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Elon Musk says Neuralink is coming right away. In a post on his Twitter X account, Musk says:
“The first human patient will soon receive a Neuralink device. This ultimately has the potential to restore full body movement.
In the long term, Neuralink hopes to play a role in AI risk civilizational risk reduction by improving human to AI (and human to human) bandwidth by several orders of magnitude.
Imagine if Stephen Hawking had had this.”
A breakthrough or the beginning of a horror movie? We’re about to find out how chips and artificial intelligence will change our lives.
Earlier Neuralink posted: “We’re excited to announce that recruitment is open for our first-in-human clinical trial! If you have quadriplegia due to cervical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), you may qualify. Learn more about our trial by visiting our recent blog post.”
The first human patient will soon receive a Neuralink device. This ultimately has the potential to restore full body movement.
In the long term, Neuralink hopes to play a role in AI risk civilizational risk reduction by improving human to AI (and human to human) bandwidth by… https://t.co/DzqoYI27Ng
Sherri Shepherd went ahead with her live talk even though there’s a writer’s strike. Now she’s been paid back by the universe.
Shepherd says she has tested positive for COVID and so her live show is cancelled for the rest of the week. If she’s smart, she’ll say it’s long COVID and wait until the strike is over.
Sherri’s show has been going on because she says she has no WGA writers, and just makes it up as she goes along. But the guild isn’t happy and it’s bad look for her.
Here’s hoping she gets well fast, and changes her mind about the show until the strike is over.
Jann Wenner’s book, “The Masters,” is set to be published next week.
But signs are bad for sales as “The Masters” has fallen on the Amazon book charts from around number 1,400 to number 1,972. It’s headed in the wrong direction, nearly off the top 2,000.
The drop in pre-sales and in standing on Amazon is directly attributable to the disaster Wenner himself caused beginning last week with an interview in the New York Times.
Wenner said that the interviews in the book — with Bruce Springsteen, Bono, Mick Jagger, John Lennon and other old white male rockers — didn’t include Black and female musicains because they were inarticulate. He immediately crossed out artists like Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder, saying maybe if Marvin Gaye was alive he’d be a possibility.
Reaction was swift and fierce. The founder of Rolling Stone magazine was disowned by them even though the current editor is his son, Gus Wenner. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame dismissed him from its Board of Directors.
Wenner’s legacy has now been ruined by promotion for a book that will probably not sell at all when it’s finally published next Tuesday.
You may have read about the TV producers whose deals with the studios have been suspended because of the WGA and SAG AFTRA strikes.
The names include heavy hitters like Lorne Michaels, JJ Abrams, Chuck Lorre, Greg Berlanti, Bill Lawrence, John Wells. Lions Gate has out a half dozen producers including Paul Feig on ice. CBS has done the same with most everyone. So has NBC Universal, except for one: Dick Wolf.
Someone who answered the phone yesterday at Wolf Entertainment said yesterday. “We’re still working. We’re here.”
Wolf Entertainment is currently the biggest TV producer anywhere. Wolf has nine hours of primetime TV every week: all of Tuesday night on CBS with his “FBI” shows, all of Wednesday and Thursday nights on NBC with his “Chicago” and “Law & Order” shows.
But in all the announcements of TV producers’ deals being placed on hold, Wolf’s is the one never mentioned. He’s the king of TV. In a way, you have to admire that. Neither NBC nor CBS has made a move against him.
“They never will,” says a source. “They’re afraid of him.”
That any network is afraid of any producer is amazing. But of course they’re afraid. Without those nine hours, primetime would be blank. There’s too much at stake to start a war with Wolf’s empire. And think of it: NBC cut off Lorne Michaels, their one other consistent money maker and flag waver for almost 50 years.
Hats off to Wolf. When the strikes are over, he’ll be ready to go. If anyone survives the strikes and is back on the air first, it will be Wolf.
Listen to a preview of “Addicted to Romance” from the new film “She Came to Me” starring Anne Hathaway, Peter Dinklage and Marisa Tomei. The song comes out tomorrow, September 29, ahead of the movie next week. pic.twitter.com/tftHVu9Obf
Rebecca Miller’s “She Came to Me” is an oddly endearing, quirky indie movie coming next week to a theater near you. It’s a fable with no special effects with an impressive cast including Peter Dinklage, Marisa Tomei, Anne Hathaway, Brian D’Arcy James, and Joanna Kulig (from the movie “Cold War”). You couldn’t do better.
So how to top the cast? End the movie with an original Bruce Springsteen song called “Addicted to Romance,” never heard before and I would guess written for the film. Patti Scialfa sings background on what turns out to be a Springsteen gem that feels just like “She Came to Me” — old school, melodic, memorable. The people behind the movie should convince Bruce to put it out as a single pronto cut to their clips. They would have a hit.
Miller knows how to come up with left field plots that that turn on unexpected moments. Her films like “Maggie’s Plan” and “Personal Velocity” have cemented her place in this quirky world. “She Came to Me” is a dramedy about dysfunctional people in Brooklyn. Dinklage is an opera composer with a current creative blockage married to Hathaway, a composed, fashionable (wealthy) shrink on the verge of a nervous breakdown. She’s looking for more and may find it in religion. They have a teenage son, a Romeo who falls in love with D’Arcy James and Kulig’s daughter, their Juliet.
It sounds like a nice, tidy set up but the curve ball is Marisa Tomei as — believe it or not — a self confessed sex and romance obsessed tugboat captain looking for a one night stand. When she docks in Brooklyn, she meets Dinklage and changes his life. He writes an opera about their mysterious encounter, decides she’s his muse while at home, Dinklage’s family is coming apart at the seams.
“She Came to Me” doesn’t sound like it would work and no studio would ever greenlight it. But the material is enchanting. Miller is full of surprises and nuances. Her cast is terrific, everyone of them a scene stealer although Hathaway is kind of remarkable. And that’s coming from a big Marisa Tomei fan. Also, if the tugboat part doesn’t get you, Miller throws D’Arcy James and Kulig into an inventive unpredictable little plot twist to get to her ending.
If all this isn’t enough, Miller stages two scenes from original mini operas that could easily be expanded and play in real life at BAM.
“She Came to Me” is an old fashioned New York style film, much in the vein of Woody Allen, Nora Ephron, and kind of a balm after all the noise of planned Hollywood hits. Plus it has a delicately memorable score from Bryce Dessner of the group, The National. Originally Steve Carell was supposed to play the opera composer along with a different cast that never came together. It’s Dinklage’s credit that he assumes the role with no mention of his height difference. He is just outstanding in everything he does, and totally believable as the cynical center of this cacophony.
Will Springsteen cap his year by performing at the Oscars? He should. The song is called “Addicted to Romance.” His fans will be addicted to it.
Listen to a preview of “Addicted to Romance” from the new film “She Came to Me” starring Anne Hathaway, Peter Dinklage and Marisa Tomei. The song comes out tomorrow, September 29, ahead of the movie next week. pic.twitter.com/tftHVu9Obf
Donald Trump is crowing about the big ratings for Sunday’s disastrous “Meet the Press.” Three million people watched — the same amount that tuned in to his CNN Town Hall. I’ll bet it’s the same three million people mostly hate-watching.
Trump is also bragging about the worst thing he did — helping to end Roe v. Wade. He doesn’t get it that most Americans do not want abortion banned.
It’s a long post but the gist of his lunacy:
“I was able to do something that nobody thought was possible, end Roe v. Wade. For 52 years, people talked, spent vast amounts of money, but couldn’t get the job done. I got the job done! Thanks to the three great Supreme Court Justices I appointed, this issue has been returned to the States, where all Legal Scholars, on both sides, felt it should be. Now the Pro Life Community has TREMENDOUS NEGOTIATING POWER…”
Trump thinks if he supports very limited exceptions he can get away with this. I don’t think so.
“Like Ronald Reagan before me, I believe in the three exceptions for Rape, Incest, and the Life of the Mother. Without the exceptions, it is very difficult to win Elections, we would probably lose the Majorities in 2024, and perhaps the Presidency itself, but you must follow your HEART! In order to win in 2024, Republicans must learn how to talk about Abortion. This issue cost us unnecessarily, but dearly, in the Midterms…”
He’s partly right– Republicans must learn to talk about — and accept — abortion.
Ed Sheeran is releasing a second album of 2023 next Friday despite the fact that the first one flopped.
Minus, or Subtract, his sixth studio album didn’t sell very well even after he won his plagiarism case over the song “Thinking Out Loud.” The total was 361,000 copies with a little over half from streaming. Sheeran’s previous album sold around 2 million units.
Now he’s coming back with a new one called “Autumn Variations”. He told Billboard in August: “My dad and brother told me about a composer called Elgar, who composed “Enigma Variations,” where each of the 14 compositions were about a different one of his friends. This is what inspired me to make this album.”
Yes, he actually said that. This Elgar person he speaks of his Edward Elgar, famous British compose who wrote the Pomp and Circumstance marches that are heard around the world on a daily basis. Elgar is probably getting a good chuckle about all this wherever he is.
“Autumn Variations” is the first album of Sheeran’s on his own label, Gingerbread Man Records, distributed by Warner Music Group. Sheeran’s previous records were owned by Atlantic Records, which is also through WMG. But as he pointed out in an interview “Autumn Variations” will be the first album to which he owns the master recording.
So we’ll see how Sheeran does saluting Elgar, whose compositions are well out of copyright by now. How many of Sheeran’s songs will sound like Elgar’s? At least he can’t be sued this time around!
As to Elgar, Sheeran should have watched the movie, “Hillary and Jackie.”
“General Hospital” and “Young and the Restless” star Billy Miller really suffered in the end. His mother said in a statement that the 43 year old three time Emmy winner didn’t die of anything but bipolar depression.
Patricia Miller said:
“He fought a long hard valiant battle with bipolar depression for years. He did everything he could to control the disease. He loved his family, his friends and his fans but in the end the disease won the fight he surrendered his life. The other causes of death being told are not true. I wish they were but they just aren’t.”
So we can eliminate PSP, a neurological condition that was announced early without confirmation, and stroke. Bipolar depression can be devastating and must be addressed by doctors. Even so, nothing is guaranteed. “General Hospital” star Maurice Benard talks about his condition all the time, and recently cited on his YouTube show that he was very ill during the pandemic, swinging from highs to lows.
Miller was very talented and will be very missed. Ironically, the Daytime Emmy Awards have not aired because of the strikes. Maybe when they finally are broadcast, the Academy can do a tribute to him.
Katy Perry made a great deal for her music this week. This is why she sold her publishing and master recordings at the youngish age of 38.
Believe it or not, Katy’s chart topping days are likely over unless she scores a surprise hit. She hasn’t released an album in over three years. She hasn’t had a real hit record since 2017.
Katy has only put out 5 albums, which isn’t a lot. All of her songs are collaborations with other writers like superstar Max Martin. So the $225 million sale Litmus, backed by the Carlyle Group, is just for the portion she was allocated for each song.
Perry’s biggest hits like “Firework” and “Roar” can be easily repurposed by Litmus. They’ll make their money back fast turning Katie’s hits into commercials. “Firework” has unlimited potential in public use for fireworks displays. That has to be paid for each time.
It is true that Perry has focused her last years on starting a family. She also has made a fortune from hosting “American Idol.” It’s turned into a permanent gig. The result is she hasn’t been on a big tour in years. Instead, she’s gone the route of having a Las Vegas residency similar to Adele. She can earn millions more just staying put in Las Vegas, making the fans come to her.
Most of the music stars who sold their catalogs are in their 70s or older. With the exception of Justin Bieber– still in his 20s and semi-retired– these people are legacy artists who wrote their own music exclusively and have fifty years’ worth of songs. Katy doesn’t have that depth or length to her catalog but she has just enough in there to strike while the iron is hot.
So congrats to Katy Perry. Her estimated worth before this, according to reports, was already $330 million. Now it’s closer to $600 million, and she’s not done yet. There could easily be a syndicated talk show in her future if she wants it, and that would bring in even more moolah.
Here’s my favorite Katy Perry song, “Chained to the Rhythm,” written by Skip Marley, Max Martin and Ali Payami, with additional writing from Sia — and of course Katy. That’s a big pie to carve up. so now Katy’s portion has been secured. Could she have more hit records? That depends. Miley Cyrus has made a stunning comeback this year on the charts with the right songwriters. It can be done.
