Warm Fuzzies And Wackadoodles: All The Good Or Strange News To Share

[Blergh]

Happy 73rd Anniversary to William Daniels (97) and Bonnie Bartlett (95) who got married on this day in 1951!

[Spartan Girl]

Beautiful tribute article about Robin Williams from various costars and friends

One story from Sally Field really stood out:

Quote

 I never shared this story before. I was in the camper outside of the courtroom where we were shooting the divorce scene. My father had a stroke a couple of years before, and was in a nursing facility. I got a phone call from the doctor saying my father had passed, a massive stroke. He asked if I wanted them to put him on the resuscitator. I said “No, he did not want that. Just let him go. And please lean down and say, ‘Sally says goodbye.’” I was of course beside myself. I came on the set trying with all my might to act. I wasn’t crying. Robin came over, pulled me out of the set, and asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yes, why?”

“I don’t know, just thought [I’d ask] that.”

“No, I’m not, Robin. My father just passed.”

“Oh my God, we need to get you out here right now.”

And he made it happen—they shot around me the rest of the day. I could go back to my house, call my brother, and make arrangements. It’s a side of Robin that people rarely knew: He was very sensitive and intuitive.

Ten years. It’s really been ten years.

Gonna go cry now.

Edited August 8, 2024 by Spartan Girl

[BetterButter]

Colin Farrell Starts Foundation in Honor of Son with Angelman Syndrome as He Opens Up About Their Life

Quote

The Colin Farrell Foundation will provide support for adult children who have an intellectual disability through advocacy, education and innovative programs

 

[Blergh]

6 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Colin Farrell Starts Foundation in Honor of Son with Angelman Syndrome as He Opens Up About Their Life

 

Good for Mr. Farrell!

I hope that somehow that Foundation can expand to help other families who have adult offspring with lifelong challenges who ALSO have zilch options besides being institutionalized. ..or being homeless after they've become adults and their parents have died.

I wonder if Mr. Farrell has even gotten together with Julie Newmar( who is due to have her 91st birthday a week from today)whose only child John is 43 and has Down's Syndrome as well as deafness. Miss Newmar has created a paradise garden for him in her backyard to help him shine and has considered caring for him to be her calling. Yet, one can't help but wonder if she,too, may be worried about her own adult challenged child's future once she is no longer in this world.

 

BTW, great that Robin Williams went above and beyond in helping Sally Field with her father's passing. As long as we're recalling the noble aspects of his character, I've mentioned it before but it's a good a time as any to mention again that Marlo Thomas has claimed that not only did the late Mr. Williams go well above and beyond just volunteering his time to St. Jude's Hospital but even went so far as to give one cancer fighting child Mr. Williams's very OWN personal childhood collection of toy soldiers! Yes, he could have easily bought a set of toy soldiers but he gave away to this child the very same toy soldiers that had helped combat Mr. Williams's own loneliness while growing up as a de facto only child. I have no idea what became of that particular child much less the soldiers but I thought that was incredible for him to have done that!

[andromeda331]

That was really great of Robin. I also loved that he called up Steven Spielberg every week to tell him jokes when he was filming Schindler's List. He really was a great person.

[MissAlmond]

I had a hard time deciding where to link this article.  It's not a celebrity milestone nor one acting badly.  I guess it is "wacky" in the sense this woman attempted to pull a scam to foreclose on property as well-known as Graceland.  

Woman charged in multimillion-dollar scheme to steal Graceland. 

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/graceland-fraud-missouri-woman-charged-scheme-sell-landmark-1235977100/

https://deadline.com/2024/08/missouri-woman-charged-scheme-steal-graceland-presley-family-1236042694/

https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/16/entertainment/elvis-presely-graceland-arrest/index.html

 

 

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, MissAlmond said:

I had a hard time deciding where to link this article.  It's not a celebrity milestone nor one acting badly.  I guess it is "wacky" in the sense this woman attempted to pull a scam to foreclose on property as well-known as Graceland.  

Woman charged in multimillion-dollar scheme to steal Graceland.

What the hell is wrong with some people? Like, I know she'll get a heap of jail time, but I'd love if she also had to talk to a shrink, who could get to the bottom of why she thought this was a good idea and going to work. In desperate need of money, plain greed, what's the deal? I suspect we'll never know.

[merylinkid]

The cops said she might have gotten away with it -- if she hadn't gone after Graceland.   Like scan the local obituaries and go for the home where the person didn't have a lot of family NOT an internationally known home.    (I mean don't do this at all)

[Irlandesa]

I remember this story and I'm glad they figured out her scheme. 

3 hours ago, Anduin said:

Like, I know she'll get a heap of jail time, but I'd love if she also had to talk to a shrink, who could get to the bottom of why she thought this was a good idea and going to work. In desperate need of money, plain greed, what's the deal?

I don't think this is mental illness.  This is greed.  And considering how close she got, a well-orchestrated one. 

[MissAlmond]

On 8/17/2024 at 10:14 AM, merylinkid said:

The cops said she might have gotten away with it -- if she hadn't gone after Graceland

 

On 8/17/2024 at 12:26 PM, Irlandesa said:

And considering how close she got, a well-orchestrated one. 

I hope authorities are examining foreclosure records of anywhere and everywhere Lisa Findley stepped foot in. The brazen attempt to steal Graceland -  and almost getting away with it! - tells me this ain't her first time at the scammer's rodeo.

Ping me if a podcast/documentary/book/American Greed episode comes out.

Edited August 20, 2024 by MissAlmond

[Mindthinkr]

Graceland is well known. I’m surprised by the brazenness of her crime. 

[Jaded]

I wasn't sure where to put this. He was a wackadoodle so.....🤷‍♀️

Gary Coleman lived without any kidneys for nearly 25 years

[Spartan Girl]

9 hours ago, Jaded said:

I wasn't sure where to put this. He was a wackadoodle so.....🤷‍♀️

Gary Coleman lived without any kidneys for nearly 25 years

How the hell is that even possible?!?!

[Browncoat]

3 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

How the hell is that even possible?!?!

Lots of dialysis.

[Jaded]

Will Rob Lowe ever STFU? 

Rob Lowe recalls getting busted smoking weed with Michael J. Fox in the '80s

[MissAlmond]

40 minutes ago, Jaded said:

Will Rob Lowe ever STFU?

🎵Possibly yes, probably no …
    Yes, probably no

Edited August 31, 2024 by MissAlmond

[Irlandesa]

4 hours ago, Jaded said:

Will Rob Lowe ever STFU? 

Rob Lowe recalls getting busted smoking weed with Michael J. Fox in the '80s

I don't think he said anything bad (unless I missed it in skimming.)  Is it because he said Michael J. Fox smoked pot?  If so, I don't think that's a secret.  Fox has been pretty open that he wasn't a sober choir boy before he developed Parkinson's and even abused drugs and alcohol to cope after being diagnosed.  

Besides, I know the 80s were all "just say no to drugs" but even though I hate the smell of the stuff, isn't smoking pot kind of seen as 'whatever' these days?

 

 

[Bastet]

6 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I don't think he said anything bad (unless I missed it in skimming.)

Nope, just EW making a story out of nothing.

[Notabug]

On 8/31/2024 at 11:23 PM, Irlandesa said:

I don't think he said anything bad (unless I missed it in skimming.)  Is it because he said Michael J. Fox smoked pot?  If so, I don't think that's a secret.  Fox has been pretty open that he wasn't a sober choir boy before he developed Parkinson's and even abused drugs and alcohol to cope after being diagnosed.  

Besides, I know the 80s were all "just say no to drugs" but even though I hate the smell of the stuff, isn't smoking pot kind of seen as 'whatever' these days?

 

 

As someone who is a member of the same generation as Lowe and Fox, I would say that it would've been a pretty trivial, and very common thing, even back then.  In those days, virtually everyone our age had at least taken a drag or two.

[Shannon L.]

21 minutes ago, Notabug said:

As someone who is a member of the same generation as Lowe and Fox, I would say that it would've been a pretty trivial, and very common thing, even back then.  In those days, virtually everyone our age had at least taken a drag or two.

For Hollywood, it's pretty mild, too.  I mean, just from the 80s-early 90s alone, we had to deal with some serious reports about Drew Barrymore, Robert Downey, Jr. and River Phoenix (that one hit hard).  There are probably a couple more, too, that I can't remember right now.

[Palimelon]

Quote

isn't smoking pot kind of seen as 'whatever' these days?

These days and back then.

[Blergh]

I guess this would be the best spot possible for the following news:

 

As per People magazine, Yahoo! News,etc., Michael Keaton (born 1951) has publicly declared his intent to change his stage name . .. to as close to his original/legal name as possible- Michael Keaton Douglas! Yes, the one billed as Mr. Keaton had been born Michael John Douglas but due to there having been two rather famous performers at the time of his career start in the mid 1970's named Michael Douglas, he had been compelled to pick another surname for performing and evidently randomly picked 'Keaton' from a phone book.He has stressed more than once that the surname choice had nothing to do with either the silent movie comedian Buster (1895-1966) or the more contemporary movie  performer Diane (born 1946).

However, he was one of seven children AND is the proud father of the Grammy nominated songwriter-singer Sean Douglas (born 1983) so it makes sense that he wants to be billed with the same surname as the rest of the family (including his two grandchildren by the younger Mr. Douglas). BTW, he never legally changed his surname so this should be less problematic than had he previously done so!

Edited September 6, 2024 by Blergh

[giovannif7]

Variety is reporting that the entire One Day at a Time reboot cast (2017) is reuniting in October for table reads of three unfilmed Season 4 scripts, including what would have been the series finale. The episodes were never filmed due to the Covid-19 shutdown. Proceeds will benefit Norman Lear's People For The American Way foundation.

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/one-day-at-a-time-cast-reunites-table-read-lost-season-4-episodes-1236131775/

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, giovannif7 said:

Variety is reporting that the entire One Day at a Time reboot cast (2017) is reuniting in October for table reads of three unfilmed Season 4 scripts, including what would have been the series finale. The episodes were never filmed due to the Covid-19 shutdown. Proceeds will benefit Norman Lear's People For The American Way foundation.

I hope this will air somewhere!  If not, I may have to see if I can get tickets (but I don't see anything on the TV Academy's website, nor on PFAW's).  I loved that show, far more than the original, and was sad not to have it finished. 

[Shannon L.]

Jon Bon Jovi talks a woman off of the edge of a bridge.  

[MissAlmond]

A Willy's Chocolate "Experience" scam in February and now a Bridgerton "Ball" scam come September. Guard your wallets and be careful out there folks!

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/willys-chocolate-experience-nightmare-what-went-wrong

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/bridgerton-ball-experience-detroit-scam-1236011207/

Edited September 25, 2024 by MissAlmond

[merylinkid]

They had a stripper at a Bridgerton Ball themed event.   Nothing against strippers but someone clearly did not understand the assignment when asked to find dancers.

[Palimelon]

Must have been one hell of a long strip tease.

[Shrek]

2 hours ago, merylinkid said:

They had a stripper at a Bridgerton Ball themed event.   Nothing against strippers but someone clearly did not understand the assignment when asked to find dancers.

They did not have a stripper.

They (the organizers) had a dancer who was hired 3 hours before it started & she gave them a choice of dance styles to choose from & they chose pole dancing. Saying she is a stripper is like adding 2+2 and getting 93. 

[Notabug]

12 minutes ago, Shrek said:

They did not have a stripper.

They (the organizers) had a dancer who was hired 3 hours before it started & she gave them a choice of dance styles to choose from & they chose pole dancing. Saying she is a stripper is like adding 2+2 and getting 93. 

Nothing like a little pole dancing to invoke the feeling of the Regency Period.

[Shrek]

28 minutes ago, Notabug said:

Nothing like a little pole dancing to invoke the feeling of the Regency Period.

I'm not in any way siding with the organizers, it was a shitshow BUT the dancer was not a stripper & it's also not her fault it was a shitshow.

[Palimelon]

Quote

Nothing like a little pole dancing to invoke the feeling of the Regency Period.

Now we know what the May Day traditions were really about...

[merylinkid]

Stripper/ pole dancer -- the organizers clearly did not understand what a Bridgerton Ball meant.   Which was my point.   I don't care if she was a stripper - its a fine profession.    Just not right for this venue.  

[Crashcourse]

3 hours ago, Palimelon said:

Now we know what the May Day traditions were really about...

Wow, when I was a kid in elementary school we danced around the maypole.  We had fun doing it, and the teachers told us it was celebrating the return of summer.  I think the teachers knew something else! 😉🤣

[Blergh]

9 hours ago, Palimelon said:

Must have been one hell of a long strip tease.

I suppose it wound up being a Dance of the 700 Veils. ..

[Dimity]

So some guy hates Taylor Swift so much be bought an autographed guitar that was up for auction for $4,000 and destroyed it.  Reminds me of the idiots out there who buy books (and in the olden times, records) and then burn them.   They do realize that the artist involved still gets the royalty from the sale - and in Taylor's case whoever sold that guitar still walked away with $4,000? 

[Annber03]

24 minutes ago, Dimity said:

So some guy hates Taylor Swift so much be bought an autographed guitar that was up for auction for $4,000 and destroyed it.  

You know, sometimes on weekends and whatnot I'll just be sitting here bumming around and I'll feel like I have too much free time on my hands and I'm wasting it. 

And then I read stories like this and think, "No, actaully, I'm good." 

[Trini]

39 minutes ago, Dimity said:

So some guy hates Taylor Swift so much be bought an autographed guitar that was up for auction for $4,000 and destroyed it.  Reminds me of the idiots out there who buy books (and in the olden times, records) and then burn them.   They do realize that the artist involved still gets the royalty from the sale - and in Taylor's case whoever sold that guitar still walked away with $4,000? 

Ugh -- he bought it, so he destroyed his own guitar!

[Mabinogia]

You know what I do when I don't like, or even hate an artist? Not waste my money on anything of theirs. Rich people are weird. (I'm assuming the dude has money if he can drop $4000 on something that once belonged to someone he hates just so he can destroy it.) 

[Makai]

When I saw that headline I assumed it was one of Taylor’s actual guitars and he was destroying a collectors item. Turns out it was some gaudy custom guitar with Taylor’s face on the side that someone got her to sign. That’ll show her. 🙄

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Was it Ben Shapiro? Asking for a friend.
 

 

[Trini]

1 hour ago, Makai said:

When I saw that headline I assumed it was one of Taylor’s actual guitars and he was destroying a collectors item. Turns out it was some gaudy custom guitar with Taylor’s face on the side that someone got her to sign. That’ll show her. 🙄

LOL! -- just when I thought this story couldn't get more lame....

[Haleth]

What snowflakes! 🤣

[Raja]

12 hours ago, Dimity said:

So some guy hates Taylor Swift so much be bought an autographed guitar that was up for auction for $4,000 and destroyed it.  Reminds me of the idiots out there who buy books (and in the olden times, records) and then burn them.   They do realize that the artist involved still gets the royalty from the sale - and in Taylor's case whoever sold that guitar still walked away with $4,000? 

It was a Church of Politics adherent buying a prop for a political ad.  And remember the Chicago Disco Sucks riot in the aftermath of Disco (and R&B with a Black artist on the cover) albums being blown up a Disco song no longer made it to the top of the US pop charts. And in a few months Disco got rebranded.

[merylinkid]

It gets even better - it was not Taylor Swift's signature.   so he paid $4000 for a fake.  

[Annber03]

That is a special kind of stupid there, that is. Wow. 

[Bastet]

This happened last week, but I didn't come across it until I heard Kathleen Madigan talk about it:  Dolly Parton announced (at a press conference in a Wal-Mart parking lot, in which she sang "Helene, Helene, Helene, Helene, you came in here and broke us all apart, Helene Helene, Helene, Helene, but we're all here to mend these broken hearts" to the tune of "Jolene" in the middle of her announcement) she is giving $1 million of her own money and another $1 million of her company's money to a local organization providing aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.  (TN, of course, is her home state and she has family in some of the affected areas.)

[Blergh]

17 minutes ago, Bastet said:

This happened last week, but I didn't come across it until I heard Kathleen Madigan talk about it:  Dolly Parton announced (at a press conference in a Wal-Mart parking lot, in which she sang "Helene, Helene, Helene, Helene, you came in here and broke us all apart, Helene Helene, Helene, Helene, but we're all here to mend these broken hearts" to the tune of "Jolene" in the middle of her announcement) she is giving $1 million of her own money and another $1 million of her company's money to a local organization providing aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.  (TN, of course, is her home state and she has family in some of the affected areas.)

BRAVA,Miss Parton! We sure could use some good news of doing one's best to help folks in the aftermath of this tragedy to counter other news!

[Irlandesa]

I love Dolly.  She's not the only one, though.  Taylor Swift is donating 5 million to Feeding America for hurricane relief in areas affected by both Milton and Helene. 

And there are other stars donating too. 

[andromeda331]

I love Dolly. She's the best. I hadn't heard that about Taylor Swift. That's great Taylor.