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Could WILL & GRACE Even Afford Their Fab NYC Apartment Today?

Everyone I know is thrilled at the news that NBC has ordered 10 new episodes of the hit sitcom, Will & Grace, for later this year. The show has long been credited, in great part, in helping advance LGBT rights just through the sheer visibility it brought our community.

Watching the ten minute “reunion” scene produced for the presidential election, it was nice to find out the apartment set for the show had been stored behind glass at Emerson University these past years. Even though they were fictional, anyone who’s lived in NYC could appreciate what fab digs Will and Grace had during the 8 year run of the show.

But it’s been 11 years since the show closed up shop, and things are a little more expensive than they used to be.

In fact, real estate super-site Trulia took a look at some iconic NYC-based 90s sitcoms to assess what it would cost to live like our favorite TV characters.

Although Grace could work her design magic in any space, her Upper West Side apartment was a good start. The building, located at 155 Riverside Drive in New York City, comes with a steep price tag in today’s market. According to Trulia data, the median rent today for a two bedroom, two bath unit like Will and Grace’s on the Upper West Side is $5,940.

Talk about a nice apartment, the purple abode that belonged to Monica and Rachel from F.R.I.E.N.D.S. is tough to beat. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, a giant living room, kitchen, balcony, a (messy) storage closet, it was always tough to believe that a waitress and a chef could afford this pricey pad. The exterior is located at 90 Bedford Street in New York, NY. Even with rent control, the average rent price for Greenwich village will cost you $4,229 per month for this size of an apartment.

And, of course, Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment seemed like a reasonable place to live. The show always cited 129 W. 81st in New York, NY, however this is not the actual external shot of his apartment from the show. Regardless, Jerry’s place was a nice pad on the Upper West Side, that seemed reasonable for the professional comedian. His one bedroom, one bath place in today’s market would run about $3,856 per month.

Check out the Trulia article to see exactly what Will & Grace or your favorite Friends might be able to afford today.

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Trump Signs Executive Order Beginning Process Of Building “The Wall”

President Trump today signed the executive that begins the process of building the famous “Wall” on the border of the United States and Mexico.

In recent weeks since the election, Trump has changed course on how to pay for the wall. Throughout the campaign, Trump repeated over and over that Mexico would “pay for” the wall. But now, the new president says that tax payers will foot the bill initially, and will eventually be reimbursed by Mexico through some mechanism yet to be determined/

From Buzzfeed:

“We’ve been talking about this right from the beginning,” Trump said as he signed an executive order launching the process of “immediately” building a physical wall between the United States and Mexico.

The action, taken less than a week before Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto is scheduled to visit his US counterpart is already drawing calls for the meeting between the two to be cancelled.

A person familiar with the matter said that Peña Nieto is “considering” canceling the visit, but spoke on condition of anonymity because plans have not been finalized.

Construction of the concrete wall dividing the two countries, which Trump has said will be as high as 55 feet, was indeed one of his first promises on the campaign trail. Further rousing the ire of his southern neighbors, Trump, in the same speech where he announced he was running for president, accused Mexico of sending criminals and “rapists” across the border and promised to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, the majority of them Mexican.

Additionally, Trump says he plans to take away federal funds from any state or local governments that fail to follow his deportation policies. Opponents of that plan say withholding federal funds from “sanctuary cities” would be unconstitutional.

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Mary Tyler Moore Dead At 80

TV icon Mary Tyler Moore has passed away at the age of 80.

From BroadwayWorld:

Moore is best known for her long-running leading role in The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1970 to 1977, in which she starred as ‘Mary Richards’, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis. The actress is also well known for for her earlier role as ‘Laura Petrie’ on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the early ’60s. Her more recent TV appearances include roles on That ’70s Show, Lipstick Jungle and Hot in Cleveland.

Among Moore’s most notable film work is 1967’s Thoroughly Modern Millie, as well as 1980’s Ordinary People, in which she played a role that was very different from the television characters she had portrayed, and for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Moore also graced the Broadway stage in shows such as Whose Life Is It Anyway in 1980 with James Naughton and Sweet Sue, which opened in 1987. She was also the star of a new musical version of Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 1966, but the show, titled Holly Golightly, was a notorious flop that closed in previews before opening on Broadway. In reviews of performances in Philadelphia and Boston, critics “murdered” the play; Moore claimed to be singing with bronchial pneumonia during those runs. During the 1980s, Moore and her Production Company produced five plays: Noises Off, The Octette Bridge Club, Joe Egg, Benefactors, and Safe Sex.

A three-time Golden Globe winner and seven-time Emmy Award winner, Moore also received a special Tony Award for her performance in Whose Life Is It Anyway? She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1986 and received the 2011 Screen Actors Guild’s lifetime achievement award.

Moore had been active in charity work as a co-founder of Broadway Barks, an annual pet adopt-a-thon held in New York City. Moore, along with friend and fellow stage vet Bernadette Peters, works to make New York City a no-kill city and to promote adopting animals from shelters.

Mary Tyler Moore was born in Brooklyn Heights in Brooklyn, New York, to George Tyler Moore, a clerk, and his wife Marjorie. Moore, the eldest of three siblings, moved to Los Angeles with her family when she was 8 years old. In 1955, at age 18, she married Richard Carleton Meeker. Her only child, Richard, Jr. (“Richie”) was born on July 3, 1956; he passed away in an accident in 1980. After divorcing Meeker in 1961, Moore married Grant Tinker, whose new TV Production Company MTM Enterprises created and produced The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Moore divorced Tinker in 1981 and married Dr. Robert Levine two years later.

Stylish, classy and very talented.  From perky 1960s housewife, to sassy single 1970s female on her own, to her devastating, Oscar-nominated performance in Ordinary People, one of my all-time favorite films.

I loved that she would sing and dance at times, but her comic timing (my favorite, favorite scene from The Mary Tyler Moore show below) was perfection.

Watch below just a tiny scratch of the surface of the talent that was Mary Tyler Moore.

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Trump Wants Investigation Into “Those Registered To Vote In Two States” Like His Senior Adviser Steve Bannon

As I reported yesterday, President Trump has continued to cling to his “alternative facts” that he believes he actually won the popular vote in the presidential election.

Trump contends that had it not been for 3-5 million “illegal” votes, he would have been the victor in the popular vote race.

Experts who study voting patterns, and especially the issue of fraud, say there is a better chance of being bitten by a shark who won the lottery than for millions to have voted fraudulently.

Personally, I say if the election was THAT far off, then perhaps we should have a do over?

Today, Trump has announced he wants a “major investigation” in voter fraud.  And I say good.

Trump notes he particularly wants those folks who are registered in two states to vote to be looked at.

Turns out he should turn to the guy standing right next to him as it’s been confirmed that White House  senior adviser Steve Bannon is one of those people.

From the Sarasota Herald-Tribune:

One of the most powerful men in America happens to be a resident of Sarasota County. We think. His name is Stephen K. Bannon, the scruffy-faced senior adviser to our new president. Maybe you’ve heard of him. But has anyone actually seen him?

In particular, has anyone ever seen him at 3108 Casey Key Road, though probably not asking neighbor Stephen King to borrow a cup of sugar, considering King once wrote on Twitter: “My newest horror story. Once upon a time there was a man named Donald Trump and he ran for president.”

Anyway, this is where Bannon lives, or is supposed to live, still, according to the Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections office. It’s the address listed on his voter registration form, effective Aug. 25.

There is only problem: Bannon is also registered to vote in New York City, listing a home address on West 40th Street, and according to a spokesman for the New York State Board of Elections, he voted there in November by absentee ballot.

At a press conference today, White House spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters that the investigation may focus on “bigger” states like New York or California. Yes, those would be ones that Trump lost by huge margins.

So, if I understand correctly, Trump believes that Democrats somehow got 3-5 million people to vote illegally – all for Clinton – in states she was going to win anyway. But forgot to get them to vote in swing states.

Of course, that makes perfect sense.

Watch below as voting expert Brian Schaffner explain to CNN how Trump is twisting his research:

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Park Service Rangers Go Rogue With Alt-Twitter Feed Servicing Climate Science

https://twitter.com/AltNatParkSer

A team of National Park Service rangers “and friends” has captured the attention of the Twitterverse posting as “AltUSNatParkService” (@AltNatParkSer) after the Trump administration shut down the Twitter accounts of several federal agencies, and ordered the deletion of tweets involving climate change.

Via The Daily Dot:

As the Trump administration rapidly shuts down the lines of communication between federal agencies and the public, an anonymous Twitter account is upholding the ethos of the National Parks Service.

@AltUSNatParkSer gained more than 170,000 followers overnight after the Badlands National Park Twitter account made headlines by tweeting and then deleting a series of climate change facts. Many Twitter users interpreted the Badlands tweets as a sign of resistance against encroaching censorship and the president’s environmental policies, exemplified by the administration deleting all references to climate change from the White House website.

While the Badlands tweets inspired several parody accounts, the alternate National Parks feed was the one that really caught hold. It claims to be run by “several active NPS rangers and friends,” and spent the night tweeting about climate change, sharing photos of national parks, and promoting free access to information produced by federal agencies.

The Twitter account has quickly grown to over 340,000 in less than 24 hours.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Out Music: Brian Justin Crum “Show Me Love” Feat. Toy Armada & DJ Grind

Out singer Brian Justin Crum, who sang his face off during the recent season of America’s Got Talent, absolutely kills on this remake of the 1995 Robyn hit “Show Me Love.”

The track is the 28 year old Broadway veteran’s first single since AGT, and features Toy Armada and DJ Grind. Currently climbing the Billboard Dance/Club chart, you can find the track on iTunes here.

Via Twitter, Brian announced, “Here it is! The official video for “Show me Love” ft Toy Armada and DJ GRIND! Thank you to everyone involved!”

Watch the music video below:

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Trump Still Erroneously Maintains Millions Voted Illegally In Presidential Election

Last night, President Trump spent several minutes telling congressional leaders from both parties that he still believes he truly won the popular vote in the presidential election because 3-5 million votes were cast illegally.

The issue remained in the spotlight today as reporters asked White House press secretary Sean Spicer about the issue:

White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday confirmed that President Donald Trump believes millions of people voted illegally in November’s election, despite a total absence of evidence to support this view.

“The president does believe that. He has stated that before. I think he’s stated his concerns of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign and continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him,” Spicer told reporters at the daily press briefing.

Pressed for evidence to support the claim, Spicer said only, “I think the president has believed that for a while, based on studies and information he has.” He did not say what those studies or information were.

During the course of the press conference, Spicer grew visibly frustrated at the repeated questions about Trump’s false claim. “He believes what he believes based on the information he was provided,” Spicer told CNN’s Jeff Zeleny. Asked what Trump’s belief means for American democracy, Spicer snapped, “It means I have answered your question.”

Numerous studies have shown that there’s no way such massive voter fraud took place.

What neither Spicer nor Trump have explained to date is, if Trump truly believes there was such astronomical voter fraud, why hasn’t the president called for a massive investigation?

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Health & Human Services Nominee Tom Price Dodges Question Whether People Might Lose Coverage Under Trump Plan

Congressman Tom Price of Georgia, President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services, couldn’t give a clear answer today during his confirmation hearing regarding how strenuously he would implement Trump’s executive order to pull back on the Affordable Care Act.

He also couldn’t promise that Americans wouldn’t lose health coverage in repealing the ACA.

From Politico:

Price, Trump’s pick to run Health and Human Services, dodged questions from lawmakers Tuesday about whether Trump’s order would force people from their current Obamacare coverage, despite promises from many Republicans they want to ensure the 20 million people insured through the law wouldn’t be hurt by efforts to replace it.

He also wouldn’t say whether HHS would wait until Congress readies a replacement plan before taking steps to dismantle the health care law. Price told the Senate Finance Committee, which will vote on his nomination, that he would promise to put “patients at the center of health care,” declining to tackle the questions directly.

And according to USA Today, Price answered practically every question with some version of, “Every single American will have access to coverage that is affordable.”

To be honest, I have access to buying a million dollar home, but I can’t afford one.

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Trump Issues Executive Orders Greenlighting Oil Pipelines, Owns Stock In Company Building Dakota Pipeline

First, President Trump signed executive orders today that allow the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines to move forward:

President Trump signed two executive actions Tuesday that will advance construction of the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines. The actions follow months of protests by environmentalists and Native American groups in North Dakota against the Dakota Access project, a $3.8-billion pipeline that would bring crude oil from the state’s Bakken oil patch through the Midwest and into the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Construction on the project was halted in December after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit for the pipeline to cross under a Missouri River reservoir in the area so it could explore alternate routes.

Now, with that in mind, from CBS News:

President-elect Donald Trump holds stock in the company building the disputed Dakota Access oil pipeline, and pipeline opponents warn that Trump’s investments could affect any decision he makes on the $3.8 billion project as president.

Trump’s 2016 federal disclosure forms show he owned between $15,000 and $50,000 in stock in Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners. That’s down from between $500,000 and $1 million a year earlier.

But remember: he “has no conflicts of interest…”

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Olivia Newton-John, Beth Nielsen Chapman & Amy Sky On BBC Radio 2

Prior to their concert tonight in Glasgow at the Celtic Connections Festival, Olivia Newton-John, Amy Sky and Beth Nielsen Chapman shared three songs from their critically acclaimed album, LIV ON, with BBC Radio 2. Listen here.

For more info about the album and concerts, click here.