Hi-Tech USB Port Rechargeable Batteries
July 22, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ENVIRONMENT, FEATURED, TECH
Finally! Someone’s come up with a way to charge AA batteries right from a USB port on your desktop or laptop computer. No more worrying about whether you remembered to pack that extra bulky charger and cords or if you remembered to charge/top off your batteries the night before.
While a little more expensive than buying a regular NiMH rechargeable battery and charger, the space saving of not HAVING to carry around a charger more than makes up for it. And if needed, these batteries can be charged in many popular brands of smart chargers (in case your USB ports are busy.) Read more
Erin Andrews: Guess She’ll Have to Carry Duct Tape
July 21, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under OTHER
In this day and age of ever increasingly smaller and more powerful technology, I guess Erin Andrews, the popular ESPN sportscaster, found out the hard way that even the tiny peephole on hotel doors isn’t safe from prying any more.
According to Erin Andrews’ reps, in an incredible invasion of privacy, somehow, someone standing in a hotel corridor managed to put a video camera to her room’s peephole and take a video of her while she was unclothed. They then proceeded to upload it to the Internet.
After being threatened with legal action, the video and pictures have been taken down, but the damage has already been done. And as with all things Internet, they will no doubt surface again and again over the years…
How sad is it that you have to now think about somehow covering over the peephole in your hotel room to prevent prying eyes (and cameras)? Of course, it’s been said that Erin Andrews is more of a target for that type of "assault" than say someone like Jim McKay or Tommy Lasorda would have been. Female sportscasters are supposed to have it all: gorgeous looks, a great personality AND an encyclopedic knowledge of sports. Male sportscasters can get old and craggy, and ramble on and no one seems to care (or takes nude photos of them – probably actually a good thing come to think of it.)
Of course, now that the story has broken all over the major new sites about how Erin Andrews was taken advantage of, no doubt a few crazies out there are looking for ways to do the same thing to their favorite celebs or sports figures, male or female. It’s a weird world… Hotels will no doubt have to be extra-vigilant to anyone who seems to be standing in front of a door for longer than it takes to actually open it (or who seems to be staring at the peephole from the wrong side of the door…!)
I’m not famous (and wouldn’t want to be after reading about Erin Andrews’ troubles), but this cautionary tale makes me want to keep a roll of duct tape with me whenever I travel so I can cover up any potential privacy problems with it. (A little over the peephole, some on the keyholes, some to cover any cracks around the doors and keep the curtains from moving, and some to keep the towels from slipping off the 2-way mirrors in the bathrooms… Hey! A little healthy paranoia seems to be appropriate, wouldn’t you say?)
Here’s hoping they catch whoever did it, and give them more than just a slap on the wrist. Who needs terrorists to keep you from feeling safe when you travel when you have the paparazzi doing their jobs for them?
The Curse of the 3 Strikes Again…
June 26, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under FEATURED, MUSIC, TV SHOWS
Wow, what a tough week in Hollywood and for all those who grew up watching and listening to them: three icons gone before you could blink. And how sad is it that all three were going through some of the toughest times in their lives when they passed?
First Ed McMahon, he of the TONIGHT SHOW 2nd chair, STAR SEARCH and TV’s PRACTICAL JOKES AND BLOOPERS, passed at the age of 86. It appears that the bone cancer he had been suffering, among other health problems, may have contributed to his death. (No doubt the added stress of being in financial trouble and on the verge of losing his home didn’t help… Too bad he couldn’t have been enjoying his golden years instead of having to hawk Cash for Gold to make ends meet!)
Then, just when we were getting used to his being gone, Farrah Fawcett loses her battle with cancer at 62. (How weird is it that all of the original Angels ended up with cancer? I’d seriously want to check out where they were filming for nuclear waste products!!)
While I actually liked Jacklyn Smith the best of the three original Charlie’s Angels, the chemistry of the three leads together made for a fun show. Unfortunately, like many actors who leave successful shows before the storyline is really ready to let them go, Farrah’s career never really ever took off again. She ended up being known more for the men in her life and the best-selling (cheesecake) poster of all time and now for dying of a really embarrasing form of lower body cancer. How sad is that?
Then, before we all stop reeling, the biggest shock of the week happens. Ed McMahon was getting up there in years and Farrah had been battling cancer for a while, but Michael Jackson always seemed to go on and on no matter what bumps and bruises tossed his life. Then, he gets accidentally done in at only 50 by the doctor that’s supposed to be watching his fragile health? (That’s just one of the many rumors running rampant right now… Among the thousands that no doubt will spring up and grow and take on a life of their own as the days, weeks and months go by.)
I’m sorry to say I don’t really miss this Michael much. I miss the Michael of the earlier years, the one who hadn’t gotten twisted so much by either his father or all the money or just finally being unable to cope with all the fame and pressure. I miss the originality of his early music, the magic he seemed to have lost as he lost his own way, personally and financially, not quite seeming to live in the real world anymore. It’s too bad that it looked all downhill for him, no matter what he did.
RIP to all three. May they now have the peace and tranquility they seemed to have lost so late in their lives…
What a week…
From Taking Lives to Saving Lives
June 8, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under FEATURED, TV SHOWS
How annoying is it to start watching a show, only to realize it’s already been cancelled? SCI FI Channel is one of my favorites, but they’re also one of the most frustrating in that they seem to pick up shows I never saw when they were first out, didn’t realize how great they were, only to find out that the 13 eps are all that there are and most likely ever will be. Read more
2009 Tony Awards
June 8, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, FEATURED, Michael T Weiss
Last night’s Tony Awards show was a nice surprise. It seems they have finally taken a page from Hollywood and decided to provide "teaser trailers" to the nominated shows, whether it be through extended musical numbers by the original artists or through short film shots from the plays in question.
In this day and age of tight economics, people want an idea ahead of time of whether their money will be well spent. And given last night’s performances, I sure wish I had more money and could take the time off to go to Broadway! Read more
Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince Coming Jul 15th
June 7, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under FEATURED, MOVIES
After an extra long wait (first due to the writer’s strike, then to Hollywood’s deciding to push it back some more), HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE is finally coming out July 15h. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Michael Gambon, this film also brings back such favorites as Alan Rickman, Robbie Coltrane, Maggie Smith, David Thewlis, Tom Felton and Julie Walters, while adding some new actors to the mix: Jim Broadbent brings Professor Horace Slughorn to life, while Hero Fiennes-Tiffin (nephew to Ralph Fiennes) gives us insight into the young Tom Riddle aka Voldemort. Read more
Bill’s Been Killed? – David Carradine Dead in Bangkok
June 4, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS
Sadly, it appears that David Carradine has killed himself. According to news sources in Bangkok, he was found in his hotel room, possibly in the wardrobe, with a curtain cord around his neck. (They also mention the possibility of other cords wrapped on him, but have called this a suicide at this point – no details have been released to protect his family. However, the extra ropes make me wonder about accidental/autoerotic asphyxiation if they don’t think it’s a homicide, but that’s just a supposition on my part.)
Carradine had been in Bangkok filming a new movie when his body was found by a hotel maid on Thursday morning. According to people associated with the production, he had failed to show up for a dinner the night before, but no one had been concerned at that point. (According to reports, he had been dead for approx. 12 hours when he was finally discovered.) He was 72 at the time of his passing.
Even though Carradine had hundreds of movie and TV credits, he will no doubt be best known for his iconic role as Kwai Chang Caine in KUNG FU. And while the character of Caine was envisioned and created in the 1970s by Bruce Lee (who fully expected to play it, but Hollywood had other ideas), Carradine managed to pull off the half-Chinese, half-European West-wanderer for 3 years (and quite a few movies and a 2nd TV series based on the same character 20 years later.) Not bad for a man who had Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh, German, Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian and Cherokee ancestry, but not a drop of Asian, eh?
Carradine’s career then faded into a series of B, C (and sometimes Z level movies) and small parts on TV shows, mostly in the martial arts and horror genres. He could never quite capture that movie magic again, that is, until Quentin Tarantino made him "Bill" in 2003. (Even that part was to be someone else’s originally: Warren Beatty was supposedly tapped to play it as a "James Bondesque" assasin, but he bowed out, suggesting Carradine instead.) However, even with that hit, afterwards Carradine still was only offered parts in non-mainstream movies as martial arts villains or supporting roles. He just couldn’t seem to find the fame he sought.
Carradine told the AP in 2004, "There isn’t anything that Anthony Hopkins or Clint Eastwood or Sean Connery or any of those old guys are doing that I couldn’t do," he said. "All that was ever required was somebody with Quentin’s courage to take and put me in the spotlight."
I can’t say he was my favorite actor, but David Carradine was definitely a part of my TV-watching childhood, and I admit I thoroughly enjoyed KUNG FU, watching all the episodes (from both series), and he did Bill justice, not an easy thing to do.
May he rest in peace…
Susan Boyle – All I Can Say Is WOW!
April 19, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under MUSIC
I rarely watch reality TV much lately, generally due to lack of time (and inclination), but when I read all the buzz about Susan Boyle, I had to take a few minutes to see what it was all about.
Like probably just about everyone watching that excerpt from BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT (including Simon Cowell, Piers Morgan, Amanda Holden and the entire audience that night), I would have thought she had more cheek than talent given her opening remarks and looks if I hadn’t had an inkling ahead of time that she was something very special. (Sometimes I swear so many people get on those shows just so the judges can make snarky remarks that it gets too easy to lump contestants into that category, especially, and unfortunately, based on looks.) So I wasn’t as surprised as I might have been…
Yet, I was still bowled over by Susan’s voice! She has one of the purest, sweetest voices I’ve heard in a long time, especially for someone 47 years old. And her delivery and stage presence is amazing. Nowadays, you get too many singers who have pretty good voices, but who don’t really know how to sell a song or you get ones who can use a stage well, but don’t have the voice. She’s got both in spades.
I can’t wait for her to come out with an album. I rarely buy them, because usually only a few songs on each are worth having, but I think she’d be wonderful across the board, making whatever she does a keeper. (There’s a limited edition charity CD she sang on years ago that shows she’s not a fluke…)
Here’s hoping she wins on BRITAIN’S GOT TALENT. She surely does. (If "Mamma Trish" makes it to the finals, and she doesn’t, I think I’ll puke prolifically, and then I’ll remember why I don’t usually watch these shows in the first place, not to mention boycotting any future Simon Cowell productions should that be the case…)
Click on the photo above to watch her performance or here.
IMPRESSIONISM Play Updates
February 25, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under ACTORS, Michael T Weiss, TV SHOWS, The Pretender
Previews for the Broadway play IMPRESSIONISM, starring Jeremy Irons, Joan Allen, Michael T. Weiss, Marsha Mason and Aaron Lazar among others, start this Saturday, Feb 28th. The play will have an 18-week limited run (due to other obligations for Jeremy Irons, who will go on to another project right after.)
As part of promoting the play, the actors did a Meet and Greet for the press, some of which you can see below:
Vintage Gibson Guitars – Investment?
February 14, 2009 by Spotlight-On WM
Filed under FEATURED, MUSIC
Vintage 1959 Gibson Les Paul Flametop Guitar
In this day and age where cash seems to be worth less and less, there still are a few items that seem to appreciate with age. One of those categories appears to be vintage guitars, especially vintage Gibson guitars.
In recent years, Gibson guitar collectors have been known to pay as much as $400,000 (yes, that’s a 4 with 5 zeros!) for a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Flametop. According to Jay Boone, owner of Emerald City Guitars in Pioneer Square, that particular guitar was sitting under a bed gathering dust for 40 years, unbeknownst to the adult children in the family in Illinois who discovered its worth after seeing some press about Boone and its sister guitar.* Read more
