photo: 25 new messages in 14 topics

alt.gossip.celebrities
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities

alt.gossip.celebrities@googlegroups.com

Today's topics:

==============================================================================
TOPIC: too funny .... (can't breathe)
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/b3f73e196c6ce03d
==============================================================================

== 1 of 4 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 9:41 am
From: "Ed"

Fallen wrote:
> Agent Smith wrote:
>
> >This entire list of images will absolutely kill ya.
> >
> >superdickery.com/seduction/42.html
> >
> >
>
> They probably would, if the entire world hadn't already seen them years ago.
>
> Fallen.

Actually, I hadn't seen these yet. Although the humor wore off fairly
quickly.

There was this one.

http://www.superdickery.com/seduction/50.html

I don't know what's "wrong" with Amy.

== 2 of 4 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 9:45 am
From: "JLB"

Ed wrote:
> Fallen wrote:
> > Agent Smith wrote:
> >
> > >This entire list of images will absolutely kill ya.
> > >
> > >superdickery.com/seduction/42.html
> > >
> > >
> >
> > They probably would, if the entire world hadn't already seen them years ago.
> >
> > Fallen.
>
> Actually, I hadn't seen these yet. Although the humor wore off fairly
> quickly.
>
> There was this one.
>
> http://www.superdickery.com/seduction/50.html
>
> I don't know what's "wrong" with Amy.

Look at her dress, just below and to the left of the gold bracelet on
her right hand.

JLB

== 3 of 4 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 5:54 pm
From: Agent Smith

"Ed" <edrhodes@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:1165945285.763850.221050@n67g2000cwd.googlegroups.com:

>
> Fallen wrote:
>> Agent Smith wrote:
>>
>> >This entire list of images will absolutely kill ya.
>> >
>> >superdickery.com/seduction/42.html
>> >
>> >
>>
>> They probably would, if the entire world hadn't already seen them
>> years ago.
>>
>> Fallen.
>
> Actually, I hadn't seen these yet. Although the humor wore off fairly
> quickly.
>
> There was this one.
>
> http://www.superdickery.com/seduction/50.html
>
> I don't know what's "wrong" with Amy.

She's got a stiffie. And yes, I am gonna photoshop some new dialog in
there.

== 4 of 4 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 9:57 am
From: "Vic Vega"

JLB wrote:
> Ed wrote:
> > Fallen wrote:
> > > Agent Smith wrote:
> > >
> > > >This entire list of images will absolutely kill ya.
> > > >
> > > >superdickery.com/seduction/42.html
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > > They probably would, if the entire world hadn't already seen them years ago.
> > >
> > > Fallen.
> >
> > Actually, I hadn't seen these yet. Although the humor wore off fairly
> > quickly.
> >
> > There was this one.
> >
> > http://www.superdickery.com/seduction/50.html
> >
> > I don't know what's "wrong" with Amy.
>
> Look at her dress, just below and to the left of the gold bracelet on
> her right hand.
>
> JLB

Apparently "she" just couldn't go through with the operation....

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Jada Pinkett Smith gives $1 million to arts school
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/dc493f530040d9a0
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 12:43 pm
From: "lj"

"A_White_Monkey" <alwaysright@anywhere.com> wrote in message
news:G_Afh.8374$Z67.1356@trndny02...
> Name some people and *why* are they more deserving?
>
> "lj" <ljam@south.net> wrote in message
> news:18Afh.4$_S3.1@bignews2.bellsouth.net...
> >
> > "Ellie" <folicacid400@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> > news:Nrzfh.4159$it5.2385@trndny06...
> >> edonline" <edonlineSPAMOUT!@comcast.net> wrote in message
> >> news:idKdnfOwd5VbIuPYnZ2dnUVZ_riknZ2d@giganews.com...
> >> > http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061212/ap_en_mo/people_pinkett_smith
> >> >
> >> > Actress gives $1 million to arts school
> >> >
> >> > Jada Pinkett Smith has donated $1 million to her high school alma
> >> > mater,
> >> > the Baltimore School for the Arts, asking that its new theater be
> >> > dedicated to classmate Tupac Shakur, who was shot and killed in 1996.
> >> >
> >> > "It means a lot when you're a teacher and your most famous alumnus
> >> > comes
> >> > back to give a donation," said Donald Hicken, head of the school's
> > theater
> >> > department since its founding in 1980 and Pinkett Smith's former
> >> > theater
> >> > teacher. "It really says a lot to the community that the school
matters
> > in
> >> > people's lives."
> >> >
> >> > The donation from the Will and Jada Smith Family Foundation, which is
> >> > based in Baltimore, will be used for renovation and expansion. The
> > school,
> >> > which announced the donation Monday, said it will name its new
theater
> > for
> >> > Pinkett Smith.
> >> >
> >> > Pinkett Smith, 35, is married to Will Smith, who stars in the new
movie
> >> > "The Pursuit of Happyness" with their 8-year-old son, Jaden.
> >> >
> >> > The couple had previously given $112,500 to the school.
> >> >
> >> > When a $30 million expansion program is finished in the fall of 2007,
> > the
> >> > school will increase its enrollment from 316 to 375 students.
> >> >
> >> > Karen Banfield Evans, executive director of the Smith Family
> >> > Foundation,
> >> > and Pinkett Smith's aunt, said the actress was moved by the school's
> >> > advances since she graduated.
> >> >
> >> > Pinkett Smith wanted the theater named for Shakur because of the
> >> > friendship they developed at the school. The rapper died after a
> > drive-by
> >> > shooting in Las Vegas.
> >> >
> >> > The actress has appeared in movies such as "Ali," which starred her
> >> > husband, and "Collateral," and she was the voice of the hippo Gloria
in
> >> > the 2005 animated film "Madagascar."
> >> >
> >> > "The Pursuit of Happyness," a Sony Pictures release, opens in
theaters
> >> > Friday.
> >> >
> >> Why do they have to put a condition on the donation? I can think of
> > better
> >> people to dedicate it to than Shakur. My sister just went through all
> > this
> >> with her son's private school; a murderer's brother wanted to donate
> >> millions but it had to have their last name on the new wing (it was
> >> overruled by outraged school parents, including the murder victim's
> > brother
> >> who's kid goes to the school.) So the jerk reduced the donation to a
> >> fraction of his original amount.
> >>
> >>
> >
> > Read it again...they are naming the building after HER and dedicating it
> > to
> > Tupac (I agree they could find numerous people more worthy of a
> > dedication).
> > So I guess her donation will be named after her!
> >
> >
>
>

You pretty much could pick any random LAW abiding citizen off of the street
who is not a thug as a more deserving person!! No brainer!!!

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 10:06 am
From: "A_White_Monkey"

>
> You pretty much could pick any random LAW abiding citizen off of the
> street
> who is not a thug as a more deserving person!! No brainer!!!

But *you* didn't, so it must not be that easy. How can you say what effect
Tupac had on other people? He must have had an effect on her because she
wanted it dedicated to him:-)

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Angelina Jolie: How Brad Pitt & I Fell in Love
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/5f58966877d92399
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 9:44 am
From: RobBygrave2001@yahoo.com

Bushman wrote:
> >"And then we just continued to take time. We remained very, very good
> >friends - with this realization - for a long time," she says. "And then life
> >developed in a way where we could be together, where it felt like something
> >we would do, we should do."
>
> That is hysterical! What developed is they decided to bang eachother's lights out and then have Brad
> dump the woman he vowed to be with for the rest of his life to God. That's what developed. These
> Hollywood people are so warped.
>
> T

I'm not surprised at all. Brad & Angie (and many other celebrities)
have no class and no value in relationships. The words "commitment" and
"faithful" do not exist in their vocabulary. "Oh, I didn't mean to
break up their relationship," or "hurt Jennifer in the process. It was
totally unintentional. I feel bad for Jennifer." No surprise Brad says
the same thing.

Rob

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 11:56 am
From: Libbie

subscriber1997 wrote:
> yeah
> what's so awful about a husband
> stealing 'vamp' ?
>
> they're some a da hottest
> babes around .....grand fun!!
>
> i recommend it highly
>
This one doesn't have the class to admit she is a husband-stealing vamp.
Instead, she wants to be a candidate for sainthood.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: To whom do I complain about Mad TV's offensive portrayal of Dane Cook?
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/148426e4dc0028d8
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 9:48 am
From: "MimeOnFire"

RichA wrote:
> Did they show him as straight, you shill?

Dane's album sold more than Steve Martin's, so the proof is in the
pudding. Out of an hour, he might be worth 5 minutes chuckling.
People like Survivor and reality television too. It's useless to wade
against it.

And maybe there can be a discussion in which Bozo and Vince *don't*
attack each other like pre-menstruating school-girls.

Big, huge world of comedy out there.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: James Kim: Fumbles, missteps hindered search
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/ccff19c1935fa216
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 9:48 am
From: "Pokee"

> OK, now tell us how (with bad signage and no warnings) YOU would
> know not to take that road.
>

I would not have been out driving in the dark in bad weather in the
first place.

> You're accusing them of taking a risk. How would they have known it
> was a risk?

IMO, they were taking a risk attempting to take a local road in the
dark and snow - AND in a vehicle that is not equipped to handle the
snow very well.

>
> You can save lives in this identical situation. Tell us how.
>
> Kris

I never said I could save a life. But we all can learn from this.

As I said before, I consider ALL ROADS HAZARDOUS in the dark and cold
weather. Obviously, the Kims did not. And others don't either. So
many people each year are killed in bad weather (esp. on hikes or
skiing out of bounds) because of taking unnecessary risks and being
ill-equipped while taking this risk. And then the taxpayers end up
footing the bill and searchers risk their lives to find these people.
The Kims made a mistake, plain and simple. There are many things along
the way that could've helped them overcome this mistake (the gate being
locked, better signs or more visible signs, better/more detailed maps,
a 4x4 car with snow tires/chains).

I am not trying to be critical in a tragic situation. Mistakes happen
and it is very sad. I just think it is irresponsible to blame this
tragedy on bad maps that should have marked a road as 'hazardous'.

Paula

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Did Sylvester Stallone start that urban myth about Richard Gere and a
gerbil?
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/5d41f8f47d1838a3
==============================================================================

== 1 of 3 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 9:49 am
From: AlicesDad@gmail.com

Agent Smith wrote:
> PUSSSYKATT@aol.com wrote in news:1165940330.384677.21090@
> 16g2000cwy.googlegroups.com:
>
> > According to Stallone: "Richard was given his walking papers and
> > to this day seriously dislikes me."
>
> Maybe Stallone isn't so bad after all.

================

then who started the Rod Stewart belly
fulla man-juice rumour?

i hung out with Sly once for a few hours
not a bad dude at all ....ok sense of humor
and not all that self-centered i gave him
a 7.5

== 2 of 3 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 9:55 am
From: "Buttercup"

Agent Smith wrote:
>> Maybe Stallone isn't so bad after all.<<<<<<<<

I think Stallone is an ape. Every time I think of him I remember that
his domestic employees are not allowed to look or stare at him. Well,
who in the hell wants to look at the aging big puffy baffoon now.

== 3 of 3 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 12:56 pm
From: "SyVyN11"

<PUSSSYKATT@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1165940330.384677.21090@16g2000cwy.googlegroups.com...
> By Jeannette Walls/MSNBC
> Did Sylvester Stallone start that bizarre urban myth about Richard Gere
> and a gerbil?
>
I have a alt theory, IT'S THE TRUTH!!!!

i saw it on family guy.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Kristen Wiig was pretty hot in the final SNL sketch last night
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/115c36ce1aa042b1
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 5:53 pm
From: "Maurice Bastarache"

Damn straight!!!!!

I like the way you think sir!!!

M
"P.K." <george@vcnet.com> wrote in message
news:457E17EF.E8607AF6@vcnet.com...
> How would you like to bone both her and Amy at once ???
>
> Maurice Bastarache wrote:
>
>> sez u...
>>
>> Either you're gay or blind or both. And deaf. The woman is frickin hot,
>> and
>> very talented.

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 5:58 pm
From: "Maurice Bastarache"

Not sure if I agree...Wiig is getting more air time which is great, but
other talented cast members like Bill Hader and Fred Armisen seem to be
getting very little. I notice that Jason Sudekis is getting more air time.
He's good, but I'd like to see more of Hader and Armisen. Andy Samberg is
not that funny and gets way too much air time.

Darrell Hammond should call it quits. He had his day and its embarrassing
that he's still doing Gore and Clinton almost 6 years after they left the
White House. They should also get rid of Kenan Thompson and Maya Rudolph.

M
"P.K." <george@vcnet.com> wrote in message
news:457CFB2B.A5F539F1@vcnet.com...
> Hell, those two are carrying the whole show lately .................
>
> Collette Quitts wrote:
>
>> Butt messin' Wiig wrote:
>> > Tell me you didn't get turned on with her talking about "butt messing",
>> > "reverse cowgirl messing" and "messing herself". And she started
>> > laughing near the end of the sketch so you KNOW she did half that shit
>> > in college or whatever. Total freak action and it redeemed the entire
>> > show. Thanks Kristen!
>>
>> Um...Is it just me or is there a tad too much Amy Poehler and a tad too
>> little Kristen Wiig?
>

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Princes William and Harry announce pop concert in honor of Princess Di
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/5f124114e735e914
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 12:00 pm
From: Libbie

Going For Broke wrote:
> What does/did people see in Diana?? She was no more than an average school
> teacher who married a prince.

That is precisely the attraction--hers was a fairytale story everyone
wanted to believe, and when things didn't work out in fairytale fashion,
many of the people who had believed in it felt a great sympathy for her
that, in some cases, went over the deep end when she died.

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 10:03 am
From: "yD"

Kris Baker wrote:
> "yD" <yaffadina2@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:1165943905.708837.321540@73g2000cwn.googlegroups.com...
> >
> > FragileWarrior wrote:
> >> PUSSSYKATT@aol.com wrote in news:1165940010.992408.242080
> >> @n67g2000cwd.googlegroups.com:
> >>
> >> > The CIA and Secret Service denied yesterday listening in on Diana's
> >> > calls.
> >> >
> >> > "It's not us, it's not us," a CIA official implored.
> >>
> >> Oh who gives a hairy rat's ass? If the tapes were good, release them.
> >> We
> >> could use some good NEW Di dish.
> >
> > All the news reports I've seen say that the eavesdropping was "that
> > day" -- the day she died; but surely if 'they' were spying on her,
> > wouldn't they have been doing so before "that day" as well. If not,
> > why not. And if it was, indeed, only that day, why?
> > yD
>
> I think it'll turn out that the real target was someone else at the
> hotel, and that person phoned her.
>
> Kris

Well, the leaks say that they were eavesdropping on her! I guess we'll
have to wait until Thursday (?) when the report comes out.
The fact that Henri Paul was employed (used?) by the French Secret
Service was justified as being 'natural' because of the Very Important
People who stay and stayed at the Ritz. Also, Fayad, owner of the
Ritz, had bribed several British MPs and iirc that was why the British
wouldn't give him citizenship -- I guess he bribed the wrong people
(that's a joke).
FWIW I believe that the publicity now about the concert in her memory
next summer by her sons, is to distract from the publicity again about
her death.
yD

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Off topic...way off topic
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/a901c03402e0014d
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 9:59 am
From: "Buttercup"

Kris Baker wrote:
>
> You didn't learn "the Magic Nines" in third grade math?
>
>

Shut your rude face up.

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 6:02 pm
From: "A_White_Monkey"

"Kris Baker" <kris.baker@prodigyyyy.net> wrote in message
news:POBfh.7179$Ga1.3952@newssvr12.news.prodigy.net...
>
> "A_White_Monkey" <alwaysright@anywhere.com> wrote in message
> news:YtBfh.5332$Li6.3440@trndny03...
>>
>> "Kris Baker" <kris.baker@prodigyyyy.net> wrote in message
>> news:7qBfh.7172$Ga1.1956@newssvr12.news.prodigy.net...
>>>
>>> "A_White_Monkey" <alwaysright@anywhere.com> wrote in message
>>> news:ckzfh.3146$Et5.2517@trndny07...
>>>>
>>>> Ok I know this is not about a celebrity, but can ANYONE figure out how
>>>> they do this? It's driving me nuts!!!
>>>> http://www.milaadesign.com/wizardy.html
>>>
>>> You didn't learn "the Magic Nines" in third grade math?
>>
>> No I didn't.
>>
>>>
>>> Pick any 2-digit number. I'll pick ten of them:
>>> 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
>>> Add the two digits together
>>> 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 3 4 5
>>> Then subtract them from the original number:
>>> 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 27 27 27
>>>
>>> (Starting to get it yet?)
>>>
>>> Now, when you do that "mystery" again, notice how
>>> 18 and 27 have the same symbol. As do 9, 36, 45,
>>> 54, 63, 72............
>>>
>>> And the reason you get different symbols every time?
>>> Is because they change the symbols around, but look
>>> at how 9, 18, 27, 36, 45, 54, 63 and 72 *all* still match
>>> their "new" symbols.
>>>
>>> Years ago in a management class, we were told that
>>> "failing" simple math tests like this could predict how
>>> gullible a person was for scams. ;)
>>
>> How many scams have you fallen victim to?
>
> Did I fail the math? No. There's your answer.
>
> Or are you just mad because this is your website?

I'm not *upset* (animals get mad) and it's not my website, I just really
didn't know. I think your last paragragh didn't serve any purpose. Who cares
what you were told in a management class? All I did was ask how this was
done, and all *you* had to do was answer. All the other stuff you asked and
stated was just unnecessary.
>
> Kris
>

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Evil Knievel sues Kanye West over video
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/54bca5f5ba68b443
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 1:04 pm
From: "edonline"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061212/ap_en_mu/people_knievel_west

Evil Knievel sues Kanye West over video
By MITCH STACY, Associated Press Writer

Evel Knievel has sued Kanye West, taking issue with a video in which the
rapper takes on the persona of "Evel Kanyevel" and jumps a motorcycle over a
canyon.

Knievel, whose real name is Robert Craig Knievel, filed a lawsuit in federal
court Monday claiming infringement on his trademark name and likeness. He
also claims the "vulgar and offensive" images depicted in the video damage
his reputation.

"That video that Kanye West put out is the most worthless piece of crap I've
ever seen in my life, and he uses my image to catapult himself on the
public," the 68-year-old daredevil said Tuesday.

West, 28, couldn't immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. The lawsuit
asks for damages and seeks to halt distribution of the video.

In the video for the song "Touch the Sky," West dons the familiar Knievel
star-studded jumpsuit and jumps a canyon in a vehicle "visually
indistinguishable" from the Skycycle that Knievel used when he attempted to
jump Idaho's Snake River Canyon in 1974, the lawsuit said.

Knievel, who lives in Clearwater, has been in poor health in recent years.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Tom Cruise in His Wedding Photos
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/76b254ff12f66e33
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 9:44 am
From: "JFlexer"

"eggs" <seggleto@sloptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:seggleto-5D94BD.13181812122006@news-vip.optusnet.com.au...
> In article <elkl1h035q@news4.newsguy.com>,
> "JFlexer" <jf096231fspam@fbuster.yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> "camille" <linking@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:1165866009.369963.307220@l12g2000cwl.googlegroups.com...
>> >
>> > CG wrote:
>> >> Keep seeing these. He looks awful. Not only a bad haircut for a
>> >> wedding
>> >> and
>> >> an unusually sour disposition, but they had to prop him up so he
>> >> wouldn't
>> >> look so petite, lol! Seriously, I don't recall seeing worse celebrity
>> >> wedding photos.
>> >>
>> >> CG
>> >
>> > Supposedly he got really overweight and they had to shoehorn him into
>> > the tux. The few photos I've seen of him, his body is hidden. Have you
>> > sen any full body shots?
>>
>> No, but the weight-gain is clearly visible in his face.
>>
>> Let's not forget, even though he's marrying a young woman, Ooze is a
>> middle-aged man... A certain amount of weight-gain is par for the
>> course...
>
> If a man dyes his hair, wears high heeled shoes and gets his eyebrows
> plucked, why would anyone be surprised to find out that he also wears a
> corset? I'm sure he tells Katie it's a Kevlar vest in case of sniper
> activity ... and she's dumb enough to believe him.

more likely: A Kevlar Vest to protect him from evil, wandering thetans...

--
-J

** Keeper of Bette Midler and Betty Buckley **

"Jesus saves sinners...and redeems them for valuable prizes!"

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 9:45 am
From: "JFlexer"

"eggs" <seggleto@sloptusnet.com.au> wrote in message
news:seggleto-73E578.19034112122006@news-vip.optusnet.com.au...
> In article
> <Roofshadow2004-F92FCA.21210411122006@comcast.dca.giganews.com>,
> Roofshadow <Roofshadow2004@spamtrap.yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> In article <seggleto-5D94BD.13181812122006@news-vip.optusnet.com.au>,
>> eggs <seggleto@sloptusnet.com.au> wrote:
>>
>
>> > If a man dyes his hair, wears high heeled shoes and gets his eyebrows
>> > plucked, why would anyone be surprised to find out that he also wears a
>> > corset? I'm sure he tells Katie it's a Kevlar vest in case of sniper
>> > activity ... and she's dumb enough to believe him.
>>
>> What makes you think she ever gets to see whatever he has on under his
>> clothing??
>
> Actually, I see her in some sort of D/s relationship with him whereby
> she does whatever he asks her whenever he asks it.
>
> eggs.

...Making her some sort of modern Stepford Wife?

--
-J

** Keeper of Bette Midler and Betty Buckley **

"Jesus saves sinners...and redeems them for valuable prizes!"

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Booed tenor says ready to sue Milan's La Scala
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/7b97d445ab617d60
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 10:07 am
From: "edonline"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061212/people_nm/italy_tenor_dc

Booed tenor says ready to sue Milan's La Scala
By Silvia Aloisi

Top tenor Roberto Alagna, who stormed off the stage at Milan's La Scala
after he was booed in mid-performance, said on Tuesday he would sue the
famed opera house if they did not let him return.

French-born Alagna, hailed by some critics as the new Pavarotti, walked off
Franco Zeffirelli's lavish production of Verdi's "Aida" on Sunday night
after a small section of the audience heckled him as he was singing an aria.

The incident, a first in the 230-year history of La Scala, forced a
costumeless substitute to step in and carry on singing as some in the
audience shouted "Shame on you!" Organizers later apologized to the public.

Alagna said he had told La Scala he was ready to return to the show but the
opera house had turned him down for breach of contract.

"They sent me a letter saying that the contract is annulled and that they
are not going to pay my expenses," Alagna told Reuters in a telephone
interview.

"So I went to my lawyer today and we are going to sue them," he said. "I
have been here for a month and I have worked very hard. This sanction is
just too much," he said.

A spokesman at La Scala declined comment on the content of the letter,
saying the opera house's legal advisers were studying the case.

"A professional can only leave at the end of the performance or in case of
serious accident. He left intentionally and therefore he broke his contract
with the theater and the audience," the spokesman said.
In a statement on Monday, La Scala's artistic director Stephane Lissner said
Alagna's behavior had provoked "a definitive split between the artist and
the public that La Scala has no way of fixing."

"TREATED LIKE A MONSTER"

Alagna defended his decision to walk out and said he had also been feeling
short of breath while singing.
"They are treating me like a monster, but I have not committed a crime, I've
done nothing wrong," he said.

"I went there to sing, to give the audience joy and pleasure. But what was I
supposed to do when some people started booing? What if they had thrown
stones at me or some crazy person had attacked me? La Scala should have
protected me, the show should have been suspended.

"Instead they carried on as if nothing had happened. After all, John Lennon
ended up being killed," he said.

Alagna said he felt the public still wanted him and La Scala was wrong to
close the doors on him.

"They are the ones lacking respect toward the public if they don't let me go
back. I have another five performances to do, and the audience is waiting
for me," the 43-year-old said.

Alagna had already complained about La Scala's notoriously demanding
audience, which forks out up to 2,000 euros ($2,600) for a ticket, on the
opening night of Aida, which launched the opera house's new season last
Thursday.

He compared performing there, where opera superstar Luciano Pavarotti was
also famously booed in 1992, to descending into a bullring and said he and
his wife, soprano Angela Gheorghiu, wanted to cancel future appearances.

Speaking to reporters in Milan on Monday, Alagna said he had received
messages of sympathy from singers and conductors throughout the world.

"My theater is always open for you. La Scala is a disgrace." Alagna quoted
an unnamed conductor as telling him.

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Sally Field's Boniva ads
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/5cc2101884fd4ea3
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 10:08 am
From: "Saffron"

Haven't seen the new one. Perhaps they're being shown out of sequence.

mc wrote:
> Anyone see the new one? In the first ad she looked fine, like
> herself...now there's a new one out and she's nearly unrecognizable.
> In the 90's she looked this way too...I guess whatever she had done
> then disintegrated and she started to look like herself again. But
> it's started up again...
>
> mc

==============================================================================
TOPIC: Outrage Grows Over Rosie O'Donnell's Asian Joke
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.gossip.celebrities/browse_thread/thread/df52147b896ca033
==============================================================================

== 1 of 1 ==
Date: Tues, Dec 12 2006 10:08 am
From: "edonline"

http://people.aol.com/people/article/0,26334,1568896,00.html

Outrage Grows Over Rosie O'Donnell's Asian Joke
TUESDAY DECEMBER 12, 2006 11:20AM EST
By Cynthia Wang and Stephen M. Silverman

Members of the Asian-American community are expressing offense over remarks
made by Rosie O'Donnell last week on The View.

Commenting on Dec. 5 about a visit to the ABC show by an inebriated Danny
DeVito, O'Donnell said: "The fact is that it's news all over the world. That
you know, you can imagine in China it's like: 'Ching chong. Danny DeVito,
ching chong, chong, chong, chong. Drunk. The View. Ching chong.' "

O'Donnell wrote on her Web site on Friday, "It was not my intent to mock."
On Sunday, she called the bit "comedy" and wrote, "I do many accents and
probably will continue to. My mom in law impression offends some
southerners. What can u do? I come in peace."

Over the weekend, O'Donnell's rep, Cindi Berger, said in a statement: "She's
a comedian in addition to being a talk show co-host. I certainly hope that
one day they will be able to grasp her humor."

But the explanation did not satisfy many, including New York City councilman
John C. Liu, who sent a letter to View executive producer Barbara Walters.

Liu told FOXNews.com on Monday: "The 'ching-chong' bit is not a trivial
matter. It really hits a raw nerve for many people in the community - many
like myself, who grew up with these kinds of taunts. We all know that it
never ends at the taunts."

He added, "It's just stupidity, and it's stupidity that justifies a response
from someone who has been indignant herself when it comes to comments made
by other people where she has perceived it as being negative against a
particular community." (O'Donnell recently clashed with Kelly Ripa over what
she considered a homophobic remark.)

On Monday, the group UNITY: Journalists of Color, which represents more than
10,000 journalists with partner organizations (the Asian American
Journalists Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, the
National Association of Hispanic Journalists, and the Native American
Journalists Association), issued a statement.

It reads, in part: "By allowing O'Donnell's cheap jab at Chinese Americans
to go unchecked, the network is essentially condoning racial and ethnic
slurs. It's a practice that should not be tolerated in today's diverse
society. That's our view."

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1 Comments:

Unknown said...: I definitely agree that Keenan and Maya should get the boot. It is a crying shame that Parnell, Horatio, and Dratch are gone. Neither Keenan nor Maya have any discernable talent. Maybe they were worried about firing all the black cast members, along with Finesse? Maya Rudolph is so not black, no matter what anyone says. And if they happen to be the least talented members anyway, so what.

As for Darrell Hammond, he is a legend and I very much disagree with the comments posted about him here. He is the best. Simply the best.; December 12, 2006 at 1:50 PM

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Tuesday, December 12, 2006

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