As gamers, we know Albano from his portrayal of Mario on the “Super Mario Bros. Super Show!,” which aired only one season 20 years ago in 1989.

But he was also a noted WWE Wrestling manager, with over 50 clients to his name, and he also appeared in Cyndi Lauper music videos, including “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”, “She Bop”, “Time After Time” and “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough.”

Mr. Albano suffered a heart attack in 2005 and his health dwindled since then. He passed away today at home with his family.

Source: Kotaku

Edward Moore Kennedy was born in St. Margaret’s Hospital in Dorchester on February 22, 1932, preceded by eight brothers and sisters, to Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald, both from well-connected Irish-American families. As a result of several moves, to New York, Florida, and London, Kennedy attended many schools and was a mediocre student at most of them. He spent his high school years at Milton Academy where he maintained average grades and excelled on the football team.

Tragedy marked his life early on, and by age 16 he had suffered the deaths of three of his siblings: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in World War II, Rosemary Kennedy to a failed lobotomy, and Kathleen Agnes Kennedy in a plane crash.

After completing high school, Kennedy enrolled in Harvard University, where his grades once again took a back seat to his football career. He had a friend take his Spanish exam in hopes of maintaining high enough grades to continue his sports career. When caught, both were expelled, leading to a stint in the United States Army for Kennedy in 1951.

Thanks to his father’s political connections, he was never assigned to combat in the ongoing Korean War and instead served as an honor guard in Paris after completing basic training and Military Police school.

Shortly after he was discharged as a private first class in March 1953, Kennedy returned to Harvard to finish his studies and, after his sophomore year academic probation ended, his football career as a second string end, working his way up to starting end by senior year. Despite not receiving a varsity letter he was contacted by a Green Bay Packers recruiter with an offer to play professionally, which he turned down to go to law school and “go into another contact sport: politics.”

While attending the University of Virginia School of Law between 1956 and 1959, Kennedy studied abroad at the Hague Academy of International Law and managed his brother John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s 1958 Senate re-election campaign, helping to achieve a record-setting landslide victory. He also received charges of reckless driving and operating without a license, the first of his vehicle-related incidents.

He graduated from law school and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1959, after marrying Virginia Joan Bennett on November 29, 1958, at St. Joseph’s Church in Bronxville, New York. They had three children together: Kara Anne, Edward Jr., and Patrick. Due to his womanizing and her growing alcoholism, the marriage was soon troubled.

In 1960, Ted’s brother John ran for president, and Ted managed his campaign in the Western States, helping John win the first battleground state of Wisconsin in the Democratic primary. After the general election, Ted wanted to remain out West and not run for office immediately, and he was not eligible for John’s vacated Massachusetts Senate seat until his 30th birthday on February 22. Instead, John asked Governor Foster Furcolo to name Benjamin A. Smith II to the seat, which would hold it so Ted could later run in a special election.

Rehashing his brother’s campaign slogan from 10 years prior, Ted Kennedy went against Massachusetts Attorney General Edward J. McCormack Jr., who said that Ted would be “one Kennedy too many.” He faced his first public scandal when McCormack revealed his Harvard expulsion publically, but Kennedy rose above this, aided by McCormack’s overbearing nature in a debate, in which he said “the office of United States Senator should be merited, not inherited,” and called Kennedy’s campaign a joke. Kennedy went on to crush McCormack in the primary by a two-to-one margin and Republican candidate George Cabot Lodge II in the November special election.

Ted Kennedy spent his early Senate career avoiding the spotlight and trying to avoid making enemies of the older, more established Senators, and instead focused on his committee work. Not long after his career started, while presiding over the Senate, he was informed of his brother John’s assassination on November 22, 1963. Seven months later, Ted suffered severe injuries in a plane crash in Southampton, Mass., including a punctured lung, broken ribs, and internal bleeding, and a back injury that persisted throughout the remainder of his life. The pilot and one of his aides died in the crash.

For a review of some of Ted Kennedy’s major political accomplishments, read Dan Kennedy’s piece for Blast on the Lion’s legacy.

In 1968, after securing the California primary against President Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, the family member Ted was closest with, was assassinated, devastating the young Senator. He delivered a eulogy at his speech, which included one of his most famous quotes:

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.
Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world. As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: ‘Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.’

Seen by many as the natural successor to his brother, Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago and others encouraged Kennedy to make himself available for a draft to take the nomination, though he declined as he felt unprepared and did not want to be seen as a filler now that his brothers were gone.

With his brothers dead, Ted took on the role of paternal figure to their 13 children, and rumors persist that he coordinated the marriage of Jacqueline Kennedy and Aristotle Onassis.

Despite the trauma and hardships he had recently suffered, Kennedy threw himself into his work and became the youngest ever Senate Majority Whip in 1969, a move that seemed to further position him for the presidency, which he still felt conflicted about.

A few months later, Kennedy was involved in what is now known as the “Chappaquiddick incident.” After leaving a party for the Boiler Room Girls, a group of women who had helped in Robert’s presidential campaign, Kennedy drove his 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88 off the Dike Bridge and into the Poucha Pond inlet. He quickly swam to safety, but his passenger, Boiler Room Girl Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned. Kennedy did not report the incident to police until her body was found the next day.

Kennedy received a suspended sentence after a guilty plea to leaving the scene of an accident a week later, and gave a nationally-broadcasted speech in which he avoided admitting guilt to driving under the influence of alcohol or improper relations with the 28-year old Kopechne, but expressed his decision to leave the scene as “indefensible.” Despite the scandal, Kennedy received a positive response to stay in office from the Massachusetts electorate.

Doubts have clouded the reports of the events of that night, and to this day many question Kennedy’s story, which a secret inquest by Judge James A. Boyle found to be inconsistent. A grand jury on Martha’s Vineyard also conducted an inquest which was inconclusive. Kennedy condemned Boyle’s inquest, which was made public after the local inquest’s report, as “not justified.”

Kennedy overcame the allegations and easily won re-election the year following the incident, 1970, but lost his position as Majority Whip to Robert Byrd of West Virginia, which he confided to Byrd was a blessing as it allowed him to focus on his committee work.

Kennedy spent much of the 1970s focused on real political work, pushing through legislation such as the National Cancer Act of 1971 and working tirelessly on issues such as the conflict in Northern Ireland, health insurance reform and campaign finance reform. He repeatedly entertained thoughts of running for president, but family problems and the ongoing coverage of the Chappaquiddick incident kept him from committing, despite polling suggesting he could easily win the primary and the lack of other viable Democratic candidates.

In 1973, Kennedy’s son Edward Jr. was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, resulting in a leg amputation. His other son, Patrick, was suffering from severe asthma attacks, and Ted’s wife Joan sunk deeper into her alcoholism, resulting in several stints in instutitions and an accident due to drunk driving leading to her arrest.

In the late mid to late 70s, Kennedy was at his lowest point politically, as he found himself without a chairmanship and Carter taking the reins as the ranking Democrat. Carter’s differing priorities put a strain on Kennedy’s efforts to improve health care, and he instead focused on international good will, visiting China and the Soviet Union in 1977 and 1978. He rose to take the mantle of Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, but suffered another blow when Carter refused to back the $60 billion price tag of his proposed national health care plan.

In an unusual bid to unseat Carter, a member of his own party, Kennedy eventually ran for president in the 1980 election, and was the favored candidate due to Carter’s unpopularity and weak stances on many issues, but he ultimately lost, in part due to negative press regarding his answer to the Chappaquiddick incident question and the electorate’s sudden support of the president during the Iranian hostage situation and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. When Carter badly bruised Kennedy in the Iowa caucuses, many of Kennedy’s key fundraisers bailed, and it was a downward slope from there. Kennedy, however, clung to his fearless nature, no doubt earned on the grid iron in high school and at Harvard, and pushed his campaign all the way to the Democratic National Convention despite almost impossible odds, but conceded the nomination when his measure to free delegates from their voting commitments was defeated on the first night of the convention. Ultimately, Carter’s inability to win over Kennedy supporters aided in his defeat to Ronald Reagan in the general election.

In 1981, Kennedy faced unique challenges, including being a minority member of the Senate for the first time, and announcing his divorce from Joan Kennedy, settling for $4 million in 1982 after a relatively benign proceeding. Kennedy, meanwhile, tirelessly fought against policies of the Reagan administration, once again turned down calls for a 1984 presidential run, and embarked on a landmark trip to South Africa, staying at the home of Bishop Desmond Tutu, which could easily have cost him his life in the tumultuous apartheid atmosphere of the time. He later went on to be a key member of arms control talks with Mikhail Gorbachev under the Reagan administration; despite political differences, he and the president respected each other and maintained amicable relations.

After his divorce, drinking and womanizing became more of a public burden for Kennedy, and he was involved in drunken incidents with fellow Senator Chris Dodd in Washington, including allegedly unwanted physical contact with a waitress in a D.C. restaurant. These factors played a big role in his cutting short any plans of running in the 1988 presidential election.

Following the 1986 Congressional elections, the Democratic Party regained control of the Senate. As a result of his good working relationship with many prominent Republicans, Kennedy was once again one of the most powerful men in Washington, and used his position to effectively defeat Reagan’s nomination of Judge Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, which he saw as a threat to the civil rights he had fought so hard for. Kennedy used caustic tactics, including a speech which painted a picture of Bork’s America as a land of back alley abortions and segregation, which many saw as slanderous, but which was ultimately effective.

The 1990s saw Kennedy’s flaws magnified, through rape charges against his nephew following a night of drinking with the elder Kennedy, which Kennedy suppressed with a negative press campaign, as well as many articles and jokes about his conduct with women and his persistent drunken antics. This image put him in a position of ineffectiveness against the nomination of Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, which he opposed due to Thomas’ refusal to comment on Roe v. Wade. His silence on the issue hurt Democrats chances of blocking the nomination, but to speak out would have been regarded as highly hypocritical.

The acquittal of his nephew, William Kennedy Smith, and his serious relationship with Victoria Anne Reggie, which led to their marriage in 1992, improved his image, and Victoria is credited with stabilizing his personal life, which let him focus on the larger challenges ahead, including his fight against Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America legislation which earned his title of Lion of the Senate, alater challenge from Republican Mitt Romney for his Senate seat, and his defense of President Bill Clinton in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. More recently, Kennedy served as a voice against the Iraq War from the start, though he supported the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

By far his most passionate endeavour was the reform of health care in America, “the cause of his life,” he said, but which he died unable to attain. After a seizure in May of 2008, doctors announced Kennedy suffered from a malignant glioma, a brain tumor. After a risky operation to remove the tumor, which was considered a success, Kennedy underwent chemotherapy and radiation therapy. His condition declined quickly over the next year, and he died at his home in Hyannis Port, MA on August 25, 2009.

Frederick Rincon contributed research for this story.

Health care reform was one of Kennedy’s flagship issues and a cornerstone of his policy throughout his decades in the Senate. By naming the bill after him, many hope that he will accomplish in death what he was not able to in life, another in a long line of personal and publicized tragedies in his expansive career.

Byrd’s full statement:

I had hoped and prayed that this day would never come. My heart and soul weeps at the lost of my best friend in the Senate, my beloved friend, Ted Kennedy.

Senator Kennedy and I both witnessed too many wars in our lives, and believed too strongly in the Constitution of the United States to allow us to go blindly into war. That is why we stood side by side in the Senate against the war in Iraq.

Neither years of age nor years of political combat, nor his illness, diminished the idealism and energy of this talented, imaginative, and intelligent man. And that is the kind of Senator Ted Kennedy was. Throughout his career, Senator Kennedy believed in a simple premise: that our society’s greatness lies in its ability and willingness to provide for its less fortunate members. Whether striving to increase the minimum wage, ensuring that all children have medical insurance, or securing better access to higher education, Senator Kennedy always showed that he cares deeply for those whose needs exceed their political clout. Unbowed by personal setbacks or by the terrible sorrows that have fallen upon his family, his spirit continued to soar, and he continued to work as hard as ever to make his dreams a reality.

In his honor and as a tribute to his commitment to his ideals, let us stop the shouting and name calling and have a civilized debate on health care reform which I hope, when legislation has been signed into law, will bear his name for his commitment to insuring the health of every American.

God bless his wife Vicki, his family, and the institution that he served so ably, which will never be the same without his voice of eloquence and reason. And God bless you Ted. I love you and will miss you terribly.

In my autobiography I wrote that during a visit to West Virginia in 1968 to help dedicate the “Robert F. Kennedy Youth Center” in Morgantown, “Senator Kennedy’s voice quivered with emotion as he talked of his late brothers and their love for West Virginia. ‘These hills, these people, and this state have had a very special meaning for my family. Our lives have been tightly intertwined with yours.’

I am sure the people of the great state of West Virginia join me in expressing our heartfelt condolences to the Kennedy family at this moment of deep sorrow.

Born in Lansing, Michigan as John Hughes Jr., his early life wasn’t out of the ordinary. His mother worked on a series of charitable groups while his father supported the family as a salesman. Yet, it wouldn’t be until the family relocated to Northbrook, Illinois where he would find inspiration and soon base the landscape of his future films around it.

Though Mr. Hughes was far from his teenage years when his most notable works “National Lampoon Vacation,” “Pretty in Pink,” “The Breakfast Club” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” hit theaters in the 80s. He managed to tap into the intrinsic and poignant moments within one’s own adolescence. He brought to screen iconic moments from a group of high school kids dodging their principle in “The Breakfast Club” to a couple of teens creating a real-life dream girl in “Weird Science.” All the while making stars out of actors such as Molly Ringwald, Matthew Broderick, Jon Cryer and Anthony Michael Hall.

Mr. Hughes gave a rare interview to AFI (American Film Institute) in 1985 where he discussed his films. In reference to his then-latest success, “Sixteen Candles,” he made the point to explain, “Now I get hit a lot of times for having sentimental endings, and I do that deliberately … and with that film everything came just right, and that has a lot to do with the fact that when you are that age, you want things to come out right … and they never do … so I choose not to, and at some part I depart from reality, and say this is what I would want to feel at the end of the day. Life doesn’t always, movies can.”

And perhaps that is what made his films so memorable — the fantasy and escape for someone to play hooky from school and embark on a memorable adventure, or the idea that four very different classes of people from four different cliques could actually form a connection on some level.

Despite his somewhat less visible stamp in current cinema, some may have noticed his penned name Edmond Dantes as story writer for such films as “Drillbit Taylor” or “Maid in Manhattan.” And even then, there are classic Hughes endings to make audiences smile: situated stories that for an odd hour or so provide a window of escape from the day.

So while children of the 80s grieve the loss of another pop icon, many will undoubtedly remember how John Hughes managed to achieve what many people in the entertainment industry value: immortality. His films will continue to live on in late night DVD marathons and on the lips of many who quote the works from memory.

In the memorable words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” And many would agree John Hughes made the best of it.

Barry became a part of Rocket Chemical Company after they were commissioned by aerospace companies to develop several degreasers and rust-prevention liquids. Their main project, a water displacement formula, took 40 attempts to perfect, and thus, the most famous lubricant in America was born. WD-40 – “water displacement, formulation successful on 40^th attempt.”

Soon after its invention the lubricant made a huge splash among aerospace companies, so large that employees stole cans from work to use in their own homes. The inventor of the lubricant, Norm Larsen, then had the idea to sell the miracle lubricant to the general public.

Barry became president and chief executive of Rocket Chemical in 1969, 10 years after the product first hit shelves in San Diego. Sales were consistently increasing, with new uses often being discovered by users in their own homes, however it was Barry who made WD-40 synonymous with lubricant.

Barry decided to change the name of Rocket Chemical to the WD-40 Company, dispelling all rumors that the company produced rockets. He works tirelessly to protect the formula, choosing not to patent it in order to keep it secret. He protected the company’s trademarks and the infamous yellow and blue can as signatures of WD-40.

Barry perfected the look and marketing of the product during his tenure as executive, and in a fantastic marketing move, sent 10,000 samples a month to soldiers during the Vietnam War to help keep their weapons dry. The company was seen as not only the manufacturer of a great product, but also one that values its country’s soldiers.

In less than 15 years, Barry helped to increase sales to wholesalers by almost 1,200 percent. In his first year as president, Rocket Chemical was selling to 1,200 wholesalers. By the early 80’s, the WD-40 Company was selling to more than 14,000.

Barry pushed to get the solvent into supermarkets and foreign markets. WD-40 Company’s annual sales shot up to $91 million by 1990, compared to just $2 million in 1970.  In it’s most recent fiscal year, they reported sales of $317 million in 160 countries.

“We may appear to be a manufacturing company, but in fact we are a marketing company,” Barry once said to Forbes Magazine.

Barry leaves a lasting legacy not only in the success of WD-40 Company, but in his family as well. He is survived by Marian, his wife of 56 years; his two sons, Randy and Steve; his daughter, Deborah and his four grandchildren.

A master artist, Travalena became known throughout his field as “The Man of a Thousand Faces.” He entered Las Vegas in 1971 and has sported impressions of people from Frank Sinatra to Jack Nicholson for more than three decades.

This is yet another entertainment personality to have passed away this week. Incidentally, he made brief appearances on The Tonight Show with host Johnny Carson in the early 80s. Mr. Travalena was 66.

Mr. Mays’ wife found him unresponsive Sunday morning.

“My dad didn’t wake up this morning.. I’m sure you’ll all hear about it. It hasn’t yet hit me but it’s about to,” said his son, Billy Mays III via his Twitter account. “He’s gone. I’m gonna be strong for him. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers everyone.”

Mr. Mays is the famous television product spokesman who became so well-known that Discovery Channel created a reality series around his work.

His death is under investigation, but authorities have said it does not appear to be suspicious. An autopsy is scheduled for this week.

According to Tampa’s Bay News 9, Mr. Mays was on US Airways Flight 1241 from Philadelphia to Tampa on Saturday when the flight took a hard landing after the front landing gear blew. No one was reported injured in the flight, but Mays did tell the station that he hit his head.

Mays’ wife, Deborah, said the family was not going to make a public statement and asked everyone to respect their privacy.

The television salesman-turned-star is the latest household-name death to hit the news after the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson in the past two weeks. Mr. Mays was less renowned than the previous three, but he was as well known as many famous entertainers for his bevy of television commercials and the reality show.

On the afternoon of June 25, music icon Michael Jackson’s heart suddenly stopped at his Hollywood home. Paramedics and doctors could not revive him. The media competition began. Gossip website TMZ.com reported it first, and soon ABC and NBC were quoting the celebrity gossip site as if it were CNN or BBC —  as if it were a colleague. CNN confirmed it last, but the news was true all the same. The King of Pop was gone forever. Michael Joseph Jackson, age 50.

Fans responded quickly.

A swarm gathered at UCLA Medical Center with pictures of his face and shirts with his name.

As news of his death sent shock waves the world still mourned the passing of Farrah Fawcett, who lost her battle with cancer, and Ed McMahon, whose combination of medical illnesses took his life several days ago. Three icons in a matter of less than a week, and in its wake the public still grapples to cope with it. Yet it was Mr. Jackson’s death which proved to overwhelm the public.

Jackson once revealed in a televised interview that the most honest song he has ever written, the song he feels people should examine when it comes to him, is “Childhood” from the album HIStory. The first verse of the song reveals a poignant fact, “no one understands me.”

And in the aftermath of his sudden death, questions still abound in attempts to understand how this King of Pop, the artist who enamored fans with his dancing and music, could have fallen from grace so tragically.

Although we may never know the truth to the molestation charges pressed against him, the scandal was detrimental enough and made a lasting impression. Mr. Jackson lost credibility among many fans and friends as his antics grew increasingly questionable — from wearing pajamas while on trial or jumping on the roof of his car before onlookers outside the courthouse.

What does remain is a prolific body of work which has inspired generations of musicians, artists and actors.

The beginnings of Michael Jackson, as one of seven musically gifted children, hail from Gary, Indiana. At age five, Mr. Jackson began to reveal his flair for singing during school recitals and eventually became a part of his father’s dream team later known as The Jackson 5. Michael quickly became the most adored brother, captivating audiences as the years went by and fame grew quickly.

After a momentous meeting with legends Barry Gordy, Smokey Robinson, and Diana Ross, it appeared that Mr. Jackson and his brothers were on their way to being stars with hits like “ABC,” “I Want You Back” and “I’ll Be There.”

The price of fame eventually came at a cost. Unlike most children his age, Mr. Jackson’s catapult toward the limelight cheated him from normal childhood experiences — a factor that would become a recurring theme in his music and life.

Where most child stars fall into the shadows of entertainment history, Mr. Jackson developed into a man and flourished. And it appeared, with the success of his solo project “Off the Wall,” that he might do well after all, but no one could have predicted what would happen in 1982.

Thriller, a compilation of songs that fused his R&B roots with rock and pop, forever bridged the gap between rock and soul. The diverse tracks and addictive melodies pushed the album to record heights. It remains the top selling album of all time. Added to the appeal of his music was the timing of another trend: MTV. Jackson saw the potential in using music videos and was one of the first to use it heavily to promote his work. The apex of this phenomenon came with the featurette video of “Thriller,” an homage to classic horror films, in which Jackson incorporated his own style, music and choreography.

This also marked a period of Michael Jackson’s change in appearance. Mr. Jackson, who was rumored to have undergone excessive plastic surgery, suffered from a debilitating skin disorder called Vitiligo which causes one’s skin pigmentation to become patchy in appearance. This would be the first in a string of social dissections of his eccentricities. Even though his life was often plagued by public scrutiny, the popularity of his music throughout the course of the 80s never faltered, as legions of fans copied his moves and style as “The Gloved One.”

In the end, while most people permanently decided to love, admire, or loathe Michael Jackson, it was the media that truly had the mood swings. There’s no doubt he was often the center of attention by tabloids and the press — a fickle beast that one moment adored him and the next shut him down.

But the boy from Indiana, whose humble beginnings rooted in a band of brothers, who captivated the world in the 1960s, is gone. And the performer who showed us how to moonwalk, dance the Thriller, and ask the tender question, “Who’s Lovin’ You?” is long gone. And so, too, is the eccentric, increasingly insular celebrity. The legend of Michael Jackson will never be forgotten.

John M. Guilfoil and Brooklynne Peters of the Blast staff and Blast correspondent Ashley Dean contributed to this report.

Ms. Fawcett’s death marked yet another sobering truth in a week full of sadness and tragedies. And while the world mourns another icon, one cannot help but celebrate the joy and vibrancy she delivered onscreen.

Fawcett lived the life few could ever expect, even by Hollywood standards. The Texas native began her career after photos in Cashbox magazine labeled her one of the most beautiful co-eds. An agent noticed her potential and convinced the young University of Texas Austin student to try her hand at Hollywood. This led to a series of small stints in, dental and hair product commercials.

Then came the breakthrough, and its name was Charlie. Famed producer Aaron Spelling had embarked on a new project called “Charlie’s Angels,” a series about a trio of glamorous detectives bent on righting society’s wrongs each week. The instant Fawcett portrayed Jill Munroe, the athletic angel, her notoriety shifted, almost overnight, to utter stardom.

With the fame came a frenzy of fans and press. Scores of women (and some men) emulated her beauty by sporting the feathered hair look. Meanwhile, a pin up of the vixen, with her radiant smile, come hither stare, and gorgeous layers of blond hair riled up many a boy and man alike to sleepless nights. Among those legions included a then unknown Brad Pitt, who has often said that he had her poster on his wall as a teenager. The world either wanted to be with her or look like her.

After her time spent as an “angel,” Fawcett’s popularity fell as the role that made her famous also worked to typecast her into a corner for many years. Fawcett would receive acclaims over the years, including a Golden Globe nomination for “Extremities,” in 1987. She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her role opposite Robert Duvall in the 1997 film “The Apostle.”

The greatest gift Fawcett left the to world was in her final stages of cancer. Her struggle against the disease became a televised phenomenon as she welcomed viewers into the very real and scary facts about treatment and living with cancer.

When it comes to the making of entertainment icons, the one commonality shared across the board is the ability for that person to make an impact outside of their medium; an impact that becomes an inspiration to the world. Ms. Fawcett not only redefined the image of beauty, she also informed the world of the daily plights of cancer patients.

Ms. Fawcett is survived by her son, Redmond, and partner of more than 30 years Ryan O’Neil.

McMahon has survived decades in an industry that eats its own young. Yet it is no surprise that the Detroit born and Massachusetts raised entertainer made it far. The star not only had a unique ability to charm audiences on television with his humor, but his down to earth demeanor made him likable. Mr. McMahon’s appeal is definitive of an era driven less by sensationalism and more by wholesome images; a fantasy, untarnished by scandal.

He earned loyal friendships like that of Johnny Carson. At the end of the day with his famous pearly white smile, he never resorted to pretentiousness or snobbery — a stark contrast to the current trend where twittering and blog posts of hate toward celebrities and their bad behavior are all the rage. Mr. McMahon has lived scandal-free as a consummate television personality for decades.

For decades, Mr. McMahon entered homes late at night with the famous words “Heeeeeeeere’s Johnny!” the catch phrase announcement for his long-time friend Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show.” The duo was not only an iconic fixture of television, but their rapport and sketches set the standard for late night television. Children of the 80s will also remember him fondly as the host of “Star Search,” in which a legion of current pop stars like Christina Aguilera and Usher made their debut.

It seemed Mr. McMahon’s name would always be associated with the industry of dreams. In recent news, he fell on hard times with the pending foreclosure of his estate after a serious injury. Fortunately, an undisclosed benefactor stepped into to help him.

Mr. McMahon had this to say about success: “Honesty is the single most important factor in having a direct bearing on the final success of an individual, corporation, or product.” And there is no greater proof as viewers all over still remember him as an honest, wholesome entertainer.

On Twitter and social networks, where celebrities are vilified and ridiculed, news of his death remains a top trending topic. And, fitting for his career, television stations all over memorialized him after his death.

In the end, Mr. McMahon was the good, honest guy whose persona was rooted in a warm smile and those infamous large-framed glasses. He will be much missed, and most certainly unforgotten.

Farewell, Ed McMahon. The stage you take tonight is among the best and most exclusive one; for it is one reserved for icons.

Updike is survived by his wife Martha, four children from his first marriage, Elizabeth Pennington, David Hoyer, Michael John and Miranda, and three stepchildren.

We’ll bring you more later in the week on the life of Mr. Updike.

By the way: Because of a reporting error, we falsely stated that Mr. Updike wrote “The World According to Garp,” which was written by John Irving.

It would have been appropriate had our publication been a scholarly review of cultural and sociological studies. But alas, it’s BLAST! So I cut it down to the list to eight of the most memorable, and (if forgotten) important moments.

While I could list “Christmas” this, or “New Years” that; I’m not as festive for the season as most people are. But I do appreciate a look-back to what got us where we are in the first place. So on to the list and a brief explanation as to why these events were important:

8. The Beijing Olympics
You saw it on TV, or were one of the lucky ones to have been there. A vast majority of the global world, not the American world, tuned in to watch and support their respective country. You should find it memorable that a Communist Country opened it’s doors to the world and hosted such a prestigious event. With obvious controversy leading up to, during and follow the event, you have to admit that China handled such a momentous event with flying colors. No pun intended. Bringing together such diverse groups of people is truly one for the record books. Many of which were written that week. 

7. The Phoenix lands on Mars
Not exactly covered like the Olympics, the martian landing of the Phoenix on the Northern polar ice cap on mars is just as important, if not just as costly. ”Radio signals received at 4:53:44 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53:44 p.m. Eastern Time) confirmed the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. The signals took that long to travel from Mars to Earth at the speed of light,” NASA officials stated earlier in the year. Most don’t realize the true rocket science that goes into learning about our planetary history. So a worldwide effort of this magnitude rivals that of the Olympics, in that NASA is sending it’s athletes into space.

6. Bank Bailout
Many saw it coming, many even said it was already happening. But everyone can agree, it’s the most talked about debacle for Americans. Forget the billion dollar Hubble debacle, we had ourselves a far-reaching and horribly understated crisis of our foundations in finances. If we don’t learn how to control our credit, we end up licking wounds of debt and disarray. And if that wasn’t enough to mortally wound the triumph that was our mixed economy, we decided that we needed to bail out our banks. I guess we understood the hardships banks would face in a couple of months; compared to our lifetime of debt. I’m just glad our bailout money bought them a nice day at the spa. All 700 billion dollars of it.

Australian Social Security entitlements, Medicare health care, tax, and employment benefits were some of the areas where gay and lesbian couples would receive equal rights.

Openly gay Labor Senator Penny Wong said her government had followed through on last year’s election promises to remove discrimination from Australian Commonwealth laws.

“They deliver, on an important day for us, on a very important election commitment”, she said. ”More importantly, they will deliver the sort of equality before the law that same-sex couples have never previously experienced.”

Liberal opposition Senator George Brandis acknowledged the significance of the bills saying they would complete law reform in the area of same-sex relationships which began 40 years ago when homosexual relationships were decriminalized. Senator Bob Brown, leader of the Australian Greens party and also openly gay, was not so commending. While he commended the  recognition of rights, he was scathing for the  lack of leadership to include equality in same-sex marriage.

“Both the older parties have a task to undertake: to communicate better with the Australian community and to understand that the pressure coming from sectional groups, minority groups, to sanction marriage for all couples regardless has great public support”, Brown said.

A poll taken by Australasia’s largest online lesbian dating and community site Pink Sofa supported Senator Brown’s sentiments with 88 per cent of the more than 4000 respondents wanting same sex marriages legalized. Website member Jenny Ball was thrilled with the outcome but also wanted more.

“This really is a milestone for the Australian Gay and Lesbian Community and is something that has been long-awaited and now brings us in line with a number of other forward-thinking countries,” Ball said.  ”The next key step is for the government to ratify the laws that currently prevent same-sex marriage, thereby removing the final piece of discrimination and marginalization against the community”.

Marriage for same-sex couples remains on the horizon however with the Labour Government as well as the opposition parties refusing to be swayed by public opinion.

Boston, home of Blast, was ranked lucky 7. Just barely beating New York City. To determine the rankings, Forbes looked at 40 of the largest cities in the US and ranked them according to “coolness, cost of living alone, culture, job growth, online dating, nightlife and number of singles”. Although some categories might leave you a little skeptical (”coolness” was determined by a poll that simply asked “Among the following U.S. cities, which one do you think is the coolest?”), the rankings are pretty interesting. Boston seems to fit rather fairly into the number 7 slot with a population of 4,058,570, with 29.09% of it being single.

Amongst the the criteria for ranking was online dating and Sam Yagan, owner of OkCupid.com and CrazyBlindDate.com which has a “chapter” in Boston, would have expected Boston to rank higher.

“It surprises me a little bit. I thought Boston would rank higher, just because there are so many young singles there and it’s such an easy place to be out and about,” Yagan said. Boston is one of the most popular cities on OKCupid.com for people between 18 and 34 he explained. 

“The colleges absolutely have something to do with it. People who are in school are always dating – they are living in a dating bubble -there are lots of opportunities to get together, whether it’s parties or research around campus, and they have much more flexible schedule,” Yagan added, “On the other hand, the nightlife does tend to end a little early.”

That seems to be the main downside to Boston. Young adults are willing to stay out all night, but don’t really get that opportunity with Boston’s early bedtime – unlike New York, Las Vegas , and Miami, where the nightlife never ends. Boston’s saving grace in this category is its people. The night might end early, but the quality of the company might be a little higher than in other cities according to the polls. 

“I’ve been single in both cities [Boston and New York] and I run a dating sight which also gives me insight,” Yagan said, “and I think that obviously NY nightlife goes much later, it’s usually 4 o’clock before most places think about closing, but Boston is more accessible and more casual. They’re not worried quite as much about what you wear, and in NY people are more focused on flaunting their wealth”.

Michael Winter, promoter for Saint one of Boston’s popular clubs, agrees. “As far as the people go, our people [Bostonians] tend to run clubs all over the country. Our people tend to be a lot more street smart and book smart. If you go to Vegas, a lot of the nightclubs there are run by Boston kids. I think we have a smarter breed … most of these kids have college degrees to boot. We’re a lot more real.”

Bostonians are apparently a lot more cultured, too, ranking second only to Los Angeles in the ranking’s categories. The Theatre District, array of musical groups and venues ranging from The Boston Symphony Orchestra to The Paradise have a lot to offer in the way of cultural diversity.

As Mark Twain once wrote, “In New York they ask ‘how much money does he have?’ In Philadelphia, they ask, ‘who were his parents?’ In Boston they ask, ‘how much does he know?’”. Boston is a thriving city of culture and colleges and a great place to meet other singles if you’re willing to spend a little quality time in a library or cafe rather than the discos.

Mr. Crichton’s success began with his first novel, and his first bestseller, “The Andromeda Strain,” which was published in 1969 while he was still in medical school at Harvard University. It was adapted to film by Universal three years later.

Although he didn’t stick with medicine, his experiences had a hand in the creation of ER, and science and technology were integral parts of his fiction. Some of his most popular works include: Congo, Sphere, Jurassic Park, The Lost World, Prey, State of Fear and Next.

“Through his books, Michael Crichton served as an inspiration to students of all ages, challenged scientists in many fields, and illuminated the mysteries of the world in a way we could all understand,” his family said in a statement.

From the very start, the exciting nature of Mr. Crichton’s novels easily translated into screenplays, which led him to co-write, direct, and produce the adaptations of many of his own works and even get involved with other screenplays, such as Westworld in 1975 and Twister in 1996.

One of the most well known writers in the world, Mr. Crichton’s works have been translated into 36 languages. He even had a dinosaur named after him – the ankylosaur, or the Crichtonsaurus bohlini.

He was a loving husband and father to his wife Sherry and daughter Taylor, and leaves behind a science fiction legacy that many will fall short of meeting.

A private funeral is planned.

Sparacio took in the creative and colorful jewelry that these women were making out of what little they had.  She brought some of the jewelry back with her to the states to see if she could sell some of these beaded works of art to help raise money for the women.  The few she brought with her sold quickly, and she returned to Uganda in January 2006, to initiate the beginnings of Project Have Hope.

The Acholi Quarter was a rundown civilization, a slum, outside of Kampla.  The state people live in was unparalleled to the sincere and pure souls that the photographer saw there.  Sparacio spent two and a half weeks photographing the Alcholi women and capturing the illuminating spirits of the women in this slum.

Project Have Hope is based in Malden, Mass. Sparacio learned the unique craft of the Alcholi women and took back these skills with her to the United States.  Like the Acholi women, she and other volunteers make colorful beads out of recycled paper.  She then sells the jewelry at local craft fairs and online at www.projecthavehope.org.

Project Have Hope has helped hundreds of women since its inception in 2006. With the money earned from jewelry sales and donations, Project Have Hope has created programs that provide women with the skills to work and become educated; the organization also rekindles the hope that may have faded from these women along the way.  With the money raised, Project Have Hope started a literacy program for 22 women who had never before even stepped inside a classroom.  Karen Sparacio’s organization also began a vocational training program.  Currently, 18 women are enrolled, and when the training is complete, they will receive a loan that will enable them to immediately start their lives in the working world.

What began as a small loans program for 30 women to start small businesses, has grown to a “high risk jumbo loan,” for women with strong and viable business ideas.  The high risk loan will take these women two years to repay.

“[The main goal of Project Have Hope] was to help women create something that is sustainable once I’m gone,” Sparacio said. “Realistically, I know I can’t do this work forever. So my goal is to help provide the women with the education, skills and finances needed to help them support themselves without the need of outside, foreign assistance.”

Sparacio has spent thousands of hours working on Project Have Hope. When asked what she has gained through this journey, she simply says, “Friends.” Many of the women she meets in Uganda have been raped and assaulted, their children have been abducted and husbands have been beaten or killed.

“But they smile widely and often, laugh gregariously, and move forward with each passing day,” she said. “I am honored to consider many of them as friends. They are the people who remind me, even when I do not see them everyday of what is important in life.”

It must be true that life’s greatest gifts are not seen, but felt.

Sparacio remembers one boy who had been abducted at the young age of 8. He was forced to become a child soldier, but escaped nine months later. Sparacio took the boy to live with his Aunt in the Acholi Quarter. Through Project Have Hope, he has been sponsored in school for the past two years.  Whenever he sees Sparacio, he walks with her and holds her hand.

In January, the boy saw her sitting alone and asked if he could sing her a song. He began to sing the children’s song “Head and Shoulders…Knees and Toes,” while simultaneously touching each body part.

“He grinned happily and proudly as he sung. No matter how bad of a day I am having, I think of him and smile. What a sweet, kind child!” Sparacio said. “To at least some small degree, I was able to give him back his childhood and give him hope for the future.”

For more information on Project Have Hope, visit ProjectHaveHope.org.

Yearly tuition at many private universities has topped $40,000 per year. At that price, college administrators realize that they must offer much more than an education.  They must offer an experience. 

That experience includes anything and everything from activities to real-life work experience to a vibrant social life. A key ingredient to a memorable social life is a good mix of men and women. 

The New York Times article found that women make up 58 percent of those enrolled  part-time or full-time in college. In the late 60s, there were more men, and in the mid 70s, the genders were equally represented. But since the mid 80s, there have been more women than men.  That gap continues to widen. 

Admission offices at universities across the country are reacting with new strategies to attract more men to their colleges with the primary purpose of creating a more gender-balanced social and learning environment. 

Admissions materials 

Recruiting starts with admissions brochures sent to students at their homes. Dickinson College, a Carlisle, Penn. liberal arts school,  is actively recruiting more men than women, Time Magazine reports.  Since Vice President of Admissions Robert Massa started working at Dickinson College, the percentage of men on campus has jumped from 36 percent to 44 percent. 

Dickinson College’s website features proportionally more pictures of men and athletics.  They highlight their new physics, computer science and math buildings, and they started an international business program with the intent of appealing to potential male recruits. 

Several private colleges, including Dickinson and Chicago’s DePaul University send more admissions brochures to men than women, hoping to generate more interest from prospective male students.   

Athletic Presence 

Seattle University switched athletic conferences, moving up to a more competitive conference where other colleges have stronger athletic programs, reports PBS’ News Hour. The University has seen a drop in their winning percentages, but hopes to see an increase in the percentage of male students on campus.   

Women comprise 61 percent of the student body at Seattle University. Mike McKeon, the director of admissions, believes that “more prominent athletic programs — clearly male athletic programs — are going to help us to attract more men.”  

Other colleges are also using athletics to attract male students.  Shenandoah University in Virginia started a football program to not only lure football players but men who are looking for a college with a football team. 

Inequality in the response?

Susan Seckor, associate provost at Seattle University, fought for women’s equality in education for many years and wonders why there was no concern when more men attend college than women.   

“There’s a part of me that finds it outrageous and ridiculous that anybody would have the gall to suggest that when we’re now finally willing to recognize and applaud the gifts of over half of humanity, that there is this reaction that somehow sees it as alarming instead of exciting,” Seckor said in a PBS interview.  “I think it’s a sad day, frankly, and I think it’s a disgusting day.” 

A survey by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education said men still hold more of the upper management and decision-making positions at universities.  The survey also found that men also earn higher salaries. 

While women have made great strides, serving as college presidents of some of the nations top universities, including Harvard, UPenn, Princeton and Brown, women still account for only 20 percent of college presidents.   

The debate will continue, for now, as to how to best serve the students, effectively manage the university and properly represent both sexes, in both the student body and in upper administration.

It was originally thought that Kennedy may have suffered a stroke, but that appears not to be true.

Sources say that Kennedy was spending time at the family compound in Hyannisport when he fell ill shortly before 8:30 a.m. He was first taken to Cape Cod Hospital before later being flown by helicopter to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

A seizure is a sudden surge of electrical activity in the brain that affects physical actions for a short time, according to the Epilepsy Therapy Project. Seizures are not a disease, but rather symptoms of many different disorders that can affect the brain. Seizures can mimic stroke-like symptoms, but a stroke is a specific vascular problem.

The senior senator from Massachusetts had surgery in October to clear a carotid artery. Doctors hoped that this surgery would prevent a stroke. Family members said they are “guardedly optimistic” that he will make a full recovery.

Family members also said that Kennedy was well enough to call and cancel lunch plans he had made with them. Presidential candidates McCain, Clinton, and Obama sent wishes of a speedy recovery. Senator John Kerry was seen arriving at Mass General Saturday afternoon, presumably to visit with Senator Kennedy.

The senior senator

Senator Kennedy has represented Massachusetts since his election to the Senate in 1962. He is the currently the second most senior member.

According to Kennedy’s website, he has fought for the people of Massachusetts and the nation on issues ranging from health care to education reform to strengthening civil rights.

Senator Kennedy is the youngest of 9 children and is the brother of President John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.

An aging Senate

Senator Kennedy is 76 years old and has served in the Senate for 43 years. Compared to Senator Robert Byrd (D-West Virginia), Kennedy is young. Byrd is 90 years old and has served in the Senate for 49 years since he was first elected in 1959. He is the longest serving Senator in the history of the legislature.

The average age of a US senator is 62. The ages of senators range from 90 to 43. Six senators are age 80 or older and thirty-five senators are between the ages of 65 and 79.

Of those senators vying for the presidency in the 2008 election, Senator McCain is 71, Senator Clinton is 60 and Senator Obama is 46.

The increasing age of US Senators fuels a debate surrounding the trade-off between age and ability to serve. A more senior senator will most likely bring more political and overall experience to the position. However, age also leaves a senator more vulnerable to health issues and fatigue from the demands of holding a national political position.

Murrow.

If you don’t understand how important journalism is in a society, you need only read a biography of Edward R. Murrow and see what he did during World War II and then during the American anti-communism years.

Read the biography first. Then you can watch “Good Night and Good Luck.”

Murrow was born 100 years ago Friday. A heavy smoker, he died in 1965 at 57. Though he smoked three packs a day, he was one of the first journalists to report on the connection between cigarettes and cancer.

Though he was one of the founding fathers of television and remains perhaps the most influential broadcaster on any medium in history, he was prophetically aware of the dangers posed to an insulated citizenry.

What follows are excerpts from a speech Murrow gave in Chicago in 1958. It could have easily been given 50 years later and could be about not only television and radio but the Internet and computers. It is relevant during the rule of McCarthy, the rule of Nixon and the rule of Bush.

Our history will be what we make it. And if there are any historians about fifty or a hundred years from now, and there should be preserved the kinescopes for one week of all three networks, they will there find recorded in black and white, or color, evidence of decadence, escapism and insulation from the realities of the world in which we live. I invite your attention to the television schedules of all networks between the hours of 8 and 11 p.m., Eastern Time. Here you will find only fleeting and spasmodic reference to the fact that this nation is in mortal danger. There are, it is true, occasional informative programs presented in that intellectual ghetto on Sunday afternoons. But during the daily peak viewing periods, television in the main insulates us from the realities of the world in which we live. If this state of affairs continues, we may alter an advertising slogan to read: LOOK NOW, PAY LATER.

For surely we shall pay for using this most powerful instrument of communication to insulate the citizenry from the hard and demanding realities which must be faced if we are to survive. …

One of the basic troubles with radio and television news is that both instruments have grown up as an incompatible combination of show business, advertising and news. Each of the three is a rather bizarre and demanding profession. And when you get all three under one roof, the dust never settles. The top management of the networks with a few notable exceptions, has been trained in advertising, research, sales or show business. But by the nature of the coporate structure, they also make the final and crucial decisions having to do with news and public affairs. Frequently they have neither the time nor the competence to do this. It is not easy for the same small group of men to decide whether to buy a new station for millions of dollars, build a new building, alter the rate card, buy a new Western, sell a soap opera, decide what defensive line to take in connection with the latest Congressional inquiry, how much money to spend on promoting a new program, what additions or deletions should be made in the existing covey or clutch of vice-presidents, and at the same time– frequently on the same long day–to give mature, thoughtful consideration to the manifold problems that confront those who are charged with the responsibility for news and public affairs. …

I began by saying that our history will be what we make it. If we go on as we are, then history will take its revenge, and retribution will not limp in catching up with us.

We are to a large extent an imitative society. If one or two or three corporations would undertake to devote just a small traction of their advertising appropriation along the lines that I have suggested, the procedure would grow by contagion; the economic burden would be bearable, and there might ensue a most exciting adventure–exposure to ideas and the bringing of reality into the homes of the nation.

To those who say people wouldn’t look; they wouldn’t be interested; they’re too complacent, indifferent and insulated, I can only reply: There is, in one reporter’s opinion, considerable evidence against that contention. But even if they are right, what have they got to lose? Because if they are right, and this instrument is good for nothing but to entertain, amuse and insulate, then the tube is flickering now and we will soon see that the whole struggle is lost.

This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.

Newsweek discovered that many women who have turned to surrogacy are military wives looking to supplement the family income while their husbands are serving overseas. Several agencies reported a significant increase in the number of wives of soldiers and naval personnel applying to be surrogates since the invasion of Iraq in 2003. These women can earn more with one pregnancy than their husbands’ annual base pay (which ranges for new enlistees from $16,080 to $28,900).

Military wife Gernisha Myers, 24, says she was looking through the local San Diego PennySaver circular for a job when she saw the listing: “Surrogate Mothers Wanted! Up to $20,000 Compensation!” The full-time mother of two thought it would be a great way to make money from home, and it would give her that sense of purpose she’d lacked since she left her job as an X-ray technician. She loved the feel of her belly with a baby inside, and that natural high that comes from “all those rushing hormones.” Despite some negative reactions from her family members, Myers says she is “OK with it because I know I am doing something good for somebody else. I am giving another couple what they could never have on their own — a family.”

IVF clinics and surrogate agencies in Texas and California say military spouses make up 50 percent of their carriers. “In the military, we have that mentality of going to extremes, fighting for your country, risking your life,” says Jennifer Hansen, 25, a paralegal who’s married to Army Sgt. Chase Hansen. They live in Lincoln, Neb., and have two young kids, and Chase has been deployed to Iraq for two of the last five years. “I think that being married to someone in the military embeds those values in you. I feel I’m taking a risk now, in less of a way than he is, but still a risk with my life and body to help someone.” Surrogate agencies target the population by dropping leaflets in the mailboxes of military housing complexes, such as those around San Diego’s Camp Pendleton, and placing ads in on-base publications such as the Military Times and Military Spouse.

Military wives are also attractive candidates because of their health insurance, Tricare, which has some of the most comprehensive coverage for surrogates in the industry, and agencies may offer a potential surrogate with this health plan an extra $5,000. Last year military officials asked for a provision in the 2008 defense authorization bill to cut off coverage for any medical procedures related to surrogate pregnancy. They were unsuccessful — there are no real data on how much the government spends on these cases. Tricare suggests that surrogate mothers who receive payment for their pregnancy should declare the amount they’re receiving, which can then be deducted from their coverage. But since paid carriers have no incentive to say anything, most don’t. The subject of Tricare surrogacy coverage is becoming a hot topic throughout the military world, and fiercely debated on Web sites such as militarySOS.com.

Another reason for the rise in surrogacies is that technology has made them safer and more likely to succeed. Clinics now boast a 70 to 90 percent pregnancy success rate — up 40 percent in the past decade. Rather than just putting an egg into a petri dish with thousands of sperm and hoping for a match, embryologists can inject a single sperm directly into the egg. The great majority of clinics can now test embryos for genetic diseases before implantation. It’s revolutionizing the way clinics treat patients. Ric Ross, lab director at LaJolla IVF in San Diego, says these advances have helped “drop IVF miscarriage rates by 85 percent.”

There is still a lot that is not understood about the world of the surrogate. The culture still stereotypes surrogates as either hicks or opportunists whose ethics could use some fine-tuning. Even pop culture has bought into the caricature. In the upcoming feature film “Baby Mama,” a single businesswoman (Tina Fey) is told by a doctor that she is infertile and hires a working-class gal (Amy Poehler) to be her surrogate. The client is a savvy, smart and well-to-do health-store-chain exec while Poehler is an unemployed, deceitful wild child who wants easy money.

To better understand them, Newsweek spoke with dozens of women across America who are, or have been, surrogates. What we found is surprising and defies stereotyping. The experiences of this vast group of women range from the wonderful and life-affirming to the heart-rending. One surrogate, Gina Scanlon, is the godmother of the twins she bore, while another still struggles because she has little contact with the baby she once carried. Some resent being told what to eat or drink; others feel more responsible bearing someone else’s child than they did with their own. Their motivations are varied: one upper-middle-class carrier in California said that as a child she watched a family member suffer with infertility and wished she could help. Another working-class surrogate from Idaho said it was the only way her family could afford things they never could before. But all were agreed that the grueling IVF treatments, morning sickness, bed rest, C-sections and stretch marks were worth it once they saw their intended parent hold the child, or children (multiples are common with IVF), for the first time. “Being a surrogate is like giving an organ transplant to someone,” says Jennifer Cantor, “only before you die, and you actually get to see their joy.”

(Read the cover story at http://www.newsweek.com/)

In a tidy pinstriped suit, bright-blue shirt and golden geometric tie, this 24-year-old with long hair and light chin fuzz could be a grandson of the older woman resting inside the casket. But Tyler Pray is actually a young funeral director, the one who arranged this small service on behalf of an estranged sister who wanted to bury her broken relationship as soon as possible.

With the collar popped on his black trench coat, Tyler grasps a silver bar affixed along the side of a gray container. His father and grandfather help march it out a back door, balancing the weight within.

The three generations of Pray men stand in as pallbearers and family for the petite woman who spent her last few years in a wheelchair. Under soft, pink lighting, she appears asleep in such an unnatural position – hands crossed in front and glasses shielding her closed eyes. An assistant cranks the casket closed and the woman’s body slowly tilts back into place, her stiff, clasped hands freeze in the air as if reaching for one last handshake. The men lift her closed casket into a black hearse. Only 10 people show for the funeral. Two attend the burial.

Still, Tyler makes sure she looks great. He sets her hair in neat curls, dresses her in a stylish leopard-print blouse and brings her pale skin back to its natural glow. It’s a chance to do something for her that she can no longer do for herself.

“It doesn’t do anything to my skin, really, but something that’s really pale, like, look at our hands. They’re red. They’re fleshy. It just makes it look like there’s blood flowing through there again. Not that they’re alive, but just a more natural appearance.”

He flips the blush case over. “Oh god. This is so cheesy,” he says. “This is called Sparkling Wine.”

Reputation is important, not only in the bereavement business, but in this small community. The Pray family handles roughly 150 deaths each year in Charlotte, a town of 8,300 near Michigan’s capital of Lansing. Blunders in this small place don’t go unnoticed.

“I don’t want to put too much red on somebody … if they didn’t wear red lipstick,” Tyler says. “Same as with a man. I want to put color on his lips but look at my lips. They’re a pretty red. And I’m a guy not wearing any makeup.

“When I first introduce people to their person in the casket, a lot of times I’ll kind of read and listen to them, ask them if everything’s OK. And people say, “God she looks terrible. There’s too much red on her.’”

Families suffer the most intense episodes when they enter the home and see their deceased for the first time, he says. They hug and cry uncontrollably; some collapse. But that’s how they deal. And sometimes, the Prays are all that families have. Tyler is most proud when someone says their dead relative – not breathing, laughing, smiling like they once did – looks good.

“People who don’t get a chance to have this final moment always seem to be disconnected with what’s really happening,” he says. “Like it’s not true. Like they’re going to come home tomorrow. But they’re not.”

Tyler walks all of 60 feet to work through a back alley from an old, gray colonial, one of three houses the family owns. It’s a prime location for a job with no set schedule. And he’s made it a hub for his creativity. He stands at the kitchen table flipping through some poetry publications that arrived in the mail today. In another room, a guitar stands upright on display and an old typewriter rests on his desk, both ways for Tyler to turn out inspiration. He’s particular about his feng shui, too, demonstrating how the mounted flat panel TV looks cleaner when the DVD rack isn’t directly underneath. He says the spacious apartment is a peaceful getaway from the extreme hours next door.

Last month authorities in Aruba discovered online chat sessions between the three main suspects of the case and re-arrested them hoping they could solve the case. However, with no body or new information form the suspects authorities decided to close the notorious case.

A statement form the Public Prosecutor’s Office acknowledged that if the suspects were put on trial they would have been acquitted due to lack of evidence. Moving to cold-case files was hard for them and her parents but all resources have been tried.

“The public prosecutor’s office and the police have gone the extra mile and have exhausted all their powers and techniques in order to solve the mystery of the disappearance of the girl,” said the statement.

Holloway, an Alabama high school student, disappeared on May 30, 2005, during a graduating class trip to Aruba. She was last seen leaving a bar with the three main suspects, Joran van der Sloot, Deepak and Satish Kalpoe.

Quickly after her disappearance her divorced parents made every effort to find their daughter, using the media to broaden the reach of the search. Holloway’s mother, Beth Twitty, is “terribly disappointed” with Tuesday’s decision, her spokeswoman said.

“She was very hopeful the last couple of weeks and she went down there and met with the prosecutor,” Sunny Tillman told The Associated Press. “He told her face-to-face that he had new and incriminating evidence, and that made her hopeful.”

Unfortunately the prosecutor’s on-line chat findings were not incriminating enough. Prosecutors said the case could still be reopened if “serious” new evidence emerges. The statute of limitations is six years for involuntary manslaughter and 12 for homicide.

After extended searches, vigils and worldwide interest on the case Tillman said Holloway’s family is planning a deep-water search by a private group, but many don’t think the search will turn up anything.

The soft-spoken fashion designer has been quietly working in a Pennsylvania warehouse for the past 15 years, creating garments for Philadelphia socialites including Governor Ed Rendell’s wife, Midge and actresses Brooke Shields, Julie Anne Emery, Hilary Swank and some that were worn by the stars of “Friends.”

“But we couldn’t get any credit,” she said, meandering about her showroom in the Philadelphia suburb of Manayunk.

That made it difficult to use celebrity status to skyrocket a career. While some big-name houses could sway the loyalties of celebrities with free dinners, gifts and clothing, Hian was just trying to get noticed.

But that changed this year with a short, crème taffeta number with hand-embroidered gold chain detail, dubbed the “It” dress of the season.

“For some reason, I don’t know why, so many people asked for that dress,” said Hian.

The bubble-skirted dress struck a chord in the industry, and requests came pouring in to borrow the sample for photo shoots. Hian’s team created an extra sample so the piece could meet the demand. Songstress Carrie Underwood even sported the dress for a TV appearance and photo shoot in Entertainment Weekly.

“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I turned on the TV and, in a blink, saw Carrie Underwood wearing my dress,” said Hian.

Soon, the garment got a larger-than-life billing on actress Taylor Momsen, plastering billboards, buses and buildings in New York City in an ad for the new drama Gossip Girl.

The high-profile dress was also selected for an upcoming L’Oreal marketing campaign, and has been a hot seller in boutiques that sell Hian’s designs. “It just keeps sort of continuing,” she said. “We’ve received endless calls and e-mails.”

Each “It” dress can take up to 70 hours to create, from shaping the pattern, to cutting the fabric, stitching the seams and applying the meticulous hand-embroidered gold chain to the bodice, which can take about six hours alone.

An exclusive store in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, even purchased a few copies, but with the stipulation that their samples had to be long. “They’re very stylish, maybe more than we are,” Hian said of the famously conservative culture. “But whatever it is, it’s long.”

Chatting from her studio recently, Hian was dressed comfortably in a black and crème top from the latest line, a leather jacket crisscrossed with zippers from 2001, and jeans, which could be a future endeavor.

“I love this jacket,” she says, zipping and unzipping a sleeve as she speaks. “I could practically sleep in it.”

Metallic accents have long been a favored choice for Hian’s work, as well as the soft curves and flowing geometric shapes that are present in many of her creations. For their soft fluidity, Hian favors silk and jersey above all other fabrics. Texture is also an important aspect of Hian’s designs, adding her own distinctive flair to classic silhouettes with soft, curved lines, geometric shapes and embellishing pieces with handcrafted cording, embroidery or hand-sewn gold chain.

“It’s really hard sometimes to find what you see in your head,” Hian said, but dying fabrics and hand embroidering designs helps make the finished product as close as possible to her original idea.

As a child, Hian didn’t harbor other career aspirations. The Philadelphia-born daughter of a fashion photographer and classical musician knew by the time she was five years-old that she loved thinking up outfits and sketching them on paper. Some of her earliest works, a child’s scribbling in greens and purples, still adorn a wall in her showroom.

The rest of the space is filled with racks of her latest designs, some of which can also be found in Hian’s personal closet. With each new piece, Hian strives to create an emotionally-charged garment, and a graphic depiction of Hian’s personality.

At her studio, Hian’s office is in slight disarray as she rifles through bags of small fabric squares, working on ideas for next year’s fall collection. New ideas begin life as quickly-jotted sketches on scraps of paper. They seem to pop into Hian’s head at all hours, sometimes forming while she sleeps; her career is, undoubtedly, a 24/7 job.

“I’m a working person. I love to work, ‘cause it’s not like work,” she says.

“My French was so-so, not great,” said Hian. “They only seem to know ‘bye-bye’ and ‘Hollywood star,’” she joked. “It’s not easy, but I really like it.”

Hian’s next move will likely be to New York City, where she hopes to open a shop by 2008. Expanding her collection is also on Hian’s to-do list, with aspirations for active wear, accessories, jeans and a men’s line.

“Being a designer, you want to design everything,” she said.

Throughout the course of his illustrious career, Mailer was twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and won the National Book Award. His flair and demeanor cemented him as one of the most celebrated authors in America.

Norman Kingsley Mailer was born on January 31, 1923 in Long Branch, NJ and was raised in Brooklyn, NY. He attended the Boys’ School. Mr. Mailer graduated from Harvard in 1943 at the age of 20 and was soon drafted by the U.S. Army. Serving in the Philippines he would use his wartime experiences later in his writings.

Cocky and defiant, but equally talented, Mr. Mailer rose to prominence as part of the Greatest Generation, having graduated a prestigious institution and thrust full-force into the Pacific during the Second World War. Culling details and emotions from his time there, Mr. Mailer wrote his first–and some would say his finest–novel based on the events. The Naked and the Dead was published in 1948, and almost immediately shot the 25-year-old to literary stardom.

After a brief, mostly unsuccessful stint as a Hollywood screenwriter, Mr. Mailer returned to New York City. During the 1950s, he continued writing novels, although he didn’t immediately see the same success that his first novel had gained.

One of his subsequent novels, The Deer Park, was based on his writing experiences on the West Coast. It was repeatedly rejected by numerous publishers because of its extremely sexual content.

Apart from his literary success, Mr. Mailer saw the same problems that had plagued many writers during his time and from generations past. During his rise to celebrity status, Mr. Mailer discovered the power of alcohol, a mechanism that would, throughout the rest of his life, either bless him with a sort of inebriated, humorous charm, or curse him with tumultuous relationships and painful events.

One night in 1960, after a night of partying, Mr. Mailer stabbed his then-wife, Adele Morales, with a penknife. Although she fully recovered and refused to press charges, this incident would haunt him the rest of his life and would result in many plaguing him as a misogynist.

Mr. Mailer will be undoubtedly be remembered as a a literary icon for generations to come. But perhaps the most interesting aspect of his legacy is that he had played just as much a part in crafting his towering identity as did his novels and critics. Shortly after the release of The Naked and the Dead, Mr. Mailer had claimed that he was going to be one of the preeminent authors of his time, and that he was going to pen “the big one”- the great American novel. Through the subsequent commercial failures that followed Mailer into the 1960s, he firmly maintained his belief that he was an icon.

The kind of success that Mr. Mailer had once predicted seemed to have found him in the late 60s; his nonfiction account of the October 1967 anti-war march on the Pentigon, The Armies of the Night, won both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in 1968. In it, Mailer documented the events of that fall with creativity and precision, often glamorizing the march and, to no surprise, his own “heroic” contributions as a novelist and a historian.

Mr. Mailer won another Pulitzer prize in 1979 for The Executioner’s song, another mostly nonfiction account of the imprisonment and execution of convicted Utah murderer Gary Gilmore.

Among his most notable contributions to the literary community, apart from his novels, was his co-founding of The Village Voice, perhaps the most widely recognized alternative newspaper in the country. Mr. Mailer’s dabbling in journalism (he regularly contribued to The Voice, among other New York-based publications), along with his famous nonfiction-plus-some-creativity novels, put him at the forefront of what some called the “new journalism” movement, with the likes of Tom Wolfe and Hunter S. Thompson.

Mr. Mailer had undergone lung surgery recently at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, NY.

By Simon Dumenco

Recently, I found myself at a party in Manhattan, casting sidelong glances at a woman. Her look (baby-doll dress, kinderwhore lip gloss) and behavior (exclaiming “Oh my god, totally!” and text-ing obsessively) screamed tweenager. You know, that hybrid archetype—the one who worships at the altar of Hannah Montana and High School Musical. Everything about the woman telegraphed jailbait—except, that is, for the crow’s feet, which suggested that this wannabe tween was pushing 35.

Look around. The 35-going-on-12 woman is everywhere. Man-child Syndrome—the affliction that causes thirty-something guys to cling to adolescence—may be rampant, but lately it’s women who are taking the lead in regressing. Call it the Big Girl Epidemic: women selling versions of themselves that, when you get down to it, are pretty creepy. It’s not so much a Lolita thing—the Big Girl isn’t trying to be a dewy seductress—but more of a daffy, tweenage thing.

Is this the sort of girl you clawed your way into manhood to date? Think back to what your big brother’s girlfriend seemed like when you were a kid: A woman. A w-o-m-a-n woman. Not someone who speaks in acronyms and carries a glitter-covered Sidekick.

“I get the feeling that a lot of women are dressing and acting that way because they think that that’s what guys want,” says Jean Twenge, associate professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of Generation Me, a book about American youth culture. “It’s the same thing as older women getting plastic surgery. The idea is that what men want is a woman who looks 18. Although they don’t usually want a woman who acts 18.” Twenge laughs, then adds, “And that’s where the problem comes in.”

And it is a problem—especially if you’re a man who happens to find tween impersonations not only unbecoming but more than a little sad. Unfortunately, as long as our culture reinforces the Big Girl’s worst inclinations, the epidemic will persist.

“I’ve been meditating on the question of why women in their twenties and thirties seem to be obsessed with all things teen—fashion, slang, gossip, et cetera,” says Anastasia Goodstein, publisher of ypulse.com, a marketing website. “The reality is that teen culture has come to define pop culture.” As the usual markers of American adulthood—marriage, career, kids—get more and more delayed, the simpleminded distractions of adolescence have extended their grip on the adult brain. Man-children may drag their old skateboards and video games with them into their thirties, but Big Girls needn’t bother to cling to the pop culture of their youth. “Adult” pop culture has been conveniently colonized by a teen sensibility. Consider Gossip Girls or The Hills. Both shows are endlessly blogged about and compulsively parsed by teenage girls—but they’re also cornerstones of thirtysomething women’s party conversation. The audiences have converged.

Meanwhile, the female-oriented tabloids—Us Weekly, In Touch, and Star—read like Tiger Beat redux, chronicling the dysfunction of the Lindsays, Britneys, Nicoles, Heidis, and Laurens who have come to dominate the celebrity landscape at the expense of more seasoned female celebrities. And you only need look at the teen/tween style bible Teen Vogue to discover where Big Girls are taking their fashion cues from. According to the demographic stats it supplies to advertisers, nearly 2.8 million readers (almost half the total) of Vogue’s little sister are adults.

Dating one of these Big Girls doesn’t mean just putting up with jailbait fashion and IMs that say OMG, totally! It means potentially enduring the worst sort of navel-gazing drama. As Twenge points out, arrested development goes hand in hand with self-absorption: Narcissism “is a very adolescent personality trait. Obviously it means you focus on yourself and what’s good for you.” It used to be that men had the ego market cornered, but now, Twenge says, “there’s virtually no difference between the sexes with regard to narcissism. Most of the change has taken place in girls and women.” Basically, women have caught up to men by sinking to comparable levels of adolescent self-absorption.

Which makes the idea of actually dating a Big Girl even more unappealing.

Not that, in this postfeminist age, you have to hold out for “I am woman, hear me roar.” But “I am girl, hear me giggle”? Uh, no. Totes no.

A tiny Yellow Labrador Retriever puppy had its leg pressed against its cramped metal cage. It was cut and bleeding badly. She asked to see the puppy immediately, and as it clung to her she knew this wasn’t the first time this animal had felt pain.

Many people are simply unaware that many pet store animals come from “puppy mills,” high-volume, sub-standard dog breeding operations.

Unfortunately this is a story that is repeated time after time at pet stores across the United States. According to the Humane Society of the United States, an estimated 6-8 million pets enter shelters each year. With so many animals in need one wonders why there is a need for Pet Stores at all.

Howard went about contacting several animal rights groups in the Atlanta area to address the pet store issue with little success. Steadfast and tenacious, she heard of a young gentleman who had taken a job at one of the Docktor Pet Centers merely to help the animals. She met him, rented a video camera and documented many sick and dying puppies.

Footage in hand, Howard partnered with animal abuse investigator Robert Baker. Their efforts led to a series of exposes on ABC’s 20/20 as well as People and Life Magazine in which the Docktor Pet Stores were named directly. They also showed the horrors of puppy mills.

Docktor Pet Centers filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in February 1993. The company had more than 300 franchises at the time. Howard and Baker went on to start the Companion Animal Protection Society in Cohasset, Mass. It is the only national nonprofit dedicated exclusively to protecting companion animals.

Since that time Howard has worked with Dateline NBC, CNN, Hard Copy, and Numerous Newspapers around the country, as well as an HBO documentary that will air the end of 2008.

The Companion Animal protection society will be holding their first ever “Claws and Paws Shop” online auction to raise funds and awareness for their critical mission from November 5-30. Items include trips to Australia, Bermuda and signed memorabilia from the Boston Red Sox. There are also a ton of Pet items! Visit www.caps-web.org for more information.

Courtesy of Image Unlimited Communications. Blast Magazine edits commentaries for style only, and they do not necessarily represent the opinions of Blast Magazine, its editors or its publisher.

Love’s mother, an Irish gypsy, was a bastard child forced to work as a farmhouse worker after being separated from her mother in Northern Ireland. She got pregnant on a trip to America, giving the artist no specific cultural roots like her mother. She moved and lived in more than 30 countries before turning 18. While still an older teen, she decided to leave home to travel across America and Europe. Struggling for money and stability, Love took refuge in art at age 12 trying to channel her emotions to create something hoping to make people think and grow. Photography became the means for her creative exposure. Her first photo expedition was on her 21st birthday in Darfur.

“I was with an anthologist who had been following a group of women who self-mutilated as a form of protection, a practice which begun with colonial slave trade and still continues today,” Love said.

Her expedition into Sudan and Chad influenced her desire to keep traveling and exposing people’s stories from across the globe. She has traveled to Africa and the
Middle East. She has gone to all parts of Asia, reaching Japan, China, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam. Her residences on her voyages have ranged from orphanages to churches and even jails at times. Love has called Australia, London and New York home and has collected thousands of pictures from her travels.

From July 31 to August 4, Love had the chance to debut her work in a solo exhibition of 100 pieces from her extensive portfolio, showcased at the World Culture Open Center in New York City. The exhibition, “Representing Woman – Unbreakable Surrealism,” documents the combination of chaos and order within human life. Photographing the masses and the esteemed alike, including Gloria Steinem, Ani DiFranco, and the Dalai Lama, Love creates a fusion between a photojournalistic approach and the capturing of fantasy.

“In my life, thus far the only thing that remains constant is my obsession with recording life as honestly and openly as I can,” she said. “I only hope that in sharing my work people will stay open to make their own voice real.” Although peaceful in nature and more than willing to chat, one may wonder if a difficult background is the only reason why this woman has a ‘flower child’ personality. But as she explains, there should be no stereotypes of prejudices because they may shock those who employ them.

When growing up Love was exposed to rich and poor environments alike. Her father, of Russian descent, has a stable life and economic means. This gave Love chance to mingle with diplomats and models, learning how to act in any situation with comfort. In the midst of her disjointed upbringing, Love was also diagnosed with crippling Dystonia, a neurological movement disorder in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures.

Adding to the turmoil of dealing with a movement disorder that affects a quarter-million Americans, Love has also been raped and beaten. After the incident, the first thing she reached for was her camera. She chose to videotape herself while making calls on her phone, trying to get help, as it was the best way she could process. Eventually, Love was able to create with what she lived through.

“I have always lived in chaos, knowing I was loved. Love and chaos…if you want to trace me to my roots, that’s what you will find,” she added.

Her photographs are as direct as she is in explaining her history. Featuring young and old, in portraits or nudes, each photo tells a story. Whether it is a child looking intently at the camera or a beautiful sunset by the ocean, art aficionados saw a variety of pieces from fine art to surrealism in her New York exhibit. Featured in the exhibit was the work of Allison Kramer, whose photo-essayist approach documenting Love’s life and career reflect their mutual passion to produce art. Kramer covers the progressive stages of Love’s illness, vulnerability, and most intimate relationships. In regards to relationships, Love admits that marriage and single-hood are only labels.

A self-described passionate woman she is torn between wanting ‘the other half’ and enjoying her independence. While still learning about Love, the woman, who does not acknowledge age in her life, admits that she will continue to meet possible soul mates.

“In every country [I visit] I make sure to do three things: visit the holy places, read the papers, and have friends and lovers who are locals,” she said.

What the future may bring for this survivor could be as unexpected as her life has been. Although she is a college graduate, with a bachelor’s in journalism and visual communication from the University of California at Santa Cruz, she wants to continue to educate herself, relying on her instinctive character. Other projects are also in the works with four books ready to be printed, but waiting for a publisher. Most importantly, she wants to excel and help others know life is, after all, beautiful. “I am ready to share…I draw my inspiration from God, by a higher power. I am looking for gallery walls to fill, for people to work with [and] I am an unrelenting optimist,” Love said. Love is a member of the arts collaborative Red Monsoon, where artists embrace a shared spirit and create works that bridge on their experiences. To see Love’s art visit www.lovephotography.org.

Vick will plead guilty to felony conspiracy next Monday, defense attorney Lawrence Woodward told the Virginian-Pilot, of Norfolk, Virginia.

Vick could spend up to five years in prison and face thousands in fines.

“After consulting with his family over the weekend, Michael Vick asked that I announce today that he has reached an agreement with federal prosecutors regarding the charges pending against him,” lead defense attorney Billy Martin said in a statement. “Mr. Vick has agreed to enter a plea of guilty to those charges and to accept full responsibility for his actions and the mistakes he has made. Michael wishes to apologize again to everyone who has been hurt by this matter.”

Further federal charges with additional penalties were expected, and it is believed that this plea deal will belay these additional sanctions.

Three co-defendants had previously come forward to accept plea deals in exchange for their testimony against Vick at trial. It seems that no such trial will take place now.

The Associated Press reported that Vick faces the additional issue of a possible lifetime ban from the National Football League.

For Liliana Asencio, moving three times a year had become commonplace. After her father left the family 10 years ago, her mother, a migrant worker, was left to care for 7-year-old Asencio and three younger siblings. Living in Tennessee for seven months out of a year, in Mexico for four months and in Florida for a month, before beginning the cycle again once the working season started in Tennessee, it became hard for the now 17-year old to lead a “normal” life.

After realizing the instability was harming the children, Asencio’s mother decided to continue the seasonal jobs on her own and keep her kids in Tennessee with their grandmother, who lived at a worker’s camp and got up at 4 a.m. to make flour tortillas and food for the worker’s daily packed lunches.

“Trying to keep up with school was the hardest; because of all the moving, what I should have learned in fourth and fifth grade I didn’t learn ‘till sixth,” the Mexican-American teen said. “I stopped moving and … it was hard not having my mom around. There were so many things that she missed and so many things I wish she could have helped me with as a kid.”

Asencio’s story is not uncommon but often unheard. With the issues of immigration taking center stage around the country, however, more and more community organizations are giving counsel, English classes and even legal services to families like Asencio’s. But other groups try to focus on the opportunities available for those working for the American dream.

One of those organizations is Telamon Corporation: Tennessee Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (TMSHS), who developed Growing Tennessee: Rural Youth Cultivate Common Ground. Their project allows Asencio and other children of Appalachian and migrant workers to take courses like outdoor cooking classes, nature studies, autobiographical writing and hiking to provide a sense of community belonging. The group’s latest initiative, Photography by Children of Migrant Farm Workers, received an overwhelming response.

Through photography, the children, who range in age from 11 to 17, exhibited their daily lives. The images were displayed, starting July 6, at The Art Gallery of Knoxville and gained statewide interest.

Eventually, nationwide curiosity grew to the point where Reuters featured one of the Asencio’s photographs in their New York Times Square electronic billboard earlier in July.

“We never thought our pictures would make it so far; we never thought the gallery would even show them, but we are so happy they did,” Asencio said. “[This project] helps us show people that we are not stereotypes. We want to be better.”

Although the youngsters face difficulties like extreme poverty, lack of healthcare, overcrowded housing, scarce educational resources and few low-paying jobs, TMSHS leaders say that focusing on positive aspects can make dealing with life easier

“This began as an initiative to serve the older children and help them feel that they belong in a community…they have the responsibilities of caring for younger siblings and run the risk of working in the fields themselves,” said Jane Crowe, program development coordinator for TMSHS. “It developed, however, into a way of bringing two cultures together and fostering the desire for staying in school, for wanting to go to college and for having dreams.”

TMSHS started its activities in 2005 with funds from the Administration on Children, Youth, & Families, and the support of Head Start and 4-H . This year, thanks to a $10,000 grant form the Starbucks Foundation, TMSHS was able to purchase cameras and film, and pay its instructors.

The children learned photography skills, appropriate use of lighting and film developing from professional photographers of the area. The exhibition was shown as a Gallery collaboration with sound artist Glenn Weyant — who, for 20 years, has used art to transform the U.S. – Mexico border with The Anta Project.

In Weyant’s presentation a series of recordings were mixed to create a single “sonic collage” of the border near Nogales, Ariz. The instruments chosen for the sounds were objects found in the desert and “played” on the border’s wall; the sound of wind, helicopters and leaking water jugs were also used in the mix.

“Instead of being an implement of division, the wall becomes an instrument of creation with the power to unite,” said Weyant in his Web site. “By turning the 3-mile long steel wall that separates the U.S. from Mexico into a sprawling electro-acoustic instrument, my goal was to deconstruct its purpose and sonically prod the listener into a line of inquiry… Why do these things exist? Who is kept in and who is kept out?”

As a result of the project, several children have realized that success is possible with patience and hard work, and their ambitions have grown, according to Crowe. Many of the children involved in the project are now thinking of higher education.

“These children inspire me,” Crowe said. “They and their families can do so much with so little that I hope people realize their importance and decide to help as we have tried to. Right now they may not know what ‘portfolio’ means but they are talented and want to study more so, we will do whatever possible to help them get scholarships or donations to make it happen.”

Crowe also reminds people that the project helped to unify the Appalachian and migrant worker families. She found it interesting to see that family values and resilience were common in these two groups, recalling a gathering where people shared corn bread, beans, soup and tortillas without regard to differing cultural roots.

“It is a strong support group that looks at the commonality of being human beings instead of looking at the differences of everything else,” Crowe added.

While looking for more sponsorship, TMSHS officials are considering organizing a tour for the photographs to be displayed nationally. They are also planning additional photography classes and the creation of a Web site about the project, as well as trying to expand the project to their Alamo site for 20 new rural youths. For their part, Asencio and her fellow group mates are enjoying the rest of summer, marveling at the attention they have received.

“To those who have parents that are farm workers I’d say don’t be embarrassed or intimidated by those who mock you. It is a wonderful experience.” expressed Asencio. “My mom is my inspiration to be someone in life because she has taught me that women don’t have to depend on anybody or any man to make it on their own. My desire to go to college and participate in programs like this is to show people who don’t understand our culture or the way we live that we aren’t bad. I don’t want to be another girl who doesn’t go to college or make a difference in the world if I have a chance to.”

Although widely unknown to younger film-viewing generations, Bergman’s films were hailed by peers and critics alike as some of the most artful and genius work to have ever been recorded on film. His repertoire of over 50 films in many ways set the standard for future filmmakers, and created a substantial legacy to which many younger writer/directors aspire.

Bergman was known for his emotionally-charged films that probed into the darker, often-unnoticed territories of the human soul; they portrayed explicit pain and suffering, and examined the fragility of both life and faith. He scripted dialogue with a precision almost as painful-and just as real-as the death, sadness and bitter self-discovery he often depicted.

Each of Bergman’s films were conveyed through a series of unique cinematic techniques such as long, drawn out close-ups of faces–with particular attention to eyes and lips–and explorative shots of animate objects, like ticking clocks, statuettes and other portentous notions.

Throughout his career, he embraced the artistic and emotive power of film, once saying, “no form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul.”

Bergman was, by all intents and purposes, a grassroots filmmaker. Even after striking considerable fame with the release of Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal, he kept his films stylistically modest; film budget and production costs were never his top priorities. He stuck to a staple cast of varied and immensely talented actors, including Gunnar Bjornstrand, Max von Sydow, Bibi Andersson, Erland Josephson and Liv Ullman-known particularly for her classic, delicate beauty.

Famed New York filmmaker Woody Allen–himself a pioneer of modern dramatic cinema–personally holds Bergman to the highest esteem, once pegging him as “probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera.”

Born Ernst Ingmar Bergman on July 14, 1918, in Uppsala, Sweden, to a strict religious family, Bergman spent much of his youth mentally and emotionally distancing himself from his Lutheran minister father’s ideals and sermons. His battle with faith and the existence of God would later serve as a major theme throughout his artistic career.

He first discovered the intense power of film when his brother received an early slide projector–a “magic lantern” as Bergman later dubbed it–as a Christmas gift. After some failed attempts to acquire the object for himself, Bergman finally traded his brother one hundred tin soldiers for the projector, and thus changed his life forever.

After breaking with his parents at 19, Bergman set out to the Swedish capital of Stockholm in 1942 to work for Svensk Filmindustri-the top Swedish production company at the time-as a scriptwriter. Bergman was soon granted prime directorial privileges after the film featuring his first original screenplay, Torment, won the Grand Prize at Cannes Film Festival in 1946.

With the release of Smiles of a Summer Night in 1955, he began on a streak of important films that would cement him as one of the most serious and emotionally powerful filmmakers of his time. Among his most popular and studied subsequent films include Wild Strawberries (1957), The Seventh Seal (1957), Persona (1968), Cries and Whispers (1972) and Scenes From a Marriage (1973).

In addition to his film direction, Bergman was also known for his successful and equally moving stage plays. He had been involved in Swedish theatre from the mid-40s up until several years before his death. From 1963-66, he was the executive director of Stockholm’s Royal Dramatic Theatre, where he had hired nearly all of Sweden’s contemporary professional actors at one time or another.

Bergman spent the later half of his life on the mystically bleak islet of Faro, in Gotland, Sweden, a small block of land that served as the setting for many of his films. Although notoriously dreary and largely uninhibited, Faro was depicted as a place as magical as it was mysterious; it featured a landscape consisting of ominously cascading rock cliffs, gorgeous oceanfront scenery, and dense, lush forestry.

It was on Faro where Bergman found the subtle beauty that ultimately permeated his work. He had formally retired from film directing in 1982, after the semi-autobiographical Fanny and Alexander won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film that year. Although he had continued writing and directing some stage productions throughout the 80s and 90s, he announced in 2004 that he would never again leave Faro.

Bergman is survived by nine children from five different wives-including one with the iconic Ullman.

He was considered by many to have been one of the last living great directors of the 20th century, among the likes of the Italian director Federico Fellini, Japan’s Akira Kurosawa, Frenchman Francois Truffaut and others.

Claiborne left behind a legacy that includes the multi-billion dollar Liz Claiborne Inc., one of the most successful and recognized fashion companies in the world. Her single most celebrated accomplishment came in 1986, when Claiborne’s company was the first business headed by a woman to make the Fortune 500 list.

Anne Elisabeth Jane Claiborne was born on March 31st, 1929 in Brussels to a wealthy American family from Louisiana. Upon the outbreak of World War II, her family moved back to  their native New Orleans. Claiborne was educated at St. Timothy’s Boarding School in Catonsville, Maryland but left to study art in Europe.

Her first big break in fashion came in 1949 when she won the Jacques Heim National Design Contest, which was sponsored by Harpar’s Bazaar. Shortly thereafter, Claiborne moved to New York City, where she found work first as a sketch artist for the sportswear line Tina Leser, and then as a designer for Dan Keller and Youth Group Inc.

Believing that the role of the woman in the business world was on the rise–as well as frustrated by the lack of affordable, stylish attire for businesswomen–Claiborne broke out on her own in 1976, founding Liz Claiborne Inc. Much to the surprise of the entire fashion industry, the clothing line instantly struck success; the company had grossed $2.6 million by the end of its first year, and over $23 million by the end of 1978.

The company went public in 1981, and Liz Claiborne Inc. eventually entered the elite Fortune 500, with retail sales reaching just over $1 billion. By the time Claiborne retired from active management in 1989, her company had become one of the most recognizable in the fashion world.

Claiborne, known for her short, close-cropped hair and oversized sunglasses, was the epitome of her elegant-but-assertive businesswoman model. She headed her company with the utmost seriousness, but maintained the stylishness and grace of a leading woman; she was often known to ring a glass bell to maintain order during executive meetings.

Having experienced a short-lived marriage to photography agent Ben Shultz, Claiborne married again in 1957 to Arthur Ortenberg, to whom she was married until her death. The two had actually began a love affair while they were both still married to their previous spouses.

Claiborne is survived by her husband, a son from her first marriage, and two stepchildren from her second marriage.

Of course, Vonnegut and Twain never met. Twain, who like Vonnegut was a humanist, died in 1910, at age 75.

Kurt Vonnegut was born in 1922.

So it is quite telling that Vonnegut would name his son after a man he never met other than through the written word; it shows he understood quite well how strong and lasting the relationship between an author and reader can be.

Vonnegut said he was influenced by Twain because he read him during his “formative years.” This is fitting, as Vonnegut, whose 14 novels for better or worse, are often in the “young adult” section of public libraries, is especially suited to shape the minds of young writers and readers during their formative years.

For example, when Vonnegut appeared on the Daily Show in 2005, in what would be one of his last television appearances, Jon Stewart introduced him as “the man who made my adolescence tolerable.” Doubtless that thousands watching nodded in agreement.

So what was about Vonnegut that endeared him to the idealists among us? After all, Vonnegut was known, and criticized, for his chronic pessimism. He once said that “all great literature is about what a bummer it is to be a human being: Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn, The Red Badge of Courage, the Iliad and the Odyssey, Crime and Punishment, the Bible and The Charge of the Light Brigade.” He wondered why kids weren’t taught about failure in school, since it is the thing they would experience most in life. And like Stephen Crane before him, Vonnegut was wrote of a hopeless determinism, calling humans the “listless playthings of enormous forces.“ “[B]ugs trapped in the amber of the moment,“ he wrote in Slaughterhouse-Five, “there is no why.”

His cynicism did not waver with age. In the 1997’s Timequake, he said being alive was a “crock of shit.” In a 2004 essay for In These Times, he said “I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America’s becoming humane and reasonable.” More recently, he went as far as to predict, sincerely, that the end of the world was near. “We have squandered our planet’s resources, including air and water, as though there were no tomorrow, so now there isn’t going to be one.”

While this dark tone drew heat from many critics, it resonated with readers. Vonnegut opened wounds with the intent of healing them, not to throw salt on them.

Yes he confesses in Slaughterhouse-Five, that trying to end war is a futile endeavor. But he refused to allow this to deter his desire to try, telling his children that they “are not under any circumstances to take part in massacres, and that the news of massacres of enemies is not to fill them with satisfaction or glee.” He writes of our lack of free will, but in 1959’s Sirens of Titan says that “the purpose of life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is abound to be loved.” He was a proudly non-religious, and an honorary president of the American Humanist Association, yet wanted his epitaph to read: “The only proof he needed for the existence of God was music.”

His idealism was often on display. Perhaps no more than In 1965’s God Bless You Elliot Rosewater. Here Vonnegut’s protagonist, inherited enormous wealth, and decided to use it to provide help–financial and emotional– to those people who were of no use to society.

While this type of philanthropy was viewed as the result of a mental disorder by most of society, it made sense to Vonnegut’s most famous character (and alter ego) Kilgore Trout, who responded “it is news that a man was able to give that kind of love over a long period of time. If one man can do it, perhaps others can do it, too. It means that our hatred of useless human beings and the cruelties we inflict upon them for their own good need not be parts of human nature. Thanks to the example of Eliot Rosewater, millions upon millions of people may learn to love and help whomever they see.”

He also managed to turn his deterministic views into a positive. His writings rarely placed blame, nor had any villains. In Slapstick, the main character spoke of his sister saying: “Since Alice had never received any religious instruction, and since she had led a blameless life, she never thought of her awful luck as being anything but accidents in a very busy place. Good for her.”

In the hilarious novel Breakfast of Champions he drew up what Kilgore Trout wanted as a tombstone, and in doing so, described quite nicely Vonnegut’s views on the what one can hope to achieve in life. It read:

Somebody

[sometime to sometime]

He Tried

In his own way, Vonnegut did serve as a voice of hope to his readers. “Though he was sometimes derided as too gloomy and cynical,” an article in the AV club recently said, “Vonnegut’s most resonant messages have always been hopeful in the face of almost-certain doom.” And he wanted it this way. Passing along advice from his Uncle, Vonnegut suggested that we should celebrate the good times–perhaps a glass of lemonade, or a day of fishing– and simply say: “If this isn’t nice, what is?”

Vonnegut was a prisoner of war during the firebombing of Dresden during World War II. He survived what turned out to be one of the most disturbing examples of indiscriminate killings of civilians in modern history. “The firebombing of Dresden,” he wrote, “was a work of art … a tower of smoke and flame to commemorate the rage and heartbreak of so many who had had their lives warped or ruined by the indescribable greed and vanity and cruelty of Germany.”

This no doubt would come to shape his literary career, and propel him into becoming a fierce critic of war until the day he died.

His Dresden book, Slaughterhouse-five, which Reader’s Digest lists as the 18th greatest novel in American history, quickly became a classic anti-war novels. He subtitled it The Children’s Crusade, since the soldiers fighting in World War II “were just babies.”

He also coined the famous term, “so it goes” using it every time someone in the book died.

“Robert Kennedy, whose summer home is eight miles from the home I live in all year round was shot two nights ago. He died last night. So it goes. Martin Luther King was shot a month ago. He died, too. So it goes. And every day my Government gives me a count of corpses created by military science in Vietnam. So it goes.”

The AV club called these recurring phrase “three simple, world-weary words that simultaneously accept and dismiss everything.”

In Mother Night, he noted the dangers of patriotism and nationalism and their roles in legitimizing war. He wrote: “[Hating my country] would be as silly as loving it … It’s impossible for me to get emotional about it, because real estate doesn’t interest me. It’s no doubt a great flaw in my personality, but I can’t think in terms of boundaries. Those imaginary lines are as unreal to me as elves and pixies.”

The fame and credibility that Vonnegut received from his work, propelled him into the role of a social critic of sorts. He was especially outspoken about the United States roles in current wars. In his widely read essay Cold Turkey he said our leaders were “power-drunk chimpanzees” and that our troops “are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas.”

He added, “We’re spreading democracy, are we? Same way European explorers brought Christianity to the Indians, what we now call “Native Americans.”

He also spoke candidly on the need other issues such as economic justice and the environment. He cited as an influence Eugene Debs who ran as the Socialist Party’s candidate for President four times in the early 20th century, including once from jail. He would participate in readings of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. He also lamented what humans were doing to the earth writing in his last book, A Man without a Country, that “we could have saved it [the planet], but were too darn cheap and lazy.“ After Hurricane Katrina, Vonnegut told Bill Maher that he thought “the Earth’s immune system is trying to get rid of us, and it is high time that it did.”

While Vonnegut’s role as a fearless social and political critic no doubt endeared him to many, no doubt it was his astute ability to say what others thought, but couldn’t figure out how to say that cemented him as one the most influential American writers. Not only the did the author debunk conventional thought on religion, politics and humanity–but he did so with frighteningly simple ease: forcing his readers to see the absurdity of this world and the folly of the human condition. Such as the way he called smoking a “fairly sure, fairly honorable way of committing suicide” or suggested that ”If you really want to hurt your parents, and you don’t have the nerve to be a homosexual, the least you can do is go into the arts.”

In the heart of his themes, however, was to communicate with others who shared his outrage over the way humans treat each other. And to make this world a little less lonely. In Bluebeard he asked what is literature “but an insider’s newsletters about affairs relating to molecules, of no importance to anything in the Universe but a few molecules who have the disease called ‘thought.’”

But for all his talk of life’s hopelessness, and dread, in the end Vonnegut seemed to have found his place on this world–and he seemed to know it. In Timequake he asked himself why should one bother writing at all.

“So why bother [to write]? Here is my answer. Many people need desperately to receive this message: ‘I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.’”

Thanks to Vonnegut–our century’s Mark Twain–millions of readers, many in their “formative years” and some who have not even been born yet, will indeed here that message.

And if that isn’t nice, what is?

Mr. Halberstam was best known for his reporting on the Vietnam War for the New York Times, as well as the extraordinarily well-received books he wrote, including The Best and the Brightest and The Powers That Be.

Having won the Pulizter Prize at 30 for his coverage of the Vietnam War, Mr. Halberstam solidified his place in the generation of young and talented war correspondents who helped change the public’s perception of American involvement in theconflict.

“He was one of the truly colossal figures of the second half of the 20th century,” said Charles Fountain, Professor of Journalism at Northeastern University in Boston. “His work at the Times set the stage for war coverage, and it changed the entire dynamic of wartime correspondence.”

Mr. Halberstam was killed in a car accident in Mountain View, Calif., while on the way to interview former NFL quarterback Y.A. Tittle for his book, The Game. He had been in the Bay Area the previous weekend to attend an event at UC Berkeley.

The loss of David Halberstam is a tragedy that has resonated far and wide within the realm of journalism. He has a lasting influence as both a courageous, truth-seeking reporter and as a thoughtful, prolific writer

“He really had two enormous legacies,” said Fountain. “If he hadn’t done his work for the New York Times, then he would have been remembered for his books; and if he hadn’t written his books, then he’d have been remembered for his war correspondence.”

Halberstam was born on April 10, 1934, in New York City to an Army Surgeon, Charles Halberstam and a schoolteacher, Blanche Levy Halberstam. He spent most of his youth in Westchester County, N.Y., and graduated from Harvard in 1955. While at Harvard, Mr. Halberstam realized his journalistic calling as the Managing Editor of the school newspaper, “The Crimson.”

Upon graduating, he moved to the south, where he began covering the already brewing civil-rights situation for The West Point Daily Times Leader in West Point, Miss., then at The Nashville Tennessean.

He joined the staff of the New York Times in 1960, first at the Washington Bureau, then as a foreign correspondent in the Congo. It wasn’t until his assignment in South Vietnam in 1962, however, when he dropped his marker in the journalistic concrete and put his name on the map.

While in Vietnam, Mr. Halberstam helped to uncover the hidden truths of the ultimately unwinnable war: that the South Vietnamese government was failing, and that U.S. commanders were lying about it. Mr. Halberstam was among the first to publicize the massive missteps of the war, and as a result, President John F. Kennedy himself unsuccessfully asked then-publisher of the “Times,” Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, to fire Halberstam.

After leaving the Times in the late 1960s, Mr. Halberstam moved on to writing books on various topics: war, government, sports and culture. Among his most highly regarded books are The Best and the Brightest, a consideration of the paradox of a highly educated U.S. leadership and its catastrophic mistakes in Vietnam; and The Powers That Be, and in-depth examination of modern journalism’s various institutions and figureheads.
He will most likely be remembered as an unstoppable force of cultural and political criticism, as well as for the arduous work he put into every assignment and book.

“He will absolutely be remembered as one of the giants of journalism,” said Dan Kennedy, Visiting Professor of Journalism at Northeastern University, “and he became a giant strictly through hard work.”

Because of the amount of books he published , coupled with his naturally persevering work ethic, the real tragedy is in the potential work he could have still accomplished in the years to come, according to Kennedy.

“It’s very sad especially because he was still very much a working journalist,” he said. “It’s sad to think about all the work that he will not do.”

Mr. Halberstam is survived by his wife, Jean, and his daughter, Julia, both of New York.

Wolf, 24, who became the victim of the longest contempt of court term served by a media figure, agreed to hand over video footage of a San Francisco street protest against a 2005 G-8 summit in Scotland. In return, he will not have to testify in court.

Federal officials requested the tape as evidence for an investigation into events at the protest, during which a San Francisco police officer was injured and a police car was set on fire.

The affair ignited a heated debate over whether or not Wolf, who owns and operates his own blog site, is a professional journalist. Having no official ties with any media institution, it was disputed as to whether or not Wolf should receive the same protection as working journalists, evoking undertones of the First Amendment.

Wolf’s mother, who spearheaded a media campaign on her son’s behalf, used the case to push for a national shield law that would protect professional journalists from revealing their confidential sources.

So far, over 30 states and Washington D.C. have adopted sort of shield law. The federal government has not.

The saga of Josh Wolf has resonated loud and clear throughout media circles; should he be viewed as a professional journalist? And if so, should he be granted the same protection to which most other journalists are entitled? What will this mean for the Internet and the massive “blogosphere?”

Although Wolf has been released, the debate over shield laws and the definition of a “journalist” is up in the air. In the Internet age, everyone has the ability to post their opinions and multimedia on the web, but as the media world has seen in Wolf’s case, not everyone has been afforded the same rights.

“Journalists absolutely have to remain independent of law enforcement,” Wolf said outside the prison where he had been held since August 1. “Otherwise, people will never trust journalists.”

Reports indicate that the videotape, which Wolf also posted on his Web site, does not contain footage of the alleged incidents. But, according to Wolf, the video was not his main concern. He agreed to hand over the tape on the condition that he would not be called to testify.

“Although I feel that my unpublished material should be shielded from government demands, it was the testimony which I found to be the more egregious assault on my right and ethics as both a journalist and a citizen,” Wolf said in a statement after his release.

Elizabeth Raftery and John Guilfoil, both of the Blast Magazine staff, also contributed to this report.

Wolf was initially jailed on August 1, 2006, and was released 30 days later. He was jailed again September 22 and has remained there since.

The idea of journalists being used as an arm of the law may appear far-fetched, but increasingly, there are reports of journalists called to court to reveal their sources, hand over unused notes or video, and even to testify directly.

Currently, 31 states have a journalism shield law in effect. Such laws are meant protect the act of journalism from legal interference. Four states offer some protection for journalists, but 17 offer no protection whatsoever. There is also no federal shield law, and thus, no concrete protection for a journalist called into federal court.

In 2005, New York Times reporter Judith Miller was detained for 85 days for refusing to reveal her confidential source, Lewis “Scooter” Libby, in the case involving the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame’s identity.

Miller’s status as a journalist was not called to question. As a staff member at the New York Times, the court didn’t have to think twice about her occupation, they only had to balance the importance of the information and how it was obtained.

The perception of a journalist and the changes in the type of journalism that is being streamed to the general public can have an affect on the ability to protect their rights.

Advances in the field of journalism have corresponded with new technologies, and this is forcing the courts to examine laws pertaining to journalism in a new way. With the fading presence of traditional print journalism and the expansion of online journalism, which carries fewer regulations, the courts must not only look at the information about which they are inquiring, but also the legitimacy of who they are seeking it from.

“A number of people would raise the question: is Josh Wolf a journalist?” said Robert Ambrogi, a media and technology lawyer and author of Media Law: A Blog about Freedom of the Press.

In the landmark 1972 case of Branzburg v. Hayes, Supreme Court Justice White wrote in his majority decision that even the “lonely pamphleteer” should be considered on the same level as the professional journalist.

This “lonely pamphleteer” has transformed into the modern day blogger or independent journalist. This blogger may not be completely objective or on the payroll of a major news organization, but he does participate in the act of journalism and news gathering.

“For me there is no question he is a journalist,” said Ambrogi. “Yes, he did have clear political leadings….although we are taught in journalism school to be neutral and objective most great journalists aren’t neutral or objective. The fact that a journalist has political leanings one was or the other does not make them any less of a journalist.”

Journalist groups also stand behind Wolf, regardless of his outspoken political ties, because he was participating in journalism during the July 8, 2005 protest.

“I do back him up. I do not think journalists should be considered arms of the law even though his activities muddy the water” said Christine Tatum, president of Society of Professional Journalists, an organization that pledged $15,000 towards Wolf’s legal fees.

Wolf’s independent style of journalism and blogging also comes into question when examining his ability to be protected as a journalist, regardless of his political ties.

“It is particularly hard these days to figure out where to draw the lines,” said Robert Bertsche, a media lawyer.

Bertsche refers to the blurred definition of a journalist in an age where technology allows anyone with a computer to report on what’s around them and get their opinions out there to the general public.

Bertche also brought up the argument that, as the classification of a journalist grows, so does the publics suspicion and this could make it harder for a shield law to be passed out of fear for who it will be protecting.

“At a time when the notion of the press is getting wider with new technologies…there is some degree of the press turning against the press; established press turning against the others,” said Bertche.

Others look not toward the person doing the reporting, but rather the method of the reporting and dissemination of the news.

“People are caught up in who is a journalist, but the question is: was the person practicing journalism at the time?” said Tatum.

Regardless of the aims of state shield laws, the fact remains that the U.S. has no federal shield law, and despite a reporter’s promise to sources, there is no real protection for that confidentiality.

“The problem is with Josh’s case is that there is no shield law, it doesn’t matter if he is a blogger or working for 60 Minutes,” said Lucy Dalgish, Executive Director Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Media lawyers across the country are working to get shield laws aimed at the protection of journalists enacted in their states. In Massachusetts, which is one of the 17 states that does not have a shield law, there is a bill proposed to the legislature that will likely have a public hearing this fall.

This bill, and others like it, are based on the idea of a balancing test between how the information is collected, the importance of the information and alternative means to obtaining it, all resulting in whether or not it is essential for a journalist to be subpoenaed.

There are many advantages to a balancing test, including the level of confidentiality of the source and also the importance of the information.

“What are the circumstances? What is the need that we are talking about? Is it a reporter who is the only witness to a murder or is it a reporter who has information that can be obtained from another source?” said Bertsche.

The specifics of a shield law are important. If everything is not spelled out in black and white, some feel as though it could create potentially confusing problems. The drafting of a shield is extremely important, and some experts argue what should be spelled out and what should be left to these balancing tests.

“When you create a shield law, it is important you determine who is protected. You’re essentially allowing the government to decide who is a journalist and who isn’t.” said Dan Kennedy, professor of journalism at Northeastern University and author of the Media Nation blog. “Shield laws should be used to define journalism, not journalists, and if you draft it that way there isn’t really a problem.”

There is also concern that if a broad shield law is passed, it could potentially provide an excuse for the common person to keep from doing their civic duty. The reporter’s privilege, if vague, go beyond the scope of those it is designed to protect.

Yet there remains a strong counter argument.

“Reporters are in the business of finding out facts and if we are going to make it easy for a lawyer or prosecutor to go to a journalist to obtain information. Then we are diverting from the reporters job of bringing information to the public,” said Bertsche.

This diverting could be counter productive to the first amendment, because it could potentially cut off the flow of information to the public.

The desire for the instillation of a federal shield law that would protect journalists of all styles is one of Wolf’s main objectives.

“Josh is doing this so other journalists don’t have to, said Liz Wolf-Spada, Wolf’s mother. “One of his goals for this is to create a federal shield law…one not just for traditional journalists but also journalists on the web.”

Many do not believe that this will happen anytime soon. When asked if she believed that a federal shield law would be enacted in the near future Dalglish said: “It is not going to happen soon enough to help Josh.”

The media attention surrounding this case has also been minimal in comparison to similar cases, and this could hinder any chance of legislation resulting from Wolf’s case.

“I don’t think there is that support at the federal level, and I don’t think the level of outrage regarding Josh Wolf is as high as I would expect it to be,” said Bertsche.

Despite what’s going to happen in the future or the new definition of journalism, the reality remains: Josh Wolf is the longest imprisoned journalist in history for failing to comply with a subpoena.

“They went to mediation on the eighth and emerged with no result. They may try mediation again,” says Wolf-Spada concerning the recent court proceedings involving her son’s case.

If the case isn’t brought again before mediation, Wolf can face up to 18 months in jail total. That is the longest amount of time the Grand Jury is allowed to hold someone in jail without being charged with a crime.

“A shield law is generally used for a reporter to protect confidential sources, but with Josh Wolf its not about confidentiality he never promised anyone confidentiality, there is no source to protect…it isn’t clear whether a shield law would protect him,” said Ambrogi. “The government hasn’t said why they want the information…it’s a scary case to me.”

The youth of the 1960s made an indelible impression on future generations. They clung to ideals hoping to change the world. They reacted to the turbulent times they’d found themselves in by living in the moment. They couldn’t be contained or restrained or controlled.

Edie Sedgwick epitomizes all that was good and bad about growing up in the sixties. She is an icon for Baby Boomers and has become an idol for today’s “Echo Boomers.”

She didn’t consider herself a rebel. She considered herself a “life artist” and wanted to use her medium to tell a story to parents a generation above her.As Sedgwick once told The New York Times “It is not that I’m rebelling. It’s that I’m just trying to find another way.”

“The thing she wanted to say the most was that there was a lot of hypocrisy with the way things had been in the 50s,” said Melissa Painter, co-author of a new book, “Edie: Girl on Fire,” that includes an audio CD of the “Ciao! Manhattan” tapes, her last recorded interviews. “She wanted to be honest… in an outrageous sort of way.”

Sedgwick was much more than aspirational stereotypes allow. She wasn’t simply a socialite; she was glitterati personified. She wasn’t a model; she was a fashion trendsetter and style catalyst. She was not an actress; she was a film star and a muse for filmmakers.

She was brilliant and beautiful beyond words; passionate, playful, spontaneous and reckless.

Today, Sedgwick entices men with her sexuality and her uninhibited soul. She attracts women who want to be like her. Yet she’s been dead for 35 years.

Edie’s History

Sedgwick was born on April 20, 1943, to Alice Delano de Forest Sedgwick and Frances Minturn Sedgwick. Both came from wealthy, well-connected families. Born Edith, she was their sixth child, and grew up in a ranch in California. Her artist father was an adulterous alcoholic; her eccentric mother turned the other cheek at his indiscretions.They sent Edie to boarding school at 13; at 18 she was sent to Silver Hill, a New Canaan, Conn. mental hospital, to treat depression and an eating disorder. When that facility didn’t prove effective, her father admitted her to notoriously strict Bloomingdale, a psychiatric hospital in nearby White Plains, N.Y. While out on a pass from Bloomingdale, she made love with a handsome Harvard man and got pregnant. Edie shared on the Ciao! Manhattan tapes, “I was pregnant and I had psychiatric permission, you know, I could get an abortion without any hassle at all. And then after that, experiences I had making love, I found I had all sorts of hangups.”

Eventually, she left Bloomingdale and headed to straight to Cambridge, Mass., fraternizing with Harvard students and graduates and managing to find ‘the Bohemian epicenter’ in that community.

In 1964, Sedgwick inherited a trust fund from her maternal grandmother and moved to New York. When she arrived in Manhattan, she enjoyed an exorbitant lifestyle, one that included heavy use of amphetamines and alcohol. She shopped, danced, and socialized in an outlandish and extravagant way. In no time, she earned herself a reputation as the party girl to meet and in so doing, attracted legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan and influential pop-artist Andy Warhol. She knew she had become both famous and infamous; she herself said on the “Ciao! Manhattan” tapes, “Wherever I’ve been, I’ve been quite notorious.”

Warhol and Edie fell in love platonically but intensely, and their mutually beneficial relationship became the talk of the town. By her side, Warhol found himself on the guest list of upper-crust soirees. With his direction, Sedgwick found herself appearing on film for the first time.

“Very soon,” Warhol said of his favorite muse in the book, “POPism: The Warhol Sixties,” a collaborative effort between Warhol and his diarist Pat Hackett. “Edie would be innovating her own look that Vogue, Life, and Time and all the other magazines would photograph – long, long earrings with dime store t-shirts over dancer’s tights with a white mink coat thrown over it all.”

Barth came from a small town in Austria, only minutes away from Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hometown, before soaring to the upper echelon of the trade through word of mouth and tattoo magazine exposure. He had little but a tattoo machine and enough money to open its first legal tattoo studio.

Since opening nearly 20 years ago, Barth has risen to high-class status. Today, his exclusive services include in-flight tattooing on private jets, and a private limousine escort to and from the airport whenever a celebrity decides to “drop by” Barth’s flagship studio – Starlight Tattoo, in Rochelle Park, NJ – for some skin art. His client list includes: Nikki Sixx, of Motley Crue; Gene Simmons, of Kiss; Vanilla Ice and various members of My Chemical Romance, Panic! At the Disco, Taking Back Sunday, KoRn and more.

Speaking in a low-key, laid back Austrian accent, it all seems to be no big deal. He’s even got the luxury of endearing some of his hottest clients: Dave Diehl, star lineman for the New York Giants, is simply “Davy,” while rap star Jim Jones, is “Jimmy.” He boasts an arsenal of nearly 300 tattoo awards and a clientele that has kept him booked solid for over 20 years. Barth has undoubtedly seen all sides of the big picture of today’s tattoo industry.

Editor’s note: Blast’s Dan Peleschuk sat down with Mario Barth at his Rochelle Park, NJ studio, and picked his brain about his art, the culture and the celebs.

Tell me about life in Austria as an up-and-coming tattoo artist, back when there was no Miami Ink.

Talk about a generation difference; when I was just starting out, tattooing was REALLY in the underground. I actually opened the first and only legal shop in Austria. At that time, tattooing was a different enemy. People we tattooed were either criminals or prison guards, and there was absolutely no “regular person.” They were all just really specific, heavy subcultures. This was our clientele. It only shifted in the early 90s, when it became more open.

How did you manage to build up such a solid reputation?

When I opened the first legal shop in Austria in 1989, it got enormous exposure from TV and newspapers, and automatically I attracted people who would have otherwise been afraid to come in. I started to attract this totally different crowd, and then all of a sudden MTV came. But it was really the tattoo magazines that did it; when people started recognizing my work, they started publishing it in the magazines. Then in 1994, I won the Best Tattoo Artist award from the National Tattoo Association in San Francisco. I won 11 different best artist trophies that year, which had never been done at that time. It was also different back then if you had a studio, or if you had no studio; if you worked in a basement, you were going to attract a basement kind of crowd. That’s how word got around.

What made you move to the U.S?

At that time, I had the biggest reputation that you could get, and then from one day to another, I starting having clients fly into Austria to get tattooed. I even had people from Australia come in. Then it became a natural instinct; you know, the grass is always greener on the other side of the river. I come from little Austria with only seven million people, so why not go to big America? It was actually a pretty big jump, because I had a really secure living there, but I figured I’d see what happens here. I worked a little at Wonderland Tattoo in Detroit, where I started out guest spotting. From there, I moved down to Miami, which, of course, attracted the right clientele. From that moment on, it started to come. When I moved to Jersey, my clients followed me, and many of them still fly in today.

Why do celebrities choose you?

With me, I think it was just the right timing, the right moment. They choose me now because of my personality: I’m flexible, I’m very professional and I’m always there. I was always known to be very quiet about it, and I guess that got out and I accumulated clients. I started out having a lot of celebrity clients when I was younger and I just really didn’t care. For me, it’s like dealing with a regular client, that’s the good part. I would treat Lenny Kravitz the same way I’d treat you, that’s just how I am. I think most of them just want to be treated like normal human beings. I actually had a funny situation when I tattooed Lenny for the first time – I didn’t even know it was him. I was tattooing him and we were having a good conversation and then my other artist asked me if I knew who he has, and I said, “No, and I don’t care.” I think that’s why celebrities look for me. I try to treat them like regular people. But we also have special services because we know how valuable they can be. Catering to celebrities, you need to understand that their time is very valuable. And this is where it makes the difference for us. We give you the service, but we don’t treat you differently, it’s a very fine line.

When celebrities get bigheaded, do you ever play it down?

Absolutely, I don’t care about that. Over the years I learned that all my clients have the same value. One [celebrity] client wanted me to tattoo him and asked me to come to his house because he didn’t want to be in the shop. So I refused that. What makes you different that I should cancel an appointment with a client waiting here just to come to your house to tattoo you? Especially if it’s a person who has saved all their money to get tattooed and makes it on their spare time. When I started to understand that part it became very easy for me to deal with those situations, because now I just treat everybody equally, whether they’re celebrities or not. It’s also a hard situation with people who think they’re celebrities. Sometimes, it’s tougher to deal with the people who are just coming up rather then with people who have been at the top of the game for a long time.

Tell me about some of your special services for celebrities.

There’s a new in-flight tattooing program we just started. What’s basically happening here is that we made a merger with Revolution Air, which is a privately owned company that flies a really high-end clientele. We made a deal with them in which we are basically getting their heavy jets to offer a service now to celebrities who are maybe flying from here to L.A. and have 5 hours to kill, and want to get tattooed. So we’re actually going to go on board with them and work on them in-flight. It’s mainly about us offering special services to our clients. Their real value is time. Celebrities rarely have the time to come into the shop, it’s very hard for them, so it’s a form of special service we offer. Celebrities all travel on private jets now, so here, we actually would have 5 hours of privacy, and if you could have that session, it’d be great. We’re getting great feedback from it.

Is it difficult to accommodate celebrities?

Oh yeah. Just getting them here from the airport takes 2 hours. People are just star-struck. We usually just try to hide them out down here. If you go out on Route 17, it’s like half of New Jersey is going to know they’re there. For a celebrity to come into the shop is tough; we have back entrances and private booths, but somehow people still seem to find out about somebody coming in. When we had Korn here, it took about 10 minutes for it to get out, and then once people found out, they started pouring in. For me, as a celebrity tattoo artist, I deal with celebrities all day, but the “regular” person will find out and calls his friend, his mother, et cetera, and it gets crazy. When you get a tattoo, you want to be quiet, be in a good mood, you want to chill with the artist. If I always had a camera around me, or people in my face I’d be pretty cranky. It’s the part that comes with the celebrity. They just have different lifestyles, and they can’t move around freely. We’ve seen situations where people want to come in, but they really cant. If they arrive in an airport, 4,000 people automatically recognize them. It’s not that easy.

How did you feel about breaking into the circle of celebrities as just a regular tattoo artist?

When I first started I got really excited when I got more and more clients, and when I saw that more and more people liked my work. I got a kick out of it. [As an artist], when you get your first celebrity client it’s really big, because it brings you outside of your little circle. It gives you that feeling that you’ve taken it somewhere from the underground to the TV screen. Celebrities are almost in this big fantasy world that’s going on, and when you see this person walking into your life, it’s actually a big boost for your ego. But I found out the other side about celebrities, too. Many of them just want to get stuff for free; they feel entitled because they’re this big monstrous person walking in and the whole world is supposed to stand still.

Does your celebrity work score some points with your regular clientele?

I think that for the “regular” clients to get work done by someone who tattoos celebrities, for some reason, it makes it a status symbol. I think it’s the hype of the media. Everything is so geared toward Hollywood and flashy cars and stuff. So when you bring that reputation with you, it gives you more credibility with your clientele.

Do you have any favorite celebrity clients?

Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue) is great. Fieldy and Jonathan Davis (Korn) are also really cool. I basically click with anyone who’s down to earth. The mood (Sixx) sets is just great. What I look for in celebrities is how they interact with normal people. I can tell if they’re really cool with people. Nikki gives every single minute to everybody. When he was in here he talked to everybody like he knew them for 50 years. Most celebrities are cool but he just had that special edge.

Who’s the next celebrity client on your agenda?

Jonathan Davis is coming in. We’re organizing the schedule for him. We’re having our own limo driver coming to pick him up from the airport in an unmarked private limo. There are no outside sources, so nobody should know that he’s here. That’s where the special service part comes in.

In general, tattooing is a pretty intimidating business. After all this time do you ever still get freaked out about it?

It’s been 30 years and I can walk into a brand new tattoo studio where I don’t know anybody it’s still like, “What am I going to see behind that door? 4 rotweillers and a guy standing there with a shotgun?” It’s almost like you open a big dangerous gift box. But that’s the plague of tattooing. This is never going to change. There’s a certain edge that keeps it that way.

What distinguishes you and your studio from other tattoo artists and their studios?

I think that other tattoo artists all specialize in one field, either in colors, or portraits. The versatility of my work was what was different, when I won best realistic, and also best color. People wondered how it was possible. When I retired from competition in 1998 I had 250-300 trophies. I also have all the top cats from Europe come here to work for a while as guest spots. And I’m connected deeply with artists from the Orient. They actually fly out from Japan to work here. I like crossing over, and I like to bring cultures together. Tattooing is a huge field that’s also very small. There are so many different cultural styles, but it’s all somehow a part of the tattoo family. I really try to cross the bridge. I’m also in the business now almost 30 years. So people know I’m not going anywhere. We’re not a shop that’s here today and gone tomorrow. People know we have a 30-year history.

Who inspires you artistically?

Almost everybody. It’s a hard question because there are so many good artists out there. There are so many good ones out in the woods that we don’t even know about yet. Even my apprentice influences me. I like anyone who can really work. I was never too good to appreciate good work. I’m very open like that. I’m also influenced by almost everybody who does something different. I couldn’t say that I have one specific hero.

Do you have any favorite style of tattooing? Color? Black and Gray? Portraits?

A lot of stuff that people say that’s not possible. How I really started to surface was actually being known as a very heavy color tattooist. When people told me back in the day that I couldn’t really make a nice blue in the skin, I did an entire back piece all in blue. I started to prove people wrong. I even have my own color today called “Mario Blue”. From that point, I liked the challenge. Also, I like doing cover-ups where )customers) tell me that they’ve been in 14 different shops and [the artists] said that they couldn’t do it. So I said, “Okay, lets make a yellow dragon over it.” Lately, I’ve gotten into really detailed portraits. It’s just a new phase that I’m trying to explore. I’m also heavily influenced by Japanese tattooing. There’s nothing more impressive than a well-layed out Japanese body suit.

Has tattooing taught you a thing or two about life?

As an artist you connect with almost every single person who comes in. Sometimes we have a hard time charging people, because [a customer will] come in three or four times and we become very close. If I would do everything by myself, I would never get paid again. Tattooing brought me to so many different places, shown me so many different lifestyles, and connected me with so many different people from so many walks of life. And I didn’t only meet them, but I heard their story – that’s the biggest thing. I had talks with people who were in prison for 20 years, and people who make millions of dollars a month. And after 30 years, you learn that all the stories are the same, it’s just a different value line. You get very humble after a while. You learn that everybody struggles, and everybody makes their life. I think it made me very open-minded. I came from a little country of several million people, so if you think about it, I didn’t really have that many different kinds of personalities or lifestyles in my society. It still is a learning experience, even today. Everyday it’s a new person, new skin, a new design, a new story and a new encounter. It’s a never-ending learning experience. I sometimes feel bad for people who sit in front of a computer all day and experience the same thing everyday. Once I even worked on a psychiatrist who called me to get tattooed and talk in order blow off his problems.

What are the downsides to tattooing?

It is something that’s irreversible. What in the beginning is just something cool to do becomes a challenge not to fuck up. In the beginning you don’t think of that so much, because you just feel it’s the cool thing to do. When you start learning the trade, you realize that every mark you do is permanent, and your brain is then marked forever. One day you’ll wake up and you’ll realize that every mark you make is irreversible and then your whole life changes. If you’re a real tattoo artist, I can tell you what the scenario is like: you’re probably single, not married, and you have troubles in relationships. [Tattooing] is very eccentric. Twenty-four hours a day, [artists] have only one thing to do: tattoo. And the only thing they have to think about when they’re done is what they have tomorrow, and they know that they can’t fuck up tomorrow. There’s a constant pressure of being perfect, but there is no perfect. I search for the perfect tattoo everyday, and when I think I have it, it’s gone. That’s the downside. You’re going to be spending 24 hours a day on tattooing. You work during the day and at night, constantly. You have to work when your client is ready for you. It will consume your whole life. Never being accepted as an artist is a downside too, but who decides anyway? Most artists known today as the biggest and most influential artists in the world never considered themselves artists. There’s a lot of mental pressure these days about not being accepted. I know tattooists who are afraid to say what they do for a living.

Wow. So what’s the good part?

Meeting different people. Also, the success you feel after seeing the happiness of the client; it feeds off to you. Constantly being forced to create new things is great, too. The possibilities of traveling are wonderful. I tell all my apprentices that when they’re finished here, they can go anywhere in the world and survive there. That’s the ultimate thrill. You can actually break language barriers with your work, because everyone understands the meaning of a tattoo, anywhere from here, to Japan, to Russia and to Europe.

Any final words?

It doesn’t matter which rank you come from, which society level you come out of, or which country you’re from, if you get in that tattoo chair, it’s all the same. It hurts you the same that it does me. This connection is the nice part. As soon as you get in my chair, you’re like everybody else.

The Godfather loved music, he loved to dance and he loved life in general. He also loved the ladies, as he was married four times and had six children.

James Brown was more than just a singer. His stage presence was electrifying. He poured passion and emotion into his performances. He created an atmosphere that left all the seats vacant. He surpassed music genres by creating his own unique style, which blended, but was not limited to, gospel, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, and rock and roll. In 1986 Brown was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He was also more than just a musician. He played small roles in many movies including Rocky IV and even helped Jake Blues see the light in the movie Blues Brothers as Reverend Cleophus James. He appeared on Saturday Night Live several times and was even parodied by Eddie Murphy on SNL in Murphy’s James Brown Hot Tub Party sketch.

Not so commonly known, was James Brown’s role in the BMW Films movie Beat The Devil, where James Brown plays himself. However, in the movie Browns success has come because he has sold his soul to the devil (Gary Oldman.) The transporter, and BMW driver (Clive Owen,) then must race the devil to win Browns soul back.

James Brown also was the winner of two Life Time Achievement Awards, one during the 34th annual Grammy Awards and the second a year later at the 4th annual Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Awards. Brown had 52 top ten singles on either the Billboard Hot 100 or the Billboard Top R&B Singles charts.

James Brown left us with some very important and, as always, passionate words of wisdom from his role in the 1980’s movie Blues Brothers, “When I woke up this morning, I heard a disturbing sound. I said, when I woke up this morning I heard a disturbing sound! What I’ve heard was the jingle jangle of a thousand lost souls. I’m talking about the souls of mortal men and women departed from this life… …Those lost anguished souls roaming unseen on the earth seeking the divine light; they’ll not find because it’s too late; too late! Too late, for they’ll never see again the light they once chose not to follow.” Reverend Cleophus James (James Brown) then addresses the congregation, “don’t be lost when the time comes, for the day of the lord cometh, as a thief in the night, AAAAAAmen! Can I get an Amen?”

Amen James Brown, Amen. He was “loud, black and proud.” And now he will be forever missed. Don McLean once wondered if music could “save your mortal soul.” Well, the soul of blues music is forever preserved in Browns recordings, just as Browns musical influence will live on forever in the records of time. The Godfather can’t die in our soul, for every time one of his songs comes on the radio, it’s as if “Papa’s got a brand new bag.”