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Author: Lacy Langley

  • Jurassic Park 4 is Now Jurassic World

    We officially have a name and a time to put with the rumors about the fourth version of Jurassic Park. With a just-off-the-mint title, Jurassic World, the movie was actually pushed back from 2014 to a June 12, 2015, opening.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrNtZIqr_SY

    Many believe naming the film Jurassic adds momentum to the rumors that the film returns to Isla Nubar, the site of the original Jurassic Park, and could present a story in which the dinosaur theme park is actually up and running. Expect to see at least one new dinosaur in the movie, now being directed by Colin Treveorrow, who is responsible for sci-fi indie Safety Not Guaranteed. It will be produced by Steven Speilberg, who, of course, directed the first two installments in 1993 and 1997. The third came out in 2001.

    We know the film WILL be 3-D, but little else is known about casting or other details. Can’t wait to take the kiddies for some 3-D T-Rex action! They’ll be two years older by then, maybe they won’t have nightmares?

    Here’s a little walk down memory lane to get you hyped for Jurassic World:

    Image via facebook

  • Mister Cee, DJ Radio Host Resigns Amid Sex Scandal

    Legendary Hip-Hop DJ Mister Cee, who DJed for the likes of Big Daddy Kane and helped discover Notorious B.I.G., resigned from New York City’s Hot 97 Wednesday after more than 20 years at the station. Spin reports his departure followed the discovery of a video that purports to show him soliciting sex from a New York City prostitute.

    Below is a statement from Hot 97’s senior vice president and general manager Alexandra Cameron regarding Mister Cee’s resignation.

    “Due to some personal circumstances that have become public, after 20 years of service, Mr Cee has chosen to resign. We feel that this is in the best interest of both HOT 97 and Cee’s personal well-being. While we do not endorse the alleged activities, he is clearly facing a personal dilemma that is for him and only him to comment on. We are saddened by his departure; his contributions here at HOT 97 were great and we know him as a friend, a caring individual and significant hip hop advocate. We wish Mr Cee the best and will always consider him a family member of HOT 97. Moments ago, he officially signed off, on the air and will finish out his last show today on September 11, 2013, an already sad day for New York City.”

    This is at least the third time that Mister Cee has been connected to prostitution, and the second time so far this year. In May, Mister Cee went on Hot 97’s morning show to discuss a recent arrest for soliciting a prostitute for which he was later sentenced to three months of counselling after pleading guilty in June.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHxrCIsojpI

    Oh, it gets better. Both the June 2011 incident and the most recent one, in which he was secretly filmed talking to someone he believed was a prostitute, involved transgender women. That fact bred a homophobic undercurrent in conversation about the controversy. Following Mr. Cee’s arrest this year, Charlamange Tha God, of rival station Power 105, performed a hateful segment in which he repeatedly called Mister Cee a “serial purchaser of penis.” The discussion with his colleagues on Hot 97’s morning show also became largely centered on Mister Cee’s sexuality.

    Mister Cee later addressed the controversy on Twitter when confronted by a critic:

    Image via Facebook

  • Brain-eating Amoeba Survivor to Head Back to School

    Kali Hardig, statistically, should not be alive today. During a swim at a water park in July, the 12-year-old contracted parasitic meningitis, a rare infection caused by brain-eating amoebas that has a survival rate less than 1%. Kali is a fighter, though, and Wednesday, after 7 weeks in the hospital, CNN reports she is going home.

    On Monday morning, she’ll reach another milestone: she’ll head back to school part-time. She’ll be in class in the morning, and in physical and speech therapy in the afternoons. Right now, she can only talk and take a few steps on her own, so she will go to classes in the morning and therapy in the afternoons.

    Soon after entering the Arkansas Children’s Hospital earlier this summer, Kali was in critical condition; she was unresponsive and unable to breathe without the assistance of a breathing tube. Kali’s doctors have been in virtually uncharted territory as they treat her for the rare amoeba, called Naegleria fowleri. Naegleria fowleri is found in hot springs and warm fresh water, most often in the southeastern United States.

    Between 2001 and 2010, there were 32 reported cases in the United States, the CDC says. Most of the cases were in the Southeast. Out of 128 known cases in the past 50 years, just two patients have survived, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.The amoeba enters the body through the nose and travels to the brain. You cannot be infected with the organism by drinking contaminated water, the CDC says.

    The first symptoms of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis appear one to seven days after infection, including headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck, according to the CDC.

    “Later symptoms include confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures and hallucinations,” the CDC’s website states. “After the start of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within one to 12 days.”

    Dr. Sanjiv Pasala, one of Kali’s attending physicians, said the key to her survival was probably her mother getting her to the hospital early on. He said doctors immediately started treating her with an anti-fungal medicine, antibiotics and a new experimental anti-amoeba drug doctors got directly from the CDC. They also reduced the girl’s body temperature to 93 degrees. Doctors have used that technique in some brain injury cases to preserve undamaged brain tissue.

    Two weeks ago, doctors checked the girl’s cerebral spinal fluid and could not find any presence of the amoeba. Kali is one of two 12-year-olds who recently contracted the amoeba. Zachary Reyna of Florida died last month of the parasite, even after receiving the same experimental drug that was given to Kali. He contracted the amoeba after kneeboarding in a water-filled ditch by his house August 3.

    Image via twitter

  • Bob Bashara: Trial Flooded with Sordid Details

    Key witnesses Rachel Gillett, Bashara’s ex-girlfriend and Jessica Bashara, his daughter, testified against Robert (Bob) Bashara Wednesday in court to determine if there’s enough evidence to charge Bob for first-degree murder of his wife, Jane. Bashara is charged with first-degree murder in connection with his wife’s Jan. 24, 2012, death, which rocked their hometown of Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan and made national headlines.Prosecutors say Bashara paid his handyman Joseph Gentz to carry out the killing. Gentz is in prison after pleading guilty to the murder, which he says he committed at Bashara’s behest.

    Jessica told the court she had no idea about Gillett until after her mother’s death. She says once the news reports came out about Bob’s alleged affairs, he admitted to Jessica that he did have one in the past. Jessica said before her mother’s death, she stumbled upon a sexually-charged text message on her father’s phone, which she confronted him with. She told the court, “I showed my father the text message and asked him what it was, and he asked to look at my phone and deleted the message, handed my phone back and said that there were no messages like that on his phone.”

    Jessica also revealed to the court that she caught her father looking at pornography. She says he watched it on the web site alt.com several times, and that his obsession became a source of trouble for their family. Gillett said it was on that same porn site that she and Bob first met. Gillett began her testimony yesterday about their relationship before it was interrupted by a courthouse evacuation due to the power outage. She is due back in court today.

    Bob Bashara was upset because his wife, Jane, was not interested in his sado-masochistic sexual practices, while she, having a normal concern, was upset she couldn’t trust him with money, witnesses, including Jane Bashara’s best friend and confidant Patricia Matthews testified in court Monday. Among Matthews’ revelations: Jane was upset because Bashara took $10,000 from her 401(k) account without her permission, prompting her to change her passwords.

    The Detroit News reports that during Monday’s testimony, Matthews recalled an incident in August 2011, in which Jane Bashara was upset after their two children caught her husband watching “weird porn.”

    “(Jane) was livid; the kids were very upset with him,” Matthews said. “He was watching weird porn and the kids caught him. The kids were very upset; he was going into their emails and answering them, pretending to be them. “(Jane) said he had no boundaries. She said that after (the kids caught Bashara looking at porn), Bob said, ‘Just wait until Jessica graduates from high school, and if you want out of this (marriage), fine.”

    Matthews said Jane wanted to keep their marriage together. “She said she was taken aback; she was looking for ways he would improve and not do this.”
    “She always said Bob always lies,” Matthews said. “She couldn’t count on what he said. She didn’t trust him with money.”

    Before Matthews’ testimony, Robert Godard Jr. took the stand. He said he did business with Bashara for a number of years before the defendant introduced him to the BDSM (bondage/discipline/sadomasochism) lifestyle by inviting him to a party at the sex dungeon he operated beneath his Detroit bar. Godard said he met Bashara’s girlfriend, Rachel Gillett, at a party. He also said Bashara met met many women through that lifestyle, but after Gillett came into the picture, there were no others.

    “Rachel was his woman,” Godard said, “He cared for her very much. They were going to buy a home together and make a life together.”

    During the summer of 2011, Godard said Bashara approached him during a business lunch with an odd request.“Out of the blue he asked me if I knew anybody who could put a hurt on somebody,” Godard said.“He just indicated he had a tenant who was making a lot of noise over one of his properties, and he wanted to quiet him up. I was a little shocked by it. I (told him) I didn’t know anyone.”

    Image via twitter

  • Diana Nyad: Swim Was “Squeaky Clean, Ethical”

    Speculation arose that Diana Nyad had gotten into or held onto a boat during part of her 53-hour journey. Nyad insisted she never left the water or allowed her support team to help her beyond handing her food and assisting her with her jellyfish suit, The Denver Post Reports.

    “I swam. We made it, our team, from the rocks of Cuba to the beach of Florida, in squeaky-clean, ethical fashion,” Nyad said.

    These accusations drove Nyad and her team to hold a lengthy conference call Tuesday night with about a dozen members of the marathon swimming community.Nyad said it was her understanding of the sport that the first person to make a crossing got to set the rules for that body of water. She said her “Florida Straits Rules” would largely maintain what they all agree on: no flippers, no shark cage, no getting out of the water, never holding on to the boat, never holding on to the kayak, never being supported.by another human being or being lifted up or helped with buoyancy.

    She would allow innovations such as the protective full-body suit and mask she wore to shield herself from the venomous jellyfish that can alter a swim as much as a strong current. Marathon swimming purists had questioned whether that gear violated the traditions of the sport. While addressing her skeptics, Diana Nyad adamantly claimed the right to set the ground rules for future swims from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.

    “It is the only way. The swim requires it,” Nyad said. “I don’t mean to fly in the face of your rules, but for my own life’s safety, a literal life-and-death measure, that’s the way we did it.”

    After the call, Evan Morrison, co-founder of the online Marathon Swimmers Forum, said Nyad and her team addressed most of the issues that concerned the members of the forum.He was particularly pleased by Nyad’s pledge that all the observations and notes taken by her navigator, John Bartlett, and two official observers of the swim will be made available for public examination.

    “I wouldn’t expect to discover anything untoward, but I think it will help us understand a lot better what happened and give us a fuller picture of the achievement,” Morrison told The Associated Press. “That’s just part of the process. This was a great first step.”

    Skeptics have been hounding her about long stretches of the 53-hour swim were Nyad appeared to have either picked up incredible speed or to have gone without food or drink. Since Nyad finished her swim Sept. 2 in Key West, long-distance swimmers have been debating the topic on social media and in online forums.

    Nyad’s speed, at some points more than doubling her average of 1.5 mph, has drawn particular scrutiny. John Bartlett attributed her speed to the fast-moving Gulf Stream flowing swiftly in her favor. Nyad’s fastest speed averaged about 3.97 mph over a 5.5-hour period over about 19 miles on Sept. 1, crossing the strongest parts of the Gulf Stream, which was flowing at a favorable angle, Bartlett said.

    “What you’re seeing is the combination of the speed of Diana propelling herself in the water and the speed of the current carrying us across the bottom,” he said. Luckily, an oceanography professor at the University of Miami, Tamay Ozgokmen said data collected from a research buoy drifting in an eddy referenced by Bartlett confirms that ocean currents contributed as much to Nyad’s speed as Bartlett said they did. The eddy appears periodically in that region, and it alters the course of the Gulf Stream. The buoy’s average speed was about 1.6 mph.

    “So, if you’re close to (the eddy), you’re going to benefit from it, too,” Ozgokmen said. “I don’t have trouble believing that she said she essentially doubled her speed during her swim because of the ocean currents.”

    “Did I finally, after five times, get some luck with the current rather than bad luck? Yes, we got a great Gulf Stream,” Nyad told ABC News.

    Not all of the open water swimmers on the call questioned Nyad’s methods or track.

    “I feel sorry for the questions you were just asked, understanding that when you’re the first person to do something, the questions you’re asked are rather ridiculous,” said Penny Dean, who set records swimming across the English and Catalina channels. “I think the only thing she needs to show are the logs of the swim.”

    Image via Twitter

  • I-55 Bandit Turns Himself In to Police

    I-55 Bandit Turns Himself In to Police

    Andrew Maberry, an Illinois teenager, has turned himself in as the “I-55 Bandit,” the man suspected of robbing 10 banks and trying to rob two others across five states — Illinois, Missouri, Maryland, West Virginia and Tennessee — since May. The 19-year-old from O’Fallon, Ill., surrendered to FBI agents in St. Louis on Wednesday. He has been charged with one count of bank robbery relating to a July 2 incident in Missouri.

    The FBI said, in a statement Wednesday, that media attention surrounding the burglaries contributed to Maberry’s surrender.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPvdnTS-W6c

    “We want to thank the news media and digital billboard companies for providing coverage on the I-55 Bandit,” said FBI Special Agent Dean C. Bryant said. “We have no doubt Maberry’s surrender was a direct result of the extensive media attention. We also appreciate the dozens of solid tips we were provided by the public. The FBI has long relied on the public to help identify and capture criminals.”

    After the release of the surveillance photos of the suspect wearing various hats at banks in all five states, the FBI reportedly received calls from several people who said they recognized Maberry as the man in the images. No one was injured in any of the robberies, though he would pass tellers a note saying that he had a gun and a bomb.

    Image via twitter

  • Researcher Fired: “I’m Not Trying to Trick America”

    Elizabeth O’Bagy, the U.S. researcher whose writings about the upside of moderate opposition forces in Syria were cited by Secretary of State John Kerry has been fired from a non-partisan think tank for misrepresenting her academic record, the group said on Wednesday. She had been a senior analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. Her recent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal titled “On the Front Lines of Syria’s Civil War” claimed that moderate opposition forces continued to lead the fight against the Syrian government and was cited by both Kerry and Senator John McCain in congressional hearings last week as they argued for U.S. intervention in Syria.

    The piece itself has also garnered controversy. The 26-year-old O’Bagy was listed as a “senior analyst” at ISW, but did not reveal in the article that she had a connection to a Syrian rebel advocacy group. Elizabeth O’Bagy was an unpaid intern when she started at the institute, and because she was a fluent Arabic speaker was pulled into work on Syria.

    The ISW’s president, Kim Kagan, told Reuters the move was not a repudiation of O’Bagy’s work, which she described as excellent.But on Wednesday, the institute said on its website that it had “learned and confirmed that, contrary to her representations, Ms. Elizabeth O’Bagy does not in fact have a Ph.D. degree from Georgetown University. ISW has accordingly terminated Ms. O’Bagy’s employment, effective immediately.”
    “I stand by her assessments and her work,” Kagan said. “This is a terrible tragedy.”

    A senior State Department official, who was asked to comment, said that Kerry had presumed that media outlets had accurately represented O’Bagy’s credentials when he referred to her work. “Clearly, the larger point that Kerry was making stands: that the U.S. has spent a great deal of time and effort working with the moderate Syrian opposition to provide it with assistance and to help it strengthen it and increasingly coalesce,” the official said.

    Last May, O’Bagy and others at the Syrian Emergency Task Force organized a short trip for McCain to go into Syria to meet with General Salim Idriss, who was commander of the Free Syrian Army.The Wall Street Journal article initially only listed O’Bagy’s affiliation at the Institute for the Study of War. It later restated on its website that she was also affiliated with the Syrian Emergency Task Force.

    In her defense, the fired researcher wrote on Twitter: “I have never tried to hide that I’ve worked closely with opposition & rebel commanders. That’s what allows me to travel more safely in Syria.” She added, “I’m not trying to trick America here. I’m just trying to show a different side to the conflict that few people have the chance to see.”

    Image via twitter

  • 2 Million Bikers to D.C.: We Are Still Coming

    A group of reportedly 2 million bikers who requested a permit to pass red lights in a peaceful demonstration to remember 9/11 and urge that the Obama administration be held accountable for the Benghazi attacks, and were subsequently denied, will push ahead anyway. The riders will abide by all laws, including stop lights, signs, and yielding to right-of-way.

    “We find this regretful for the residents and businesses of that great city, and humbly offer our apologies,” organizers of the ride said Friday on Facebook. “What could have been a one or two hour ride through will now likely be an all day event.”

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nAp_DUPwZ0

    Bike riders are already en route from across the country to ride through Washington, D.C. on the the 12th anniversary of 9/11 to pay tribute to those who died in the 2001 attacks and the soldiers who have lost their lives because of it. Local press reports said bikers whizzed through Florida and Texas Sunday on their way to D.C. Photos posted to Twitter show meetups in Phoenix, Knoxville, and Maine. Organizers set up Facebook groups to help organize participants from each of the 49 continental states.

    The group will not post their final route publicly for obvious reasons, but plans to ride into Washington, D.C., where motorcycles are not allowed, undeterred. The plan is to ride in after 11 a.m. The demonstration is intended to be peaceful, but with an estimated million Muslims converging on the capitol for what was once billed the Million Muslim March, on the emotionally-charged date of 9/11, things could go very wrong.

    The Muslim-initiated demonstration received a permit from the National Park Service for use of the National Mall. Its participants will include groups that doubt the official account of the 2001 terror attacks, at least one tea party organization, Princeton professor Cornel West and Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo.

    Image via Twitter

  • Gwyneth Paltrow Boycotts Vanity Fair

    Gwyneth Paltrow Boycotts Vanity Fair

    Gwyneth Paltrow is at odds with Vanity Fair and it’s long-time editor, Graydon Carter, over it’s recently tougher stance with celebrities. The New York Times ran a story on Sunday claiming some celebrities and their publicists are upset that the magazine has toughened its coverage on Hollywood and its stars. The piece cited recent examples in the magazine about Brad Pitt’s “World War Z” production disaster and the effect of Scientology on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes’ marriage.

    In May, Paltrow reportedly appeared willingly on the covers of People and Good Housekeeping, but refused Vanity Fair’s offer. In an email obtained by the Times, Paltrow allegedly wrote to friends at the time:

    “Vanity Fair is threatening to put me on the cover of their magazine. If you are asked for quotes or comments, please decline. Also, I recommend you all never do this magazine again.”

    Carter released this statement in response to reports about Paltrow and her posse boycotting the mag:

    “We wouldn’t be doing our job if there wasn’t a little bit of tension between Vanity Fair and its subjects. In any given week, I can expect to hear from a disgruntled subject in Hollywood, Washington, or on Wall Street. That’s the nature of the beast.”

    Carter is very influential in the higher circles, leaving many to suggest that her actions and protest are a career risk. He also hosts the hightly anticipated annual Vanity Fair post-Oscar party.

    But it may not matter anymore, as the Times notes, ” Celebrities and their publicists can now circumvent traditional media outlets and communicate with their fans directly through Twitter and Facebook.”

    Beth Kseniak, a Vanity Fair spokeswoman, provided three Hollywood moguls to speak about how influential the magazine remains in Hollywood. One of them, Harvey Weinstein, who said he reads Vanity Fair for film ideas, said a mention in its pages was “the Good Housekeeping seal of approval in the media world” for a movie.

    “Nobody in our industry can put together a guest list like Graydon Carter,” Mr. Weinstein said.

    Leslee Dart, a publicist whose clients include Tom Hanks, Woody Allen and Meryl Streep, agrees, telling the paper, “I don’t think people care the way they used to anymore. It’s not important to them to grovel as they once did. Magazines are less relevant.”

    Hopefully Ms. Dart is correct, for Gwyneth’s sake.

  • Huguette Clark: Mystery and Obsession in New Book

    The recently deceased Huguette Clark, the heir to a copper fortune continues to stir curiousity as a look into her life and obsession with dolls becomes available in the upcoming book “Huguette Clark: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of the Great American Fortune” by NBC News investigative reporter Bill Dedman and Paul Clark Newell, Jr. Newell is a cousin of Huguette Clark.

    The book will focus on Ms. Clark’s life as a wealthy hermit, and a lot on her million-dollar obsession: her “little people”. Excerpts from the fascinating book will run in a three-part series on NBC.com. The excerpts tell of a very private, obsessive woman, who would step rarely outside her doors, but would walk down the street for a New York fashion show so that she could see the new fashions from Paris, in order to make tiny versions of them for her dolls.

    She would also go to great lengths from inside her home to be certain that the extravagant doll houses she designed would be built exactly to her measurements, so that her “little people” wouldn’t “bang their heads”. One tale in the book focuses on a an immigrant from Austria-Hungary, Rudolph Jaklitsch who would receive her dollhouses once they arrived and make modifications to them.

    His daughter regales the authors with tales of phone calls, sometimes many a day, where Huguette would render details and ideas that would come to her. He found her “charmingly frustrating” according to the book. He said it would be much easier to understand what she wanted if she would meet with him in person, but she would only speak to him on the phone or through her door.

    At Christmas time, the Jaklitsch family would be one of the lucky recipients of Ms. Clark’s “small gifts”, checks for $20,000 that grew to $40,000 over the years. When Rudolph died, they continued to come, addressed to his wife, Anna, who made the curtains for her dollhouses. When Anna died, they came addressed to their children.

    The excerpts from the book will be posted in a three-part series on NBCNews.com over the next few days, check them out!

    Image via jungleredwriters.com

  • George Zimmerman: Lawyer Follows Wife Off Ship

    George Zimmerman’s lawyer, Mark O’mara quit today and said he will no longer represent the man acquitted of murder in the death of teenager Trayvon Martin, right as police say that Zimmerman or his wife could face charges over Monday’s domestic dispute.
    Zimmerman’s attorney, made the announcement one day after Shellie Zimmerman called police to say that George had assaulted her father and threatened her, leaving her “very, very scared.”

    Police said today they are still investigating the incident and that either George or his wife Shellie Zimmerman could eventually face charges.
    ABC News reports that Lake Mary police spokesman Zach Hudson said that George Zimmerman and Shellie’s father, Colin Morgan, got into an altercation in which they “put hands on each other,” although he didn’t know if they punched or shoved one another.

    Shellie Zimmerman reportedly claimed in a 911 call that her husband punched her father in the nose. During the 911 call, Mrs.Zimmerman also reported that George Zimmerman had a gun, a claim that police later refuted, saying there was not a gun found at the scene and that no one, including Shellie Zimmerman, said anything about a weapon during the argument.

    Investigators are trying to a watch video of the conflict captured on Shellie Zimmerman’s iPad, which was smashed into pieces. The iPad is being looked at by forensic examiners who hope to see what happened during the conflict, police said at a news conference today. None of the individuals wanted to press charges, however, police are now looking into whether George or Shellie Zimmerman could face charges over the conflict, and are trying to piece together the iPad video to help the investigation, Hudson said.

    “No one has seen the video on the iPad. It’s in a couple of different pieces. Shellie was the one filming on the iPad,” Hudson said. “It’s either going to be George or Shellie who will be prosecuted if anybody is going to be prosecuted.”

    Cops have already reviewed dashcam video taken by officers who responded to the argument that erupted as the spouses each collected belongings from the home on Monday afternoon. With guns drawn, the officers ordered George Zimmerman to get out of his car, walk backwards with his hands in the air and get down on his knees before they cuffed him, video released Tuesday showed.

    O’Mara will not represent Zimmerman in the upcoming divorce proceedings. we knew trouble was brewing when O’Mara appeared to struggle with his anger at his client during Monday’s incident in which he went to Zimmerman’s house while police were still there. During a press conference later, O’Mara was asked if he had any advice for Zimmerman, and he answered, “Pay me.”

    Zimmerman’s wife said that her husband has been acting as if he’s “invincible” since his acquittal in July. He has twice been caught speeding since the end of his murder trial and he made a controversial visit to the Kel-Tec gun factory, the manufacturer that made the weapon he used to kill Martin.

  • Sharon Osbourne Admits “Flingy-Wingy” with Jay Leno

    Sharon Osbourne, the lovely wife of Ozzy Osbourne for 31 years shockingly revealed today on The Talk that, not long after first moving to the United States, she had a “flingy-wingy” with none other than the man of late night, Jay Leno.

    You can imagine the whistles and applause that announcement received when she spilled the proverbial beans to a live studio audience.

    “You mean, you had sex with Jay Leno?” cohost Julie Chen gasped after Sharon had shared her anecdote.

    “It was so long ago, I can’t remember,” Sharon said coyly. “One cannot remember that long ago!”
    But how did this come up in the first place? I can’t imagine…

    “I thought that everybody knew everything about me because I tell everything anyway, but this I don’t know why I just didn’t discuss it before or shared it or anything. And it’s not like it’s a dirty little secret,” Sharon said before regaling the giggling audience with her tale.

    “OK, let’s cut to when I was 25, I had just moved to America, I didn’t know many people—remember, 25. I had met my husband but we weren’t together, we were just friends,” she recalled, not revealing the identity of her lover at first.

    “I’m here, I didn’t have a boyfriend…Anyway. my friend worked at this place and said, ‘You have to come down to this club where I work ’cause it’s full of men, you’ve got to come down!’

    “So anyway, I come down to this club and it is full of men performing and this one person, I think, ‘Oh he’s very nice, very funny.’ So I said to my friend, ‘I like him.’ She says, ‘I’ve got his number.’”

    So Sharon and her friend crank-called Jay Leno (he did have all that wild hair back in the day) and she proceeded to charm him with her English accent.

    “One thing led to another…He actually came to my house and met me, and then we had a little fling,” Sharon said.

    But it turned out that “the fling was more fling for me and not fling enough for him because a couple of months into it, he brought around the real love of his life for me to meet,” Sharon continued, referring to Mavis Leno, Jay’s wife of roughly 33 years.

    “And she was lovely and they took me to Fat Burger and showed me around town,” she laughed. “They were so kind to me and continued a friendship over the years—and that man that I had a flingy-wingy with was Jay Leno.”

    image via wikipedia commons

  • Mississippi Gator Breaks Weight Record

    Wildlife officials there say an alligator hunting record in Mississippi was broken for the third time in a week, after the state’s heaviest gator was caught. A 13-foot, 6.5-inch gator weighing 741.5 pounds was killed by Dalco Turner of Gluckstadt, Mississippi, on Sunday morning on the Mississippi River near Port Gibson. It took Turner and two other hunters an hour to finally snare him.

    “He broke three lines, and I had the only hook that stayed in him the whole time,” Turner told the Clarion-Ledger. It almost didn’t happen.

    “We passed it by the first time,” he said. “We really didn’t think he was big enough to go after.” Turner’s record catch came a week after the state record for heaviest gator was broken twice within hours.

    Turner’s record catch came a week after the state record for heaviest gator was broken twice within hours.On Sept. 1, a 723.5-pound gator was caught by Beth (a lady!) Trammell in a canal near Redwood, Mississippi, breaking the previous state record of 697.5 pounds. However, Trammell’s record was wouldn’t stand long.

    An hour after the record was certified, Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks’ Alligator Program coordinator Ricky Flynt processed a record 727-pound gator that was caught by Dustin Bockman, a UPS driver from Vickburg, Mississippi, who took the 13-foot, 4.5-inch gator in the Mississippi River near Big Black River.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hB9LMWoc7U

    “He broke all the lines we could put in him,” Bockman told Gulf Live. “Finally put a snare on him and got him up high enough and put a shot on him. All in all probably took us four and a half hours to catch him from the first time we saw him. We’re going to cook it for sure,” Bockman added. “There’s plenty for me and everybody else.”

    That record stood until Turner’s massive catch, which tied the mark.

    “Having a state record for an alligator in Mississippi is a lot like living in a glass house,” Brian Albert Broomwrote in the Clarion-Ledger. “It’s going to get broken.”

    Mississippi has nothing on Texas, though. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, a record 800-pound alligator was caught during a public hunt in May. The 14-foot, 3-inch gator was estimated to be between 30 to 50 years old.

    Both Trammell and Bockman’s catches fell pretty short of the Mississippi state record for length. In 2008, a 13-foot, 6.5-inch gator was caught on the Pascagoula River.

    Image via gulflive.com

  • Duck Dynasty Daughter Sadie Begins Modeling Career

    Duck Dynasty Daughter Sadie Begins Modeling Career

    “Duck Dynasty” is oozing with family values and togetherness, so it was no shocker when the entire Robertson clan came out to support Willie’s daughter, Sadie, who was working the runway and realizing a dream in the Sherri Hill fashion show for New York Fashion Week.

    Not only was she asked to be the celebrity spokesmodel for the new Sherri Hill line of prom dresses but also to collaborate to create her own line. Of course, her father had final approval on the designs.

    “Me and my mother and my grandma went to Sherri Hill’s place and we all picked out ‘daddy approved length,” Sadie said. “She also added a couple inches to some that we loved but weren’t modest.” This is what daddy approved length is:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1_6SPts0Qc

    FOX411 spoke to Willie and Sadie about how they balance family and fame. Willie explained that raising kids in the spotlight is not easy at all..

    “It’s tough. You know, the whole world is different now, so everyone knows who you are,” he said. “It wasn’t the way we were raised because we were raised really poor so nobody knew who we were. We’ll put it in the Lord’s hands so we’ll see what happens.”

    One thing is for sure: sweet Sadie Robertson is a far cry from other celebrity spawn the likes of Miley Cyrus.

    “My family has been praying for her (Miley Cyrus’) family,” Sadie said.”We feel very bad for her because we know how entertainment can get wrapped up in your head. We try to stay strong as a family. We just pray that their family comes back together.” Awww!

    And while Miley maybe twerking up a storm, Sadie will not be jumping on the twerking bandwagon.

    “I would never twerk in public,” she said. “It is not modest to me but for the girls out there that do, it’s their decision.”
    Good for her! Still, Fox 411 reports that Sadie’s really enjoying her time in the spotlight:

    “It’s absolutely crazy for sure, but it gives opportunities like this, so it’s great.”

    Willie Robertson may have chosen to stay in the family duck call business, but he encourages his daughter to pursue her own goals.

    “Sadie can do whatever she wants to do. She’s got a bunch of opportunities right now with the business but we’ll see,” he said. “I don’t want to be them in a slot. I just want them to do whatever they want.”

    Still a teenager, Sadie is unsure of what her future may hold. “I don’t know. That’s a great question. I still have three more years of high school so I have a long time to think about it.”

    Image via A&E

  • Leah Remini Speaks to Ellen: Break From Scientology

    Leah Remini has finally spoken out about her break with the ill-reputed Church of Scientology that has many devout celebrity followers. She spoke to Ellen Degeneres on Monday’s episode of Ellen. The former star of “King of Queens” was there to promote her upcoming run on “Dancing with the Stars”, but things quickly turned to the controversial topic, as those were the questions on everyone’s mind since her July defection from the Church.

    “My mother got involved when we were very young, so it’s all we ever really knew,” Remini said. “But over time, my eyes opened and I could just no longer be affiliated with the organization and my family felt the same, so we left.”

    “How are you?” DeGeneres asked. “I hear it’s different than leaving another religion, so are you OK?”

    “I’m OK,” she said. “It’s hard. We lost friends that can no longer talk to us who are still in the organization.”

    “Now, that is a thing? When you leave the church they can’t talk to you and you can’t talk to them?” DeGeneres asked.

    “Correct. And these are friends that we’ve had for dozens of years,” Remini continued. “But I have great friends, other friends that are not in the church, that have stood by us. Our family is stronger, we’re together and that’s all I can ask for.”

    “You have me. I’m you’re friend! We’re your friends!” DeGeneres said.

    Remini spoke very carefully about the church and didn’t give many in-depth answers, but when she left the faith during the summer, she told People: “No one is going to tell me how I need to think, no one is going to tell me who I can, and cannot, talk to.”

    Reportedly, all of this began when Remini had to undergo “interrogations” and “thought modification” because the church allegedly bars members from questioning leaders’ management. She had allegedly repeatedly asked about the whereabouts of Shelly Miscavige, church leader David Miscavige’s wife, at the 2006 wedding of Tom Cruise to Katie Holmes, and became suspicious when her inquests were shrugged off.

    In August, Remini reportedly filed a missing persons report for Miscavige, who allegedly hasn’t been seen in public for six years, but police closed out the investigation quickly after they supposedly had “a face-to-face with Shelly” and declared the missing persons report “unfounded.”

    Among other reasons she supposedly left the church was her disagreement with policies that allegedly force members to “disconnect” from family members deemed “suppressive persons” if they choose to leave the church.

    image via twitter

  • Twitter Paints Picture of Zamboanga City Siege

    Image via Manila Bulletin

  • Tina Fey to Host Season 39 SNL Premiere

    Fans celebrate as the announcement is made that fan favority and veteran cast member (remember Sarah Palin?), Tina Fey will host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live as the show kicks off it’s 39th season on September 28th. Musical guests will be Arcade Fire. Fans of Arcade Fire will have, I am sure, another awesome performance to look forward to, just like their first in 2007 on Season 32.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oE3kXUg8JmI

    Next in line will be-you guessed it. America’s ragged, rebellious, uh-sweetheart? Miley Cyrus will host the October 5th show, and also serve as musical guest, hopefully leaving the foam finger backstage. Following Miley, will be Bruce Willis on the 12th.

    This will be Fey’s fourth time to host SNL and the first since the airing of 30 Rock’s last episode. Keeping with LONG-standing tradition, the cast will look different this year due to the departure of several cast members. Seth Meyers will stay on through the fall until he starts his new late night gig next year.

  • Zamboanga City, Philippines Under Siege

    The Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) continues into it’s second day of holding hostages and bringing down sporadic terror attacks on Zamboaga City in The Philippines. Around 600 MNLF gunmen have occupied the adjacent Barangays of Sta. Catalina, Rio Hondo, Mariki, a part of Talon-Talon and Kasanyangan in support of their comrades who have positioned themselves at Barangay Sta. Barbara. This offers a stark contrast to the beauty of the city in rest.

    At 3 a.m. Tuesday, around 30 heavily armed MNLF troops, using civilians as human shields, were spotted proceeding to Barangay Sta. Catalina to support their comrades but they were blocked by policemen and soldiers from Task Force Zamboanga (TFZ) who were manning checkpoints in the area.

    On Tuesday morning, an exchange of gunfire between gov’t and MNLF forces at Barangay Sta Barbara resulted in the wounding of one PO2 Baquina. He was immediately bought to the hospital for treatment. The Zamboanga City Regional Hospital, known to many as the Zamboanga General Hospital, has virtually turned into a soldiers camp as soldiers and policemen are now occupying the hospital to prevent the MNLF from moving closer to City Hall.
    MNLF forces at Barangay Sta Barbara have positioned troops in a mosque, concrete residential houses, elementary schools and high rise buildings, acting as snipers and shooting government troops when sighted.

    Citizens are taking shelter in an attempt to be out of the line of fire and to avoid becoming hostages or worse, human shields. The City Social Welfare Office reports that that there are about 174 families with 1,099 individuals housed at Tetuan Parish, 50 families with 200 individuals at Tetuan Central School, 25 families with 115 individuals at ICAS-Tetuan, 231 families with 1,071 individuals at the Don Joaquin F Enriquez Sport Complex.
    At last reports, casualties remained at six killed and 24 wounded. The number of hostages, per Zamboanga City Central Police Office (ZCPO) report is 220 at last count, including civilians and medical workers.

    A former MNLF hard core leader of Sulu province turned legislator appealed to the MNLF fighters who invaded the city to refrain from using civilians as human shields.

    “I appeal to the MNLF fighters who are now in Zamboanga City to refrain from using civilians as human shields,” Sulu 1st Dist Rep Habib Tupay Loong said.

    Rep Loong also delivered a privilege speech at the House of Representatives on Tuesday calling the national government to seriously address the crisis in Zamboanga City. Loong said the conflict has driven away people from their homes in fear and panic to escape the horror of conflict.

    “And as a consequence, offices and classes in the City have already been suspended. Airline flights to and from the city have also been cancelled. My heartfelt sympathy to the innocent victims of this attack,” Rep Loong said.

    According to The Manila Bulletin, political leaders of Sulu are “disturbed and deeply worried that the Zamboanga attack may eventually develop into something worse and compared to the February 7, 1974 attack in the town of Jolo by the MNLF forces which resulted in the razing of the town of Jolo and hundreds of casualties on both sides, both military and civilian, the displacement of hundreds of residents to neighboring communities and the loss of hundreds of millions of pesos in economic damage”

    Rep. Ruby Sahali in the lone congressional district of Tawi-Tawi said that “as a mother, I ask that we keep our calm and take a moment to pray to Allah for peace and that nonviolence will reign in all of us as we pray to resolve our differences and misunderstandings. On this light, we advise people to stay in your homes, do not go out of the streets unless it is of utmost importance. The police and military are properly handling the situation,” she said.

    The MNLF has repeated their demands for the city government to allow them to raise the MNLF flag at city hall, which symbolizes their independence from the Philippine republic. The city government said that it would never allow the MNLF to raise their flag l, and that there is only one legitimate government in the Philippines – the Philippine Republic.

    Image via Manila Bulletin

  • Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic to Join The Voice

    OneRepublic’s Ryan Tedder has been enlisted as an advisor for the upcoming season of NBC’s hit singing competition “The Voice,” alongside Cher, Ed Sheeran,and Miguel, late-night entertainment and alternative programming Paul Telegdy said Monday.

    “This group of wildly successful musicians will add their distinctive talents to their respective teams,” Telegdy said. “I know Christina, Adam, Cee Lo and Blake are very much looking forward to having them come aboard.”

    Tedder will pair with Adam Levine and “Adorn” singer Miguel will advise Cee Lo Green’s team. Cher will work with coach Blake Shelton, while “The A-Team,” musician Sheeran will team with Chistina Aguilera. Don’t know much about the Voice newbie?

    According to Wikipedia, Ryan Tedder is a Grammy-winning American singer-songwriter, record producer,multi-instrumentalist,and occasional actor. He is best known as the frontman of the pop rock band OneRepublic, though he has an independent career as songwriter and producer for various artists such as Adele, Ashley Tisdale, Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, One Direction, Big Time Rush, B.o.B, Kelly Clarkson, Far East Movement, Carrie Underwood, Adam Lambert, Jordin Sparks, Leona Lewis, Gavin DeGraw, David Cook, Demi Lovato, Maroon 5, Gym Class Heroes, The Wanted, and Paul Oakenfold.

    The Voice kicks off September 23rd with it’s 5th season and new line up of mentors. Past mentors for The Voice have included Hillary Scott, Pharrell Williams, Taylor Swift, Joel Madden, Sheryl Crow, Michael Buble, Billie Joe Armstrong, Mary J. Blige, Rob Thomas, Bill Withers, Jennifer Hudson, Ne-Yo, Robin Thicke, Alanis Morissette, Jewel, Miranda Lambert and Kelly Clarkson.

    Image via wikipedia

  • Sunny Ozell Marries Patrick Stewart

    Sunny Ozell Marries Patrick Stewart

    Patrick Stewart,73, has married his longtime girlfriend, Brooklyn singer and songwriter Sunny Ozell, 35. This is the third marriage for the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “X-Men” star. Us Weekly reported that the wedding took place Sunday, though details were sparse; however, Stewart’s rep confirmed the union to People too.

    Stewart and Ozell dated for five years after meeting at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2008. Stewart has two children from his previous marriage to Sheila Falconer from 1966 to 1990. He went on to marry Wendy Neuss in 2000, but they split in 2003.

    Despite the sparse nuptial details, Stewart’s pal and costar in multiple endevours, Ian McKellen officiated the couple’s ceremony. In March, McKellen announced on the UK’s “The Jonathan Ross Show” that he would be marrying them thanks to a “one-day marriage designation” from the state of Massachusetts. “I’m going to marry Patrick,” the actor said after the host listed his and Stewart’s various collaborations. “No, no. How else do you put that? I’m going to officiate at his wedding.”

    The ceremony took place beside Lake Tahoe in front of 100 friends and family. After the knot-tying took place, McKellen shared a photo on Facebook with a caption that read, “I did my part,” holding up a T-shirt emblazoned with “minister” and his own “Doctor of Divinity” certificate.

    McKellen and Stewart will return to the big screen together in Brian Singer’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” which also stars Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Anna Paquin. The time-traveling action flick is due in theaters in May 2014.

    Image via Zimbio

  • Piper Perabo Engaged to Stephen Kay

    Piper Perabo is engaged to wed her show’s “Covert Affairs” Director Stephen Kay, who was previously linked to Eva Longoria, and according to several reports, Perabo is already busily planning her special day. The couple met on the set of Perbo’s show Covert Affairs of which, Stephen Kay is the director and co-executive producer of the popular spy series.

    While everyone remembers Perabo’s role in Coyote Ugly, her turn as secret agent Annie Walker has earned her a new following and now a new soon-to-be husband. Perabo earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work on the show. Covert Affairs first aired in 2010 and has been renewed for a fifth season on the USA Network.

    While the couple have not been the most forward about their relationship Piper has alluded to their closeness in the past. Not too long ago, when speaking of her character, Annie Walker’s new relationship with Augie Anderson (played by Christoper Gorham), she stated, “As a woman who has a sort of high-powered job myself, I know how complicated a relationship can be even if it’s with somebody you’re working with.”

    She then added, “I think it’s also an interesting thing to explore especially if your partner is also in a high-powered stressful job and how do you kind of manage that and keep it romantic and spontaneous.” Hint. Hint.

    While celeb-watchers wish Piper Perabo and Stephen Kay the best in starting a life together, they are also wondering: Will Piper keep her new brunette locks for her wedding or turn back to the familiar blonde?

    Image via aceshowbiz.com