Donna Summer, singer, Disco diva. 1948-2012

Donna Summer, whom millions of fans revered as "the Queen of Disco," has died at the age of 63 in Florida after a battle with cancer, the Associated Press confirmed with the singer's family Thursday morning.

The news comes as a surprise to those who were not aware that she was ill. The legendary superstar was publicly active as recently as last June, when she appeared as a guest panelist on Bravo's music reality show Platinum Hit.

However, a report by TMZ, which initially broke the story, notes that those close to the singer--known for mega-hits including "Last Dance" and "Bad Girls"--revealed she had been trying to hide how sick she was. A source said that Summer did not seem to be in that bad of shape two weeks ago.

She is survived by her adult daughters Mimi (by her first husband, actor Helmuth Sommer), Brooklyn and Amanda (by second husband Bruce Sudano).

In addition to her status as a pioneer in the dance music genre, Summer was a five-time Grammy Award winner, the first artist ever to score three back-to-back No. 1 double albums, and was nominated--but not chosen--for induction into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. She is credited with influencing stars ranging from Madonna and Michael Jackson, to Beyonce and Rihanna. Her last album, Crayons, was released in 2008.

Dim out the lights honey, She just danced her last dance.
May she rest in peace.

The Turkish Star Trek!

Forget JJ Abrahms remake. This is the ultimate "Star Trek" film. Made in Turkey (It had to be Turkey), this one has all the cast, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Sulu ect. In all fairness this version is a satire and a comedy film in which a character named 'Turist Omer' falls into all these movies. Please enjoy this responsibly!

Man forced to 'Moonwalk" at gunpoint!

Not everybody can do the moonwalk, the dance move popularized by Michael Jackson in the 1980s. It usually takes a couple glasses of wine or a few beers before someone attempts to imitate the Gloved One on the dance floor.
But one Idaho man didn’t exactly have a choice when someone pointed a semiautomatic rifle at him and forced him to do the dance, the Daily Bee reports.
John Ernest Cross, 30, was arrested and charged with assault Monday after police were called by a victim who said that Cross was on drugs when he aimed a rifle at him and forced the moonwalk upon him.
Cross is accused of brandishing an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle during the incident, but he claims it was just a pellet gun.
Maybe things would have turned out differently if Cross had chosen a simpler move, like the robot or the running man.

Talk about a Michael Jackson fan!

Florida man shoots girlfriend after confusing her for a hog!

A Florida couple was on a weekend camping trip that ended in an airlift to the emergency room.

Steven Egan, 52, was hunting with his girlfriend, Lisa Simmons, in the northern part of the state when he mistook her for a hog and shot her.

"He saw a hog and thought he shot it and went to look for it," Maj. Steve Clair of the Flagler County Sheriff's Office told ABC News. "He heard her and thought it was a hog and just shot."

The mistake was not actually related to her appearance. Rather, Egan had earlier shot at a hog that continued to evade him. He reportedly instructed Simmons to stay at their campsite while he pursued the evasive animal, according to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office However, Simmons ventured away from the campsite, apparently searching for oranges that had fallen from nearby trees.

When Egan heard rustling in the woods, he fired in her direction without first making visual confirmation with his intended target. Instead, Simmons was struck in the legs by a .30-caliber bullet from Egan's gun. She was airlifted to the nearby Halifax Health Medical Center where she is listed as being in serious condition.

Authorities say they aren't planning to charge Egan in the accidental shooting.

"He was very sympathetic that he'd shot his girlfriend," Maj. Clair said. "It was an accident. I think it was just a violation of one of the cardinal rules of hunting which is you never shoot what you don't see."

Man, this guy either needs glasses or that girlfriend needs to lose some weight!

Dick Clark, Host "American Bandstand", "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve"1929 -2012

Dick Clark, the music industry maverick, longtime TV host and powerhouse producer who changed the way we listened to pop music with "American Bandstand," and whose trademark "Rockin' Eve" became a fixture of New Year's celebrations, died today at the age of 82.
Clark's agent Paul Shefrin said in statement that the veteran host died this morning following a "massive heart attack."

Born in Mount Vernon, N.Y., on Nov. 30, 1929, Richard Wagstaff Clark began his lifelong career in show business began before he was even out of high school. He started working in the mailroom of WRUN, a radio station in upstate New York run by his father and uncle. It wasn't long before the teenager was on the air, filling in for the weatherman and the announcer.
Clark pursued his passion at Syracuse University, working as a disc jockey at the student-run radio station while studying for his degree in business. After graduating in 1951, Clark went back to his family's radio station, but within a year, a bigger city and bigger shows were calling.
Clark landed a gig as a DJ at WFIL in Philadelphia in 1952, spinning records for a show he called "Dick Clark's Caravan of Music." There he broke into the big time, hosting Bandstand, an afternoon dance show for teenagers.
Within five years, the whole country was watching. ABC took the show national, and "American Bandstand" was born.
"American Bandstand's" formula was simple. Clean-cut boys and girls danced to the hottest hits and the newest singles. In between, Clark chatted with the teens, who helped "rate-a-record," turning songs into sensations. Everyone showed up on "American Bandstand," from Elvis Presley to Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry to Chubby Checker.

When Dick Clark moved to Hollywood in 1963, "American Bandstand" moved with him. He started Dick Clark Productions, and began cranking out one hit show after another; his name became synonymous with everything from the $25,000 "Pyramid" to "TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes" to the "American Music Awards." In 1972, Dick Clark became synonymous with one of the biggest nights of the year.

"Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" on ABC became a Dec. 31 tradition, with Clark hosting the festivities for more than three decades, introducing the entertainment acts and, of course, counting down to midnight as the ball dropped in New York's Times Square.
But the traditional celebration saw a temporary stop in 2004, when Clark suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and struggling to speak. Regis Philbin stepped in. But by the next New Year's Eve, Dick Clark was back, his speech still impaired. In halting words, he told the audience, "I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It's been a long, hard fight. My speech is not perfect but I'm getting there."
But that didn't stop him: he returned each year, and recently he was joined by Ryan Seacrest.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications has done the math, and figures that Dick Clark Productions has turned out more than 7,500 hours of television programming, including more than 30 series and 250 specials, as well as more than 20 movies for theatre and TV.
All this earned Clark a long list of awards and accolades: Emmys, Grammys, induction in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It also made him one of the richest men in Hollywood; he also had stakes in a wide range of businesses, including restaurants, theatres and real estate.
In March, he put one of his homes on the market, asking $3.5 million for a one-of-a-kind house on 22 acres in Malibu, modeled after Fred and Wilma's house on "The Flintstones."

Clark, whose eternally youthful look earned him the nickname "America's Oldest Teenager", is survived by his three children and his third wife, Keri Wigton, married to him since 1977. He credited his appearance to good genes, once saying "if you want to stay young looking, pick your parents very carefully."
Now, America's Oldest Teenager is gone, leaving his indelible mark on generations of fans, and helping change rock 'n' roll and TV forever. His signature sign-off was always "For now, Dick Clark … so long," said with a salute. Today, generations of Americans are saluting back.

Today...is...talk...like...William Shatner day!

In honor of William Shatner's 81st birthday, the fandoms of Star Trek, TJ Hooker and Boston Legal will be talking like William Shatner for the whole day. Actually no, but it's fun to pretend.

Happy Birthday Bill!

Davy Jones, Singer, Musician, "The Monkees" 1945-2012

Davy Jones, lead singer for the famous Sixties TV band The Monkees, has died of a massive heart attack, early Wednesday afternoon.

His publicist, Helen Kensick, said the singer died in Indiantown, Fla., where he lived.

With an infectious smile and easy humor, the diminutive Brit played the Paul McCartney role in the Beatles-inspired quartet, which also included Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Mike Nesmith.

Jones sang lead on some of the group's biggest hits, including Daydream Believer.

Davy Jones continued to stay busy after The Monkees, doing music gigs and attending collectors' shows. Here he's at the Hollywood Collectors and Celebrities Show in 2009.

Jones, who like his bandmates had continued to perform, had dates scheduled for March.

Formed in 1966 by Hollywood producers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider, The Monkees quickly stormed radio and TV airwaves with a string of chart-topping songs that went on to sell an estimated 65 million copies worldwide.

"There were certain indelible images we had of The Monkees, and that was Mike's cap, Micky's goofy looks and Davy's cuteness," says Phil Gallo, senior correspondent at Billboard. "Of all of them, Davy's character was the softest. He was the nice guy, the crowd pleaser."

Gallo recalls being a kid in the 1960s, "collecting Batman cards, then graduating to Monkees cards, way before I got into baseball cards. They were the very first boy band, when you think about it."

Jones was born Dec. 30, 1945, in Manchester, England. His long hair and British accent helped him achieve heartthrob status in the United States.

According to the Monkees website, Monkees.com, he left the band in late 1970. In the summer of 1971, he recorded a solo hit Rainy Jane and made a series of appearances on American variety and television shows, including Love, American Style and The Brady Bunch.

By the mid-1980s, Jones teamed up Tork, Dolenz and promoter David Fishof for a reunion tour. Their popularity prompted MTV to re-air The Monkees series, introducing the group to a new audience.

In 1989, the group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In the late 1990s, the group filmed a special called Hey, Hey, It's The Monkees.

Jones is survived by his wife, Jessica, and four daughters from previous marriages.

Another of my childhood heroes is gone! May he rest in Peace.