Autograph signing: International tennis celebrity Anna Kournikova, left, signs an autograph on 254th Services Flight Staff Sgt. Jesse Franquez's kitchen apron, center right, during a USO, or United Service Organizations, tour yesterday at the Guam National Guard Complex in Barrigada.
Barrigada's Guam National Guard Complex was aflutter yesterday with an appearance by international tennis celebrity Anna Kournikova.
The professional tennis player-turned-model and celebrity joined guardsmen for "Flapjack Friday" before meeting with Guard officials as part of her "morale-boosting" United Service Organizations tour, which began Wednesday.
"Born in Moscow, Russia, (Kournikova) picked up her first tennis racket at age 5," Lt. Col. Diron Cruz, chief of joint staff, said during breakfast. "We have something in common, except that was the first and last time I picked one up."
After breakfast, blushing guardsmen and other servicemembers -- many dressed in their finest -- lined up for a short photo-op with the star, followed by a brief interval set aside for signing autographs, photos and tennis balls.
1st Lt. Melvin Pilarca said he is always star-struck when afforded a chance to rub elbows with a celebrity.
"In this business we get a few stars to grace us with their presence and we appreciate their support for the troops," he said.
Kournikova was not available for comment as she was rushed away for an office call with Maj. Gen. Donald Goldhorn, Adjutant General, before visiting Navy sailors.
Few actresses have rivaled Joan Crawford for star glamour and staying power as one of Hollywood's top movie queens. Her stardom spanned an amazing five decades and included such films as Our Dancing Daughters (1928), Rain (1932), Johnny Guitar (1954), and her Academy Award-winning performance in Mildred Pierce (1945).
Joan Crawford epitomized the essence of the Hollywood rags-to-riches story-a poor shopgirl who, in the 1920s, becomes the very embodiment of America's "flaming youth" and then transcends the role of "dancing daughter" to emerge the heroine of America's favorite melodramas.
In 1978, Christina Crawford, Joan's adopted daughter, wrote Mommie Dearest and shocked the United States with her heart-wrenching story of what it was really like growing up with one of Hollywood's most famous leading ladies. Mommie Dearest was on the New York Times best-seller list for forty-two weeks and was made into a 1981 film star-ring Faye Dunaway.
In 1989, we heard rumors of haunting manifestations in Joan Craw-ford's former home, and Christina seemed genuinely surprised that we knew about the stories.
"Not many people know that the house I grew up in may be haunted. It is not in print anywhere," she said.
When asked if there were manifestations or hauntings that she could remember as a child living there, Christina recounted the following:
I have vivid memories of some things, but when you are severely abused, you tend to block out other things. I'm positive that there were manifestations occurring when I was little. I saw them! There were places in the house that were always so cold that nobody ever wanted to go in them.
As a child, I was always told that I had an active and vivid imagination; I was always scared by things, but people just told me that I just had an "active imagination." Years later, I thought, oh well, maybe that was good to have had an active imagination, and I became a writer because of that.
But as a child, I saw things in the house! There was, of course, no context or framework in which to put what I saw and felt. I had nobody to speak to about the occurrences.
Any time I would become extremely frightened and would get out of my bed to try and find somebody, I was always treated as though I were just being a "bad child" that didn't want to go to sleep. I always expressed my fear to my mother because it was she that I went to find to help me ... because I would be very upset and I'd be crying.
I used to have terrible nightmares and that kind of thing, but a lot of it had to do with the fact that I saw things in the night; so the solution to that finally was just to leave the lights on everywhere. One of the things I saw seemed like an apparition of a child ... or children, but as I said, I may have blotted out a lot.
Christina told us that she had not been back to the house since she was seventeen. "That was when I went to college [in 1956], at which point, Crawford still owned the house."
Christina recalled her last day there:
I remember the woman who had taken care of me and my two younger sisters since I was four years old just watching me, without saying a word. I was going from room to room in the house, without saying anything, just standing in the middle of each room, then going on to the next one. She finally asked me what I was doing. I told her that I would never see this house again, therefore, I was saying goodbye to it.
Many years after I had left, we met again. She was now an elderly woman and had retired. We always had been quite close. She told me she had always remembered the look on my face when I said my goodbyes to the house. It seemed a strange thing to do, to say, 'I'll never see this house again,' when at that time there was absolutely no inkling of the house being sold. In fact, it was not sold for another two and a half to three years, and, indeed, I never have been back.
Christina had learned recently that the current owners of the house had called in the Reverend Rosalyn Bruyere of the Healing Light Center to work with the house:
Rosalyn described what she had seen in the house when she went there. She picked up on some things that astounded me because they seemed to validate what I may have seen and experienced when I was little. It gave me goose bumps when Rosalyn told me that she discovered so many spirits in the house and there had been signs of ritual abuse in one of the rooms. Many of the spirits had "underworld" connections.
I was sent to boarding school when I was ten years old. I came home infrequently after that. I always believed that I was sent away partly because I was too much the eyes and ears to the world--a witness. I saw too much, I guess.
Some of the things that I saw that were going on were very violent. Her [Joan Crawford's] relationship with men, a number of men, was extremely violent. I was getting too old, and I was beginning to understand what was going on.
That house is so weird! Now, evidently, the walls are starting to catch fire! Other people have heard children's cries in the walls! Every single owner has had trouble.
The first one was Crawford. She built the majority of the house. It was a small cottage when she bought it, but most of the house, she built. She sold it to Donald O'Connor, who sold it to the Anthony Newleys. They sold it, I think, to the current owner, who is a friend of the Reverend Rosalyn Bruyere, and they asked her to "work" on the house.
Every single family that has lived in that house has had horrible things happen . . . illnesses, alcoholism, addictions, relationship problems, and now, evidently with the current owner, the walls are breaking out in flames! I've heard that in particular it's the wall that was behind Crawford's bed.
Although the scene is in her book, Mommie Dearest, Christina re-minded us that the last words that Joan Crawford uttered were to a woman who was kneeling at the foot of her bed, praying for her.
"As she was dying," Christina said, "Crawford opened her eyes and said directly to the woman, 'Don't you dare ask God to help me!' ... and then she died." It was such arrogance, Christina said, that she believes is a major part of the difficulty with the seemingly accursed house.
And that has nothing to do with me! So it would not surprise me in the least if the "haunting" spirit that is in the house is Crawford! She was capable of real evil. If you have never experienced that "look" from another human being, it is almost impossible to believe that such an experience could even exist! I think perhaps that's why so many people are unwilling to deal with the shadow side because they can't really get themselves to believe that such a dimension exists.
My brother and I were absolutely terrified of her. In fact, there is a passage in Mommie Dearest that describes ('the look" on her face) when she tried to kill me when I was thirteen. We all saw "that look." My brother and I talked about it extensively ... it was not of an ordinary human being!
Later, we were able to contact the Reverend Rosalyn Bruyere of the Healing Light Center, who kindly agreed to share her thoughts on the manifestations in Joan Crawford's former home.
"It is true that the house was afflicted with spontaneous fires, primarily in the wall behind where Joan Crawford's bed used to be. However, I did not pick up that Joan Crawford's ghost was there."
The Reverend Bruyere expressed her opinion that the house had been poisoned in some way before Crawford had moved into the place but that the evil in the house had added to Joan's neuroses. The actress had apparently built onto a pre-existing cottage in a very chaotic man-ner.
"Nothing is where it should be," Rosalyn commented. "She added dining rooms and hallways that led to other dining rooms. It all combines to form an H-shaped house. Turn a corner and you're lost."
The noted healer, who in this case served as an exorcist to clear the home, said that she found the haunting existing in levels.
"It was a place of conspicuous negativity. I called it an 'Astral Central,' a gathering of spirits that were attracted to the negative vibrations. People had been tied up and tortured in that house. I picked up on gangland figures, corrupt politicians. There is an area in the house where a child [not Christina] had been tortured and molested. Terrible things went on in that house."
The Reverend felt that ghosts themselves were trying to burn the house down.
"Once the Beverly Hills Fire Department spent four days there attempting to solve the mystery of the spontaneous fires that would break out on the walls," she said. "I feel the spirits were trying to burn the house down to protect some horrible secret. There is something hidden there. I am certain that there are bodies buried in that basement."
She said that there had only been one recurrence in the house after she had exorcised and cleared it. "The house had become an astral dumping ground, but it seems clean now."
When we [Brad and Sherry] visited the former Crawford home in the early 1990s, the current owners graciously allowed us to enter to film a segment for an HBO special on haunted Hollywood. The couple told us that they had experienced some mysterious pyrotechnic phenomena and had witnessed quite a number of apparitions of quite a wide variety of entities in various parts of the home. The couple said that the small cottage next to the swimming pool very often seemed to be center of haunting phenomena.
We kept in touch with the couple for quite some time. It was not long after we had filmed in the Crawford home that they decided to move. We have no comment from them whether or not it was because of any haunting phenomena.
It would seem over the past decade that the once haunted mansion of Joan Crawford has found peace, for we have heard of no further ghostly activity occurring in the home.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
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Champion Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Tapped for Autograph Deal, QVC Appearance
PLANTATION, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cole Hamels, the ace starting pitcher and MVP for the World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies, has signed an autograph deal with Mounted Memories, the wholesale division of Dreams, Inc. (AMEX:DRJ - News), through MAB Celebrity Sports.
As part of the deal, Hamels will appear on QVC network for a World Series special on October 31, 2008 scheduled for airing between 8 and 11 pm EST, which will include a full line of 2008 World Series items for sale and a selection of autographed Cole Hamels product. Among the product offered is several framed game-used collectibles from the team’s victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
The deal also includes autographed baseballs, jerseys, bats, photographs and other memorabilia.
“We are thrilled to have Cole on the Mounted Memories roster of outstanding athletes,” said Mitch Adelstein, company president. “The World Series was so exciting this year, and Cole Hamels was an integral part of the Phillies’ success. We look forward to working with Cole to bring Phillies fans across the country memorabilia through the QVC World Series special.” Adelstein worked directly with MAB Celebrity Sports, the four-year old New Jersey- based show promoter and sports marketing agency.
Hamels has recorded 14 wins this season, and went 4-0 in the post season. He has a 3.09 ERA and was also named the MVP of the NLCS by going 2-0 in the series with a 1.93 ERA, winning the series clincher on October 16, 2008 in Los Angeles.
Joaquin Phoenix, who turned 34 years old just yesterday, stunned E! Online reporter Jason Kennedy with the announcement that he would be retiring from acting. The two-time Oscar nominee stated this on the red carpet at a Monday benefit for the Association of Hole in the Wall Camps, a charity founded by Paul Newman.
Phoenix said that "Two Lovers," his upcoming romantic drama with Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw, will be his final on-screen role.
"This will be my last performance as an actor. I'm not doing films anymore... I've been through that. I've done it... I'm dead serious."
Phoenix is apparently giving up acting to pursue music, a passion of his since he learned to play guitar to play the role of Johnny Cash in 2005's "Walk the Line." According to Billboard, Phoenix is working on an album with Tim Burgess, frontman for the UK group The Charlatans. Burgess said, "Once he learnt guitar he found that he had quite a lot of demons inside himself that he wanted to expel through music. Phoenix appeared at the charity event on Monday with his brother-in-law, Casey Affleck. Affleck is married to Phoenix's younger sister, Summer. In explaining his retirement decision, Phoenix said, "It's Casey's time now."
Affleck confirmed for E! Online that Phoenix is telling the truth when he says he's leaving the acting profession, saying, "I guess he's getting into music. He's putting out an album." But both Affleck and Phoenix hurried away from the cameras without elaborating.
"Two Lovers," Phoenix's final film, premiered earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival to mostly positive reviews. Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter writes, "Phoenix plays the romantic lead with great intelligence and enormous charm, making his character's conflict utterly believable." The picture is scheduled for release on February 13th, 2009. So far there is no word on when Phoenix's first album will hit shelves.
Ringo Starr has apparently backtracked on his announcement that he would no longer sign autographs for fans.
The former Beatles drummer has apologised for the grumpy video message he posted on his website and according to The Times has said he will consider giving his signature when "on tour or engaged in any promotions".
Ringo's representatives describe him as "an extremely charitable human being".
The 68-year-old musician came under fire from fans after he posted a video message titled Sorry, No More Signing Stuff on his official website.
Ringo, wearing sunglasses and flashing the peace sign at the camera, announced: "This is a serious message to everybody watching my update right now. Peace and love. Peace and love.
"I want to tell you after the 20th of October please do not send fan mail to any address you have. Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October. If that is the date on the envelope, it's gonna be tossed.
"I'm warning you with peace and love I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing.
You’ve checked into the Beverly Hills Roosevelt hotel, donned your chicest outfit, and are ready to hit Tinseltown. On your way out, you stop to admire your fresh look in a lobby mirror when eerily, you see a ghostly figure next to your reflection — that of the world-famous blond, Marilyn Monroe.
Tales of haunted hotels abound, of course, especially in older establishments like the Roosevelt. Usually, the haunting spirit is that of a random person — someone who died there, perhaps, or someone who simply doesn’t want to check out. But some of these hotel spooks — like Sid Vicious, Anna Nicole Smith, and Marilyn (who’s specter has also been reported at Lake Tahoe’s Cal Neva Resort) — became famous before their deaths. And conveniently, some of them inhabit easily booked hotels.
So who are these A-listers who have come back from the great beyond to haunt hotels? Elvis Presley, for one. People all over the world have laid claim to seeing the still-living King, of course, but his spirit is popular, too. It’s been spotted in his old performance space at the Las Vegas Hilton — just waiting, perhaps, to do one more show.
Another singer, Janis Joplin, has a different kind of connection to the hotel she’s said to haunt. It was in the Landmark Hotel (now the Highland Gardens Hotel) in Los Angeles that she died of an overdose in 1970.
Naturally, some hotels don’t like to discuss the celebrities — either living or dead — who stay with them. The Roosevelt maintains that their hotel isn’t haunted by anyone, celebrity or otherwise. And the Algonquin Hotel — where writer Dorothy Parker is said to lurk — says it has no documented occurrences of a haunting.
As with any unexplained phenomena, there are more rumors than documented cases. So perhaps these celebrity spirits don’t exist, and the sightings have proliferated because diehard fans don’t want to accept that their beloved star is gone. But maybe there’s some truth to them. After all, why would so many guests insist that what they saw was real?
Regardless, there’s nothing more exhilarating than a spirit surprise around Halloween — especially if it’s a star from days gone by. So grab your Ouija board, pick a hotel, and prepare for an Academy Award–winning ghost hunt.
H.G. Wells wrote that Mary Pickford was "his life-long devotion", Thomas Edison dedicated his entry to "the sweetheart of the Americas" and Benito Mussolini simply signed his name and the date, May 10, 1926.
More than 120 famous names from 1926 to 1981 signed the silent film star's personal autograph book, which is among more than 750 lots from the Pickford estate going up for auction for the first time in November.
"These books contain the Who's Who of the 1920s and 1930s," said auctioneer Darren Julien of the autograph book and two leather bound guest books signed by visitors to the Pickfair mansion in Beverly Hills shared by Pickford and actor Douglas Fairbanks.
Pickford's autograph book, which also includes dedications from playwright George Bernard Shaw, aviator Amelia Earhart, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and car maker Henry Ford, carries a pre-sale estimate of $6,000-8,000.
But Julien said he thought the book could fetch five times that much at the November 22-23 auction.
"These people came to Pickfair and when Mary traveled she would take the book with her to get autographed. Those books are probably the most valuable and rare autograph books that I've ever seen come up for auction," Julien told Reuters.
He said that in 2006, a collection of 20 love letters written by Fairbanks to Pickford were sold for almost $30,000.
Dinnerware from parties thrown by the Hollywood couple for royalty and the leading minds of the times are also up for sale along with paintings that once graced the walls of Pickfair, as well as furniture, photos and jewelry.
Julien said the auction contained the biggest collection to date from the Pickfair estate, where the screen star of Hollywood's Golden Age lived with Fairbanks and later her third husband, musician Buddy Rogers, for more than 50 years before her death in 1979.
The Pickfair estate, which has changed hands several times since Pickford's death and was rebuilt in the 1990s, was put up for sale in September with a $60 million asking price.
The items in the November auction come from the collection of Buddy Rogers which was passed to his heirs. It is expected to raise a total of $400,000-$600,000.
"Even though these are difficult times, a lot of our investors look at these as better investments than stocks or Wall Street right now.
"Collectors know Pickford's place in history. Before now, nobody was able to come in and pull these items out," Julien said.
Before the auction, which will be held live, televised and online by Julien's Auctions, highlights of the sale will go on public exhibit at the Beverly Hilton hotel from Nov 17-21.
This article by AutographAlert.com reports on JSA authenticating a pre-printed signature and the continued ridiculous mistakes made by third-party authenticators.
AutographAlert.com quotes "Some collectors/dealers believe the existence of incompetent autograph authenticators have already done as much harm to the hobby as the autograph forgers. After all millions upon millions of dollars have been spent by collectors who purchased non-genuine autographs based on COA's issued by authenticating companies. The average Joe will complain about being ripped off by being scammed by an auto repair shop yet there are still some people who want you to look the other way after you paid for an autograph that came with an inaccurate autograph authenticating companies COA."
Mia Kirshner, star of The L Word, will be signing copies of her book I Live Here at the following locations:
10/28/08 7:30 PM at Powell’s Books - West Burnside. Portland, OR. 10/29/08 7:30 PM at Books Inc. - Market Street. San Francisco, CA. 10/30/08 7:00 PM at Book Passage - Tamal Vista Blvd. Corte Madera, CA. 11/1/08 7:30 PM at Bookshop Santa Cruz – Pacific Avenue. Santa Cruz, CA. 11/6/08 7:00 PM at Vroman’s Bookstore - East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA. 11/14/08 7:00 PM at Harvard Books – Massachusetts Avenue. Boston, MA. 11/17/08 7:00 PM at Book People - North Lamar. Austin, TX.
Last Sunday it was Jackson Browne and today it was another music legend.
I met up with Graham Nash at 3:40 p.m. as he departed the Hilton Hotel in Springfield, Illinois, to board his tour bus and travel to his sold out Crosby-Nash concert at Sangamon Auditorium on the campus of the University of Illinois-Springfield. As he exited the elevator, Nash walked over to our group, said hello, and told us he'd sign one autograph per person. He placed a beautiful silver signature on a single shot from the current tour. Nash has a very long, free-flowing signature and it stretched across the top of the 8 x 10. After signing, he gladly posed for this photograph before grabbing his rolling luggage to head out the door.
I wasn't so fortunate with David Crosby. However, it wasn't much of a surprise. He's one of the toughest autographs in the music business and today was no exception. A few minutes after Nash left, Crosby arrived in the lobby accompanied by his tour manager. Without missing a step, he quickly said, "thanks, guys," and made his way out the front door. At least it was a better escounter than another collector experienced in Washington, D.C., recently when he was doused by Crosby's coffee as he attempted to get a signature.
Martha Stewart, cooking and design personality, will be signing copies of her book Martha Stewart's Cooking School: Lessons for the Home Cook at the following locations:
10/29/08 6:00 PM at Borders Books – Woodward. Birmingham, MI. 10/30/08 4:00 PM at The Book Stall - Elm Street. Winnetka, IL. 11/9/08 4:00 PM at Vroman’s Bookstore - East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA. 11/10/08 10:30 AM at Barnes & Noble – Americana Way. Glendale, CA. 11/11/08 1:00 PM at Sur La Table – Travis Street. Dallas, TX.
The secret to pampering celebrities is simple, says Rob Prohaska, sales manager at the Trump International Tower & Hotel Chicago: “You overwhelm them with hospitality and kindness.”
But keep your distance.
And no asking for autographs.
“They need an oasis to get away from it all,” says Prohaska, who made his name attracting the rich and famous to Sofitel Chicago Water Tower, and moved over to Trump a year ago. “Give them space, but make sure the things they like are taken care of.”
Catering to a celebrity's idiosyncrasies means going the extra mile and more, he says. For instance, one star loves, just loves, carrot juice. So when he arrives for a stay, the suite's refrigerator is stocked with the very best of carrots, and a juicer is right there on the kitchen counter.
Although condo sales at Trump International have been slower than expected, the hotel occupying the middle floors of the 92-story structure at 401 N. Wabash Ave. is going full-out to entice the boldface names of celebritydom.
With the tower all but complete, Trump is poised to become a major force in the Stars War as Chicago's hostelries jockey for the patronage of the rich and famous. And the battle over the Jennifer Anistons and George Clooneys of the world will grow even more intense next year when yet another luxury inn, the Elysian Hotel and Private Residences, opens at 11 E. Walton St.
But Prohaska's boss, the ever-grandiloquent Donald Trump, says the battle is already over.
“Any major celebrity who goes to Chicago is going to stay at Trump,” says the man who describes himself, twice, as “the biggest celebrity in the world” in a telephone interview. “We don't compete for celebrity business. We get them automatically.”
Trump hubris aside, veterans of Chicago's hospitality wars aren't quaking in their Guccis.
“Sometimes you may have people who try something else,” says Terri Hickey, Four Seasons public-relations director. “In the end, they'll come back for our service. Competition is healthy. It makes us all better.”
At the Ritz-Carlton, public-relations director Susan Maier says, “We feel there's room for everyone.”
All the hotels in the celebrity sweepstakes have specialists to drum up business – as politely and deferentially as possible, of course. At Trump, it's Prohaska and entertainment sales manager Stephanie Parisoli-Nieszel.
“You make yourself available 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Prohaska says. “You give out your cell phone number. If you get a call at 3 in the morning from a celebrity who has a sudden change in plans, you deal with it.”
On a recent sunny weekday afternoon, Prohaska opens the door to Suite 2600 in the hotel, and explains that, when he escorts some Big Name to the room, he speaks little if not spoken to.
“A lot of times, they're on their cell phone, or they have an engagement to get to,” he says.
The $1,600-a-night suite – no surprise – features the sort of high-end accouterments that the wealthy and coddled expect – a Sub-Zero refrigerator, a Miele stove and dishwasher, Bernardaud china, Uba Tuba granite countertops, an espresso coffee maker with 12 types of beans, and a bottle of Bling H2O.
And, given the Trump Tower's location on the north bank of the Chicago River, it has a view of the city that is both expansive and intimate.
“Look at the Wrigley Building clock tower,” Prohaska says, pointing to the clock face, long emblematic of the city, directly across a few hundred feet of open air. “You can see that tall ship there out on the lake. Look at the river. It looks like the Chicago River flows right beneath the property. There's nowhere else in the city you can get this view.”
Fine accommodations, beautiful views and carrot juicers, though, aren't enough.
“In the celebrity market,” Prohaska says, “you need to be out in L.A. You need to be going to the movie studios. You need to be talking to the clients. It's networking with the right people. It's immersing yourself in the inner circle, because it's all word of mouth.”
The right people aren't just the stars themselves, but their people. “The personal assistants are the real drivers,” he says.
Those aides are the ones who have to come up with a private airplane or a special meal or whatever at a moment's notice, and Prohaska says, “The people they work for don't accept 'I couldn't make it happen.' ”
So they turn to people such as Prohaska and his staff.
“They need to know someone they can trust,” he says.
In July, 2003, Kenny Chesney was getting ready to perform at Country Concert in Fort Loramie, Ohio. He was shaking hands, signing autographs, and posing for pictures with squealing fans. When they were gone, he turned to me and confided, "I'm sick as a dog, man."
Chesney wasn't a close personal friend, but I got closer than many journalists could get to the rising star. I interviewed him several times and knew that he wasn't sleeping well. He was worried about getting another album to stores to capitalize on his breakout album, "No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems," which sold more than 4 million copies.
An hour later, despite a severe head cold, Chesney took the stage and gave one of those magical performances that has made him country's top-selling concert attraction. Seven months later, he released "When the Sun Goes Down," another 4 million-seller that cemented his status as a superstar.
It's been a while since I talked to Kenny, but I'm pretty sure he hasn't changed too much. He's a nice guy who cares deeply about his fans and his music. He's also sensitive and reflective. There's nothing he likes better than getting away to the Caribbean and digging his toes in the sand, contemplating life.
I'm not surprised that Chesney's latest album, "Lucky Old Sun," is an emotionally raw album - several of the tracks were inspired by his 2005 divorce from Renee Zellweger. I have no problem with Chesney writing about personal pain. Country music's strength is often derived from the vulnerability of its stars.
But I am surprised that Chesney seems to be losing touch with his fans. They want to feel his vulnerability in a context they can relate to, and Chesney is making it harder and harder for them to do that.
Typical country music fans understand heartbreak, but they probably doesn't understand healing a broken heart while floating aboard a yacht in the Caribbean or drinking away problems at an ocean-side bar.
Chesney's fans know he loves the island life, but he bashes them over the head with it in "Lucky Old Sun." Most of the 11 tracks on the album mention the sand or the ocean. It's tough to get a factory worker who just lost a job in Toledo to feel sorry for you when you say you're trying to find yourself while walking on an exotic beach.
Yes, the first single, "Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven," went to No. 1. And yes, the album debuted atop the Billboard 200 albums chart. But there are warning signs for Chesney.
This album sold 176,000 copies the first week in stores. That's not even half the 387,000 Chesney sold during the first week for his last album, "Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates." In fact, it's the worst-selling debut for Chesney since "Everywhere We Go" sold 30,000 copies in 1999. Some of the weak total is attributable to the economy, but it's still an alarming drop.
"Everybody Wants to Go to Heaven" is one of those fun Chesney songs. And "Ten with a Two" is a beer-drinking song that lots of guys will chuckle at, but after that, it's hard to find many cuts that will connect with fans.
We always loved Kenny's music because he felt like one of us. Now, he's feeling more and more like a stranger.
In our online poll this week, we asked: "Do you think celebrities should be obligated to respond to fans' requests for autographs, etc."
A total of 32 per cent of voters said they expected celebrities to respond to fans who request autographs or the like.
Seems 28 per cent of voters have a sense of humour and marked off the box indicating "Don't bother me, I'm signing autographs."
Twenty-two per cent felt celebrities should have to waste their time on the little people, while 18 per cent said Ringo Starr is just plain rude for refusing to sign autographs.
If the crotchety video post on his website is to be believed, from this week on Ringo Starr will be signing nothing. No autographs. No "objects". Nada. Zilch. All fan mail will be cast unopened into the fire or, since he is now claiming it's all in the name of cutting his carbon footprint, one hopes it will be recycled responsibly in an appropriate way. Although admittedly nobody has ever made the words "peace and love" sound more like "curl up and die", the general condemnation of the announcement that he will never again scribble his name on to bits of paper for total strangers perplexes me. What is it with this whole autograph thing? Aren't they just a slightly tragic symptom of the belief that celebrities are from Mars and the rest of us are from somewhere more down to earth like, er, Earth?
There seems to be an incredible mystique surrounding the power of autographs. Somebody once asked me for mine simply because I'd been standing near a musician they adored. At the time, as well as slightly creeping me out, it brought to mind that bit in the bible (Luke 8:43, in fact) where an ailing old woman is magically healed by kissing the hem of Jesus' cloak, and then goes off on her merry way. Seeing as 200 pounds of bodyguard stands between your lips and the hem of, say, Mick Jagger's jacket, autographs have become the accepted modern day alternative. Really though, they're just as absurd, if not more so given that the media-made messiahs of today don't even claim to have spurted forth from divine loins, well at least most of them don't. And, well, as far as I know nobody has ever miraculously gained guitar skills after having their copy of Appetite for Destruction signed by Slash (although a lot of people who've come into contact with Axl Rose do seem to be complete tossers).
All this magic translates into money. £22,800 probably can't buy you love, but it will get you an LP of A Hard Day's Night signed by all four of the Beatles. According to Katherine Williams, the popular culture specialist at Christie's auction house, a photo signed by the band is yours for just six grand. If it's just Ringo's though, it is apparently only worth a pitiful £150. Even so, if you put one Ringo Starr to work, sweatshop-style, signing 30 autographs per hour, 12 hours a day, then in an average eight-day week you could make £432,000 out of your celebrity cash cow. Live 8 could have raised far more using this technique - what on earth was Geldof thinking?
Of course, manna and money aren't all there is to it, otherwise only drummers and memorabilia wide-boys would ever have wanted Ringo's autograph, and as one wise-guy once cracked, "He wasn't even the best drummer in the Beatles". So you tell me, have you ever hunted down an autograph? Why? What are you meant to do with the damn thing when you've got it? Frame it? Sell it? Eat it? I'm intrigued.
Bob Weir & Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead arrive to the side entrance for an autograph signing at Best Buy in New York City, where they stopped to autograph a guitar.
U.S. actor and director Al Pacino signs autographs as he arrives on the red carpet for his movie "Chinese Coffee" at Rome's Film Festival October 22, 2008
A career award for Oscar-winning actor Al Pacino kicks off the Rome film festival on Wednesday, bringing a Hollywood veteran to the movie showcase which this year has a markedly European flavour.
Pacino will receive the award on behalf of New York's Actors Studio and will take questions from members of the public -- a trademark feature of the Rome festival where audiences get to meet their favourite stars.
The 68-year old, who comes from a family of Italian immigrants to America, was nominated for an Oscar several times for films like "The Godfather," "Serpico" and "Dog Day Afternoon."
He won the golden statuette once, as best actor for his portrayal of a blind man in "Scent of a Woman" (1992).
Currently he is on the big screen with "Righteous Kill," where he and Robert De Niro play two veteran cops on the trail of a serial killer in a film that was panned by the critics.
The opening film of the Rome festival, which runs through October 31, is "L'Uomo Che Ama" (The Man Who Loves), an Italian love drama starring Monica Bellucci premiering on Thursday.
Five other home-grown films are in the main 20-title competition, alongside Britain's "Easy Virtue," which is based on a Noel Coward play and stars Colin Firth and Kristin Scott Thomas, and French drama "The Sea Wall," with Isabelle Huppert.
Only one U.S. movie -- cop drama "Pride and Glory," with Colin Farrell and Edward Norton -- is in the main contest.
Other highlights include "8," a collection of eight short films inspired by the U.N. Millennium Development Goals on poverty by eight acclaimed directors -- among them Gus Van Sant, Jane Campion and Wim Wenders.
Madonna signing autographs upon her departure at the premiere of her movie "Filth and Wisdom" on October 13th, 2008 at the Sunshine Theatre in New York City. Since she will be living full time in NYC as a result of her split with Guy Ritchie, hopefully she will be more accessible to collectors.
"High School Musical" fans (and their parents), take note: Zac Efron and gang are more than happy to autograph photos, scraps of paper, hamburger wrappers and what-have-you.
But there is a right way and wrong way to go about asking. Namely:
DON'T follow them into the bathroom.
"I think being asked for an autograph while you're at the urinal is definitely one of the oddest experiences," "HSM" cast member Corbin Bleu says.
DON'T think this is just a boys-room phenomenon.
"I was at an In-N-Out in Glendale," Ashley Tisdale says. "I was in the bathroom, and they put their napkins under the stall."
DO be polite.
"Manners go a long way," Bleu says. "Sometimes you meet really aggressive people. If someone gets in your face, you just want to head - run - to the door."
DON'T try to pull the old bait-and-switch.
Says "HSM" writer Peter Barsocchini: "Teenage guys will come up to Vanessa and say, `Can you sign this for my little sister?' `Sure. What's her name?' `Frank.' "
DON'T get too personal.
"I was in Valencia (Town Center) doing a signing, and I snuck off to Sisley (Italian Kitchen)," Tisdale recalls. "I was eating in a corner and a mom came up with five of her kids and the mom says, `My daughter wants a bite of your salad.'
"The daughter was so embarrassed. Oh my gosh. How weird to be teaching your children to go up to someone and go, `I want a bite of your salad.' `(I said) I'll give her my autograph, but I'm not going to give her some of my salad."
An autograph signing featuring two Oilers players left some fans shaking their heads at having to pay $25 for the quick scribble.
"I actually had a buddy that came here and he actually left because he had to pay $25 to get just an autograph," said Oilers fan Byron Hall Sunday at the Polish Veterans' Hall.
He was one of many fans who paid the $6 to get into the Edmonton sports collectibles show, where Sam Gagner and Andrew Cogliano sat at a table and signed their names for $25 a pop.
"It's a touchy subject," Hall added when asked how he felt about having to pay for the two young players' autographs. "It's kind of bad ... they could do it for free."
Hall and Christie Frost paid the price, but said it was not worth it "for the five seconds," it took the players.
"You pay enough for the damn tickets," Frost said.
It's not clear where the money was going, but several people working the event -- who didn't want to be identified -- confirmed that it wasn't for a charity.
The show was put on by Bossa Shows and AJ Sportsworld was in charge of the signing.
Cogliano and Gagner were to sign between 1 and 2 p.m., but left moments after 1:45 p.m.
Both players' base salaries are over $800,000 per year.
At the time, Cogliano said the signing was part of his contract with AJ Sportsworld, but declined to comment further after being told not to talk to media.
Gagner, looking at the table in front of him and slumping his shoulders, declined to answer.
Also on Sunday, Management from AJ Sportsworld refused to be interviewed.
A worker speaking on behalf of AJ Sportsworld said: "They have expenses (and) the players have expenses."
That explanation didn't sit well with some fans.
"You figure they could maybe do the community kind of a solid and show up for the kids kind of thing," said Oilers fan Derek Paton, who was at the event wearing a team jersey.
"I guess like anything else it's big business. I just hope they balance it some ways. They go to a place like this, they get paid for signings like this and hopefully they stick around maybe the rink after and do it the other way, too. Do it the old-fashioned way."
Yesterday, the two Oilers said they weren't aware of the signing fee at the outset.
"We thought we were doing the right thing," said Gagner, surrounded by reporters in the dressing room after practice yesterday.
"At first we weren't aware that everybody was being charged that amount.
"When we found out it was like 'What can we do? We can't leave now.' "
But Cogliano said he wouldn't normally charge for an autograph in a fan setting.
"This was more for guys who get things signed and sell them," said Cogliano.
"That's why people do these shows. These things happen all the time."
For our Spy Who Loved Me - The Reunion event at Pinewood on October 19th, we commisioned a 16 page full colour programme. The programme was only available at the event and is sure to become a collectors item. Order now as we only have very limited stock remaining.
Features Include:
*In At The Deep End - Alan Hume recalls filming the most famous Bond pre-title suquence *Keeping The British End up - Matthew Field takes us on a journey from script to screen in this 5 page special on the making of The Spy Who Loved Me *Is There A Mechanic In The House - Publicist John Willis recalls his time helping promote The Spy Who Loved Me and two of 007’s most famous gadgets
The price of each programme is £12 which includes worldwide postage and packing.
If you would like to pay by cheque or postal order (UK Customers only) please make it payable to Bondstars Dot Com and send it to:
I finally got to meet one of pop music's most gifted singer/songwriters this afternoon in St. Louis, Missouri.
Jackson Browne, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, stopped to take this photograph and chat about autographs as he departed the Westin Hotel at 3:30 p.m. for his concert tonight at the Fox Theater. Browne was more than happy to pose for the camera, however, he said he just doesn't sign autographs anymore. He said too much ends up on Ebay and in other places. Jackson told a story about a recent visit to New York for promotion work on his new compact disk. He was met by the same collectors in all four places he stopped one morning. He was polite and understanding in his discussion with some other autograph collectors today, but stuck to his guns when it came to not signing. I was just tickled that he stopped to take a photo and chat. I actually think he would have chatted longer if not for having to talk about autographs.
Earlier in the day, comedian Steven Wright stopped to take a picture with me as he departed Lambert St. Louis International Airport for a flight to Boston. I almost didn't recognize Steven with his beard, bushy hair, and Emerson College cap.
Ronald Reagan and Nelle Reagan Autograph Mystery Uncovered by Patricia Claren, Stephen Koschal and Ron Werntz is taking the hobby by storm. One book reviewer stated: "Hot diggity! Much to my delight, I received in today's mail the copy of your newest work.....which I truly appreciate. It will of course become a valued addition to our reference library....I hope your study will help scale back the incredible shenanigans taking place on the autograph market with early Reagan material....I'm thrilled to see a worthy book out on this neglected topic....Bill Butts, Galena, Il."
In deed it already has! The 70 page study written by veteran autograph dealers Patricia Claren, Stephen Koschal and collector Ron Werntz has already changed the autograph community. Of the five collections/items discussed in the study, three have already basically been removed from either sale or from display. The fourth is privately owned and the fifth is in the collection of author Ron Werntz.
One dealers who read the book stated: "after finishing this study there is no way anyone would ever be fooled purchasing a Reagan letter that was written for him by his mother.." Another reader commented: "this study is going to save a lot of collectors and dealers a lot of money...."
This book has been carefully laid out as an educational study. The authors begin with several pages of handwritten letters by Nelle Reagan. This gives the reader an excellent chance to get familiar with her handwriting.
In Chapter Two, illustrated is a handwritten letter being offered by a dealer as written and signed by Ronald Reagan. The letter has excellent content and is being offered for $10,000. Readers of this study should now be able to determine that all the letters in Chapter One were written by the same hand as the $10,000 letter. The $10,000 letter has been on the market for two years. Since this study was published, the letter has been removed from the dealers web site.
The next few Chapters describe different collections of letters which were believed to be written by Ronald Reagan, one which was purchased for $500,000. Chapter Seven illustrates genuine letters, documents and signatures of Ronald Reagan that have been signed over a span of 40 years. This gives the reader a chance to be familiar with Ronald Reagan's handwriting.
Chapter Eight, a most important chapter, covers a seven page handwriting comparison and analysis of the writing of Ronald Reagan and Nelle Reagan.
Chapter Nine covers the handwriting of Ronald Reagan's sister-in-law Bessie Reagan. Bessie was answering mail for Ronald Reagan as early as August 1949 and was still answering some of his mail during the late 1950's and early 1960's.
One collector who has read this Reagan study said it best: "No one should by a letter reportedly written by Ronald Reagan until they read this study."
The study was published only in a limited, individually numbered edition, hand signed by all three authors. Cost is only $13.00 which includes shipping to address in the United States. This invaluable study can be ordered through one of the authors.
Patricia Claren P.O. Box 311061 Miami, FL 33231 USA
Except for their divorce papers, an East Side doorman may have the last thing Yankees star Alex Rodriguez and his ex-wife, Cynthia, signed together - and it's for sale.
Ronald Trinidad has a ball the Yankees slugger and his blond wife signed for him a year ago, and he's hawking it for $3,500 on eBay.
"I've always had an interest in signatures and athletes," said Trinidad, a 39-year-old autograph hound who lives in Queens. "I constantly carry around one or two baseballs."
He said he ran into the couple Oct. 12, 2007 - he remembers because it's his wife's birthday - on the upper East Side and asked the slugger to sign the ball.
"[Alex Rodriguez] signed it first and she was about 20 feet from him. I asked him if Cynthia would mind signing it and he said it wouldn't be a problem," Trinidad recalled.
"As she was writing, he said, 'No, I'm just kidding,' and she pulled the pen off the ball and he started to laugh."
Trinidad said Cynthia Rodriguez told him it was the first time anyone had asked her to autograph a baseball, so he had her write "1/1" under her signature. He described her as "very polite," even though their marriage already was crumbling.
Dinesh Allah, of James Spence Authentication, said the autographs are for real.
Trinadad said he'll donate the proceeds from the sale of the ball and some other memorabilia, including a basketball signed by NBA star LeBron James and a baseball autographed by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, to a breast cancer charity.
He and his wife will pick the charity in December and issue the check through Sign for Hope, an informal organization they started to benefit breast cancer foundations.
"I lost my mother to breast cancer," he said. "She battled it for 12 years."
Edie Adams, the Tony award-winning actress and singer who was perhaps best known to a generation of television viewers as the seductive commercial spokeswoman for Muriel Cigars, has died. She was 81.
Adams, the widow of the legendary comedian Ernie Kovacs, died Wednesday at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center of complications from pneumonia and cancer, according to her son, Josh Mills.
The sultry redhead (and sometimes blond) won a Tony in 1957 for her portrayal of Daisy Mae in the musical version of Al Capp's cartoon "Li'l Abner" and was an accomplished film actress. Her credits included "The Apartment" with Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine and Fred MacMurray, "Lover Come Back" with Doris Day and Rock Hudson, "The Best Man" with Cliff Robertson, and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," the Stanley Kramer production that featured a who's who of outstanding comedians and comedic actors.
But it was the seductive line she delivered as a spokeswoman for Muriel Cigars -- "Why don't you pick one up and smoke it sometime?"-- from the late 1950s that brought her lasting fame.
Adams was born Elizabeth Edith Enke on April 16, 1927, in Kingston, Pa. She grew up in Grove City, Pa., and Tenafly, N.J., and studied singing and piano at the Juilliard School in New York.
Doors opened for her after she was booked on Arthur Godfrey's "Talent Scouts." Although she lost the competition, a television director who was watching the show liked what he saw and signed her in July 1951 to become the featured singer on a show originating from Philadelphia that starred Kovacs.
Unrehearsed and uninhibited, the Kovacs show was live television at its best and most unpredictable. Critics called it "wacky and zany," and it soon moved to New York to become a morning show for CBS called "Kovacs Unlimited." Adams went along to do the singing and acting as the straight-man for Kovacs.
Later that year, Adams was signed for the role of Eileen in the Broadway production of Leonard Bernstein's musical comedy "Wonderful Town." The show, based on the 1940 comedy "My Sister Eileen," opened to excellent reviews for the production and for Adams.
Writing in the New York Times, critic Brooks Atkinson noted: "Miss Adams moves through this elusive character with the greatest of ease, keeping it fresh and sweet and adding just enough worldliness to make it palatable."
A few years later, she was billed as Edith Adams and played Daisy Mae in the Johnny Mercer/Gene de Paul musical "Li'l Abner," that also featured Stubby Kaye and Julie Newmar. It became a great commercial hit on Broadway.
Kovacs and Adams eloped to Mexico City and married in 1954. Although Kovacs was wildly popular, with his shows appearing on CBS, NBC and the Dumont Network, he was also wild with his money. After his death in a car accident in Los Angeles in 1962, Adams found herself about $500,000 in debt, much of it to the Internal Revenue Service.
"A half a million dollars was a lot of money then," she told The Times in 1989, "and filing bankruptcy is just not in my family heritage."
Working seemingly nonstop as an entertainer, she headlined at nightclubs around the country, recorded albums, starred in her own television series on ABC and appeared in a string of theatrical productions including "Nunsense," a female version of Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple," as well as "Sweet Bird of Youth," "Hello, Dolly," "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and "Annie Get Your Gun."
She cleared up the debt in about five years and also came to terms with the idea that her lasting claim to fame would be as a pitch woman.
According to her son, Kovacs was selling Dutch Master cigars on television when Adams was asked to take on the slimmer Muriel line.
The company "gave her a lot of leeway in creating the commercials and she basically crafted them herself, appearing with jazz saxophonist Stan Getz in one and with a barbershop quartet in another," her son told The Times on Thursday.
And while she tried to make the commercial character a cartoon sex symbol, dressing in slinky gowns and high heels, people were actually taking it very seriously.
Over the last decade, she had remained busy restoring and preserving the videotapes and kinescopes of Kovacs' television work, much of which is now available on DVD. She chronicled her life with the comedian in the book "Sing a Pretty Song."
Of all of her work, however, her son said, appearing in “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” with Ethel Merman, Terry Thomas, Sid Caesar and Jonathan Winters was perhaps her fondest memory, since it was filmed just after the death of Kovacs.
"She was able to laugh again for the first time," said Mills, her son from her marriage to photographer Martin Mills. That marriage ended in divorce as did her third marriage, to jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli, who died in January.
Her daughter, Mia Kovacs, died in an automobile accident in 1982, also in Los Angeles.
Renowned French chef Jacques Pepin was in University City, Missouri, (St. Louis suburb) last night to sign copies of his newest book, Jacques Pepin: More Fast Food My Way. The signing took place at COCA and followed a one hour talk about all things food. In addition to books, Pepin signed a couple of 8 x 10 promotional shots for me and a magazine article from last month's edition of Men's Vogue. He hadn't seen the article in print and enjoyed looking at the layout and photos. He made sure to tell me about his dog, Paco, who was sitting patiently in the photo while he prepared some wild bird.
About 20 minutes and just three blocks away, I scored this signed album from rock and roll legend Chuck Berry. Berry performs (including his famous "duck walk") monthly at Blueberry Hill in U City. He signed for me and three others just after he parked his car in the venue's tiny parking lot. While Berry does not take photos with fans (he'll stop signing if he sees a camera), he does sign at least one item for everyone waiting. And, if he really likes the item you have, he'll add a "smiley face" to his signature.
Millvina Dean was only 2 months old when she was wrapped in a sack and lowered into a lifeboat from the doomed Titanic. Now 96, the last survivor of the tragic sinking is selling mementos of the disaster to help pay her nursing home fees.
Rescued from the bitterly cold Atlantic on that April 1912 night, Dean, her 2-year-old brother and her mother were taken to New York with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Before returning home to England, they were given a small wicker suitcase of donated clothing, a gift from New Yorkers to help them rebuild their lives.
Now, Dean is selling the suitcase and other Titanic mementos to help pay her nursing home fees. They are expected to go for $5,200 at an auction of Titanic memorabilia Saturday in Devizes in western England.
Among the items are rare prints of the Titanic and letters from the Titanic Relief Fund offering her mother one pound, seven shillings and sixpence a week in compensation.
But the key item in the sale is the suitcase, said auctioneer Andrew Aldridge. "They would have carried their little world in this suitcase," he said Thursday.
Dean has lived at Woodlands Ridge, a private nursing home in the southern city of Southampton — Titanic's home port — since she broke her hip two years ago.
"I am not able to live in my home anymore," Dean was quoted as telling the Southern Daily Echo newspaper. "I am selling it all now because I have to pay these nursing home fees and am selling anything that I think might fetch some money."
A spokeswoman for Woodlands Ridge said Dean was too tired Thursday to speak to The Associated Press.
She said rooms at the nursing home cost between $1,000 and $1,550 a week, depending on the level of care the resident needs, but declined to discuss Dean's situation, saying it was a private matter.
Although Britain has a free health care system, private providers offer more comprehensive services for a fee. In the case of nursing homes, state-run facilities are available and cost much less than private ones. But they are more spartan and offer fewer amenities, such as shared rooms and no private TVs.
Local authorities often pay a portion of the costs of private nursing home care based on an individual's assets; anyone with more than $39,000 in assets has to pay their own fees.
In 1912, baby Elizabeth Gladys "Millvina" Dean and her family were steerage passengers emigrating to Kansas City, Mo., aboard the Titanic.
Four days out of port, on the night of April 14, 1912, it hit an iceberg and sank. Billed as "practically unsinkable" by the publicity magazines of the period, the Titanic did not have enough lifeboats for all 2,200 passengers and crew.
Dean, her mother Georgetta and brother Bertram Jr. were among 706 people — mostly women and children — who were rescued by the steamship Carpathia and survived. Her father, Bertram Dean, was among more than 1,500 who died.
Dean did not know she had been aboard the Titanic until she was 8 years old, when her mother, who was about to remarry, told her about her father's death.
She has no memories of the sinking and said she preferred it that way.
"I wouldn't want to remember, really," she told The Associated Press in a 1997 interview.
Dean said she had seen the 1958 film, "A Night to Remember," with other survivors, but found it so upsetting that she declined to watch any other movies about the disaster, including the 1997 blockbuster "Titanic," starring Leonardo Di Caprio and Kate Winslet.
Dean began to take part in Titanic-related activities in the 1980s, and was active well into her 90s. She visited Belfast, Northern Ireland, to see where the ship was built, attended Titanic conventions around the world — where she was mobbed by autograph-seekers — and participated in radio and television documentaries about the sinking.
The last American survivor of the disaster, Lillian Asplund, died in 2006 at the age of 99. Another British survivor, Barbara Joyce West Dainton, died last November at 96.
Aldridge said the "massive interest" in Titanic memorabilia shows no signs of abating. Last year, a collection of items belonging to Asplund sold for more than $175,000.
"It's the people, the human angle," Aldridge said. "You had over 2,200 men, women and children on that ship, from John Jacob Astor, the richest person in the world at the time, to a poor Scandinavian family emigrating to the States to start a new life. There were 2,200 stories."
First off: Can I call you Ringo? I've always considered you the down-to-earth Beatle, so writing this letter to Richard "Ringo Starr" Starkey, Member of the Order of the British Empire, just seems too fussy. At least it did until yesterday, when I watched your new Web site video, in which you shared a "serious message to everybody watching" that you would no longer accept fan mail.
"Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October. If that is the date on the envelope, it's going to be tossed," you said. "I'm warning you with peace and love I have too much to do."I can only imagine.
Heaven knows those $54.95 Ringo Starr hoodies you hawk on your Web site—or the $19.95 tote bags with the peace symbol—won't sell themselves. And it's surely up to you to promote your last book, "Postcards From the Boys," full of notes the other Beatles sent you through the years. (Obviously, fan mail to Beatle = waste of time. Beatle mail to Beatle = kaching!)
Your video reminded me of a Ringo before the fans' appreciation could be taken for granted. Bob Spitz's "The Beatles: The Biography" shares a heartwarming scene from the Liverpool days, in which you and your mother, Elsie, work hard to answer every fan letter. One can assume you believed that without the fans' support, the fame and fortune would all disappear.
And what if all the adulation did vanish?
For one, it would've made for a different day this past July when about 300 fans lined an entire block along East Wacker Place to help you celebrate your 68th birthday. Downtown traffic would've been better for Chicago. And you, you could've enjoyed a day without having to sign all those pesky autographs. You would've been "Free as a Bird," which as you know is also a Beatles song, featuring the lyric: "Where did we lose the touch that seemed to mean so much?"
Earvin “Magic” Johnson, basketball star and talk show host, will be signing copies of his book 32 Ways To Be A Champion In Business at the following locations:
11/18/08 Noon at Barnes & Noble – Fifth Avenue. New York, NY. 11/28/08 2:00 PM at Borders Books – Santa Monica Blvd. Century City, CA. 12/2/08 7:00 PM at Borders Books – East Liberty Street. Ann Arbor, MI.
The Greater Washington, DC Black Memorabilia, Art & Doll Show & Sale will be Friday and Saturday, December 5-6, 2008, at the Washington, DC Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place, NW, Washington, DC. Show hours are Friday evening 7 pm to 10 pm and Saturday 10 am to 7 pm. Admission is $8, and children 12 and under are admitted free.
There will be many vendors from across the United States with black memorabilia and collectibles for sale including historical artifacts and documents, books, stamps, paintings, prints, textiles, autographs, toys, dolls, advertisements, photos, art, political memorabilia, kitchen collectibles, sports and entertainment memorabilia, postcards and much more. There will be doll artists with black dolls and doll related materials for sale, and black artists with original paintings, prints and other art for sale. This is the place to buy black art. There will be slavery artifacts, Jim Crow memorabilia, the Black Panther Party, Marcus Garvey and other educational exhibits. Also, there will be autograph sessions with former players of Negro League baseball teams and Tuskegee Airmen.
The intent of this show to provide an environment where the public can be educated on the African American experience, and where they can purchase desirable pieces of authentic and rare black memorabilia and collectibles including black art and dolls. This is the largest black memorabilia and collectible show in the country, and it attracts major vendors and collectors alike. This is an educational experience for the whole family and a showcase of the black experience.
For more information or vendor space reservations, call (301) 649-1915 or e-mail Ljohnsonshows@aol.com or view the website www.johnsonshows.com
Hoping to generate cash for the state budget shortfall by generating celebrity autograph collector's interest because all the liquidity the state usually barrows from Wall Street to get by until the tax revenues come in June has all dried up, California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, agreed to personally autograph a special collector's edition of holographic state bonds.
It is hoped that by marketing the state bonds as a special "collector's edition" that the majority of people who would not otherwise purchase the bonds, fearful that they will lose their shirts, will do so merely to own a piece of the governor's Hollywood fame and not his bankrupt administration.
"I'm buying one," said Hank Martinez. "Just to remind myself why I voted for him in the first place. Wait. Oh yeah, I remember now. Because was the 'Terminator."
In addition to the autograph and holographic image of the state seal (on the back of each of the bonds), the governor has given permission to use his movie clichés that he is famous for using over and over again.
"Of course, the governor has used them so much that they have all but lost their effectiveness," said a spokesman for the governor. "Once drawing laughter and applause when first employed by the then new governor, they now only draw nervous silence and dry coughs today. Still the state bonds would hardly be a special 'collector's edition' without them."
"They're embossed with real fake golden lettering too," said Martinez. "My favorite used to be, 'I'll Be Back', when he ran for his first real term. Then it was 'No Problemo' until there was one. Now it's, 'Hasta la Vista, Baby!' because I wish he would go away."
Another first about the new autographed holographic special collector's edition state bonds is that they will be bilingual as well, issued primarily in Spanish and Chinese.
Mike Huckabee, former Governor of Arkansas and Presidential candidate, will be signing copies of his book Do the Right Thing: Inside the Movement That's Bringing Common Sense Back to America at the following locations:
11/20/08 Noon at Barnes & Noble – Collins Road NE. Cedar Rapids, IA. 11/21/08 4:00 PM at Barnes & Noble – South Glenstone. Springfield, MO. 11/22/08 8:00 PM at Borders Books – Preston Road. Dallas, TX. 11/23/08 2:00 PM at Barnes & Noble – Slide Road. Lubbock, TX. 11/28/08 9:00 AM at Inkwood Books - South Armenia Avenue. Tampa, FL. 11/28/08 8:00 PM at Borders Books – Starfish Drive. Panama City Beach, FL. 11/29/08 8:00 PM at Borders Books – Roswell Road. Marietta, GA. 12/1/08 5:00 PM at Square Books - Courthouse Square. Oxford, MS. 12/3/08 Noon at Borders Books – Woodward. Birmingham, MI.
Stars of the Disney megahit High School Musical can't seem to catch a break, even a bathroom break, when autograph seekers are around. "(People) put their napkins underneath the stall," Ashley Tisdale said. Vanessa Hudgens makes fans wait: "(I) finished my business first." "I think being asked for an autograph while you're at the urinal is definitely one of the oddest experiences," Corbin Bleu said. Added Zac Efron, "(The fathers) are like 'Look, man, we've been finished eating for an hour and a half, and my daughter won't let me leave!' "
- Appaloosa Cast Autograph 8x10 Photo - Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Jeremy Irons and Renee Zellweger - The Office Cast Autograph 8x10 Photo - Steve Carell, Rainn Wilson, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer, B. J. Novak - Red Hot Chili Peppers Autograph 8x10 Photo - Anthony Kiedis, John Frusciante, Flea, Chad Smith - Ed Harris / Viggo Mortensen (Appaloosa) Autograph 8x10 Photo - Friends Cast Autograph 8x10 Photo - Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, David Schwimmer, Matthew Perry and Matt LeBlanc - Harrison Ford (Star Wars) Autograph 8x10 Photo - Phil Hartman Autograph 8x10 Photo - Zac Efron Autograph 8x10 Photo (Several poses available) - Tim McGraw Matted Autograph Photo / Tour Guitar Pick Display - Loretta Lynn Matted Autograph Photo / Tour Guitar Pick Display - Jimmy Buffett Matted Autograph Photo / Tour Guitar Pick Display - George Strait Matted Autograph Photo / Tour Guitar Pick Display - Alan Jackson Matted Autograph Photo / Tour Guitar Pick Display - Willie Nelson Matted Autograph Photo / Tour Guitar Pick Display - Toby Keith Matted Autograph Photo / Tour Guitar Pick Display - Rascal Flatts Matted Autograph 8x10 Display - Randy Travis Matted Autograph Photo / Pick / Back Stage Pass Display - Charlie Daniels Matted Autograph Photo / Pick / Back Stage Pass Display - Tracy Lawrence Matted Autograph Photo / Pick / Back Stage Pass Display - That '70s Show Autograph 8x10 Photo - Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, Danny Masterson, Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama, Topher Grace and Lisa Robin Kelly - Robert DeNiro / Al Pacino (Righteous Kill) Autograph 8x10 Photo - Tropic Thunder Autograph 8x10 Photo - Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr. - Paul Newman / Robert Redford (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) Autograph 8x10 Photo - Paul Newman / Tom Cruise (The Color of Money) Autograph 8x10 Photo
Former 'Beatle' Ringo Starr has told his fans not to send him mails requesting for autographs because he would soon stop signing them.
The drummer, hailed for his signature 'peace and love' symbol, said that all fan mail would be thrown away as trash after October 20 since he was busy with a lot of work.
"This is a serious message to everybody watching my update. Peace and love. Peace and love," the Sun quoted him as telling his fans through a video clip on his website.
"I want to tell you after the 20th of October please do not send fan mail to any address you have.
"Nothing will be signed after the 20th of October. If that is the date on the envelope, it's gonna be tossed.
"I'm warning you with peace and love I have too much to do.
"So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing.
"Anyway, peace and love, peace and love," he said.
Unlike his band mates David Bowie and Paul McCartney, who please their fans by keeping in touch with them through their websites, Ringo's announcement is being seen as his second blunder this year.
Previously, on being asked by radio presenter Jonathan Ross whether he missed his home city, the oldest member in the band had replied that there was nothing much to miss.
Following his reply, the radio station was flooded with angry complaints while tirades burst out against him on the Internet.
Peter Lougheed is a collector's collector. A room on the lower-level of his home is dedicated to the many things he's acquired since he was a youngster. Everywhere you look there is something to see. Open several closets in this space and they're full, too.
What's here? Over 5,000 autographs on albums, movie posters, hockey cards, hockey sticks and jerseys.
"My first autograph was from Alex Baumann, an Olympic swimmer, in 1980."
His autograph collection really started to take off in 1989 when he learned it was possible to collect the autographs of hockey players by writing letters requesting these signatures.
He's written over a thousand letters looking for signed hockey cards. Now he writes letters asking for signed cards for his two children.
"My daughter already has 230 signed cards from hockey players."
He has a framed autographed picture of hockey hall of fame players. Lougheed bought it from another collector here in Fredericton. He gets many signed items through the on-line auction house eBay. But, he says, you have to know what you are buying. Otherwise, you could end up with forged signatures.
Lougheed doesn't buy anything unless it can be authenticated.
He has a signed Tiger Woods photograph. He got it from his cousin, golfer Lorie Kane, before Tiger Woods became a superstar. Also included in Lougheed's collection are original Star Trek and Star Wars action figures and about 2,000 comic books, including the Batman and Spider-Man series from the 1960s and more.
"Everything I ever had as a kid, I still have. All my toys. Everything from my Dinky cars to the first hockey cards that I collected when I was nine."
When he was a newspaper carrier in the early 1980s, a lot of the money he earned was spent on Dungeons and Dragons figures. He has over 600 of these pieces, all lined up on a shelf.
Members of his family knew how much he loved this so they would buy him things to add to his collections over the years.
His parents and grandparents bought things to add to his collections every birthday and holiday. All of his collections have evolved over the years.
There's so much here, he literally could open a collector's store. But Lougheed couldn't bear to sell any of it. Some things are still in their original packaging.
Lougheed is now going through the time-intensive work of making an inventory of everything in his collection for insurance purposes.
"It will take a long time but it's fun. The process of doing this inventory is what's enjoyable because I'm seeing things I forgot I had and there's nothing there that's not tied to a memory."
What's the thing he values the most?
It's a tiny canon he played with at his grandparents' home. The other things he values above all else in this room are the irreplaceable hockey cards he had signed for his children from players who are no longer living.
"Because everything else, even though it would take forever, could be replaced."
This is the family's home office and, as such, besides housing his collections, bills are paid here and he, his wife Leyla and their 10-year-old daughter Bea use the computer. Their three-year-old son Jamie loves to come in the room to look at everything.
The little boy knows some of his father's childhood toys can be played with, while other items are part of the collection and, because they are old and valuable, must be handled with care.
Lougheed's hope, he says, is that his children will share in this passion as well.
Lougheed doesn't look at this as a financial investment. This man has made an investment of time and sentimentality because much of what's here is a representation of his childhood and so it is priceless to him. He's had offers from people who want to buy parts of his collection but he's declined.
Instead, he has given some things away. He donated 30,000 hockey cards to the IWK so children at the hospital could enjoy them.
Lougheed really enjoys trading hockey cards with other collectors. He is still searching for items.
While all of his collections are well-developed and he enjoys collecting things for everyone of them, he says the true passion is for searching and getting more autographs.
"It's all about what I don't have. Every day I'm looking for more stuff. My goal is not to have multiples of things - it's all about what I'm missing to make the collection complete."
After nearly a lifetime of pursuing his passion, there's little Lougheed doesn't know about collecting. He's shared this knowledge with others in a couple of collectors' magazines.
His advice to people who may be interested in collecting is to collect what you like.
So if stocks, gold, oil, and real estate haven't worked out for your investments, may we suggest historical artifacts. Not only is the market strong, but unlike investments of old and newer fads, history just keeps going up in price. Consider: Next month, our friends at Alexander Autographs will be selling arguably one of the most important pieces of American military history, the uniform of Enola Gay pilot Paul Tibbets. Slightly worn and adorned with his Distinguished Service Cross, as you can see in the picture, the uniform he wore when bombing Hiroshima could fetch a whopping $250,000. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Tibbets died last year at 92. He never shied away from defending a mission that left tens of thousands dead and helped to cut short the war with Japan, which surrendered some nine days after he dropped the atom bomb named "Little Boy" at 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945. The suit comes with all the required proof it was Tibbets's, says Alexander Autographs President Bill Panagopulos. The "provenance" includes pictures and signed letter about the suit from Tibbets.
Panagopulos tells us that even in hard economic times, history—or the relics of it—sell. "There is real money in autographs and historical memorabilia," he says from his Stamford, Conn., headquarters. Company administrator Mark Schmidt-Fellner adds, "Investors are taking a serious look at autographs, manuscripts, and other memorabilia as a viable alternative to more traditional asset classes. We are really starting to see new types of bidders come to our market."
Should we just hold onto our cash? Let's say today I see a house for sale at $100,000. I don't buy it and six months from now that house is worth only $50,000. Then purchasing power of that dollar clutched in my sweaty little hand has gone up. Oh, and forget euros or pounds. Go for the green back.
"The dollar in particular, I think, is going to do very well because everybody turns to the dollar when things get tough," Duffy said.
You could hide those dollars under your mattress, or buy government bonds. A slim return, but a dollar will always be a dollar and it will always be yours.
"If you're talking about long-term investing, that's not where I would put my money," Hobson said. "I'd put my money for the long-term in stocks, but long term is the key word there where you have years to ride out the ups and downs. The greatest investor of all time is Warren Buffett, he also happens to be the wealthiest man in the United States. Warren Buffet is not liquidating his stock portfolio. That should tell us a lot."
So if you're an average person, with a job, a mortgage, a family and a little bit of money in the bank, what should you do with it? Geoff Anandappa of Stanley Gibbons Ltd., a London-based collectibles and investment company, suggests investing in rare stamps, what he calls a "blue-chip investment."
For 50 years the value of rare stamps has risen by at least 9 percent a year, driven by investors' interest and the passion of collectors. Anandappa doesn't see that growth slowing down now.
"On the contrary," he said. "I think it's going to increase because at times when the stock markets are volatile, property is a bit shaky, people put their money into hard assets."
Anandappa is so confident, he will guarantee, in writing, a 25 percent increase on your investment over five years. He also sells autographs and is similarly bullish, especially if the famous person in question has passed away.
"You know there's never going to be any more," he explained.
Continuing their international promotional tour, the Jonas Brothers were spotted leaving their London, England hotel last night (October 8).
The “Burnin’ Up” heartthrobs looked chipper, as usual, and took time to sign autographs and pose for fan pictures before heading off into the night.
And as previously reported by the Gossip Girls, lead singer Joe Jonas recently went back on the singles market after breaking up with country hottie Taylor Swift.
According to an insider, “He broke her heart,” having ended the relationship via cell phone. Reportedly, they only dated for a few months, so hopefully Taylor will be over him soon enough.
The autographs of Boro legends Wilf Mannion and George Hardwick have created a stir with football memorabilia collectors across the country.
Their signatures, more than 60 years old, appear on the notepaper of a Scottish hotel, together with other members of the Great Britain team who played against the Rest of Europe on May 10, 1947.
The one-off match at Hampden Park, Glasgow, was attended by more than 130,000 spectators and featured all the great post-War players of the day, including Stanley Matthews, Tommy Lawton, Billy Liddell, Frank Swift and Johnny Carey.
It also turned out to be a very proud day for the Boro as they were the only British club to have two players selected for the game.
They also received a further accolade when it was announced that George Hardwick had been chosen to captain the Great Britain team.
This scarce autograph sheet forms part of the forthcoming Methuselah Ltd Football Memorabilia Sale at the Marton Hotel and Country Club, Middlesbrough on Thursday October 23, at 1pm.
Auction organiser John Wilson said: “I do hope these rare autographs stay on Teesside because they are a highly significant part of Boro’s history. I can, however, also guarantee that there will be plenty of interest from outside the area.”
The full catalogue contains many more items and can be viewed on methuselahltd.com For information about the sale call John on 07718 120274.
Access Hollywood host Billy Bush schlepped all the way from L.A. to Baltimore to host the Phelpstivities at Fort McHenry, but he didn't spend the night in town. He stayed instead at the Ritz in Georgetown.
Charm City not swanky enough?
Not at all, said Michelle Butt, news director at WBAL, the NBC affiliate that helped stage the event.
Bush wanted to lodge in Washington because the only direct flight he could get was in and out of Dulles, Butt said. The former Washington DJ also wanted to visit with some friends and relatives down there. (His cousin, George W., lives in town, though there's no indication they met up.)
"We weren't going to put the guy up in a Hampton Inn," Butt said. "No offense to Hampton Inns. My family stays in the Hampton Inn all the time."
The luxury hotel seems to have been the rare bit of glamour on Bush's itinerary. Before he got to rest his head on the Ritz's 400-thread-count Egyptian cotton bed linens, Bush endured a day of antibiotics, Purell and U.S. 40 fast food.
Bush was feeling sick when he rose way before dawn Saturday in L.A. to catch his 4:30 a.m. flight to Washington. He called his doctor, who phoned an antibiotics prescription in to a pharmacy somewhere between Dulles and downtown Baltimore.
Upon landing, Bush was taken by Town Car to Walgreens in Catonsville. He swung by a nearby Chick-fil-A for a bite, then continued on to Fort McHenry. While there, Bush warned everyone whose hand he shook that he was sick, offering squirts of Purell.
Not as dreary as it sounds. Especially the part about stopping in Catonsville. The town apparently knows how to make a fuss over minor celebrities. Butt said he was "greeted like a rock star."
"In Catonsville, I couldn't believe it, it was like I was Brad Pitt," Butt said Bush told her. "In L.A., who cares?"
How much love can an Olympic superhero be expected to take?
Last weekend, Michael Phelps traveled a parade route filled with teeny-boppers screaming like it was the second coming of The Beatles. (Most disturbing sign spotted along the way: "Michael, I'm legal in four years. Wait for me.")
That evening, Phelps was feted at Fort McHenry as if he'd personally beaten back the Brits in 1814.
So can you blame Phelps if he's had his fill? We can only assume that's the case from Meadowbrook News and Notes, the newsletter for the North Baltimore swim center where Phelps has trained and which he has talked about buying.
"We are asking that members refrain from asking Michael for autographs when he is at Meadowbrook," writes Meadowbrook general manager John Cadigan. "You can send things to the pool and we will include it in his fan mail pile, but we would like Meadowbrook to be a 'sanctuary' type place for him to train and feel comfortable and at home."
The newsletter does note that Meadowbrook plans to put on a "Michael Phelps day for members to meet and greet and get things signed." No date has been set.
Sandra Lee, Food Network star, will be signing copies of her book Semi-Homemade Fast-Fix Family Favorites at the following locations:
10/13/08 6:00 PM at Barnes & Noble – Greyrock Place. Stamford, CT. 10/15/08 2:00 PM at The Cook’s Warehouse – West Ponce de Leon Avenue. Decatur, GA. Books sold by Wordsmiths Books. 10/20/08 1:00 PM at The Doylestown Bookshop - Main Street. Doylestown, PA. 10/20/08 7:30 PM at Chester County Book & Music Company - Paoli Pike. West Chester, PA. 10/22/08 1:00 PM at the University Bookstore – Main Street. Mill Creek, WA. 10/27/08 12:30 PM at Flintridge Bookstore – Foothill Blvd. La Canada, CA. 10/27/08 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble – Americana Way. Glendale, CA. 10/29/08 Noon at The Peppercorn – Pearl Street. Boulder, CO. 10/29/08 7:30 PM at Tattered Cover - Dorchester Street. Denver, CO. 11/14/08 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble – Townsfair Way. Columbus, OH.
At a celebration of NASA's 50th anniversary held outside Washington, DC late last month, a champagne toast was offered in recognition of the five decades of exploration that the agency had accomplished. NASA had put men on the moon, sent probes to the planets, and improved our understanding of life here at home.
As invited guests raised their glasses, many noticed that on the side of the flute was imprinted with the logo for NASA's 50 years. As the toast ended and the glasses were emptied, some held onto to the stemware as a souvenir of the event and NASA's anniversary.
These glasses were just the latest example of five decades of commemorative mementos collected in the wake of NASA's crowning space achievements.
The public, enamored by space exploration, has long desired to own a piece of NASA's adventures. In some instances, the space agency met this longing by sharing memorabilia that had been carried to orbit on some of its flights. More often, companies looking to celebrate the United States' space achievements produced collectibles inspired by NASA's missions and milestones.
Even the astronauts got into the game. While America's first astronaut, Alan Shepard had only enough room to fly a U.S. flag on his sub-orbital Mercury flight, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, who followed Shepard to space, packed his spacesuit pockets with miniature Mercury capsules and rolls of Roosevelt dimes. Originally intended for friends and family members, these early space-flown trinkets have been passed down and traded to become very popular NASA collectibles.
In the years that followed, astronauts extended the tradition, flying mementos for those close to them, but also carrying medallions for themselves. They designed mission patches, small embroidered and silk-screened emblems that uniquely represented their flight. Replicas of these insignia were produced for the public and the hobby of space patch collecting was born. Today, hundreds of individual designs offer a colorful timeline to space history and allow everyone the chance to own a tangible connection with their favorite space explorers and missions.
Astronaut autographs were also immensely popular. No sooner had NASA announced its first seven astronauts in 1959, were requests for the newly named American heroes' signatures received. NASA did its best to fulfill every request but the demand was so great, that had the astronauts answered every mailed-in appeal, they would have barely been left the time to train and fly. To balance this, NASA sometimes employed a machine — an "autopen" — that traced a pattern based on the astronauts' signatures onto photographs, books and other items sent in by the public. To this day, children (of all ages) from around the world write NASA for astronauts' autographs and continue to receive authentic and autopenned responses.
That's not to say that all NASA space collectibles are focused on the crewed missions. Mementos from the agency's unmanned efforts to explore the solar system and beyond have also been sought. Model and toy versions of planetary probes, such as the Mars rovers, flew off store shelves. Postage stamps celebrating the magnificent imagery captured by the Hubble Space Telescope were saved by more than just stamp collectors, but by those who desired a souvenir of the orbiting observatory.
When NASA was established in October 1958, so was the hobby of collecting NASA memorabilia. For 50 years, the public has celebrated the space agency through the commemorative items it has inspired. And as NASA looks forward to its next 50 years exploring space, so will the public seek to own a part of those achievements.
Recruits don't ordinarily pose for pictures and receive autographs from a star NASCAR driver during boot camp at Great Lakes Naval Station near North Chicago.
But that was the special treat in a barracks Tuesday for the 88 recruits in the Dale Earnhardt Jr. Division. Earnhardt returned to Great Lakes for a final look at the recruits before an Oct. 17 graduation ceremony.
"When I was here last time, you guys were all scared to death," said Earnhardt, who visited the recruits just before they started training in late August.
All 88 recruits lined up in orderly fashion to receive a special Dale Jr. Division Navy cap, an autographed picture and a photo with the driver. They later serenaded him with a cadence that was tweaked for Earnhardt, incorporating his No. 83 car.
"You better get out of our way now. Before we drive right over you. It's just the quickest. Whoo! Hottest. Hey! The Navy's 83," chanted the recruits, led by Deborah White, 23, of Greenbelt, Md.
John Steinhauer, 20, of Wheaton, said he and his family are NASCAR and Earnhardt fans, so he jumped at the chance to join the division when asked by a Navy recruiter. He said it's been a boost during the grueling boot camp.
"I think we try a lot harder because we want to show we're better," Steinhauer said. "It seems like we're more motivated to try better, and I think we've done pretty good as a division."
Under an $800,000 deal with the Navy, Earnhardt appeared in television commercials and participated in other efforts to attract the recruits to his division. It's the Navy's first celebrity division as part of an official marketing effort that targeted young adults.
Earnhardt, who flew in and out of Waukegan Regional Airport on Tuesday, said it's been interesting to see the recruits train at Great Lakes.
"The way that they are organized and structure their day, it's pretty impressive," Earnhardt said. "When you walk out of here, you realize that what a powerful machine the military is."
Recruit Heather Martinez, 18, of Denver, said she and her colleagues want to make Earnhardt proud of them. She also said the experience of being in the Dale Jr. Division has been exciting.
"Some of the other divisions look up to us because we're so high up," Martinez said.
Great Lakes has the Navy's only boot camp. More than 40,000 recruits are projected to pass through the 96-year-old base this year.
At the New York Film Festival with his tragic drama Changeling, the director watched Angelina Jolie walk the red carpet amid explosions of flashbulbs and breathlessly shouted questions. "It's a phenomenon. She just gathers attention. … If I ever run for office, she could be my VP," he joked.
In Changeling, opening Oct. 24, Jolie plays a woman in 1928 Los Angeles whose young son disappears. Based on a true story, police try to pass off an imposter runaway as her found son, and her resistance leads to a clash with corrupt detectives and city officials as well as discovery of a horrific criminal.
The dark nature of the film was contrasted Saturday night by the glamour of the actress' first public appearance since the birth of her and Brad Pitt's twins, Vivienne and Knox, in July. She said she has been enjoying laying low, first in the South of France with the new babies and their four other children (Maddox, 7, Pax, 4, Zahara, 3, and Shiloh, 2). The family is living in Berlin, where Pitt is shooting a role in Quentin Tarantino's World War II saga Inglorious Bastards.
The first few days of their visit to Manhattan, the family stayed largely sequestered at the historic Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, but Jolie went out Saturday morning with her three oldest children to pick up some activities for them to do while their mom and dad went to work that evening at the premiere.
"We went to an art store with the kids, and it was nice inside, but a little chaotic outside," she said, referring to the crush of paparazzi that followed her. As for the kids: "They are painting at the Waldorf," she said. "Hopefully not on the walls."
After a cast dinner at the Japanese restaurant Nobu Uptown before the premiere, she and Pitt arrived to rousing cheers from the hundreds of onlookers behind the barricade across the street from the Ziegfeld Theatre, where fans had been gathering for hours. Jolie and Pitt shook hands, signed autographs and posed for snapshots. Some fans wore "Adopt Me!" T-shirts. (Three of Jolie and Pitt's children are adopted from three different countries.)
Jolie wore a form-fitting, strapless black Versace dress, gold and black Sergio Rossi pumps and Mikimoto pearl earrings. Her left shoulder, adorned with tattoos of the geographical coordinates of the births of her children, had two fresh additions.
After she posed on the carpet with Pitt, he broke away and went into the theater. Photographers, apparently displeased, began chanting, "We want passion! We want passion!" Jolie tried to ignore them as she did a few interviews, but then rolled her eyes, distracted, and said, "God, that is really annoying."
But cheers erupted as she posed again, first solo, then with Eastwood. Amid the cacophony, she admitted to being a bit "shellshocked."
"It's a little weird," she said. "It's nice to know we'll just be going right back home."
Alyssa Milano, Designer Extraordinaire was out yesterday promoting her new sports line, TOUCH at Universal Citywalk. She’s the new kid on the block of celebrity d-list designers joining Mischa Barton, Phoebe Price, Lauren Conrad, Whitney Port, Heidi Montag, and Rachel Bilson.
When writing a letter to request an autograph from a celebrity, it is advisable to write no more than one page. Although celebrities may be thrilled that you appreciate their work, or liked their acting in a certain TV show or movie, they simply do not have enough time to read multi-page letters from fans. Also, when writing to a celebrity, try to include some specific references to their work that you particularly enjoy. Be very specific in your descriptions. Mention character names that they have played and movies in which they have starred or appeared. This makes a much better impression than just simply saying... "I enjoy all your movies. Send me an autograph". Be courteous and respectful. My experience has been that celebrities are truly impressed with kind treatment from their fans and they usually reward it.
Buy autographs that capture your interest. Don’t purchase items presented as “investments” or sold through pressure. Learn as much as possible the language of autograph collecting. The more you study, the easier it will be for you to determine what items are authentic and which items to purchase. Use common sense when buying a signed piece. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Purchase autographed items from reputable dealers, who will help you avoid risks and problems. Many dealers offer a certificate of authenticity only, which is only as good as the reputation of the dealer. If you have questions, ask the dealer. If they cannot tell you when and where the item was signed or how it was obtained, go elsewhere.
Autographs have been called “frozen moments in time.” Autograph collectors are curators of history. The most personal item that one person can give is his or her signature. Anything that can be signed can be considered collectible…letters, documents, photographs, books, memorabilia, etc. Few objects give a collector the opportunity to own a unique or one-of-a-kind item that is actually part of someone who is known by millions of people. That is the main reason why autograph collecting has become one of the fastest growing hobbies in recent years as well as a great gift idea.
The year 2008 will be remembered for the high number of blockbuster film releases. There were “Iron Man”, “The Dark Knight”, “Wanted”, “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”, “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”, “Righteous Kill”, “The Happening”, “Get Smart”, “Hancock”, “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army“…whew! Plus many more to come, including “Quantum Of Solace”, “The Changeling”, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, “The Day the Earth Stood Still”, “Angels & Demons”, “Star Trek”, that are sure to become hits. A beautifully autographed photograph of one the stars or casts would be a perfect gift for your loved one. Go to Strickler’s Celebrity Autographs, a trusted name in the autograph hobby and give that unique gift for the holidays.
A memorabilia expert discusses O.J. Simpson's conviction and the shady side of the sports memorabilia trade.
The Juice is loose no more. Orenthal James Simpson was found guilty late Friday for his participation last year in a bizarre armed robbery and kidnapping incident in Las Vegas. Simpson was convicted on 12 counts for leading five associates on a raid of a guest room at the Palace Station Hotel-Casino and making off with hundreds of gewgaws related to his career. To get a sense of the multi-million dollar sports memorabilia trade's shadier side, NEWSWEEK's Brian Braiker spoke with Bill Huggins, who owns the House of Cards memorabilia shop in Silver Spring, Md., and runs one of the larger online memorabilia auctions. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: You may have heard that O.J. was convicted. Bill Huggins: I watched the whole thing last night! Thomas Riccio [who set up the meeting between Simpson and the memorabilia dealers], I've known him for years. He's always been a little on the shady side. When I heard his name was involved in this thing, I knew something mysterious was going on. I don't know who the legal owner of this stuff is.
Is there a very shady element to the sports memorabilia trading business? In relation to autographs and or counterfeit or reproduction cards being passed off as originals, absolutely.
How much of your job involves sussing out what's real and what isn't? We're a big auction company and all of our autographs and cards go through major third-party authentication before they reach our catalogue. It's hard to tell some guy that, gosh, he has had this card in his family for 40 years and the story that dad and grandpa have been telling him just isn't right. It's tough sometimes.
How much sports memorabilia is owned by the players themselves typically? It's up to them, how much they keep and how much they sell. Back when O.J. was playing, they weren't changing uniforms every 10 minutes—or every inning in baseball or every timeout in basketball—so they would be truly "game used."
Do they do that? Change uniforms a lot so they can sell them? Cal Ripken, when he was doing the streak, was changing jerseys every inning. Changing socks, changing bats, changing hats. They literally had a wardrobe ready for him so they could say, "Hey this jersey was worn by Cal Ripken in a major league game when he was approaching the end of the streak." A lot of it comes down to meeting demand. A lot of guys have this phobia where they don't want to sign, they don't want their stuff out there. If there's no supply and big demand, guess what: somebody's going to fill that supply with bogus stuff.
What's the demand for O.J. memorabilia today? Very little.
What's a rookie card worth? Book value, it would probably list for $75 or $100. I don't know anybody who's collecting O.J. memorabilia right now. If they're buying an O.J. Simpson card, it's to fill a set and he is classified as "another card I need," rather than the "O.J. rookie card that I need."
So why would he go to such lengths to get his stuff back? If you ask me: bad advice, or he made a horribly bad decision. How dumb can he be? I just don't get it. Especially with his past, you would think this guy would be squeaky clean for the rest of his life. Go get a U.S. Marshal if you have the rights to this stuff. Go get the state police.
You go to a lot of trade shows. Have you seen him make an appearance? We were at the national convention in Chicago two years ago. All of a sudden there was a buzz: O.J. Simpson was in the room. From what I understand he walked in with his little entourage, set up at a table, and they were signing autographs and taking money! The show promoter found out about it, got some security and ordered him out of the building. All he did was walk across the street to the Embassy Suites hotel where I was staying. And they set him up in there and there was a line there for a couple of hours—people paying money to get his autograph.
All under the table? I didn't see any tax collectors.
I thought there wasn't a demand for his stuff. How much was he collecting per signature? A hundred bucks, in that area. The only guys I know who would want his autograph are guys who are collecting Heisman trophy winners on a football helmet. Guys who collect Hall of Famers. They haven't thrown him out of the Hall of Fame. Yet.
Actress Salma Hayek leaving a hotel and going into another hotel in central London. Earlier Salma was seen leaving GMTV studios. Salma appeared on BBC breakfast news where she talked about her campaign to eliminate tetanus in developing countries follwing her visit to Sierra Leone last week to take part in an vaccination drive against the disease. She later stopped to sign several autographs.
Josh Hamilton, star outfielder for the Texas Rangers, will be signing copies of his book Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back at the following locations:
10/15/08 1:00 PM at Borders Books – Broadway. New York, NY. 10/16/08 7:00 PM at Borders Books – Fordham Blvd. Chapel Hill, NC. 10/18/08 2:00 PM at Borders Books – Bellflower Blvd. Long Beach, CA. 10/22/08 7:00 PM at Barnes & Noble – The Parks Mall. Arlington, TX.
House Peters Jr., a television actor who became the original Mr. Clean on Proctor & Gamble's commercials for household cleaners, has died. He was 92.
Peters died Wednesday of pneumonia at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital in Los Angeles, said his son Jon Peters.
The elder Peters' most memorable role came as Mr. Clean — a muscular man with a bald head, a hoop earring and a no-nonsense attitude toward dirt and grime. From the late 1950s and into the early 1960s, Peters Jr. helped advertise the famous household cleaner with the trademark jingle, "Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean."
Peters Jr. played many supporting roles through his career, including working with Roy Rogers and Gene Autry on their television shows. He also appeared in "Perry Mason," ''Gunsmoke," ''The Twilight Zone" and "Lassie."
"He always played the heavy," Jon Peters said, referring to his father's customary roles as a villain or brawny character. "Even though he wasn't happy about being cast in those roles, he worked really hard at it."
His acting career spanned 1935-1967, according to his Web site. He also wrote an autobiography, "Another Side of Hollywood," in which he describes growing up the son of an actress and silent film actor in Beverly Hills. His father, Robert House Peters Sr., has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
"To me, he was much, much more than a show business figure," Peters Jr. wrote of his father. He described his father as a "big name in Hollywood: a handsome leading man."
Peters Jr. was never a leading man, but played many parts in cowboy movies and won a Golden Boot Award in 2000 for his lifetime contributions to the western film genre, his son said.
Peters Jr. was born Jan. 12, 1916, in New Rochelle, N.Y., as Robert House Peters Jr. His son said Peters Jr. studied drama in high school and became inspired to pursue an acting career.
After retiring, Peters Jr. enjoyed meeting fans of the western film genre and signing autographs at conventions, his son said.
Peters Jr. is also survived by his wife, Lucy Pickett, a daughter, another son and four grandchildren.
As part of her massive comeback effort, it seems Britney Spears is making an effort to connect with her younger fans. And this morning she dropped by a school in the Bronx borough of New York City to meet and greet students.
The “Gimme More” songstress looked bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as she sauntered around the school, sporting a navy blue v-neckline dress with brown high heels, posing with the police and signing autographs for the kids.
In related news, earlier this week Brit’s ex-boyfriend Adnan Ghalib came out to press with claims that he had a sex tape of himself and Spears, and that, for the right price, he’d consider selling it.
Ghalib stated, “There is such a tape, but I won’t discuss prices for hypothetical enquiries. Unless there is a locked-in deal, I will go no further.”
But a source close to the “Piece of Me” singer told press, “The story is completely false.”
The Ohio State running back was asked Tuesday about getting recognized around campus now that classes have started. This is what he said.
"It was funny because yesterday was Monday and there was a group of kids, elementary school kids, and they recognized me and I stopped and signed autographs. And once they recognized me, then older students recognized me and then I signed autographs for about 30 minutes.
"I think it's an honor and a blessing for me to be in the position I am today. ... You always have to remember what it's like to be a kid and just be thankful for being in the position that you're in. And you never want to take it for granted."
Asked if the signing made him late, Wells said it was after class and he wasn't late for anything.
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A bank note with a face value of one million pounds fetched 78,300 pounds at auction in London Wednesday.
The note, issued by the Bank of England in connection with the Marshall Plan after World War II, was bought by a British-based private collector from auction house Spink, which specialises in autographs, stamps and currency.
It had been estimated at between 35,000 and 40,000 pounds.
Just eight such notes were issued by the Bank of England in connection with the US plan to help rebuild Europe after 1945. They were intended to be used internally to record movement, and were valid for six weeks.
Of the eight notes, just two -- Numbers Seven and Eight -- are believed to have survived, and were awarded as souvenirs for the American and British treasury secretaries.
