Sunday, December 16, 2012
Sam’s piano in the movie classic “Casablanca” sold for $602, 500 last Friday according to Reuters. The 58-key upright hit the auction block for between $800, 000 and $1.2 million. The selling price fell short of Sotheby’s estimate, but still a huge gain over the previous purchase, which was $154, 000 back in 1988. The reason: this piano has been […]
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
The Los Angeles Times and its Times Community Newspapers, which include The Burbank Leader, are facing an uncertain future as 2012 wraps up. There’s a report out that the owners of the newspapers’ parent company, the Tribune Company, are quietly seeking advice from bankers about launching a fire sale after December 31, when the company is expected to emerge from […]
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Friday, December 7, 2012
Oscar maker to axe a lot of workers It’s not going to be a ho, ho, jolly holiday season for some employees of the company that makes Oscar. The Wrap is reporting today that R.S. Owens, a Chicago-based company, will be laying off almost 100 workers by December 17. That’s more than a third of the staff. R.S. Owens is […]
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
A lot of chatter on the Internet about the huge Toluca Lake estate of Bob and Dolores Hope going up for sale. The legendary entertainer and his singer/philanthropist wife reportedly built their home at the corner of Moorpark Street and Ledge Avenue in 1939. The estate has an English-style mansion, guest house, private golf course and gardens. It sits […]
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Netflix, the popular online movie service, has scored a huge deal with the Walt Disney Company. In a news release today, Disney announced a “… new multi-year licensing agreement that will make Netflix the exclusive U.S. subscription television service for first-run live-action and animated feature films from The Walt Disney Studios.” The deal begins with 2013 direct-to-video releases and 2016 big […]
Thursday, November 29, 2012
It is probably everybody’s wish to live a healthy long life without getting sick. So there are a variety of stories and secrets of health and longevity across the ages and in all the countries in the world. One of them is a story about Okinawa, Japan, where most of its residents live long. Especially, people in the village of […]
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
NBC Universal is showing signs of rising from the ratings cellar, but that has not stopped the cutbacks and layoffs by parent company, Comcast. (Disclosure: I am a former NBC employee). The Internet is buzzing with the latest reports of 500 employees getting the axe throughout the entertainment, news, and cable units. The first story I saw about this was […]
Monday, November 12, 2012
Popular TV host and six-time New York Times bestselling author, Dr. Phil McGraw, has a new book being released tomorrow. “Life Code: The New Rules for Winning in the Real World” is supposed to empower readers to deal with the real world and how it works. “Life is a game – and you will either be a player or be […]