- Created on 04 February 2013
Budweiser Clydesdale Commercial Tops Super Bowl Ad Poll
This year's top spot in USA Today's annual Ad Meter Poll belongs to..... The Clydesdales: "Brotherhood" commercial.
The Anheuser-Busch ad that tells the story of a horse trainer and a Budweiser Clydesdale won over a panel of 7,619 who pre-registered to rank Super Bowl commercials by popularity.
Rounding out the remainder of the top five were:
#2: "Miracle Stain" Tide ad with Joe Montana
#3: "Farmers" Chrysler ad with Paul Harvey
#4: "Fashionista" Doritos ad featuring a father, daughter, and a group of the father's friends
#5: "Troop Tribute" Jeep ad
According to USA Today, Super Bowl XLVII featured 55 commercials that cost 40 different advertisers about $4 million per 30-second airtime slot. The CBS broadcast was projected to be watched by up to 111 million viewers, similar to last year's 111.3 viewer on NBC.
- Created on 31 January 2013
T.I. On Gun Control: ‘If Illegals Have Them, Legals Must Have Them’
Rapper, actor, reality star, and rising political strategist T.I. has had a lot to say about the issue of gun control in recent weeks. If you recall, T.I. was arrested in October 2007 and subsequently charged with two felonies — possession of three unregistered machine guns and two silencers, plus possession of firearms by a convicted f
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- Created on 29 January 2013
Cissy Houston Talks Drug Use, Bobby Brown in New Book
(AP) — Cissy Houston has a few words, and a few more, for Bobby Brown.
In “Remembering Whitney,” the mother of the late Whitney Houston writes that from the start she had doubted whether Brown was right for her daughter. And she thinks that Whitney might not have ended up so “deep” into drugs had they not stayed together.
“I do believe her l
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- Created on 31 January 2013
'Flashdance - The Musical' is Coming to Fox Theatre
The movie "Flashdance" became a cultural phenomenon in the 1980s, impacting the fashion, music, hair and dance industries. Girls sported tops that hung off of one shoulder, they wore big, curly hair dos, and they pranced around shouting "What a Feeling!" Now 30 years later, the story has been recreated for the stage.
"Flashdance -- The Musical," a stage adaptation of the 1983 hit film "Flashdance," will be playing at the Fox Theatre from Feb. 5 through Feb. 10.
Set in Pittsburgh, Penn., the show revolves around 18-year-old Alex Owens, who works as a steel mill welder by day and a dancer at a bar by night. Yet she dreams of one day being able to attend the Shipley Dance Academy, a prestigious ballet school.
The stage production is directed and choreographed by Sergio Trujillo and features a book by Tom Hedley (who wrote the film's original screenplay with Joe Eszterhas) and Robert Cary. The musical also features 16 new songs by Cary (lyrics) and Robbie Roth (music and lyrics).
One of the cast members in the ensemble is Lynorris Evans, who grew up in Atlanta. He is a graduate of Fordham University and Tri Cities High School, where he played the role of the Scarecrow in "The Wiz." He was last seen on the first national tour of "Memphis the Musical." Other credits include "Leap of Faith" on Broadway, Cirque du Soleil's "Viva Elvis," the Santa Fe Opera, and BalletMet.
Evans can be seen dancing and singing to the show's big hit songs, including the Academy Award-winning title track "Flashdance... What a Feeling," as well as "Maniac," and "Man Hunt," among others.
"I'm on stage quite a bit performing to all the fabulous songs that were also in the movie," said Evans, adding that the musical and the movie are very similar, but there is "the addition of more flair added for the stage."
Other songs audience members will remember from the movie are "Gloria" and "I Love Rock & Roll." The musical also includes the iconic water-splash dance scene.
Evans said audience members "should come away knowing that dreams can come true. If you really take leap of faith and go for your dreams, anything can be accomplished."
Show times for "Flashdance – the Musical" are at 8 p.m. from Feb. 5 to Feb. 9 and 6:30 p.m. on February 10 with matinee performances at 2 p.m. on Feb. 9 and 1 p.m. on Feb. 10. The performance running time is 2 hours 35 minutes with one intermission.
- Created on 28 January 2013
Two Books About Martin Luther King Jr. Now Available
Beacon Press recently published two new titles to the King Legacy series, a partnership between Beacon Press and the estate of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., that further cement King as a crusader for justice and peace:
"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice While many people know Dr. King for his civil rights work in America, less is known about his work as an advocate for global human rights.
"In a Single Garment of Destiny" collects King's original documents and writings on topics including human liberation, global racism, colonialism, international poverty, world peace, and interfaith relations—some of which will be new to readers—to provide a greater understanding and appreciation of King's contributions to the shaping of the modern, globalized world. The book's editor, preeminent King scholar Dr. Lewis V. Baldwin, writes that "King's image as an international figure and thinker is best understood through the full range of his oral and written sources."
A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings.
This new collection includes some of Dr. King's greatest sermons, originally preached while he was a minister at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church and Ebenezer Baptist. These sermons showcase King's gift for infusing messages of social consciousness and activism with Christian teachings and the religious passion he cultivated as a pastor. In the sermon, "Loving Your Enemies," King says, "He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love."
