My message, I want to be able to tell my daughters that they be anything they want to be when they grow up. I want to see a woman in the White House so badly but not badly enough to see just any woman there. Not this woman. Please.

Yeah, yeah, yeah… every election all the celebs come out to teach us how important it is to vote. Like we don’t know.

Wait ! Just a sec ! That’s my Benicio ! I am sooo voting now!  Ha ha ha…

If there really is a heaven this man is sure to be there! I am truly saddened by the loss of Paul Newman. If you know me, you already know how I adored him, not only for his work on the big screen but for his kindness and what he and his wife of 50 years contributed to the big picture of so many lives.

Oh, and how easy he was on the eyes !! Mixed with that charisma and charm, he was one of the few I consider a true movie star.

The screen legend Paul Newman has died at the age of 83 after losing a long battle against cancer.

Newman died yesterday at his farmhouse near Westport, Connecticut, said his publicist, Jeff Sanderson. He was surrounded by family and close friends.

Newman was nominated for an Oscar 10 times, winning a best actor trophy in 1987 for The Colour Of Money. The actor with the piercing blue eyes is best known for his leading roles in The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke and for playing opposite longtime friend Robert Redford in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

In May 2007 he said he was giving up acting. “I’m not able to work anymore ... at the level that I would want to,” he told the US broadcaster ABC.

Newman initially tried to play down concerns about his health after reports that he was having cancer treatment in New York. This year he pulled out of directing a Connecticut stage production of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men because of unspecified health problems.

AE Hotchner, who helped create the successful Newman’s Own food company in 1982, confirmed in June that the actor had been ill for 18 months. “It’s a form of cancer, and he’s dealing with it. Paul is a fighter,” Hotchner told the Associated Press.

All proceeds from Newman’s Own salad dressings and snacks go to charity, and the actor became a leading advocate for corporate philanthropy. Fox news reported this week that Newman gave away $120m in 2005 and 2006.

The vice-chairman of Newman’s Own Foundation, Robert Forrester, today praised the Hollywood star’s dedication to charity work.

“Paul Newman’s craft was acting. His passion was racing. His love was his family and friends. And his heart and soul were dedicated to helping make the world a better place for all,” Forrester said.

“Paul had an abiding belief in the role that luck plays in one’s life, and its randomness. He was quick to acknowledge the good fortune he had in his own life, beginning with being born in America, and was acutely aware of how unlucky so many others were. True to his character, he quietly devoted himself to helping offset this imbalance.”

Forrester said Newman’s Own went from being “something of a joke” to a highly respected food company bringing in millions of dollars a year and with profits of $250 million to date going to charity.

Twenty years ago, Newman created the Hole in the Wall holiday camps for children with life-threatening conditions. More than 135,000 children have attended the camps.

Forrester said: “Paul took advantage of what life offered him, and while personally reluctant to acknowledge that he was doing anything special, he forever changed the lives of many with his generosity, humour and humanness. His legacy lives on in the charities he supported and the Hole in the Wall camps, for which he cared so much.

“We will miss our friend Paul Newman, but are lucky ourselves to have known such a remarkable person.”

I am so excited about all the movie buzz around here. It’s been a nice boost for Michigan and trust me we need any boost we can get these days.
I just read even more exciting news. That Warner Brothers production company is planning to build a studio right here in Michigan. They have been eyeballing a couple of the shut down auto plants. The front runner is in Wixom, about an hour from my house. Sounds like a lot of jobs and money coming in.

Crains Detroit Business magazine reported Michigan’s film incentive law has given a major boost to the local economy in its first four months. It has generated $3.25 million for area hotels alone.

$3.25 million, in four months, hotels alone, just think what a major production studio will do for our state. After reading sad and depressing story’s every day about our disappearing economy, this is such a breath of fresh air.

I was so glad to read this this morning.

“He has a broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder damage but he is in good spirits,” said Donna Lee. “He is going to have surgery this afternoon or tomorrow to correct the damage. He says he’ll be okay and is looking forward to a full recovery.”

Lots of prayers and healing thoughts being sent to the very kind and talented Morgan Freeman today!

I was sad to hear that George Carlin had passed away over the weekend. He of course being my introduction to profanity.

It was the 70’s and I can remember my parents having this LP mixed in with the few I was not aloud to listen to. Making me resort to hiding at the top of the stair case late at night to find out what the hell was so fucking funny about that “music” .

The Associated Press reports that actor, writer, and comedian Geroge Carlin was pronounced dead on Sunday from heart failure at a Santa Monica hospital, at the age of 71.

Carlin, who was famous for the infamous routine titled “Seven Words that You Can Never Say on Television,” a routine he made famous in the 70’s as well as countless HBO specials. He won four Grammys and was nominated for five Emmy Awards.

Carlin also was the narrator for the “Thomas the Tank Engine” stories on the PBS series Shining Time Station, and played the role of Mr. Conductor, replacing former Beatle Ringo Starr. Carlin’s most high-profile voice-acting role was as Fillmore, the hippie Volkswagen bus in the hit 2006 Disney movie Cars. The film grossed more than $200 million at the box office. He was also a guest voice on The Simpsons and had roles in Happily N’Ever After and Tarzan II.

Carlin was going to be the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor which was scheduled in November. Carlin’s last HBO special was in 2007 and was titled, “It’s Bad for Ya.”

A GROUP of under-16s reportedly made a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together - and now 17 students at their US school are mums-to-be.

Time magazine reported that 17 girls at Gloucester High School in Massachusetts are expecting babies “more than four times the number of pregnancies the 1200-student school had last year”.

“Nearly half the expecting students, none older than 16, confessed to making a pact to get pregnant and raise their babies together,” Joseph Sullivan, principal of the high school in the fishing and beach town told Time.

The father of one of the babies was a 24-year-old homeless man, Mr Sullivan told the weekly news magazine.

According to the Boston Globe newspaper, other men “involved in the pregnancies are in their mid-20s, a fact that prompted Mayor Carolyn Kirk of Gloucester to ask about statutory rape charges at last month’s School Committee meeting”.

I heard about this on my morning radio station on my ride in and was just shocked.
That is just crazy ! I don’t know what I would do if my daughter was a part of something like this. How sad.

Great news for us T.V. and movie addicted people!

The writer’s strike is OVER !!!
I wonder how long it will take to see the effects of this? We just might have a few more episodes of our favorite shows hit the air waves some time this year?

Update in extended entry,

Hmm, now CNN is saying the deal is tenative! Yesterday MSNBC said it was a done deal, so really, who knows !

A 16 year-old Australian dude throws a party and now faces a $20k fine for damages.

You have to see the end of the interview. It’s not very long. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Of course he’s not my son or my neighbor.

(this video is safe for viewing at work)

So is he just a punk or a modern day Ferris Bueller?

What a great idea !
Now I wont have to go in and try to find some one who speaks English to help with directions when I am lost any more.

Gasoline pump maker Gilbarco Veeder-Root on Wednesday unveiled a new service that lets drivers use Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps at the pump to get directions to destinations chosen by gas station owners.
The service, unveiled at the National Association of Convenience Stores conference in Atlanta, is part of Gilbarco’s Applause media system, which has been incorporated in its Encore pumps with color screens and Internet connections. Applause is an extension of Gilbarco’s SMART Merchandising system that retailers can use to display promotions and advertisements, and offer coupons through the pump’s receipt printer.

Gilbarco plans to begin testing of the Google service early next month, company spokeswoman Lucy Sackett told InformationWeek. The company hopes to roll out the service later in the month to about 3,500 pumps across the United States.

You can read the rest here.

Check this out.....you can find anyone by their cell phone number (as long as it’s turned on) via GPS satellites!

Try it yourself. Plug in your friend’s or partner’s number, if their phone is on it zeroes right in on their location.

Good way to keep tabs on somebody, I’d think......hmm......