HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINDA THOMPSON

LINDA......................

LINDA'S BIRTHDAY POEM SHE WROTE TO HER GUESTS:

We may not have been little girls together;
We've probably had different storms to weather.

We may share a lot-or be worlds apart;
Yet we are all bound by the strings of our hearts.

We're allies who look for the best in each other;
As a friend, a sister, a wife, a mother.

Though none of us is perfect, at least we try!
And I'm more grateful for friends as the years go by.

And the days do go by!!...It seems quicker each year;
What's once taken for granted, becomes much more dear.

We all have full lives; so little time to spare....
Yet friends find the time to show that they care.

So we gather together-then go our own ways,
But a part of each heart, with the other, stays.

Let's celebrate womanhood, and friendships true!
On this day...it's a blessing to share it with you!


Linda's birthday luncheons are like a reunion and no one can stop talking. This year we were on the patio of Taverna Tony in Malibu. And this year, Bruce Jenner, Linda's first husband, could have been the topic of the day. But it wasn't. After Bruce's Diane Sawyer interview, Linda was asked by every news outlet to give an interview and she said "no." We all respect that enormously. Eventually there will be a book about Linda's life, that she is writing right now, that will cover her engagement at 18 to Elvis Presley, her marriage to Bruce and their sons Brandon and Brody, and her marriage to David Foster.

Come join the party!

 Our first course was hummus, taramasalata, baba ganoosh, Greek salad, pita and tabouleh.

Danielle Del, Wendy Burch and baby Brady

Ashley and Mychelle

Joanne, Dorothy and Linda

Second course was octopus, calamari, stuffed grape leaves and meatballs

Vanessa Sandin

Right. Linda and I are posing

Karen and Danielle

Lisa, Jane and Kelyne

Linda, Wendy and Brady

 Third course was orzo, lamb, chicken kebobs, and spanakopita---

followed by the BEST HANSEN'S CAKE EVER!

I LOVE BETTE MIDLER

 

BETTE MIDLER IS ONE OF THE GREATEST ENTERTAINERS IN THE HISTORY OF SHOW BUSINESS. I have thought that ever since I saw her at the Continental Baths in New York. But first, let's talk about her Staples Concert. She is a showman/person of the first order. If she were totally alone on stage just with piano, bass and drums, with no costumes, she would still be (by herself) an entire Broadway musical.... plus pop star, cabaret singer, saloon singer, vaudevillian, 40s military entertainer, stand up or couch-seated comic. She does it all and can fill an entire stage with just a wink.

One night, many years ago, I was in NY with Dusty Springfield and her manager, Howard Portugais. He was a friend of a piano-player named Barry (who tuned into Manilow) and Barry told him to come see "this act with a girl named Bette." Frankly, it was a semi-terrifying adventure in a dark, steamy pool area surrounded by guys in towels. Bette and Barry were only about ten feet from the shallow end. Then she started to sing and do her wild act. There were no costume changes, no Harlettes--just a mic and a piano. It was like watching the birth of a new world. I had never seen anything like her. Dusty said right then and there that Bette was the best entertainer she had ever seen, and she felt that way until the day she died.

(No one knew with until now, but when Dusty was getting quite ill and we knew it was terminal, Bette wrote her a note that said something like, "Every time I go on I know my voice will never be as good as yours." Dusty kept that note on her nightstand always.) AND BETTE EVEN MENTIONED DUSTY SO GRACIOUSLY AT THE STAPLES CONCERT.


About six months later, Bette had been signed to a record deal and had finished her first album. Still, almost no one in the public knew who she was. People in the industry heard rumblings about her originality and genius, but most hadn't seen her. I was invited to a private press and record party by her label for her album release. The party took place in a small back room of Studio One, a gay bar/dance club. By the time she entered to do her show, the excitement was zinging across the room. I was feeling quite superior since I knew what was coming. Well, these executives in suits didn't know what hit them! Again, it was just Bette and a piano.

A few weeks later she was going to make her L.A. club debut at the Troubadour. She and Barry weren't making real money yet and Barry didn't have a place to stay. Howard Portugais let Barry stay in his extra bedroom near the Troubadour. Needless to say, she killed at the Troubadour, too.

Her first big concert in L.A. happened on new Year's Eve at the Universal Amphitheatre when it first opened and didn't even have a roof on it. Dusty and I went, and were so excited for Bette. That night, for the first time ever, she gave Barry his own spot and he sang "Could This Be Magic." He was a star five minutes later.

Since that time, I have seen Bette's shows too many times to count. This "misfit" from Honolulu has managed to have a marriage that works, a bright and talented daughter, and a calling for cleaning roads and saving highways. Like her audiences today, we have traveled on the same roads and have even more in common now. She has survived glowingly and is a shining star on every level that humanity or showbiz could ever expect. When she closed her concert last night, she was in tears and so were we. Love was flowing back and forth over the footlights. Hallelujah to us all.

RANTS AND RAVES----- SOMETIMES WE JUST HAVE TO LET IT OUT!

RANTS AND RAVES-------



RANTS

THE GETTY MUSEUM

It's beautiful. The location is magical. I'm so happy that there are people going there who are interested in culture. I'm happy that some parents take their children there to expose them to art.
But, OMG! It's a crowded mess. I went on a plain Tuesday morning--no holiday, no vacations. It took me over 30 minutes to park, going down and down into the bowels of the parking structure. When I came up in the elevator to get to the tram, there were over 200 people ahead of me in line. It was only 11 am!

Once I arrived at the actual museum, which was 40 minutes after the 30 minutes it took to park, there were hordes of yelling school children everywhere. It was impossible to attain any peace, despite the lovely surroundings.

When I got to the Turner Exhibit, the guards let in a man who had two children under the age of three! That should not be allowed. I kept walking to different parts of the exhibit to get away from them, but it was almost as if they were following me. I even went to the end of the exhibit to go backwards and they showed up seconds after I tried that.

I tried to enjoy Turner, but left as soon as I could. Miserable experience.



IGGY AZALEA HOW COULD YOU????!!!!!

 Not that she has a tremendous amount of talent, but she's clever and fairly interesting. I was so happy that her face (left) was real. It was a fascinating, kind of Uma Thurman face, one like no other, that set her apart from all the plastic. Well, not anymore. See the new face (right). It looks like someone just ironed all her character away. She now looks indecipherable from all the other plastic faces--new nose, new jawline, and maybe her eyes---although why would anyone want to have smaller eyes?
I'm so disappointed. She's just a number now.



KANYE WEST--PLEASE GO AWAY

 Maybe there's a real person in there somewhere. I'd like to think so. When he first started out I thought some of his songs were quite good. I particularly liked "Champions." Somewhere along the way he turned into an egomaniacal lowlife. He stands for racism, riots, violence, and swearwords. Did any of you see his so-called performance on the Billboard Music Awards? He was surrounded by fire and what looked like a protest; he said the N-word countless times (which was bleeped). In fact, almost his whole song was bleeped. You couldn't see him or hear him. I think he's laughing at the audience and all his fans and going to the bank. Despicable.



WEATHER GIRL "SLUTS"

KCBS

KNBC

FOX 11

There are also male weather "sluts"

I hate to directly call these specific girls sluts. It is not a comment on their values or personal lives. It is more a comment on the men who hired them and told them to dress in a certain way to get ratings for their newscasts. It is a totally distasteful slap at the viewers. Just a reminder, women make of 51% of the people in the U.S


TWO BACHELORETTES!!!!! NO!!!!!

This gimmick didn't work. It was an ugly first show and damaged the franchise. Bad idea. Cruelty turns off viewers. Also, in my opinion, they picked the wrong girl to be the Bachelorette. I also will confess that I am totally hooked on this show and I've seen every episode since the beginning of the series. And I'm not ashamed. It's my chocolate.

                                                                      ***



RAVES



THANK YOU, DAVID LETTERMAN

He was prickly, uncomfortable and sometimes a little nasty, but he made great television. He was a character you loved to watch. It was a treat just to see his brain work each night. He deserves to go have a private life now. I shall miss him.



GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOUS---WHO CARES?

ABC hired him knowing he was in bed with the Clintons. They made him the face of ABC News. Why would they be surprised that he donated money to the Clinton Foundation? He has every right to do whatever he wants with his money. His only mistake was not telling the network. It was not a devious plot on his part. This is no Brian Williams situation. Leave George alone. I want to watch him every day.





AMY SCHUMER--BRILLIANT NEW COMEDY MIND

You need to watch her show each week on Comedy Central. One week it was all in black and white and was an extraordinary riff on 12 Angry Men. Another week it carried that video with Tina Fey and others about Julia Louis-Dreyfuss reaching the "unf--kable age." Amy plays characters; she plays herself; you never know what's going to come up next.  She is not some stupid stand-up like Kathy Griffin. She is a gifted genius.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND--THANK YOU TO ALL OUR SERVICEMEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVE TO KEEP US FREE

PATRIOTISM IS SUPPORTING YOUR COUNTRY ALL OF THE TIME, AND THE GOVERNMENT WHEN IT DESERVES IT.................MARK TWAIN

So long as there are men, there will be wars.......Albert Einstein

 Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue......Sen. Barry Goldwater




A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.............Joseph Campbell

 With the tears a Land hath shed,
Their graves should ever be green...Thomas Aldrich

My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.....President John Kennedy

 THE SOLDIER'S CREED

I am an American Soldier.

I am a warrior and a member of a team.

I serve the people of the United States, and live the Army Values.

I will always place the mission first.

I will never accept defeat.

I will never quit.

I will never leave a fallen comrade.

I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.

I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.

I am an expert and I am a professional.

I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy, the enemies of the United States of America in close combat.

I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

LIFE IN INDIAN CANYONS........WITH NO ONE THERE

THIS IS ONLY TEN MINUTES FROM PALM CANYON DRIVE

 

I'VE DISAPPEARED TO PALM SPRINGS AGAIN. BE BACK SOON.

INDIAN CANYON

A NIGHT WITH HILLARY HOSTED BY THE SABANS AND THE WASSERMANS

HILLARY HIT TOWN AND WAS WARM, READY, AND CHARMING

I'd be happy to accept her offer to be vice-president

The event was held at Haim and Cheryl Saban's home, and I've never seen so much security there before. I counted 23 security, police and staff just at the entrance. Photo IDs and the invitation were needed to get in.

One of the many groups of security teams

 Hillary spoke about education, the economy, fixing Obamacare, our national safety, and cyberspace. She also said, "Have you noticed that when every president takes office his hair is dark and then as he goes along it gets whiter and whiter? Well, that's not going to happen to me. I've been coloring my hair for years and I'm not going to stop!"

Haim Saban introduced Casey Wasserman

Hillary's shoes. Very cute.

Casey Wasserman introduced Hillary

Donna Antebi, Lorraine and Sid Sheinberg



Sid told me a couple of wonderful stories. For some reason I brought up Howard Hughes and Sid told me when he was president of Universal, Howard called him and asked that a print of "Double Indemnity" be sent to Las Vegas. Hughes owned the TV station there and wanted to see it. "This was an unusual request, so I went to Lew (Wasserman, chairman of the board) and asked him what to do. He said to get a private plane and have the print flown up there, so we did.

I also chatted with him about our mutual friend, Steven Spielberg (who is like Sid's godson). I told Sid that Steven and I had our first meal in the Universal Commissary together. Sid said, "Let me tell you a story. I was on a plane and I read the review of the book of 'Schindler's List.' There were no phones on planes then and just after reading the review I wanted to buy the rights for Steven. As soon as I got off the plane there was a phone in the car that picked me up. It was as big as a shoebox. From the time I left the airport to the time I arrived at my office I had bought the rights. Steven didn't want to do it at first. He was a little intimidated by the material because he wanted to do it justice. I'm glad I talked him into it. His interest alone from the profits has already been $100 million dollars. He gives it to the Shoah Foundation."

Donna and Bob Hertzberg

 There were food stations everywhere under the tent--Greek, Nouveau, Espresso, and even FRIED DONUTS!!!

Fry Girl fried donuts

Carol and Frank Biondi

Guards at the gate

Stevie Wonder waiting for his car and driver

        I saw The Medavoys, the Avants, Cynthia Sikes, and maybe even Barbra Streisand who were among the "inside the living room group."

Antonio Villaraigosa, who is definitely running for higher office!