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Jay-Z, Timberlake announce summer tour

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 23 Februari 2013 | 18.21

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Rapper Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake are teaming up for a 12-city summer stadium tour that will include concerts in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, music promoter Live Nation said on Friday.

The "Legends of the Summer" tour will kick off at the Roger's Center in Toronto on July 17, and finish on August 16 at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami.

Venues in Boston, Detroit and Baltimore will also be included in the tour.

Earlier this week Live Nation said the duo, who together have won 23 Grammy awards and two Emmys and have sold 67 million albums, will also be performing together in London at the Wireless Festival on July 12-13.

Timberlake's new album, "The 20/20 Experience," which will be released next month, features "Suit & Tie," a collaboration with Jay-Z. The two performed a duet together at the Grammy Awards earlier this month.

(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; Editing by Patricia Reaney and Vicki Allen)


18.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Britain's first Oscar-winning animator Bob Godfrey dies at 91

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's first Oscar-winning animator Bob Godfrey, whose work ranged from the children's TV cartoon "Roobarb" to mock-erotic movies like "Kama Sutra Rides Again", has died aged 91, his family told the BBC on Friday.

Godfrey, often referred to as "The Godfather of British Animation", was born in Australia but educated in England and started his career as a graphic artist in London in the 1930s before gaining work in the film industry.

He was the first British animator to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for his 1975 musical comedy "Great", about civil engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

Godfrey was nominated three other times for Oscars, including for his 1971 short film "Kama Sutra Rides Again", one of his mock-erotic exploitation films that focused on the hypocrisy of British attitudes towards sex.

Filmmaker Stanley Kubrick so admired the film that he screened it alongside UK showings of "A Clockwork Orange".

"Much of Godfrey's work has been predicated on satirizing the foibles and minutiae of what it means to be 'British'," said his biography on the British Film Institute website.

For nearly 50 years Godfrey worked with some of animation's biggest names including Monty Python's Terry Gilliam, poking fun at orthodoxy and establishment thinking. He retired in 1999.

His work ran along two tracks - adult material and quirky children's cartoons which he wanted to appeal to adults too.

He was known for his children's cartoons "Roobarb", about a warring cat and dog, and "Henry's Cat".

His death comes after the death on Sunday of veteran actor Richard Briers, aged 79, who narrated "Roobarb" and also the character of Brunel in Godfrey's film "Great".

Aardman Animations studio founder Peter Lord tweeted: "Dear old Bob Godfrey is no more. A great influence and inspiration to me and my generation of animators. Also a lovely bloke."

In an interview with the Guardian in 2001, Godfrey said he had one professional regret.

"I'd love to have done a full-length feature but I can't seem to stretch myself to that length," he told the newspaper.

"When you look at my films, they appear to be a series of 30-second commercials cut together. I'm a short distance man whether I like it or not."

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith; editing by Andrew Roche)


18.20 | 0 komentar | Read More

Madonna crowned top music earner in 2012 due to world tour

(Reuters) - Madonna was named the biggest money maker in music in 2012 on Friday, with a world tour helping her take home up to $34.6 million and highlighting the earning power of live performances as the industry increasingly goes digital.

The 54-year-old Material Girl topped Billboard Magazine's annual list of 40 top money makers for the second time after earning an estimated $32 million - 93.5 percent of her revenue - from her 88-date "MDNA" tour, 2012's biggest tour.

Madonna, who also led the list in 2008 due to tour income, was the only woman in the top 10 with last year's winner, Taylor Swift, who fell to 15th place as she did not tour in 2012.

In second place in the music magazine's list was Bruce Springsteen whose $33.4 million revenue was also primarily driven by touring, playing to sold-out stadiums and arenas.

Springsteen, who also released a No. 1 album, "Wrecking Ball," last year, earned 92 percent of his revenue from live shows where strong merchandise sales also boosted takings.

Roger Waters, founder of Pink Floyd, came a distant third with earnings of $21 million largely from "The Wall Live" tour and Van Halen was fourth with $20 million after touring in support of their album "A Different Kind of Truth".

"When it comes to making the biggest score, the most money always comes from high-paying live performances," Billboard's editorial analyst Glenn Peoples wrote in explaining the list.

"Ironically, the most popular touring artists are usually well past their peaks on the album sales charts."

Country music veteran Kenny Chesney, the Dave Matthews Band, country's Tim McGraw and Jason Aldean, and British band Coldplay came next on the list.

Canadian teen sensation Justin Bieber was 10th, earning almost $16 million of which about $10 million came from his sold-out "Believe" arena tour.

"The entire top 10 averaged 84.2 percent of their income from concerts, and the number would have been higher, if not for Justin Bieber's mere 60.1 percent share at No. 10 dragging down the average," said Billboard.

However touring was not vital for every act on the list such as Swift and Britain's Adele.

Swift earned $12.7 million after selling the most digital tracks in 2012. She sold more than 3 million digital albums and 15.6 million digital tracks driven by her hit "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together".

Adele took the year out after having a baby but still earned nearly $14 million, putting her 11th in the rankings, due to continuing strong physical and digital sales for her album "21".

Maroon 5, ranked 33rd in the list, took the highest share of streaming revenue which made 3.5 percent of its $7.2 million.

Billboard said streaming music online to paying customers has not caught on with older generations and was small in percentage terms but growing.

"Yet even in the coming years, as streaming services become a more important revenue source, possibly replacing digital downloads and CD sales, one thing is unlikely to change: concerts will have the greatest influence of top earners' overall earnings," said Peoples.

The list was compiled by Billboard editors using data for Boxscore archives of U.S. concert gross figures, Nielsen SoundScan data for sales, YouTube, and Nielsen BDS data.

The full list can be seen at http://billboard.com/moneymakers

(Reporting by Elaine Lies, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)


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Actress Megan Fox to star in new "Ninja Turtles" film

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Actress Megan Fox has been cast in the new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movie, according to filmmaker Michael Bay, who directed the actress in two Transformers films.

The two appear to have resolved their differences after Fox compared Bay to Hitler in a magazine interview. The actress was replaced by British model and actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in the third Transformer film after making the comment.

"TMNT: we are bringing Megan Fox back into the family!" Bay wrote on his website.

Fox's agent confirmed that the 26-year-old new mother would play April O'Neil, the crime-fighting turtles' human friend.

In an interview with the British magazine "Wonderland" in 2009 Fox described Bay as nightmare to work with.

"He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is," she said.

Bay responded in a 2011 GQ interview saying executive producer Steven Spielberg had advised him to fire Fox.

"Megan loves to get a response," he said. "And she does it in kind of the wrong way."

Bay has said that one of the original creators of the Ninja Turtles was helping to develop the script for the film that is due to be released in May 2014.

(Reporting by Noreen O'Donnell; editing by Patricia Reaney and Jackie Frank)


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Lady Gaga has hip surgery, calls injury "bump in the road"

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 22 Februari 2013 | 18.21

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lady Gaga said she has undergone surgery to repair an injured hip that forced the pop singer last week to cancel the remainder of her concert tour.

The "Born This Way" singer thanked fans in a blog post on her littlemonsters.com fan website on Thursday, saying the setback was "just a bump in the road."

"As they wheeled me into surgery...I thought about all of your pain and perseverance, your unique family situations, school environments, health issues, homelessness, identity struggles," wrote Lady Gaga, who often engages with her fans about their personal problems.

"So I thought to myself, 'I'm alive; I'm living my dream, and this is just a bump in the road,'" she added.

The 26-year-old singer tweeted on Wednesday that she was heading into surgery to treat a labral tear of her right hip.

No timetable has been set for Lady Gaga to return to performing, and her tour operator said last week that she would need "strict downtime."

Lady Gaga has been on the road for two years, performing concerts on six continents.

The injury forced her to cancel some two dozen concerts in the United States as part of her "Born This Way Ball" tour.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)


18.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Hollywood couple Diane Lane and Josh Brolin split after 8 years

(Reuters) - Hollywood couple Diane Lane and Josh Brolin are divorcing after more than eight years, their representatives said on Thursday.

"I can confirm Diane Lane and Josh Brolin have decided to end their marriage," said Lane's spokeswoman, Kelly Bush.

A source close to the couple termed the split as "amicable" and said it was a mutual decision.

The divorce will be the second for both Lane and Brolin. They have no children together.

Lane, 48, who was Oscar-nominated for her role in the 2002 film "Unfaithful," and Brolin, 45, married in August 2004 after being introduced by Barbra Streisand, the actor's stepmother through her marriage to James Brolin.

Josh Brolin played a lead role in last summer's sci-fi comedy franchise "Men in Black 3" and his most recent film appearance was the January release "Gangster Squad."

(Reporting By Noreen O'Donnell in New York; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)


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Congolese teen actress gets U.S. visa to walk Oscar red carpet

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The teenage star of the Oscar-nominated Canadian drama "War Witch" will get to travel from her native Congo to the Academy Awards in Los Angeles after she received a last-minute visa, the film's U.S. distributor said on Thursday.

Amateur actress Rachel Mwanza, 16, who grew up an orphan on the streets of capital Kinshasa, received her visa to the United States earlier in the week and will arrive in Los Angeles on Friday, two days ahead of Sunday's Oscar ceremony, a spokeswoman for distributor Tribeca Film said.

The French-language film is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at Hollywood's annual Academy Awards.

"To have her (Mwanza's) journey end on the red carpet is beyond anything she could have dreamed of," director Kim Nguyen said in a statement.

Mwanza will also visit Canada in the coming weeks for the Canadian Screen Awards and Quebec's Jutra Award for Francophone cinema in March.

"War Witch," set in sub-Saharan Africa, focuses on Mwanza's character Komona, who at the age of 12 is forced by anti-government rebels to kill her parents and fight as a child soldier.

Mwanza won Best Actress awards at the Berlin and Tribeca film festivals last year for the role.

The film, titled "Rebelle" in French, touches on family, love and the possibility of finding happiness after years of trauma and war and has been praised by critics for its poignancy and sensitivity.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)


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Shia LaBeouf and Alec Baldwin "Incompatible"? Actor tweets about exit From "Orphans"

(Please note that this story contains strong language in paragraphs 10 and 21.)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Shia LaBeouf is taking a cue from his former co-star Alec Baldwin and using Twitter to defend his actions - in this case his split from "Orphans" on Broadway.

The show, which begins previews in less than a month, was to be the "Transformers" star's Great White Way debut. In a brief statement Wednesday, the actor's departure was attributed to those pesky "creative differences."

But LaBeouf, whose propensity to over-share has gotten him in trouble in the past, took to Twitter within hours of the announcement to post private emails from the show's director Daniel Sullivan and co-stars Baldwin and Tom Sturridge.

He also mused about the role of theater in society and posted his audition video for the show (he's twitchy, intense and, it must be said, pretty convincing as a criminal with a short fuse).

The correspondence does little to clarify the reasons for his abrupt exit, though his exchange with Sullivan hints at chemistry issues with Baldwin.

"I'm too old for disagreeable situations," Sullivan writes. "You're one hell of a great actor. Alec is who he is. You are who you are. You two are incompatible. I should have known it. This one will haunt me. You tried to warn me. You said you were a different breed. I didn't get it."

But an individual close to the production told TheWrap that the split had nothing to do with Baldwin; it was due to conflicts between the star and the show's producers, Frederick Zollo and Robert Cole.

Spokespeople for the production did not respond to requests for comment.

In his emails, LaBeouf also demonstrates a flair for the dramatic that New York theater critics will be denied an opportunity to see in the flesh.

"My dad was a drug dealer," LaBeouf writes. "He was a shit human. But he was a man. He taught me how to be a man. What I know of men Alec is."

"A man owns up," he adds. "That's why Mark McGuire is not a man."

If the message from Baldwin is to be believed, LaBeouf's former cast-mate wishes him well.

After LaBeouf apologizes for creating a "disagreeable situation," Baldwin assures him he doesn't have an "unkind word to say about you."

"I've been through this before," Baldwin writes. "It's been a while. And perhaps some of the particulars are different. But it comes down to the fact that what we all do now is critical. Perhaps especially for you. When the change comes, how do we handle it, whether it be good or bad? What do we learn?"

A spokesman for Baldwin declined to comment and a spokeswoman for LaBeouf did not respond to requests for comment.

Sturridge also is complimentary in his note to LaBeouf.

"I was stunned by the work you were doing, the performance you were giving," he writes."I think you lifted the play to a place higher than maybe it even deserved to be."

This is not the first time that LaBeouf has gotten in trouble for running his mouth off in public. In the past he irritated Steven Spielberg by speaking ill of their collaboration on "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"; said Oliver Stone played too nice when they teamed up on "Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps," and once revealed that he hooked up with "Transformers" co-star Megan Fox when she was on a break from her husband Brian Austin Green.

His frank talk and propensity to criticize former collaborators has inspired at least one high-profile rebuke.

Harrison Ford told Details Magazine that he was displeased by his co-stars comments about the Indiana Jones sequel.

"I think I told him he was a f---ing idiot," Ford said. "As an actor, I think it's my obligation to support the film without making a complete ass of myself."

On Wednesday and Thursday, LaBeouf also took the opportunity to share some colorful thoughts about acting, as well as some historical lessons of questionable veracity.

"Actors used to be buried with a stake through the heart," he tweeted. "Those peoples performances so troubled on-lookers that they feared their ghosts."

Oh, and based on his messages with Rick Sordelet, the show's fight director and a faculty member at Yale University's drama school, an MFA may be in LaBeouf's future...possibly one from a certain New Haven-based institute of higher learning.

In a message, Sordelet hails LaBeouf's work ethic and says he has been in touch with the head of the school's acting program about having him matriculate.

"It must have been difficult for others in the room to be schooled by someone who's raw talent and enthusiasm out matched theirs," Sordelet writes.

Sounds like somebody might be passing James Franco on the quad some day soon.


18.21 | 0 komentar | Read More

Oscar "losers" to go home with $45,000 gift bags

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 21 Februari 2013 | 18.21

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar nominees who don't end up with a coveted gold statuette at the Academy Awards on Sunday won't go home empty handed after all.

Los Angeles-based marketing firm Distinctive Assets will be handing out its annual "Everyone Wins at the Oscars Nominee Gift Bag", valued at more than $45,000, to the talented and well-dressed "losers," the company said on Tuesday.

Among the items in the gift bags, known as swag bags, are trips to Australia, Hawaii and Mexico, personal training sessions, condoms, a bottle of tequila, hand-illustrated tennis shoes, appointments for injectable fillers and 'portion-controlled' dinnerware for those watching their figure, Distinctive Assets said in a statement.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, stopped its practice of giving gift baskets to presenters and performers in 2007 after the practice came under closer scrutiny from U.S. tax authorities.

Celebrities who receive gifts and free trips at awards shows are expected to declare them to the Inland Revenue Service as income and pay the appropriate taxes.

The Distinctive Assets gift bag is not endorsed by the Academy but has been creating consolation goodie bags for 11 years now. The bags are delivered to the losing nominees to their homes directly or through their agents or publicists.

This year's "Not Everyone Wins...." swag bag also includes an under-the-counter water filtration system, acupuncture and aromatherapy sessions, a one-week stay at a fitness and weight-loss retreat, and a one-year membership to London's Heathrow Airport's private VIP service.

Nominees' children also benefit: they get to enroll in professional all-kid circus classes.

The Academy Awards, the highest honors in the movie business, will be handed out a ceremony on Sunday in Hollywood.

(Reporting by Zorianna Kit, editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip Barbara)


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Crime lab report confirms Mindy McCready's death a suicide

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - An Arkansas Crime Lab preliminary autopsy confirmed country music singer Mindy McCready's death was a suicide from a single gunshot wound to the head, the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office said on Wednesday.

McCready, 37, whose career was overshadowed by substance abuse and suicide attempts, was found dead on the porch of a house in Heber Springs, Arkansas, on Sunday afternoon beside her boyfriend's dead dog. Officials have said she shot the dog.

"It is with the deepest sadness we say goodbye to an extraordinary and gifted talent, a daughter, a mother and friend, Miss Mindy McCready," McCready's family said in a statement released on Wednesday.

The statement requested a time of "quiet" for her family and friends and said McCready's "friends in music" were planning to host a memorial in Nashville soon.

The singer's 1996 debut album, "Ten Thousand Angels," sold 2 million copies. Four other studio albums followed. Her fifth album, "I'm Still Here," was released to acclaim in 2010.

McCready, though, had a complicated personal life with a history of substance abuse, suicide attempts, family disputes and tragedy. She was in a legal dispute over custody of her oldest son, Zander, with the boy's father at the time of her death.

In November 2011, she left Florida with Zander and fled to Arkansas. McCready's mother, who had custody of the child, filed a missing person report against her daughter and regained custody.

Last month, record producer David Wilson, the father of McCready's son Zayne, who was born last year, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in Heber Springs. An investigation was ongoing into his death.

(Editing by David Bailey and Leslie Adler)


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Palestinian filmmaker briefly detained in Los Angeles on way to Oscars

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Palestinian filmmaker on his way to the Academy Awards said on Wednesday he was held at Los Angeles International Airport and threatened with deportation before being allowed into the United States.

Emad Burnat, whose "5 Broken Cameras" is competing for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category, said U.S. immigration officials took him, his wife and 8-year-old son aside when they arrived in Los Angeles from Turkey on Tuesday evening.

"Immigration officials asked for proof that I was nominated for an Academy Award ... and they told me that if I couldn't prove the reason for my visit, my wife Soraya, my son Gibreel and I would be sent back to Turkey on the same day," Burnat said in a statement.

Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said in a series of Twitter messages that he stepped in to help resolve the situation.

"Although he (Burnat) produced the Oscar invite nominees receive, that wasn't good enough & he was threatened with being sent back to Palestine. ... Apparently the Immigration & Customs officers couldn't understand how a Palestinian could be an Oscar nominee. Emad texted me for help ... I called Academy officials who called lawyers. I told Emad to give the officers my phone # and to say my name a couple of times," Moore tweeted on Tuesday evening.

Burnat said he and his family were detained for about an hour.

U.S. officials declined to comment on the incident, citing privacy laws.

"Travelers may be referred for further inspection for a variety of reasons to include identity verification, intent of travel, and confirmation of admissibility," U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. "The United States has been, and continues to be, a welcoming nation."

Burnat, a farmer, is the amateur filmmaker behind "5 Broken Cameras," which documents about five years of protests against land seizures by Israeli forces and Jewish settlers in his village of Bil'in in the occupied West Bank. It was co-directed by Israeli activist and filmmaker Guy Davidi.

It is the first Palestinian film to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars, according to representatives for the film.

"5 Broken Cameras" is one of five films nominated for an Oscar in the documentary category. One of its competitors is Israeli film "The Gatekeepers," which looks at the decades-old Middle East conflict through the eyes of six top former Israeli intelligence bosses.

The Oscars, the highest awards in the movie industry, will be presented on Sunday in Hollywood.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Stacey Joyce)


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Baseball and broadcasting veteran Joe Garagiola retires at 87

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Joe Garagiola, the Major League baseball veteran best known for his affable personality and quick wit as a sports commentator, game show host and even late-night television personality, retired from broadcasting on Wednesday.

Garagiola, 87, who made his Major League debut with his hometown team, the St. Louis Cardinals, in 1946 and ended his baseball career nine seasons later with the New York Giants, embarked on a much longer broadcasting career in 1955.

He began calling Cardinal radio broadcasts on KMOX that year and went on to a nearly three-decade association with NBC starting in 1961, making his mark as a commentator for the network's baseball game of the week broadcasts into the 1980s.

Garagiola crossed over from sports to NBC's news division, serving as a "Today" show panelist from 1967 to 1973 and again from 1990 to 1992, and also worked in entertainment television.

During the 1960s and 70s, he filled in for Johnny Carson as an occasional guest host of NBC's "Tonight Show" and presented various game shows, including "He Said, She Said", Joe Garagiola's Memory Game", "To Tell the Truth" and "Strike It Rich".

In addition to his Major League stints with the Cardinals and the Giants, the left-handed-hitting catcher played for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs during a 676-game career that earned a .257 batting average, 42 home runs and 255 RBI.

"I really appreciate everything that has happened to me," Garagiola said at news conference at the Arizona Diamondbacks spring training facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. "I don't deserve a lot things that happened to me, but I remember Jack Benny said he had arthritis, and he didn't deserve that either."

Garagiola capped his Hall of Fame broadcasting career as a part-time television analyst for the Diamondbacks since 1998.

(Writing by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Steve Gorman and Pravin Char)


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Singer Fergie says she and actor Josh Duhamel expecting baby

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 20 Februari 2013 | 18.21

(Reuters) - The Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie said on Monday that she and her husband, actor Josh Duhamel, are expecting a baby.

"Josh & Me & BABY makes three!!!," she tweeted. She also posted photos of herself and her husband as toddlers.

It is the first child for the couple married in 2009.

Duhamel, 40, appeared in the "Transformers" movies and stars this year in the film "Safe Haven."

Fergie, 37, whose real name is Stacy Ferguson, joined The Black Eyed Peas in 2002 for their third album, "Elephunk," which proved to be a huge commercial success.

(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst in New York; Editing by Barbara Goldberg)


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Michael Jackson's teenage son lands U.S. television gig

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The teenage son of late pop star Michael Jackson has signed up to be a correspondent for the "Entertainment Tonight" television show, following in the footsteps of his show business family.

Prince Jackson, 16, was to debut on "Entertainment Tonight" on Tuesday, interviewing actors James Franco, Zach Braff and director Sam Raimi as they promote their upcoming film "Oz the Great and Powerful," the program said.

Prince, who was born Michael Joseph Jackson Jr., is the oldest of Michael Jackson's three children.

Jackson told the syndicated tabloid news show that he wants to eventually get into the film business.

"I'm looking to become well-rounded as a producer, director, screenwriter and actor," he said.

Jackson's sister Paris, 14, signed up in 2011 to star in a movie called "Lundon's Bridge and the Three Keys," based on a young adult fantasy novel. The film is still in development.

Michael Jackson died unexpectedly at his home in Los Angeles in June 2009 at age 50 from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol and sedatives.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Bill Trott)


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Oscar "losers" to go home with $45,000 gift bags

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Oscar nominees who don't end up with a coveted gold statuette at the Academy Awards on Sunday won't go home empty handed after all.

Los Angeles-based marketing firm Distinctive Assets will be handing out its annual "Everyone Wins at the Oscars Nominee Gift Bag", valued at more than $45,000, to the talented and well-dressed "losers," the company said on Tuesday.

Among the items in the gift bags, known as swag bags, are trips to Australia, Hawaii and Mexico, personal training sessions, condoms, a bottle of tequila, hand-illustrated tennis shoes, appointments for injectable fillers and 'portion-controlled' dinnerware for those watching their figure, Distinctive Assets said in a statement.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which hands out the Oscars, stopped its practice of giving gift baskets to presenters and performers in 2007 after the practice came under closer scrutiny from U.S. tax authorities.

Celebrities who receive gifts and free trips at awards shows are expected to declare them to the Inland Revenue Service as income and pay the appropriate taxes.

The Distinctive Assets gift bag is not endorsed by the Academy but has been creating consolation goodie bags for 11 years now. The bags are delivered to the losing nominees to their homes directly or through their agents or publicists.

This year's "Not Everyone Wins...." swag bag also includes an under-the-counter water filtration system, acupuncture and aromatherapy sessions, a one-week stay at a fitness and weight-loss retreat, and a one-year membership to London's Heathrow Airport's private VIP service.

Nominees' children also benefit: they get to enroll in professional all-kid circus classes.

The Academy Awards, the highest honors in the movie business, will be handed out a ceremony on Sunday in Hollywood.

(Reporting by Zorianna Kit, editing by Jill Serjeant and Philip Barbara)


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Singer Morrissey requests meat-free Los Angeles concert venue

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - British singer Morrissey has convinced a Los Angeles concert venue to not sell meat at concessions during his performance next month.

The longtime animal rights activist and former singer for 1980s rock group The Smiths urged the Staples Center arena to shutter the concession stands of fast food chain McDonald's and to halt the sale of meat by other outlets at the venue for his March 1 performance.

"We respect Morrissey's lifestyle and his concern for the wishes of so many of his fans and are happy that we are able to honor his requests in this manner," Lee Zeidman, the arena's general manager, said in a statement on Tuesday.

Staples Center operator Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) said the arena will also roll out a special line of meatless food concessions, including vegan sloppy Joes, vegan sushi, and hummus and pita bread.

"I don't look upon it as a victory for me, but a victory for the animals," the "Irish Blood, English Heart" singer said earlier this week.

AEG and its promoter subsidiary Goldenvoice will donate a portion of ticket sales from the show to the animal rights group PETA, Morrissey said.

Morrissey, 53, who co-wrote The Smiths' 1985 song "Meat Is Murder," postponed a series of concerts on his North America tour last month after being hospitalized for a bleeding ulcer.

He is expected to relaunch the tour with a performance on U.S. late-night talk show "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" next week.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Stacey Joyce)


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Bulgari will showcase Elizabeth Taylor's gems in Oscar-week exhibit

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 19 Februari 2013 | 18.21

(Reuters) - Famed jeweler Bulgari said on Sunday it would put eight pieces of the late actress Elizabeth Taylor's jewels on display at its Beverly Hills boutique, more than a year after the Hollywood star's world-class collection fetched record prices at auction.

The exhibition of pieces from that sale will include jewels Taylor obtained and wore during well-documented times in her storied life, including the filming of "Cleopatra," which launched her romance with Richard Burton, Bulgari said.

Included are Taylor's first piece of Bulgari jewelry, an emerald-and-diamond brooch which achieved a record per-carat price for any emerald at the Christie's sale. The brooch sold for $6,578,500, setting a record price for an emerald jewel and emeralds per carat at $280,000.

An emerald and diamond necklace which sold at the Christie's auction for $6.1 million, and a diamond and gold sautoir set with six ancient Roman coins acquired for $5.9 million, will also be shown along with other diamonds, sapphires and more.

The jewels, widely reported to have been bought from the Taylor estate by Bulgari at the December 2011 auction of her collection at Christie's, will go on display this week in advance of next Sunday's Academy Awards, Bulgari said.

"There couldn't have been a more appropriate celebrity to have fallen in love with Bulgari," it said in announcing the display.

Noting Taylor's "grounded" nature in contrast to her impossibly glamorous life, it said Bulgari is known for creating jewels that pair precious stones with items of no intrinsic value such as antique coins, ceramics and silk cords.

Burton, whom Taylor married and divorced twice, once famously quipped that "The only Italian word Elizabeth knows is Bulgari." The Italian luxury house was founded in 1884 in Rome by Greek Sotirios Voulgaris, known in Italy as Sotirio Bulgari.

It was acquired in 2011 for 4.3 billion euros ($6.01 billion) and other considerations by the French luxury house LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA.

Taylor died in 2011 aged 79 of congestive heart failure. The Christie's auction of her gems took in a record $116 million.

(Editing by Chris Michaud and Todd Eastham)


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Troubled singer Mindy McCready dead in apparent suicide

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - Troubled country music star Mindy McCready, whose platinum singing career was shadowed by substance abuse and suicide attempts, was found dead on Sunday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, an Arkansas sheriff said. She was 37.

McCready's body was found on the porch of a house in Heber Springs, Arkansas, on Sunday afternoon. She was pronounced dead at the scene "from what appears to be a single self-inflicted gunshot wound," the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Deputies had been dispatched to the area following reports of "shots fired," the sheriff's office said.

McCready, whose albums include "Ten Thousand Angels" and "If I Don't Stay the Night," had a complicated personal life, marked by a history of substance abuse, suicide attempts, family disputes and tragedy.

Last month, record producer David Wilson, the father of her youngest son, was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in the same Arkansas town.

Some fellow musicians paid tribute to McCready on Twitter as news of her death spread.

"My thoughts and prayers go out to Mindy McCready and her family today," country singer Tracy Lawrence tweeted.

Country star Carrie Underwood wrote, "I grew up listening to Mindy McCready... so sad for her family tonight. Many prayers are going out to them."

Born in Fort Myers, Florida, McCready learned to sing as a child at her local Pentecostal church. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to break into the country music business at the age of 18, according to allmusic.com.

She achieved early success with her 1996 debut album, "Ten Thousands Angels," which sold 2 million copies. Four other studio albums followed.

While successful in her career, McCready's personal life had begun to unravel in recent years.

In 2004 she was convicted of prescription drug fraud and placed on parole. Three years later she spent time in jail for violating her parole terms.

She had two young sons. Her first, Zander, was born in 2006. As her personal problems deepened, she became embroiled in a legal dispute over custody.

In November 2011, she left Florida with Zander and fled to Arkansas. McCready's mother, who had custody of the child, filed a missing person report against her daughter, and regained custody.

Her son with Wilson, Zayne, was born last year.

McCready appeared on the television show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew."

According to the biography posted on VH1's website (http://www.vh1.com/shows/celebrity_rehab_with_dr_drew/season_3/cast_member.jhtml?personalityId=13232 ) as part of her appearance on the show, McCready said that she believed her only true addiction was to violent relationships.

In 2011 McCready appeared on HBO's show "Celebrity Close Calls" about life and death situations. That same year she also appeared on the network's "Celebrity Ghost Stories."

Her fifth album, "I'm Still Here," was released to acclaim in 2010.

The sheriff's office said McCready's body would be taken to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for an autopsy, adding that "the matter will be fully investigated."

(Additional reporting by James B. Kelleher in Chicago Writing by Tim Gaynor in Phoenix; Editing by Eric Beech and Mohammad Zargham)


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At 80, Yoko Ono sees a world full of new activism

BERLIN (Reuters) - Half a life-time ago, artist Yoko Ono lay in an Amsterdam hotel bed with husband John Lennon, staging a week-long "bed-in" for peace and feeling they were very alone in their activism.

Today, Ono, whose own energy for campaigning has never tired, sees a world full of activists, maintaining her energy and faith in humanity.

"When John and I did the bed-in, not many people were with us. But now there are so many activists, I don't know anyone who is not an activist," she told Reuters in an interview in Berlin on Monday, her 80th birthday.

"Even the corporations - John always used to say the corporations need to be with us... Corporations now say 10-20 percent of their profits will go to such and such charity. They have to do that almost for people to feel good about it."

The late Beatle and Ono's 1969 bed-in to protest against the Vietnam war was repeated in Montreal, Canada. Press attention was huge, but much of it was mocking.

Ono, who gave a sell-out concert in Berlin on Sunday alongside their son Sean Lennon which closed with the anthem "Give peace a chance", said it was still critical to stand up for peace despite new conflicts in the intervening decades.

"I don't want to be drowning in sadness. I think we have to stand and up and change the world," she said.

The artist, born to a wealthy Japanese family in Tokyo in 1933, has recently become a passionate opponent of fracking, a controversial procedure which has sharply lifted energy output in the United States but which critics fear pollutes drinking water deep underground and could increase earthquake risks.

"Fracking is an incredible risk to the human race, I don't know why they even thought of doing it," she said.

Ono, whose birthday is being marked by a major retrospective of her work in Frankfurt, said she feels she is becoming freer in her art.

"My attitude has changed... I'm allowing things to happen in a way I hadn't planned before," she said.

Asked about her feelings on becoming an octogenarian, she said: "I'm surprised. It is a miracle in a sense that I am 80, I am proud about it. Not everybody gets there."

(Reporting by Alexandra Hudson, editing by Gareth Jones and Paul Casciato)


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Veteran British actor Richard Briers dies aged 79

LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Richard Briers, best known for the 1970s TV sit-com "The Good Life" but also for his Shakespearean roles, has died at the age of 79, prompting a flood of tributes for "a national treasure".

The actor, who spent a lifetime on the stage, had recently spoken publicly of battling a serious lung condition for years, saying that "the ciggies got me" after a lifetime smoking habit.

He said his health was failing after being diagnosed with emphysema five years ago even though he gave up smoking 10 years ago.

"I was diagnosed five years ago and didn't think it would go quite as badly as it has," he told a newspaper interview last month. "I used to love smoking. It's totally my fault."

His agent said he died on Sunday at his London home.

Briers's career ranged from television, to theatre, to film and radio with the actor, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, making his West End debut in the late 1950s.

In "The Good Life", he played alongside actress Felicity Kendal as a married couple who decide to drop out of the rat race and try out a life of self-sufficiency.

His film credits included "A Chorus Of Disapproval" in 1989 and "Watership Down" in 1978 in which he was the voice of Fiver. He also narrated the children's cartoon series "Roobarb and Custard".

But he won wide acclaim for his Shakespearean work after joining Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company. He appeared in a list of Branagh's films including "Henry V", "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Hamlet".

Briers, who was married with two daughters, was awarded an OBE in 1989 for services to the arts.

Branagh paid tribute to Briers, telling reporters: "He was a national treasure, a great actor and a wonderful man. He was greatly loved and he will be deeply missed."

Actor Stephen Fry on Twitter described him as "the most adorable and funny man imaginable".

(Reporting by Belinda Goldsmith, editing by Paul Casciato)


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British actor Hugh Grant announces birth of second child

Written By Unknown on Senin, 18 Februari 2013 | 18.20

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hugh Grant announced on Saturday that he had become a father for the second time after Tinglan Hong gave birth to a baby boy.

"In answer to some journos (journalists)," the British actor posted on the social media website Twitter, "am thrilled my daughter now has a brother. Adore them both to an uncool degree. They have a fab mum."

"And to be crystal clear. I am the Daddy," he added in a second tweet.

Grant, 52, who is best known for such films as "Notting Hill" and "About a Boy," did not reveal the child's name on Twitter.

The actor and Hong had their first child in 2011, when his spokeswoman said in a statement that the baby girl was the result of a "fleeting affair" but Grant "could not be happier or more supportive."

Days later, Hong won a court injunction in Britain "prohibiting harassment" of her and the child after she said paparazzi had made her life unbearable. Grant is a strident critic of Britain's tabloid newspaper culture.

On his Twitter message on Saturday, Grant mentioned that the press had obtained his baby boy's birth certificate and were making inquiries. "Now I've confirmed ... hoping my family will be left in peace," he wrote.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Paul Simao)


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Bulgari will showcase Elizabeth Taylor's gems in Oscar-week exhibit

(Reuters) - Famed jeweler Bulgari said on Sunday it would put eight pieces of the late actress Elizabeth Taylor's jewels on display at its Beverly Hills boutique, more than a year after the Hollywood star's world-class collection fetched record prices at auction.

The exhibition of pieces from that sale will include jewels Taylor obtained and wore during well-documented times in her storied life, including the filming of "Cleopatra," which launched her romance with Richard Burton, Bulgari said.

Included are Taylor's first piece of Bulgari jewelry, an emerald-and-diamond brooch which achieved a record per-carat price for any emerald at the Christie's sale. The brooch sold for $6,578,500, setting a record price for an emerald jewel and emeralds per carat at $280,000.

An emerald and diamond necklace which sold at the Christie's auction for $6.1 million, and a diamond and gold sautoir set with six ancient Roman coins acquired for $5.9 million, will also be shown along with other diamonds, sapphires and more.

The jewels, widely reported to have been bought from the Taylor estate by Bulgari at the December 2011 auction of her collection at Christie's, will go on display this week in advance of next Sunday's Academy Awards, Bulgari said.

"There couldn't have been a more appropriate celebrity to have fallen in love with Bulgari," it said in announcing the display.

Noting Taylor's "grounded" nature in contrast to her impossibly glamorous life, it said Bulgari is known for creating jewels that pair precious stones with items of no intrinsic value such as antique coins, ceramics and silk cords.

Burton, whom Taylor married and divorced twice, once famously quipped that "The only Italian word Elizabeth knows is Bulgari." The Italian luxury house was founded in 1884 in Rome by Greek Sotirios Voulgaris, known in Italy as Sotirio Bulgari.

It was acquired in 2011 for 4.3 billion euros ($6.01 billion) and other considerations by the French luxury house LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA.

Taylor died in 2011 aged 79 of congestive heart failure. The Christie's auction of her gems took in a record $116 million.

(Editing by Chris Michaud and Todd Eastham)


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Travis Barker skips Blink-182 Australia tour due to flying fear

(Reuters) - Travis Barker will skip the Australian tour of pop-punk band Blink-182, citing a long-term fear of flying that worsened after he survived a fatal crash nearly five years ago that killed two friends.

"I'm sorry to announce I won't be joining Blink-182 on this Australian tour," Barker, 37 and drummer for the group, wrote on Facebook. "I still haven't gotten over the horrific events that took place the last time I flew when my plane crashed and four people were killed, two being my best friends."

Barker was one of two survivors of the 2008 crash when a private plane he was on burst into flames during an aborted takeoff. He spent several months in hospital with injuries.

Barker said he had hoped to get to Australia by ship if need be for the tour, which starts on Wednesday in Sydney, but that schedules hadn't worked out.

"Once again, I'm sorry to all the fans," he said.

The band, also writing on Facebook, said Barker would be replaced on the tour by Brooks Wackerman from Bad Religion and Tenacious D.

"The band knew the chances of Travis overcoming his fear of flying, which was magnified after the horrible plane crash of 2008, would be a challenge, but we wanted to play for our fans in Australia nonetheless," they said, adding that cancelling the tour had not been an option.

(Reporting by Elaine Lies; Editing by Paul Tait)


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Troubled singer Mindy McCready dead in apparent suicide

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas (Reuters) - Troubled country music star Mindy McCready, whose platinum singing career was shadowed by substance abuse and suicide attempts, was found dead on Sunday of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, an Arkansas sheriff said. She was 37.

McCready's body was found on the porch of a house in Heber Springs, Arkansas, on Sunday afternoon. She was pronounced dead at the scene "from what appears to be a single self-inflicted gunshot wound," the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Deputies had been dispatched to the area following reports of "shots fired," the sheriff's office said.

McCready, whose albums include "Ten Thousand Angels" and "If I Don't Stay the Night," had a complicated personal life, marked by a history of substance abuse, suicide attempts, family disputes and tragedy.

Last month, record producer David Wilson, the father of her youngest son, was found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound in the same Arkansas town.

Some fellow musicians paid tribute to McCready on Twitter as news of her death spread.

"My thoughts and prayers go out to Mindy McCready and her family today," country singer Tracy Lawrence tweeted.

Country star Carrie Underwood wrote, "I grew up listening to Mindy McCready... so sad for her family tonight. Many prayers are going out to them."

Born in Fort Myers, Florida, McCready learned to sing as a child at her local Pentecostal church. She moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to break into the country music business at the age of 18, according to allmusic.com.

She achieved early success with her 1996 debut album, "Ten Thousands Angels," which sold 2 million copies. Four other studio albums followed.

While successful in her career, McCready's personal life had begun to unravel in recent years.

In 2004 she was convicted of prescription drug fraud and placed on parole. Three years later she spent time in jail for violating her parole terms.

She had two young sons. Her first, Zander, was born in 2006. As her personal problems deepened, she became embroiled in a legal dispute over custody.

In November 2011, she left Florida with Zander and fled to Arkansas. McCready's mother, who had custody of the child, filed a missing person report against her daughter, and regained custody.

Her son with Wilson, Zayne, was born last year.

McCready appeared on the television show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew."

According to the biography posted on VH1's website (http://www.vh1.com/shows/celebrity_rehab_with_dr_drew/season_3/cast_member.jhtml?personalityId=13232 ) as part of her appearance on the show, McCready said that she believed her only true addiction was to violent relationships.

In 2011 McCready appeared on HBO's show "Celebrity Close Calls" about life and death situations. That same year she also appeared on the network's "Celebrity Ghost Stories."

Her fifth album, "I'm Still Here," was released to acclaim in 2010.

The sheriff's office said McCready's body would be taken to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for an autopsy, adding that "the matter will be fully investigated."

(Additional reporting by James B. Kelleher in Chicago Writing by Tim Gaynor in Phoenix; Editing by Eric Beech and Mohammad Zargham)


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In newly released love letters, LBJ's sweet side comes to life

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 17 Februari 2013 | 18.20

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - Lyndon B. Johnson was so smitten when he met Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Taylor in 1934 that he took her on a first date the very next day -- and asked for her hand in marriage.

Taylor adored her suitor but was worried about rushing into marriage, according to dozens of love letters between the two set to be released for the first time by the LBJ Presidential Library on Thursday, Valentine's Day.

In the pages of about 90 letters that the newly renovated library plans to post on its website, Johnson seems lonely and impatient, persistently urging Taylor to make up her mind. She says she wants to wait until they know each other better, though she also writes that she is afraid of losing him.

"All I can say, in absolute honesty, is -- I love you, I don't know how everlastingly I love you, -- so I can't answer you yet," Taylor wrote him shortly after they met that September.

Johnson, then 26 and working in Washington, D.C., as a secretary to Congressman Richard Kleberg, met Taylor, 21, through a friend while visiting Texas and asked her for a date the next morning. They had breakfast at the Driskill Hotel in Austin and spent the day sightseeing. That same day, he popped the question, asking her to become his wife.

After he returned to Washington, they spent two and a half months exchanging a flurry of letters and phone calls before going to San Antonio on November 17 to, as she later put it, "commit matrimony."

In the letters, Johnson implores her to write to him frequently.

"Give me lots of letters next week," he wrote to her. "I'm going to need them. Mix some 'I love you' in the lines and not between them."

Johnson's letters begin "My dear" or "Dear Bird." She addresses him as "My Dearest Lyndon" and signs "Devotedly, Bird." They sent each other photos. He sent her books.

"I wish you were here this minute because I feel silly and gay and I want to ruffle up your hair and kiss you and say silly things!" wrote Taylor, who had recently graduated from the University of Texas and was living with her father in Karnack, in East Texas.

A few of the letters had been released before, but this is the first time that all of the letters are being made public.

People probably won't be shocked to see a sweet side of Lady Bird Johnson, but reading tender sentiments from her husband, the hard-charging politician, is a different matter, said granddaughter Catherine Robb.

Johnson, who served in the U.S. House and Senate and as vice president, ascended to the presidency in 1963 as the nation grieved over the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Johnson closed out his administration in 1969 under the cloud of Vietnam. He died in 1973.

He was known for giving the "Johnson Treatment" -- he'd lean in close, push people's buttons and get under their skin.

"I don't think people think of him as being terribly vulnerable," Robb, an Austin lawyer, told Reuters. In the letters, "you see a much more personal side of him, much more unguarded."

For example, he writes to his future wife that he carries a little orange comb in his billfold.

"It is the only thing I have from my little girl at Karnack and when I get lonesome and blue or happy and ambitious I always get pleasure when I look at the little comb and think … just think," Johnson wrote.

Robb, who had weekly dinners with her grandmother for years before she died in 2007, recalled one meal at the Driskill Hotel - the site of her grandparents' first date.

"I asked her what she thought about this brash, impatient young man who proposed almost immediately and who she put off for a whopping two and a half months," Robb said. "She thought it was reasonable to wait an appropriate period of time, but she realized that she didn't want to be without him - he was something so special and this was an extraordinary adventure she was going to enjoy if she said yes."

Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson honeymooned in Mexico and were married for 39 years. They had two daughters, Luci Baines Johnson and Lynda Johnson Robb.

(Reporting by Corrie MacLaggan; Editing by Leslie Adler)


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Lady Gaga needs hip surgery, cancels remainder of tour

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Lady Gaga canceled the remainder of her "Born This Way Ball" concert tour to undergo hip surgery, promoters Live Nation said on Wednesday.

The 26-year-old singer announced she was suffering from an inflammation of the joints on Tuesday, but the tour operator said Gaga's injuries were more serious than she realized.

"After additional tests this morning to review the severity of the issue, it has been determined that Lady Gaga has a labral tear of the right hip," Live Nation said in a statement.

"She will need surgery to repair the problem, followed by strict downtime to recover. This, unfortunately, will force her to cancel the tour so she can heal," it added.

Gaga has been on the road for two years, traveling across six continents.

On Tuesday, she postponed four U.S. shows saying she was suffering from synovitis that left her temporarily unable to walk. Synovitis is an inflammation of the joints that sometimes follows a sprain, strain or injury.

According to her website, the singer was due to play another 20 dates in the United States.

Live Nation said ticket holders would have their money refunded, starting on Thursday.

(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Stacey Joyce)


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Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie venture into winemaking

(Reuters) - Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have gone into the wine business, helping to produce a rose called Miraval from their French estate and putting their names on the label, wine website Decanter.com reported.

The movie star couple have been working with French winemaker Marc Perrin starting with the 2012 harvest, the website said. The Miraval wine will be on the market in March, and white wines will begin arriving by the end of this summer.

"They ... want to ensure they are making the best Provence wines they can," Perrin told Britain-based Decanter.com. on Wednesday.

"They were present at the blending sessions this year, and are relooking at everything from the installations in the winery - where we have already switched to stainless steel tanks - to reworking the labels across the range of wines," he added.

The back label of the Miraval wine carries the names Jolie-Pitt and Perrin.

Pitt and Jolie began renting Chateau Miraval in Correns, southern France, about four years ago and later bought the property, which has about 148 acres of vines.

The Miraval wine was formerly called Pink Floyd because the British rock band recorded their 1979 album "The Wall" in a studio on the estate, Decanter.com said.

Pitt last year unveiled a high-end collection of furniture that he helped create with designer Frank Pollaro. He has also worked with architects to create affordable quality housing for victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Xavier Briand)


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Sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg signs book deal

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Randi Zuckerberg, sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, is writing a memoir about her years at the social network website where she was once director of marketing, publisher HarperCollins said on Thursday.

Zuckerberg, 30, signed a two-book deal with HarperCollins that will include her memoir "Dot Complicated," and a children's picture book, scheduled to be released in the fall.

"Technology has changed virtually every part of our lives, resulting in a modern, digital society that feels a lot like the wild, wild West," Zuckerberg said in a statement.

"I am thrilled to be working with HarperCollins to share some of my own crazy experiences on the front lines of social media, and to inspire people of all ages to embrace technology, as well as the new set of social norms that come along with it."

"Dot Complicated" will cover Zuckerberg's six-year role in marketing at Facebook and her decision to leave the social media site to set up her own company, Zuckerberg Media, an entertainment production studio.

HarperCollins said the book will also be released in a digital format that will feature "innovative and engaging interactive components" that will include social media integration and a platform for crowd-sourced stories.

Zuckerberg, who left Facebook in August 2011, served as executive producer for the Bravo reality show "Start-Ups: Silicon Valley" and is the editor of the lifestyle blog "Dot Complicated."

HarperCollins Publishers is a subsidiary of News Corp.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Stacey Joyce)


18.20 | 0 komentar | Read More
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