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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Feb 12, 2014
February 12, 2014
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Deaths:
As you know, actress SHIRLEY TEMPLE BLACK died late Monday night of natural causes at her Woodside, CA, home. She was 85. Shirley was possibly the most famous child star ever, rising to the height of her popularity before she was 10 with the release of her movie, "Bright Eyes" in 1934 in which she sang the number that made her famous --"On The Good Ship Lollipop." Then, she was the top draw at the box office for the next five years, beating out bigger actors like CLARK GABLE and BING CROSBY; big enough for her to win a special Academy Award in 1935 when she was just six years old.
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will be airing eight of her films in a marathon on Sun, Mar 09, starting with "Heidi" at 4:30 pm; "Bright Eyes" will be at 8 pm.
FYI: Shirley's daughter, LORI BLACK, was the bassist for the Seattle proto-grunge band, THE MELVINS. She's on their first three albums and one EP. Lori used the stage name Lorax Black. (Marino)The White House:
Just in case you didn't make it for last night's White House State Dinner honoring French President FRANCOIS HOLLANDE:
--Appetizers: American Osetra Caviar from Illinois, quail eggs from Pennsylvania and 12 varieties of potatoes from farms in New York, Idaho and California.
--Salad:Winter garden variety.
--Main course: Dry-aged rib eye beef from a family-owned farm in Colorado, served with Jasper Hill Farm Blue Cheese crisp from Vermont.
--Desert: Chocolate malted cake combining bittersweet chocolate from Hawaii, tangerines from Florida served with vanilla ice cream from Pennsylvania, fudge made from Vermont maple syrup, lavender shortbread cookies and cotton candy dusted with orange zest. (Pacelli)Lincoln's birthday:
Hey, let's show one of our greatest presidents some love! His birthday is the 12th, so we've just got time to mention it today! Did you know Abe grew a beard for the 1860 presidential campaign after a little girl named GRACE BEDELL wrote him a letter telling him that all the ladies like whiskers and they'd tease their husbands to vote for him. So he became the first president to have a beard! (Source: "U-S Presidents for Dummies").
Editor's note: Try telling a candidate something like that today --they gotta have 18 different surveys and polls before they'll even go to the bathroom just to see what toilet paper brand to use. (RB)We all know about Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which is a model for concise speech. The great orator, Sen EDWARD EVERETT, spoke for two hours the same day, and nobody writes anything about his speech. Abe spoke for two minutes and the speech went down in history.
Editor's note: Don't tell your program director about this. I'm just sayin'.To celebrate or not:
A new survey from the National Retail Federation predicts just 54 percent of Americans intend to celebrate Valentine's Day, compared with 60 percent a year ago. Those who plan to mark the day say they intend to spend a little more than they did in 2013 --an average of $134 on candy, cards, gifts, and dinner, compared with $131 last year.
-- 51 percent of those polled will send cards
-- 49 percent say they intend to buy some form of candy
-- 37 percent hope to celebrate with a special meal
-- 37 percent say they intend to send flowers
-- 19 percent have plans to purchase some type of jewelry (Kaye)Designer Update:
PHARRELL WILLIAMS debuted a really cool denim line on Saturday for New York Fashion Week. The man with the funky hat collection created an eco-friendly line that transformed plastic trash from the ocean into what they're calling "bionic yarn." The Hollywood Reporter says Pharrell collaborated with the Dutch fashion label G-Star on the bionic yarn line. It's called "RAW for the Oceans" and it hits stores this summer. (Bartha)
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