Entertaining Posts

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Sonic Youth co-founders Moore, Gordon split up

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts | Sat Oct 15, 2011 3:48pm EDT

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Sonic Youth co-founders Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon have separated after 27 years of marriage and the future of the noise-rock band is uncertain, its label's parent company said on Saturday.

Sonic Youth, including indie rock pioneers Moore and Gordon, will go ahead with its South American tour in November as planned, Catherine Herrick, a spokeswoman for Beggars Group, the owner of the band's Matador label, said in a statement.

The couple, "married in 1984, are announcing they have separated," the statement said.

"Plans beyond that (November) tour are uncertain. The couple has requested respect for their personal privacy and does not wish to issue further comment."

Sonic Youth's tour has five dates, starting with a November 5 show in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and concluding on November 14 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Gordon, 58, and Moore, 53, co-founded the quartet in 1980 in New York amid the so-called "no wave" movement.

Moore and Lee Ranaldo were on guitars and Gordon played bass. Drummer Steve Shelley joined later.

The pair first met when Gordon played in a band named CKM. "I guess it was love at first sight," she said in the 2001 book "Our Band Could Be Your Life."

Moore and Gordon live in Northampton, Massachusetts, with their daughter, Coco, 17, who is a singer with the local band Big Nils.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Doctor's defense faces tough task in Jackson trial

By Jill Serjeant

LOS ANGELES | Fri Oct 14, 2011 3:13pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The defense in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor takes center stage next week with a major question still to be answered: will Dr Conrad Murray take the witness stand?

After three weeks of often damaging evidence against the doctor accused of involuntary manslaughter in the singer's death, legal experts say Murray's version of events is riddled with inconsistencies.

Testifying comes with risks if Murray is unclear in telling jurors why he failed to have proper equipment on hand when Jackson died, and why he failed to disclose his use of the drug that ultimately caused Jackson's death.

"If I was defending, I would not put Murray on the witness stand. I think he would just get hammered," Beverly Hills defense attorney Mark McBride told Reuters.

Jackson died at age 50 of an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol and a cocktail of sedatives on June 25, 2009.

Prosecutors must convince the jury that Murray was so negligent in his care of the "Thriller" singer that it led to his death, just as he prepared for a series of London concerts. The doctor faces up to four years prison if convicted.

Murray has admitted giving Jackson a small dose of propofol after the singer begged him for the anesthetic during a long, sleepless night. His defense says Jackson subsequently injected himself with an extra, fatal dose without Murray's knowledge.

"The trouble is there is no evidence whatsoever that Michael Jackson did that. There are no fingerprints. Unless they have something I am unaware of, it is just a theory," said Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Steve Kron.

MANY HARD QUESTIONS

Murray's attorney's are expected to call about 22 witnesses starting next week after the prosecution rests its case, which could come as soon as Monday.

Defense witnesses are expected to include former patients of the cardiologist, medical experts and possibly Jackson's former hairdresser. They are likely to portray Murray as a kind and conscientious doctor and press claims Jackson was addicted to propofol and other drugs, making him a difficult patient.

Yet, Murray faces many hard questions that have been raised in three weeks of the prosecution's withering attacks.

Legal experts say the defense must clarify: why Murray apparently failed to tell ambulance or hospital staff he had given the singer propofol; why, as alleged, he tried to hide vials of the anesthetic when paramedics arrived to help Jackson; how long Murray was out of Jackson's bedroom that morning; and why he was using propofol -- normally used for patients undergoing surgery -- at all.

"We have yet to hear why Dr Murray wasn't more careful," said Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor.

Murray's two-hour interview with police, played for jurors in court last week, raised as many questions as answers. Indeed, Levenson said, it offered a "road map on how to try to impeach him" if prosecutors can cross-examine Murray.

"The only reason to put Dr Murray on the stand is if his attorneys believe he will come off as very sympathetic. Traditionally, people like doctors and are reluctant to convict them," she said.

The police interview wasn't all bad news for the defense, said Kron. "The jury was able to hear Dr Murray (talk) about how much he loved Michael Jackson ... and how he was doing all he could to wean him off (propofol). He sounded like a person with some compassion," Kron said.

Still, prosecution testimony, especially from two medical experts who slammed Murray's standards of care on six points, was "very, very damaging," said McBride.

"As much of a hard-nosed defense lawyer as I am, I am not optimistic about the intrepid doctor's chances," he said.

(Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Xavier Briand)

Dyan Cannon book recounts life with Cary Grant

By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES | Fri Oct 14, 2011 3:40pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It was a fairy tale romance that turned in to a stormy marriage, and now Dyan Cannon has chronicled her relationship with Hollywood legend Cary Grant in her new book, "Dear Cary: My Life with Cary Grant."

With an age difference of over 30 years, the duo had a magical courtship in the 1960s that eventually gave way to the dark side of Grant after they were engaged. Following three years of marriage and not long after the birth of their daughter Jennifer, the couple divorced and Cannon suffered a nervous breakdown.

Cannon, now in her early 70s, sat down with Reuters to talk about her former late husband and what she's learned about love over the years.

Q: Why focus the book just on your years with Cary?

A: "I've been offered so much money over the years to write a kiss and tell, which this is not. I wanted this to be a helpful book, an inspirational book. It's really about the little things that happen in our relationships that tear us asunder, so I felt people would benefit from most of this."

Q: Is there an underlying message you wanted to relay?

A: "One of the biggest messages is that it is wonderful to love and to serve and to give. It's wonderful to try and make people happy, but it's impossible to do so."

Q: What was the biggest challenge in writing this book?

A: "I know how people feel about Cary -- they love him. I didn't want people to lose the stars in their eyes about him. I wanted people to love him more at the end of this book than they did before. This book humanizes him. They'll understand what formed him. And I had such compassion for what formed him. But I also suffered a breakdown. So balancing all that was my biggest challenge."

Q: There must have been a lot of stories to sort through.

A: "I didn't know what to put in and what to leave out. The first (draft) was so out of balance. The second time around it started to take shape. The third time I thought, 'Maybe I've got it now.'"

Q: Cary was a big proponent of LSD use and wanted you to do it with him. But for you it was a disastrous experience. Do you think Cary had a drug problem?

A: "Absolutely not. With specificity, no. He thought LSD was his gateway to God, to peace, to that turmoil that wouldn't leave him alone. He thought it helped him, but I don't think it did. If it did, it gave him a peace that enabled him without being tormented 24 hours a day."

Q: Were you able to have a friendship after the divorce?

A: "We were polite."

Q: Was it hard getting your career back on track afterward? Did studio executives have to choose sides?

A: "Maybe some people for a moment. But Mike Frankovich was a good friend of Cary's. He was the head of Columbia Pictures and he chose me for 'Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice' (which earned Cannon an Oscar nomination). So no, not really."

Q: When Cary passed away in 1986 at the age of 82, did that affect you at all?

A: "I was amazed at how I mourned him. I couldn't believe how hammered I was by his death, how deeply I felt his loss. I loved him so dearly, but some of that love had to get pushed down through all the pain."

Q: Was he the greatest love of your life?

A: "I've known a lot of wonderful men. I've known a couple of jerks. And I think the best is yet to come (laughs). I do. Because I understand love now. That's why I can say I'm a whole, satisfied, complete woman. But up to now, I've certainly had no experience with anybody like I had with Cary. I loved him and he loved me. I was the only woman in the world that he trusted enough to have a baby with. That's a big deal to me."

Q: Your daughter, Jennifer, has a three year-old son, Cary Benjamin. Do you see traits of Cary in her or in little Cary?

A: "More with the grandchild. There's traits in Jennifer that remind me of Cary -- wonderful traits. But the little guy, he's something else!."

Q: Will you write another book to encompass all the other aspects of your life?

A: "I'm not sure about writing another book. I've had offers but writing a book is the hardest thing I've ever done. I'd like to write and perform a one-woman show with other people as a part of it. I've talked to a friend of mine, we're contemplating it and I've made a lot of notes. But as far as a second book about my career and things that happened to me? I'm not motivated to do that."

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Prosecutors wrapping up Michael Jackson death case

By Alex Dobuzinskis

LOS ANGELES | Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:30pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prosecutors were close to wrapping up their case in the manslaughter trial of Michael Jackson's doctor after a top state witness on Thursday slammed the physician's treatment of the late pop star.

Prosecutors, who called their last witness on Thursday, claim that Dr. Conrad Murray was negligent in caring for Jackson and is responsible for his death, which medical examiners said resulted from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol and sedatives.

Murray has admitted giving Jackson propofol on June 25, 2009, the day the singer died, but maintains he is innocent, and his attorneys have said Jackson gave himself an extra, fatal dose of the drug he called his "milk" due to insomnia.

Prosecution witness Dr. Nader Kamangar, a sleep medicine expert, said Murray was reckless to give Jackson infusions of propofol and sedatives to get the singer to sleep after a strenuous rehearsal for a series of concerts in London.

"Mr. Jackson was receiving very inappropriate therapy in the home setting, receiving very potent sedatives including propofol, midazolam and lorazepam without appropriate monitoring by Dr. Murray, and ultimately this cocktail was a recipe for disaster in a patient that had underlying dehydration," Kamangar said in Los Angeles Superior Court.

Several doctors have criticized Murray's decision to give Jackson propofol, which can stop a patient from breathing, at home where there was not enough medical staff or life-saving equipment on hand.

But under cross examination, Kamangar, who was among a number of witnesses to slam Murray's treatment of Jackson, said a reliance on the painkiller Demerol could have led to insomnia, which Murray was trying to treat.

Kamangar also said his review of Jackson's records showed the singer received Demerol from Beverly Hills dermatologist Dr. Arnold Klein. The defense wants to show Jackson was dependent on drugs to help him sleep and Murray was simply dealing with problems caused by other doctors.

In opening arguments three weeks ago, lead defense attorney Ed Chernoff told jurors that in the months before his death, Jackson visited Klein's office as many as two to three times a week. "Dr Arnold Klein addicted Michael Jackson to Demerol," Chernoff said at the time.

Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor has denied a defense request to call Klein as a witness, ruling his testimony would be insufficiently relevant. Klein could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Prosecutors said on Thursday that Dr. Steven Shafer, an expert on propofol, would be their last of more than 30 witnesses. He testified briefly on Thursday and his testimony is to resume Monday.

Murray's attorneys told the judge they plan to call 22 witnesses, including two experts, and the defense could rest their case by the end of next week.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Paul Simao)

Reality star Kardashian on prenup: You do the math

By Azza Al Arabi

DUBAI | Thu Oct 13, 2011 10:54am EDT

DUBAI (Reuters) - Reality star Kim Kardashian, who married basketball player Kris Humphries in a lavish made-for-TV wedding in August, refused to be drawn on questions about whether she arranged a pre-nuptial agreement before marrying the New Jersey Nets player.

Some 3.2 million viewers watched Kardashian, 30, one of the highest earning reality TV stars, wed 26 year-old Humphries in a two-part episode of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" which aired in the United States this week.

Asked on Thursday whether she had signed a pre-nuptial agreement, Kardashian said: "I don't really talk finances. My father was an attorney and I'm a smart girl -- I'd like to think so -- you can do the math.

"I wouldn't worry about that."

Kardashian, who is in the glitzy Gulf Arab emirates for a series of promotional appearances, began dating Humphries in late 2010. The marriage is her second and his first.

The newlywed, who stars with her two sisters and their mother in their eponymous TV show, is planning a foray into Bollywood and expanding her fashion business to the Middle East.

Kardashian is thought to be the highest-paid reality star on U.S. television with 2010 earnings estimated at $6 million from the show and its two spinoffs, her clothing line, perfume, jewelry, tanning cream and other product endorsements and paid appearances.

"We've had a few offers to help us bring a store out here, to the UK, Australia, all over the place," Kardashian, clad in a sleeveless camel-colored dress and black and gold belt.

(Reporting by Azza El Arabi, editing by Paul Casciato)