How sweet! The original Sandy from ‘Grease’ wrote a very supportive message to the cast of ‘Grease: Live.’ Click inside to see what Olivia Newton-John wrote!
Olivia Newton-John, 67, made sure to write a very special message directed to her predecessor, Julianne Hough, 27, the night Grease: Live aired on FOX.Wow! Now this is the blessing that Julianne and the Grease: Live cast sure deserved. Olivia Newton-John, the actress who starred as Sandy in the iconic 1978 film version of Grease, took a moment out of her Sunday night, Jan. 31, to let fans and friends know she was rooting for Julianne and theGrease: Live cast.
“Julianne Hough, Didi, Barry & the cast! So excited to watch GREASE LIVE (@gogrease) tonight!! I know you will be wonderful! Have fun!” Olivia wrote on her Facebook, which also posted toTwitter. She also included a “love and light” along with her signature. So unbelievably sweet!
I feel as if I have waited my entire life for a moment like this"
Actress Keke Palmer posted an inspirational message to her fans about the progress of black and female actors on Sunday hours before she was set to perform inGrease: Live.
The Akeelah and the Bee star, who is playing Marty in Sunday’s live performance, pointed out the historical significance behind her role in an Instagram post. “I feel as if I have waited my entire life for a moment like this,” she wrote. “There has never been an African American in Grease and while I hate that that’s something to be pointed out, it is! My little brother and sister think differently growing up seeing me do something like this! They will not know it to be any other way in their 14yrs of living! That is REAL!”
Palmer said she was inspired when she was younger by Brandy, who played a black Cinderella in 1997. “Even if you are not an African American, you will be the first at whatever YOUR dreams are because they are yours. So whether you are an African American, or a female or whatever, if you can not relate to ANYONE in our show at face value. Relate to the fact that this is the first time anything like this has been done and it’s only being done because we all believed!”
I received a present of a lovely book at Christmas titled Heritage Trees of Ireland by Aubrey Fennell. Unlike the book mentioned earlier, this is not a text on silviculture but rather a celebration of the many wonderful specimen trees that can be found throughout the countryside.The author has an encyclopedic knowledge of trees and I recall one day having the good fortune to meet him on a Tree Council outing where he educated us all on virtually every aspect of a wide range of species.
More recently he has painstakingly hunted down over 300 unique trees which range from the tallest to those with the greatest girth and the list even includes a fairy Hawthorn on the Hill of Tara.
All are recorded with superb photography along with a page on their history and special qualities.
As I so often say, every home should have a copy. This one can be obtained from all good bookshops or direct from the Tree Council.
Wouldn't it be lovely to think that, in three or four hundred years time, people might stand gazing in awe at some fine individual specimen tree you or I had planted in 2016?
John Cena and Nikki Bella Post Surgery Updates (Photos), Jerry Lawler Guests on Mauro Ranallo Show, Photo of NXT Ring
Jerry Lawler Guests on Mauro Ranallo Show
WWE Hall of Famer and Smackdown announcer Jerry Lawler is the special guest on the latest edition of the “Rutten and Ranallo” podcast, hosted by MMA legend Bas Rutten and WWE Smackdown announcer Mauro Ranallo.
Photo of NXT Ring
Below is a photo of the ring at last night’s WWE NXT live event in Pittsburgh, courtesy of Josh Isenberg:
Read more at http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/668931-john-cena-and-nikki-bella-post-surgery-updates-photos-jerry-lawler-guests-on-mauro-ranallo-show-photo-of-nxt-ring#XgzWFIzYT3LbIRbv.99
John Cena and Nikki Bella Post Surgery Updates
Real life couple John Cena and Nikki Bella, who are both recovering from injuries and surgery, posted the following updates on social media:
Read more at http://www.wrestlezone.com/news/668931-john-cena-and-nikki-bella-post-surgery-updates-photos-jerry-lawler-guests-on-mauro-ranallo-show-photo-of-nxt-ring#XgzWFIzYT3LbIRbv.99
Angelique Kerber stuns Serena Williams to clinch Australian Open title
Angelique Kerber, who had to save match point against the world No 64 Misaki Doi in her first contest of the 2016 Australian Open, finished the tournament in the most spectacular fashion by beating the incomparable Serena Williams in three wonderful sets here on Saturday night.
Kerber, seeded seventh, won 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and eight minutes in front of an incredulous audience on Rod Laver Arena. It was the American’s 26th appearance in a slam final, the German’s first.
Watching Kerber methodically dismantle the best player in the world since her own compatriot, Steffi Graf, it was incomprehensible that Kerber might have fallen at the first hurdle to Doi, a player of towering anonymity, 11 days and six wins ago. Williams remains one slam victory short of Graf’s Open Era record tally of 22. If Kerber does not win another major, she will not forget this achievement, and this performance.
Williams took defeat with the best of humour, although she had betrayed anxiety all the way through a fractious match. “I’m glad you had a chance to witness some great tennis,” she told the crowd. “You truly deserve it,” she told the winner, adding, “It was remarkably fun.” The latter sentiment was hard to believe.Kerber, who moves to No2, is the first German to win this title since Graf in 1994. “Congratulations to Serena,” Kerber, welling up, said on the podium. “You are an inspiration to so many, an unbelievably great person. I was [almost] on the plane to Germany in the first match. I took my chance to be in the final, and I’m honoured. It’s my dream come true. Now I can say I’m a grand slam champion, and it sounds really crazy.”
Three truly horrific misses in a row – two to allow Kerber to take a 5-3 lead and the next one in the ninth game as she served to stay in the first set – told the story of the champion’s early exasperation, and it rarely eased.
The scream of frustration as a winner finally settled in the lines was a borderline late one – such as the “Come on!” yell that cost her a point when she lost to Sam Stosur in the US Open final in 2011. That was also the last time Williams lost the first set of slam final.
She held for 4-5, but her movement – especially at the net which she now raided indiscriminately – was heavy-footed, and Kerber, serving conservatively and playing safety-first last-ball tennis, welcomed three weary errors in the 10th game to take the first set.
Williams’s ball-toss was unreliable, her timing, from hand and off the floor, was ragged, and her demeanour was one of irretrievable despond. As in her shock loss to the lightly regarded Roberta Vinci in the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows last year when reaching for a calendar slam, she was off-balance and rocking on the back foot. Neither could she take advantage of her opponent’s ordinary serving, only 49% landing at first attempt in the first set.
Kerber’s return, meanwhile, was rock-like. In fact, pretty much nothing went right for Williams in the first 40 minutes or so – thereafter, apart from fleeting parity in the second set
She held unconvincingly at the start of the second, but Kerber refused to buckle. Just as she was too steady for the British No1 Johanna Konta in their semi-final, so she stuck rigidly to her game plan against the best player in the world.
Williams finally found a chink in the German armour, breaking when Kerber hit long. It took her nearly an hour to hit her first ace, and she looked more relaxed after holding for 4-1. Kerber held to stay in the set, before Williams steeled herself, found an ace, and forced a loose forehand from Kerber to level at a set apiece.
The American continued to charge the net, regardless of the state of the rally, and Kerber passed her to break in the second game of the deciding set – then handed the break back immediately. There was little in the contest, but the Williams aura had disappeared, and she appeared reduced to gamesmanship in the changeover after the third game, when she went to the service line late and slowly, supposedly to unsettle her opponent, who was appearing in her first slam final at 28.
When Kerber passed her yet again in the fourth game, Williams turned to her box and mouthed, “I cannot put the effing ball away!” But she held for two-all.
The sixth game was pivotal. At 15-30, Williams was clipped in the shoulder off the net cord in another doomed raid, then hit wide for two break points, saving the first after a 19-shot rally, the longest of the game to that point, getting to deuce with an ace. An extended grind through deuce followed – Kerber drop-shotting Williams for the second time in the set, and Williams double-faulting again for a fifth break point. When the champion overcooked a forehand, Kerber led 4-2 and stood on the verge of a remarkable unexpected upset.
Pinned to the baseline after so many failed net raids, Williams was now a sitting duck for Kerber’s controlled, angled ground strokes and short work. After shoving a backhand well wide, Williams needed to hold to stay in the final, and came through despite a double fault and some shaky groundstrokes.
Kerber, serving for the title, went love-30 down, Williams hit long under no pressure, grabbed a break with a blistering cross-court forehand and looked hugely relieved when the German could not keep a forehand down. They were back on serve.
It was now about belief as much as class. Serving for survival again, Williams looked the less convincing until an ace got her to 15-30. She won two more high-grade rallies, but Kerber forced deuce off a woefully slow second serve, and got to match point when she pushed Williams into another weary forehand.
When the American’s final forehand drifted long, an extraordinary deed was done and the championship had a new and worthy champion.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp played a youthful side in the third-round match and subsequent replay against Exeter, but included a mixture of first-team players and youngsters for the visit of the Hammers.
Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, 27, was the oldest player in the Reds' starting line-up, which also included four players - Brad Smith, Cameron Brannagan, Kevin Stewart and Joao Teixeira - who had never started a Premier League match.
This was the ninth game that Liverpool had played in January, and they desperately did not want another match, but that is exactly what they got.
It means their schedule in February will now include at least seven matches, including the League Cup final, two Europa League matches, three Premier League games and one, maybe two, FA Cup ties.
Nevertheless, Klopp will feel his side should have won. A poor touch when only six yards out to waste a chance summed up another ineffective performance from an out-of-form Christian Benteke.
Liverpool were the better team in the second half and created numerous chances, but stand-in captain Allen shot harmlessly over, and Brannagan, Teixeira and Benteke had shots saved by Randolph.
Christian Benteke has scored seven times in 28 games since joining Liverpool for £32.5m in July from Aston Villa
How did Liverpool's youngsters do?
Generally, they were very impressive. Brannagan, 19, who consistently impressed with his set-piece delivery, nearly opened the scoring with a powerful shot from 20 yards out, but goalkeeper Randolph did well to push the ball around the post.
Brad Smith, 21, produced an energetic performance at left-back, often getting forward to help his side's attacks, while handling the threat from the quick Victor Moses with maturity.
Kevin Stewart, 22, a tough-tackling central midfielder, worked hard, making six tackles and two interceptions, and 23-year-old Joao Teixeira, playing on the left side of Liverpool's front three, was twice denied by a diving Randolph.
A wasted opportunity for West Ham?
Three-time winners West Ham were aiming to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup for the fourth time in the last eight seasons - and will have been buoyed when they saw the Liverpool line-up.
They themselves made five changes, although fielded a team rich in Premier League experience apart from Randolph, who played because regular goalkeeper Adrian was back in his native Spain for family reasons.
Turkey says Russia violated its airspace near Syria border
Turkey has accused Russia of again violating its airspace and warned it would "face consequences" if such infringements continue.
The foreign ministry said a Russian jet flew into its airspace on the border with Syria on Friday. Moscow described the claim as "baseless propaganda".
Tensions between the two countries have been high since November, when Turkey shot down a Russian jet.
Russia has been carrying out air strikes in Syria since September.
It has been targeting forces fighting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, its ally.
'Irresponsible steps'
In a statement, the Turkish foreign ministry said a Russian SU-34 jet crossed into Turkish airspace at 11:46 local time on Friday, ignoring several warnings made in Russian and English.
It said the ministry had summoned the Russian ambassador in Ankara to "strongly protest at and condemn" the incident.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Saturday that Russia would "have to face consequences if it keeps up such violations".
"Such irresponsible steps do not benefit either the Russian Federation, or Russia-Nato relations, or regional and global peace," he told reporters.
He said he had asked repeatedly for a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, without success.
Nato - of which Turkey is a member - on Saturday urged Russia "to act responsibility and to fully respect Nato airspace" and "take all necessary measures to ensure that such violations do not happen again".
Relations between Russia and Turkey, a vocal opponent of Mr Assad, plummeted after Turkish F-16s shot down a Russian SU-24 on 24 November.
Turkey said the plane intruded into its airspace and ignored repeated warnings to leave.
Russia insisted the jet had never crossed over from Syrian territory and did not receive any warnings.
The two leaders embarked on a war of words and Russia introduced a raft of sanctions designed to damage Turkey's economy.
Moscow's ban on the import of Turkish foods, the sale of charter holidays for Russians to Turkey and most construction projects with Turkish firms was expected to cost the Turkish economy at least $10bn.
Prospect Brandon Nimmo has torn tendon in left foot
New York Metshoutfield prospectBrandon Nimmohas been diagnosed with a partial tear to a tendon in left foot. He was examined this week at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.
Nimmo received an anti-inflammatory injection from team doctors and was fitted with a boot, which he is due to wear for 10 days. He will be reevaluated after that period.
Nimmo, 22, hit .269 with five homers and 26 RBIs in 376 at-bats last season, which he primarily split between Double-A Binghamton and Triple-A Las Vegas. He had a combined .362 on-base percentage between three minor league levels.
Nimmo was the first selection by the Sandy Alderson-led front office. He was drafted 13th overall by the Mets in 2011 out of high school in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Nimmo, a left-handed hitter, had been projected to open the upcoming season at Las Vegas.
Some of the money, the office of Michael Lauber said, had been transferred to Swiss accounts held by Malaysian former public officials and current and former public officials from the United Arab Emirates.
"To date, however, the Malaysian companies concerned have made no comment on the losses they are believed to have incurred," the attorney general's statement said (in German).
Mr Lauber called on Malaysian authorities to give full judicial assistance to their Swiss counterparts.
A Swiss investigation into 1MDB was opened last year, citing "suspected corruption of public foreign officials, dishonest management of public interests and money laundering".
In a statement on Saturday, 1MDB said it "remains committed to fully co-operating with any lawful authority and investigation", but had not yet heard from any foreign legal authorities.
Regulators in the US and Hong Kong are also reported to be investigating 1MDB.
Image captionAllegations about 1MDB have hit Prime Minister Najib Razak
The fund's advisory board is chaired by Prime Minister Najib Razak, who launched 1MDB soon after taking office in 2009.
Last July, Malaysia's then-Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail linked a donation of $681m (£478m) made to Mr Najib's account with companies and bodies which had ties to 1MDB.
Mr Patail was replaced, and, after an investigation, his successor last week cleared Mr Najib of corruption saying that the money was a personal donation by the Saudi royal family to the prime minister's private bank account.
"I am satisfied that there is no evidence to show that the donation was a form of gratification given corruptly," said Attorney-General Mohamed Apandi Ali.
Most of the money was later returned, he said.
Malaysia's anti-corruption commission said it would seek a review of the attorney-general's decision.http://toplivenews.net/
'Kung Fu Panda 3' China Box Office: A Huge $16.3M Debut For A Boffo $23.1M Total
Kung Fu Panda 3 started its theatrical run in China with a bang, earning a strong estimated $16.3 million on its first day of play. Taken on its own, that’s one of the bigger single day grosses for a movie in history, just ahead ofSony ’s Spectre ($15m) and just behind Universal/ComcastCMCSA +3.01% Corp.’s Jurassic World ($17.7m) and Paramount’s Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation ($18m). It sits behind Terminator Genisys ($26m), Paramount/Viacom VIAB +2.54% Inc’s Transformers: Age of Extinction ($30m), Walt Disney DIS +2.11%’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($33m), Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron($33.9m), and Universal’s Furious 7 ($63m). Including the Saturday previews from last week which brought in $6.4m during three hours of show times, the film’s “opening day”total is $23.1m which would be the sixth biggest opening day in China history if you counted the previews into the Friday total, which to be fair is standard practice in America.
Everyone is watching this one both in America and in China, and I’ll try to update when the American preview figures roll in later this morning courtesy of 20th Century Fox. But $140 million DreamWorks Animation and China Film Group Corporation have taken several potentially groundbreaking steps to make sure the movie plays as much to China as it does to America, if not exponentially more so in what is the second biggest movie going marketplace. To wit, they created two versions of the film in China, both a “standard” international version with dubbed vocals and a second version with altered animation so that the mouth movements and body language would better match up to the Chinese audio. Oh, and even in America we’re seeing seven theaters playing the film in both English and Mandarin.
The original Kung Fu Panda earned a then-shocking $26 million in China back in 2008 while Kung Fu Panda 2earned $92m back in 2011. This time around, the expectations are much higher, with the hopes of displacingThe Monkey King: Hero is Back ($152m) as China’s biggest-grossing animated feature of all time. At the risk of stating the obvious, the Kung Fu Panda franchise is huge in China, and there have been countless product/merchandising tie-ins to coincide with the release of this third entry. Oh, and the worldwide release date was specifically tailored to the Chinese New Year, which is a week from Monday. Because, as I always say, the best weekend is the one before the holiday weekend. Kung Fu Panda 3 will do its thing in America and China this weekend, and then the holiday will buffer the would-be second weekend drop.
And, again stating the obvious, China Film Insiderreported that Oriental DreamWorks cast a who’s-who of Chinese movie stars for the Mandarin language version of said screenplay, including Jackie Chan (who of course has a small role in the domestic version as well), Yang Mi ęØå¹ (The Great Wall), Bai Baihe (Monster Hunt, which earned $32,766 in its first week of U.S. play in 41 theaters), Huang Lei é»ē£ (Where Are We Going, Dad?), and Wang Zhiwen ēåæę (Together). That’s somewhat standard practice for overseas animated releases (it’s one reason why Fox’s Ice Age films have done so well outside of America), but it still bears mentioning. How this film plays over the next couple weeks in America and China is without question the biggest box office story of the moment, as this kind of “make the same movie twice” approach could very well be standard practice, especially for animated features, if this works.
Directed by Jennifer Yuh and Alessandro Carloni, and starring (in America anyway) Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Bryan Cranston, Kate Hudson, and J.K. Simmons, Kung Fu Panda 3 has thus far earned $23.1 million at the end of its first day of Chinese release. We’ll know soon enough if we’re looking at legs similar to Jurassic World or Terminator Genisys. But the multipliers, especially if we count that $23.1m total as “one day,” look exceptionally promising.http://toplivenews.net/
A complete collection of Donald Trump’s Twitter insultsDonald Trump has been insulting people onTwittersince long before he was the leading Republican candidate for president of the United States of America. Some would say it’s the only issue that he’s never flip-flopped on, but no matter what you think of the man, you can’t deny the impressive breadth of his demagoguery.
DON’T MISS: 6 ways Android outshines my iPhone 6s
Attempting to sort through all of Trump’s Twitter insults would be an unenviable task, but this week, The New York Times did exactly that — collecting every insult on a single page and categorizing them based on the subject of the insult.
It’s truly an unbelievable, hysterical undertaking.
Each and every presidential candidate has made the list, with Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton and, of course, Jeb Bush receiving the most flak from the real estate mogul. The Bush insults are often the best/harshest: “a total embarrassment to himself and his family,” “a basket case,” “had a tiny 300 person crowd,” and “will NEVER Make America Great Again.”
Trump has also said that he’s “not a fan” of Samuel L. Jackson, thinks that Ronda Rousey is “not a nice person,” called Neil Young a “total hypocrite,” and even told T-Mobile CEO John Legere to “try hiring some good managers.”
But don’t think that individuals are the only targets in Trump’s crosshairs. He’s also referred to Germany as “a big mess,” Mexico as “totally corrupt,” New Jersey as “deeply troubled” and the United States as “a dumping ground for the world.”
And to think, only nine more months until we elect our next president.
So, Yeah, Rand Paul's New Hampshire Office Was Robbed This Week
MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE—The amazing thing is not so much that Rand Paul's headquarters here was broken into and robbed. The amazing thing is that the thief found the damn place at all.
Just hours before the campaign's phone-a-thon-cum-debate-watch-party, the front door to the office building housing his headquarters is locked up tight as a drum. In a race where visibility is everything, no sign indicates the campaign is actually located here. A backdoor is unlocked, but the campaign is not listed on the building directory. Only the soft steady hum of voices on a phone bank—not dissimilar to the sound of the building's HVAC system—draws one down a long basement corridor to the campaign offices.
Police say the Kentucky senator's headquarters was robbed between 11 p.m. Tuesday and 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. A surveillance camera at a nearby gas station mini mart captured a likely suspect as he "borrowed" a lighter to light his cigarette. (This is, after all, New Hampshire: Live free and smoke any damn place you want.)
According to Matt Chisholm, Paul's affable if exhausted New Hampshire communications director, the thief got away with four iPads, two laptop computers, two cell phones, other small electronic devices, such as cameras and headphones, and twenty four bags of snack-sized potato chips. The thief could have taken a bit more—a couple of laptops were left behind, and he stripped the iPads of their Rand sleeves and dumped them, along with his cigarette butt, on the floor—but presumably he didn't want to risk crushing the potato chips by crowding them in the stolen backpacks.The landlord has repaired the side door—although the fancy locks seem mostly for looks, as all but the most geriatric of thieves could simply kick a hole in the hollow-core door and crawl on through—and Chisholm thinks his candidate's prospects are solid. "We have more than 1,000 precinct captains in Iowa," he says, "More than Santorum had when he won Iowa." This is true: Santorum won Iowa 17 days after Mitt Romney was declared the winner. (And four years after Mike Huckabee was declared the winner. Remind me: we care about Iowawhy?) The certified results from 1,766 precincts (results from 8 precincts were lost somewhere between the silo and the barn) showed Santorum had defeated Romney by 34 votes.
Paul, Chisholm says, also has the backing of more state legislators than any other candidate, and consistently draws significantly larger crowds than either Christie or Bush (this is a potentially useful measure: crowds that can't be bought.) Paul's philosophy, Chisholm says, is simple: "A government so small you can barely see it." Let's hope that works out better for governments than for the signs at campaign headquarters.
US commemorates 30th anniversary of Challenger Space Shuttle disaster
Tributes flooded in for the seven astronauts who lost their lives on the Challenger Space Shuttle Thursday as the United States commemorated the 30th anniversary of the disaster.
ADVERTISEMENT
The shuttle exploded just 73 seconds after launch from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all crewmembers of mission STS-51L. The disaster claimed the lives of astronauts Francis “Dick” Scobee, Michael Smith, Christa McAuliffe, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka and Gregory Jarvis.
FILE - In this Jan. 28, 1986 file photo the space shuttle Challenger is destroyed by an explosion shortly after it lifted off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
NASA is holding a day of remembrance to commemorate the crews of Challenger, Apollo 1 and Columbia.
“Every year at this time we take a moment to reflect as the NASA family on the very broad shoulders on which we stand: the shoulders of those men and women of NASA who gave their lives so that you and I could continue to reach for new heights for the benefit of all humankind,” wrote NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, in a statement on NASA’s website.
Astronauts on the International Space Station held a moment’s silence as part of NASA’s Day of Remembrance.
“Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Space Shuttle Challenger accident so I would like to just take a moment of silence and recognize the sacrifice of all those crewmembers and how their legacy and lives on in our achievement in space,” said American astronaut Scott Kelly, who is spending a year on the International Space Station.
for more live news please visit http://toplivenews.net/
