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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Feb 15, 2021
February 15, 2021
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Congratulations to WHITNEY WOLFE, the woman behind the dating app Bumble, who is now a billionaire at 31 after it went public last Thursday on the stock exchange. Unlike most dating apps, Bumble puts women in charge of initiating contacts with various potential male mates. Bumble and its companion service, Badoo, have right at 40 million active users, including more than 2.4 million paying customers.
Question for listeners (of course): Do you use either app, and has it been successful for you?
Movie news: Variety reports Netflix has picked up the movie, “My Little Pony,” which reportedly will not even make it to theatres in late September, instead debuting on the streaming service later this year.
Movie musical: Paramount has reportedly picked up the rights to Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic, “The King and I” and will be doing a movie musical based on the story. The ROGERS & HAMMERSTEIN musical first hit Broadway back in 1951, starring YUL BRYNNER as the King and GERTRUDE LAWRENCE as Anna, both of whom won Tony Awards.
Not gonna happen: The CW has apparently pulled the plug on the series “Wonder Girl,” based on the DC Comics character who was born to an Amazonian warrior and Brazilian river god. The series had a sample script, but was not even in the demo stage yet, and a potential cast not decided upon.
Sorry to hear about casting director LYNN STALMASTER's passing Friday. He was 93 and among his nearly 400 casting credits were genius choices including DUSTIN HOFFMAN for “The Graduate,” CHRISTOPHER REEVE for “Superman” and JOHN TRAVOLTA for “Welcome Back, Kotter.” Stalmaster cast more than 200 films, including “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Harold and Maude,” “Tootsie,” “Deliverance,” “Judgment at Nuremberg” and “The Right Stuff” as well as various TV shows like “The Untouchables, “Have Gun — Will Travel,” “Ben Casey,” “My Favorite Martian,” “Hogan’s Heroes,” “Three’s Company,” “Hart to Hart” and “Gunsmoke,” where he was listed as the casting director on more than 300 episodes.
You'd think that Coronavirus was the worst thing we had to worry about these days, but in West Africa's Guinea, the Health Ministry says there's a new outbreak of the Ebola virus. They are the first cases in the country since the 2013-2016 epidemic which caused more than 11-thousand deaths in the region.
Just because you're getting the Coronavirus vaccine it apparently doesn't mean you won't get it. Health officials said Friday there are four people in Oregon who've tested positive for the virus at least 14 days after after getting both doses of the vaccine. The good news (if there is any) is that the cases are either mild or asymptomatic.
With the whole COVID mess going on, it's been a real problem for cruise lines, but one of them --Oceania Cruises-- has just booked a 180-day global cruise for 2023, hopefully when the whole Coronavirus problem is over, and which sold out in just one day.
How much would you pay for a half-year cruise? Try at least $41,600 a person for a stay in one of the inside staterooms to $155,600 for the owner's suite. The cruise will start January 15, 2023 and hits 33 countries. Guests will see the Great Wall of China, the Valongo Wharf Archaeological Site in Brazil, the Itsukushima Shinto Shrine in Japan, the volcanoes of Kamchatka in Russia, the Singapore Botanic Garden, and Glacier Bay National Park in the US. And that wasn't enough for 20-percent of the cruise guests, who decided to extend their cruise to 218 days.
Update --that Gorilla Glue girl we told you about --TESSICA BROWN-- has decided to donate nearly $24-thousand bucks that was raised for her on GoFundMe to a charity started by Dr. MICHAEL OBENG, the plastic surgeon who finally was able to free her hair from the glue. She will be keeping about $1,000 to cover her bills from her unsuccessful emergency room visit, as well as some for her flight to California. TMZ says she's also made a small fortune selling merchandise linked to her ordeal as well.
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