-
Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check
October 23, 2009
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
He's dead, Jim:
Comedian SOUPY SALES, who died Thursday in New York City at age 83. His former manager and long time friend says Soupy had entered a hospice in the Bronx last week, facing multiple problems. Along with his puppets White Fang and Black Tooth, Soupy reportedly appeared on 5,370 live programs in the 1950s and 60s and was famous for taking a pie in the face. He estimated he'd taken more than 25-thousand pies in the face in his career, and at the height of his fame, when he was in New York City, celebrities including FRANK SINATRA lined up to get a pie in the face as well. Other celebrities included TONY CURTIS, MICKEY ROONEY, SAMMY DAVIS Jr, DICK MARTIN and BURT LANCASTER --all huge stars at the time.
Editor's note: Just as a personal aside, my wife, whose family came over from Lithuania, spoke that language exclusively at home, but she says she learned English by watching TV... and Soupy Sales. Frightening. (RB)
Soupy Trivia: Born MILTON SUPMAN, he lived as a child in Franklinton, NC, and his father ran a dry goods store that sold sheets to the Ku Klux Klan. He fought in WWII in the Navy, then went to college and later became a broadcaster and by the time he was in New York City, was suspended for a week for asking children watching on WNEW-TV to find their parents' wallets and "get all the green pieces of paper with the pictures of guys in beards" and mail them to him. In return, he said, he would send them "a postcard from Puerto Rico."
Big Money, Big Problems (no big surprise):
A study published by Sun Life Financial says that 65 percent of Americans are now planning to delay retirement by a year, and 27 percent will postpone by at least five years.
They're concerned about financial stability and long-term Social Security.
The poll, which took place between August and September, showed that in spite of market gains, consumers were still shellshocked by the events of the past year and not confident about future expenses.
The study also said that the logic behind postponing retirement had changed: While in the past, most people kept working "to stay mentally active," 84 percent of respondents now say that "earn[ing] enough money to live well" is their main priority. No one at Sun Life expected that big a sea change.
Some analysts say that the poll may reflect emotional responses rather than pragmatic thinking about the future. If people "put pen to paper and examine the financial implications of the market pullback," said one consultant, "they will find that they're OK." (Maiman)
Grace notes:
Tickets to see GARTH BROOKS in Las Vegas go on sale tomorrow at 11 am (Eastern). The country music superstar is coming out of retirement to do 15 shows at the Encore Theater inside the Wynn Las Vegas casino resort. Each ticket will run you 143-bucks. That includes the base price of 125-dollars, plus 13-dollars tax and a 5-dollar service charge. Garth's first four concerts at the Encore are December 11th through the 13th. There are two shows on the Saturday. (Marino)
Dozens of musicians, including members of PEARL JAM and R.E.M., have joined a Freedom of Information request that is seeking to declassify all records about what music was played during interrogations of detainees suspected of terrorism.
They also protested the use of music as torture. The musicians are speaking out as part of a new campaign to pressure the White House to close Guantanamo.
The White House insists music isn't used as part of interrogation techniques, but human rights activists hope that using high-profile musicians to spread the message will shed light on the practice and prevent it from being used in the future. The use of loud music on prisoners violates the U-N Convention Against Torture, and it was a tool that was often applied on terrorism suspects. According to an NYU music professor who has interviewed several former detainees, the music most often played was heavy metal, rap, and country.
Editor's note: Along with JOHN TESH, YANNI and BARRY MANILOW. (Please, if I hear Mandy one more time, I'll tell you where bin Laden is and even give you the title deed to his cave. --Maiman)
-
-