Rumors and all that jazz….. by Eric van Aro
Just the other day I got a call from a friend of mine whom I hadn’t spoken to in a while. She was really upset as she had heard that my Mom had broken down due to the passing of our friend Peter Alexander as well as my Uncle Pietro, and that she was now in intensive care in a hospital.
I calmed her down, informing her that Mom was very well, that she was enjoying some time in her house in Utah which helped her in mourning the loss of her brother and her friend, but that as usual the whole story about hospitalization and breakdown was nothing but a hoax by the German speaking tabloids.
Since this was not the first of such calls, (in fact there were way to many similar calls and emails in the last few years as a result of the different bogus headlines in the press) I asked my office to let me have the clippings of the past months and while going through them I noticed in horror that some of the invented stories by the tabloids were actually taken as a fact by other more serious newspapers.
THIS IS SO DANGEROUS!
Isn’t thorough checking of facts part of the journalist’s job anymore? How irresponsible is it to just print anything without double checking?
This so called journalism has really reached a point of decadence that has gone out of control. Just imagine that about 2 years ago, when the stories about the failing health of my Uncle Pietro hit the headlines, a Woman journalist from Germany left a message on my mother’s answering machine that she needed to urgently talk to her, that it was really important and then she finished the message with:”…. and by the way, my condolences for the passing of your brother!” How macabre is that!!!
…. and these people say they are just doing their jobs! I wonder if inventing people’s death in order to get an interview is part of their job description?!?!
I did ask my mother if all this didn’t bother her and if she didn’t want to do something in order to shut down all these rumors and lies? She answered with one of her famous laughs and quoted Shirley MacLaines latest book:
”I’M OVER ALL THAT!”
Thank God I have such a wise Mother!
Here are some pics I took of her while visiting in Los Angeles this Easter Weekend where we were honored to share the Hotel with President Obama (that was a handful)
……guess no further comment is needed!!!
Easter Sunday in Malibu
…. took a break from songwriting, decided to have myself a drive on the pacific coast highway and stopped for coffee at Malibu country mart
OUT ON 28TH APRIL!!! After Work House
OUT ON 28TH APRIL!!!
After Work House
Includes Beats4Life Artist
Marco Soundee feat. Eric van Aro
Love U Madly (Fabrizio Marra Mix)
OUT ON 28TH APRIL!!! After Work House
Tracklisting:
1-1 Soul Minority – I Get Deep (El Mundo & Satori Remix)
1-2 Cosmic Cowboys – Velvet (Original Mix)
1-3 Signal Deluxe & D opposite D – Silent Rain (Franco Cangelli Remix)
1-4 Dessen Duo – Deep Life (Pablo Bolivar Remix)
1-5 Lars Kufky – Terzan
1-6 Anibal Morais & Miguel Braga feat. Claudine Sarbib – Game (Dj Petty Remix)
1-7 Mile – Unity (The Deep Lovers Remix)
1-8 Marc Poppcke – Timeless Worlds (Original Mix)
1-9 Ciappy DJ & Pablo feat. Savio Vurchio presents The Logical Groove Elements – I Feel (The Logical Main Mix)
1-10 Dani Sarasola – No Me Llames Foxter
1-11 Aspro – Virgine Mary
1-12 P. Toile – One (Original Mix)
1-13 Martin Nowakowski – Niepodobny Dub
1-14 Oddvar – Don’t Need To Shine
1-15 Cosmic Cowboys – Krokai
1-16 Der Thal – Mentona
1-17 Marco Soundee feat. Eric van Aro – Love U Madly (Fabrizio Marra Mix)
1-18 John Gazoo – Force Yourself (Original Mix)
1-19 Modul – Balance (Original Mix)
1-20 Monkeys Bootique – Mr Faust
1-21 Huxley feat. Sanna Hartfield – Touch & Reach (Andres Bela & Andre Torquato Project Remix)
1-22 Mile – Comfort (Original Deep Mix)
1-23 Ataneus – Twelfth Ambition
1-24 Soul Buddha – End Of My Dayz (Deep Down Dub)
1-25 Djazzy – Puzzled (Kruse & Nuernberg Remix)
Tom Alderman: Elizabeth Taylor — Not Quite the Last One
“The last of Hollywood’s golden era” is the way so many broadcast and cable obituaries described the legendary Elizabeth Taylor. If they’re right we might have some respect for their fact-checking skills. But alas, there are at least five stars from that era who are probably saying to themselves,” What am I, chopped liver?”
Olivia De Havilland, 95, and her sister, Joan Fontain, 94, probably saw the Taylor obit and yelped, although not to each other because they haven’t talked in more than three decades.
How about Maureen Ohara, 91, the red-haired star of The Quiet Man, and The Miracle on 34th Street among many others. In addition to being the desk-top icon for Irish beauty, this lady’s working buddies included Hollywood’s big Johns: Wayne and Ford.
You think Mickey Rooney, 91, or Kirk Douglas, 95, are happy being overlooked? How could you miss Douglas’ cringe-worthy, ego-busting showing at the recent Oscars when they couldn’t get him off stage? As for Rooney, you can see him most any day at a Hollywood race track. Oh yeah, and he worked with Taylor.
Celeste Holm, 94, Oscar winner for Gentlemen’s Agreement and nominated for Come to the Stable and All About Eve couldn’t be too tickled over being ignored.
Louise Rainer, 101 (!) the first women to win two Oscars, consecutively, and the oldest living Oscar winner — how do you miss that star?
Finally, there’s Doris Kappelhoff, 89, the highest grossing actress of all time! Also known as Doris Day.
In all fairness, it was TV news and mostly the uber-hyberbolic showbiz shows like Entertainment Tonight, and Extra, that billed Taylor as the ‘last star.’ The Los Angeles Times, the New Tork Times and the Chicago Tribune did not get caught with their sloppy facts showing.
How do you explain this with TV? While these shows are entertainment, they deliver entertainment news. How hard is it to fact-check with a 24/7 Internet at your finger tips? Is this a deliberate screw-up that so many of them just re-screwed? Probably not. Producers along the TV news chain simply did not check their facts. It’s lazy journalism and lazy journalism is bad journalism — whether reporting critical issues of the day or movie star obituaries.
Oh, well, as Doris Kappelhoff use to sing, Que Sera Sera — whatever will be, will be.
So sad.
via Tom Alderman: Elizabeth Taylor — Not Quite the Last One.
