R.I.P. Patricia Neal (1926 - 2010)

“There is no happiness without tears; no life without death. Beware, I will give you cause to weep.”

- Lucian Staniak - AKA The Red Spider

Jean Simmons Dead at 80

Numbah 3!

Apparently even minor celebrities die in threes. Case in point - Kate McGarrigle, Canadian singer-songwriter and mother to the diarrhea stain that is Rufus Wainwright - dead at 63.

Read about it here.

The newest from Boywonder Productions..

Teddy Pendergrass, R&B Soul Singer, Dies at 59

By JON PARELES
Published: January 14, 2010

Teddy Pendergrass, the Philadelphia soul singer whose husky, potent baritone was one definition of R&B seduction in the 1970s but whose career was transformed in 1982 when he was severely paralyzed in an auto accident, died on Wednesday night in Bryn Mawr, Pa. He was 59.

His death was confirmed by his publicist, Lisa Barbaris, who said Mr. Pendergrass had been treated for colon cancer since August at Bryn Mawr Hospital and had suffered many complications.

As the lead singer for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and in a solo career in which he sold millions of albums, Mr. Pendergrass brought gospel dynamics to bedroom vows in songs like “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” “The Love I Lost,” “Close the Door,” “Turn Off the Lights” and “Love T.K.O.”

His performances rose from breathy whispers to gutsy exhortations, making his voice the deeper, more aggressive counterpart to the styles of 1970s soul men like Al Green and Marvin Gaye. It was the flagship sound for Philadelphia International Records, riding lush strings and big-band disco from the producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

Philadelphia International’s songwriters provided Mr. Pendergrass with material that was forthright but never crude, promising nothing more explicit than a back rub.

“Teddy had that big, booming baritone voice, but he was a tender man,” Mr. Huff said in a telephone interview Thursday. “He was very lovable. You could hear it in his music.”

By the late ’70s, Mr. Pendergrass’s concerts — some of them presented for women only — drew screaming, ecstatic crowds. Women would fling teddy bears and lingerie onstage. Mr. Gamble called Mr. Pendergrass “the black Elvis.”

Mr. Pendergrass was a hitmaker for a decade. Then, on March 18, 1982, on a winding road in the Germantown section of Philadelphia, Mr. Pendergrass’s Rolls-Royce smashed into a highway divider and a tree, a result of either brake failure or a faulty electric system that had disabled the power steering. Spinal cord injuries left him paralyzed from the chest down at 31.

Read more here.

FanboyQ's 2010 Celebrity Death Pool

To put it lightly, 2009 was a huge year for celebrity deaths. From Michael Jackson to Brittany Murphy - Patrick Swayze to Andy Hallet to Billy Mays to Bea Arthur - the famous among us seemingly dropped like flies.

So who out there will we be mourning by this date next year? Leave it to my sick and demented mind to compile a list of ten celebrities that I doubt will be around much longer:

1. Billy Graham



2. Kirk Douglas



3. Mickey Rooney



4. Elizabeth Taylor



5. Gloria Stuart



6. Betty White



7. Dick Clark



8. Stan Lee



9. Dolores Hope



10. Jerry Lewis

My thoughts at the end of the decade - in musical form!

Think of this as a compilation describing my thoughts, feelings and inspirations over the course of the last decade. It starts out rather dark (much like the decade itself) but we begin to see a glimmer of hope about halfway through. Or at least, that was the intention with this project. So I say goodbye to all that 2000 - 20009 gave us, the good and the bad - from 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina to Barack Obama to Susan Boyle to Glee - it certainly will go down as one of the tumultuous decades since the 60s. I've already done one compilation entitled The Mad Blood Stirring - and the thought has crossed my mind to make this a double disc and just combining the two...but that's a project for another day....

1. The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning - The Smashing Pumpkins
2. Leaving on a Jet Plane - Peter, Paul & Mary
3. 9/11 Presidential Address to the Nation - George W. Bush
4. America - M83
5. Hunting for Witches - Bloc Party
6. Hurt - Johnny Cash
7. American Idiot - Green Day
8. Fragile - Sting
9. When the Levee Breaks - Led Zeppelin
10. Umbrella - Rihanna feat. Jay Z.
11. Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World - Israel Kamakawiwoʻole
12. The Long Road - Eddie Vedder feat. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
13. Rehab - Amy Winehouse
14. A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
15. Election Night Victory Speech - Barack Obama
16. I Dreamed a Dream - Susan Boyle
17. Paparazzi - Lady Gaga
18. Leave Me Alone - Michael Jackson
19. Halo - Beyoncé
20. The Money Song - team9
21. Don't Stop Believin' - The Cast of Glee

Brittany Murphy, Star of Clueless, Uptown Girls, 8 Mile, and King of the Hill, Dead at 32

November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009

Queer-Colored Glasses: The Queer Experience Through Cinema

OutCentral Cultural Center and The Nashville Film Festival collaborate to present

Queer Colored Glasses: The Queer Experience Through Cinema

WHO: OutCentral Cultural Center in collaboration with Nashville Film Festival (NaFF)

WHAT: Queer Colored Glasses: The Queer Experience Through Cinema

WHEN: 4th Saturday of every month at 7:00 PM

WHERE: OutCentral Cultural Center 1709 Church Street (between Revive Café and Vibe. On the same block as OutLoud! and Blue Genes) Nashville, TN 37209

COST: $5 for members $8 for non-members. No one turned away for lack of funds.


CONTACT INFORMATION:

For Queer-Colored Glasses: The Queer Experience through Cinema:
FanboyQ@gmail.com


For OutCentral:
info@outcentral.org


OutCentral Cultural Center is proud to be partnering with The Nashville Film Festival for a twelve month, twelve film series entitled Queer-Colored Glasses: The Queer Experience through Cinema that will focus on filmmakers, actors, writers, stories and plots of particular interest to the “queer” spectator.

From the first flickering images that ever lit up a screen, cinema has been a place where queer voices have called out and demanded to be heard with varying degrees of success. From films made by LGBT filmmakers and performers to the particular phenomenon that gay people often “see” a film differently than their straight counterparts.

“Images of GLBTQ people on the big screen--both positive and negative--have had such a tremendous influence on our lives,” said Jim Hawk, Executive Director of OutCentral Cultural Center.

“Most of us can remember the first time we saw "one of us" on the screen. This series takes an important look at those images and how they effected our lives--and the lives of generations of GLBTQ people.”

Historically, most LGBT filmmakers were forced to work in relative secrecy about who they were, being mostly relegated to avant-garde and independent film circles. Thus, cinema is also the forum for the queer voice of the “other” – stories and characters that – while not necessarily gay – represent the outsider whose story queer audiences identify with.

"I am extremely excited about the partnership between the Nashville Film Festival and OutCentral,” said QCG Artistic Director Joshua Thomas.

“I believe one of the most important tools we in the gay community have for examining our past is in film theory. Gay audiences have historically experienced films differently than the rest of society. In examining the past through this collection of films, we'll have the unique opportunity to watch society's views on homosexuality change throughout the years."

With the enormous cultural and historic differences between films made in the 1930’s and those made in modern times the characteristics that gay culture use to signify homosexuality have also changed dramatically over the years. While present-day films are allowed to be relatively forthright about sexuality in their presentations older films were often forced to only hint at it in varied ways. Thus, many classic Hollywood performances, directors, actors and – in some cases – entire genres must be closely examined in order to hear the queer voice within them.

“NaFF is thrilled to partner with OutCentral to present a unique collection of voices from film history,” said NaFF Artistic Director Brian Owens.

"We believe that film represents a great opportunity for those unheard or seldom heard to present their stories in ways that create dialogue, understanding, and bind us all together as a greater community. We hope people will come and enjoy and talk about these films and what they mean to the GLBT community and community at large.”

"King of Pop" Michael Jackson Dead at 50

(RTTNews) - Pop star Michael Jackson has died.

The Los Angeles California Coroner's Office confirmed that the well-known "King of Pop" was pronounced dead at the UCLA Medical Center.

The initial cause of death, officials said, was cardiac arrest.

Sources said the 50-year-old Jackson was transported to the hospital from his nearby rental home in Bel-Air shortly after an emergency call at 12:30 PM Pacific Time (3:30 PM Eastern).

Jackson was reported to be in a coma at the time of transport.

The L.A. Times reported that when paramedics arrived at the home, Jackson was not breathing.

Word of Jackson's death caused a crowd of hundreds of reporters and others to form at the hospital.

The Los Angeles Police Department said it has opened investigation into Jackson's death, although they said there was no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

The L.A. County Coroner's Office will determine an official cause of death.

Jackson's death comes as the entertainer was preparing to kick off a comeback on July 13, including a series of 50 sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena.

Jackson was believed to be heavily in debt. He had not toured since 1997 and had not released a new album since 2001.

Jackson's professional career began at age 8 when he began performing with the family band called "The Jackson 5."

Jackson is survived by three children, sons Prince Michael 7, and Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., 12, and daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11.

by RTT Staff Writer

Read more here.

Michael Jackson
1958 - 2009

Angel star Andy Hallett dies of heart failure

By Patrick Lee
8:47 PM ON 03/30/09

Andy Hallett, who starred as Lorne ("the Host") on the TV series Angel, died of heart failure last night at age 33, his longtime agent and friend Pat Brady told E! Online.

Hallett, who was a fan favorite, died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles after a five-year battle with heart disease, with his father Dave Hallett by his side, the site reported.

A Massachusetts native, Hallett appeared in more than 70 episodes of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff series between 2000 and 2004. The accomplished actor was also a musician and sang two songs ("Lady Marmalade" and "It's Not Easy Being Green") on the Angel: Live Fast, Die Never soundtrack, released in 2005.

Hallett's green demon character assisted Angel (David Boreanaz) and his team in the investigation of underworld mysteries while serving as the host and headliner at a demon bar.

Hallett had spent his post-Angel years working on his music career, playing shows around the country. He had been admitted to the hospital three or four times in the past few years for his heart condition, according to Brady.

A private funeral service will be held for family and close friends in Cape Cod, most likely over this weekend.

Fritzl jailed for life in dungeon incest case

ST. POELTEN, Austria (CNN) -- A jury in Austria has found Josef Fritzl guilty of raping and imprisoning his daughter for more than two decades and sentenced him to life in prison.

It was the maximum sentence for the most serious charge Fritzl faced: one count of murder, for allowing one of the babies he fathered with his daughter to die shortly after birth.

The eight-member jury returned a unanimous verdict on all counts. Fritzl, dressed in a gray suit, blue shirt and dark tie, stared blankly ahead and showed no emotion as the jury delivered its verdict.

The 73-year-old had pleaded guilty to all charges on Wednesday, but Austrian law requires a jury to return a verdict as well.

Fritzl will soon be moved to a detention facility for mentally abnormal offenders, where psychiatrists will evaluate him and decide on therapy. Until then, he will remain in a two-person cell in St. Poelten.

The man who kept his crimes a secret for 24 years until he was exposed last year made a final, emotional apology to the court Thursday morning.

"I am deeply sorry with all my heart for what I have done, but I cannot go back and change it," Fritzl told the court at St. Poelten, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) east of Amstetten, where he and his family lived.

The jury found Fritzl guilty of incest, rape, enslavement and false imprisonment of his daughter Elisabeth. It also found him guilty of two assault charges and murder in the death of the baby, one of twins, which died 66 hours after birth.

Fritzl initially pleaded not guilty to murder, enslavement, and one of the assault charges, and partly guilty to rape. He surprised his own lawyer by changing his plea Wednesday.

Prosecutor Christiane Burkheiser urged the jury Thursday to return a murder conviction. She called Fritzl's admission of guilt a ploy.

"This was not a confession by the accused. It was a change in strategy," she told the court.

Elisabeth Fritzl also wanted her father to be convicted, said her lawyer, Eva Plaz.

Both sides accepted Thursday's verdict and Josef Fritzl refused the option to appeal, court officials said. He could be considered for parole in 15 years, when he would be 88, said court spokesman Franz Cutka, but the Ministry of Justice will decide whether to allow it.

Fritzl's lawyer revealed Thursday that Elisabeth had been in court Tuesday, the second day of the trial. Defense attorney Rudolf Mayer said the elder Fritzl noticed his daughter's presence in the final hour of viewing Elisabeth's videotaped testimony.

Mayer said he was not disappointed with the verdict because it was a "logical consequence" of his client's admission of guilt. He said life in prison is a "very just sentence."

"In my eyes, no man is a monster, regardless of what he's done," Mayer told the BBC. "He's always a human, regardless of what he's done."

A technical expert testified at the trial that the underground chamber in which Fritzl kept his daughter and their offspring had low ceilings -- about 1.7 meters (5.5 feet) high -- and, for the first couple of years, only minimal sanitation. The cellar had no daylight or fresh air.

Prosecutors said Fritzl closeted Elisabeth in the specially designed cellar in 1984, when she was 18, telling other family members that she had run away to join a cult. He kept her there for 24 years, authorities believe, repeatedly sexually assaulting her and fathering her seven children.

Fritzl took three of the children upstairs to live with him and his wife, telling the family that the missing Elisabeth had dropped them off.

Elisabeth and the remaining children never saw daylight, prosecutors said, and Fritzl went away for long periods, leaving them without food. To punish them, prosecutors said, Fritzl sometimes turned off the power in the cellar for up to 10 days.

In addition, they alleged, Elisabeth was often sexually assaulted in front of the children.

One of the babies -- a boy named Michael -- died shortly after birth. Prosecutors charged Fritzl with murder in his death because he did not receive medical care.

Fritzl admitted Wednesday that he was in the cellar when the baby was born. He noticed the child was breathing heavily, he said, but he did not think the baby would die and decided not to seek help.

Fritzl told the court he was probably responsible for the child's death and pleaded guilty to his murder. He had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charge but said he changed his mind after hearing Elisabeth's videotaped testimony.

The prosecution said Thursday that Michael struggled for 66 hours before dying of respiratory problems. They said Fritzl knew what was happening but was indifferent.

Authorities have said that Elisabeth and her children now have new identities and are in a secret location. Asked at a news conference why other family members have not testified, officials said they did not wish to.

The case came to light in April 2008, when Elisabeth's then-19-year-old daughter, Kerstin, became seriously ill and ended up in the hospital. Hospital staff became suspicious and alerted police, who then discovered the family's plight in the cellar.



Read more here.

Bettie Page, Queen of the Pin-Ups, Dead

Pinup queen led a sexual revolution

Louis Sahagun, Sahagun is a NY Times staff writer.

Bettie Page, the brunet pinup queen with a shoulder-length pageboy hairdo and kitschy bangs whose saucy photos helped usher in the sexual revolution of the 1960s, has died. She was 85.

Page, whose later life was marked by depression, violent mood swings and several years in a state mental institution, died Thursday night at Kindred Hospital in Los Angeles, where she had been on life support since suffering a heart attack Dec. 2, according to her agent, Mark Roesler.

A cult figure, Page was most famous for the estimated 20,000 4-by-5-inch black-and-white glossy photographs taken by amateur shutterbugs from 1949 to 1957. The photos showed her in high heels and bikinis or negligees, bondage apparel -- or nothing at all.

Decades later, those images inspired biographies, comic books, fan clubs, websites, commercial products -- Bettie Page playing cards, dress-up magnet sets, action figures, Zippo lighters, shot glasses -- and, in 2005, a film about her life and times, "The Notorious Bettie Page."

Read more here.

Comedy Producer Geoffrey Perkins Killed In Accident

The former BBC TV head of comedy has died in a road accident in London.

Geoffrey Perkins, 55, worked for many years for BBC Radio, where he created the game Mornington Crescent in I'm Sorry Haven't a Clue.

He also produced the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, one of the most successful radio shows ever made.

He became head of comedy for BBC TV with highlights of his TV career including The Catherine Tate Show, The Fast Show and Channel 4's, Father Ted.

BBC director of vision Jana Bennett said she was "shocked and deeply saddened" by the news.

"Geoffrey Perkins was an outstanding creator of countless comedy hits on the BBC and elsewhere, and a very distinguished former BBC head of comedy.

"He embraced comedy talent to create unique programmes which will be enjoyed for a very long time to come. All of our thoughts are with Geoffrey's family at this very sad time."

He left his role as a BBC radio producer to work at Thames TV for a brief period.

His many television credits include Spitting Image, Saturday Night Live and Friday Night Live, The Harry Enfield Television Programme, which he also co-wrote, and Ben Elton - The Man From Auntie.

He produced the topical drama A Very Open Prison for BBC Two and the first series of the BAFTA award-winning Father Ted for Channel 4.

A writer, producer and performer, Mr Perkins became BBC TV's head of comedy in May 1995.

Pic(k) of the Day

9-1-1 0n 9/11

Interesting Times Revisited

On this day in history, Elvis Presley died in his home at the age of 42, while sitting on the toilet. In the bathroom, he had been reading The Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus.

This Can't Be a Good Sign....

By Jim Kavanagh
CNN

CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio (CNN) -- Camryn Jakeb Wilson was bathed in TV lights the day he was born, celebrated on the local news as Summit County's 2008 New Year's baby after his arrival at 12:33 a.m. on January 1.

Just 12 weeks later, he was bathed in warm water minutes after he quietly died in his mother's arms, the victim of shaken baby syndrome. Camryn's 9-year-old sister, Tabatha, asked why he needed a bath now.
"We have to get him ready to go to Jesus," a nurse softly replied. Tabatha took up a sponge to help.

Camryn's father, Craig R. Wilson, 28, of Cuyahoga Falls, is scheduled for a pretrial hearing on murder and other charges August 20. Police say he confessed to shaking and squeezing the infant after arguing with his wife, Crystal Wilson.

But he has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and faces trial in September.

"There are no excuses for this to happen to any baby," Crystal Wilson, 26, told CNN. "This is murder. He had no reason to die. He died because he cried."

"It really is a tragedy," said Craig Wilson's defense attorney, Jonathan T. Sinn. "I mean, not only did Crystal and Craig lose a son, but Crystal lost a husband, and Craig's parents lost a son and a grandson. ... One day this was a happy, perfect family, and the next day it's been devastated."

The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome estimates as many as 1,400 babies annually are injured or killed by shaking.

Read more here

Eight killed during Mass

An armed group killed at least eight people during mass in a drug rehabilitation centre in a Mexican border town late yesterday.

Nearby security forces allowed the attackers to flee, police in Ciudad Juarez said, quoting witnesses.

An armed group "entered (the building) shooting at people who were praying, killing or injuring many of them," the municipal office of public security said in a statement, quoting witnesses.

After the shooting, the assassins "fled, without rushing, down Barranco Azul avenue, where there was a group of soldiers and ministerial police who did nothing to detain them,'' the statement said.

At least eight people were killed, but the final tally could be higher, local police said.

Two people were killed in a nearby rehabiliation center last weekend, in a town where the country's drug wars are played out daily.

Federal authorities have deployed more than 36,000 soldiers across the country, including 2500 in Ciudad Juarez, in an effort to combat drug trafficking and violence, but some ,000 people have been killed so far this year.

Authorities attribute some 780 assassinations in Ciudad Juarez this year to turf wars between drug cartels.