Wednesday February 20
This is day 51 of 2013. There are 314 days remaining.
Today is
Rocketman Day. It was a Red Letter Day in 1962 when Ohioan John Glenn made history. Colonel Glenn piloted Friendship 7, orbiting the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth. Senator Glenn made history again when he returned to space in 1998 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, At age 77 he was the oldest astronaut.
This Day in Music
1958, Billed as 'The Big Gold Record Stars' Bill Haley and his Comets, The Everly Brothers, Buddy Holly & The Crickets, Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmie Rodgers all appeared on the first date of a six day tour of Florida.
1960, Jimi Hendrix made his stage debut when he played a show at a High School in Seattle.
1963, The Beatles drove through the night from Liverpool to London to appear on the live lunchtime BBC radio program "Parade of the Pops."
1965, Gary Lewis and the Playboys started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'This Diamond Ring.'
1970, The single 'Instant Karma' by The Plastic Ono Band was released in the US. John Lennon had written, recorded and mixed the track all in one day on the 22nd January 1970.
1971, Yes appeared at Kingston Poly, London, England. Support act was Queen. Tickets cost $0.85.
1971, The soundtrack to 'Jesus Christ Superstar' went to No.1 on the US album chart. The album peaked at No.6 on the UK chart.
1972, Alice Cooper and Badfinger appeared at The Convention Hall in San Diego
1976, All four members of Kiss had their footprints implanted on the pavement outside Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
1977, Winners at this years Grammy Awards included Stevie Wonder for Best album with 'Songs In The Key Of Life', and Best Vocal performance for 'I Wish.'
1978, Abba were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Take A Chance On Me',
1980, Bon Scott, singer from AC/DC was pronounced dead on arrival at a London hospital after a heavy night's drinking.
1991, Bob Dylan was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the 33rd annual Grammy' Awards.
2003, 100 people died after pyrotechnics ignited a club during a gig by Great White in West Warwick, Rhode Island. Great White singer Ty Longley was also killed in the accident.
2004, Brian Wilson kicked off an 11-date UK tour at London's Royal Festival Hall. The shows saw Wilson performing the full suite of songs from his unreleased masterpiece 'Smile' Wilson's 'teenage symphony to God.
2007, Christina Aguilera kicked off a 42-date North American tour at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The Black Eyed Peas and The Pussycat Dolls were both support acts on the tour.
2007, The US hair salon where pop star Britney Spears shaved her head set up a website to auction her hair for more than $1m. The website, buybritneyshair.com, claims to have been set up by salon owner Esther Tognozzi and includes photos of the hair, saying it is "absolutely authentic".
2008, Pink split from her husband Carey Hart following two years of marriage. The Grammy award winning-singer had met Hart, a motocross racing driver, in Las Vegas and proposed to him in 2005.
2008, A 1976 Rolling Stones album bought for $5 at a car boot sale sold for $10,000 at an auction. The 'Black and Blue' LP was signed by John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Paul and Linda McCartney and George Harrison as well as members of the Rolling Stones.
Top of the Charts!
1975 - Paul Simon, had a monster hit from his album Still Crazy After All These Years. Backing vocals on the single were performed by Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson and Phoebe Snow. Written after Simon's divorce from first wife Peggy Harper, the song is a mistress's humorous advice to a husband on ways to end a relationship: Just slip out the back, Jack/Make a new plan, Stan. The song is anchored by a "linear" drum pattern performed by studio drummer Steve Gadd, which became the hook and color for the song and was recorded in a small New York City studio on Broadway.
"50 Ways To Leave Your Lover" by Paul Simon
This and That
A working Prince
Michael Jackson's 16-year-old has been hired as a special correspondent on "ET," CBS announced Monday. The entertainment news program put Jacko The Younger on with James Franco, Zach Braff and Sam Raimi, of the upcoming "Oz the Great and Powerful." Word is he's a natural.
Make Out the Checks to St. Peter
Retirement package, Pope-style: $3,340 per month. That's how much Pope Benedict will get when he abdicates later this month. Not a large amount, until you consider it's all tax-free and he has virtually NO expenses. The dude was the Pope for God's sake.
Lightening Round
A 102-year-old British woman has finally agreed to her family’s demand-- she’ll give up smoking. But not that...other thing.
New analysis reveals that Picasso painted his masterpieces using ordinary old housepaint. The guy had Home Depot points, what do you want?
Two senior citizens are in trouble for having sex in the parking lot of a California barbeque restaurant. See Lightening Round #1
A new study shows Facebook is messing with our heads. The survey says the site causes the most stress but also elicits the most positive effect on mood compared to other social networks. Getting defriended could mean years of therapy.
Postal Service unveiled its plans for a line of clothing and accessories called "Rain Heat & Snow," to be produced entirely by a Cleveland apparel company called the Wahconah Group. One thing, we got this, rain and snow anyway.
Now, from the "She is Clearly Out of Her Mind" department
Lindsay Lohan wants $500k for an appearance in Dubai to promote Mr. Pink’s Ginseng Energy Drink, which executives at the company are balking at. Mr. Pink is prepared to offer the actress $200k, and would pay for all of LiLo’s travel expenses,” a source told RadarOnline.com exclusively. Okay, I was wrong, Mr. Pink is out of his mind.
So What it the Big Bloody Deal?
DOWNTON ABBEY Season Finale pulled 8.2 million viewers! PBS continues to grow its Downton Abbey audience. Sunday's season three finale, originally broadcast in the UK as the 2012 Christmas special, pulled in 8.2 million viewers. That's a 50 improvement from last February's 5.4 million finale and a jump of 300,000 from January's season opener.
This is so cool, I had to post the whole thing - Oscar Goodie Bags!
The goal: Celebs schmoozing with the vendors and posing with the product for photos that may turn up on the web or in celebrity magazines. Lame, you say? Last year, Revitalash, a cosmetics company, paid a $50,000 sponsorship fee that it earned the equivalent of $2.3 million in media attention.
For the taking: expensive jewelry, designer clothing, digital gear, deluxe skin-care products, certificates for resort vacations.
Wrangling a celebrity is a time-consuming business. Organizers of the gifting events send a customized email come-on to the most desirable names. The invitation says "we will offer you the following" and they're told what the high-ticket items will be. This year one Oscar gift lounge will include diamond jewelry, iPad minis, $3,000 Polaris bicycles and Caribbean getaways.
Publicists — who often accompany their celeb clients — can count on some loot of their own. They often get luggage and jewelry and handbags and scarves. Providing a chauffeur-driven car — a free ride to the free stuff — is routine.
For some stars, linking up with a good cause makes the whole thing a bit less tacky. Celebs like Forest Whitaker and Leonardo DiCaprio have shown up at gifting suites and selected some choice items for the express purpose of donating them to charity.
TV Tonight
AMERICAN IDOL (8p ET, FOX) -- The competition moves to Las Vegas, where the Top 40 semifinalists will be split into males and females. Starting tonight, 10 female semifinalists will perform and the judges will choose 5 to stay and 5 to go home.
SURVIVOR: CARAMOAN-FANS VS. FAVORITES (8p ET, CBS) -- New
THE MIDDLE (8p ET, ABC) -- New
WHITNEY (8p ET, NBC) -- Peter Gallagher (Covert Affairs, The O.C.) guest stars in this new episode.
ARROW (8p ET, CW) -- New
THE NEIGHBORS (8:30p ET, ABC) -- New
GUYS WITH KIDS (8:30p ET, NBC) -- New
CRIMINAL MINDS (9p ET, CBS) -- New
MODERN FAMILY (9p ET, ABC) -- David Faustino (Married… with Children) guest stars in this new episode.
LAW & ORDER: SVU (9p ET, NBC) -- Carolyn McCormick (Law & Order) guest stars in this new episode.
SUPERNATURAL (9p ET, CW) -- New
SUBURGATORY (9:30p ET, ABC) -- New
CSI: (10p ET, CBS) -- New
CHICAGO FIRE (10p ET, NBC) -- New
20/20: MAD ABOUT OSCAR WITH KATIE COURIC (10p ET, ABC) -- This special shows footage of memorable acceptance speeches, hilarious monologues and unscripted moments from the Oscar archives.
SEASON FINALE: NECESSARY ROUGHNESS (10p ET, USA) -- The show will return for a third season this summer.
SOUTHLAND (10p ET, TNT) -- Chad Michael Murray (One Tree Hill) guest stars in this new episode.
Birthdays
• Fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt is 89
• Sidney Poitier (Oscar for Lilies of the Field) is 86
• Jazz and soul singer Nancy Wilson is 76
• Sandy Duncan (The Hogan Family, Peter Pan) is 67
• Guitarist J. Geils of The J. Geils Band is 67
• Peter Strauss is 66
• John Voldstad (Newhart) is 62
• Newspaper heiress and kidnap victim Patty Hearst Shaw is 59
• Former NBA star Charles Barkley is 50
• French Stewart (Third Rock From the Sun) is 49
• Cindy Crawford is 47
• Andrew Shue (Melrose Place) is 46
• Lili Taylor (Six Feet Under) is 46
• Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys is 38
• Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) is 35
• Rihanna is 25
