Tid-Bits

An excellent blog by Bob Cesca about the insanity being stirred up among the GOP base by the likes of Glenn Beck. They are, very literally, calling for a revolution. Because a President raising taxes for the wealthiest of the wealthy in order to better provide for the working Middle Class, is exactly like King George adding outrageous taxes on every day necessities for the colonies, without allowing them proper representation in his Parliament.

A re-make of the movie of the musical Damn Yankees is in the works! I'm not a huge fan of the show but it is a classic for a reason and gave us the oh so much fun tunes of "(You Gotta Have) Heart", "Whatever Lola Wants" and "Those Were The Good Old Days". Jake Gyllenhaal and Jim Carrey have already been attached to the project with Gyllenhaal slated to play Shoeless Joe and Carrey portraying the devilish Mr. Applegate. Both are great casting choices for these roles. Now, much speculation abounds as to who will play the voluptuous and comical Lola. Jennifer Garner can sing, right?

It appears that the fate of my Fantasy Football Team, Ton of Bricks, hangs in the balance. An underdog team, we were able to work our way back to the top (or at least a lot closer than we were before) thanks largely in part to Jay Cutler, the QB for the Denver Broncos, and Matt Cassel, the wunderkind that stepped in for a fallen Tom Brady and then some. Now, there appears to be some locker room drama. Cassel has been traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the Broncos were drooling over the guy and offered up Cutler. Well, this really irked Cutler and now he doesn't want to play for the Broncos and will instead listen to what the Detroit Lions have to say (you know, the team that didn't win a single game last year....). So I ask you, with my top two quarterbacks potentially playing for two of the worst teams in the NFL, do the Ton of Bricks even stand a chance?

Oh, Jeremy Piven. I will never understand why you have as many Emmy awards as you do and Neil Patrick Harris's shelf is empty. Pven abruptly left the Broadway production of David Mamet's Speed-The-Plow, citing mercury poisoning due to (his first explanation) eating too much sushi. The funny part though, was that prior to his exit, Piven had made no secret of his displeasure of being in the show and was seen out at various clubs in NYC every night. After his hasty exit, he magically had the energy to go on a media blitz to tell his side of the story and seemed to be having a great time at the Golden Globes and other events. Sure, Piven might have been sick, but it seems...well...fishy. Why couldn't he take a break and then return to finish the run of the show? And any child knows that if you're going to say you're sick to get out of something you don't want to do, you COMMIT to the story and cover all of your bases. In the end, it appears that true Broadway fans won the day and were able to see the fantastic William H Macy in his element, dancing with the words of Mamet.

Every year, Vanity Fair never disappoints with it's Hollywood issue and the gallery of stunning photos that go along with it. This year was no exception but there was one picture in particular that took my breath away. This picture of Christopher Nolan and Heath Ledger, titled, The Risktakers, is Annie Leibovitz at her best. It's, for a lack of a better word, haunting. You can feel the influence the two artists had on each other permeate between them (an amazing feat considering that it is a composite photo) and yet, Ledger appears to be so far away from Nolan. Nolan's face says it all, that if he could just reach across the page and bring Ledger back to us, he would. We have lost an immeasurable talent, but we couldn't be more grateful for the gift both he and Nolan gave us in one of the best comic books films we have ever seen, and the now iconic re imagining of the Joker. Our thoughts on evil and insanity and the eternal battle between good and evil, will never be the same.