Just a Nice Photo: Michelle Obama
First Lady Michelle Obama appears with schoolchildren at a White House concert by jazz musician Harry Connick, Jr. Credit: Carrie Devorah / WENN.
Biographies
Roman Polanski: “Even If I Could Come, I Wouldn’t”
“Even if I could come, I wouldn’t, because the last time I went to a festival to accept an award, I ended up in jail.”Roman Polanski, under house arrest in Switzerland, in a message to the Berlin Film Festival after winning the best director prize for his film The Ghost Writer.The Turkish drama Honey won the Golden Bear as best film.
C.J. Chivers, War Reporter on the Job
Amazing piece of reporting on Afghanistan in The New York Times this morning by C.J. Chivers.Marines Do Heavy Lifting as Afghan Army Lags in BattleA taste:
Alexander Haig, Secretary of State Under Reagan, Dead at 85
Alexander Haig, the former general who was Secretary of State when Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981, has died at age 85.The Washington Post obituary says the cause was “complications from an infection.”
Here’s Virgil Earp’s Grave
No, it’s not his birthday. No, it’s not the anniversary of his death. Who2 doesn’t even have a profile of famous Old West lawman Virgil Earp (but we have profiles of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday).
Tiger Woods Delivers State of (His) Union Address
Tiger Woods made his speech of abashment this morning. It was covered on TV like a State of the Union address, with all major network and cable players cutting to …..
Gary Coleman on The Insider
Frozen-in-time actor Gary Coleman was on the tabloid TV show The Insider, trying to talk about his recent run-in with the law over a domestic dispute. He ended up storming off the set, after telling panelist Lisa Bloom “you’re pushing my buttons.” Indeed, she was pushing his buttons, and he ended up turning in one of the most dramatic performances of his career: See the video right here.
More Nuggets on The Knack
“It’s a great song… It’s a fun song. There are many other songs that I think are as good in our canon, but I don’t mind being known for ‘My Sharona.'”Following up on yesterday’s post about the death of “My Sharona” writer Doug Fieger: here’s a 1998 Rolling Stone interview with a few choice Fieger nuggests.
The Real “My Sharona”
Entertainment Weekly has this brief interview with Sharona Alperin, the real-life inspiration for the 1979 hit single “My Sharona.”Doug Fieger, who wrote the song and made it famous as a member of The Knack, passed away February 14th, after fighting cancer for many years. Fieger and Alperin dated for a few years, way back when. Now the Sharona sells real estate. You can see for yourself at her professional site.
Tributes to J.G. Ballard
Writer and “psychogeographer” Iain Sinclair pens this tribute — loaded up with big words and big ideas — to the late author J.G. Ballard, titled “Crash: JG Ballard’s Artistic Legacy.”