Author: Randy Slovacek

Posted on

New music: Michael Buble – Christmas

Michael Bublé has a special holiday gift for his naughty and nice fans. The Grammy Award winning crooner presents “Christmas.”

Christmas, produced by David Foster, Bob Rock and Humberto Gatica, was recorded primarily at Capitol Recording Studios in Hollywood and The Warehouse Studios in Vancouver. The album includes guest performances by Shania Twain on “White Christmas” and The Puppini Sisters on “Jingle Bells.” Bublé also put his unique take on such classics as “Silent Night,” “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” “It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas” and “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.” In addition, a Bublé original “Cold December Night” will be included on Christmas.

Check it out on Amazon.

Michael, Michael Buble and I

I got to meet Bublé a few years ago at an Academy Awards party, and he was very charming, very nice and uber talented. At one point in the party, super-producer David Foster invited him to get on stage and sing, and Michael gave an impromptu performance that was terrific. I had been a fan before, and was even moreso after.

Posted on

Mike Manning in the film “Violence of the Mind”

To be released in 2012 featuring “The Real World’s” Mike Manning.

Synopsis: When Sebastian Youngstrum (Ryan Kibby) meets the older, handsome Max Taymer, (Jon Fleming) a forbidden world awakens in the mind of the young man. The line between fantasy and reality is blurred when experimentations in taboo sex go too far.

Sebastian wants more and Max is more than willing to lead him down the path of torture, pain and even murder. Images of dead bar patrons, bodybuilders, hustlers, and party boys consume his mind and affect his daily life.

His best-friend, Gina Claremore, knows something has changed. With a growing feeling of distrust towards Max and a paranoid feeling that someone is stalking Sebastian, Gina tries to intervene. But it’s too late. Sebastian is in love with Max and will prove to him that they share the same violence of the mind.

The film also features the very attractive Grant Landry.

I was lucky enough to interview Mike earlier this year in advance of an appearance he was making here in Las Vegas speaking for the HRC. Great head on his shoulders, and very clear thinking.

Look for the film in 2012.

Posted on

Chris Matthews on President Obama protecting the country

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
If the number one duty of an American president is to protect the country, Barack Obama is meeting his duty, calmly, resolutely, business-like.

Consider the way he has gone about it. He has accomplished the mission that took us into Iraq. Bin Laden is gone. He has removed the operational leader of al-Qaeda, Anwar al-Awlaki. He has persisted to its conclusion his decision to keep Moammar Gadhafi from slaughtering people. Gadhafi, who threatened to kill the people of Benghazi by the thousands, ended up hiding in a sewer pipe.

The difference between Democrats and Republicans, clearly the difference between George W. Bush and Barack Obama, is that one knows how to hot-dog in the end zone, knows how to run up the Mission Accomplished banners, knows how to strut.

The other, Obama, makes a crisp statement in the Rose Garden and goes back to work. You decide which is most presidential. On that point, have you ever noticed how the least impressive dictators in the world wear the most impressive uniforms? I think of the South American Junta leaders flashing their epaulettes, the same Opera bouffe costuming the late Mr. Gadhafi favored. They love their military uniforms, love them to be as colorful as their weirdness would allow, love acting the part of military men when they’ve never been in a war, certainly not one they’ve won.

The lesson of today’s denouement in Libya is that the un-fancy, non-strutting leader is the one to put your money on in the long run.

It’s the clown, the show-off, the guy who loves to adorn himself in colorful uniforms and the foppery of fascism that you can safely predict will end his days as humiliated and scorned as a fellow named Benito Mussolini who ended his days hanging upside down.
(via Chris Matthews on HardballBlog)

Posted on

GLEE’s Max Adler helps launch anti-bullying initiative

Glee’s Max Adler, has launched “Max’s A-B-C Initiative – Anti-Bullying Through City Hearts,” a pilot program at Foster Elementary School in Compton, Calif.

As part of the effort, Adler visited the school Tuesday, where he encouraged students to get involved in the arts, be it literature, acting, dance, photography or more as an alternative to bullying their classmates.

“If kids understand from an early age that everyone in this world is equal, the thought of bullying others will not even enter their headspace,” he said. “The arts, whether it’s music, acting, dance, playwriting or photography, helps kids realize that we all want the same things: love, laughter, great memories with family and friends and to be given a chance to succeed,” Adler added.

Said City Hearts founder and executive director Sherry Jason: “[Adler] may play a bully on TV but in reality, he cares deeply about preventing bullying.”