[In Good Company]
eh uh…….
SHUT DOWN
Part of the game….
Howard Stern
VH1's "Best Week Ever" Gang Clueless About Howard Stern Show
Stories
Sulu Gets Married as Uhura and Chekov Look On
Stories
Toast the groom (and the other groom) with a tall mug of Romulan ale! George Takei of “Star Trek” fame tied the knot in Los Angeles on Sunday and People magazine was all over it like Captain Kirk on that green alien lady.
George Takei and his longtime partner, Brad Altman, were wed Sunday evening in a Buddhist ceremony in downtown Los Angeles.
“All I can remember is what the priest said,” Takei told People after the ceremony. “That this moment will never happen again. It’s something to savor.”
Nearly 200 of the couple’s friends attended the event, which began as a kimono-clad koto player plucked out tunes on the ancient Japanese stringed instrument. Afterward, the couple sipped sake from red lacquer cups, then said their vows to one another while standing within a circle of yellow rose petals.
A Scottish bagpiper led Takei, 71, and Altman, 54, to the reception on the grounds of the Japanese American National Museum. On the way, the couple, along with their maid of honor and best man (Takei’s former “Star Trek” costars Nichelle Nichols and Walter Koenig) flashed the “live long and prosper” hand sign to photographers and friends.
“I was fighting back the tears,” said Nichols, who played Uhura on the “Star Trek” series. “But they came oozing out anyway. I’m so happy that they’re both able to legally proclaim their commitment to one another after spending the past 21 years together.”
In May, Takei announced his plans to wed after California’s Supreme Court allowed gay marriage under the state’s Constitution.
Wait, does this mean Mr. Sulu is gay? Set red-state phasers on stunned!
But seriously, best wishes for Takei and Altman, and we hope didn’t get too many of these as wedding gifts.
— Geoff Boucher
The Mad Dog Leaves Mike and Heads to Satellite Radio
StoriesFROM THE BEST PAPER IN LONG ISLAND NEW YORK:NEWSDAY
After 19 years, Russo leaves “Mike and the Mad Dog”
BY NEIL BEST
8:31 AM EDT, August 15, 2008
“Mike and the Mad Dog,” a New York sports talk radio institution for nearly two decades, has been disconnected.
WFAN abruptly ended the 19-year-old show late yesterday afternoon when it announced to the media that co-host Chris Russo has left the station, leaving Mike Francesa to carry on without him.
Russo had hoped to do a farewell show, but WFAN opted to part ways immediately after releasing him from a contract that would have run through next spring.
The announcement was made after Francesa left the air yesterday, but he said he will answer all questions about it on today’s show.
The news did not come as a surprise; Newsday first reported June 22 that the show likely would end before Labor Day. But it still was an emotional moment for the longtime duo.
“It’s kind of a sad day,” Russo said last night. “It’s a very strange day in my life.”
Said Francesa: “I think it has to sink in. It’ll be very different when I finally get back in the fall.”
He will be on solo today as scheduled; Russo is on vacation.
The reasons for the breakup are multi-faceted, and somewhat murky.
Operations manager Mark Chernoff said all parties agreed “the show has kind of run its course.” But Russo said that was true only to a point.
He said he could have carried on but was motivated to explore other opportunities.
“Basically, I’m looking for a different challenge in my life,” Russo said. “I’m 48 years of age. This might be the last chance I’m going to get for a challenge if I want to take it.”
Russo swore on his children’s lives that he has no firm agreement or contract, but industry sources say he is likely to land at Sirius Satellite Radio for a lucrative deal worth up to $15 million over five years.
“I have four or five options,” he said. “Sirius would be one of them … Obviously, I’m not stupid. I’m not going to leave FAN unless I have something relatively secure.”
Because there will be no farewell show, their final joint appearance was an Aug. 5 remote at Giants camp in Albany. Other than that day, they had not spoken for weeks until Wednesday.
“I told him if I don’t re-sign [with WFAN], it has nothing to do with him and I,” Russo said.
Francesa said the two agreed to talk again when Russo cleans out his office next week.
The hosts’ relationship has been strained in recent months, and at least to some extent, they apparently were ready to move on from each other as well as the show.
“I think the relationship was part of this,” Francesa said, “but I think in the end this was probably more of a different vision about what the future may hold.”
At the same time the station announced that Russo was leaving, it announced a new contract for Francesa, whose deal was believed to be expiring around the end of the year.
Francesa said he will have control over the new-look show, which will unfold in the coming weeks. He will not have a co-host, but he will not sit alone for 5½ hours a day.
“I expect nothing less than to be successful, but I understand it’s a great challenge,” Francesa said. “It won’t be a co-hosting situation. It will be my show, but I want to have personalities and other opinions and other voices.”
Francesa and Russo were the undisputed stars of WFAN after Don Imus was fired last year. Chernoff tried his best to keep them together.
He sat them down in May and again in July before the All-Star Game, the latter time “to see if things were OK. I thought they were, but obviously, there were things that made it tough.”
He said he is confident that Francesa can succeed without Russo.
“Mike’s a strong personality who brings an awful lot to the table,” Chernoff said.
Said Russo: “I’m going to miss the station, the heartbeat, the day-in-and-day-out buzz of New York sports.”
Said Francesa: “I would expect as we get distance from it, we’ll be very proud of what we built and accomplished. But I do also look forward to this [new show].”
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Was Gene Rodenberry On Drugs?
Gene Rodenberry, George Takai, Howard Stern, Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek, William ShatnerArtie Lange Checks Into "Intensive" Rehab
Artie Lange, Eric the Midget, Fred Norris, Gary Dell'Abate, Greg Fitzsimmons, Howard Stern, Nick DePaulo, Robin Quivers, Ronnie the Limo Driver, Sal Governale, Scott Baio, Tim Sabean
Howard Stern‘s sidekick is finally in rehab. Artie Lange, who’s long overindulged with drugs and drink, was scheduled to attend close pal Bob Saget‘s Comedy Central roast on Sunday night, but never made it to LA. Instead, he checked himself into an intensive outpatient rehab program. A source said Lange “felt awful for not being there for Bob, but needed to make his health a priority.” Lange also canceled his stand-up shows this weekend, but plans to return to his regular gig on Stern’s Sirius radio show when it returns from hiatus. Lange’s rep, Lewis Kay, confirmed the news.
Get well buddy; we all love you-JT
After Eighteen Months, The F.C.C. Approves Sirius/XM Merger
Stories
CNET
Updated at 4:45 p.m. PDT to clarify that portable receivers are capable of receiving live program signals.
The marriage of satellite radio providers Sirius and XM has finally received the blessing of the Federal Communications Commission on Friday. Now we can all finally get the game we want.
For many prospective customers, a key sticking point was the different selections of sports programming offered exclusively by each provider. A few years back, I wanted to make a present of a Sirius subscription to a friend who spends a lot of time driving around Northern California, especially in places that don’t get AM/FM signals. After sampling XM and Sirius’ music selections, I knew that she would enjoy the Sirius offerings over the XM offerings. But XM broadcasts more games of the sports she enjoyed–just not all of them. There really wasn’t a clear winner. So, to keep from saddling her with the wrong or incomplete service, I opted against the gift. Basically, the lack of a comprehensive offering cost the industry a customer.
I suspect that this was a dilemma faced by many listeners who were in search of more than their local radio stations could offer. But the merger means that listeners will be able to choose from a menu to add programming a la carte. For subscribers, this is a big win in programming. You can also bet that the prospect of replacing existing receivers will irritate early adopters.
Critics, however, will tell you that the merger will result in a monopoly. While the elimination of immediate industry competition will create a de facto monopoly, satellite radio is not the only source of music, talk, or sports broadcasting available to consumers. People are getting their music from many sources today. Besides satellite radio, people are finding their favorite tunes on Internet radio, MP3 players, music-playing cell phones and even traditional terrestrial radio.
To tell the truth, I don’t listen to terrestrial radio, or traditional free radio, much anymore, unless there is a game I can’t get on television. Indeed, “free radio” offers one of the more exciting and attractive music options in the form of HD radio. Unfortunately, some four years after HD radio hit airwaves, consumers have not embraced the new format, which ultimately suffers in comparison with satellite radio because of its limited range. If I weren’t so pleased with Sirius’ music programming and the fact that it’s offered as part of my Dish subscription, I would probably spring for an HD receiver to plug into my A/V home receiver. But I keep waiting for an affordable A/V receiver to come on the market that has HD radio built in as part of the tuner. When that happens, expect home satellite subscriptions to wane a little.
(Disclosure: I listen to music-only Sirius at home via Dish Network and a complete subscription in my wife’s car. The only financial interest I have in either company comes in the form of monthly subscription bills.)
You might think that the satellite industry has the upper hand in broadcasting. But while we’re on the topic of things we’re waiting for, let’s look at some of the things the satellite industry can improve. While Sirius now touts portable units as being capable of receiving live signals, many users complain of spotty or poor reception while on the go. Also, while traffic and weather reports for a few metropolitan areas is great, satellite radio can’t provide the same content as local news radio stations, so it would be nice have a portable unit that also gets AM/FM radio stations.
As a prerequisite for FCC approval, the companies agreed to freeze subscription rates for three years. If they try to jack the prices on consumers, expect consumers to change the dial, especially with the wide variety of options that are available to consumers today.
Artie Lange and Baba Booey Attacked in Afghanistan
StoriesNo Injuries Reported as Convoy is Attacked After USO Show
Howard Stern comics bombed, no joke
Thursday, July 3rd 2008, 4:00 AM
Howard Stern pals Gary Dell’Abate and Artie Lange came under fire after performing a comedy show in Afghanistan.
Howard Stern nearly lost his closest cohorts in Afghanistan this week.
Stern’s Sirius radio show producer Gary Dell’Abate, show regular Artie Lange and comedians Nick DiPaolo, Jim Florentine and Dave Attell had just finished a comedy show for troops in Kandahar when the base came under attack.
“Everything was going fine until the end,” a friend of the comics, who heard from them by cell phone, tells us. “They were all done with their sets, and they were headed in a car convoy to a meet-and-greet elsewhere, but they only made it about 20 yards.
“The military base they were on came under mortar fire, and the convoy was turned around.”
Troops led the comics into a secure bunker, where they all waited for a very unfunny 35 minutes as the shelling continued.
Eventually it stopped, and the comedians, all uninjured, went on to continue the USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour at other undisclosed locations in the Persian Gulf. Tony Burton, Dell’Abate’s rep, confirmed the incident but couldn’t comment.
Before they left for Afghanistan, callers like lawyer Dominic Barbara phoned in to the Stern show and wondered if the comics, especially those like Dell’Abate, who has children, should be risking their lives.
But Dell’Abate seemed most concerned about the 22-hour flight to the country, saying he’d never flown longer than seven hours.
Lange seemed most worried about what material they could use, given the Army’s orders not to make jokes involving President Bush, sex, race, religion, drugs or drinking.
Any safety fears he may have had surely disappeared when he heard how desperate the troops are for entertainment. In fact, when the soldiers heard they were getting a show, they were ecstatic, according to the Stern fan site Marksfriggin.com.
So far, Scarlett Johansson, Robin Williams, Kid Rock, Toby Keith, Morgan Freeman, Jessica Simpson, Kelli Pickler and bands O.A.R. and Five for Fighting have been among the few courageous enough to go to the war zones to bring soldiers a bit of cheer.
But Stern himself may have had the last word on the tour when he joked, “Why is Gary going, anyway? He’s not even funny.”
No worries: Dell’Abate is serving as the tour’s emcee.
The Mainstream Press Finally Recognizes "The Larry Sinclair Problem"
Barack Obama, Election 2008, FCC, Howard Stern, Larry Sinclair, Lynn Samuels, National Press Club, Politics, Sirius Radio, Tim Russert, XM
Posted on Mon, Jun. 16, 2008
Larry Sinclair to Reveal Corroborating Information on His Illegal Drug Use With Obama
WASHINGTON, June 16 — Despite death threats and an organized campaign to prevent him from speaking publicly, Larry Sinclair – on June 18, 2008, at 2:00 PM (sign-up starting at 1 PM) in the Holeman Lounge of the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20045, will for the first time reveal the corroborating evidence for his claim that on November 6 + 7, 1999, Larry: (i) met Obama at a gay bar where Barack Obama arranged for the purchase of federal Schedule II drugs, (ii) which Larry and Obama thereafter ingested and (iii) then engaged in hi-risk, homosexual activities.Larry’s story burst on to the scene on January 18, 2008, when Larry released a short video containing these allegations on YouTube.com. That video has had close to a million views yet the mainstream media has completely ignored Larry’s serious allegations. Thereafter, a clearly orchestrated campaign to discredit Larry began on the internet which forced Larry to resort to federal court to protect his reputation.
At the press conference, Larry will (i) reveal the corroborating evidence for his allegations regarding Obama, (ii) address the time-line of the response of the Obama campaign to his allegations and the murder of Donald Young, the openly gay choir director of Trinity United Church of Christ, Obama’s now-former church and (iii) the significance of the refusal of U.S. District Court Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. to allow Larry’s case to proceed.
SOURCE Center for Forfeiture Law
Montgomery Blair Sibley of the Center for Forfeiture Law, +1-202-508-3699, +1-202-478-0371 (FAX), SIBLEY@CIVILFORFEITURE.COM,
Losses at XM and Sirius as They Pursue a Merger
Artie Lange, Beetlejuice, Fred Norris, Gary Dell'Abate, George Takei, Howard Stern, J.D. Harmeyer, Kenneth Keith Callenbach, Lisa Lampanelli, Mark The Bagger, Ralph Cirella, Richard Christy, Robin Quivers, Sal the Stockbroker, Sirius, XM
Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio, the pay radio stations that are seeking to merge, both reported solid gains in subscribers on Monday although both also posted quarterly losses.
Sirus said that its quarterly net loss narrowed to $104.1 million, or 7 cents a share, from a net loss of $144.7 million, or 10 cents a share, a year earlier.
At XM, the net loss increased to $129 million, or 42 cents a share, compared with $122 million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier.
Sirius’s acquisition of XM is still awaiting the approval of the Federal Communications Commission. The Justice Department approved the deal in March.
Revenue at Sirius, the satellite radio home of the shock jock Howard Stern and the National Football League, climbed 33 percent, to $270.4 million.
The company, based in New York, added 322,534 net subscribers and ended the quarter with about 8.6 million, up 31 percent from 6.6 million one year ago.
The Washington-based XM, whose program lineup includes Major League Baseball and Oprah Winfrey, said it added 303,000 net subscribers and ended the quarter on March 31 with 9.33 million subscribers. That is up from 7.91 million in the first quarter of 2007.
Revenue rose to $308 million, which was lower than the average analyst forecast of $313 million.
XM and Sirius hope to persuade regulators that their merger would provide consumers with more choice in radio programming and could lead to lower prices in some cases.
Shares of Sirius closed up 14 cents, or 5.1 percent, at $2.87 on Nasdaq.
XM closed up 50 cents, or 4.2 percent, to $12.30, also on Nasdaq.
The New York Herald Sun 