#jimmy says who needs social media when i can just guest star on all my wifes content

[dynamitekansai]

Via Naomi's Instagram Stories

[basicshadowhuntersstuff]

This super-sized news roundup covers the past two weeks in Shadowhunters news, updates, sneak peeks, and behind the scenes. All the stuff you need to stay up to date.

Official Promotion

Warlock Wednesday. Magnus behind the scenes of #Shadowhunters Season 3B.

Join @Kat_McNamara by choosing kindness and taking a stand against bullying. Wear purple for @GLAAD #SpiritDay.  #ChooseKindness http://www.glaad.org/spiritday 

The Church of Talto. Lilith behind the scenes of #ShadowhuntersSeason3. // @AnnaBananaHops 

When pranks don't go according to plan. Behind the scenes of #Shadowhunters Season 3B. 

You don't say.  #Shadowhunters // @arosende & @Kat_McNamara 

Mondays are better with these two.  Behind the scenes of #Shadowhunters Season 3B. 

Always there for her brother. Izzy and Jace behind the scenes of #Shadowhunters Season 3B. 

Siblings. Behind the scenes of #Shadowhunters 2x16. #TBT 

#Clace. Behind the scenes of #ShadowhuntersSeason3. // @Kat_McNamara & @DomSherwood1 

Badass beauties.  #Shadowhunters // @Kat_McNamara & @WainwrightAE

Meanwhile at the Hunter's Moon. Behind the scenes of #Shadowhunters Season 3B.

Shadowhunters In The News

E! News (article):  Katherine McNamara Says Being a PCAs Finalist Is "the Biggest Gift" 

Circa Pop tweeted:  We can’t contain our #FridayFeelings because we’re hanging with #Shadowhunters' @Kat_McNamara talking all things pop culture and more on #CircaPopLive.

Circa Pop (video): Kat (Clary) hosting Circa Pop can be found here.

Fr Conventions (video):  [1 Actor, 1 Word] : Katherine McNamara - Shadowhunters

Shadow Pocket announces Dom (Jace) as a guest at their Brazil convention.

Matt Carter (article):  Shadowhunters season 3: The latest odds & ends; what lies ahead

Circa Pop Culture (article):  Are Fake Celeb Stories To Get People To Vote Good?: Katherine McNamara and CPL Discuss

Gay Star News (article):  15 asexual characters you can find on your screen.

TV Line (article):  GLAAD: TV's LGBTQ Representation Is at New High, While Delivering Greater Diversity and Gender Parity

TV Insider (article):  9 Key Takeaways From GLAAD’s Report on LGBTQ Representation on TV

TV Insider (article):  7 Underrated TV Characters Who Deserve Better (PHOTOS)

Twitter & Social Media Stuff

Todd Slavkin (showrunner) tweeted a photo:  A little Izzy content never hurt anyone #3b #thewaitingisthehardestpart #tompettysaiditbest #shadowhunters

Todd Slavkin (showrunner) tweeted a photo:  Great having ⁦@arosende⁩ at the 320 mix yesterday. Always great to see his smiling face and bask in his positive energy. This pic was from last day of shooting #justassweetassimon #starontherise #3b #shadowhunters. [1]

Todd Slavkin (showrunner) answered a question about “drunk Magnus”:  Yes you do #alcoholispoison #butitcanbesofun #magnusknowshislimits #ordoeshe #3b #shadowhunters

Nuno DeSalles (cast trainer) shared a throwback photo of Matt (Alec) in the gym.

Steve Byers (Underhill) tweeted:  It takes courage for people to speak their minds in places where they feel "less" than. When he does actually speak, I think he worries about what people will think but he has courage and faces that....or sandwiches..he likes those I think.

Jamie Gorenberg (producer) tweeted:  And I wonder what will happen if Clary and Jace drink those drops of Seelie hallucinogen in Kosti Lustr. #Clace #TeamJCJ.

Jamie Gorenberg (producer) tweeted: They say if you love someone, set them free. But some people are meant to be together forever. #Malec.

Sydney Meyer (Helen Blackthorn) tweeted:  Appreciation post for @toddzer1 and @mattdirector (who I never got a photo with) who believed in me and took a chance on me. So grateful for you guys and this experience  bonus: the beautiful @emeraudetoubia

Brian Hui (makeup artist) tweeted a photo:  Memories of Halloween from last year!

Todd Slavkin (showrunner) tweeted:  Appreciation post for @meyers48 who we met at the tablereads when she was filling in for actors and we recognized her talent and now she's Helen Blackthorn #dreamsdocometrue #especiallywhenyouhaveundeniabletalent #3b #shadowhunters

Todd Slavkin (showrunner) tweeted about being invited to conventions:  Oh the stories we could tell #yesinviteusplease #wewillfillyouin #bts #shadowhunterslegacy #shadowhunters

Harry Shum Jr. (Magnus) tweeted a new/old photo of Magnus with a balloon: Still rocking it. [2]

MCM Comic Con - London

Kat McNamara (Clary), Emeraude Toubia (Izzy), Alberto Rosende (Simon), Chai Hansen (Jordan Kyle), and Jade Hassoune (Meliorn) attended MCM Comic Con in London October 27-28. Here are some highlights from the weekend!

Emeraude (Izzy) shared a video:  Hey London!!!!! @MCMComicCon this weekend!! Who’s coming to say hi !??!! 

Kat (Clary) shared a gif:  Just popping in to #mcmlondoncomiccon!  @ch8i @JadeHassoune @arosende @mcmcomiccon

MCM Comic Con shared a video:  Live from #mcmcomiccon @Kat_McNamara talks cosplay and tells us why she's here this weekend with the @ShadowhuntersTV cast!

MCM Comic Con shared a video:  We chat to @arosende of @ShadowhuntersTV to hear why he's a fan!

Matt Carter (article):  Shadowhunters stars Katherine McNamara, Alberto Rosende speak at MCM Comic-Con. 

A fan shares a video of Paul Wesley (actor/director) at MCM saying he’s sorry that Shadowhunters got cancelled. 

MCM Comic Con’s video of Shadowhunters’ Saturday panel on YouTube (link jumps to 6:05:51). 

4 Your Entertainment shared videos of the cast at MCM discussing behind-the-scenes shenanigans and the #SaveShadowhunters campaign, among other things.

Hollywood News Source shared a video: #SaveShadowhunters see @Kat_McNamara @ch8i @JadeHassoune @arosende @EmeraudeToubia at a Press Event earlier today at MCM Comic Con London.

CJ (MCM Panel Host) shared a photo of the crowd:  If this doesnt show the fan love for #Shadowhunters and the #SaveShadowhunters movement at @MCMComicCon for my panel on Saturday I dont know what does! (panoramic so best to open) (Cc: @Kat_McNamara @arosende @EmeraudeToubia @ch8i & @JadeHassoune)

TVGuide.co.uk (article):  MCM 2018: Shadowhunters cast praise #SaveShadowhunters campaign and “powerful” fanbase.

BSS shares images of the cast on stage from both panels (more to come): here and here. 

Chai Hansen (Jordan Kyle) tweeted:  Thank you so much for the best weekend ever!!! I had a blast meeting everyone at @MCMComicCon Wish I could relive that wknd 3 times over. Also Thank you everyone for being so welcoming and making me feel absolutely at home.

Kat (Clary) shared a photo: Thank you so much @mcmcomiccon and all the lovely angels who came to support for such an amazing weekend! Until next time! [3]

#SaveShadowhunters (continued)

On June 4th, it was announced that Freeform wouldn’t be continuing on with a fourth season of Shadowhunters. Here are a few major highlights. (Our full roundup for #SaveShadowhunters can be found here.)

Talkwalker (article): How to boost your brand with virality

Huffington Post (article):  Fans Of Canceled Teen Show ‘Shadowhunters’ Are Shamelessly Spamming Jimmy Fallon

Serien Fuchs (article):  “Shadowhunters“: Gute Chancen bei den “People’s Choice Awards“

People’s Choice Awards

Shadowhunters is a finalist in three People’s Choice Awards categories, #TheSciFiFantasyShow, #TheBingeworthyShow, and #TheShow. Kat McNamara (Clary) is a finalist for #TheFemaleTVStar and Harry Shum Jr. is a finalist for #TheMaleTVStar.

Cast and Crew Reactions:

Kat (Clary) tweeted a video: Thank you, angels! Last day of #PCAs voting! @peopleschoice @enews @ShadowhuntersTV ALSO... CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN ANOTHER CAPACITY... https://www.vote.org

Other News

WeventsProduction announced that Anna Hopkins (Lilith) will attend The Hunters of Shadow 3 in Paris and The Hunters of Shadow Brussels.

WeventsProduction announced that Harry Shum Jr. (Magnus) will attend The Hunters Of Shadow Brussels.

Grumpy Magazine tweeted: IT’S HAPPENING: @Kat_McNamara is back for our upcoming Fall 2018 issue.

TV Insider (article):  'Shadowhunters' Star Kat McNamara Gives Some Hints About Her 'Arrow' Role.

Deadline (article):  ‘October Faction’: Maxim Roy To Recur In Netflix Sci-Fi Series

Just Jared Jr. (article): Katherine McNamara Dishes on New 'Arrow' Character Maya

Nicola Correia-Damude (Maryse Lightwood) tweets about a new project:  That’s right. We be one BADASS foursome!

Bello Magazine shared sneak peeks of a photoshoot with Kat (Clary) on its Instagram.

Kat (Clary) attended the In Style Awards.

Harry (Magnus) attended and presented at the 8th Annual World Choreography Awards.

Harry (Magnus) found Harry Shum Jr. at Facebook HQ. [4]

Just Jared Jr. (article):  Katherine McNamara Wows In Head To Toe Red at 'A Private War' Premiere

Just Jared Jr. (article): Tommy Dorfman & Ross Butler Bring '13 Reasons Why' to the InStyle Awards!

Emeraude (Izzy) shared photos of her Latin American Music Awards outfit.

Just Jared Jr. (article):  Katherine McNamara Wears Butterflies in Her Hair for Unicef's Masquerade Ball 2018

Isaiah (Luke) wrapped the filming of IT2.

The Hollywood Reporter (article):  Harry Shum Jr. Signs With Paradigm (Exclusive)

IGN (article): Crazy Rich Asians Sequel Plans to Shoot in Shanghai

Vanidades Colombia tweeted:  ¿Qué esperas para tener nuestra reciente edición con Emeraude Toubia en portada? Además no te pierdas la entrevista exclusiva a Vanidades de Bradley Cooper y todas las tendencias para esta temporada.

[billlskarsgard-blog]

Värvet pod with Bill Skarsgard.

Bill Skarsgard, 27 years old and already spot on as an actor. It’s not news that Bill Skarsgard is a flaming hot name in Hollywood. Now he’s on the big screen in over 70 countries worldwide. He has walked the old path to a great career, from smaller jobs that developed into bigger ones. Bill has before IT gotten smaller attention in the media. He’s born 1990, fourth child of Stellan Skarsgard. It’s been seven years since his debut in Simple Sinom and Behind blue skies. In 2013 he got his first international role in Hemlock Grove. He’s in Sweden to promote his new upcoming movie IT.

Kristoffer: Talk.

Bill: Hello, Hello, can you hear me?

K: Yes I can hear you perfectly.

B: Little to good maybe.

K: You’re good.

*Laughing*

K: Where are we?

B: We’re at The Grand Hotel.

K: Yes that’s right, how are you? B: I’m good,very good. I currently at my third cup of coffee for the day.

K: Well, now you’ve been acting for such a long period of time, yet you’ve only had this amount of attention these past 4 years. B: I don’t think I’ve ever had this amount of attention before. It a new feeling however ti’s a movie that’s got a worldwide interest which is a rather odd feeling.

K: How does it feel, I mean it’s a part of your job? B: It’s surreal. So many people interested in the movie, for example Dwayne ’The Rock’ Johnson the muscle guy in Fast and Furious posted a picture of Pennywise and wrote that it was his favorit movie, the directors and actors are great and that Bill Skarsgard is a great Pennywise. It’s absurd since he got over 90 Million followers. Plus the movie is out now in the US.

K: Do you enjoy it? The attention. B: I don’t know. I like the experience, it’s fun and all that yet I can’t say I’m someone who enjoys or finds it necessary to get all the attention. I like to separate my private life and my professional acting life. Like I don’t have the need for Twitter and Instagram.

K: Yet you’re active on social media right? B: No.

K: So you have other people doing it for you then? B: No, there’s no one doing that or what do you mean?

K: Because I’m following you all those platforms you just mentioned. Or I thought I did. B: Really? But no, that’s not me. I know that there’s is Twitter accounts that claiming to be me and then there’s fan accounts but they’ve made it very clear that they’re only fan accounts. However I’m not so sure what to do about that. I’ve thought about creating an account so people would know the truth like even you believe that those accounts were real.

K: Okay because it says ’Sorry for being so bad at posting here, I’m using my Instagram more’ which makes it rather believable. B: I think it’s rather creepy. *Laughs*

K: For me it’s huge that you been sitting next to Jimmy Kimmel as a guest, how did it feel? B: Absurd. I thought what am I supposed to do on an american talkshow for the first time. Who am I supposed to be? That nice, relaxed and perfect actor, being THE moviestar or that awkward, mystical artist. It’s the question about who you present yourself to an audience. Beforehand I had some ideas. Who are you supposed to be infront of an audience at Jimmy Kimmel. I was told a few week before that I was going to be on Jimmy Kimmel and got terrified, fun and surreal. As time passed I got calm since being on Jimmy Kimmel is just like doing any other interview I do all the time. However not to make this story longer than it has to be I got there and they guided me into this greenroom with my agents and managers to get ready. As I’m getting ready there’s this screen with the show on so I’m sitting there, getting my make up ready and Jimmy suddenly said ’Tonights guest is Bill Skarsgard from IT’. When I heard that it was such a bizarre feeling, like there’s one of those glitches in Matrix, he’s not supposed to say my name. Then someone walks inside and says that it’s my turn before guiding me into this room which is not bigger than a wardrobe with a big door. They explain to me what’s going to happen, that Jimmy will say a few things before the door opens before they leaved me alone in there. However I think they did that a little too early since I probably stood there for about 2 minutes as the show is ongoing outside that big door. When I finally walked out and me Jimmy for the first time I wanted to say that ”This feels like a glitch in Matrix” however he just says ”Hi you’re from Sweden how’s that?” and I’m just like ”Ehm, yeah it’s good,” which made him smile. Then I realized that I have no control over this what so ever, all I need is to keep up with him thought out the interview.

K: So you didn’t know what he would say beforehand? B: Yes, before meeting him I had a smaller interview with the team and project leaders told me that Jimmy would talk about my Swedish origin in the beginning.

K: Then the question is, which Bill Skarsgard did we see on Jimmy Kimmel? B: I have to say myself. When I had thought about it, it felt better to just be myself. I didn’t feel like being someone I’m not. Yet it’s a pretty deep question who you are when you really think about it.

K: Now you’ve been working over there for about five years now, I know that when you first got there you got a language coach. As a guest on Jimmy Kimmel, did you feel nervous about letting your Swedish tongue slip through? B: No, I’ve been over there for such a long time now. I think I’ve even reached that point where it feels easier to express myself in English than in Swedish or at least it takes some time to switch to Swedish when I return home. As I said it’s because I’ve been there for such a long time, I have been doing a lot of interviews, jobs and not to mention I have very close friends there as well.

K: Amazing, I actually spoke to a close friend that moved to New York and told him that he’s like a whole new person when he’s speaking English. When he speaks Swedish he this very self-contained which is the total opposite when he’s speaking English, then he’s all flirty and such. B: Really? K: Yes B: Did you notice that or did he tell you? K: I noticed it yet I don’t know if he agrees with me. So my question is do you feel like you’re different when you’re speaking English? B: I don’t think so. Swedish people are one of the best English speakers from non english speaking countries, as well as Holland. Like you don’t have to learn Swedish to talk to a swede, you can speak English to anyone. However when you’re in a country or in a group with English as their native language then you might feel a little restrained since you can tell jokes in the same way and when you try to tell a story or so it get’s all confusing. For me I had that feeling when I was younger however I think I’ve developed so much and I don’t feel restrained when I’m speaking which is amazing.

K: Have you listened to Värvet before? B: A little yet I don’t listen a lot on radio. You do podcasts as well right? K: This is a podcast. B: See, I can’t tell.

K: I usually got more time to interview my guests so let’s get to it. You’re Pennywise in IT, this might sound odd, but is Pennywise a main character? B: Ehm.. I wouldn’t say that. I am the titel roll, but the shark in Jaws is not the main character (In Swedish is: Hajen in Hajen.) K: The shark didn’t won an Oscar. B: Or the T-rex in Jurassic Park. I’m doing the iconic character but no the main.

K: Your career in America has gone by fast, how do you feel about it? B: No, I don’t know if I feel that way. The first international project I ever did was Hemlock Grove over five years ago. I’m 27 now so five years is a pretty long period of time. I’m a whole new person now than I was back then yet I won’t be a new person in five years. The age 22-27 there’s a log going on and you develop as a human being. So my career since my first job till now have been a long one.

K: The most difficult times? B: In life or? K: These years, but yeah sure. B: I don’t know. When I first read the scrip to Hemlock Grove I loved the pilot. I thought that it would be an interesting project with a script I loved, the words were amazing and the writer whose one of my best friends today. However I didn’t know him then. Sadly I got to see what the industry can do to a project. It didn’t develop in the direction I thought it would, there was a lot of politics surrounding it. It was rather odd for me because when you work with movies or series, in Sweden you have a director who’s written the script him/herself and is fully in charge. In the end of Hemlock Groveit felt like no one or everyone were in charge. Then suddenly they changed the writer and practically everyone else before season 2-3. It went from a character I loved to someone who said things I didn’t like and the story was not what I expected. The last year in Toronto with a temperature about 20 below zero. I’ve never faced such a chilly climate and I’m from Stockholm, however then it felt like my character where in the hands of others. As the result of that I lived a very destructive life with Landon who also starring in Hemlock Grove.

K: You’ve said that before, living destructively, what do you mean? Drugs and alcohol? B: Well, the destructive part is that you don’t care for yourself. Some people might never leave the bed but I’m not like that. I got myself into destructive relationships in one way or another. I wouldn’t call it depression since it’s something completely different and way more serious. Maybe more aggression. Yet when I look back those years were very formative for me. I got a lot of experience about the industry, everything behind it, politics and how I react to it. I wouldn’t change it for anything. K: Yet you’re not proud of the outcome of the product? B: People like the series and it got some charm to it. A few things are nice yet for me it’s more about my own personal journey. The series were based on a book I liked, then people who shouldn’t be involved with the creative process joined the production. K: Then you shouldn’t work with advertising, that happens everyday. B: I can see that. K: You said you didn’t do anything else after that for about six months. B: Correct. K: How do you feel about that? B: I don’t know. As an actor you get a lot of free time, between jobs you’re unemployed. I like free time when you got a job but I dislike being unemployed since I don’t know when or if I’m getting my next job. It’s rather stressful.

K: How do you deal with that? B: I don’t know. I’m trying to keep myself occupied, trying to develop my own things. K: Are you writing something on your own? B: Yes, I’ve started recently since I find it rather intriguing. I don’t like the passiveness in being an actor, you always rely on other people thing about you. It makes you feel helpless which I don’t like. That’s why I want to create things on my own. Now I need to find a script I like, then I have to fit to the script to get a chance to go to an audition so I can try to convince them that I can do it. K: Can you say anything about what you’re writing? B: Yes, I’m writing a script to a short film. I’m taking small steps to get to where I want in the future, to direct as well. K: I wanted to avoid to talk about your family, however it feel like you’re the only one doing that out of everyone whose acting. B: No, Gustaf and Alexander has written and even directed a few things. K: Oh sorry for my lack of information. B: Everyone has different needs. My father has never directed even if I think he would be amazing at doing so but he doesn’t have that need.

K: You’re literally the it actor now. How do you managing with that? B: I’ve got one agent and manager in the US. They are very good at doing business over there. I only pay my agents when I’ve been given a job. They are extremely good at their job, woking to get the job, build an interest around me, making sure that job open other doors to more interesting productions for me. K: What are you aiming for? B: I want my acting to become something I can work with my whole life. I don’t want to end up at Marvel, DC or the other popcorn movies. I don’t have an interest in that. I want to establish myself, work with interesting and inspiring parts. What’s motivating me is opening new doors and meet new people.

K: Are you allowed to tell what you earn with a movie like IT? B: Ehm no… Well I’m allowed to but I don’t like to talk about it.

K: I have to say that I know a certain child who accidentally stumbled upon the IT trailer which has given me a few sleepless nights. B: And how did this certain someone see it? K: On YouTube. B: Did you show it? K: No, he/she found it. B: You have to be careful. You can say you’ve met me and that it’s not real. K: Before he/she went to bed I said that IT lives in the US and that it’s not real before asking what sounded more reliable and got the answer that it wasn’t real. B: That’s good.

K: We talked about language. I think its difficult to tell when for example Swedish shines through in the accent, it only happens a few times that I notice it. Is it easier to act on English in productions? Now since you gotten more used to the language. B: First of all it’s more difficult to act when you don’t fully master the language. I will never be able to speak a language as good as the one with the language as their mother tongue. In Swedish you can quickly hear when it’s false or if it sounds strange, stressed words. The better you master a language the better you are able to deliver the lines. Yet you can deliver a line perfectly however the melody or how you say it can destroy it. Sometimes when people from english speaking countries watch Swedish movies they can say ”That was a good actor,” because they can see the feeling behind the lines they don’t understan. K: Maybe that’s why Wallander has reached such success internationally even if Krister Henriksson isn’t proud over the movies.

K: What are you doing at the moment? B: Filming for Hulu. I don’t think we got Hulu in sweden, the big companies are Netflix, Amazon and Hulu and probably in that order as well. Hulu made The Handmaiden’s Tale which was viewable on HBO Nordic. However the series is called Castle Black and Stephen King is exclusive producer. K: He likes you. B: *Laughs* At least the ones behind the project likes me. However Castle Black is a city that’s reoccurring in King’s books. I’m not allowed to say anything yet there’s a new story in each season and I’m in the first one. I’m leaving on Monday for Boston. It’s a fun, interesting character and different from what I’ve done before but it’s still a scary theme. K: Typecasting, does that ever worry you? B: I don’t know. I think as an actor you need to work against your type, making sure you’re not working with the same thing over and over, to get new challenges. With that said I like dark characters, stories which I have nothing against. It inspires me.

K: Have you met Stephen King? B: No. K: I saw an interview with him where he says that he liked you as IT. B: Yes, he likes the movie which it rather unusual since he’s rather difficult to impress. If he likes something, he will say it. If he doesn’t like something he will say it. But for him to say that he likes it means very much for everyone involved.

K: In previous interviews you’ve said that you don’t have a home. Do you? B: No. K: What do you want right now? B: My girlfriend and I are looking for places in Stockholm right now even if I probably won’t be there as much. I don’t own anything and I never had so it’s about time. Stockholm will always be my home even if I live somewhere else.

K: Do you want to recommend something? B: I’ve been listening to Sam Harris podcast named The Waking Up Call. There are interesting guests and you will enjoy it if you like politics, science and essential issues. I don’t agree with everything he says but there are good discussions. K: Who do you think I should interview on Värvet? B: I’m not good at this… I don’t know. K: It’s okay, I need to take a picture with you know before time is up. Thank you so much for this interview.

I translated this interview/podcast rather quickly. I tried to pick up everything. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it, english is not my native language so I apologize for any grammatical errors. I’ve never done this before either!

[racingtoaredlight]

Profiles in IMDb Greatness: Glenn Fleshler

I love the Internet Movie Database. was that the big boy from Modern Family working the front desk at a hotel in Almost Famous? Sure was. As such I enjoy looking over random performer pages and arbitrarily judging the scope and quality of their careers to determine if they merit entry into my vaguely defined IMDb Hall of Fame. Today’s enshrinee: Glenn Fleshler

Hello old friends, hope everyone is doing well during this pandemic and instead of protesting at state capitol buildings with the shittiest people alive you’re safe at home enjoying wholesome blog content. While riding out quarantine the mind has more time to wander and ponder the deeper mysteries, like what are the moral obligations a government has to keeping its population alive and in the nearly 50 years of HBO has there ever been a more vital figure in its programming than Glenn Fleshler over the past decade?

Much like Gus Frerotte appearing out of nowhere to be every team’s backup quarterback at some point in the last 20 years, Fleshler just strolls from one prestige television set to another covering the gamut from drama to horror to comedy. I considered writing this post months ago when I first realized we were dealing with Mr. HBO here but quarantine boredom was just the propellant needed to get this baby off the ground.

First Listed Role: While fans of the IMDb HOF may remember my affinity for these actors getting their starts in soap operas the true character actor spirit is captured from appearing in network crime dramas so of course Glenn Fleshler opening up with an episode of Homicide: Life on the Street which also featured friend of the HOF Jon Polito! The episode description is simply “The team investigate a woman who appears to be murdering her husbands for the insurance money” so I’ll assume they ripped the whole thing from the plot of Addams Family Values and Fleshler played Uncle Fester.

Newest Role: Of course after calling Fleshler Mr. HBO I’m immediately served up a role on Showtime’s Billions. I didn’t get into that show when it premiered since I don’t trust Showtime original programming anymore and when I tried to start it up a couple weeks ago I made it five minutes before realizing that a show about rich assholes talking about the stock market wasn’t what I was looking for in 2020. I’m sure it’s delightful.

CSI/Law & Order/NCIS Guest Spots: Three episodes of Law & Order and three more of SVU, six different characters. This is legendary stuff. Let’s go in chronological order where I play my favorite game of trying to guess who the character was in each episode.

Don Hamilton, 2/6/02 - A former aide for a state senator has turned up missing and it’s revealed that she was having an affair with the senator and was pregnant. My money’s on Fleshler as the murderous, fertile politician.

Dr. Noah Kamens, 11/1/02 - Yikes, child sex ring episode here. Fingers crossed that Fleshler was just appearing as a child psychologist and not as a predatory pediatrician but as we’ll visit later he can pull off menacingly creepy well.

Rick Kawalchuck, 4/20/05 - A porn star is murdered, safe to assume Fleshler is the corpse and this light-hearted episode is filled with wisecracks about how with his rigor mortis they won’t be able to close the coffin.

Jimmy Curren, 12/3/08 - A man from upstate New York is found dead in Chinatown, a realistic crime based on my knowledge of midupstate New Yorkers and their appreciation of a good Chinese buffet. This crime leads all the way to the governor’s office and since Jimmy doesn’t sound gubernatorial I’ll guess Fleshler is an adviser who kills the victim over the last potsticker.

Corrections Officer Kravitz, 10/7/09 - This game isn’t fun if you do all the work for me, character name.

Phillip Altshuler, 12/6/17 - A true pro still doing these gigs when at this point he’d been in some truly great TV. this episode is about the rape of a social media star so he’s the venture capitalist funding the app and trying to keep the story under wraps.

One of these days I really should watch an episode of Law & Order.

Hall of Fame Ballot Submissions: Just from the HBO division we got Sex and the City (he looks like Charlotte’s type based on the schlubby lawyer she ends up marrying down the stretch), Boardwalk Empire (not the best show but I did love him as George Remus who always referred to himself as “Remus”), True Detective (hope everyone’s working from home in case remembering the “Making flowers” scene gets you understandably horny), The Knick (technically Cinemax but I always thought they were owned by the same crew, if not when a show has a guy taking a shot of cocaine to the dick it gets in here), The Night Of (kind of became a mess at the end and there entirely too much John Turturro foot picking but the pilot was great), Barry (fantastic show, Fleshler should do more comedy) and then he turned up in the best episode of the incredible Watchmen season.

What a run, when Glenn Fleshler passes on down the road I hope this kicks off his funeral.

Miscellaneous Credits: I didn’t think Joker in any way deserved a Best Picture nomination and the conversation around it was embarrassing all around since in the end it was a mostly entertaining Taxi Driver ripoff but hey, Glenn Fleshler can say he was in award nominated motion picture.

Highest Rated IMDb Entry: Kinda surprised that the True Detective finale landed here since I remember there being disappointment with it even though I thought it and that whole season were fantastic (his relative/ladyfriend Ann Dowd would be a good one to cover in the next post so keep that in mind for the next pandemic) but here it is at a robust 9.6. Fleshler is the right kind of unnerving after a season of buildup to who the killer was. I can see how a fella like that would catch on in multiple Law & Orders universes even if he’s appeared enough times for people to question why everyone in New York City looks like Glenn Fleshler.

Lowest Rated IMDb Entry: A 2016 film called The Rendezvous where Fleshler’s the only name I recognize on the cast list. Let’s learn about this movie together, shall we.

Oof, I was rooting for armageddon to come take me less than a minute in to that. My only intrigue in diving in further is to see if the “we work for a higher power” sticks with that Steel Magnolias accent all throughout the movie. And the quips, my god the quips. The “you think?” line is what happens when Marvel movies are oversold for their witty banter, everyone wants a taste of jokes they don’t have to work on.

IMDb Fun Fact: The only three I had to choose from

Off-Broadway, he has appeared in such plays as Measure for Measure and Pericles, Prince of Tyre.

Fleshler studied acting at New York University's Tisch School of the Performing Arts, from which he has an MFA.

Fleshler's Broadway credits include Death of a Salesman, Guys and Dolls, Arcadia and The Merchant of Venice.

Neat.

IMDb HOF Members: Looking for a Mother’s Day gift for the special ladies in your life? Just send her this list of links and they’ll wish quarantine would never end so long as there are more to read!

Bob Balaban

Jim Beaver

Clancy Brown

W. Earl Brown

Reg E. Cathey

Gary Cole

Keith David

Cary Elwes

Noah Emmerich

Glenn Fleshler

Jami Gertz

John Hawkes

John Michael Higgins

Toby Huss

Allison Janney

John Carroll Lynch

Margo Martindale

David Morse

Joe Morton

Robert Patrick

Bill Paxton

Jon Polito

Alan Rickman

Stephen Root

Matt Ross

Alan Ruck

Peter Stormare

Daniel von Bargen

Next Time: If the pandemic is still ongoing, the monkey from Outbreak. If not, the monkey from Outbreak.

[njawaidofficial]

Alex Rodriguez on Rebooting His Image: "You Have to Own Your Shit"

http://styleveryday.com/2017/08/03/alex-rodriguez-on-rebooting-his-image-you-have-to-own-your-shit/

Alex Rodriguez on Rebooting His Image: "You Have to Own Your Shit"

He made $500 million playing baseball then became a scandal-plagued Yankees pariah. Now, Rodriguez is on ABC, CNBC and Fox Sports, rebooting himself as more than a jock turned broadcaster (and J.Lo’s beau), and he may have the secret to a successful second act: “You have to own your shit.”

Alex Rodriguez raises an arm to keep an errant basketball from hitting a reporter. We are seated courtside in plastic chairs at the gym at Wayside Baptist Church — a complex of low-slung white stucco buildings in Kendall, Florida, a suburb southwest of Miami, near where Rodriguez grew up. It is a Thursday in July, and Rodriguez wears dark-wash jeans and a navy polo shirt with a small white A-Rod Corp logo — an abstraction of the erstwhile Yankee slugger’s signature arching swing — on his left breast.

Today he is filming a pilot for CNBC called Back in the Game, a concept that has Rodriguez mentoring down-and-out former athletes. The first episode features Joe Smith Jr., a 1995 NBA No. 1 draft pick whose peripatetic career included an unfortunate salary-cap scam with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Rodriguez will enlist Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank to help Smith realize his ambition to start a youth basketball academy. We are at Wayside’s youth camp so producers can film Smith interacting with the kids. Most of the roughly 100 youth present don’t know Smith, but they of course know Rodriguez, one of the most famous (and, to many, infamous) athletes of his generation, so they’re asking for autographs and selfies.

It’s nearly exactly a year since Rodriguez played his last game at Yankee Stadium after a record-making, scandal-plagued major league career that began in 1994, when he was 18. “It’s night and day how content and happy and proud I am,” he says. “You being here, that would have never happened before.”

Rodriguez, contemplating his dramatic rehabilitation — from pariah to pundit, a credible TV star with a Hollywood girlfriend — continues: “It starts with being accountable. When people can see that you’re genuine, that’s when they pay attention. You have to own your shit.”

I ask whether he ever thinks about the arc of his career from superstar to outcast, and he shoots me a look that says, “Every second of every day!” Then he grabs my notebook and pen. Turning it sideways, he jots down five dates: 1994, 2000, 2004, 2014, 2017. (Curiously, 2009, when he won his only World Series, is not included.) He draws a jagged line under the numbers; 2000 (he hit 41 homers and had 132 RBIs, powering Seattle to the ALCS against the Yankees) and 2004 (his first season with the Yankees) are high points. When he gets to 2014 (when he sat out the season during the longest suspension in baseball history for using performance-enhancing drugs), he drags the pen to the bottom of the page then brings it back up to 2017. No doubt: 2014 was rock bottom. “There were nights in Miami when I was close to tapping out,” he admits.

•••

Once the sport’s biggest outcast, in two years Rodriguez has managed to recast himself as a trusty TV presence and MLB ambassador. (Eight days earlier, during All-Star Game weekend in Miami, he opened a refurbished field at the Miami-Dade Boys & Girls Club with MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, who in 2013 led the investigation that resulted in Rodriguez’s suspension.)

It is a rebirth that few — least of all Rodriguez, 42 — would have thought possible a few years ago. He had made more money than anyone in baseball (nearly $500 million), dated famous women (Madonna), been caught taking banned substances (twice), repeatedly lied about it on TV and the radio, faced an investigation that turned up a cast of seedy characters and endured a public fall, a painful exile.

Now, he’s not out of place in the congenial confines of daytime and late night (guest hosting Live With Kelly Ripa; playing Egg Russian Roulette with Jimmy Fallon) and soon makes his debut as an ABC News contributor. (Rodriguez is viewed as an asset by ABC execs for his relationships with C-suite luminaries like Warren Buffet and Starwood Capital Group chairman Barry Bernlicht, whom he counts as mentors. The network hopes he’ll leverage access and conduct a different type of interview than a traditional correspondent.) He has carved out a reputation as a savvy businessman. He’s in the throes of a made-for-social media relationship with Jennifer Lopez, someone whose star wattage equals his own. He’s entering the reality TV circuit, but not on vacuous unscripted shows. The CNBC program matches his mission to help athletes prepare for life after the huge checks stop coming. And he’ll get to display his CEO persona as a “guest shark” on the upcoming season of ABC’s Shark Tank. “He was far more entrepreneurial than I expected,” notes the show’s Mark Cuban.

But it’s his role as an analyst on Fox Sports — which began as a guest stint during the 2015 postseason and where he has teamed with Kevin Burkhardt, Frank Thomas and fellow stigmatized hit machine Pete Rose — that arguably has done the most to repair his image as baseball’s biggest sinner.

“He goes on TV, and he’s really good,” says Bill Simmons, an avowed Red Sox loyalist and no fan of A-Rod as a player, who in 2009 wrote a column for ESPN positing that Rodriguez united the Yankees clubhouse because he was the one guy they all loved to hate. “We’ve seen this with all kinds of athletes; they can reinvent the legacy of their career just by being on TV. It just doesn’t feel like he has the baggage of some of the stuff that he did. You look at [Barry] Bonds, [Roger] Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire; these guys are synonymous with steroids. A-Rod is the only one who has come out of the abyss.”

If any baseball fans didn’t already know that Rodriguez possesses a savant-like knowledge of and reverence for the game, they learn that after watching him as an analyst. “When he was playing and I would see him, all he ever wanted to do is talk about the great players of the past,” says Rose. “He loves the history of the game. He would love to ask me about Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron. I used to play against those guys all the time.”

For a journalist, this manifests in a stream of questions. At our first meeting, Rodriguez asks me to describe my workouts, where I come from, with whom else I have talked about him (and what they said), how this interview is going to go down. “I’m a reporter at heart,” he laughs.

But what has surprised many observers (and detractors) is how he plays well with others. “Having done studio shows, a lot of success or failure comes through how well you can sell everybody else and how well they sell you,” says Simmons. “And he’s good at selling the other people, which I would not have expected. Because you would have thought A-Rod would just be like, ‘Oh, I’m in it for myself. It’s not my job to make Pete Rose look better.’ But he’s actually good at selling them. The man’s full of surprises.”

Rodriguez brings the same relentless work ethic he exhibited during his career to his new job; his prep includes dozens of phone calls — to players, managers, trainers, other broadcasters, even the batboy. (“Clubhouse kids and batboys give you the greatest information in the world,” he says.) People joke on set that Rose has zero notes and Rodriguez shows up with a stack of them.

“A lot of people come in who think TV is easy, and they want to show up 20 minutes before the red light is on and wing it,” says John Entz, president of production at Fox Sports. “Alex prepares hours before, he watches the tape afterward, he wants to be critiqued, he wants to hear what was good, what could be worked on.”

Earlier this year, Fox signed him to a multiyear deal as a full-time analyst. But he wasn’t looking for a broadcast job when the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs in 2015, partly because he didn’t think he’d be good at it. It’s a running theme in Rodriguez’s life: his inferiority complex. It’s his Achilles’ heel — and what drives him.

“He needed reinforcement that he was the best,” says Rose. “Some players just want be told every day how good they are. I mean, Alex was so good, I don’t even think he understood how good he was. He always needed that little pat on the back to substantiate that.”

The effort seems to be paying off. Says Entz: “One of the comments we heard most frequently, either from people who didn’t like the Yankees or Alex, was along the lines of, ‘Man, I turned on the show, I really didn’t want to like Alex, but he was so good. I can’t help but like him.’ “

Further validation came in May when Fox’s World Series coverage won an Emmy. Adds Entz, “He’s changed a lot of people’s minds.”

Adds Rodriguez, referring to Entz: “He took a lot of shit. The people who took a chance on me early on when everybody was running the other way, those are the people who I go to war for.”

In February 2015, Rodriguez knew it was time to wave the white flag and get to work on a new incarnation of himself: owner of his own mess, charitable do-gooder, fan favorite. He was due at spring training; he released a letter of apology to fans. True to quirky form, it was handwritten. It was a complete reversal of his grievance-filled statement from a year earlier when he vowed to take his fight with baseball to federal court.

“When the thing that you love more than anything in the world is taken away from you, even if you did it to yourself, you really have to take a look at who you are and what you’re doing,” says Suzyn Waldman, the longtime Yankees play-by-play announcer. “When they took baseball away from him, something changed.”

His year of banishment was spent “turning the lens inward,” he says. He saw a psychoanalyst, he kept a journal, and he spent a lot of time with his daughters, Natasha, 12, and Ella, 9, who live nearby in Florida with their mother, Cynthia. (She and Rodriguez divorced in 2008 after five years of marriage; their split was tabloid fodder, courtesy of his then-liaison with Madonna. But they remain close, and Rodriguez mentions more than once how important it is for them to effectively co-parent.)

Never having gone to college is a source of great insecurity for Rodriguez, so during his time off, he took classes — at Columbia (value investing) and the University of Miami (marketing). He got advice from such friends as Jim Sharp, a septuagenarian lawyer who has represented polls (George W. Bush) and players (Rodriguez’s friend Andy Pettitte) and told him to give up the fight and take his punishment, and erstwhile CNN anchor Jessica Yellin (whom he met through a friend), who advised him that reporters are human beings not Schadenfreude-seeking destroyers of lives. “She told me, ‘Lean in to the media; they are people just like you; they have a job, just like you; connect with them, be yourself.’ “

He spent a lot of time apologizing — to his family, teammates, league execs. I ask Manfred if it seems surreal to be opening ballparks with Rodriguez after being on the opposite side of the trench. “When you come up in the side of the business that I did, where you have conflict with people, you learn to move on,” reasons Manfred. “It doesn’t seem surreal to me. I’m not a grudge-holder. It feels perfectly natural to me.”

Key to the reinvention narrative was that A-Rod returned to some approximation of his one-time MVP form when he rejoined the Yankees, not so easy for a “broken-down 40-year-old” who had weathered two hip surgeries and two knee surgeries. Many predicted (or hoped) that he would not make the starting lineup. By September, he had tied Hank Aaron’s record for the most 30-homer seasons of all time.

“It’s probably too soon for me to say this, but maybe in 10 years I’ll be able to say that the ‘ ’14 sabbatical’ was one of the best things that happened in my life,” he says. When I ask if he doesn’t believe that already, he adds, “I’ll say this: That year off I just had to fucking change and stop being a jerk.”

•••

Rodriguez’s work ethic was instilled by his mother, Lourdes Rodriguez, who worked as a secretary, taking a night job waiting tables after his father left the family when Alex was 10. As a child, he delighted in counting her tip money and was impressed when, at the end of the week, her tip pouch could have as much as $60 in it. “I would feel like the richest family in the neighborhood. And it left a mark on me.”

He was recruited out of high school by the University of Miami but signed a three-year, $1.3 million contract with the Seattle Mariners with a $1 million signing bonus. “I knew my mother was tired,” he says. “My responsibility was to sign that contract.”

Among the first things he did was buy his mom a house and a car. “We were constantly moving from apartment to apartment because they were always raising the rent,” he says of his childhood. “It always felt like it was the first of the month. And I remember praying to God to slow down time for my mother.”

Today, A-Rod Corp, the holding company he started 15 years ago, includes a Miami-based real estate and construction firm, Newport Property; fitness centers in Mexico; and a real estate investment and management firm, Monument, that owns 8,500 apartments and manages 13,000 in 12 states, mostly in the Southeast and Midwest.

Buffett has been a mentor for years — ever since Rodriguez placed an unsolicited call in 2001 upon learning that one of Buffett’s companies insured his early 2000s contract with the Texas Rangers. “I called the office and said, ‘Hey, I just want to say thank you.’ “

Buffett called back, and meetings with the Oracle of Omaha soon became a part of Rodriguez’s off-season routine. “We would sit there and go through all my businesses; he would give me all this advice. Then we would have dinner at his favorite steakhouse. At the end, I would have to eat one of those big ice cream sundaes.”

These days, when Rodriquez isn’t on the road for Fox Sports, his time is spent hopscotching among L.A., Miami and New York, where he and Lopez had their first official outing together in May when they appeared on the red carpet at Anna Wintour’s Met Gala. “There was a great deal of paparazzi,” he says. “They were telling me to get the hell out of the way so they could get a good shot of Jennifer.” He’s reluctant to say much about their relationship; they binge-watch TV together is as far as he’ll go. When I ask who asked whom out, he deflects: “You’ll have to ask her that.”

Their social media feeds are populated with pictures and videos of each other and their children. Lopez, 48, has 9-year-old twins with ex-husband Marc Anthony. “We both appreciate where we are in our lives,” he says. “We appreciate being parents, and we’re so similar; we’re both kind of workaholics.” (During one of our interviews, Lopez FaceTimes Rodriguez. “Oh look,” he says, turning his iPhone toward me, “Say hi.”)

He still watches baseball obsessively and often has the East, West and Central time zone games on simultaneously. “My girls are like, ‘Dad, this is too much. Where is the Disney Channel?’ “

He’s wistful about his distance from the game. “I miss my four at-bats every day. I miss the fans, the clubhouse, the boys. But I don’t miss the travel. I don’t miss waking up in pain every day.”

•••

The six-paneled TV in the screening room of Rodriguez’s Coral Gables home beams a huge visage of O.J. Simpson. It is July 20, the day of Simpson’s parole hearing. And the TV is tuned to ESPN, one of nearly a dozen networks carrying the hearing live. It’s jarring watching the fallen superstar in prison-issue clothes while in Rodriguez’s 11,000-square-foot, art-filled home. (Warhol and Basquiat hang on the walls; a Sarah Lucas sculpture featuring a white porcelain toilet is mounted in the entryway.) Rodriguez emerges wearing a black Tom Ford jacket and white cotton shirt. “Turn that O.J. stuff off,” he says to an assistant. “We’ve had enough of O.J.”

In the next room, the production crew from Back in the Game will shoot Rodriguez and Smith discussing the plan for Smith’s youth basketball academy. There is a dry-erase board on an easel; Rodriguez’s housekeeper spreads a freshly ironed white tablecloth on a folding table. “We want to tell the world who Joe Smith is,” explains Rodriguez.

Rodriguez has spent 22 years trying to tell the world who he is. If he has been misinterpreted, maligned (unfairly or not), vilified, perhaps it’s because he didn’t really know himself. “When I came back [after the suspension], I wanted to be a different person.”

And his legacy in the pantheon of America’s pastime? “I think that is to be determined,” he says. “But I left it all on the field. My best two years happened at 19 and as a broken-down 40-year-old. I hadn’t played in basically two years, two hip surgeries, two knee surgeries, scandal. And if you think about that arc, that tells you a hell of a story, right? The mistakes I’ve made are loud and clear. But one thing I am proud of is, I did not let those mistakes define who I am. I kept getting up.”

This story first appeared in the Aug. 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

[featurenews]

How much do you remember from Trump's first 50 days in office? – quiz

Fifty questions on the reality star turned president’s frequently controversial start to his four years in the White House Before attending a series of inaugural balls around Washington DC, Trump signed an executive order seeking the “prompt repeal” of which signature Obama policy? The nuclear agreement with Iran Obama's healthcare law, known as Obamacare The US' participation in the International Climate Agreement Regulation of the big banks In his inaugural address, Trump said “we are transferring power from Washington DC and giving it back to you, the people”. This line uncannily echoed a speech from which Batman movie villain? The Joker Pengun Bane Poison Ivy Trump’s press secretary, Sean Spicer, used his first White House briefing to berate journalists for their inauguration coverage and to make the spurious claim that record numbers of people had attended. How did White House aide Kellyanne Conway later defend Spicer? She said he was offering a "different narrative" She said he was "giving his own take" on events She said he gave "alternative facts" She said he had got out of bed on the wrong side More than half a million joined the Women’s March on Washington DC in what was thought to be the largest ever inauguration protest. Trump reacted via Twitter, saying: "So sad to see how many people hate freedom! Crooked Hillary and her supporters don't believe in democracy" "Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn't these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly." "Pathetic liberals trying to make it all about themselves. The people know better!" "So great to see so many people on the streets of Washington. Humbled by your support, let's make America great again!" Trump's first Monday in office was a busy one, in which he signed a flurry of executive orders. Which one won the cautious praise of Bernie Sanders? An order banning funding for international groups that provide abortions An order placing a hiring freeze on non-military federal workers. An order formally scrapping a flagship trade deal with 11 countries in the Pacific rim An order formally approving socialism in one country After Trump continued to make false claims about the presidential election, press secretary Sean Spicer said they were based on ‘studies and information he has’. What claims were they? That Trump had gained more votes than Hillary Clinton That millions of people voted illegally That it was the biggest election victory in history That Clinton had tried to get the election result overturned More executive orders followed on Tuesday, with Trump ordering the revival of Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines, to the dismay of Native American and climate change activists. Trump said the Keystone pipeline would produce "a lot of jobs, 28,000 jobs. Great construction jobs.” A US state department study estimated the number of long-term jobs at how many? 6 50 200 5,000 Which world leader cancelled their scheduled meeting with Trump in the president's first week? Theresa May, prime minster of the United Kingdom Vladimir Putin, president of the Russian Federation Mexico's president Enrique Peña Nieto Shinzō Abe, prime minister of Japan British PM Theresa May became the first foreign leader to visit the president at White House, successfully navigating a press conference that was deemed to have passed without too much embarrassment. But what were Trump and May later caught on video doing as they walked along the White House colonnade? Making inappropriate remarks about Hillary Clinton Holding hands Licking jam from each other's fingers Kissing Trump caused chaos with his executive order to close America's borders to to travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries. Which seven countries' citizens were blocked from entry? Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Egypt, Algeria and Yemen Syria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Egypt, Iran and Iraq Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia Saudi Arabia, Egypt, North Korea, Russia, Cuba, Iraq and France After a weekend in which pre-approved refugees, students and workers holding visas and residency green cards were barred from flights to the US, how did Trump defend the ban on Twitter? "So proud of our border staff for making America safe - everything is going so smoothly, don't believe FAKE news!" "You wouldn't believe what CNN - a totally failing network, by the way - is saying about my Muslim ban. It's not a ban!" "Our country needs strong borders and extreme vetting, NOW. Look what is happening all over Europe and, indeed, the world – a horrible mess!” "My executive order will make Americans safe again" As mass demonstrations and legal challenges against the travel ban mounted, which former President broke precent and criticised Trump's actions via his spokesman? Jimmy Carter Barack Obama George W Bush Bill Clinton In an interview with the New York Times, who did Trump strategist Steve Bannon say was "the opposition party"? The media The liberal elite The Democratic Party Other Republicans Donald Trump fired the acting US attorney general after she told justice department lawyers not to defend his executive order banning entry for people from seven Muslim-majority countries. What was her name? Sarah Palin Sally Yates Ruth Bader Ginsburg Nancy Pelowski As the backlash against Trump's travel ban gathered steam, what emerged as the first official screening at the White House family theatre? Aladdin The Lion King Finding Dory Triumph of the Will What did Trump reportedly call “the worst deal ever” during a phone call with the Australian prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull? The Australia – United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The Australia-US refugee resettlement deal Agreement to a booting, after long distance phone call prank that went wrong The mayor of which European city offered this advice to Trump over his Mexico border plans: “Don’t build this wall!” London Berlin Barcelona "You take over TV, because you’re such an expert in ratings, and I take over your job, then people can finally sleep comfortably again.” Who issued this challenge to Trump? Alec Baldwin John Oliver Arnold Schwarzenegger Rupert Murdoch Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to Donald Trump, sought to defend the travel ban by referring to which mass killing? 9/11 The "Bowling Green" massacre, which turned out not to have happened The Columbine High School massacre The attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida Myron Ebell, an adviser to the US president Donald Trump’s administration, raised eyebrows when he described something as "the greatest threat to freedom and prosperity in the modern world”. What? Socialism TTP Gun control laws The environmental movement A federal judge ordered a temporary halt on Donald Trump’s travel ban, a halt which the Trump administration immediately sought to overturn. In which city did this judgement take place? Washington DC New York Atlanta Seattle The White House's Holocaust Remembrance Day tribute came under fire from the head of the Anti-Defamation League after which puzzling omission? It neglected to mention Holocaust Remembrance Day It did not mention Jews, Judaism or antisemitism It failed to say when the Holocaust took place There was no quote from the president himself The writers of which show said they would refrain from “mocking everybody in government” in future episodes, after saying it was getting difficult "satire has become reality”. Saturday Night Live The Daily Show South Park The Simpsons Which controversial adviser did Trump grant a regular seat at meetings of the National Security Council? Kellyanne Conway Steve Bannon Jim Murphy Rupert Murdoch 1.8 million people signed a petition in support of scrapping or downgrading an invitation for Trump to have a state visit, triggering a debate in parliament. Which country are we talking about? Australia India The United Kingdom Japan Who won rave reviews for their impression of White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Saturday Night Live? Alex Baldwin Kate McKinnon Melissa McCarthy Chevy Chase Trump's first real national security scare came with a provocative North Korean missile launch. Where was Trump at the time? In the White House Aboard Air Force One Speaking at a rally Having dinner by candlelight with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe amid high-paying guests at his Palm Beach country club, Mar-a-Lago. The US national security adviser Michael Flynn resigned his position amid suggestions he had secretly discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador to Washington and then tried to cover up the conversations. How did Flynn describe the situation in his resignation letter? "During standard conversations with my Russian counterpart, I mistakenly gave the impression that I was able to give access to information that I could not provide" "Because of the fast pace of events, I inadvertently briefed the vice president elect and others with incomplete information regarding my phone calls with the Russian ambassador." "Though what is reported does not tally with my recollection of the conversations with the ambassador, I have concluded that my continuing in my role as national security adviser would be an unwelcome distraction as the president focuses on making this country great again" As my good friend Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of Russia's foreign affairs committee stated, suggestions that Trump's administration has close ties with Putin is "not just paranoia but something even worse". Trump stunned the diplomatic world during a press conference with Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, by seeming to be ambivalent about which longstanding US commitment? A pledge of $38bn in military aid The two-state solution Maintaining a US embassy in Israel An end to dual US/Israeli Citizenship Trump turned his fire on the media at an extraordinary first solo press conference in which he claimed his team was running like “a fine-tuned machine”. Which of these things did Trump *not* say during the 77-minute extravaganza? "The Middle East is a disaster. North Korea – we’ll take care of it, folks; we’re going to take care of it all. I just want to let you know, I inherited a mess.” “The press has become so dishonest that if we don’t talk about, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people. Tremendous disservice. We have to talk to find out what’s going on, because the press honestly is out of control." "You wouldn't believe how many things we've got planned for the next month, you're going to love it. I guarantee you that people are going to love it." “I love this. I’m having a good time doing it. Tomorrow, the headlines are going to be: ‘Donald Trump rants and raves.’ I’m not ranting and raving.” After a speech at the Golden Globes, which actor did Trump describe as “overrated” and a “Hillary flunky”? Sigourney Weaver Meryl Streep Lena Dunham Susan Sarandon According to a draft memo obtained by the Associated Press, the Trump administration considered a proposal to mobilize as many as 100,000 national guard troops to do what? Assist with law and order in the inner cities Defend the border with Mexico while the new wall is constructed Round up unauthorized immigrants, including millions living nowhere near the Mexico border Fight the war on drugs During a campaign-style rally in Florida, Donald Trump confused the citizens of which European nation by seeming to allude to a terrorist attack that supposedly happened the previous night? United Kingdom France Germany Sweden Which former British MP unexpectedly managed to scoop US media on Trump's Russian ties? Tony Blair Louise Mensch Ed Balls Nigel Farage After a series of outbursts complaining about the press coverage of his administration, Trump annouced he would skip the White House correspondents' dinner. Who was the last US president not to attend? George W Bush Ronald Reagan Bill Clinton Richard Nixon Who told a gathering of thousands of conservatives that Trump is “maniacally focused” on fulfilling his campaign pledges? Donald Trump Nigel Farage Steve Bannon Milo Yiannopoulos The White House barred several news organizations from an off-camera press briefing as the administration's relationship with the media continued to deteriorate. Which of the below was included in the 24 February “gaggle” with Sean Spicer? The BBC Breitbart News New York Times The Guardian The White House made a late February attempt to control public perceptions of a widening scandal over alleged contacts between aides to Donald Trump and Russian intelligence officials during the 2016 election. How did Trump tweet about the issue? "Keep hearing I'm friends with Putin from the lying media - what's wrong with getting along with other world leaders? Putin very strong" "Real Scandal is Hillary's shocking emails - FBI KNOW any claims against me are BS. CNN Is failing badly" "Russia talk is FAKE NEWS put out by the Dems, and played up by the media, in order to mask the big election defeat and the illegal leaks!" "I put on a beautiful event in Russia and I've not been back since - wish the MEDIA would CHECK their information!" Donald Trump’s first presidential address to Congress was an upbeat affair, in which the former reality tv star promised a “new chapter of American greatness”. Trump won praise and applause for singling out which figure? Abraham Lincoln John McCain, the senior United States Senator from Arizona Carryn Owens, the widow of a US Navy Seal, Ryan Owens, killed in a controversial raid in Yemen. Steve Bannon Who was accused of “lied under oath” about twice speaking with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the United States, during the presidential campaign, in apparent contradiction to his testimony to Congress. Attorney General Jeff Sessions Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin Secretary of Defense James Mattis In an apparent attempt to detract attention from the Jeff Sessions controversy, what did Trump accuse Barack Obama of in a series of early morning tweets? Being born in Kenya Plotting with Hillary Clinton to overthrow the Trump administration Tapping Trump's phones Leaving America's economy on the brink of collapse "We have come up with a solution that’s really, really I think very good. Now I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew that [it] could be so complicated." What was Trump talking about? Building a war on the US/Mexican border Israel / Palestine Healthcare North Korea White House press corps covering the Trump administration were surprised to receive a brand-new espresso machine, intended to help them with their coverage. Who sent it to them? Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders Sean Spicer Tom Hanks "They gave me the beautiful hat and I said, ‘You know, maybe I’ll do that’. We have a great ‘Make America great again’ hat but I said, ‘This is a special day, we’re wearing this, right?’”. Where was Trump and what hat was he wearing? The border with Mexico, a United States Border Patrol hat A pirate ship at Disneyland, a pirate hat The USS Gerald R Ford, a hat with "“USS Gerald R Ford” on it Boston, a hat befitting the style worn during the American Revolution Again on the offensive over allegations over his team's ties with Russia, Trump tweeted an image of Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader in the Senate, enjoying what with Vladimir Putin? A clandestine meeting in Budapest A friendly wrestling match Eating doughnuts outside a shop A joke about Pussy Riot Donald Trump signed a revised executive order to reinstate a ban on immigration from certain Muslim-majority countries and suspend the US refugee program. Alongside other changes, which country was removed from the list of targeted states? Iran Iraq Syria Yemen “This is a dumpster fire of a bill that was written on the back of a napkin behind closed doors because Republicans know this is a disaster.” Which bill was Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut talking about? Inspiring the Next Space Pioneers, Innovators, Researchers, and Explorers (INSPIRE) Women Act Presidential Executive Order on Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs Presidential Memorandum Regarding the Mexico City Policy The American Health Care Act, or 'Trumpcare' Who denied that carbon dioxide emissions are a primary cause of global warming, in an interview with CNBC on Thursday? Donald Trump Steve Bannon Scott Pruitt, Donald Trump’s head of the US Environmental Protection Agency Sean Spicer Which state became the first to file a lawsuit against Donald Trump’s revised travel ban? Alaska Hawaii California Kentucky Speaking in an interview with the Guardian, which former presidential candidate said that Trump "lies in order to undermine the foundations of American democracy"? Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders Al Gore Continue reading... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/10/how-much-do-you-remember-from-trumps-first-50-days-in-office-quiz?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

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New Post has been published on https://shovelnews.com/why-we-need-the-unrivaled-honesty-of-comic-jim-norton/

Why We Need The Unrivaled Honesty Of Comic Jim Norton

Courtesy of Loshak PRJim Norton

With a looming deal on the horizon after signing a contract extension for his morning radio show, a role in an upcoming Martin Scorsese Netflix film and a standup tour in full swing, you can bet against comedian Jim Norton becoming yesterday’s tomatoes any time soon.

The Bayonne, New Jersey native can be seen performing stand-up comedy live across the country on his Kneeling Room Only tour and can be heard weekday mornings between 7 a.m – 11 a.m. ET on SiriusXM’s Jim Norton and Sam Roberts show.

Norton, along with Roberts, hopes to have a new contract wrapped up by the end of the week after signing another round of extensions to stay on the air while the details get worked out.

“Jim is like undeniably one of, if not the funniest guys in radio,” Sam Roberts, Norton’s morning show co-host said. “It’s such a blessing to be able to do a show with a guy like that because it’s not the type of thing where we have to sit there for hours on end and try to find the humor in something or fake that we like each other, or fake chemistry or anything like that.”

Working out a lucrative long-term deal would not only be in Jim and Sam’s and the fans’ best interest, but SiriusXM’s as well. You’d have to be locked in an asylum to not appreciate the strides the team has made in just two years.

Even with the abundance of audio content from terrestrial and satellite radio, as well as podcasts, Jim and Sam offer unconventional originality and immeasurable levity beyond comparison.

The show’s absurdly long intro – which serves as one of the many delightful running gags – has you eagerly awaiting the co-hosts take on what happened the day before and in today’s early morning hours. The dressing down of staff can be as compelling as Jim and Sam’s unique and unequivocally funny perspectives.

Then there’s Jim’s characters: Chip Chipperson (a dim-witted Norton character who lives with his mother) and Edgar Mellencamp (an elderly man with a dry mouth) to name a couple.

“Chip comes from Jim’s heart,” Roberts said of Chipperson. “And that’s why Chip is the most lovable and people, whether they know it or not, I think are sensing that.”

Chip has also found people’s hearts in becoming a sensation outside of Norton himself. The Chip Chipperson Podacast has a loyal following that sees its live shows sellout a variety of clubs and theaters.

“Norton thinks that Chip will outlive him as a personality,” comic and frequent Chip Chipperson guest Kevin Brennan said. “I actually like Chip more than Norton if you can believe that.”

Brennan has a theory on why the radio and podcast character has taken off.

“Chip’s crazy,” Brennan said. “Chip says whatever. He’s insulting, he’s offensive, he’s ridiculous and I love it. I just think it’s hilarious. He’s so funny because he still has Norton’s mind. He’ll say stuff that’s really funny off the top of his mind that he just came up with. That character is hilarious. I like mean comedy, that might be a reflection of my childhood.”

The success achieved by a character Norton started out doing to annoy an ex-girlfriend and amuse himself when he was alone (still does) has come as a surprise to Jim.

“I’m really happy,” Norton said. “I hope it keeps going. I hope it’s not a temporary thing. Of course I’m shocked. The fact is that we all have Chip in us. We all kind of stink on some level. And Chip embraces that and is that. It’s awful jokes, so it’s really fun. It’s fun to pick the worst jokes you can think of.”

Because Chip and Jim are separate people, there is an art to interacting with Chip for the success of a radio bit or the podcast.

“I’ve learned to just treat his characters like real people,” former co-host of the Opie and Anthony Show, Anthony Cumia said. “Chip Chipperson of course, a very popular character. Whenever I do his show and there’s somebody who’s never done it before, there sitting there and going, ‘What is this like?’ I go, Just imagine you’re doing a talk show that’s hosted by a [very slow] person, because that’s pretty much it.

“Then they’re like, ‘Oh, okay I guess I could go with that.’ I’ve just learned to really treat them like they weren’t Jim, and how would I react to somebody that really acted like that. Opie never really got a line on how to [interact with] Jimmy’s characters.”

Following the Opie and Anthony Show’s departure in July of 2014 after Cumia was fired for using racist language on Twitter, Jim and Gregg “Opie” Hughes tried to pick up the pieces and continue on with a new incarnation of the show.

Comedian Jim Norton participates in the BUILD Speaker Series to discuss the Netflix comedy special, “Mouthful of Shame”, at AOL Studios on Thursday, April 13, 2017, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

The duo continued for about two years before Jim and Sam paired up and Opie tried a show of his own.

“Look, we worked together for a long time,” Norton said of the partnership he had with Hughes. “The relationship deteriorated. It happens. I feel like I was very loyal for a long time. I’ve been very, very reverential to O and A, what they’ve done for my career. I’ve been very publicly appreciative of him.”

Hughes was fired by SiriusXM in July of 2017 after taking a video of producer Roland Campos going to the bathroom. 

There were only a couple dustups while Jim and Opie were on the air together and it’s only recently that Norton has been more vocal about what it was like working with Hughes, especially on Jim and Sam.

“It’s one of those things where he’ll throw a jab, then I throw one,” Norton said. “Or I throw one and then he throws one. I think that’s basically what it is. We both wanted to for a long time, but we weren’t able to. So it’s kind of fun to do when there’s a reason for it.

“He’s doing his show and I’m doing my thing with Sam. There’s really no reason for us to even think about each other. So it’s not like we do it all the time. It’s occasional.”

No matter who he’s been on-air with, stand up comedy has always been a constant in Norton’s life.

Audiences fortunate enough to see Norton perform live in person are seeing the comic do what he’s best at. Despite Norton’s brutally honest, self-deprecating humor, the stand up chops he’s sharpened from almost thirty years of performing give him the confidence to prowl the stage like a panther.

“First of all, I love Jimmy,” comedian Russell Peters said. “He’s very funny, very astute and he’s a big student of the game.”

Comics like Norton are at a premium. Rawness and honesty are desperately needed to sift through vile dishonesty politicians spew out and the fraudulently indignant hypocrisy social media lynch mobs muster up on a daily basis.

“It’s his honesty onstage that keeps him where he is,” Peters said. “And I always try to tell comics, the more honest you are onstage the easier this job is to do. Keith Robinson told me that 20 years ago and I never forgot it. He’s not hiding anything.

“People are coming to see comics for the honesty. That’s what they want. That’s what the world is lacking right now. The news isn’t being honest. You can get two different types of news nowadays. How f***ing weird is that? You remember back in the day [when] news was news? Now you can have pro-Trump news or anti-Trump news. I’m like, Why can’t we just get news news?”

“He’s risky,” Brennan said of Jim’s stand up. “He’s always been risky. I hadn’t seen him in a while, because he’s been working mornings a lot. And he works the earlier shows usually, especially during the week, the weekends [he’s] on the road. But I saw him do a full 20-minute set or 25-minute set probably in July and it was f***ing great.

“I was kind of blown away by how good it was just because I know he’s so busy. He’s got a great work ethic so he does the morning show and he’s always on the road, he does Chip Chipperson. He’s just extremely busy.”

Peters and Brennan aren’t the only comedians regarding Norton as the Toast of the town.

“I love Jim,” Norm Macdonald said. “I love Anthony Cumia too. I think he’s a fantastic broadcaster, and those two together were great, now they have separate shows, but they’re both so good they can each have a show.

“It’s very hard to do radio for two, three hours a day, really hard to be funny I mean. Larry King used to do it all night long, but he didn’t have to be funny. Jim is just one of those unfiltered guys that just says whatever is on his mind, doesn’t second guess himself and he has a lot of passion for his opinions and that’s what makes, I think, for great radio.”

Jim Norton “Kneeling Room Only” tourCourtesy of Loshak PR

Norton examines his own life and career with the same honesty and self-loathing humor you can see in his act or hear on the radio show. When asked if after all the success he’s currently having he’s one good project away from hitting it big, he responded:

“No, I’m one bad project away from killing myself,” Norton joked. “I hope something happens. I never wonder, Where’s my spot? I never expect anything. The more good things that happen the better, but I never expect anything. I really don’t. I hope something good comes of it, but I never expect anything great to come.”

Something great that did come is the Netflix film the Irishman (2019) directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci. Norton filmed a scene where he plays one of his idols, the late comedian Don Rickles, performing at a night club.

“I love Rickles,” Norton said. “So it was really, really fun to play him. I tried to do it justice. The lines were written, which was easier.”

While shooting his scene, Jim worked with De Niro a second time (the Comedian), a third if you count De Niro appearing in the intro to his last standup special Mouthful of Shame.

“At one point, because De Niro wanted to hear material he hadn’t heard, they said, ‘Mr. De Niro is requesting that you just do your act.’” Norton said. “Because the camera was on him, so he just wanted to see my regular material just so he could laugh at it, so any shots of De Niro, if there’s any of him laughing, it’s at my regular jokes.

“It’s really weird, I was just talking to him and (Joe) Pesci. I mean there was an audience, but I was just looking over at De Niro and Pesci which was kind of surreal. It was great though because afterwards [Pesci] goes, ‘Hey, you were funny, man.’

“He was really cool and Scorsese is a really relaxed guy. I wasn’t nervous around Scorsese because I had met with him already and we had sat in his office and talked. And I wasn’t nervous around De Niro because I had done something with him, so Pesci was like the only one. It was still so much fun to do it with him. I didn’t let myself panic and get too nervous.”

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottking/2018/10/24/why-we-need-the-unrivaled-honesty-of-comic-jim-norton/