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A few very high priced items from the cult of Scientology have turned up on ebay.
They include a couple of “e-meters” for brainwashing, and a set of Scientology books (eight, in all) for $4,997.00.
I remember this anecdote from a long time ago. There was a report that Scientology targeted model Jerry Hall, mother of four of Mick Jagger’s kids. The good ol’ Texas girl gasped when they told her how much everything cost. That was the end of that.
Actor Jason Beghe once spoke of spending huge amounts of money on Scientology materials when he was in the cult. (Imagine what their merch table looks like!)
The 8 volume set of books that sells for almost five thousand dollars is called Organization Executive Set by L. Ron Hubbard. You have to have a lot of money to be in this cult. Luckily Tom Cruise has made millions and millions from “Top Gun Maverick.” Maybe he’ll pick it up. The reading looks pretty…dry. Me, I’ll wait for the paperback!
Ditto very odd those e-meters. They are pictured below. You’re supposed to hook this up to your head, I guess, and howl at the moon. P.T. Barnum famously said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” I’m trying imagine Cruise, John Travolta, the late Kirstie Alley, and Greta van Susteren wearing those electrodes. Maybe they tell people it’s some really expensive set of headphones. You would need them — if they were headphones — to listen to the set of CDs available for $995.
I would not contact the listed sellers of this stuff. You will never hear the end of it!
The folks at Reach Out America Water Distribution in Ohio didn’t really get it, I think, when they got a $10,000 check from someone named “Soul Man” Sam Moore and his wife, Joyce.
They do now. Sam is the legendary R&B star, member of the Rock Hall of Fame, and Grammy winner who’s famous for songs like “Hold On, I’m Coming” and “Soul Man.” Sam and Joyce saw long it was taking for anyone to help the people of East Palestine, Ohio, so they took matters into their own hands. They sent their check to Reach Out America for water delivery immediately.
When Sam sings Hold on, I’m coming, he means it.
Reach Out America was grateful even though they didn’t realize at first the provenance of the help.
And then, a weird coincidence: Joyce Moore tells me that “a very dear friend and colleague of Sam’s and mine when he found out what we had done for East Palestine shared the fact that he grew up 10 minutes from there. A good chunk of his family, sister, aunt, nieces and nephews and long time friends are stuck there just having to live with it all and deal with what’s happened and happening because most of the town folk don’t owe mortgages but they don’t have any way to sell their properties and relocate so they were at the mercy of whatever is happening and praying to God.”
They were thirsty, too.
You send money for water for the folks in East Palestine to Feed the Children or Reach Out America. The news cycle has moved on, but the problems associated with the train derailment persist.
Here’s an UPDATE– a video thank you from Reach Out America
What else could Elvis Costello do after 10 sold out nights and 200 different songs at New York’s Gramercy Theater?
His top off in the New York area came Friday night at Port Chester’s sparkling Capitol Theater. This time, Elvis was joined by the Imposters — Steve Nieve, Pete Thomas, Davey Farragher and hired gun Charlie Sexton. A wind driven ice storm raged outside, but inside the Capitol the band was hot.
As with the 10 Gramercy shows, this one had plenty of surprises and rarities. The first of these was “Blame it on Cain,” from his 1977 debut album “My Aim is True.” I have a soft spot in my heart for the songs from that album. “Blame it on Cain” and “Sneaky People” were the first Costello tracks played by the legendary Charles Laquidara on WBCN in Boston. We had to listen to the radio sort of day and night hoping to hear them. Also from that album on Friday: “Alison” and “Watching the Detectives” just as pungent and purposeful as they were four decades ago.
Then there was a look at Costello’s second album with the title track “This Year’s Model,” “Pump it Up,” “Radio Radio,” and “I Don’t Want Go to Chelsea.” (We used to think the latter was about going above 14th Street, but then it turned out to be something else entirely. We didn’t want to go to Chelsea either.)
Highlights of the night were aplenty, with Steve Nieve’s spectacular piano on :”Accidents Will Happen,” and Elvis and band resurrecting “My Mood Swings,” mostly unheard for the last 20 years. He told me after the show the band had just re-learned it afternoon, but they were certainly in the mood, and swung. Gorgeous.
Costello is perhaps the most eclectic musician in pop history. Pop, rock, R&B, country, swing, rockabilly, Broadway, jazz– nothing escapes his purview. There is also “Toledo” from the Burt Bacharach collaborations (a new box sex of their history was just released). We also got two songs from Elvis’s planned Broadway show, “A Face in the Crowd,” which are ready for the Great White Way.
We were also treated to two newish songs, which Elvis cheekily describes as two sides of a single he bought in a fictional record store– the very interesting “I Don’t Want Your Lyndon Johnson” and the more accessible “Tipsy Woman.” There were numbers from recent highly praised albums, too, such as “Hetty O’Hara Confidential” and “Magnificent Hurt.” Another, “What If I Can’t I Give You Anything But Love?” is a classic in waiting, and needs some cover versions desperately.
Elvis and the Imposters aren’t old men on the level of the Stones but they are older than the Jonas Brothers or comparable groups and delivering a finely tuned show of intricate musicianship. On “When I Was Cruel,” my favorite of the night, there are loops and echoes mixed with a grinding rock track that felt like it cut through the stage floor with a buzz saw. On the big penultimate finale of “Chelsea,” Costello dug down on his lead guitar infusing his 45 year old creation with bursts of electricity. Quite amazing.
What is also eye opening is that Costello’s songwriting, acerbic from day one, has lately sharpened. There is no flab as he ages, just more closely observed slices of life, In “The Man You Love to Hate,” no longer the title of his memoir, he finds and removes a beating heart faster than a surgeon. As he leads us into the story, as with most of his songs, a new movie full of characters we want to know more about begins:
I went to a theatre on Silhouette Street It had a taste of decay and a scent of defeat All of the patrons in the pews were people that I’d killed or used The actors on the stage were equally skilled
Costello may have performed over 200 songs in the last two weeks, but he’s not done with us, and we’re far from done with him.
Riz Ahmed will be back at the Oscars presenting the award the Best Live Action Short, the award that he won last year for “The Long Goodbye.” There is a strong possibility that Riz will be reading filmmaker Cyrus Neshvad’s name. Neshvad’s “The Red Suitcase” is garnering kudos with audiences and critics.
“Suitcase” is about a 16 year old Iranian girl (Nawelle Ewad) who arrives in Luxembourg to be married to a much older man (Sarkaw Gorany) whom she’s never met. With the recent protests in Iran decrying the abuse of women, this film has landed with a timely boom in Hollywood. Iranian born Neshvad left the country with his family and settled in Luxembourg where he still lives. I spoke with Neshvad, the first director from Luxembourg to be nominated, about his journey to the film.
He said: “My mother told me in 2019 that Iranian women were disappearing. I then wanted to do a film about it. When we were nearly finishing, then the whole world was talking about it.” What drives him cinematically? “The driving force for me is to for the audience to connect with our hero and never to be bored. For me it’s 30 percent my ego, 70 percent audience connecting to it. I literally did 40 versions of the film, I kept methodically editing. I knew I had to catch the audience in 18 minutes.”
He more than succeeded. “The Red Suitcase” is a powerful and poignant film; packing emotion, suspense and more in its short running time.
Neshvad already had a feature lined up he’s starting in May. And odds are that this talented filmmaker will be going home with the golden statue in his hand.
In late summer 2021, the rock group KISS — always on the road touring — hit a COVID wall. Their principal members, Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, were diagnosed with the corona virus. Nine shows had to be cancelled. They had to find a solution and fast.
Luckily KISS is managed by a wily rock and roll veteran, Doc McGhee. A one time protege of Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, McGhee is known for his astute talents working with many famous bands including Bon Jovi and Motley Crue. McGhee had heard about a possible COVID treament called Steriwave, which by coincidence I wrote about in this space when COVID first took off in March 2020.
Steriwave, made by Vancouver’s Ondine Biomedical, a light treatment for nasal passages, is approved for use in Canada, where it’s been a big success, and in the European Union. It’s currently undergoing testing by the FDA here in the US. McGhee decided it was worth a look, and arranged for two Steriwave machines to come on tour with the band immediately. It was worth a try.
The result: KISS, using Steriwave treatment, has not a COVID case in 18 months. (Tragically, a KISS roadie who refused the treatment contracted COVID and died. A lawsuit is pending.) McGhee says: “It would be impossible, not improbable, but impossible, for KISS to continue on its world tour without the protection of the Steriwave treatment.”
McGhee — as well as Simmons and Stanley — credit Steriwave with keeping them healthy so they can finish their massive farewell tour ending in December 2023 at Madison Square Garden. COVID has plagued rock bands and performers on tour, including Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band which recently had to use substitute players when the virus swept through their organization.
McGhee told me on Friday by phone from London: “My job is to ensure success and keep the band healthy. We’d heard about a meat packing plant in Vancouver that used Steriwave and it worked. I said, Let me get it.”
It was not just results at the meat packing plant. In March 2020, a week before I wrote my story, Canada’s Global News reported that an Edmonton Alberta nursing home was having success using the treatment on their patients.
McGee says, “It was a matter of getting people to understand it. The band had to because they were getting sick. But you have to look at the science. The science is simple. It was designed to stop post-operative infections. It kills everything in the nasal passages. And there are no side effects.”
Steriwave is not new. Going back to 2013 there were reports in the Canadian press about the treatment’s success. A Vancouver General Hospital team was the first to introduce a non-antibiotic universal nasal decolonization protocol that has since helped the hospital achieve over 70% reductions in surgical site infections over historical rates. The hospital won the 2013 Global Infection Control Innovation Award.
I first wrote about Steriwave in March 2020 when there were no vaccines but plenty of talk about a variety of crackpot solutions. Steriwave had a proven track record already for treating MRSA and other related virus. I wrote then that the process is a “six minute treatment [that] involves swabbing the nose with a blue gel (photosensitizer) followed by illumination with a red light for a few minutes. The protocol – applied by an LPN or RN nursing staff trained by the Ondine team – is intended to build on infection control strategies (such as handwashing, social distancing, environmental controls) already in place.”
McGhee is adamant that Steriwave treatment has saved his business, but he’s not invested in it financially and gets no remuneration for his enthusiasm. He says. “I’m just trying to help my industry.” He says of the moment he got involved, “I was responsible for irresponsible people, people strung out all over the world.” He concedes that he can’t make everyone who works for him take it. But, he says, “I wouldn’t go on tour without it. The pandemic is not over.”
All the puns and cliches are being dragged out this morning for “Creed III.”
The Michael B. Jordan-directed third movie in the post Rocky series threw a knockout punch, etc and landed $58.6 million for its opening weekend.
“Creed III” mopped the floor with the box office, making around $20 million more than all the prognosticators had predicted. And this was despite terrible weather in a lot of places and the chance to watch the Spirit Awards on YouTube. (Just kidding.)
Sylvester Stallone threw in the towel on this one. He could have made an appearance as Rocky Balboa but let pride and anger get in his way. Now the “Creed” series will roll on without him, in all likelihood. Jordan’s directing debut is such a success he can definitely get two more movies out of this success.
For MGM/UA they were saved by the bell with “Creed.” Almost everything they’ve touched has turned to dross. Of course, “Creed” coming from their long “Rocky” deal dates back to way before the current MGM/UA staff was born. All they had to do this time was sit back and not screw it up.
Honestly, Will Smith may want to deck Chris Rock the next time he sees him.
Rock pulled no punches tonight on the first ever live global Netflix comedy special. He went after Smith no holds barred.
Rock blamed Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett, for starting the fight that led to Will jumping out of his seat at the 2022 Oscars slapping Chris on live TV.
Chris said Jada blamed him for Will not getting an Oscar nomination for the movie “Concussion.” He says she held it against him because he was hosting the Oscars. There is no logic there. Rock was just the host.
So when :Rock joked about Jada’s “GI Jana” haircut on the Oscars, Will was set off. But Will and Jada had previously discussed their open marriage and her cheating with her son’s friend, on her talk show.
In tonight’s monologue, Rock delved right into all that, making mincemeat of all of them. He went through a list of people who called Smith a Bitch, repeating the word over and over. Rock did what he could to humiliate both Will and Jada. It was brutal.
As for the actual slap, Chris noted the difference in size between him and Smith. “He played Muhammad Ali!” he said. “He’s on screen without a shirt. Even if I had open heart surgery in a movie, I’d be wearing a sweater!”
Chris Rock eviscerated Will Smith tonight on his Netflix special.
In one hilarious hour, Rock — on stage live in Baltimore — waited til the end of the hour and then went crazy making fun of Smith, the Oscar slap, and everything that happened last year.
The show was brilliant, touching on a number of subjects, but everyone was waiting for Rock to address the slap business. At the very end, Rock said, People asked him why he didn’t retaliate against Smith on stage? Rock paused and said, “Because I have parents.I was raised! And you know what my parents taught me? Don’t fight in front of white people!”
And then he dropped the mic. End of show. Standing ovation.
Smith went brutally into Jada Pinkett’s public cheating on Will, calling him a Bitch over and over but quoting others. When Will and Jada heard this, they must have hit the ceiling! “None of us have been interviewed by the person who cheated on us on television.” He said, “She hurt him way more than I did!…And who’s he hitting? Me!”
Rock said of Jada, “She started it, I finished it.” He also said, “I was Emancipation just to see him get whooped!”
Rock also revealed –he said for the first time — that he asked his daughter Lola’s private high school to kick her out. It was public that she’d been expelled because she’d gotten into trouble. But Rock says she and his family only learned tonight during the show that he’d been the one to go to school and told me to do it. He wanted her to learn something.
If true, it may be a tough few days in Rock’s family.
The set touched on being Woke, on trans and homophobic biases, and so on. A particularly astute part of the monologue concerned the Kardashians, especially late Robert Kardashian who defended OJ Simpson.
What Chris Rock did with this live set — which will be quoted all day tomorrow — is completely take his career and position in the comedy hierarchy to a new level. He ‘went there’ on every subject, was brutally unafraid to address any subject including a harsh look at the difference between dating 25 year olds and 45 year olds. The set was raunchy but not off color, he used the F word and N word a lot, but in a kind of benign way.
Jamie Lee Curtis finally got nominated for an Oscar at age 64. She’s campaigned all over town like she was running for president.
But Jamie Lee knows voting for the Oscars is over on Tuesday. There’s nothing else she can do.
So on Thursday, Jamie Lee tells the Hollywood Reporter, she’s skipping the Oscar nominees dinner. Why? It starts at 7:30 and she goes to bed. “You know there won’t be food til 9,” she says in this clip.
Yes, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” won a lot of Spirit Awards today. Around 10,000 people watched the Spirit Awards show on YouTube, which is not a lot.
“EEAAO” won Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor, Director, Screenplay. It was not unexpected. It’s definitely the right movie for these awards.
But now what? The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is not Film Independent, It’s a Big Deal. Will the members merely rubber stamp the Spirit Awards, or bring something new to the table? That’s the question now as Oscar ballots are due back on Tuesday.
It was true today as I wrote earlier this week that the cast of “EEAAO” is very likeable. It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the movie. Michelle Yeoh is gold. Ke Huy Quan is bubbling over with gratitude. The Daniels are clearly innovative directors.
But if you watch “All Quiet on the Western Front,” you see cinema writ large, “the way movies used to be.” “Elvis” is the American story. “The Fabelmans” is a gorgeous memoir from a blockbuster director. “Top Gun Maverick” is the popular choice, for sure.
Meantime, this Spirits Awards show should keep them off TV forever. Poorly written, not funny, often tone deaf and just mean this show headlined: Don’t Watch Us.
Also, it’s like a bad Emmy Awards. So much TV– not indie but fully financed by corporate Hollywood. What are some of these shows and people doing in an Independent showcase? Quita Brunson won for “Abbott Elementary” produced by Warner Bros for Disney. She said it best. She was surprised! The whole TV part is ludicrous.
Also ludicrous are the gender-free categories. All the actors nominated today had genders, and I’ll bet if they were honest they’d say the same thing: you’ve cut their chances in half. It’s absurd.
