Court documents reveal MJ’s private memorial price tag: $1m

LOS ANGELES — Michael Jackson’s private family funeral was fit for a king and had a price tag to match: roughly $1 million, according to court documents released Tuesday.

Although Jackson died in June and had a large public tribute at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in July, the private family funeral held Sept. 3 appeared to have been arranged with urgency.

Legal requests for payments filed with estate administrators by attorneys for Michael Jackson’s mother only three days before the scheduled burial noted that if payment was not received by the funeral home and the Glendale Police Department by Sept. 1, “the funeral will not proceed.”

The lawyers warned that such a development would cause Katherine Jackson and the family “public embarrassment and added grief, along with the daunting task of having to make new arrangements.”

There was no indication of resistance by the administrators, who approved payment of all expenses and reimbursement of Michael Jackson’s sister Janet for an advance payment to Forest Lawn-Glendale of $49,000.

The final tally of costs included $855,730 to Forest Lawn for cemetery and funeral charges including the purchase of other plots within the same mausoleum that houses Jackson’s body.

Also listed were: $35,000 for burial garments; $1,975 for wardrobe for the family; $2,000 for usher costumes; $3,682 for framing of a photograph of Jackson next to the casket; $959 for embroidery; $11,716 for invitations and programs; $16,000 for flowers; $30,000 for cars and security; and $15,000 for a funeral designer. There was also a charge of $21,455 for the “funeral repast” at a restaurant after the ceremony.

During the period that the family waited to bury Jackson, they were charged $5,000 a month for holding the remains in a temporary vault.

The documents showed that his mother, brother Randy and sister Janet were involved in the planning and were mindful that the media would be covering the funeral, although media were not allowed inside the ceremony.

“Mrs. Jackson and her family wish to honour her son by a funeral that seeks to offer solace to his multitude of fans and by which the family also may be comforted,” the attorneys said. The costs were substantial but “entirely commensurate with the decedent’s worldwide status as an entertainer and the world’s grief over his death.”

Mrs. Jackson’s attorneys were granted the request for $1 million. The administrators noted this was in addition to the costs of the Staples Center tribute, which was approved by the court as part of the agreement with entertainment group AEG.

Outside court on Tuesday, lawyer Howard Weitzman, who represents the administrators, said: “I would have done it less expensively. But it was Michael Jackson, who was larger than life. There’s no reason he should not have a funeral that’s larger than life.”

Source

Extensive celebrity portrait gallery [photos]

This website has an extensive list of celebrity portraits.  For example, there is 750+ portraits of Michael Jackson. 

You’ll find celebrity categories such as:

• music
• cinema
• television
• sports
• politics
• supermodels
• fiction
• other

 

Source

Clooney didn’t want to see his credentials [news]

Image via Wikipedia

TORONTO — George Clooney was left speechless by a fan who stripped off his clothes and asked him for sex.  The 48-year-old actor–who is widely considered one of Hollywood’s sexiest actors–was promoting the new movie ‘The Men Who Stare at Goats‘ yesterday when the infatuated admirer declared his feelings.

The unidentified male stood up in the press conference and said, “I am gay, George, and I think I am in love with you…Please take me.”  He then proceeded to strip to his underwear, leaving his tie in place, and added: “May I kiss you, please.  Just one kiss?”

Taking it all in stride, Clooney calmly replied: “It’s hard when you take a big chance and it doesn’t really work.  It’s always embarrassing when you take one real big swing for the fences and it just falls flat.  It was a good try, though.  You know, the tie looks good, and it’s just long enough.”

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ER High school yearbook pics [photos]

Here are some high school yearbook pics of the following celebrities from the TV show “ER”: Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Gloria Reuben, Jorja Fox, Julianna Marguilies, Noah Wyle, and Sherry Stringfield.

                                            

Source

Celebrity yearbook photos

See the following celebrities in their yearbook pics:

A

America Ferrera (4)
Angelina Jolie (2)
Avril Lavigne (3)
Axl Rose

B

Barak Obama
Benjamin Spock
Benny Hinn
Bill Clinton
Billy Bob Thornton
Bob Dylan (2)
Brad Pitt (3)
Britney Spears
Brooke Shields
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Willis
Buddy Holly

C

Cameron Diaz (2)
Carrie Fisher
Carson Daly
Chad Smith
Chris Daughtery
Christina Aguilera
Clint Eastwood
Clyde Drexler
Courtney Cox

D

Daniel Radcliffe
Dave Mustained
David Letterman
Demi Moore
Don Drysdale
Dustin Hoffman
Dwight D. Eisenhower

E

Edward Norton
Eddie Van Halen
Elvis Presley
Eminem (2)
Enrique Iglesias
Eva Longoria

F

Farah Fawcett
Fred Durst

G

Garry Shandling
Gene Simmons
George Clooney (2)
George Lucas (2)
Gerald Ford
Gwen Stefani

H

Halle Berry (2)
Harrison Ford
Helen Hunt
Hillary Clinton
Hilary Swank
Howard Stern
Hugh Hefner
Hulk Hogan

J

Jack Black
Jack Elam
Jack Nicholson
James Dean
James Hetfield
Jamie Lee Curtis
Janet Jackson
Janis Joplin (2)
Jason Newsted
Jay Leno
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Lopez
Jessica Biel
Jimi Hendrix
Jimmy Smits
Joey Fatone
John Belushi
John F. Kennedy
Johnny Cash (2)
Jon Bon Jovi
Jon Stewart
Julia Roberts
Julianne Moore
Justin Timberlake

K

Karl Rove
Katie Holmes
Keanu Reeves
Kelly Clarkson
Kid Rock
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Hammet
Kobe Bryant
Kurt Cobain (2)
Kurt Vonnegut

L

Lance Bass
Larry Bird
Lars Ulrich
Lauren Graham (2)
Liam Gallagher
Lindsay Lohan
Lisa Marie Presley

M

Madonna
Mariah Carey (2)
Marilyn Manson
Marilyn Monroe
Matt Damon
Matthew McConaughey
Meatloaf
Meg Ryan
Michael Douglas
Michael Jordan
Michelle Pfeiffer
Mickey Mantle
Missy Elliot
Monica Lewinsky
Mya

N

Natalie Portman (3)
Neil Armstrong
Nelly Furtado
Nolan Ryan

O

O J Simpson
Oprah Winfrey
Owen Wilson

P

P Diddy
Pamela Anderson (3)
Paris Hilton
Patrick Swayze
Paul Stanley
Paula Abdul (2)
Peter Falk
Pink

R

Renee Zellweger
Richard Nixon
Robert Redford
Rodney Dangerfield
Ronald Reagan

S

Sandra Bullock
Shania Twain
Shaquille O’Neal
Sharon Stone
Shirley Manson
Slash
Snoop Dogg
Stephen King
Steve Allen
Steve Val

T

Tiger Woods
Tina Fey
Tina Turner
Tom Cruise
Tom Hanks
Tom Waits
Toni Morrison
Tony Randall
Traci Lords
Tyra Banks

Source

Celebrities drawn from crayons! [art]

Can you believe the photos below were all drawn from crayons?  About the artist:

“Don Marco was born in Northern Minnesota in the late 1920’s. His interest in art was evident even before starting school. As a young adult in the Army Air Corp, he began his life’s career in Air Traffic Control, which continued until his retirement from Honolulu International Airport in 1973. Much of his spare time was spent as a professional artist.  Before retirement, Don started developing a technique to create fine art using Crayola Crayons. Shortly after retiring he published his first print. Living in Southern California, his work was in demand including commissions from Burt Reynolds and a one-man show at his Dinner Theater in Florida.”

See all his stunning artwork here.

(13) Celebrity inventors

Image via Wikipedia

Check out these patent-holding celebrity inventors:

1. Abraham Lincoln invented a convoluted device that involved putting a set of bellows on the bottom of a boat.
2. Christie Brinkley received a patent for an educational toy she designed in 1991 that seems to mostly be useful for helping kids learn the alphabet.
3. Eddie Van Halen invented a support that could flip out of the back of his axe’s body to raise and stabilize the fretboard so he could tap out searing songs like “Eruption.”
4. Gary Burghoff invented a device he calls “Chum Magic,” a floating apparatus that fishermen can fill with chum to lure fish to their boats.
5. Hedy Lamarr received a patent for a “secret communication system” that could use carrier waves of different frequencies to remotely control devices like zeppelins and torpedoes.
6. Jamie Lee Curtis designed and patented a disposable diaper that included a waterproof pocket that held baby wipes.
7. Lawrence Welk received a design patent for a new type of ashtray that looked like an accordion.
8. Marlon Brando received a patent for a “drumhead tensioning device and method,” one of several patents he held for drum devices.
9. Michael Jackson patented this “method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion” in 1993.
10. Penn Jillette received a patent for a “hydro-therapeutic stimulator”–a spa with jets strategically located to make the experience enjoyable for female bathers. [Hmmm]
11. Prince got the thumbs-up for a design patent for a “portable keyboard instrument.”…a keytar.
12. Steven McQueen filed a design patent for an improved bucket seat.
13. Zeppo Marx received a patent for a cardiac pulse rate monitor that was designed to let people with heart problems know if their pulse was shifting into a danger zone.

Get more details about the patents at the website below.

Source

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A unique site dedicated to the RMS Titanic [photos]

I stumbled across this fantastic site relating to the Titanic ocean liner.  In some of the photos, you can roll over the image to get a closer look.  Among the many goodies, in the “Built in Belfast” category you’ll find:

• Marketing Titanic [postcards]
• First/Second/Third class views [rooms--see photos below]
• Titanic at Southhampton [views at Berth 44]
• Titanic Sails [photos]
• The Disaster Unfolds [Charts and Marconigrams--see photo below]

Samples photos

Dining room - 1st class

Dining room -2nd class

Dining room - 3rd class

Marconigram #5

Source

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Who’s old and famous on Twitter? [celebrities]

Image via Wikipedia

William Shatner, 78

William Shatner uses his Twitter account to plug his MySpace page and YouTube postings. And if that weren’t enough, he has a separate profile for his alter ego, The Negotiator…Every once in a while, he gets personal, calling out George Takei yet again in their longstanding public spat and paying respects to Ricardo Montalban, with whom he worked in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.”

Jane Fonda, 71

…The 71-year-old Oscar winner started tweeting recently…Among the famous friends who have seen her play “33 Variations” and had a meal with her in recent months: Jeff Daniels, Dianne Wiest, Tommy Tune, Rosie O’Donnell, Barbara Walters, Angela Lansbury, Anjelica Houston, Griffin Dunne, “Candy” Bergen, Robert Redford, Tom Hanks, Sally Field, James Taylor, and our beloved Kathy Griffin.

Richard Branson, 58

Richard Branson’s account is full of tales of yachting accidents, Formula One races, run-ins with “The Hoff,” and his latest video project, “PitchTV,” which gives young entrepreneurs exposure and furthers their dreams of flying in the shoes of the most swinging businessman around.

John Cleese, 69

Cleese meanders around quite a bit. He dishes Monty Python trivia (it turns out Michael Palin’s middle name is Edward and he has an asteroid named after him called Sarah). He jokes that Terry Gilliam invented time travel, which they used to venture into the future to watch YouTube. And he used it to clear up any nasty divorce and dating rumors. “Don’t believe anything you read in the papers,” warned Cleese. Apparently, Twitter is a far more reliable news source.

Yoko Ono, 76

Yoko’s page is pretty much what you’d expect: a forum to speak about important causes, a place to push her art exhibits and new music, occasional mentions of The Beatles, and a few Ono-esque platitudes like, “Remember, we are all water in the same ocean.” But we did learn something we didn’t know about Yoko: she loves to dance. Imagine.

John Lithgow, 63

John Lithgow might not have the most followers (around 10,000), but he knows how to engage the ones he has. As he jets back and forth from New York to Los Angeles, he often throws out little guessing games for his fans. Our favorite: “Mid-air, NY bound. Who’s 3 seats away? Good friend; with me in Buckaroo Banzai; on B’way same time as Scoundrels; just as tall; specs. ???” He congratulated the fans who guessed “JG.” Jeff Goldblum could not be reached via Twitter to confirm or deny.

John McCain, 72

John McCain seems to be using Twitter the way he used the Presidential debates of 2008: as a forum to drop quick quips at Barack Obama. And while McCain’s 500,000-plus followers is an impressive mark, it’s about half of Obama’s supporting force. Falling short of the margin once again.

George Takei, 72

Like former commander James T. Kirk, Hikaru Sulu (a.k.a. George Takei) takes his high-tech USS Enterprise skills online and tweets about subjects that matter to him: gay rights (with a shout-out to Dustin Lance Black and Sean Penn for their “Milk” Oscar wins), political policy (acknowledging Obama’s Gitmo-shattering Executive Orders on Detention and Interrogation Policy), and science-fiction (promoting the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s Sci-Fi Spectacular this past January). Live long and Twitter.

Karl Rove, 58

The former Bush administration Deputy Chief of Staff may have had to resign in 2007, but he’s going strong on Twitter. Rove uses the forum to try to clear the air about interrogation memos and publicize his many appearances on Fox shows like “Fox & Friends,” “Hannity,” and “The O’Reilly Factor.”

Source

Kleenex moment: The YouTube video that got over 9 million hits [video]

Get your Kleenex out–no wait–get the whole box out!   I balled like a baby.   I know 9 million people saw this video but I didn’t, so I know someone else hasn’t seen it either.

This is Britains Got Talent.  When Susan Boyle comes out, you see the judges and the audience laugh and mock her assumed ability.  Until she opens her mouth.  Remember Simon Cowell attitude about Jennifer Hudson?  He chokes on this one.

Unemployed, 47 years old, never been kissed…What bewilders me is that she can’t understand why people are making a fuss and is still unsure she will win!!!  This is SO INSPIRING.

__________

Click here to see and hear the reactions of:

• Susan Boyle
• The cast of Les Miserable
• Demi Moore

__________

Watch the View as they cover this story on the Hot Topics section.  Whoopi Goldberg gives Joy Behar a dirty look when she suggests giving Susan a makeover [here]

__________

Apparently, another unknown sensation blew the judges away on March 17, 2007–Paul Potts, a manager in a mobile phone warehouse.

In several interviews, Potts revealed that he performed Aida despite doctors’ wishes to remove an adrenal tumor they had discovered during his illness from a burst appendix, and performed Manon Lescaut shortly after the surgery to remove it. Potts broke his collarbone and suffered whiplash in a bicycle accident in 2003, which prevented him from pursuing opera as a career. The mishap and financial difficulties that followed led him to enter Britain’s Got Talent despite not having sung for four years.   [Source]

Here’s updated news about Paul Potts. [Source]

Please post your thoughts.  Read mine here.

UPDATE: Susan Boyle Blog

Susan to perform from her Kitchen

Posted by SusanBoyleFan on April 16, 2009

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American Idol reunites Celine & Elvis [audio/video]

Image via Wikipedia

Watch Celine Dion and Elvis Presley sing a duet at the American Idol Gives Back show.  Celine appeared to walk out and stand next to Elvis as the two sang “If I Can Dream.”  It was all done with a hologram that was said to have cost between $50,000 and $100,000 to create.  Prior to the performance, Celine practiced with an Elvis impersonator.

Elvis_Celine

Image via Wikipedia

Celebrate with George Clooney [photo]

Here’s a revision of a previous posting…

Previous post

Celebrity look-alikes [photos]

There are impersonators and then there are look-alikes of these celebrities:

1. John McCain / Freaky cat
2. Al Roker / Ollie Williams
3. Amy Winehouse / Keith Richards
4. Victoria Beckham / Kira
5. Mary Kate Olsen / Troll doll
6. Richard Nixon / The Brain
7. Derek Hough / Malibu Ken
8. John Hodgman / Bunsen Honeydew
9. Stalin / Borat
10. Yassar Arafat / Ringo Starr
11. Dalai Lama / Llama
12. Clay Aiken / Chucky
13. Jesse Jackson / A pug
14. Cindy McCain / Borg Queen
15. Matt Damon / Ned Flanders
16. Michael Jackson / Egyptian statue
17. James Hatfield / Cowardly lion
18. Eddie Van Halen / Crazy Cat Lady
19. Donatella Versace / Janice the Muppet
20. John Kerry / Herman Munster
21. Flava Flav / Stripe
22. George Bush / Chimpanzee
23. Economy…Train wreck

and then there’s always the economy…

Children who starred in The Sound of Music has reunion [photos]

The seven children who starred in The Sound of Music had a reunion after 40 years…

Would you have recognized them?

Trivia 2: Cigarettes, gold, snowflakes, and more…

Image via Wikipedia

Anatomy

• Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it will digest itself.
• By raising your legs slowly and laying on your back, you cannot sink into quicksand.
• The average person’s left hand does 56% of the typing.
• Brains are more active sleeping than watching TV.
• Our eyes remain the same size from birth but our noses and ears never stop growing.
• Everyone has a unique tongue print.
• Every human spent about half an hour as a single cell.
• Wearing headphones for an hour increases the bacteria in your ear 700 times.
• If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die.

Animals

• The ant always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.
• The largest ant colony in the world stretches from Spain, through Germany, all the way to Italy, mostly underground. Thanks to the hive mentality of ants, any two of them, even if taken from the opposite ends, would instantly recognize each other.
• A rat can last longer without water than a camel.
• A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate. I know some people like that!
• If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad and sting itself to death.
• The original name for butterfly was flutterby.
• Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.
• Goldfish have an attention span of 3-5 seconds.
• Sheep in Scotland faint if you jump out at them.
• Mosquito repellents don’t repel–they hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito’s sensors so they don’t know you’re there.
• To escape the grip of a crocodile’s jaws, prick your fingers into its eyeballs. It will let you go instantly.
• A cockroach can live for 10 days without a head.
• There are more chickens than people in the world.
• According to Genesis 1:20-22, the chicken came before the egg.
• A snail can sleep for three years.
• All polar bears are left handed.
• Butterflies taste with their feet.
• Mosquitos are more attracted to the color blue than any other color.
• Koalas and humans are the only animals that have finger prints.
• There are 200,000,000 insects for every one human.
• Octopus have three hearts.
• Tiger shark embryos fight each other in their mother’s womb.  The survivor is born.
• A blue whale’s tongue weighs more than an elephant.
• Nose prints are used to identify dogs, just like humans use fingerprints.

Entertainment

• During the chariot scene in “Ben Hur,” a small red car can be seen in the distance.
• Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.
• Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to s-l-o-w film down so you could see his moves.
• The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.”
• Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest.
• Elvis got a “C” in music in grade 8.
• Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than the entire Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.
• Marilyn Monroe had six toes on one foot.

Food

• A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.
• Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.
• Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.
• 40 percent of McDonald’s profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
• Chocolate kills dogs!  It affects a dog’s heart and nervous system.  A few ounces is enough to kill a small sized dog.
• The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley’s gum.
• Apples are more efficient than caffeine in keeping people awake in the mornings.

Language/Literature/Words

• There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange, purple and silver.
• The dot over the letter “i” is called a tittle.
• The name Wendy was made up for the book “Peter Pan.” There was never a recorded Wendy before.
• Sherlock Holmes NEVER said “Elementary, my dear Watson.”
• The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.
• 315 entries in Webster’s 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
• “Dreamt” is the only word in the English language that ends in “mt”.
• “I am.” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
• “Bookkeeper” is the only word in English language with three consecutive double letters.
• The sentence “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” uses every Letter in the English language.

Other

• Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn’t wear pants.
• The phrase “rule of thumb” is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn’t beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
• The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles.  At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.
• Roses may be red, but violets are indeed violet.
• An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman to take more than 3 steps backwards while dancing.
• The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.
• Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them.
• Drunk drivers can be sentenced to death by firing squad.
• The “number of the beast” (666) mentioned in Revelations was actually a mathematical representation of the name Caesar Nero.
• Two-thirds of the world’s lawyers practice in the United States.
• Dacryphilia is arousal from seeing tears in a partner’s eyes.
• Porphyrophobia is a morbid fear of the color purple.
• The initials YKK on your zipper stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushibibaisha, the world’s largest zipper manufacturer.
• Ketchup was sold in the 1830’s as medicine.
• Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.  It also took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa’s lips.
• There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
• Dentists recommend that a toothbrush be kept at least six feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
• Adolf Hitler’s mother seriously considered having an abortion but was talked out of it by her doctor.
• The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
• The “pound” (#) key on your keyboard is called an octothorp.
• Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
• It’s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
• In Chinese, the KFC slogan “finger lickin’ good” comes out as “eat your fingers off”.
• We shed 40 pounds of skin a lifetime.
• Yo-Yos were once used as weapons in the Philippines .
• Mexico City sinks abut 10 inches a year.
• Blue is the favorite color of 80 percent of Americans.
• The thumbnail grows the slowest, and the middle nail grows the fastest.
• There are more telephones than people in Washington , D.C.
• The three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the combined wealth of the forty-eight poorest nations.
• The first owner of the Marlboro cigarette company died of lung cancer.
• Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
• The world’s youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
• The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows.
• When the moon is directly overhead, you weigh slightly less.
• Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never telephoned his wife or mother because they were both deaf.
• The longest place name still in use is: Taumatawhakatangihangaoauauotameteaturi- Pukakpikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu – a New Zealand hill.
• More than 40,000 parasites and 250 types of bacteria are exchanged during a French kiss.
• Coca-Cola was originally green.
• The name of all the continents ends with the same letter that they start with.
• Each king in a deck of playing cards represents great king from history. Spades: King David; Clubs: Alexander the Great; Hearts: Charlemagne; Diamonds: Julius Caesar.
• 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
• If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.  If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle.  If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
• American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.
• The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
• Most lipstick contains fish scales.
• The Romans used licorice near their pillows to shoo away bad dreams.
• The largest recorded snowflake was 15 Inch wide and 8 Inch thick. It fell in Montana in 1887.
• Former president Bill Clinton only sent 2 emails in his entire 8 year presidency.
• 250 people have fallen off the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
• A lump of pure gold the size of a matchbox can be flattened into a sheet the size of a tennis court.
• If you counted 24 hours a day, it would take 31,688 years to reach one trillion!
• The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year!

Sources come from all over the internet.

Q: What facts can you contribute to this list?

Feliz Navidad from George Clooney [photo]

Who wouldn’t have a happy new year with George Clooney toasting you!

Sites dedicated to two Hollywood greats

What a data bank for Cary Grant and Humphrey Bogart fans!

Did you know that Cary Grant has a rose named after him?

There is a Humphrey Bogart MasterCard for die-hard fans!

I love the way this site is arranged, too.

History behind six Hollywood logos

Image via Wikipedia

This is an interesting post about the history behind these Hollywood logos:

• DreamWorks SKG: boy on the moon
• MGM: Leo the lion
• 20th Century Fox: the spotlight
• Paramount: the mountain
• Warner Bros.: the shield
• Columbia Pictures: the torch lady

Read about their history here.

The WORLD’s most famous people with disabilities

Image via Wikipedia

This is another comprehensive list of famous people dealing with disabilities (I didn’t know Walt Disney suffered with dyslexia!).  It has categories such as:

• Actors
• Athletes
• Heroes of the armed forces
• Mathematicians
• Politicians
• Recording artists
• and more!

[Celebrities and Famous People with Disabilities in History]

Films involving disabilities

Image via Wikipedia

This features movies that deal with disabilites such as amnesia, autism, blindness, cancer, deafness, disfigurment, learning disabilites, and more.

This site represents a detailed list of over 3,000 feature films & documentaries which involve in one way or another various disabilities.  It is directed towards teachers, students and anyone who has an interest in how disaility is represented in films.

Films are listed in categories and Major and Minor films.  Each film is either reviewed or includes a summary and links to further information.

[Disability Films]

Political graveyard: Politicians with physical disabilites

Image via Wikipedia

This is a web site about U.S. political history and cemeteries. It is the Internet’s most comprehensive source for American political biography, listing 180,022 politicians, living and dead.  It arranged alphabetically and covers federal officials, state officeholders and candidates, federal/state judges and mayors.

Very interesting.

[ThePoliticalGraveyard]

Famous people with dyslexia and other learning disabilities

Another inspiring site dedicated to famous people overcoming learning disabilities.

Look for information about successful people with LD and/or AD/HD, in the following categories:

Artists & Artisans	Legal & Political Figures
Athletes	Medical Professionals
Business Leaders	Musicians
Community Advocates	Scientists
Entertainers & Celebrities	Writers & Media Professionals
Explorers

[Link]

Famous people with disabilities

Image via Wikipedia

Get a peek into how many famous people are overcoming various disabilities:

• Celebrities (like Whoopi Goldberg and Patrick Dempsey),
• Politicians
• Musicians

[Famous People with Disabilities]

Trivia Time 2: Names (This is fun!)

Image via Wikipedia

• There was once a fuzzy little fruit from New Zealand that nobody ever ate.  It was called the Chinese gooseberry.   It was so unpopular that someone decided to change the fruit’s name to kiwifruit.  Sales went through the roof even though the fruit still tasted the same.

• Denmark has the strictest “name laws” of any country in the world.  The Danes restrict parents from giving children any name considered “unusual.”  This is to prevent children from getting teased about their names.  There are 4,000 approved girls names that parents can choose from.  The boys list only has 3,000.  Babies sometimes remain nameless for months while the parents try to persuade the government to allow a name not on the approved list.  The name Tessa is not allowed in Denmark because tessa means “to pee” in Danish.

• The Romans thought that each letter of their alphabet had important values, so the letters in a child’s name were carefully selected because some of the letters were good and some were bad.  The letters were picked to be the initials for a name were doubly important because they could affect a child’s future personality.

• About a thousand years ago, the king of Denmark was nicknamed Eric the Memorable.  Today, nobody remembers why.

• The longest place name in the U.S. is in Massachusetts.  It’s the very charming Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg.

• Want to make your last name seem classier?  Add a “de” to the front of it, which in France shows that you have nobility in your family.

More goodies:

CHOOSING YOUR CELEBRITY NAME

Since celebrities change their names to make them sound better, here’s one way to figure out a name for youself.

1. Take the name of the first pet you ever owned, or your parents, or your friend…
2. Get the name of the first street you ever lived on.  If the street is a number like 157th Avenue, go with any street name you ever lived on.

Now you have your name.  My celebrity name is “Ringo Darling”!  LOL.

What is your celebrity name?

CHOOSING YOUR STAR WARS NICKNAME

Ever notice how all the characters in Star Wars have similar futuristic names?  Here’s how to get yours.

For your Star Wars first name:

1. Take the first three letters of your last name.
2. Add to that, the first two letters of your first name.

For your Star Wars last name:

1. Take the first two letters of your mother’s maiden name.
2. Add to that, the first three letters of the name of the city you were born in OR the street you live on now, whichever sounds better.

My Star Wars name: Bermo Tamel

Post your celebrity and/or Star Wars name!

Source: The Big Book of Girl Stuff by Bart King & His Five Sisters

Celebrity doodles like David Cassidy, Micky Dolenz and Jay Leno [photos]

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

First, a bit of trivia:

STEPHEN KING: To beneift the Back Alley Theatre, King sent in a doodle that sold at auction for $225–the only known piece of published “art” by King, who readily admitted, in an introduction to a book collection of J. K. Potter’s photographs, that he’s no artist.
The cartoon shows a sun setting behind a tombstone bearing the words PLANET EARTH/SOMEONE HIT THE WRONG BUTTON/JULY 11, 1992/RIP.  The sketch is dated June 23, 1987.

From Stephen King from A to Z: An Encyclopedia of His Life and Work, p36

*****

See the celebrity doodles auctioned on ebay this year including

• David Cassidy
• Dom Deluise
• Ellen DeGeneres
• Jay Leno
• Jeff Bridges
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus
• Mickey Dolenz
• Sela Ward
• and a lot more!

Source

Four unseen images of smiling Princess Diana [photos]

Previously unseen CCTV footage of the last hours of Princess Diana’s life has been released in court as part of the inquest into her death.

1 of 4 pictures

Source

Unseen images of Princess Diana car wreckage [photos]

Image via Wikipedia

The never-before-seen images, posted on an official website by coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker, includes the last known photograph of Diana alive and graphic scenes of the desperate fight to save her life.

More than ten years after her death in a high speed crash in Paris they bring back with startling clarity the fantastic efforts to keep Diana alive.

Source: Daily Mail

Heather Mills $50,000 Escape

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Heather Mills has begged Sir Richard Branson to let her move to his private Caribbean Island.

The 40 year old former model claims her life has been made hell since her divorce from Sir Paul McCartney, 66, earlier this year and has pleaded with the business tycoon to be allowed to move to Necker Island, his 74-acre paradise in the British Virgin Islands, in order to “escape the hate.”

A source said: “She wants to spend a year there to rest and rebuild her life.  She has been in touch with Sir Richard and she is comfortable he will allow her to live there for a while.”

The island accommodates 28 people and its properties, which cost $50,000 a day to rent have two private beaches, swimming pools, tennis courts, a personal chef and access to water sports.

A celebrity baby name generator

This is hilarious!  Fit your baby with a first and middle celebrity name.

Link

I love generators.  If you have a favorite generator site, please post it!

Celebrities overcoming disabilities

Image via Wikipedia

This website is a good resource documenting celebrities who struggle with disabilities like mood disorders, speech problems, amputees, hearing and vision impairments, learning disabilities…

Related posts:

• Famous People with Disabilities
• Famous People with Dyslexia
• The World’s Most Famous People with Disabilities

Male/Female celebrities in their youth [photos]

Image via Wikipedia

Click here to find photos of your favorite male stars.  Some of my favorites: Elton John, George Clooney, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Leonardo DiCaprio, Marilyn Manson, Patrick Swayze, Ringo Starr, Tom Hanks…

Click here to find photos of your favorite female stars.  Some of my favorites: Demi Moore, Drew Barrymore, Helen Hunt, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker…