Monday, September 30, 2013

Mr. Humble at Your Service

            My name is Mr. Humble
I am the in-house expert , expert on what you ask, friends I ask myself the very same question .

I'm filling in for 'Witchy' , she will be out for awhile , don't put on your party hats  she is expected back , hopefully this week . Witchy asked me to fill in for her and I would be greatly rewarded , HMmmmm sounds good to me if you get my drift (smiling)
 

Cher -------- Sonny's Ghost Screws With Me

                          Haunting News
Cher believes in life after ... death -- claiming ex-husband Sonny Bono's ghost not only lingers around ... but still pulls pranks on her!

When asked about her thoughts on ghosts during a recent AMA (ask me anything) on Reddit ... Cher confessed she's a hardcore believer -- 'cause Sonny still messes with her from beyond.

"I actually think that Sonny makes a light go on (in the house)" Cher revealed, adding, "I have a beautiful chandelier that he makes the light go on when it is impossible, there is no power on."

Friday, September 27, 2013

Case Over Death Of Michael Jackson Goes To Jury


LOS ANGELES — After a bitterly fought five-month trial, a negligence lawsuit by Michael Jackson's mother against his concert promoter is in the hands of a jury after a final plea by a Jackson lawyer to punish the company he portrayed as a heartless, money-making machine.

In his argument Thursday, attorney Brian Panish, who represents Katherine Jackson, urged the six women and six men on the jury to find that defendant AEG Live LLC and Jackson shared responsibility for hiring Dr. Conrad Murray, the physician whose treatments killed the superstar.

Earlier this week, a lawyer for AEG Live suggested the promoter was pressured by Jackson to hire Murray as his personal physician, and was deceived when Jackson and Murray hid the fact that the singer was receiving nightly doses of the anesthetic propofol in his bedroom.

The drug is intended for use during operations at hospitals.

Murray was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter after giving Jackson an overdose of propofol as a sleep aid as Jackson fought chronic insomnia. Murray is in prison.

Jurors were led out of the courtroom by 10 armed sheriff's deputies assigned to guard them during deliberations. They spent two hours behind closed doors, then retired for the night and returned Friday for their first full day of talks.

Panish used his rebuttal argument Thursday to urge the jury to find that AEG hired Murray without considering whether he was fit for the job. AEG lawyers say it was Jackson who hired the doctor.

In his speech to jurors, Panish suggested they might decide there was shared negligence in hiring Murray.

"Think of a bicycle built for two," he said. "Both can cause the harm."
He did not blame Jackson for seeking propofol and instead cited AEG for hiring the doctor who gave it to him.

"Propofol might not be the best idea," Panish said. "But if you have a competent doctor, you're not going to die."

Panish claimed that AEG executives such as CEO Randy Phillips and co-CEO Paul Gongaware disdained Jackson and reminded jurors of an email in which an AEG attorney referred to Jackson as "the freak."

"They're a money-making machine," Panish said. "All they care about is how much money is this freak going to make for them.

"It's not right, ladies and gentlemen," Panish said. "It would not be right to allow Gongaware and Phillips to skate down the street and click their champagne glasses at AEG Live."

Both executives were initially named as defendants but were dismissed from the case during the trial.

Panish showed jurors details of a contract that was drafted by AEG Live but only signed by Murray. He said it proved that AEG wanted to control the doctor.

The plaintiff's last argument came a day after AEG Live attorney Marvin Putnam told jurors that Jackson was the architect of his own demise and no one else can be blamed. Putnam said Jackson insisted on hiring the cardiologist, despite objections from AEG Live.

The company told Jackson there were great doctors in London but the singer would not be deterred, Putnam said.

"It was his money and he certainly wasn't going to take no for an answer," he said.

Putnam showed brief excerpts from the "This Is It" documentary to show that Jackson appeared in top form just 12 hours before he died.

"AEG Live did not have a crystal ball," he said. "Dr. Murray and Mr. Jackson fooled everyone. They want to blame AEG for something no one saw."

If AEG Live had known about the propofol treatments, it would have pulled the plug on the planned tour, the lawyer said.

"AEG would have never agreed to finance this tour if they knew Mr. Jackson was playing Russian roulette in his bedroom every night," Putnam told jurors.

If jurors find AEG didn't hire Murray, their work will be done quickly and they need not decide four other questions.

A unanimous verdict is not required in the case. Only nine of the 12 jurors must agree.

TICKING TIME BOMB OJ’s FORBIDDEN FOOD ORGY

Disgraced O.J. SIMPSON, incarcerated diabetic, defies doc’s orders, gorges on stolen sugar snacks that may kill him!

Yes, O.J. has turned into a cookie monster!

The former gridiron great was recently caught stealing sweets from the cafeteria of the Nevada prison where he’s serving a 33-year sentence for armed robbery. Guards noticed that the 66-year-old seemed to be hiding something in his clothes after lunch and seized more than a dozen oatmeal cookies from the would-be smuggler, a close source told The ENQUIRER.

Doctors had previously warned O.J., a severe diabetic, to clean up his diet and start exercising more – or he could be dead within months.

"But the temptation of the cookies in the prison chow line was too much for him," said the source. "O.J. has been trying to diet since the doctors talked to him, but he loves sweets, and after a few weeks he couldn’t take it anymore."

O.J. was walking back to his cell from lunch when a guard ordered him to stop.

"Everyone thought he had smuggled in a cell phone or some other kind of contraband, so when the guard started pulling cookies out of O.J.’s shirt, the other inmates started laughing so hard they nearly fell over," said the source. "O.J. just stood there with a goofy grin on his face as the guard kept digging inside his shirt and throwing the cookies on the floor."

Prisoners at Nevada’s Lovelock Correctional Center are not allowed to bring food from the cafeteria back to their cells.

"The guard told O.J. that he could be written up for cookies but let him go with a warning not to let it happen again," the source added.

As The ENQUIRER previously reported, doctors warned O.J. that he might only have three months to live if he didn’t get his health under control. Along with diabetes, he was tipping the scales at 300 pounds and had high blood pressure.

"O.J. was embarrassed about getting caught stealing cookies," said the source. Although O.J. recently tried to focus on healthy eating, "he told a friend the only enjoyment he has left in his life is eating his favorite foods. To tell the truth, he really doesn’t care what happens to him anymore."

O.J. Simpson Caught Stealing Cookies From Prison Chow Hall, Says Report

O.J. Simpson found out how the cookie crumbles when he was allegedly caught stealing gooey goodies from a Nevada prison cafeteria.

The former gridiron great was recently caught with a stash of not one, but more than a dozen oatmeal cookies, according to Fox News Radio.

Simpson, who is serving a 33-year sentence for armed robbery at Lovelock Correctional Center in Pershing County, reportedly tried to smuggle the cookies into his cell after lunch. He might have gotten away with the cookie caper, if not for an inquisitive guard who noticed Simpson was hiding something under his prison clothes.

When corrections officer questioned Simpson, he allegedly confessed to the theft.

"O.J. just stood there with a goofy grin on his face as the guard kept digging inside his shirt and throwing the cookies on the floor," a source told  The National Enquirer.

Simpson's fellow inmates were reportedly on hand to witness guards expose his sweet tooth.

"When the guard started pulling cookies out of O.J.'s shirt, the other inmates started laughing so hard they nearly fell over," the insider told the Enquirer.

 
Simpson, 66, was arrested in Las Vegas, in September 2007 and charged with numerous felonies, including armed robbery and kidnapping in relation to the armed theft of sports memorabilia. Sentenced to 33 years' imprisonment, the Nevada Parole Board recently granted Simpson parole on some charges related to the robbery, but ordered him held for the next four years.

If there is any truth to Simpson's cookie theft, he may want to ease back. According to Gawker Simpson, who was once celebrated for being the first professional football player to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, suffers from diabetes. His once-chiseled body is now portly with excess fat.

While Simpson's people have yet to confirm whether he does in fact suffer from diabetes, it is known that his sister Carmelita Durio passed away in 2009 from complications of the disease.

Simpson was reportedly given a warning for the alleged theft and instructed to keep his hand out of the cookie jar. Only time will tell if the temptation of the cookie proves too difficult to ignore.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Arnold...'kissy kissy'...New Girlfriend

Despite the messy end to his 25 year marriage to Maria Shriver two years ago, speculation was rife that Arnold Schwarzenegger was angling for a romantic reunion with the mother of his four children.

But judging by pictures of the Terminator star on Monday, the 66-year-old actor has well and truly moved on. Arnold was pictured kissing blonde physical therapist Heather Milligan after an early dinner together in Santa Monica, California.
Sealed with a kiss: Arnold Schwarzenegger kisses new girlfriend Heather Milligan after dinner together at Santa Monica, California
Sealed with a kiss: Arnold Schwarzenegger kisses new girlfriend Heather Milligan after dinner together at Santa Monica, California
 
Bearded Arnold wore a brown leather jacket, dark blue polo shirt and beige trousers while Heather sported black trousers,  sweater and a turquoise T-shirt as they emerged from the restaurant.
According to TMZ, they arrived and left separately with Arnold chatting to Heather through her car window before planting a kiss on her lips.
Casual dinner date: According to reports, Arnold and Heather have been dating 'for months'
Casual dinner date: According to reports, Arnold and Heather have been dating 'for months'

Sealed with a kiss: Arnold Schwarzenegger kisses new girlfriend Heather Milligan after dinner together at Santa Monica, California
Moving on: There had been speculation that Arnold was eager to reunite with ex-wife Maria Shriver

Marriage over: Arnold and Maria Shriver pictured in happier times before their split
Marriage over: Arnold and Maria Shriver pictured in happier times before their split

The couple were first spotted out together earlier this year, and the relationship appears to have gone from strength to strength despite Arnold seemingly professing a desire to re-unite with Maria.

Back in January, he told German's Bild newspaper: 'I still love Maria'. And he predicated an eventual reconciliation last October while promoting his memoir: Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story.
'It takes a lot of time to heal those wounds and to trust each other again,' the actor told Fox News. 'But, you know, I will make every effort.'
Maria filed for divorce after it was revealed that Austrian-born Arnold had fathered a child - Joseph - by their housekeeper Mildred Baena.

'It was a situation where I couldn't even blame anybody else but myself, because my wife was a fantastic wife,' Arnold said on Fox.
'The thing that I cherished the most, I destroyed by some stupid things that I've done. For me, it's important to kind of rebuild again, get the trust back with the kids, with my wife.'
Perhaps tellingly, Arnold and Maria have yet to finalize their divorce.
Back in May, sources told TMZ that there was a clear possibility that the couple, who both have houses in Brentwood, would get back together.
However, another insider said: 'Maria is more amenable to divorce after hearing Arnold has a girlfriend.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Jim Carrey & Jeff Daniels Look Dumber Than Ever (and That's a Good Thing)

Say cheese-y.

After 19 long years, they're back – and looking dumber than ever: Lloyd and Harry, the characters, uh, immortalized by Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in the original Dumb and Dumber movie.

And guess what? They clearly haven't gotten any brighter.

"How Roland Rolls comes out TODAY but it may be a little too sophisticated for Lloyd and Harry! Yep ... THEY'RE BAAAAA ...," Carrey, 51, wrote on both Twitter and WhoSay Tuesday.

The dim duo can be seen holding a copy of Carrey's very first children's book, How Roland Rolls (which was indeed released Tuesday), on the set of Dumb and Dumberer To.

As the discerning may note: They are holding the book upside down.

Carrey is banking that his intended audience won't have the same problem. According to the book's website, the kid's tome centers on a wave named Roland, who worries what will happen once he crashes to shore before discovering he is part of a vast, interconnected ocean.

The book release is happening while Carrey and newly-minted Emmy winner Daniels, 58, are in the midst of shooting the long-awaited sequel to the Farrelly Brothers farcical classic.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the sequel will follow Harry (Daniels) and Lloyd (Carrey) on the road as they search for Harry's illegitimate daughter, whom they need for a kidney transplant.


Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Cote de Pablo: Decision to Leave NCIS Is 'Personal'

Cote de Pablo shocked NCIS fans in July when she announced that she was leaving TV's number one drama after eight seasons.

But the actress – who has played fan favorite Ziva David since the show's third season – never revealed the reason for her departure, and in a new interview with TV Guide she says she's not going to.

"As far as my decision to leave, that's a personal thing, and I'd rather leave it at that," de Pablo, 33, tells the magazine. "The idea of leaving was not something I toyed around with for a long time. It was an overwhelmingly hard thing – at times terrifying," she says.

Adds de Pablo: "I was incredibly moved by the blind support people had without ever getting reasons as to why I left," she says. "People trusted that what I was doing was what I needed to do, and that's unconditional love from people who don't even know me. That's been the most beautiful thing out of this process," she says.

Although de Pablo wont be back on NCIS as a series regular in season 11 (premiering tonight), she will be back to wrap up Ziva's story line – including a farewell episode slated for Oct. 1.

"As far as the 'Tiva' fans, they'll get a resolution they've awaited for years," de Pablo says of her character's onscreen will they/won't they romance with Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly).

"There is a level of confession," she teases. "And if it takes a big change like this to stir things up, it's all for the better. I'm a fan of the show!"

Asked directly if she'd ever return to NCIS in the future, de Pablo explained it's possible.

"The greatest thing about this last episode is that Ziva doesn't die," she says. "As long as a character doesn't die, the character can always come back. Not that it would actually matter, because we bring back characters from the dead all the time on NCIS!"

NCIS premieres Tuesday at 8/7c on CBS.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Hillary And Bill Through The Years

Their wedding day on October 11, 1975

Gov. Bill Clinton of Arkansas,right, and his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton, chat with Mochtar Riady, chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Bank at a reception hosted by Riady, Oct. 7, 1985. Clinton is in Hong Kong for a three-day trade promotion tour.
Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary arrive for dinner at the White House Sunday evening, Feb. 23, 1986
                               Bill , Hillary and baby Chelsea
Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Clinton is joined by his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton, left, on the day he announced his bid for the presidency in Little Rock, Arkansas on Nov. 3, 1991. Clinton denied on Friday reports of rumored extramarital affairs, saying the charges were "simply not true."
Then Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Clinton hugs his wife Hillary at Clinton's election night party at the Merrimack Inn, in Merrimack, N.H. in this Feb. 18, 1992
Hillary Clinton, right, embraces her husband, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton, in Los Angeles Tuesday night after he secured enough delegates to capture the Democratic presidential nomination.
Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary dance on stage during a "Get-Out-The-Vote" rally at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. Sunday night, Nov. 1, 1992.
Framed by a huge American flag, Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Rodham Clinton wave to supporters during a rally at a downtown Chicago hotel Tuesday, March 17, 1992. Clinton won both the Illinois and Michigan primaries
President-elect Clinton and his wife Hillary ride on the beach at Hilton Head Island, S.C. on Friday. They are on the island for vacation and Renaissance Weekend.
President and Mrs. Clinton stand with South African President Nelson Mandela and his daughter, Zinzi Mandela Hlongwane, Tuesday night, Oct., 4, 1994 at the North Portico of the White House. The Clintons hosted a state dinner for Mandela.
President Clinton laughs at the sight of a staff member (not shown) wearing a Santa hat as he, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and their daughter Chelsea leave Foundary Methodist Church in Washington after attending services Sunday morning, Dec. 25, 1994. At rear is an unidentified Secret Service agent.
President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton arrive at a dinner at the White House, Sunday night, Jan. 29, 1995. The former Arkansas governor was hosting the state executives Sunday night at an annual black-tie dinner for the National Governors' Association, a group he once headed.
President and Mrs. Clinton laugh during the introductions of a concert Wednesday night, May 17, 1995 on the South Lawn at the White House. The concert was being taped for a PBS television series "In Performance at the White House" and will be aired this fall. The hour-long performance, featuring the women of country music, was hosted by Chet Atkins. 

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Hillary in Midair


She’s learned from her mistakes. Three years before November 8, 2016, she’s working hard to be relaxed, calm, easy. But, all the while, the old Clinton gears are whirring.

For four years, Hillary Rodham Clinton flew around the world as President Barack Obama’s secretary of State, while her husband, the former president Bill Clinton, lived a parallel life of speeches and conferences in other hemispheres. They communicated almost entirely by phone. They were seldom on the same continent, let alone in the same house.

But this year, all that has changed: For the first time in decades, neither one is in elected office, or running for one. Both are working in the family business, in the newly renamed nonprofit that once bore only Bill’s name but is now called the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation, which will hold its annual conference in New York next week.

"We get to be at home together a lot more now than we used to in the last few years," says Hillary Clinton. "We have a great time; we laugh at our dogs; we watch stupid movies; we take long walks; we go for a swim.

"You know," she says, "just ordinary, everyday pleasures."

In the world of the Clintons, of course, what constitutes ordinary and everyday has never been either. So the question was inevitable: Given who he is, and who she is, does Bill, among their guffaws over the dogs and stupid movies, harangue her daily about running for president?

To this, Hillary Rodham Clinton lets loose one of her loud, head-tilted-back laughs. "I don’t think even he is, you know, focused on that right now," she says. "Right now, we’re trying to just have the best time we can have doin’ what we’re doin’. "

There’s a weightlessness about Hillary Clinton these days. She’s in midair, launched from the State Department toward … what? For the first time since 1992, unencumbered by the demands of a national political campaign or public office, she is saddled only with expectations about what she’s going to do next. And she is clearly enjoying it.

"It feels great," she says, "because I have been on this high wire for twenty years, and I was really yearning to just have more control over my time and my life, spend a lot of that time with my family and my friends, do things that I find relaxing and enjoyable, and return to the work that I had done for most of my life."

Relaxing, for a Clinton, especially one who, should she decide to run, is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president in 2016, does not seem exactly restful. The day before we speak, she was awarded the Liberty Medal by the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia—presented by Jeb Bush, another politician weighted with dynastic expectations and family intrigue, who took the opportunity to jest that both he and Clinton cared deeply about Americans—especially those in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

Afterward, Clinton stepped backstage, a red-white-and-blue ribbon around her neck pulled taut by a saucer-size gold medal. "It is really heavy," she said, with that plain-home midwestern tone she deploys when she wants to not appear the heavy herself. In the room with her were some of her close advisers—Nick Merrill, a communications staffer and acolyte of Hillary’s suffering top aide, Huma Abedin; and Dan Schwerin, the 31-year-old speechwriter who wrote all the words she had spoken moments ago. Local policemen with whom Clinton had posed for photos milled about behind her.

Outside was the usual chorus accompanying a Clinton appearance, befitting her status as the most popular Democrat in America: news helicopters buzzing overhead and protesters amassed across the street who raised signs that read benghazi in bloodred paint and chanted antiwar slogans directly at her as she spoke at the outdoor lectern.

Though she was officially out of the government, it was not as if she could leave it, even if she wanted to. That week Clinton had met with Obama in the White House to discuss the ongoing Syria crisis, and now Obama was on TV that very evening announcing a diplomatic reprieve from a missile attack on Syria—a series of decisions that Clinton had lent her support to every step of the way. "I’ve been down this road with them," she tells me the next day. "I know how challenging it is to ever get [the Russians] to a ‘yes’ that they actually execute on, but it can be done. I think we have to push hard."

Clinton has taken a press hiatus since she left the State Department in January—"I’ve been successful at avoiding you people for many months now!" she says, laughing. She is tentative and careful, tiptoeing into every question, keenly aware that the lines she speaks will be read between. In our interview, she emphasizes her "personal friendship" with Obama, with whom she had developed a kind of bond of pragmatism and respect—one based on shared goals, both political and strategic. "I feel comfortable raising issues with him," she says. "I had a very positive set of interactions, even when I disagreed, which obviously occurred, because obviously I have my own opinions, my own views."

Friday, September 20, 2013

Michael Jackson Takes Huge Fall On His Ass During Last Photoshoot

Michael Jackson wasn't always smooth on his feet -- the King of Pop took a nasty trip and fall while posing for his final magazine spread ... and TMZ has hysterical video of the accident.

Little background: MJ was doing a photoshoot in 2007 that was eventually published in L'Uomo Vogue and Ebony Magazine (below) later that year -- legendary photog Bruce Weber took the pics, and blah, blah, blah ... Michael tripped over a set piece, and took a dive during the session!
Not much more to it, but it is awesome to watch a roomful of people scramble when MJ falls.

Michael was fine ... he jumped up, gave a thumbs up, and laughed at his clumsiness while finishing the shoot -- his last before dying 2 years later.

So, moonwalk -- no problem. Standing upright -- ehhhh ...



Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Divorce, Money Problems Fueled Robin Williams's Return to TV


Robin Williams on Returning to TV, Getting Sober, and Down-sizing in His 60s .

In this weekend’s issue, Parade visits Robin Williams, who is returning to TV in his first series since he gained fame in Mork & Mindy more than 30 years ago. The beloved actor, 62, plays an unorthodox adman in CBS’s The Crazy Ones (starting Sept. 26) costarring Sarah Michelle Gellar as his daughter and ad agency partner. "We needed an actor who could convey genius, insanity, and comedy, tempered with humanity," says series creator David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal). "Robin was the first and only choice."

Read excerpts from the wide-ranging interview below, and be sure to check out Parade this weekend for the full story.

On what it's like being back on TV:
"It’s fun. I’m having such a blast doing it with Sarah. She’s a sweet woman. And the idea of a father-daughter relationship—since I have a daughter, I’ve done the research on that."
On why this was the right time to return after 31 years:
"The idea of having a steady job is appealing. I have two [other] choices: go on the road doing stand-up, or do small, independent movies working almost for scale [minimum union pay]. The movies are good, but a lot of times they don’t even have distribution. There are bills to pay. My life has downsized, in a good way. I’m selling the ranch up in Napa. I just can’t afford it anymore."
On whether he lost all his money in his two divorces:
"Well, not all. Lost enough. Divorce is expensive. I used to joke they were going to call it ‘all the money,’ but they changed it to ‘alimony.’ It’s ripping your heart out through your wallet. Are things good with my exes? Yes. But do I need that lifestyle? No."

On whether he felt betrayed by Lance Armstrong , who had been a friend :
"It wasn’t just Lance. [Most of the] team was doping. I haven’t seen him since one of the last Livestrong benefits, I think just before the Oprah interview. It was literally like a wake for someone who was still alive, this overall feeling that the dream was over."
On relaping into drinking, 20 years after gettinf sober , while filming  'The Big White.":
"One day I walked into a store and saw a little bottle of Jack Daniel’s. And then that voice—I call it the ‘lower power’—goes, ‘Hey. Just a taste. Just one.’ I drank it, and there was that brief moment of ‘Oh, I’m okay!’ But it escalated so quickly. Within a week I was buying so many bottles I sounded like a wind chime walking down the street. I knew it was really bad one Thanksgiving when I was so drunk they had to take me upstairs."
On his family intervening to get him into rehap in 2006:
"It was not an intervention so much as an ultimatum. Everyone kind of said, ‘You’ve got to do this.’ And I went, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’"
On why he's done USO tours for our troops:
"I do those because it’s like the real version of Good Morning, Vietnam, meeting people and seeing what I can do to help. They’re the best audiences I’ve ever had. The most powerful experience is visiting the wounded in hospitals. A friend of mine’s doing a program in San Francisco at a veterans’ hospital, getting them to do improv comedy as therapy. And it’s really helping. Comedy can be a cathartic way to deal with personal trauma."
On whetherl looking back , he has no regrets:
"No. Regrets don’t help."
 
 

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Jesse Jackson Jr. Auction: Feds To Auction Off Ex-Congressman's Illegally Bought Memorabilia

Former Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., leaves federal court in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013. Jackson was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Wednesday after pleading guilty to scheming to spend $750,000 in campaign funds on TV's, restaurant dinners, an expensive watch and other costly personal items. His wife received a sentence of one year.

CHICAGO — A showy red cape drew more bids than framed autographs of Michael Jackson or Bruce Lee as a government auction of more than a dozen items forfeited by prison-bound former congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. got underway Tuesday.

The online auction, which will accept bids over two weeks, is the U.S. Marshals Service way of trying to recoup part of the $750,000 in campaign funds the Chicago Democrat and his wife, Sandra, illegally spent – often to satisfy penchants for attention-grabbing clothes and pop-culture keepsakes.

Three hours after the auction began, the red cashmere cape with fur trim had already drawn 34 bids, tripling the initial asking price to $905; court documents say Jackson purchased it for $1,500 from an Edwards Lowell Furs store. A Bruce Lee autograph had just four bids, the highest of which was $350.

Calculating existing bids for all 13 items as of Wednesday, the feds looked to rake in more than $5,000 from the Jackson auction. Dozens of other frivolities he spent his donors' money on, including two stuffed elk heads and a football signed by U.S. presidents, aren't part of this auction.

The Jackson items up for auction aren't the oddest the Marshals Service has sold off to help pay felons' fines or court-mandated restitution. The underwear of convicted Wall Street fraudster Bernie Madoff was once auctioned by the same Texas-based company contracted to sell the Jackson belongings.

The notoriety surrounding a criminal case can sometimes boost the value of objects that – ironically in the Jacksons' case – become celebrity memorabilia in their own right, explained Jason Rzepniewski, an auctioneer at the Texas company, Gaston & Sheehan Auctioneers Inc.

Buyers have until Sept. 26 to bid at for any of the Jacksons' former possessions that tug at their heart strings. Among the other options is a guitar signed by both Eddie Van Halen and Michael Jackson, who scribbled, "Let Love Fall Like Rain," next to his signature. www.txauction.com

Jesse Jackson Jr., the 48-year-old son of civil rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson and a one-time golden boy of Democratic politics, is now effectively broke thanks to his legal troubles, his lawyers have said.

He also faces prison time.
  Within the next several months, Jackson must leave his two school-aged kids and enter a federal facility to begin serving a 2 1/2-year term for to scheming to spend campaign funds on himself and his wife. The same federal judge who sentenced Jackson last month also imposed a yearlong sentence on his wife.

What The Jacksons Bought With Campaign Cash

Dinner at CityZen in Washington, D.C., $466.30
Jackson Jr. had quite the dinner there in 2010, the New York Times reports. The Jacksons spent over $60,000 in campaign cash on dining and drinking out at restaurants, nightclubs and lounges.

                                Men's Rolex watch, $43,350
Jackson Jr. bought the high-priced Rolex in 2007 using cash from a bank account he opened under the title "Jesse Jackson Jr. for Congress," the Chicago Tribune reports.

                                                Personal airfare, $31,700
That's a lot of frequent flyer miles.
                Michael Jackson memorabilia, about $28,000
Jackson Jr. purchased about $28,000 worth of Michael Jackson goodies, including a fedora hat (for $4,600), as well as what is described as a "Michael Jackson and Eddie Van Halen guitar (for $4,000)." The memorabilia was purchased from Antiquities of Nevada.

Pictured: The black felt fedora worn by Jackson during his last performance at the Apollo Theatre in April 2002 is on display at Julien’s Auctions in Beverly Hills, California on the first day of Julien's two-day Music Icons and Sports Legends auction, June 23, 2012.
                               Tobacco shops, $17,163.36
Jackson Jr. has a well-documented penchant for cigars --and was reportedly seen smoking one by The Daily last fall.
Martin Luther King Jr. memorabilia, about $11,000
Flat-screen TVs and other Best Buy merchandise, $10,997
Multiple flat-screen TVs were among $10,997 worth of items purchased at Best Buy by the Jacksons in November 2007, CBS Chicago notes. Other items included Blu-Ray DVD players and DVDs.

                                               2 Stuffed Elk Heads, $8,000
According to DNAinfo Chicago, Jackson Jr. gave his campaign treasurer more than $8,000 to buy two mounted elk heads from a Montana taxidermist in 2008. They were shipped in 2011. An undercover FBI agent who said they were an interior designer lat year offered to buy the heads from the treasurer.
                                       Alcohol, $5,800
Five-day retreat at Martha’s Vineyard Holistic Retreat, $5,687.75
The retreat was reportedly taken by a relative of Sandi Jackson's in November 2008.
The cruise was reportedly taken in June 2006.
Stuffed animals from Build-A-Bear, $313.89
The Build-A-Bear stuffed snimals were purchased around Christmastime in 2007 and 2008, according to the Chicago Tribune.
 
 
 

Monday, September 16, 2013

Vintage Emmys Photos From The 1950s And 1960s

Way before Tina Fey and Damian Lewis were posing with their statues, iconic stars like Lucille Ball and Dick Van Dyke were walking the red carpet at the Primetime Emmy Awards.

In preparation for the 2013 Emmys on September 22 ,we decided to take a trip down memory lane and relive some of the best Emmy moments from the 1950s and 1960s.

Los Angeles Mayor Fletcher Bowron and Evie deWolf, 1st Annual Emmy Awards in 1949.

                                 Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball in 1953.

                                   Art Carney in 1954.
                          Art Linkletter and Ralph Edwards in 1955.
                                      Danny Thomas and Loretta Young in 1955.

Sid Caesar, Nanette Fabray, Pat Carroll and Carl Reiner in 1957.
                                                  Lassie the collie dog in 1958.
                       Robert Young and Jane Wyatt in 1958.
                                  Bob Newhart in 1959.
                                    Ann-Margret in 1960.