Category Archives: entertainment news

entertainment news

Mr. Rogers ought to show the GOP the way

A lawyer, Chris Perri, has written a fascinating essay for the Texas Tribune that pays a wonderful tribute to the late Fred Rogers, the Presbyterian minister who became a public television superstar.

According to Perri, Mr. Rogers was a lifelong Republican, a fact that surprised the author of the essay. Why the surprise?

Perri writes: Because the values he was espousing – of compassion, human dignity, radical acceptance, emotional health and funding for public broadcasting – struck me as, well, liberal. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that’s because I identify as progressive and share these values. But these aren’t Republican or Democrat but American values.

Yet right now Republican leaders aren’t upholding these shared American values. When we see children ripped from their parents at the border, refugees fleeing violence shut out of our country and corporations being awarded more rights than human beings, it’s hard to believe that the Republican Party of today is upholding our values. Mr. Rogers would have been appalled by the developmental trauma inflicted on children by many of these extreme policies.

How about that?

Might there be a lesson to be handed down here? Of course there is.

Rogers has been highlighted in a documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” that’s drawing some good critical reviews.

Rogers, who played host on the PBS series “Mr. Rogers’s Neighborhood,” was the paragon of kindness, compassion and understanding.

Perri makes no bones about his partisan leanings. He once ran as a Democrat for a congressional seat. He lost. The bigger issue is the surprise he learned about an iconic figure’s background.

As Perri has noted, Fred Rogers’s views don’t belong to liberals or Democrats or anyone of a particular political stripe. They are quintessentially American.

I hope today’s Republican Party will start paying attention and toss aside the ongoing rage coming from the mouth of the Republican in Chief who happens to be the president of the United States.

Take a look at Chris Perri’s essay here.

I hope you, too, will learn something. I sure did.

entertainment news

Whoopi vs. The Judge

I didn’t watch Whoopi Goldberg and Jeanine Pirro plunge daggers into each other’s backs in real time. I caught up with it later.

I am filled with a couple of thoughts I want to share.

First, Goldberg has established herself on “The View,” a network TV show she co-hosts, as an ardent, vehement and feverish opponent of Donald J. Trump. Accordingly, Pirro — a former New York judge — has staked out her role on Fox News as an equally ardent, vehement and feverish supporter of the president.

“The View” invited Pirro on the show to discuss, I presume, the state of affairs regarding the president.

Didn’t anyone on the show — or on Pirro’s staff, for that matter — anticipate that these two foes/enemies would end their confrontation in such a heated manner? Had it occurred to anyone, they might have thought better of inviting this kind of rage to present itself … on daytime television!

Check it out here.

Goldberg should be ashamed of herself for treating a guest on the show in the manner that she did. However, I won’t join the right-wing media campaign to persuade ABC-TV to fire Goldberg and/or cancel “The View.”

But if there was any demonstration of the state of our political discourse these days, it revealed itself on a talk show that over the years has been a breeding ground for the co-hosts and their guests to vent their visceral anger at each other in ways that give “political debate” a bad name.

Let’s settle down.

entertainment news, national news

SCOTUS pick fueled by ratings

Donald J. Trump just cannot shuck his past as a TV celebrity.

Thus, the president of the United States plans to announce his selection to the U.S. Supreme Court at 9 p.m. Monday.

That’s prime time, man!

Many millions of eyes will be on him when he trots out the next nominee to the court, the individual who is expected to succeed Justice Anthony Kennedy, who’s retiring at the end of the month.

I won’t belabor the point, but it does seem cheesy and it seems to devalue the importance of the selection. I remain somewhat concerned that when Trump announces the name of the individual that he’s going to make this event more about him than about the person who’ll don the black robes and make critically important decisions that affect all Americans.

That’s the Trump way.

entertainment news, local news, Sports news

MPEV under budget? How about that, sports fans?

Amarillo apparently is going to take its next step toward its future ahead of schedule; what’s more, it well might cost a little less than originally projected.

Does it get any better than that?

The multipurpose event venue project that’s under construction is slightly under budget, according to city officials and contractors. The MPEV had been budgeted at about $40 million for construction, but officials say the cost is slightly less than that; the total cost of the project is estimated at $45.5 million.

As for the timetable, Mother Nature has dealt construction crews a winning hand. A lack of precipitation over the winter helped greatly. The spring has been mostly dry, although I understand some rain has fallen in recent days.

I ran into former Mayor Paul Harpole the other day on Sixth Avenue and he said the MPEV is set to be finished in February 2019, well ahead of the opening of the minor-league AA baseball season that commences in April.

I am enjoying being able to watch this project take form, even from some distance these days. I no longer live in Amarillo; I no longer pay taxes there. Despite our relocation to Collin County, I remain emotionally invested in the MPEV and in downtown Amarillo’s future.

The Amarillo Globe-News reports: City Manager Jared Miller said the general contractors set the tone for the project being under budget.

“I just want to highlight the work of and express appreciation to Western Builders and Hunt Construction,” he said. “These guys put in the time and work. We’ve been working five or six months now, knowing when we first got the pricing for building this building, it was significantly higher than it is right now. They’ve worked hard to bring this number down so the construction number was below $40 million. I cannot say enough good things about the team at Western Builders and they have done yeoman work. And Kudos to our architects, Populous.”

Most of its momentum developed after I left daily journalism. Still, I was able to watch it take root while I lived within shouting distance of where the MPEV/ballpark will open.

Even though I have moved away, I remain delighted to watch this project proceed on a pace that puts it ahead of schedule and, yes under budget.

I am rooting hard for its successful completion.

entertainment news

Conservative actor gets the boot?

I don’t like the tenor and tone of the news I’m hearing about one of my favorite actors.

James Woods says his agent has dropped him because of his pro-Donald Trump, conservative political leanings.

C’mon, dudes! What is going on here?

I didn’t even know about Woods’s politics until, oh, about a year or two ago. I haven’t cared one damn bit about them. I don’t care now!

I like the man’s art. I like watching him perform on big screen or on TV. I like James Woods, the actor.

I might think differently about James Woods if he were to shuck his acting career and enter the political world. He hasn’t. He remains an entertainer.

Woods revealed that his agent, Ken Kaplan, was dropping him. According to The Wrap: “It’s the 4th of July and I’m feeling patriotic. I don’t want to represent you anymore. I mean I could go on a rant but you know what I’d say,” said Kaplan, who Woods described as a “political liberal.”

Sigh.

Reports such as this give progressives a bad name. If by definition their politics espouses “liberal” policies, doesn’t that imply an open mind, a quest for other points of view, an inclusive world view?

I simply detest the idea that one of our nation’s premier actors is being kicked around — allegedly! — because of political views that, to my way of thinking, have nothing whatsoever to do with his art.

entertainment news, Sports news

Hot dog gluttony … a sporting event? C’mon, man!

I noticed an item on ESPN.com that simply boggles my mind.

The renowned sports network has a link in which it tells us that Joey Chestnut has won the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest.

Yep, Chestnut chowed down 74 franks and buns in 10 minutes. What a beast. What a manly man. What a hoss.

Here’s the question I have for you: This is a sporting event?

Read the ESPN.com story here.

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. I mean, after all, ESPN stands for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. Thus, the “entertainment” aspect of the network’s mission makes this a sports spectacle.

As ESPN.com reported: “I found a vicious rhythm,” the 34-year-old Chestnut said after the stuffing session. “I was feeling good today.”

You go for it, chow hound.

I don’t get it.

I’m getting indigestion just writing about it.

entertainment news, national news, Sports news

LeBron off to La La Land

LeBron James has broken the hearts of his hometown pro basketball fans once again.

The best basketball player on the planet is leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers a second time — for Los Angeles, where he has just signed a $154 million deal over the next four years to play for the Lakers, a once-great team that has hit the skids in recent seasons. So help me, the amount of money simply boggles my mind.

He started his pro career playing for the Cavs. Then he bolted to Miami — after a good bit of phony melodrama — where he won a couple of NBA titles with the Heat. LeBron, who was born in nearby Akron, returned to Cleveland, where he took the Cavs to an NBA title of their own. I was impressed by his declaration that he wanted to return home, where he reportedly took a cut in pay.

I’ll give “King James” credit for this latest departure from Cleveland: At least this time he didn’t put together a TV special at the end of which he declares, “I’m taking my talents to Tinseltown.”

business news, entertainment news, local news

Landmark birthday venue still going strong

I was visiting with my son today and I blurted out that I spent my 21st birthday playing pool and drinking beer with my father and grandfather at a popular watering hole in downtown Portland, Ore., my hometown.

That was in December 1970. Then my son made a discovery. He wondered if it had survived all those years. He Googled “Kelly’s Olympian” on his phone and discovered that it’s still in business.

Not only that, it appears to be thriving. It’s lively. It’s trendy. It apparently serves good food and a wide assortment of adult beverages. It doesn’t look much as it did back when Dad and I were playing pool and swilling cold ones; my grandfather walked in later and joined us.

Kelly’s Olympian isn’t the only longtime business that has survived the ups and downs of any city’s economic cycle. Portland, though, has turned its once moribund downtown district into the gold standard for how to make the central district a destination for those who live within that city or those who are just visiting.

*****

This thought occurs to me.

Amarillo,Texas, where my wife and I lived until just about six weeks ago, is undergoing quite an urban makeover in its own downtown district. Polk Street is rumbling back to life. Work is proceeding briskly on that ballpark on Buchanan Street. Longstanding iconic structures have been repurposed into downtown lofts.

When I take the long view and think of what future generations might recall about Amarillo’s downtown district, I wonder — and certainly hope — that they can recall a place that flourishes today. If we flash forward another 47 years, to 2165, my expectation would be that Amarillo’s downtown will continue to evolve into something brighter and more vibrant than anyone ever imagined.

Those Amarillo residents who today are enjoying the fruits of their downtown’s rebirth will look back and be as astonished as I was today to learn that Kelly’s Olympian is still packing ’em in.

entertainment news

DeNiro sinks to Trump’s level

They’re still chattering a bit about Robert DeNiro’s weird outburst against Donald John Trump.

DeNiro, the Oscar-winning actor, took the stage at the Tony Awards and then bellowed “f*** Trump!” He drew huge cheers, including a standing ovation from the crowd jammed into the theater.

No surprise there, right?

I have been stewing about it since Sunday night. Here’s my conclusion.

DeNiro sank to Donald J. Trump’s level of insult. At a time when we need to lift up the quality of discourse, we had an actor — and a noted one at that — decide to drop an f-bomb on national TV.

We need some nobility in our political discussion. We don’t need to answer Donald Trump’s frequently juvenile, puerile insults with profane rants. It lends not a single constructive element to anything other than to rouse cheers, hoots and hollering.

entertainment news

Not too clever, Mr. DeNiro

I always have thought the actor Robert DeNiro was more clever than what he demonstrated last night.

The one-time “Raging Bull” trooped to the microphone at the Tony Awards show and offered a pithy, profane “salute” to Donald J. Trump. I won’t repeat it here. The network cut the sound off as DeNiro blurted out an f-bomb before saying the president’s name.

OK, let me stipulate a couple of things here.

One is that I have thought what DeNiro said out loud many times since Trump was elected president. I might even have said it a time or two. Then again, I never have stood in front of millions of viewers around the world who tuned in to watch an awards show meant to salute theater performances.

The reaction of the theater crowd was so very predictable. They stood and cheered. I didn’t join them while watching the event in real time Sunday night. For starters, I didn’t know what DeNiro actually said until later in the evening.

The second point I want to make is that many of us could have predicted that someone would have delivered such an ultimate snark-filled epithet during the ceremony. The arts community’s feelings toward the president are well-known, thoroughly chronicled. ”

I guess I’m disappointed it came from an actor whose work I’ve enjoyed for years, perhaps dating back to “Godfather II” when he portrayed a young Vito Corleone.

Whatever. I share DeNiro’s sentiment. The forum and the manner he used to deliver it seemed so very boring. And, to be honest, it wasn’t terribly creative.