Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Feb 1, 2017

Not serving dinner any more:

FRANK PELLEGRINO, who played a FBI bureau chief on "The Sopranos" and owned Rao's restaurant in Harlem, where MARTIN SCORSESE dined (and later cast him in "GoodFellas"). Rao passed awayfrom cancer at age 72. The restaurant was also used by LEONARDO DiCAPRIO to film a scene for "Wolf of Wall Street" and stars showed up for dinner there, including KEITH RICHARDS, BILLY JOEL, ROD STEWART, JIMMY FALLON and WOODY ALLEN. His son, Frankie, Jr, runs Rao's restaurants in Los Angeles and Las Vegas as well.

Going Geek-dot-com /Caught in the Web:

You may not know the name MILLY SMITH, but it turns out she's every female's best virtual friend. Us Weeklyreports she shared two side-by-side selfies last Sunday on Instagram --one with control-top tights and a flat tummy, while the other had the stockings rolled down to her hips and a much larger gut. The caption read: "Same girl, same day, same time. Not a before and after. Not a weight loss transformation. Not a diet company promotion."
The post struck a chord with ladies around the globe and tallied up 59-thousand likes over two days. The British nursing student says she's fed up with "fake imagery" and feels many of us "literally forget what all types of bodies look like." (Lee)

Grace notes from Vinny Marino:

JOHN WETTON, bass player and singer for ASIA and former member of KING CRIMSON and UK has died. His Asia bandmate, keyboard player GEOFF DOWNES Tweeted early yesterday morning that John had passed away after a long battle with colon cancer. He was 67. John recently announced he would not be on Asia's upcoming tour with JOURNEY because he'd be undergoing chemotherapy treatments.
John joined King Crimson during that band's heaviest period that included the albums, "Lark's Tongue In Aspic," "Starless & Bible Black" and "Red." With impossible rhythms laid down by drummer BILL BRUFORD, along with beyond virtuoso playing by violinist DAVID CROSS and guitarist ROBERT FRIPP, John's growling bass and soulful vocals influenced many 90's metal bands, especially TOOL.
After he left Crimson, John played with ROXY MUSIC for a bit before putting together UK with Bruford. There were a few solo albums before John assembled the supergroup Asia in 1982 with E.L.P. drummer CARL PALMER, YES guitarist STEVE HOWE and BUGGLES keyboard player Geoff Downes who also did one album with Yes, "Drama." Asia had a big, commercial arena sound which got them tons of airplay and sold millions of albums. John was in and out of Asia a few times, and was even replaced for one Japanese tour by Greg Lake!
Editor's note: The guys in Asia played well below their skill level, but John Wetton told me that after years of playing theaters and smaller venues with Crimson to nothing but men, he wanted to be a rock star, play big arenas, and score some women. (Marino)

Everyday heroes:

You're never too old to be a hero. An elderly man in Kansas City, Missouri, used his cane to help a bus driver that was being harassed. A man grabbed the female bus driver from behind while she yelled "get your hands off me!" The elderly man popped out of his seat and began to beat off the attacker with his cane. When the man tried to force his way back on the bus, the elderly man yelled, "Come on! I got something else for you! Come on! Get over here!" Police arrested the attacker and the elderly man is hoping the city will buy him a new cane since he broke his helping the bus driver. Check out the video of the incident HERE. (Myers)