Thursday, November 5, 2015

Gwen & Blake, Sitting In A Tree...

Don't Do Anything I Wouldn't Do!
Blake Shelton & Gwen Stefani
K-I-S-S-I-N-G! The prosecution can now rest in the case of: The People v Stefani & Shelton. After much speculation by the general public it has now been confirmed their a couple and they are doing it.

Phew! Glad that's been put to rest! Hey where there is smoke there is fire, and while it was a little hard to tell if all their open flirting on The Voice was in good fun, or because of actual sexual attraction, well now you have your answer.

While the pairing may seem a tad odd, you must admit they are both lookers, not to mention they are both a living definition of the terms feminine & masculine.

Hey, whatever the case, he is a far cry from Gavin Rossdale and she and Miranda Lambert could not be more different.

I suspect that for both of them at this moment, that's a good thing.

Some Like It Hot! The Voice at:

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

KC "Get's Down" With Elton John

Preach!
Harry Wayne "KC" Casey
Photo: Jeremy Westby
GRAMMY-Award Winning Band Delivers Electrifying Live Show As Event's Leading Entertainment; Inspires Hope to End AIDS Epidemic

Inspiration is a theme this week, let's continue it. Shall we?

KC and The Sunshine Band’s mission has always been to inspire happiness through music. With uplifting, upbeat dance hits like “Shake, Shake, Shake (Shake Your Booty), “Get Down Tonight,” “That’s The Way I Like It,” “Boogie Shoes,” and others, it is no wonder they’ve been able to succeed. But on Monday evening at the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 14thAnnual An Enduring Vision New York Benefit Gala at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, the GRAMMY® Award-winning group shined their bright light on the crowd for a different reason – to help inspire hope in an end to the worldwide AIDS epidemic.

The event was hosted by award-winning CNN anchor Anderson Cooper and featured Ford Foundation President Darren Walker as a special speaker. KC and The Sunshine Band took the stage as the evening’s lead entertainer, performing well-known hits "Shake Your Booty," "Boogie Shoes," I’m Your Boogie Man,” “Give It Up,” "That's The Way (I Like It)" and “Get Down Tonight,” leading celebrity guests and attendees to get out of their seats and dance.

Harry Wayne “KC” Casey, the group’s lead singer, who lost a cousin to AIDS in the 90s, as well as many friends, said the disease has touched him deeply and personally. “I am passionate about awareness, prevention and am hopeful for a cure, because it is a disease which is preventable through education. I applaud the great work that Sir Elton John and his foundation has accomplished. The foundation has changed the global face of the disease by reaching out to patients, even at a time when fear and misunderstanding were commonplace. So much progress has been made on the fight against AIDS, but the research, patient-support and access to information must continue until a cure is found,” Casey said.

Threesome
David Furnish, KC & Elton John
Photo: Jeremy Westby
Recipients of the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s Enduring Vision Awards included M. Michele Burns, Robert J. Coury and Tracey Emin. M. Michele Burns is an internationally recognized corporate and philanthropic leader who played an integral part in EJAF’s inception, serving as an Executive Board Member and Treasurer throughout the Foundation’s 23-year history. Robert J. Coury, Executive Chairman of Mylan, continues to be a visionary in leading the company into areas where it can make a difference, such as improving global health and helping to end the AIDS epidemic. Tracey Emin is a highly renowned and respected artist, who is also a fierce humanitarian and tireless advocate for human rights causes.

For more information on KC and The Sunshine Band, please visit 

www.heykcsb.com. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook!

Upcoming KC and The Sunshine Band Tour Dates
11.13 Paragon Casino | Marksville, La.
11.20 Prairie Band Casino & Resort | Mayetta, Kansas
11.21 First Council Casino | Newkirk, Okla.
12.31 Thunder Valley Casino | Lincoln, Calif.
02.13 IP Resort and Casino | Biloxi, Miss.
03.19 Ocean Reef Cultural Center | Key Largo, Fla.
03.20 Seminole Hard Rock | Hollywood, Fla.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

amfAR 2015: Sharon Stone, Sharon Stone, Sharon Stone!

Playing Tricks With Her Crucifix
Sharon Stone
amfAR recently held it's inspiration gala in Los Angeles, CA honoring the man behind American Horror Story, Ryan Murphy and hosted by Gwyneth Paltrow.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the organization, it raises money for AIDS research.

While the event was of course attended by the AHS cast, with Lady Gaga performing at it, let's all pretend to be surprised by that fact. It was Sharon Stone who made the biggest splash of the evening.

Not only does she look amazing, her outfit for the night was the bomb!

Talk about inspiring! Well yes, not only does Ms. Stone inspire because she has still got it at fifty-seven, something you may not be aware of is she has raised millions of dollars for the organization. Yes, that's right, Sharon Stone has championed amfAR for years.

She has even been an auctioneer at an event and a very good one at that, she could get you to buy a rock for a few grand, she is that persuasive.

Cheers to inspiration! Have a good one!

Learn More About amfAR here: 
www.amfar.org/‎   

Monday, November 2, 2015

12 Days Of Rage

Margaret & Friend
Photo: Mary Taylor
Happy First Monday of November. This came across my desk this morning via my friend and awesome publicist Ken Phillips. It's a message and a powerful one from his client Margaret Cho here is what she has to tell you:
"Twelve days until the premiere of  my new song and music video for “I Wanna Kill My Rapist”. For the 12 days leading up to it, I will be posting one video per day to tell my stories of sexual abuse. My “12 Days of Rage”. Please join me. Tell your story on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram using #‎12daysofrage. Here is my first video.
“I Wanna Kill My Rapist” Video premieres on PerezHilton.com on Friday, November 13." 
                                                       12 Days Of Rage
Join Margaret in the crusade by sharing this message or your own story on social media. Let's give victims of sexual abuse a voice.
Share your rage with Margaret at:  

Sunday, November 1, 2015

The Nils Are Alive...

Nils Lofgren
"UK2015 Face The Music Tour"
coming to CD and digital platforms on November 13th


UK and US Tour Dates Announced
The Nils are alive with the sound of music, yep, you read correctly.

Nils Lofgren shows no signs of slowing down. When the E Street Band has down time, Nils seamlessly returns to his 47 year devoted solo artist fan base. After the successful release of an ambitious 10 disc career spanning retrospective last year entitled Face the Music , Nils began work putting together solo and duo acoustic shows to take on the road.
 
In January of 2015, Nils toured the UK to enthusiastic capacity audiences. Midway through the tour, his wife Amy insisted they record the last half of the tour, optimistic that it could lead to an album of live tracks that would capture the intimacy and inspiration they experienced night after night. The result is the UK2015 Face the Music Tour album, comprised of stellar performances by Nils Lofgren on vocals, keyboards, guitar and lever harp, and accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Greg Varlotta on vocals, keyboards, guitar, trumpet and tap dance percussion. As with all Nils' live shows, the passion, musicianship and wonderful stories from his long, exceptional musical journey are front and center on this new recording.

 
To commemorate the release of the album Nils will be returning to the UK at the end of October, for 21 shows. Prior to departing he will join his longtime friend Neil Young for the Bridge School Benefit Concert at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View California. Organized annually by Neil Young and his wife Pegi, this year's event will feature Neil Young and Promise of the Real, Nils Lofgren, Sheryl Crow, St Vincent, Gary Clark Jr and the Dixie Chicks, among others. Proceeds from Bridge School Benefit tickets go to the Bridge School which helps children with severe disabilities and communication impairments. 
 
Nils will continue to tour acoustically in 2016 including confirmed shows in the USA that include stops in Durham NC (1/21/16) Atlanta GA (1/22/16), Nashville TN (1/23/16), Conroe TX (1/29/16), Dallas TX (1/30/16), Austin, TX (1/31/16 ), Oakland CA (3/9 and 3/10/16), Mill Valley, CA (3/11/16), Saratoga, CA (3/12/16 ), Staten Island NY (4/1/16), Alexandria, VA (4/22 and 4/23/16), Uncasville, CT (4/29/16), NYC (4/30/16), Minneapolis, MN (5/17 and 5/18/16), Milwaukee, WI (5/19/16), Chicago, IL (5/20/16), and Valparaiso, IN (5/21/16).
 
"In January 2015, after a three year break from our traditional acoustic UK tours, we headed back in the dead of Winter, excited for another run of shows, town to town, on the bus, sharing music that hopefully spreads some good will and hope to linger with the wonderful audiences we've had, decade after decade. Accompanied by Greg Varlotta, our friend and amazing, multi-instrumentalist and our stellar crew, we all set out to do special, inspired shows everywhere. We were all thrilled with the audience response and it was Amy who insisted we record the last half of the tour, optimistic it could lead to an album of live tracks to commemorate this wonderful UK run. She was right and here it is. We hope you all enjoy it. It really is the audience that breaths the life, fire and inspiration into every performance. God bless you all and thanks again for your presence and magical energy, night after night, town after town, note after note. Peace and Believe." Nils Lofgren
 
 

Saturday, October 31, 2015

The Halloween Five

Satan In Disguise -
Michael Shinafelt

"Happy, Happy Halloween, Halloween, Halloween. Happy, Happy Halloween, Silver Shamrock!"

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is a quite underrated movie. John Carpenter and Debra Hill were approached by Universal to do a third Halloween film after the studio picked up the sequel to the indie smash Halloween.

Their plan? To do a franchise under the Halloween banner every year, with a different theme. Turns out the public demanded and only had love for Michael Myers. Gotta give those two credit though for trying to be innovative and fun!

Which brings me to the theme of this year's Season of the Witch post. I am going to give you five of my favorite fright films, in no particular order, with the exception of number one. I bet you already know what that is...
Halloween
Always Number 1!
1) Halloween - This is my one and only when it comes to sheer horror. I can not count how many times I have seen it and how much I love it! It was the first horror film my Father took me to, and it scared the shit out of me. It is still under my skin to this day, even though I know what's coming. Jamie Lee Curtis rules!


2) Excision - Teen angst, domineering mothers, delusional aspirations of being a world class surgeon.
This psychological gore fest is a brilliant feature debut from Director/Writer Richard Bates, Jr. It also features two great performances from AnnaLynne McCord and Traci Lords.


3) Psycho - Like mother like daughter. Janet Leigh shocked the world of cinema by appearing in Alfred Hithcock's then explicit and never seen nothing like it thriller Psycho. Janet as you may or may not know was the mother of future Scream Queen and Halloween star, Jamie Lee Curtis. This movie still holds up today as a master class in film making and what an intelligent slasher film could and should be.
4) The Hunger - was anything sexier than Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie slashing their prey's throats with an ankh and drinking their blood at the height of orgasm? Well, one more thing in this awesome vampire flick was, the sex scene between Deneuve turning Susan Sarandon into her latest immortal fling. Tony Scott's best.


5) Cat People - No, not the original in 1942. That one I never saw the big deal about. But the re-imagining of it by auteur Paul Schrader. While the film is more of an erotic fantasy. It is peppered with enough horror elements and violence to really set it above the cut. With Malcom McDowell at his freaky best and Nastassja Kinski doing what she does best...meow, sex kitten.

While these are not the only Holiday Flicks I love, they are the cream of the crop to me. With John Carpenter's Halloween always remaining #1 in my blackened heart.

Happy Halloween! Until next year...

Follow me on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/MShinafelt    

Friday, October 30, 2015

Treat: Tanya Tucker On Halloween!

Remember The Alamo?
Tucker Appears on "The Alamo Jones Show" on Sirius XM Channel 60
Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1
Join the legendary Tanya Tucker tomorrow, yes tomorrow as in Halloween tomorrow. All treat and no tricks, promise!

Country music icon Tanya Tucker will charm listeners this Halloween weekend when she appears on “The Alamo Jones Show” Saturday, October 31 from 1–5pm (CDT) on SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country (Channel 60).

Tucker, known for charismatic and witty personality, will open up about her nationwide tour underway as well as some of her outlaw stories from the road and her illustrious career. The sassy and outspoken star is one of the few women to successfully penetrate the Outlaw Country movement.

In addition to Tucker’s appearance on Saturday, SiriusXM’s Outlaw Country will replay “The Alamo Jones Show” again on Sunday, November 1 from 5–9pm (CST).

Currently, Tucker is preparing for the launch of a new album while criss-crossing the country with her instantly recognizable vocal flare and legendary repertoire that includes “Some Kind of Trouble,” “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane,” “Love Me Like You Used To” and many more.

Of course, no Tucker performance would be complete without her breakthrough hit, “Delta Dawn.” The Alex Harvey-written classic, which launched thirteen year old Tucker into superstardom in 1972, anchors a performance that showcases her hits as well as stories and anecdotes from her 40 year career.

Since her 1972 debut, Tucker has enjoyed an incredible career that garnered her four Platinum albums and eight Gold albums. In a storied 40 year career, she has produced 23 Top 40 albums and a string of 56 Top 40 singles, 10 of which reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts. Along the way, she has provided some of the biggest country music hits of each decade, including, “Blood Red and Goin’ Down,” “Would you Lay with Me (In a Field of Stone)” and “Texas (When I Die).” Tucker is also the recipient of numerous awards, including two CMAs, two ACMs, and three CMT awards.

Follow Tanya Tucker on TwitterFacebook and Instagram or visit tanyatucker.com.

Tanya Tucker on Sirius XM Outlaw Country (Ch. 60)
Saturday, October 31 1–5pm (CDT)
Sunday, November 1 5-9pm (CST)

Tanya Tucker on Tour
Oct 30 – State Theatre – Eau Claire, WI
Oct 31 – The Palladium – Carmel, IN
Nov 01 – The Arcada Theatre – St. Charles, IL
Dec 03 – Golden Nugget Casino – Las Vegas NV
Dec 04 – Wild Horse Pass Casino – Chandler AZ
Dec 30 – Soaring Eagle Casino Resort – Mt. Pleasant MI