bet awards 2009 janet jackson

bet awards 2009 janet jackson

Here is the Janet Jackson BET Awards 2009 video and photos of the sister of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, making a brief appearance at the awards. See the video, photos and find out more here.The BET Awards 2009 paid tribute to the singer’s brother, King of Pop Michael Jackson whose untimely death at age 50 on June 25, 2009 was just days before the annual awards ceremony.

Oscar winning actor and Grammy winning R&B singer Jamie Foxx, host of the live telecast, setthe tone at the start of the program: “”No need to be sad — we want to celebrate this black man. He belongs to us and we shared him with everybody else. … It didn’t make a difference what he looked like. It matters what he sounded like.”

After an evening featuring a number of performances covering the music of Michael Jackson and the Jackson 5, including a Jaime Foxx Moonwalk and a rendition of signature hits ABC, The Love You Save, and I Want You Back performed by New Edition, the emotionally shaken singer took to the stage, with host Foxx accompanying her. Dressed impeccably in white, face full of sadness and pain, the singer delivered her remarks.

The Janet Jackson BET Awards 2009 video reveals the singer telling the audience: “My entire family wanted to be here tonight, but it was just too painful. To you, Michael is an icon. To us, Michael is family and he will forever live in all of our hearts…Thank you for all of your support. We miss him so much.”

Here are Janet Jackson BET Awards 2009 photos.

The father of Michael Jackson, Joe Jackson, was the only other family member present at the awards ceremony; he sat in the audience, and previously had walked the red carpet where he gave a brief interview saying “I don’t like what happened.” The video can be seen here. The Daily News quotes from his CNN interview in which he stated, regarding the tributes worldwide: “I wish the world had recognized him when he was living. I wish he was here to see all this.”

Prior performances at the 2009 BET Awards included a mixture of tribute performances and performances of artists’ own hits: Beyonce, Ne-Yo, Kanye West, Queen Latifah, and Keri Hilson, Maxwell, Fabolous, Soulja Boy, Keyshia Cole and Mary Mary among others, as the various performers and presenters and winners offered words about the legendary King of Pop and how he had inspired them.

More photos and the Janet Jackson BET Awards 2009 video.

madoff sentencing

madoff sentencing

une 29 (Bloomberg) -- Bernard Madoff will learn today whether he will die in prison when a judge sentences him for masterminding the largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin will determine Madoff’s fate in Manhattan federal court.

The choice confronting the judge is stark. Madoff attorney Ira Sorkin asked for a sentence of as little as 12 years, citing the 13-year life expectancy for his 71-year-old client. Prosecutors said in a filing June 26 that the “scope, duration and nature of Madoff’s crimes” call for a 150-year term. The hearing began this morning at 10 a.m.

Madoff has shown “no remorse,” said victim Carla Hirschhorn, of Manalapan, New Jersey, at the hearing. She told Chin her life is a “living hell,” her mother is dependent on social security and her daughter works two jobs to pay tuition. “Don’t fail us,” she told the judge.

Madoff, who appeared in court wearing a suit, pleaded guilty March 12 to federal charges he used funds from new investors to pay off other clients. His customers were told they had as much as $65 billion in the weeks before the fraud came to light. Madoff has been held in a jail since his guilty plea.

Sorkin challenged the government’s claim that his client’s fraud has so far led to $13.3 billion in losses. He said the amount should be offset by $1.3 billion held by the trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC; by $1.3 billion already recovered by the trustee; and by letters sent by the trustee, Irving Picard, seeking to “claw back” $735 million from Madoff investors.

$10 Billion

Sorkin also cited the $10 billion demanded in various other “clawback” lawsuits as an offset, in a letter filed with the court yesterday.

“Thus, if the trustee is successful in his lawsuits, losses will be substantially reduced,” Sorkin wrote. “The media hysteria that the Ponzi scheme was approximately $65 billion and that Mr. Madoff lined his pockets with billions is simply not correct.”

Prosecutors have identified 1,341 Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC account holders who collectively suffered losses of more than $13 billion in a fraud that they say dates at least to the early 1980s. Madoff said at his guilty plea that the crime began in the 1990s.

Each Count Counted

Sharon Lissauer, who was one of the nine victims who addressed the court this morning, is a model who lives in Manhattan. She said the money manager “shattered my dreams” and lost her mother’s inheritance. Miriam Siegman, of Stamford, Connecticut, told Chin Madoff “discarded me like road kill,” and that she now relies on food stamps, collecting recyclable bottles and digging through dumpsters.

Madoff confessed in December after a flurry of redemption requests by customers hit by a worsening economy. He pleaded guilty to securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, investment adviser fraud, three counts of money laundering, false statements, perjury, false filings and theft from an employee benefit plan. Madoff, who didn’t have a plea deal with prosecutors, will be sentenced separately on each count.

In a June 22 court filing, Sorkin said an alternative to the 12- year sentence might be a term of 15 to 20 years, which would meet the goals of sentencing “without disproportionately punishing Mr. Madoff.”

Sorkin cited Madoff’s “voluntary surrender, full acceptance of responsibility, meaningful cooperation efforts” and the nonviolent nature of his crimes.

“At sentencing, Mr. Madoff will speak to the shame he has felt and to the pain he has caused,” Sorkin wrote, adding that Madoff and his counsel have received “shocking” death threats and anti-Semitic e-mails.

Maximum Sentence?

Picard, tasked with unwinding Madoff’s firm said in another letter filed with the court today that the former money manager hasn’t provided “any meaningful cooperation” since his arrest.

David Sheehan, a lawyer for trustee Picard, disputed a claim by Madoff’s attorney that his client had cooperated.

Prosecutors have called for the maximum 150-year sentence suggested by federal guidelines.

“The scope, duration and nature of Madoff’s crimes render him exceptionally deserving of the maximum punishment allowed by law,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marc Litt and Lisa Baroni said in a letter to Chin on June 26. “The sheer scale of the Madoff fraud calls for severe punishment,” prosecutors said.

In support, prosecutors recited the words of victims, several of whom are expected to speak today.

“We now have nothing,” Kathleen Bignell wrote, according to prosecutors. “Only living off Social Security. I told my father (89) he could not die because I didn’t have enough money to bury him.”

“The government is plainly responding to the hysteria with the 150 years,” said Barry Pollack, a lawyer who represents defendants in white-collar crime cases and isn’t involved in the Madoff case. He’s with Washington-based Miller & Chevalier Chartered. “People commit murder in this country every day and they don’t get 150 years.”

More to Come

Madoff’s sentencing won’t end a case that has sent Federal Bureau of Investigation agents to Europe as part of the probe, according to a person with knowledge of the FBI’s investigation.

Accountant David Friehling was charged with securities fraud in March, the first accused Madoff accomplice. Friehling, 49, denies wrongdoing. Madoff aides Frank DiPascali, 52, and Annette Bongiorno are under scrutiny by criminal investigators. DiPascali’s lawyer, Marc Mukasey, and Bongornio didn’t return calls seeking comment.

The Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges earlier this month against Cohmad Securities Corp., which fed investments to Madoff, and money manager Stanley Chais. Other feeder funds have been sued by the trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC and by investors.

Madoff’s wife and sons haven’t been charged and have denied they knew about the scam.

The case is U.S. v. Madoff, 09-cr-00213, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporters on this story: David Glovin in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan at dglovin@bloomberg.net; Thom Weidlich in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan at tweidlich@bloomberg.net; Patricia Hurtado in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan at pathurtado@bloomberg.net.

evergreen chapel

evergreen chapel

After over a year of being without a worship community, President Barack Obama has finally settled on a church home – Evergreen Chapel at Camp David.

Related

Obama Invited to Find Next Church Home

Obama: Life 'Difficult' Without Church Community

Church-Less Obamas Join Episcopal Easter Service

According to Time magazine, Obama told White House aides of his decision to attend the nondenominational services offered at the president's country residence in Frederick County, Md.

Evergreen Chapel typically draws some 50 to 70 people every week. Weekly Christian worship services there are held for the military personnel and staff posted at Camp David and their families.

Former President George W. Bush had also made Evergreen his primary place of worship during his eight years in office.

Since cutting ties last year with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who was Obama's pastor for 20 years at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Obama and his family remained churchless. And life without a church community has been difficult, he has said.

Congregations in Washington have extended invitations to Obama to join their worship community, and White House aides have visited local congregations in search of a new church home for the Obamas.

Obama visited a few himself, including 19th Street Baptist Church in northwest Washington and St. John's Episcopal Church near the White House.

Although he expressed early this year his desire to be part of a Washington congregation, he also said he did not want to be disruptive to the city or subject fellow church members to "being magged" every time he attended church, he told ABC's "This Week."

Camp David offers Presidents an opportunity for solitude and tranquility. Evergreen Chapel was dedicated in 1991 during George H.W. Bush's presidency. Services are led by Navy chaplains who are assigned to three-year tours of duty there. The current chaplain is Lieut. Carey Cash, 38, who is a Southern Baptist.

fred travalena

fred travalena

Fred Travalena, the master impressionist and singer whose broad repertoire of voices ranged from Jack Nicholson to Sammy Davis Jr. to Bugs Bunny, has died. He was 66.

Travalena, who began being treated for an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 2002 and saw the disease return last July after going into remission in 2003, died Sunday at his home in Encino, according to his publicist, Roger Neal. Travalena also was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2003 but had been in complete remission since then.

billy mays dead fox news

billy mays dead fox news

Brash TV pitchman Billy Mays, whose ubiquitous ads for household products like OxiClean and Orange Glo made him a pop icon, was found dead at his Tampa home on Sunday morning.

The booming-voiced Mays, 50, died just hours after suffering a blow to the head during a rough plane landing on a US Airways flight.

It was unclear whether the bumpy landing contributed

to Mays' death, but he complained about not feeling well before going to bed.

"All of a sudden as we hit, you know, it was just the hardest hit, all the things from the ceiling started dropping," Mays told Fox 13 in Tampa. "It hit me on the head, but I got a hard head."

He wrote on Twitter: "Just had a close call landing in Tampa. The tires blew out upon landing. Stuck in the plane on the runway. You can always count on US Air."

Mays' wife, Deborah, found him in bed at their home and called 911 when she couldn't revive him around 7:45a.m.

Tampa police said there were no signs of foul play.

Police spokeswoman Laura McElroy said any connection between the rough landing and Mays' death would "purely be speculation."

There were no reported injuries at the time of the landing. An autopsy will be done on Mays today.

"My dad didn't wake up this morning," Mays' son Billy, 22, wrote on Twitter. "It hasn't yet hit me but it's about to."

"He's gone. I'm gonna be strong for him," he later added. "I'm thankful I got to talk to my dad last night. I miss him immensely already. But I feel him with me."

Mays had no known major health problems, although he walked with a limp and was planning to have hip replacement surgery.

"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days," Deborah Mays said in a statement. "Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times."

Billy Mays, who was born in McKees Rocks, Pa., got his start peddling products on the Atlantic City Boardwalk and never stopped hustling.

He detailed his philosophy in a visit to the Daily News this month: "Life's a pitch, and then you buy."

Mays flashed his trademark smile and spoke in a toned-down version of his usual booming voice.

"I compare myself to a big-league slugger, a quarterback, the doctor who delivers the baby," he said. "I'm not an inventor, but I'll take your product to the next level."

He also had many admirers in his Tampa neighborhood, like Korene Shelton, 30, a bartender at Hula Bay, which Mays and his wife frequented.

"It was so neat that he was so approachable and it was so neat to spend some time with him," Shelton said. "It's been a week of shock after shock. With him being local it hit even harder."

Mays starred with partner Andrew Sullivan in a Discovery Channel reality show "Pitchmen," which followed the infomercial kings as they searched for new inventions to plug.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/06/28/2009-06-28_tv_pitchman_billy_mays_found_dead_in_florida_home.html#ixzz0JpsfTZS8&C

kendra wilkinson wedding pictures

kendra wilkinson wedding pictures

Numerous searches for Kendra Wilkinson Wedding Pictures have been running rampant on the internet this evening, as the Kendra Wilkinson Hank Baskett wedding took place tonight at the Playboy Mansion. Get the scoop plus photos and video here.

can’t wait to see the Kendra Wilkinson wedding pictures! She and Hank Baskett were wed Saturday evening at the Pl

ayboy Mansion.

There were over 500 guests at the nupti

als, with of course Hugh Hefner in attendance, along with her Girls next Door co-stars Holly Madison (who took time off from her Peepshow to attend) and Bridget Marquardt serving as her bridesmaids.

Hefner told E!:

“I could not be more delighted. This is one of the happiest days in one of the happiest places on Earth.”

Colin Wilkinson, Kendra’s brother, escorted her down the aisle (not Hef as rumored previously), and mother Patty Wilkinson was overcome with emotion as she saw her daughter walk down the aisle.

Reports are surfacing that Kendra’s wedding dress was white and she wore over $100,000 worth of jewelry by Michael Barin, more specifically platinum jewelry - 2.5 carat platinum pendant valued at $33,700, 4.25 carat platinum drop earrings at a whopping $47,000 and a 4.5 carat bracelet at $21,000. Baskett was said to have worn white as well, while bridesmaids were decked out in lavender.

Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett became engaged in November 2008, and just a few weeks ago it was announced that Kendra and Hank are expecting, with the little one reportedly due to arrive on Christmas Day.

More photos and video of Kendra are below. As soon as the Kendra Wilkinson wedding pictures become available, we will update this page!

disney channel.com princess protection program

disney channel.com princess protection program

Disney Princess Protection Program official website which is a new film about a princess who goes into hiding after her country is invaded. Disneychannel.com princess | disneychannel.com princessprotectionprogram contains videos and other information about the movie and its stars. Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez are the main stars this new Disney movie. Disney.com/princessprotectionprogram | www.disney.com/princessprotectionprogram is also the place for fans to meet and exchange.

wimbledon tv schedule

wimbledon tv schedule

The Wimbledon TV schedule is almost through week one, with the Wimbledon TV schedule now including NBC.

The Wimbledon TV schedule has NBC beginning its coverage this weekend,

Wimbledon TV Schedule Approaches Second Week

and taking over much of the heavy lifting as Wimbledon nears an end. NBC begins their live Wimbledon TV schedule from 3 to 6 p.m. Eastern today, and will split time with ESPN 2 until the finals. These finals are now getting a bit closer, as the Wimbledon schedule nears its second week.

The Wimbledon TV schedule is currently covering the third round of the tournament, with the final rounds just on the horizon. Today, players like Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, Venus Williams, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina will take the Wimbledon court.

After today, the Wimbledon TV schedule will have ESPN 2 cover the action in the early morning and afternoon, with NBC taking over coverage from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. EST from Monday to Wednesday. When the semifinals begin, ESPN 2 will broadcast them from 7 a.m. to noon, with NBC taking over from noon to 5, then NBC broadcasts their "Breakfast at Wimbledon" finals that weekend.

Thus far, all the big names that are playing at Wimbledon are in place to still reach the finals. So far, there has not been one big upset of a major name, with players like Roger Federer and the Williams sisters breezing along so far.

Of course, it was the same way at this time of the French Open, when most big names breezed through the opening week. Once Rafael Nadal was upset by Robin Soderling in the second weekend, the floodgates opened for several more upsets in the second week.

Soderling is through the first few rounds at Wimbledon, while Nadal is out with injuries. Federer, for his part, is still set to make Wimbledon and tennis history with a record-breaking title.

For the women, there has been an upset earlier today, with sixth seeded Jelena Jankovic losing in three sets to unseeded Melanie Oudin. Venus Williams, however, won easily this morning.

The Wimbledon TV schedule will continue throughout the afternoon, then there will be an off day tomorrow before the second week, and the rush to the championship, kicks into high gear.

billy mays dead

billy mays dead

Tampa police say Billy Mays, the television pitchman known for his boisterous hawking of products such as Orange Glo and OxiClean, has died. He was 50.

Authorities say Mays was pronounced dead this morning after being found by his wife at home. There were no signs of a break-in, and investigators do not suspect foul play. The coroner's office expects to have an autopsy done by Monday afternoon.

Mays' wife, Deborah Mays, says the family doesn't expect to make any public statements and asked for privacy.

Mays was also featured on the reality TV show "Pitchmen" on the Discovery Channel, which followed Mays and Anthony Sullivan in their marketing jobs.

Discovery Channel spokeswoman Elizabeth Hillman released a statement Sunday extending sympathy to the Mays family.

"Everyone that knows him was aware of his larger-than-life personality, generosity and warmth," Hillman's statement said. "Billy was a pioneer in his field and helped many people fulfill their dreams. He will be greatly missed as a loyal and compassionate friend."

western states 100

western states 100
Gilles, who ran cross-country at Nevada, has competed in many ultra-distance runs. She's one of several area runners participating in the 100-mile Western States run that begins today at Squaw Valley and heads west to the finish line at Auburn, Calif.

But Gilles is the only female runner who is diabetic. Being diabetic does not hold her back, though.

She has been running for 15 years and found out she was diabetic three years ago, so she uses an insulin pump during runs.

"The pump makes it a lot easier to do these sorts of activities," she said. "You can maximize your insulin delivery."

Gilles, 32, who works as a traveling nurse, now based in Winnemucca, said she will not need much insulin while running, but her body will require some.

She has long wanted to run the Western States, but had never been invited to the high-profile event until this year.

Her training involves running up to 50 miles at a time.

Although it is her first Western States, Gilles said she is calm.

"Any nervousness has already gone away," she said.

Gilles fully expects to break the 24-hour mark, which is the goal of all the runners.

"I want to be the first diabetic finisher," she said. "Twenty-four hours is realistic if all the cards fall the way they should, it can happen."

The Western States starts at 5 a.m. today. Runners must reach the finish line no later than 11 a.m. Sunday in order to be eligible for an award.

The run is along the Western States Trail, starting at Squaw Valley and ending in Auburn, for a total of 100 miles. The trail ascends from the Squaw Valley floor (elevation 6,200 feet) to Emigrant Pass (elevation 8,750 feet), a climb of 2,550 vertical feet in the first 4½ miles. From the pass, following the original trails used by the gold and silver miners of the 1850s, runners travel west, climbing another 15,540 feet and descending 22,970 feet before reaching Auburn.

The Western States was canceled last year because of wildfires. There are 445 entrants this year, including the top men's finisher in 2007 -- Hal Koerner, 31, from Ashland, Ore. -- and the top woman -- Nikki Kimball from Bozeman, Mont. -- who are back to defend their crowns.

Also today is the XTERRA Tahoe City Off-Road Triathlon at Commons Beach in Tahoe City, starting at 8 a.m., and Sunday is the Burton Creek Trail Run 5K, 10K, 1/2-Marathon and Marathon Distances, also at Tahoe City.

melanie oudin

melanie oudin

The No. 6-seeded Jankovic struggled with the heat on a sunny, 82-degree Saturday. When the 66-minute first set ended, a trainer and doctor came on court to check Jankovic's pulse and blood pressure.

She rested on a towel while being treated, and after several minutes sat up while ice was applied to her neck and midsection. Play resumed after a 12-minute delay, and Oudin was the steadier player from the baseline the rest of the way.

The 17-year-old Oudin had an 0-2 record in Grand Slam matches before making her Wimbledon debut this week.

sycophants

sycophants

Many performers can impress or delight, but only a few can astonish. Michael Jackson did it twice. The first time was October 1969, when the hit single "I Want You Back" introduced a cherubic 11-year-old boy who sang with unbelievable maturity, soulfulness and swing. The second was March 1983, when the prodigy -- now grown tall, thin and angular -- moonwalked through an electrifying "Billie Jean," leaving a national television audience slack-jawed at how effortlessly he defied the laws of physics.

This Story

• Perils of a Prodigy
• RePosted: On Michael Jackson, Stardust and Children

Jackson's personal trajectory, though, was excruciating to watch. I've never put much stock in the idea that genius always devours those whom it favors. Jackson had flaws and weaknesses, to put it mildly, but so do we all. Money and celebrity make it possible for the rich and famous to succumb to their worst instincts. The blood-sucking parasites who surrounded Jackson all his life made that surrender not just possible but inevitable.

From the beginning -- from the moment when Joe and Katherine Jackson decided to mold their children not into a family but into an act -- Michael was the meal ticket. No offense to Jackie, Marlon, Tito and Jermaine, but if they had auditioned for Motown's Berry Gordy Jr. as the "Jackson 4," he'd have sent them back to Gary, Ind., on the next bus. Michael was the star.

Jackson once said his father used to beat him, perhaps because he was the "golden child." Joe Jackson has always denied being physically abusive, but in a sense it doesn't matter. It seems to me that attaching oneself to one's young son like a leech and denying that boy any semblance of a childhood qualifies as abuse.

Jackson once spoke in an interview of working late into the night in a studio across the street from a playground -- and crying because he wanted to be playing on the swings and the slide, not singing the same song into a microphone again and again.

On the road, Michael didn't spend time with boys his age. He bunked with his older brothers, who were past puberty -- and who, quite naturally, had a keen interest in the groupies who would accost them backstage and ask to come up to the room. It's not a stretch to imagine that Michael might emerge with some confused ideas and feelings about human sexuality.

When Michael set out on his own, he was able to make his own decisions for the first time. But he had had no practice in making decisions, and while the career choices he made were superb -- the albums he made at the beginning of his collaboration with uber-producer Quincy Jones, "Off the Wall" and "Thriller," are towering classics -- his personal choices were incompetent, unwise and increasingly bizarre.

The worst choice, of course, was the way he frolicked with children at his Neverland ranch. Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges, but he also paid a reported eight-figure settlement to the family of one alleged victim. Let me be clear that no childhood trauma would excuse molestation. My question, though, is where were the staff members and the agents and the hangers-on -- and the loving family members -- who had an inkling that all might not be right at Neverland? Did they choose to look the other way?

I believe Jackson's story that he suffered from the skin disease vitiligo -- though I don't believe that vitiligo or any other infirmity was the reason for the disfiguring plastic surgery that turned his face into a pale, taut mask. It had to be self-hatred -- not necessarily an attempt to make himself "white" but to make himself hideous.

I also believe his story that he became dependent on painkillers while recovering from the accident in which he was badly burned while making a Pepsi commercial. New-age guru and author Deepak Chopra, who considered Jackson a friend for more than 20 years, told CNN on Friday that Jackson was a chronic abuser of OxyContin, Demerol and other heavy-duty drugs.

Others were in the house where Jackson stopped breathing, including the entertainer's personal physician. At the time of his death, Jackson was trying to push himself through an arduous rehearsal schedule to prepare for a 50-concert extravaganza in London -- 50 grueling concerts at 50 years of age. He was weary. He was in pain.

Jackson's sycophants cared only about keeping the meal ticket happy. Even if only in self-interest, they should have cared more about keeping him alive.

virgin mobile free fest tickets

virgin mobile free fest tickets

Yesterday, a few people asked about the ticket situation for Virgin Mobile FreeFest at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Here's how it's going to work ...

Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster in two waves. Today and Friday, Virgin Mobile customers and concertgoers who attended one or more of the past three Virgin Mobile festivals will get the chance to earmark one of the 35,000 available spots at the Aug. 30 festival.

Ticketmaster will send out e-mails to past Virgin Mobile festival customers offering them the chance to reserve no more than two tickets each.

The remaining tickets will be up for grabs at 10 a.m. Saturday through Ticketmaster.com. In a rare gesture, Ticketmaster is waiving its notorious "convenience fees" if customers opt to pick up their tickets at the 9:30 Club in Washington or Merriweather. Otherwise, there will be a $5 fee for ticket delivery.

michael jackson dead 2009

michael jackson dead 2009

As the music world begins to assess the complicated legacy of the man who crowned himself the King of Pop, there is no denying that Michael Jackson's climb from humble beginnings amid the belching smokestacks of Gary, Ind., to the top of the charts and worldwide superstardom will rank beside those of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Beatles as one of the most extraordinary rags-to-riches stories ever.

Nor is it an exaggeration to say that Jackson, who died of a heart attack after being rushed to a hospital in Los Angeles on Thursday afternoon a little more than two months shy of his 51st birthday, made a more profound impact in the arenas of soul, R&B and dance-pop than any other singer or songwriter in history.

Sadly, these accomplishments also will forever be intertwined with one of the most tawdry and tragic public meltdowns that pop culture has ever witnessed, with long shadows cast by charges of child abuse, behavior that ranged from mildly eccentric to disturbingly bizarre and the star's inability to create worthwhile new music divorced from his personal turmoil throughout the last 18 years of his career.

In many ways, Jackson's biggest musical success turned out to be his biggest handicap, since its beyond-all-measures accomplishments were something he could never top.

Released on Nov. 30, 1982, the singer's sixth solo studio album "Thriller" became one of the bestselling discs of all time, with sales estimated as falling anywhere between 40 and 100 million copies worldwide. But despite the much-vaunted impact of its genre-blurring sounds on radio and the pop charts--it spawned six Top 10 singles, including the back-to-back No. 1 hits "Billie Jean" and "Beat It"--and the fact that its big-budget videos broke the unofficial color barrier at MTV, real fans never thought it his finest work.

That honor belongs to "Off the Wall," the 1979 album that actually pioneered the mix of funk, disco, pop, soul, jazz and rock polished for mainstream consumption on "Thriller." With songs such as "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" and "Rock with You," and collaborations with superstars such as Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, who clearly viewed the then 20-year-old star as a peer, "Off the Wall" is the album hardcore fans reach for, including celebrated acolytes such as Justin Timberlake and Usher.

For that matter, more moving than anything on "Thriller" is the 1972 ballad "Ben," another No. 1 hit and a song that Jackson, right at the start of his solo career, invested with so much emotion that it instantly transcended its origins as a love song to a killer rat from a B-grade horror film.

And, of course, there are the irrepressible, irresistible, unrelentingly upbeat songs of the Jackson Five, the family group that featured Michael and four of his eight siblings. Dismissed as bubblegum pop by some critics during their hit-making prime from 1969 through 1971, in retrospect, they stand as one of the most heartfelt and enduring acts that the legendary Motown Records ever produced. Michael's vocals in particular shine through, with the prepubescent star somehow singing in a voice wise and soulful beyond its years.

It's one of the great ironies of his career that Jackson's voice pitched higher and more closely evoked a young child the older he got--though this somehow fit his infamous Peter Pan-like obsession with childhood and refusing to grow old.

While some manifestations of this could be overlooked--the pet chimp, the amusement park on his Neverland ranch, the bones of the Elephant Man and the rest--others, like the disfiguring plastic surgery, could not. Nor could the disturbing facts that in 1995, he settled charges of having sexual relations with a 13-year-old boy by reportedly paying the child's family $20 million, and that a decade later, Jackson faced criminal charges for having sex with another minor.

The superstar was acquitted of those charges in 2005, but music industry experts remained divided over whether he could ever rebuild his career. His last two albums, "HIStory" (1995) and "Invincible" (2001) were commercial and critical failures, dominated by songs rife with paranoia and full of weird, messianic images. He hadn't toured the U.S. in two decades--his last Chicago shows were at the Rosemont Horizon in April 1988--and the first four of the much-hyped comeback gigs set for London's 02 Arena in July already had been postponed, with bookies in the U.K. laying odds that Jackson would cancel outright.

Now, the question of whether the King of Pop could ever have recovered all or some of his past glories will be just another of the many troubling mysteries always linked to his name.

SIDEBAR: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN SONG

Throughout his career, Michael Jackson's music often seemed to comment directly on the events and issues in his life, with the topics shifting from the challenges of growing up early in his career to chronic complaints of being persecuted toward the end. Here is a look at some revealing lyrics offering an intimate glimpse at the man behind the music.

* "With a Child's Heart" (1973): "With a child's heart/Go face the worries of the day/With a child's heart/Turn each problem into play/No need to worry no need to fear/Just being alive makes it all so very clear."

* "I Can't Help It" (1979): "Looking in my mirror/Took me by surprise/I can't help but see you/Running often through my mind/Helpless like a baby/Sensual disguise/I can't help but love you/It's getting better all the time."

* "Man in the Mirror" (1988): "I'm starting with the man in the mirror/I'm asking him to change his ways/And no message could have been any clearer/If you wanna make the world a better place/Take a look at yourself, and then make a change."

parkersburg iowa

parkersburg iowa

PARKERSBURG, Iowa (AP) — A gunman shot and killed a prominent Iowa high school football coach in the school's weight room early Wednesday and was taken into custody shortly afterward, authorities said.

The gunman shot Aplington-Parkersburg High School coach Ed Thomas at about 8 a.m. with about 50 students in the school, including several in the weight room at the time. School was not in session, and no one else was injured in the attack.

Thomas, the 2005 NFL high school football coach of the year, was airlifted to a hospital and died, his family said in a statement. He was 58.

Holly Fokkena, a spokeswoman for Butler County, said an adult male suspect has been taken into custody and was at the Butler County jail. She did not say if the gunman was a student at the school. But school district board secretary Sue Miller said she had heard he was not.

The district's superintendent and a guidance counselor were meeting with students who were in the weight room at the time of the shooting.

"No kids were hurt, we're thankful for that," Superintendent Jon Thompson told KOEL radio. "They did witness this and so we have counselors at the site to talk with the kids."

The school is in Parkersburg, about 80 miles northeast of Des Moines.

Thomas compiled a career record of 292-84 in 37 seasons as a head coach, 34 of them at Aplington-Parkersburg, and was one of the most well-known high school football coaches in Iowa. He was honored as the NFL High School Coach of the Year in 2005, and four of his former players are in the NFL: Green Bay's Aaron Kampman, Jacksonville's Brad Meester, Detroit's Jared DeVries and Denver's Casey Wiegmann.

DeVries, a defensive end with the Lions, walked off the practice field in Allen Park, Mich. toward the end of its morning practice, apparently shaken.

Team officials said DeVries was not immediately available for comment.

Thomas made national headlines last year when he insisted that the high school's football field, named in his honor, be rebuilt as a way to help restore community pride in Parkersburg after it was hit by a powerful tornado in May 2008 that killed six people and destroyed the high school.

"A lot of people know coach Thomas for his success as a football coach, but a lot of people here locally know him as a person, as a dad and grandfather, and that's where our thoughts are right now, with coach Thomas," said Superintendent Thompson.

Gov. Chet Culver, who was once a high school teacher and coach in Des Moines, said he was stunned by the shooting.

"As a former high school football coach, I've always had great admiration and respect for Coach Thomas," Culver said in a statement. "The state and national coaching fraternity has suffered a devastating loss. As we mourn the passing of Coach Thomas, it is my hope we can all continue to learn from his example."

Paul Rhoads, Iowa State's new football coach, said in a statement that Thomas was one of the first people to call him when he accepted the Cyclones job last December. Rhoads said Thomas was an Iowa coaching legend and "the best of people."

"His leadership set an example for us and his legacy will live on in the thousands of people he has touched in and out of the classroom and on and off the field," Rhoads said.

Toby Lorenzen, head coach at Central Lyon High School in Rock Rapids in northwest Iowa, said the killing was a shock to people in high school football programs throughout Iowa.

"He was one of the most down to earth, well respected coaches around."

Richard Wulkow, executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, said in a statement that Thomas embodied what a coach should be.

"He will be forever remembered not so much for his many wins on the field, but for the exemplary manner in which he coached kids and led the Aplington-Parkersburg community and school. This was especially true last spring and summer as they rebuilt from a devastating tornado."

In 2005, a Texas high school football coach was shot by an angry parent who walked into the school fieldhouse and fired a single bullet into Gary Joe Kinne's stomach. The gunman's son played on the Canton High School football team with Kinne's son, who was the star quarterback.

Kinne survived. The shooter, Jeff Doyal Robertson, was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

jason ellis

jason ellis

Season two of the best show on TV - True Blood - continued this week with a slightly less deathly than usual episode. After the shenanigans and shocks of last week's series premiere, Scratch My Back drops us right where we left off, with Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) at the mercy of a post-impromptu feast Eric.

It seems at least two vampires have gone missing, and Lafayette is the last person that might know exactly what happened to them, thanks to his sociable lifestyle. Despite his cooperation, and dropping Jason in it, Lafayette's information just isn't good enough, and back to the dungeon he goes. Ever the industrious type, he uses the tools available to him - the replacement hip that belonged to Eric's last meal - to free himself and attempt an escape. Enter Ginger, still not fully lobotomized, who puts a slight kink in the plan, leaving Lafayette with what he sees as his only choice. Eric, still hungry, has others plans - dinner plans...

The Fellowship of the Light, still courting Jason (Ryan Kwanten), continues to be the scariest thing in the show, and the happy-happy vampire killing camp is the most frightening thing they've done so far. A kind of KKK retreat for fang-haters, the group activities and role playing seem innocent enough, but the Fellowship clearly has plans for Jason. This is not going to end well, particularly considering the introduction of Jason's new nemesis - the Luke-inator. It seems even ‘God's chosen ones' aren't averse to a little jealousy every now and then, if the testosterone-off between the two of them is anything to go by.

Scary as the camp is, it's also the location of one of Scratch's best moments. In a scene reminiscent of the excellent, if little seen movie Saved, a Fellowship songstress belts out the original composition Jesus Asked Me Out Last Night. This is why True Blood is the best show on TV.

In Maryann-related news, it seems Merlotte's has become her new playground. After devouring every dish on the menu, she somehow turns the usually apathetic crowd into a bunch of horny teenagers, right before they get the black eyes that so often signify demonic possession these days. Told you she was trouble. Although it has to be said, the most disturbing part of the mini-Merlotte orgy was the fact that it all happened to the strains of the B-52's. Shudder. If Tara decides to move in with Sookie, leaving Maryann with nothing to do, the whole of Bon Temps could be in trouble.

The trouble doesn't end there; with fledging vampire Jessica on the loose, Louisiana is definitely not the safest place to be - apparently puberty is a walk in the park compared to becoming a vampire.

Scratch My Back focuses a little less on the Bill/Sookie relationship and more on the far more interesting supporting characters, which can only be a good thing. The fact that Eric (the superb Alexander Skarsgård, woefully underused last season) is making more of an appearance each week bodes well for the future, and he once again gets the best line of the episode, while still sporting the highlighting foil: "Is there blood in my hair?" Not only funny, but it thankfully means the end of the god-awful wig - apparently blood doesn't wash out. If Eric does indeed turn Lafayette, it'll certainly be interesting.

That's what makes this show so good - the writers and producers aren't afraid to take chances with established characters. It's possible that Lafayette will spend the rest of the series as a completely different entity than last year, which is brave considering he was easily the most interesting personality in Bon Temps during the first season. Seeing Eric and his minions using him as a feeding trough was definitely a shock, not least because it raises the very real possibility that we'll lose him altogether. However, making him a vamp is the only way Lafayette could have been improved, so, interesting.

Even with a less action-packed and bloody episode than we're used to, True Blood proves that it's the drama, not the sex and violence that keeps us coming back. The fuse is lit, it's going to be a slow burn, and when the explosion finally comes, the shock waves will be enormous. Bring on the light show!

Check out our review of episode 1 here.

ed thomas

ed thomas
Ed Thomas, the long-time Aplington-Parkersburg football coach, died this morning from injuries he sustained after being shot.

Thomas died shortly after arriving at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, a hospital spokeswoman said.

School business manager Pat Gosch told the Cedar Rapids Gazette that Thomas was shot in the head at point-blank range.

Holly Fokkena, Butler County information officer, said about 50 students were present at the school when the shooting happened sometime between 8 and 8:30 a.m. No students were injured, she said.

A football player said the shooting happened in the school's weight room. Players were there working out in preparation for this fall's season.

According to authorities contacted by the Associated Press, the gunman was captured shortly after the shooting, and is being held at the Butler County jail.

No further information on the suspect was available.

Thomas was taken by helicopter to Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, where he died, Andrea Barker, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Thomas has been the school's coach for nearly three decades. He has nearly 300 career victories, and four of his former players have played in the NFL.

His home was destroyed by last summer's tornado that devastated Parkersburg. He has helped lead the town back, including the Herculean effort to rebuild the ruined football field in time for the start of the 2008 season. The football field is named for him.

Outrage over the shooting reached halfway across the country this morning.

"Why would anyone want to do something like this?" said former Iowa defensive coordinator Bob Elliott, who works in the athletic department at San Diego State. "He's the best. He's the best of the best."

Elliott knew Thomas through recruiting of former Parkersburg stars Casey Wiegmann, Jared DeVries and Aaron Kampman.

"I talked to Ed after the tornado, and he was clearly devastated," Elliott said. "He was walking around the football field, cleaning up debris when I talked to him. He didn't have a cell phone, so the school gave him one because they knew everybody in the country would be trying to get in touch with him.

"That's how well-liked Ed was. That community has turned out a lot of NFL guys, but it was Ed Thomas who was the face of the community."

Get updates on this story throughout the day here and on our mobile site.

More about the team: The Register followed the Aplington-Parkersburg football team as they returned to the field for the first time after the town's massive tornado. In a video, Coach Ed Thomas and former A-P players fired up the team before the big game.

Share your tributes to Ed Thomas here

Reactions to the news...

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, himself a former high school football coach, called the shooting "just awful" during a train stop in Earlham where he was promoting passenger railroad service.

Culver said he knows Thomas well, not only as a coach but as a community leader in the wake of last year's devastating tornado.

"I've been a real fan of his, as an old coach myself," said Culver, who taught and coached at Hoover High School in Des Moines before becoming Iowa secretary of state in 1998.

"He epitomizes what it means to be a high school football coach. He's just a legend in terms of an incredibly powerful role model for generations of kids in the Parkersburg area. He's made our state proud with his commitment to the kids and high school football."

Culver, whose comments were made before he knew Thomas had died, continued:

"He was incredibly instrumental in bringing Parkersburg back, rebuilding the field and stadium and high school."

Rick Wulkow, executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, said in a statement: "Like all tragedies, the taking of Coach Thomas’ life is senseless. At this time our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the Aplington-Parkersburg community and the thousands of lives he so positively impacted. He embodied the essence of what a coach should be, and that legacy will endure."

joseph brooks

joseph brooks

An Oscar-winning songwriter who touted his Hollywood connections to lure aspiring actresses and models to his apartment, has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on sexual assault charges.

Joseph Brooks, who won an Academy Award for the '70s Debbie Boone ballad "You Light Up My Life," is expected to turn himself in to authorities Tuesday morning, law enforcement sources said.

The 70-year-old movie director- who made his money writing jingles for Pepsi and Geritol - is a suspect in two rapes, a sodomy case and two sexual assaults, sources told the Daily News.

Brooks allegedly seduced the women through Craigslist web postings and lured them to his upper East Side apartment with with promises of parts in his next movie, sources said.

He purportedly boasted about his Oscar and offered to show it to them at his pad.

Two of the victims said they had been doped with date-rape drugs, sources said. Others believe their drinks were spiked. Toxicology results have been inconclusive.

When allegations surfaced in January, Brooks declined to comment. He could not be reached for comment early Tuesday.

The first of the alleged assaults occurred in November 2006, and involved a 22-year-old woman who said she was sexually abused at the Carlyle Hotel.

Another assault allegedly took place in Brooks' apartment in May 2007. Three more took place over a two-week stretch near Brooks' 70th birthday in March 2008, law enforcement sources said.

Brooks wrote, directed and bankrolled the 1977 romance flick "You Light Up My Life," and penned the title track. The song reached No. 1 on the pop charts
He also composed music for the film "The Lords of Flatbush" and co-produced "Eddie and the Cruisers."

Brooks turned to movie-making after a successful career writing jingles, including a 1970s Pepsi Generation campaign with the lyrics, "You got a lot to live and Pepsi's got a lot to give, yeah Pepsi's got a lot to give."

neda agha sultan video

neda agha sultan video



We shared Neda Agha Sultan’s video before, but now people are looking for Neda Agha Sultan’s video who lived and dead in Iran a few days ago. Neda Agha Sultan is an iranian girl who is said to be 16 and some say 26, there is not accurate information about Neda Agha Sultan’s age. But all we know is she was shoot because wanted freedom. And now she seems to be icon of Iranian revolutionarits.

I know that you’re eager to watch Neda Agha Sultan video through Youtube. But first of all i have to remind you that you better not let minors watch this video since Neda Agha Sultan’s video contains blood and real death images. Please don’t allow minors watch Neda Agha Sultan video.By the way there are many facebook groups supporting Neda Agha Sultan, you can also support those groups if you want. The video above wasn’t uploaded and hosted by Fool Blogger. Don’t forget to share your thoughts about Neda Agha Sultan.

johnny carson

johnny carson

Ed McMahon, perhaps the most famous sidekick in television history, has died at a Los Angeles hospital. He was 86.

For 30 years, he sat cheerfully on the couch next to Johnny Carson on the set of NBC's "Tonight Show," and it was his trademark phrase that opened the broadcast every evening: "H-e-e-e-e-e-ere's Johnny!"

His publicist, Howard Bragman, did not give a cause of death, saying only that McMahon had a "multitude of health problems the last few months." He had been hospitalized in February, reportedly with bone cancer, and had also suffered a broken neck in a fall in 2007.

He died early Tuesday morning at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, surrounded by his family, said Bragman.

"It takes a lot more time to not be nice than to be nice," McMahon once said. Audiences will remember him laughing at Carson's jokes, moving aside on the set to make room for the show's featured guests, and smiling through commercial pitches.

There is a famous clip in which McMahon delivers the slogan, "Now, doesn't your dog deserve Alpo?" -- but he barely got to finish, because Carson bit him. The audience loved it, and McMahon, the perfect straight man to Carson, apparently did too.

"You can't imagine hooking up with a guy like Carson," McMahon said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1993. "There's the old phrase, hook your wagon to a star. I hitched my wagon to a great star."

Edward Leo Peter McMahon Jr., born in 1923, grew up in Lowell, Mass., and worked as a carnival barker and a bingo caller to put himself through college at Catholic University. He did two tours of duty in the U.S. Marine Corps, serving in the Korean War.

"My childhood dream was to be a broadcaster," he told Time Magazine in 1998. "In those days, before television, it was to be a radio announcer. All my heroes were people that announced on radio. When the war started, I wanted to become a Marine fighter pilot, which I became. And I wanted to fly off a carrier, which I did."

After working at local radio and television stations, he became a game show announcer, hosting such shows as "Concentration" and "Snap Judgment."

In 1957, he was brought in to be the announcer for a program called "Who Do You Trust?" It was there that he met Carson. When Carson took over the "Tonight Show" from Jack Paar in 1962, he brought McMahon along.

doc severinsen

doc severinsen

"People ask us what kind of music we play," Doc Severinsen said Friday, early in a benefit concert for the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music with El Ritmo de la Vida. "I have no idea."

Severinsen, violinist Pedro Cartas, guitarist Gil Gutierrez, bassist Gilberto Gonzalez and percussionist Miguel Favero are pretty hard to pin down. They play jazz of some mixed variety: a little Gipsy Kings, a little Django Reinhardt/Hot Club of France, a little neo-Flamenco, a little Latin fusion. The repertoire ranged from "Dark Eyes," the Russian folk tune (as you've never heard it before), to Reinhardt's "Minor Swing," to Chick Corea's "La Fiesta" to "Sweet Georgia Brown" (also as you've never heard it before).

The mix of musical personalities made for pleasing contrasts. You know Doc, all showy but also emotional, with a big vibrato and dreamy way of slurring notes. Cartas' suave, cool precision made a nice foil for Doc. Gutierrez, a tremendous guitarist, showed command of plectrum, classical finger style and Flamenco techniques, and the intensity of his tremolo and the speed of his scales were amazing.

Their arrangements often begin far afield, so the tune sort of sneaks up on you, which is fun. Severinsen opened "La Fiesta" with this crazy extended solo on snaking Middle Eastern scales rendered in a timbre that sounded exactly like a snake charmer's shawm.

Solos were abundant but only occasionally lengthy. The numbers were more like taut, organized compositions than like rambling collections of improvisations. Many of them called for zipping scale work for the pitched instruments in unison octaves by way of a final flurry, and it was cool to hear the bass moving with the ease and speed of the violin. Gonzalez is really good, as a melodic player and as a rhythm engine.

These highly virtuosic players are showmen. Doc, as always, had amusing stories to tell, but they also worked comedy into the music. Gutierrez played off Doc's habit of conducting by pretending to miss cues. Favero left his congas to drum on the guitar strings while Gutierrez ran through the chord changes with his left hand. At the end of a long guitar solo, Gutierrez just couldn't seem to find that right last note. Cartas extended his violin, Gutierrez reached out and plucked a string, and there was the note he'd been searching for. Ha! Good one!

chris smith golfer

chris smith golfer

Report: Golfer Chris Smith's wife killed in

crash

ANGOLA, Ind. (AP) — A newspaper is reporting that the wife of a professional golfer from Indiana was killed in a car crash.

Beth Smith, of Peru, Ind., wife of PGA Tour player Chris Smith, was killed Sunday when the sport utility vehicle she was traveling in collided with a Greyhound bus transporting a Canadian semipro football team, The News-Sentinel of Fort Wayne reported.

Abigail and Cameron Smith, who the newspaper identified as Smith's children, were listed in critical condition Monday morning at Fort Wayne's Lutheran Hospital.

Angola Fire Department spokesman T.R. Hagerty said the crash killed an occupant of the SUV. The Stueben County Sheriff's Department would not immediately confirm who was killed in the crash along Interstate 69 near Angola, in which 12 others suffered minor injuries.

Chris Smith is a Peru resident and has been competing on the PGA Tour since 1991.

lydia hearst

lydia hearst

Want to know what it’s like to go to a major award show? The model (and Hearst heiress) gives PEOPLE.com the inside scoop on getting ready for Fashion’s Oscars — and hanging with fellow guests Blake, Heidi and Justin! Click here to see all the stars at the CFDA Awards.

6am: Going to be a crazy day. Nice long bath, then straight over to an early morning photo shoot with Terry Richardson. They were incredible, fun, crazy pictures. I was wearing men’s clothes, lingerie, dressing up as animals. Such an eccentric shoot.

3pm: Grab some food on-set: Thai curry chicken, pasta and rice. I won’t be able to eat once I go to the CFDAs. I’m wearing white so I definitely don’t want to take the risk of spilling anything on the one-of-a-kind dress Marc Bouwer made for me!

5:20pm: Oops. We had so much fun at the photo shoot, and ran over. Now it’s pouring rain! Here I am looking for a cab, still wearing all the black eye makeup and hot pink lips; my hair is sticking straight out from all the products. I looked like a drowned rat.

5:45pm: Home! Thankfully my dress already got dropped off. Jump into the shower and rinse off faster than I ever have. Didn’t even bother with my hair. It was already soaked with rain. I wanted a sort of a 1920s, old Hollywood, Veronica Lake look. My makeup artist Jasen Kaplan and hairstylist Ricardo Rojas have to work on me like crazy — it’s such a miracle.

6:20pm: Marc Bouwer picks me up, and we head over to the CFDA Awards gala at Lincoln Center. I felt like a princess. My dress was actually sheer white, but I put a nude body suit under it. Thankfully you couldn’t see anything!

Click through for more details on Lydia’s star-studded night!

6:40pm: Spotted my best friend Michelle Trachtenberg on the red carpet! She said she might be moving to N.Y.C. I’m trying to convince her. She has a couple things in the works, but I’m not allowed to say!

7pm: Heading inside. There are no tables this year or even a cocktail party. It’s more Oscar-style.

8:30 pm: Got to meet Molly Sims and Heidi Klum, who is definitely one of my idols. Saw Blake Lively too. We met when I did Gossip Girl. It is really nice to reconnect with people and catch up.

9pm: The speeches were so moving. Marc Jacobs talked all about his fiance. And wow, Diane Von Furstenberg didn’t even have to use the teleprompter!

9:30pm: I wish I could have met Justin Timberlake. But unfortunately he was on stage, and other than that, he was busy.

10pm: Going downtown! Everybody picks up and moves down to the Calvin Klein event at the Highline. Met up with my sister Gillian and reconnected with Michelle.

12am: Heading home to go to sleep. There’s only so much I can handle!