November 20, 2009
On November 5th, Elizabeth Lambert, a soccer player for the University of New Mexico, made headlines when clips of her violent conduct on the field went viral. She was caught on video punching, elbowing, and kicking Brigham Young opponents, and forcefully yanking one player’s hair; all leading to her suspension from the team. Two weeks later, Lambert broke her silence and granted an interview with the New York Times where she says, “I look at it and I’m like, ‘That is not me,’. I have so much regret. I can’t believe I did that.” She continues by saying “[the video] did make me look like a monster. That’s not the type of player I am.” Throughout the article, Lambert is lengthy in excusing her behavior, yet short on apologizing for it. She is speaking with a campus-based clinical psychologist and participating in community service in an attempt to be reinstated with the team.
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November 19, 2009
Rachael Ray of 30 Minute Meals fame found herself the victim of a surprise Martha Stewart berating. Stewart, in her first television interview since her 2004 prison sentence, railed against Ray’s new cookbook and talents calling her “more of an entertainer”. The two are competitors of each other but appeal to very different audiences. Ray caters to viewers with hectic lives who need to be able to make a good family meal in 30 minutes or less. Stewart, teaches how to be the consummate hostess preparing an elegant meal from scratch.
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November 18, 2009
Ken Ober, host of MTV’s game show Remote Control, passed away on November 15, 2009 at the age of 52. The game show, which ran from 1987 to 1990, presented trivia questions based on music, movies, and television in a unique fashion. The premise was that Ober wanted to be a game show host so badly that he set up a studio in his basement. His “friends” (Colin Quinn, Adam Sandler, Dennis Leary, and others) would participate to make the questions more interesting. The format reinvigorated game shows and catered perfectly to the MTV generation. At the time of this writing, it is Ober’s cause of death has not been released.
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November 17, 2009
Actor Nicolas Cage has appeared in over 60 major motion pictures in a career that is nearing 30 years. During that time he earned untold millions of dollars and many awards including an Oscar for best actor in 1995 in Leaving Las Vegas. However in roughly the past 10 years his choices of films have not been strong and he has become more of a punch line than an honoree. Adding to that pain, he claims that his former business manager duped him out of $20 million since 2001. In his lawsuit, Cage claims that, “he is now forced to sell major assets and investments at a significant loss”. And even sadder is that some of those assets are simply being taken. Last week two of Cage’s homes in New Orleans totaling $6.8 million were foreclosed on. In California and Nevada he owes more than $6 million in back taxes and properties there have been foreclosed upon and are slated for auction this month.
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November 16, 2009
Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State, traveled to Manila and appeared on a live televised forum. university students were given the opportunity to pose questions. One young lady inquired if Ms. Clinton ever had a crush (other than her husband Bill). The former presidential nominee contender thought a moment and replied that the target of her first crush was the 1950’s teen idol Fabian. She elaborated by sharing that she was the president of his fan club. Then she stated, “There was, like, three of us in it, but we took it very seriously.” Throughout his 40-year career, Fabiano Anthony Forte (aka Fabian) released several popular singles and appeared in more than 30 films.
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November 15, 2009
A misunderstood email caused quite a stir in Canada recently. At a dinner honoring the Canadian military, 1,700 guests heard that Lady Thatcher had passed away. Saddened by the news and wanting to prepare the appropriate statements, Dimitri Soudas, aide to the Canadian Prime Minister, placed calls to Buckingham Palace to gather appropriate details. British representatives were surprised by the calls and assured Soudas that Margaret Thatcher, the 84-year-old former British Prime Minister, was very much alive. The Canadian Transport Minister had named his 16-year-old cat Thatcher in honor of Mrs. Thatcher, and it was the feline that had recently passed.
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November 14, 2009
Taylor Swift made history on Wednesday, November 11, 2009 when she became the youngest person in Country Music Awards history, at age 19, to win the prestigious Entertainer of the Year award. In addition she won all four awards she was nominated for. Her list of accomplishments and accolades would be impressive for an artist with a decade’s worth of work but she entered the music scene just 3 years ago. Her second studio album, Fearless, has spent 52 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts and currently holds chart position number 6. In addition, that disc is first album in music history to produce thirteen top forty hits. But that does not mean everyone is supportive of the honor she received. Country music star Wynonna Judd was quite vocal on the red carpet prior to the event stating her belief that Swift had not accomplished enough to warrant the award.
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November 13, 2009
Larry King has been a broadcaster since 1927 and has hosted his own show on CNN for nearly 25 years interviewing over 40,000 people. He is known as one that throws “softball” questions to his guests and provides a safe haven for them. On November 12, 2009, he interviewed Carrie Prejean, former Miss California. Prejean rose to prominence when she won (and later was stripped of) the Miss USA 2009 title. Earlier in the month Prejean settled a lawsuit with the pageant’s production company and while the details remain undisclosed, it widely known that a videotape made while she was underage is at the heart of things. At one point in the interview, King repeatedly asked what caused her to settle and Prejean consistently replied that she was not able to discuss the settlement. After a few rounds of this Prejean spoke with someone off-screen and then removed her microphone and informed King that the interview was over.
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November 12, 2009
NBC took a big gamble when they gave Jay Leno a talk-show in prime time. Now it appears that the gamble was a foolish one. The concept was to reduce production costs by up to 80% as compared to scripted dramas. Even when conceiving the show and its format, executives expected very low ratings. Jeff Gaspin, Chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment, estimated a “mid 1 rating” which translates into two million viewers in the 18 to 49 demographic. Recent reports state that not only are expectations not being met, but there is a domino effect (dubbed The Leno Effect) that is hurting other NBC shows. The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, local newscasts and even the NBC staple, Law and Order, are suffering due to Leno’s struggles.
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November 11, 2009
This week the PBS show Sesame Street kicked off its fortieth season on the air. Holding the title of longest-running children’s show, Sesame Street produced several known, and hit, songs including the classic theme song, Rubber Duckie (which became a number one hit), It’s Not Easy Being Green, C is For Cookie, and Sing, which the Carpenters later recorded. When the show was developed, television had not been used as an educational forum and it was ground-breaking in its approach and extensive use of research. Through the years favorite characters have gone away and new characters have been introduced, and Snuffleupagus is now seen by all the Sesame Street characters, not just by Big Bird. But one thing has remained constant, at the conclusion of each episode, an announcer states the show has been brought to you by . . . and names a number and a letter (ex: the number six and letter Q). While Sesame Street is popular with children and parents, some critics believe the show hinders a child’s readiness for reading and school. Several celebrities will appear this season to help Sesame Street celebrate this milestone, with Michelle Obama appearing in the season premiere.
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