December 2009

Thursday, December 31, 2009

President Obama’s New Year’s Message

  From The White House Blog: President Obama sends out good wishes for the new year.   Good evening. Tonight, as Americans across the country gather with family and friends, I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year. This is always a hopeful time, as we celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another. […]
Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Top honor: Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” selected for National Film Registry

The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, is at his singing and dancing best in the wildly entertaining and unforgettable 1983 music video “Thriller” (also released as a film). Created with incredible imagination and energy that leaps off the screen, “Thriller” was directed by John Landis and runs about 14 minutes. It was produced in conjunction with Jackson’s groundbreaking “Thriller” album, considered the best […]
Tuesday, December 29, 2009

2009 Oscar nomination ballots are in the mail

Photo: Greg Harbaugh/AMPAS — Rick Rosas and Bradley Ottmanns of PricewaterhouseCoopers give the nomination ballots a final check before sending them off to be mailed. (12/28/09) The Oscar race is officially on. Yesterday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences sent out 5,777 nomination ballots to its voting members. Before being carted off to the Beverly Hills post office, the […]
Monday, December 28, 2009

President Obama addresses the nation about that attempted terrorist bombing on Christmas Day

FROM THE WHITE HOUSE BLOG: President Barack Obama’s address from earlier today. Good morning, everybody. I wanted to take just a few minutes to update the American people on the attempted terrorist attack that occurred on Christmas Day and the steps we’re taking to ensure the safety and security of the country. The investigation’s ongoing. And I spoke again this […]
Monday, December 28, 2009

Biz Bytes: Holiday retail sales jolly & Warner Bros. chalks up another multi-billion dollar year

                                             New stats show holiday shoppers spent more this season than last Some Christmas cheer for retailers and good news for the economy today. Consumer spending during the period of November first through Christmas Eve rose 3.6 percent. That’s a heck of a lot better than what happened last year, when fears of economic disaster had shoppers holding tight to their […]
Sunday, December 27, 2009

A very merry Christmas weekend Box Office

UPDATED: Monday 12/28/09 Over the Christmas holiday weekend, folks bought movie tickets like they were the best bargains in town. Despite the blizzard type weather in some parts of the country and those enticing markdown deals at the malls and stores, Americans went to the movies in huge numbers. And that produced one of the best Box Office weekends ever. James […]
Sunday, December 27, 2009

Book deals and buzz for two screenwriters-turned-novelists

Hollywood is gung-ho right now for film projects based on material from other mediums — particularly comics and novels. Screenwriter Suzanne Corso has written a number of unproduced scripts, but she recently hit the big time with her first novel. Corso wrote a coming-of-age story, based on personal experience, about a teenager in Brooklyn during the 1970s who falls for a local Mafioso wannabe, according […]
Saturday, December 26, 2009

H1N1 influenza widespread in CA, so what about those flu shots?

The State Department of Public Health is recommending all residents get a flu shot for the H1N1 virus as soon as possible. The so-called swine flu remains widespread in seven states, including California. Even though some indicators suggest H1N1 cases may be tapering off here, health officials fear another wave of the illness could hit after the first of the year. As of December 19, 2009, […]