4,500 police officers as well as Sen. Clinton

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Feb 20, 2008 police arrested 2 paparazzi waiting for Lindsay Lohan.  This is a big news in the industry.  Over 10 years after Princess Diana's death, most of us got sick of the word paparazzi.  Two photographers were arrested with misdemeanor charge (small case.  Book & release).  But there is a chance the law will get even tougher if they remain to be annoyances to the public.

Celebrities are human just like you and me.  Can you imagine a bunch of thugs muscling their way up to your face 24/7?  That's not helping already fragile young celebrities.  I hope celebrities would get some break.

HD DVD or High-Definition DVD was a high-density optical disc format designed for the storage of data and high-definition video.

HD DVD was designed to be the successor to the standard DVD format and is derived from the same underlying technologies. Since all variants except the 3x DVD employed a blue laser with a shorter wavelength, it can store about 3¼ times as much data per layer as its predecessor (maximum capacity: 15 GB per layer instead of 4.7 GB per layer).

As of February 12, 2008, 386 HD DVD titles have been released in the USA. As of February 19, 2008, 214 HD DVD titles have been released in Japan, with 44 titles pending to be released.

HD DVD was in a "format war" with rival format Blu-ray Disc to determine which of the two formats would become the leading carrier for high-definition content to consumers. On February 19, 2008, after major content manufacturers and key retailers began to withdraw their support of the format, Toshiba made an official announcement to no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders, effectively ending the High definition optical disc format war.

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On February 17, 2008, Nancy Reagan suffered a fall at her Bel Air home and was taken to St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. She did not break a hip, as doctors originally feared 

Nancy Reagan is staying in the same hospital room where President Ronald Reagan stayed before.

Nancy Reagan's last public appearance was at the Regan Library on January 30th for Republican presidential debate.

Ironically, today (February 18) is a president's day.

On November 26, 2007, Fossett's wife requested that Fossett be declared legally dead.The petition was granted on February 15, 2008. Steve Fossett was 63 years old at the age of his death.

Steve Fossett's bio & missing story

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5 years after John Ritter died, his widow filed a $67 million wrongful death suit against radiologist Dr. Matthew Lotysch and cardiologist Dr. Joseph Lee, alleging they misdiagnosed his condition and that contributed to his death. The trial began on February 11, 2008, in Los Angeles County Superior Court. Several of the defendants have settled out of court for a total of $14 million, including Providence St. Joseph, which settled for $9.4 million.

Related Topic - John Ritter

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Buy from Amazon.com: Roy Scheider Books, Movies, & Memorabilia

Roy Richard Scheider (November 10, 1932 - February 10, 2008) was an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-nominated American actor.

Death of Roy Scheider
In 2004, Roy Scheider was diagnosed with myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells. In June 2005, he underwent a bone marrow transplant to successfully treat the cancer which was classified as being in partial remission. He died February 10, 2008 in Little Rock, Arkansas of complications from a staph infection
Roy Scheider was 75 years old at the time of his death.

Biography
Scheider was born in Orange, New Jersey. As a child Scheider was an athlete, participating in organized baseball and boxing competitions. He attended Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey and was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1985. He traded his boxing gloves for the stage, studying drama at both Rutgers University and Franklin and Marshall College, where he was a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. After three years in the United States Air Force, he appeared with the New York Shakespeare Festival, and won an Obie Award in 1968

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Roy Scheider's biography continues 

Roy Scheider's first marriage was to Cynthia Bebout on November 8, 1962. The couple had one daughter, Maximillia, before divorcing in 1989. On February 11, 1989, he married his current wife, actress Brenda Siemer Scheider, with whom he has a son, Christian, and a daughter, Molly.

Film roles
Scheider's first film role was in the 1963 horror film Curse of the Living Corpse. (He was billed as "Roy R. Sheider"). In 1971 he appeared in two highly popular movies, Klute and The French Connection, the latter garnering him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Four years later he portrayed Chief Martin Brody in the Hollywood blockbuster Jaws. In 1976 he starred as Doc, a secret agent in Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman and Laurence Olivier. In 1983 he starred in Blue Thunder, a John Badham film about a technologically advance attack helicopter prowling the skies of Los Angeles. This was followed by appearing in Peter Hyams' 2010: The Year We Make Contact, a 1984 sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 science fiction classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Four years after he appeared in Jaws, he was nominated for his second Academy Award, this time as Best Actor in All That Jazz.

He was originally cast as Michael in The Deer Hunter, as the second movie of a three movie deal with Universal Studios. However, bound by a Universal contract to make a Jaws sequel, he was deprived of the role.

Scheider went on to star in films such as The Myth of Fingerprints (1997) and Silver Wolf (1998).

Other appearances
In 1993, Scheider signed on to star in the Steven Spielberg-produced television series seaQuest DSV. During the second season, Scheider voiced disdain for the direction in which the series was heading. His comments were highly publicized and the media criticized him for panning his own show. NBC made additional casting and writing changes in the third season, and Scheider decided to exit the show. His contract however, required that he make several guest appearances in season three.

He has also repeatedly guest starred on the NBC television series Third Watch. Among his most recent films is the crusty father of hero Frank Castle in The Punisher (2004).

Scheider also hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live in the tenth (1984-1985) season (musical guest: Billy Ocean) and appeared on the Family Guy episode Bill and Peter's Bogus Journey voicing himself as the host of a toilet-training video.

In 2007, Scheider received one of two annually-presented Lifetime Achievement Awards at the SunDeis Film Festival in Waltham, Massachusetts. (Academy Award winner Patricia Neal was the recipient of the other.)

Scheider guest-starred in an episode Law & Order: Criminal Intent as a death row inmate on May 14, 2007.

Filmography
The Curse of the Living Corpse (1964)
Paper Lion (1968)
Stiletto (1969)
Puzzle of a Downfall Child (1969)
Loving (1970)
Klute (1971)
The French Connection (1971)
The Seven-Ups (1973)
Jaws (1975)
Marathon Man (1976)
Sorcerer (1977)
Jaws 2 (1978)
Last Embrace (1979)
All That Jazz (1979)
Still of the Night (1982)
Blue Thunder (1983)
Tiger Town (1983)
2010: The Year We Make Contact (1984)
The Men's Club (1986)
52 Pick-Up (1986)
Cohen and Tate (1988)
Listen to Me (1989)
Night Game (movie) (1989)
The Fourth War (1989)
The Russia House (1990)
Somebody has to Shoot the Picture (1990)
Naked Lunch (1991)
Wild Justice (1993)
seaQuest DSV (1993) (television series)
Romeo is Bleeding (1994)
The Peacekeeper (1996)
Executive Target (1997)
The Myth of Fingerprints (1997)
The Rainmaker (1997)
The Rage (1997)
Plato's Run (1997)
Evasive Action (1998)
RKO 281 (1999)
Falling Through (2000)
Daybreak (2000)
The Doorway (2000)
Texas 46 (2002) aka The Good War (USA)
Dracula II: Ascension (2003)
The Punisher (2004)
Dark Honeymoon (2007)
The Poet (2007)
Iron Cross (2007)

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The official autopsy report is out.

Heath ledger's death was an accidental perscription overdose.

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"Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine,"

"We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications."

"While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy," the family statement said. "Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage."