Stars Are Out For The Super Bowl

INDIANAPOLIS — Deion Sanders said he wasn’t worried. Joe Montana went in with his game face on and Jordin Sparks just hoped sand did not end up in her eyes.

Athletes and celebrities had different strategies as they prepared to play in the sixth annual DirectTV Celebrity Beach Bowl. The event teams up stars with former and current professional athletes for a flag football game on the sand.

Assistant coach Neil Patrick Harris admitted he didn’t know much about the game, so he was going to rely on his teammates to make the calls.

“I really am not competitive at all. I quite frankly don’t know what is going to happen or what we are playing,” the actor said with a smile. “I know it is football of some sort, but it might be flag football, touch, two-handed touch. I don’t know.”

Lucky for him, legend Joe Montana was on his team.

“I hate to lose,” Montana said ahead of the game. “I am not very good at losing. You try to go into this as it’s going to be a fun game, but as soon as you get involved … if they score, you go, `OK.’ You have got to at least keep it competitive. I can’t just go through the motions. I want to win.”

Sparks arrived with her dad, Phillippi Sparks, a former New York Giant. The former “American Idol” champ says she wasn’t expecting intense action.

“I know it is not tackle. They are just grabbing the flag, but who knows, we could get tripped up and stuff, so I am glad there is sand,” she said. “I am nervous about it getting in my eyes if I fall but other than that, it is going to be a lot of fun. I am excited. “

As for the other big game in Indianapolis, Sanders said he would not pick the New England Patriots or the New York Giants to win on Sunday.

“I am a former player. I am not rooting for anybody. I just want a good quality game. I just want the fans to be entertained for three and a half hours. I want Madonna to come out and do the doggone thing like she can do it,” he said of her halftime performance.

Other big names at the event included Peyton Manning, Chace Crawford, Cam Newton, Terrell Owens and David Arquette, who said he’s been having a great time in Indianapolis.

“What I really like about Super Bowl in general is that it introduces you to another city,” he said. “Indianapolis is a beautiful city a lot of people might not know about or have not visited. To come here and to meet the people and see the city, that is my favorite part actually.”

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Online: www.directtv.com

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Alicia Quarles is the AP’s Global Entertainment and Lifestyles Editor. Follow her online at http://www.twitter.com/aliciaquarles

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Madonna On ‘W.E,’ Super Bowl, Strong Women And Motherhood

Her brigade of detractors can breathe a sigh of relief: Madonna has not lost her sense of humor or rebellious spirit just yet.

In an elegant suite at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, pop music’s grande dame prepares to field overenthusiastic questions about her directorial feature debut, “W.E.,” from a group of journalists representing her most devoted (and, undoubtedly, most discerning) audience: the gay male community.

When the lady herself appears, she is not just surprisingly petite but stunningly, even disarmingly, beautiful. Dressed in a figure-hugging, deep indigo sheath dress, with her hair in loose, strawberry-blonde curls, Madonna knows she can work this crowd the Ciccone way: with a solid dose of old-fashioned sass.

“Let’s start with levity,” she teases, a point emphasized with a smile, a subtle wink no doubt implied.

As she gears up for yet another cultural assault, Madonna is once again proving herself not just as a woman of many talents, but also a consummate multi-tasker. Not only will February bring about the release of “W.E.,” but she’s also got a new album, “MDNA,” and a highly anticipated, certain-to-be-spectacular Super Bowl XLVI halftime performance in her 2012 pipeline; she’s also hinted at, though not yet confirmed, a forthcoming concert tour. It’s exactly the type of all-encompassing creative blitz her fans haven’t witnessed since her “Blond Ambition” and “Erotica” years, another new era she herself describes as “busy.”

Today, however, Madonna’s first order of business is her new film, which she not only directed but also co-wrote with Alek Keshishian, the director of her 1991 concert documentary “Truth or Dare.” She has already had to endure ample scrutiny of “W.E.,” which tells the true-life story of Wallis Simpson (a sublime Andrea Riseborough), the American divorcee for whom England’s King Edward VIII (James D’Arcy) abdicated the throne in 1936, as seen through the eyes of Wally (Abbie Cornish), an unhappy trophy wife living in Manhattan, circa 1998.

Many film critics have likened the film’s parallel narrative to both “Julie & Julia” and “The Hours,” but during an early screening, I kept thinking about “Desperately Seeking Susan,” the 1985 cult favorite in which Madonna herself starred as a downtown vagabond idolized by Rosanna Arquette’s bored suburbanite through a newspaper’s personal columns. To be fair, “W.E.” certainly has more grandiose aspirations than the comedic “Susan” — in this case, to establish Simpson, whom Madonna feels was “dealt with in a very unfair way in the history books,” as a figure worthy not just of praise, but also of serving as a “spiritual guide” for a contemporary woman.

The results are both visually stunning and well acted, if frequently uneven; our director’s heart seems more invested in the historical backstory, which is considerably more intriguing and better executed in its specifics, than the modern one. Still, Madonna insists a straightforward biopic of Simpson was never her intention.

“I don’t think it’s possible to tell the story of one person, from beginning to end, in two hours,” she explains. “It was important for me that I establish that, as much research that I did and close as I tried to stay to the truth, that I be clear that it is a point of view.”

Watching the film, it is easy to see why Madonna would sympathize with Simpson who remains as politically divisive a figure in Britain as Eva Peron was in Argentina during her heyday (and, let’s face it, both had a flair for fashion and signature hairstyles). So how exactly does Simpson compare to the Argentine first lady, whom Madonna portrayed to great acclaim in 1996′s “Evita“?

“I think people have a tendency to feel intimidated by the strength of these women,” Madonna says. “A lot of people who write history books, and humanity in general, have a tendency to diminish women or undermine their accomplishments…or their intelligence.” And is the Queen of Pop drawing from her own experience in that assessment? “Well, sure,” she adds with a laugh. “Strong women are held under a microscope and they’re judged and measured in a different way. It’s just the law of the universe, it seems, right now.”

As for the Super Bowl, Madonna remains tantalizingly tight-lipped, other than to exclaim her fatigue throughout the preparation process– “It’s all too much! I’m late for everything right now!” — but those who accuse the provocateur of softening as her record-breaking career enters its third decade would no doubt be relieved when talk turns to her “unconventional” approach to parenting. “I realize to a certain extent my children are raised with privilege,” she said of her four children (Lourdes, 15; Rocco, 11; David, 6, and Mercy, 5). “Now my children come to me to they often want to do things because everybody else does them. And I say to them, ‘That’s just the worst reason I’ve ever heard for doing something.’ And I encourage them to question things, to take responsibility for their behavior, to think outside the box, and they will have a different set of challenges.”

Exactly how successful “W.E” will be remains to be seen, but interestingly, Madonna also seems blithely aware critics aware of her uneven Hollywood track record are prepared to scorch it. She acknowledged this point several weeks later at the film’s New York red carpet premiere: “I think it’s important to note that I think of myself as a storyteller. When I write songs, I tell stories; when I put on shows and I perform onstage, I’m telling a story…and with this film, I’ve told a story.”

And as long as she keeps telling them, we’ll likely keep listening.

Can’t wait for Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show? Enjoy HuffPost Gay Voices’ picks for her best live performances below:

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Madonna On ‘W.E,’ Super Bowl, Strong Women And Motherhood

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Perry Garfinkel: Puck Goes Back to His (Ginger) Roots

Before he rocked western culinary civilization with Spago in 1982, Wolfgang Puck had worked in his native Vienna and Paris. He went to the U.S. in 1973 and landed in Indianapolis, Indiana, not exactly a gourmand’s Mecca — in fact, it’s heartland Midwest meat-and-potato country.

When he moved to Los Angeles in 1975 to take over the kitchen at a French restaurant named Ma Maison, giving French traditional a modern California spin, it did not take long for Hollywood’s elite to give the bistro a lot of buzz. Then, in ’82, he opened Spago in BevHills, now synonymous with California cuisine. But it wasn’t until 1983, with Chinois on Main, in Santa Monica, that he delved into Asian cuisine, pioneering what became the “fusion” food phenomenon.

The rest is modern day culinary history. Today, a plethora of ventures falls under the Puck corporate umbrella: restaurants, a catering business and bistro franchises, plus books, TV shows and even a line of cookware. In all, industry experts estimate that his epicurean empire brings in about $350 million in annual revenue.

With his most recent openings this past fall behind him — Wolfgang Puck at the Hotel Bel-Air in Beverly Hills, his 20th fine dining restaurant, and CUT at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore, the third in his steakhouse chain, the Austrian sat still, if only briefly, last month with me in the al fresco section of his flagship Spago to access which way the east-west winds are blowing at Puck Inc.

What was your introduction to the East’s style of cooking?

Interestingly, I only remember a few cheap Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants in Paris. But in L.A. in the late ’70s, on my Sundays off I used to go down to the tiny Asian section and sample foods from Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Thai Town and Koreatown. I loved tasting what to me were new spices and trying to figure out their methods of cooking.

When I opened Spago, I put tuna sashimi on the menu. In ’82 you never saw that in restaurants serving American or European food. Or course I had to make it reflect both East and West. So instead of just soy sauce I made a little salad: tuna with avocado, Maui onions, and a sprinkle of caviar on top. My vinaigrette was soy sauce, lime juice, olive oil and little chili flakes. That was my very first foray into combining Asian, Californian and French.

Spago was so successful when it opened. Why did you depart from that formula and open Chinois on Main, which some say was the first American fusion of Eastern and Western cuisine?

First of all, I don’t buy into all these something-slash-Asian phrases — Pan Asian, Cal Asian, Pan Pacific. As soon as it’s named, it becomes a “trend” that everyone can jump on and imitate, rather than innovate. It’s not as simple as adding ginger and soy sauce — and voila, Asian fusion.

We opened the second Spago in Tokyo and the more I went there, the more I became influenced by the simplicity of the East. When a restaurant space became open in Santa Monica, the lucrative thing would have been to open another Spago, but I always followed my palate, not my pocketbook. Though chinois actually comes from the French adjective for Chinese, I did not intent this to be a Chinese restaurant in the same way most people thought then — spring rolls, chow mien, spare ribs, shrimp with lobster sauce.

People didn’t understand it at first — they called it French Chinese. Of course I got negative responses from traditional American Chinese restaurant owners — “How dare you cook Chinese food — you’re not even Chinese.” But I believe authenticity is about evolution, not repeating your grandmother’s recipe. Cooking is like painting or writing a song. Just as there are only so many notes or colors, there are only so many flavors — it’s how you combine them that sets you apart.

You were among the chefs who helped popularize the phenomenon we now call “celebrity chef,” along with all the cooking and reality chef TV shows that have followed. Do you regret being at the forefront of that?

The title of celebrity chef is sort of bogus. Do we have celebrity shoemakers, celebrity butchers? The good news about showcasing chefs and the TV shows is they’ve attracted a lot more smart kids to the profession than 30 years ago. On the down side, though, these young chefs all say they want their own restaurant and their own TV show. Very few say “I want to have the best restaurant in town.” Yet all this exposure has made people think and talk more about food. That makes diners more sophisticated, more discerning, which in turn challenges chefs to stay on top of their game.

Some would say it’s counter-intuitive to open an upscale steak joint in Singapore, where almost 50 percent of the population is Buddhist and Taoist, vegetarians by religious decree. What were you thinking?

It’s a myth that generally Asians are more vegetarians. The Japanese are the kings of red meat, but it’s expensive. The Chinese and Vietnamese love their pork. Many Indians, especially the Muslims, can’t live without their lamb. But, for example, the Chinese can’t get good steak so they fry it in cornstarch to make it more tender. But once they discover the taste of great beef, they’re sold.

Another important difference: our steaks are cooked over charcoal and wood. A broiler doesn’t do anything to enhance the taste. Quite the contrary.

The other hurdle is a matter of education; the Chinese are just learning the art of fine European dining traditions. They like all the food at once in the center of the table, so they can pick from plates with their chopsticks. I’ve watched when we’d send out the first course, a salad, and they’d ask the waiter, “This is it? Where’s the rest?”

What has been the biggest obstacle for you to overcome personally on the road to success?

My shyness, without a doubt. Maybe it was because my mother was shy. I know when my father would yell criticism at me from the sidelines of the soccer field I wanted to just disappear. In my old school pictures I’m never looking into the camera. Even when I was 27 I was the shyest guy. The first cable TV cooking show I was on — I still couldn’t look into the camera.

I rarely went into the dining room to say hello to guests. I would go see only people I knew. Unfortunately, those people happened to be famous, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Billy Wilder, Orson Well, and Gene Kelly, my tennis partner. So I got the reputation for being snobby; people would write letters: “Oh, he goes over to Arnold and Orson, but I’m not important enough?”

Here I was in the hospitality business and people perceived me as being inhospitable. I got the message fast. Now I make it a point every night to go to every table and greet them. People love it. I think it’s not so much about meeting the “celebrity chef” as it is about making a personal connection between what’s on their plate and a real live human being who was responsible for it. And, by the way, it breeds loyalty. Wouldn’t it be great if airline pilots came around and greeted every passenger? I bet it would result in more frequent fliers.

What can we look for next coming out from under your chef’s hat?

I am definitely moving more toward simplicity. When I was 27 if I didn’t put 15 things in one dish I wasn’t happy. It had to be as many as possible and I was so proud of myself. Now I am the opposite. I put in a couple of four things and let the flavors and textures be the stars. Today I’m more into gastronomy, which is literally the art and appreciation of preparing and eating good food. It’s as much for the eyes as for the mouth.

That’s why I have been drawn back to the Japanese style. So we’re completely redoing the Spago menu and its dÃ©cor this winter, with much more Japanese influence. They are the purest, most aesthetic and most spiritual about their food and the presentation. They’ll place an edible flower just so perfectly off center on the plate. They start with the best produce they can find. This is just like my philosophy, which I always put this way: “We buy the best ingredients and then we try not to f— them up.”

Perry Garfinkel, who writes frequently about Asia, is the author of “Buddha or Bust” (http://www.perrygarfinkel.com).

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Perry Garfinkel: Puck Goes Back to His (Ginger) Roots

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‘American Idol’ St. Louis Auditions: Did They Find Another Carrie Underwood?

Show of hands, how many of you honestly forgot Carrie Underwood was on American Idol? The country singer has seen so much success since she was crowned champ in Season 4, we have a hard time remembering she was once forced to suffer through Broadway musical night and participate in those terrible Ford music videos. But Idol will not let you forget that they are responsible for your beloved country warbler! Last night’s stop in St. Louis began with an overdramatic prologue featuring footage of a pre-fame Underwood planning her road trip to the Missouri city to audition for the show. Did the judges find somebody just as worthy to win as Carrie? Find out below.

This is the final night of auditions before we head to Hollywood, and oh, what a nice, simple, unexciting audition process it has been. It’s clear that the Simon Cowell days of spouting cleverly evil metaphors are over, but we can’t help but miss the tragically embarrassing Idol moments that kept us laughing days later.

It’s not that we want to see anyone cry when their dreams crumble in front of them; the contestants we enjoyed the most were the foul-mouthed, clueless, overly-confident rejects who would flip the bird at the camera and curse out the judges on their way out the door. Or the hopeless but loveable brief additions to pop culture, like the “Pants On The Ground” guy. (Whatever happened to General Larry Platt, anyway? Is he hanging out somewhere with the Man With The Golden Voice?) Maybe those auditions weren’t sincere (or at least their inclusion on the show wasn’t), but they got people talking because they were wild and, more importantly, memorable.

Although there have been many impressive singers highlighted on the show, there haven’t been many to keep people yammering on around the watercooler (except maybe Jim Carrey’s daughter?). And for the first time this season, we honestly didn’t think there were five contestants interesting enough to include in our audition recap, which is either indicative of the talent in St. Louis, or the fact that a full minute of airtime was handed over to awkwardly previewing Madonna’s new music video for “Give Me All Your Luvin’”. So here are the three you should know heading into Hollywood Week:

The 3 Contestants To Watch From The St. Louis Auditions:

Johnny Keyser, 22. Johnny looks like Jonathan Rhys Meyers and sounds like Jason Mraz. He sings “Change Is Gonna Come,” and by god, we’re swooning as much as the judges. Johnny has enough good looks, confidence, personality and talent to send him to Hollywood only after singing a few notes. We see bright things for this one.

Rochelle Lamb, 28. Rochelle is currently going through a divorce from a man who tried to stop her from pursuing her dream, so she sings “Find Somebody New” by Faith Hill with her adorable daughter by her side. She has a lovely, spunky voice, and as much as we’re totally done with country – the one-two punch of Scotty and Lauren last season wore us out on the genre – we’re rooting for her.

Ethan Jones, 22. Ethan shall be known henceforth as The Contestant With The Bloody Forehead, as, you see, Ethan walked into his audition with a trickle of blood from a cut rolling down his face. (Yikes. We really couldn’t give the guy another five minutes to go dab a tissue on that, Idol producers?) He sings Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be”, which we specifically marked as one of the 11 Things We Don’t Want To Hear In Season 11, but we guess Ethan didn’t read our post. Ethan isn’t as impressive as good as the judges think he is, but we are a little touched when his estranged dad, who has abused drugs and alcohol his whole life, tells him over the phone that he’s now clean and sober.

Today is the last day of auditions, as the Hollywood Rounds begin next Wednesday February 8. In our seven episode recaps, we have a total of 33 singers worth keeping an eye on — so refresh yourself on the Savannah, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Aspen, Houston and Portland auditions, and begin campaigning for your favorite to make it to the finals!

What did you think of the St. Louis auditions? Which contestant impressed you the most? Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, or in the comments below.

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‘American Idol’ St. Louis Auditions: Did They Find Another Carrie Underwood?

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LCRA Feels Repercussions of Spicewood Beach

The failure of the Lower Colorado River Authority’s well in the Burnet County community of Spicewood Beach left about 1,100 people without a regular water source. The LCRA had been selling water from the well to private distributors up until three weeks before it failed, which has put a spotlight on the LCRA’s policy of selling water resources in a time of drought.

Residents always talked about the trucks they saw coming into town, filling up with water and driving away. Their questions became more pressing when they found out the well was about to stop flowing.

“Some trucks didn’t have labels; some trucks didn’t have anything on them. They were solid-white water trucks,” said Spicewood Beach resident Connie Heller. “You presume that LCRA knows about it.”

In most cases, the LCRA probably did. It had contracts with two water haulers and sold over 1.3 million gallons from the Spicewood Beach wells to them in the past year. One of those haulers was Hank Cantu’s Hills of Texas Bulk Water. The other was Hamilton Pool H20, owned by Larry Ogden. He said he was taking the water to nearby properties, often to private homes that aren’t connected to the public water system. When the LCRA declared stage three drought restrictions in Spicewood Beach on Jan. 4, Ogden said he and the other hauler were told to stop. Three weeks later, the well failed.

“It sure looks like, from this point of view, that they should have stepped in earlier,” Ogden said. “However, I don’t think commercial water haulers are the issue. I think when water’s being hauled from a pick-up point to local customers, it’s because there’s a need there.”

Now the LCRA finds itself in a difficult position. The agency posted a YouTube video today of General Manager Becky Motal addressing the Spicewood Beach situation. On one hand, Motal said the agency did nothing wrong. One the other hand, she said the agency will reform its policies to try to prevent a situation like this from happening again.

“And if an area where we provide water to a water hauler, that if they’re in stage three of a drought, that we terminate those water contacts as we have,” Motal said.

The LCRA is paying haulers to bring water into Spicewood Beach. They’ll continue until the well starts flowing again or other arrangements are made. Spicewood was moved to Stage 4 drought restrictions on Jan. 24.

Read more about this story on the StateImpact Texas website.

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News: End Of The Road Festival Respond To Scientology Links

So, there’s been claims that End Of The Road festival has possible links to the Church of Scientology.

Anything in these claims? Well, let’s listen to what the event organisers have to say (via The Guardian):

“There have been suggestions on forums that End of the Road Festival may have some connection to the Church of Scientology. This arose after the efestivals founder was sent an anonymous letter. It’s quite likely that the same person sent similar letters to the music and general press.

Two of the directors are scientologists. The remaining directors and management are not.

End of the Road has no connection with the Church of Scientology, financial or otherwise. None.

In any case, philosophical inclinations are personal and have nothing to do with a music festival. Anyone who has been to an End of the Road Festival will already know that.”

This year’s line-up includes Beach House (pictured), The Antlers and Tindersticks, and runs from 31st Aug – 2nd Sept 2012.

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News: End Of The Road Festival Respond To Scientology Links

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Panel Drafts Forms for Do-It-Yourself Divorce

People have chosen to represent themselves in Texas divorce cases for years, but often use documents that aren’t accepted by some courts. The introduction of a standardized divorce form could streamline the process. However, there’s resistance to this proposed do-it-yourself approach.

Family lawyers are concerned that standardized divorce forms will be misused. Tom Vick, a former member of the State Bar of Texas, said getting a divorce is not like installing a new backsplash to your kitchen.

“When people think they are going to go represent themselves, they save a few hundred dollars and it ends up costing them a few thousand dollars to get the problem fixed later on,” Vick said.

An advisory panel to the Texas Supreme Court is reviewing drafts for the forms, which would be used in uncontested divorce cases that don’t involve children or a lot of property. Among those to propose the idea was the Texas Access to Justice Commission, an organization that tries to improve access to civil justice for low-income Texans. Executive Director Patricia McAllister said a lot of people want a divorce but can’t afford a lawyer.

“Historically, legal aid has really only ever been able to serve, you know, 20 percent of the people who apply for services,” McAllister said. “So that’s 80 percent of the people who don’t potentially don’t get help.”

McAllister said a standardized divorce form like the one proposed by the TAJC two years ago could help unclog a congested court system. People who try to do it themselves often end up trying three or four times before finally getting it right, she said.

The State Bar of Texas has asked the Texas Supreme Court to stop the task force from drafting these divorce forms. Last week, the court denied that request. The State Bar then formed its own task force to come up with alternatives. Its first meeting is tomorrow.

The problem isn’t a lack of forms, according to the Texas State Bar; it’s a lack of legal advice. Companies that provide forms like LegalZoom are toying with the idea of offering such legal advice.

“I would hope that that’s something – and I believe that it’s going to be in the future – where someone is going to be able to have that additional level of advice, where they can speak to a divorce lawyer in their state for a very nominal fee to help the system with their legal documents,” said Chas Rampenthal, general counsel for LegalZoom.

Rampenthal pointed to how filing taxes has become at do-it-yourself task. Perhaps divorce filings will evolve the same way, he said.

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Panel Drafts Forms for Do-It-Yourself Divorce

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Williamson County Grand Jury Indicts Mark Norwood

A Williamson County grand jury today returned a capital murder indictment against 57-year-old Bastrop resident Mark Alan Norwood in the 1986 murder of Christine Morton, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott announced.

“An indictment in a cold case cannot bring back the life that was unnecessarily taken, but this is a big step toward answering long unresolved questions for the crime victim’s family,” Abbott said in a press release.

Christine Morton’s husband, Michael Morton, was wrongfully convicted of her murder in 1987 and served 25 years of a life sentence in prison. DNA testing confirmed that Christine Morton’s blood was mixed with Norwood’s hair on a blue bandana found about 100 yards from their north Austin home, where she was killed. Further DNA tests linked Norwood to the murder of Debra Masters Baker, another Austin woman who was killed in a very similar manner in 1988.

Michael Morton was released from prison in October after his lawyers presented Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley with testing results that linked Norwood to both murders. Norwood is considered a suspect in the Baker murder, but has not been charged with that crime.

Norwood’s lawyer, Russell Hunt Jr., has said that his client is innocent of both killings and that he plans to fight the murder charge.

The grand jury indictment charges Norwood with one count of capital murder in the course of committing or attempting to commit burglary. If he is convicted, Norwood could face life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

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Williamson County Grand Jury Indicts Mark Norwood

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Chris Rock On Raising Taxes: ‘I’m Going to Lose The Money No Matter What’

What do Chris Rock and Warren Buffett have in common, besides that they both guest-edited that special issue of Vanity Fair?

They both want lawmakers to raise taxes on the rich.

The comedian of Nurse Betty and Dogma fame told the Associated Press Wednesday that he could stand to pay higher taxes.

“I can pay higher taxes and people can have jobs or I can pay lower taxes and I have my kids’ teacher asking me for a loan because she’s going to lose her house, which is true,” said Rock, who is worth an estimated $70 million, according to celebertynetworth.com. “Stuff like that happens, so I’m going to lose the money no matter what.”

Rock joins Buffett and other super-wealthy celebrities in calling to raise taxes on himself. Buffett brought the issue into the spotlight when he penned an op-ed in The New York Times in August, arguing that the super-rich should pay taxes at a rate that is the same or higher than that of the middle class. Obama’s “Buffett Rule,” inspired by the billionaire investor, became a major selling point of the American Jobs Act and State of the Union address.

Buffett’s fellow billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has also recently spoken out in favor of raising taxes on the rich. In October he told ABC News that he’s “generally in favor of the idea that the rich should pay somewhat more” than everyone else in taxes.

Along with them, Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons has also come out in support of leveling the playing field between the rich and the poor — he went as far as offering to pay to clean up Zuccotti Park late last year in order to prevent a confrontation between Occupy protesters and police. In addition, Russell’s friend Jay-Z visited the park and even tried to market Occupy-themed t-shirts.

The notion of raising taxes on the rich also has some more surprising supporters. Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve Chairman and a registered Republican, said in October that he favors letting those tax cuts for the wealthy passed under George W. Bush expire.

It seems most Americans agree the tax code should be reformed to benefit the middle class. More than half of Americans say they think that capital gains — or profits from investments and property — should be taxed at the same rate as work, according to a recent CBS/NYT poll. Capital gains typically account for a larger percentage of the wealthy’s income.

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Chris Rock On Raising Taxes: ‘I’m Going to Lose The Money No Matter What’

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Marshall Fine: Movie Review: Carol Channing: Larger Than Life

She’s a nonagenarian who, when dressed in black, looks a little like a bobble-head with a pipe-cleaner body.

But, at the age of 91, entertainer Carol Channing has amazing energy and a rare spirit for life. As filmmaker Dori Berinstein shows in Carol Channing: Larger than Life, Channing is still eager to communicate with a live audience, whether she’s performing in a Broadway benefit, or doing talks where she offers the story of her life and career.

Berinstein has plenty of face time with Channing and her latest (and now late) husband, Harry Kullijian. Indeed, the late-life reunion tale of the couple, who were childhood sweethearts in San Francisco before he went off to military school, is one of the film’s sweetest aspects. They visit the old neighborhood, 70-plus years removed from their childhood days there (“Oh, they painted the house!” Channing exclaims in surprise).

There’s generous archival footage of Channing in Hello, Dolly!, a legendary Broadway vehicle that indelibly etched the character of matchmaker Dolly Levi on Channing’s persona. There’s even an old kinescope of Channing performing Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend as part of the original Broadway cast of the show.

The historic witnesses to Channing’s success and popularity generally are the ones who helped her get there: Jerry Herman, who wrote Hello, Dolly!, and Marge Champion, whose husband Gower directed that epochal hit; Betty Garrett, who was a rising star with Channing in the 1940s; and even longtime friends like Barbara Walters and Debbie Reynolds.

What you come away with is a sense of Channing as someone who really was larger than life, even before she’d adopted the signature look of blonde puffball wig, enormous false eyelashes over mammoth kewpie-doll eyes, and that great smiling mouth, highlighted with luminescent shades of red and pink. She had a quick wit, a startling gift for mimickry as a raconteur and a gameness to do just about anything for a laugh.

Where does the persona stop and the real Channing start? You leave with the impression that each fed the other during her career, but that there are long-lasting elements of herself in her work.

I wonder who the audience for this film will be, given the deep myopia of cultural literacy these days. Carol Channing: Larger Than Life offers a look at someone who was as big as they came at her moment, who is still an icon to some. Here’s hoping another generation will take a look at a life that’s even more impressive for the fact that it continues to be a work in progress.

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Originally posted here:
Marshall Fine: Movie Review: Carol Channing: Larger Than Life

Posted by chrisauman | Filed Under Entertainment News, General

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