Dale Griffin, the drummer and founding member of British glam rock band Mott the Hoople, died Sunday after a battle with Alzheimers disease. He was 67.
His label, Angel Air, announced the news on its website.
Griffin was born in Ross-on-Wye, England, and got his start by playing in local bands including Charlie Kingsley Creation, the Silence, the Shakedown Sound and the Doc Thomas Group.
After Griffin and his bandmates moved to London in 1969, they nabbed a record deal and met producer Guy Stevens, who gave them the name Mott the Hoople after the 1967 novel by Willard Manus.
The group would go on to score hits Roll Away the Stone and All the Young Dudes, the latter written and produced by the late David Bowie, who also sang backing vocals on the track.
Mott the Hoople released eight albums before breaking up in the mid-70s after vocalist Ian Hunter canceled its European tour, citing physical exhaustion. Griffin would go on to become a producer of BBC live music sessions.
The band reunited in 2009 for its 20th anniversary, but Griffin was already too sick to take part, having been diagnosed with Alzheimers only shortly before the reunion was announced.
Griffin is survived by his long-time partner Jean Smith.
Jada Pinkett Smith is Wasting Our Time With Her Shenanigans
Janet Hubert is the latest celebrity to speak out about the #OscarsSoWhitecontroversy, but she is aiming her thoughts at two people in particular:JadaPinkettSmith and Will Smith.
The actress, who co-starred alongside Smith for years onThe Fresh Prince of Bel Airas Aunt Viv, posted an online video on Martin Luther King Jr. Day in response toPinkettSmith"s videoannouncing why she plans to boycott the 2016 Oscars.
For the second consecutive year,no black actors were nominated in any of the four acting categories Smith was snubbed for his lead role inConcussion. "The Academy has the right to acknowledge whomever they choose, to invite whomever they choose, and now I think that it"s our responsibility, now, to make the change,"PinkettSmith said in her video. "Maybe it is time that we pull back our resources and we put them back into our communities and our programs and we make programs for ourselves that acknowledge us in ways that we see fit, that are just as good as the so-called "mainstream" ones."
Referring toPinkettSmith as "Miss Thing," Hubert opened her video by asking "Does your man not have a mouth of his own with which to speak?" before launching into her thoughts on the controversy that has drawn so much attention (it even prompted the Academyto release a rare statement on Monday.)
"I find it ironic that somebody who has made their living and has made millions and millions of dollars from the very people that youre talking about boycotting just because you didnt get a nomination, just because you didnt win?" said Hubert. "Thats not the way life works, baby."
She continued, "You ain"t Barack and Michelle Obama. And y"all need to get over yourselves. You have a huge production company that you only produce your friends and family and yourself. So you are a part of Hollywood, you are part of the system that is unfair to other actors. So get real."
Hubert then recalled how, when they were filmingFresh Princeyears ago, she approached then-star Smith about banding together to ask the network for a cast-wide raise like the "white shows" did -- likeFriends. "Your response to me was "My deal is my deal. And your deal is your deal," " she said.
She ended the post by saying, "You know some of us have got mortgages to pay, we got bills to pay, we have bigger s**t to worry about than the Oscars."
PinkettSmith isn"t the only one in Hollywood to speak out in protest against this year"s nominations. Filmmaker Spike Lee, who was awarded an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards in November, said that while he appreciated that recognition, he and his wife"cannot support" this year"s Academy Awards.AlSharpton,StraightOuttaComptonexecutive producerWillPacker, andChris Rock, who is set to host the Feb. 28 show, were all quick to call out the lack of diversity after Thursday"s announcements.
On Monday, Cheryl BooneIsaacs, the president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, issued a lengthy statement on the subject, saying she was both "heartbroken" and "frustrated" and promised big changes. "The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership," she said in the statement. "In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond."
Watch the video and read the full transcript below:
First of all, Miss Thing. Does your man not have a mouth of his own with which to speak? And, the second thing is girlfriend, there are a lot of s**t going in the world that you all dont seem to recognize. People are dying, our boys are being shot left and right, people are hungry, people are starving, people are trying to pay bills, and youre talking about some muthaf actors and Oscars. It ain"t that deep.
And heres the other thing. For you to ask other actors and other blacktresses and black actors to jeopardize their career and their standing in a town you know d**n well you dont do that. And, heres the other thing, they dont care. They dont care!
I find it ironic that somebody who has made their living and has made millions and millions of dollars from the very people that youre talking about boycotting just because you didnt get a nomination, just because you didnt win? Thats not the way life works, baby. Okay? And its very suspect to me.
And I seem to recall, hmmm, 26 maybe 27 years ago, 25 whatever it was, I don"t even remember, I do remember at option time coming to you and saying "you know what Will, you"re the star of the show, why don"t we all get together and with you maybe we can all get a little raise. Maybe the network will think that since the show is such a hit and you being the star of the show, your influence will help us greatly. Like they did on Friends. Like white shows do! Remember that? Do you remember that? Because I do. Hmm. And your response to me was "my deal is my deal. And your deal is your deal.
Well karma must be a b because now here you are, you"ve had a few flops. There are those out there who really deserved a nod and Idris Elba was one of them. Lord have mercy! Beasts of No Nation was incredible that man is an incredible actor. You are not. Maybe you didn"t deserve a nomination. I don"t think frankly you deserved a Golden Globe nomination with that accent but you got one. Just because the world don"t go the way you want it to go doesn"t mean you can go out and start asking people to sing "We Shall Overcome" for you.
You ain"t Barack and Michelle Obama. And y"all need to get over yourselves. You have a huge production company that you only produce your friends and family and yourself. So you are a part of Hollywood, you are part of the system that is unfair to other actors. So get real
Now for those of you who say, "Ms Hubert, here she goes being bitter" B please, its not about being bitter its about being right. You know some of us have got mortgages to pay, we got bills to pay, we have bigger s**t to worry about than the Oscars.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter
Mike WiLL Made-It - 23 (Explicit) ft. Miley Cyrus, Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J
Is Miley Cyrus engaged?
The pop star posted a selfie on Instagram, showing off a large rock on her ring finger.
Adding to the intrigue? The ring looks very much like the ring that ex-fiance Liam Hemsworth gave to her when the two were engaged.
Cyrus and Hemsworth have been spotted together recently, sparking rumors that they are a couple again.
Earlier in January, a source told ET that the two were spotted kissing and huggingat the Falls Music & Arts Festival at Byron Bay on Saturday in Liam"s home country of Australia.
Cyrus and Hemsworth met on the set of "The Last Song" in 2010; the two were engaged in May 2012, but the couple broke up in September 2013.
Take a look at a photo of Cyrus" ring in 2012 in the below photo, then look at her ring from Monday"s Instagram post. Do you think it"s the same? She claimed in 2013 that she lost the ring.
SD@LAD: Upton gets ejected following his strikeout BaseballDetroit signs left fielder Upton to six-year, $132.75 million deal
The Detroit Tigers no longer have a weakness in left field.
Instead, they have a three-time All-Star, a 28-year-old in the midst of his prime and another big bat in the middle of the lineup.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Tigers signed right-handed-hitting left fielder Justin Upton to a six-year, $132.75 million contract, pending a physical. The deal includes an opt-out clause after the second year. He will have an average annual salary of $22.125 million.
The Tigers will lose their second- and third-round draft picks this year because of the Jordan Zimmermann and Upton signings. They still have their first-round pick No. 9 overall.
Upton is a career .251 hitter with 190 home runs and 616 runs batted in in nine seasons. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. This past season, he hit .251 with 26 home runs and 81 RBI with the San Diego Padres.
The expensive agreement with Upton could put Detroit in a position to challenge World Series champion Kansas City, which dominated the AL Central last year after the Tigers had won the division the previous four seasons.
Detroit traded Yoenis Cespedes and David Price at the deadline, and then let general manager Dave Dombrowski go. Al Avila was promoted to Dombrowskis spot, and he has been aggressive in his first offseason in charge.
Family celebrates with Gordon
Dee Gordon put his signature on a $50 million, five-year contract with the Miami Marlins as more than a dozen relatives watched from the front row at a news conference Monday.
My family stuck with me through the hard times, Gordon said. Im glad theyre here for the good times.
The 5-foot-11 Gordon is a frustrated basketball player who switched to baseball and became a late bloomer. Last season, he led the National League in batting (.333), hits (205) and stolen bases (58), won a Gold Glove at second base and made the All-Star team.
It was his first year in Miami after he was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers in a seven-player deal.
I instantly loved the way they treated me here, Gordon, 27, said. Signing an extension was pretty much a no-brainer.
The World Series champion Kansas City Royals finalized their $17.5 million, two-year deal with Lorenzo Cain, buying out the All-Star outfielders final two years of arbitration.
Cain, 29, will receive $6.5 million this season and $11 million next season.
College footballPortland State linebacker dies
Portland State linebacker AJ Schlatter, 20, died Sunday of a complication from what school officials termed minor throat surgery.
Schlatter, who was from Canby, Ore., started 10 games last year as a redshirt freshman and made 62 tackles. He came to Portland State as a walk-on and earned a full scholarship.
Portland State coach Bruce Barnum a former Eastern Washington linebacker said, We lost a diamond that will never be replaced. He was the definition of what we are about at PSU.
Arizona has agreed in principle to hire Boise State defensive coordinator Marcel Yates as its defensive coordinator.
Yates will replace Jeff Casteel, who was fired this month by coach Rich Rodriguez.
Yates was a defensive back at Boise State from 1996 to 99.
Indiana offensive lineman Dan Feeney said he will return to school for the 2016 season rather than entering the NFL draft.
The 6-foot-4, 310-pound guard has allowed one sack in 37 starts for the Hoosiers.
Auburn tailback Peyton Barber, a third-year sophomore, is leaving to enter the NFL draft.
Barber led the Tigers with 1,017 yards rushing.
GolfDonaldson injured by chain saw
Jamie Donaldson of Wales apparently will miss this weeks Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship because of a finger injury he said was caused by a chain saw.
Donaldson posted a graphic photo on Twitter of what seemed to be a laceration to the little finger on his left hand.
Above the image, the 40-year-old wrote: So folks in my time off decided to have a fight with a chainsaw and lost! Oops!! C u in Dubai.
The tournament reference appeared to be the Dubai Desert Classic, which starts Feb. 4.
SoccerBordeaux fans are banned
Bordeaux fans have been banned from attending this weekends French-league match at Nantes because of the risk of violence between hooligans.
Supporters of the teams have fought in the past.
Swansea moved out of the relegation zone after a 1-0 victory over visiting Watford in the English Premier League. Captain Ashley Williams scored in the first half.
ELSEWHERE
Vancouver Canucks center Henrik Sedin, 35, is not expected to return to the teams lineup until February.
Sedin suffered an upper-body injury in Sundays 2-1 shootout victory over the Islanders in New York.
Hopefully h**l be ready after the All-Star break (the All-Star Game is Jan. 31). I think its probably a 10-day injury or so, Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said.
Gulch, who won the 1988 Breeders Cup Sprint and was voted North Americas top sprinter for that year, died of complications from cancer Sunday at a farm in Georgetown, Ky. He was 32.
Gulch was the sire of Thunder Gulch, winner of the 1995 Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes.
Steve Prohm has learned that what worked for Fred Hoiberg isn"t going to be what works for him.
For the Hoiberg, a laissez faire locker room where players were allowed to color outside the lines at times was the best way for him to manage a locker room and a program. It was a system that Prohm, the Iowa State men"s basketball coach who inherited a successful upperclassmen roster accustomed to that type of environment, tried to maintain when taking over for Hoiberg in June.
MARCH MADNESS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
JOIN THE TEAM.
Seven months into his tenure and amid a two-game losing streak and rising scrutiny, Prohm decided no longer.
"I finally kind of got to be me," Prohm said after his team"s win over Kansas State on Saturday, "so I just met with the team and I just told them, "Hey I"ve got to be" me. This is who I am, this is what I"m about and I want to fit in but I want to do things the way I want to do them.""
So what, exactly, does that mean going forward?
On the floor, it likely means pulling back the reins on the freedom-and-confidence-over-everything philosophy of Hoiberg. ISU won"t ditch its up-tempo and free-flowing attack, but it very well may be tempered to a degree.
"We"re on defense so much," Prohm said. "If you breakdown in football, we"d be like 20 minutes offense, 40 minutes defense, and we"re so good offensively, we"re still in games but we have to do a better job of managing games, whether it"s me (with) timeouts (or slowing pace)."
Off the court, it probably means tighter guidelines for the players to adhere to. Prohm carries himself much like Hoiberg in an understated manner, but prefers to adhere to a stricter set of expectations for his players.
"We"ve got great kids," Prohm said, "they"re not doing anything (bad). When I say things, it"s going to be done.
"Just do the right thing. That"s the only rule I have. I don"t have a sheet of 50 things. Do the right thing."
MORE: Evansville Aves pushing for NCAA tournament berth
The new Prohm, same as the old Prohm, did have an early casualty, Hallice Cooke, who was suspended for Saturday"s game.
"He didn"t do the things I wanted done," Prohm said, "and then he didn"t do what he was supposed to so left him back (in Ames).
"It was a one-game deal."
The players, though, seem to recognize Prohm"s stance as genuine and sincere, not simply a play for control.
"He got his swag," point guard Monte Morris said. "He stands on ten toes on everything."
Short-term adjustment period aside, Prohm said the change was just a matter of being the coach he wants and knows how to be. With likely top-ranked Oklahoma looming on Monday (8 p.m., ESPN) and a Big 12 season that seemed on the brink of slipping away, the move comes at a critical juncture for ISU.
"You kind of find your way for a little bit," he said, "and you see what the team needs and then you know, this is where this team needs help, this is where I need to help them and this is how I"ve done it in the past and this is how I"m going to do it."
MORE: Tom Crean deserves ample credit for Indiana"s turnaround
In the end, it"s about being true to yourself and the players you have. A tighter grip wouldn"t have fit Hoiberg"s professional sensibilities nor would it have likely meshed with some of the personalities he coached. It"s hard to imagine Royce White flourishing how he did under an iron fist. Hoiberg"s way also led to a school-record four-straight NCAA tournaments and the most successful five-year run in school history.
But it"s not his program anymore.
"It"s not drastic," Prohm said, "but I"ve been in a situation like this before where last year I had to get uncomfortable and I"ve got to get uncomfortable here to do the best job with this team.
"That doesn"t mean we"re going to win 15 in a row, but it means this team is going to max out and that"s my biggest goal, to max this team out."
This article was written by Travis Hines from Ames Tribune, Iowa and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.
Tornado damage Sarasota homes 1_17_16, copyright OurTown Sarasota.
Shirley Callaway and her friends, Marci Richter, Marleen Eagan and Debbie Ellett make caps for cancer patients.(Photo: WTSP)
The first thing Shirley Callaway ever crocheted was a baby blanket for her youngest son. For 46 years, she"s been weaving together yarn for the perfect gifts.
"My family was here last weekend and I have an order list because they saw me making these," she said with a smile on her face.
Callaway and three of her friends from the Tampa Bay Newcomers social group spent the morning crocheting warm, cozy hats the kind that you rarely see in Florida.
"The whole purpose is to not only warm their heads with the hats but to warm their hearts so that they know there are people who care about them and what they"re going through," she said.
Callaway and her friends, Marci Richter, Marleen Eagan and Debbie Ellett, walked side by side into the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa with a basket full of handmade cancer caps. This is the second time that they made the trip there to hand out their creations for free to anyone fighting the dreaded disease.
These are some of the cancer caps made by the Newcomers.(Photo: WTSP)
"It makes a huge difference that they can donate a massive amount of hats for our patients," said Landee Fielland, who is the guest relations specialist for the Moffitt infusion center, where patients are treated. "It is a lot more than a hat."
Especially for the patients who receive them. On this day, the Newcomers have hats of all of the area football teams. Kelly Jarvis grabbed a blue-and-orange one with a flower on top, the colors of her beloved Florida Gators.
"Right now I"m also losing my eyebrows and eye lashes and I feel, you know," she said with tears tumbling down her face. "It"s not great to go through all this and feel unattractive at the same time.
"It"s more than a hat. It"s a hug."
Shirley Callaway, Marci Richter, Marleen Eagan and Debbie Ellett make cancer caps for patients at Moffitt.(Photo: WTSP)
Amy Presseo agrees. She took one of the hats that the Newcomers left behind on a previous trip to Moffitt. Now, she got to meet the ladies wgo made that hat face to face.
"I"ll be happy when I get my hair back," she said. "I feel comfortable with wearing a hat."
As exciting as it is to see the happy faces on the patients when the get a hat in their hands, it is a tough mission for Callaway. Her son, Chip, died of testicular cancer 25 years ago in the very same buildings that the Newcomers visiteach month.
As tough as it is, she powers through to hand out hats that bring smiles.
"That"s what it"s all about," she said.
Her personal doctor and his wife help make the hats possible. The couple purchased all of the yarn that the group uses. The Newcomers have made hundreds of hats and plan to always give them away for free.
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CINDY: HERE IS THE PROBLEM -- THE SNOW IS SO FLUFFY, IT WILL BLOW OFF THE TREES. WE ARE MAKING UP FOR SOME LOST TIME AROUND HERE. WITH OUR 3.1 INCHES OFFICIALLY OVERNIGHT, WE ONLY HAD ABOUT FIVE AND A HALF. ON THE AVERAGE WINTER, WE HAVE 17 INCHES OF SNOW, SO, WE ARE MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME. PICKING UP FIVE, EVEN A FEW REPORTS OF SIX, BUT IN GENERAL, TO TO FOUR INCHES. WE HAVE HAD AN ARCTIC FRONT COME THROUGH THIS MORNING AND THAT IS WHY THE WINDS ARE KICKING UP, COMING AT US FROM THE WEST NORTHWEST, AND WE ARE STILL IN THE 20"S OUTSIDE. SUBZERO HERE AT NOON TIME. THIS IS SOME SERIOUS COLD WORKING IN AND WE ARE JUST GETTING STARTED. TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN HOLDING STEADY. AT 8:00 THIS MORNING, IT WAS A COUPLE OF DEGREES LESS COAL THAN IT IS RIGHT NOW. WE"VE GOT BLUE SKIES AND TEMPERATURES GOING THE WRONG WAY AS THE ARCTIC AIR IS WORKING ITS WAY IN. IT IS GUSTING HIGHER AND MORE THAN 30 MILES AN HOUR OUT THROUGH WORCESTER COUNTY. THESE WINDS WILL BE WITH US FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE WITH WIND CHILLS RUNNING IN THE SINGLE DIGITS. ELSEWHERE, WHEN CHILLS IN THE TEENS. IF YOU ARE OUT AND ABOUT THIS AFTERNOON, DON"T LET THE SUN FOOL YOU. IT IS WINDY AND COLD. THE WINDCHILL WILL BE DROPPING DOWN INTO THE SINGLE DIGIT IN BOSTON. OUT THE DOOR TOMORROW MORNING, THIS IS 5:00 A.M. -- WIND CHILL RUNNING BELOW ZERO. ACTUAL TEMPERATURES OVERNIGHT WILL GO DOWN INTO THE SINGLE DIGIT AND TEENS. OVERNIGHT THROUGHOUT THE DAY TOMORROW, THERE"S A WIND ADVISORY AND THE POTENTIAL IS THERE FOR SOME WIND GUSTS. WE WILL KEEP THE WIND IN PLACE THROUGHOUT THE GAME ON TUESDAY BUT WE WILL HAVE SUBZERO WIND CHILLS TOMORROW MORNING AND WIND CHILLS NO HIGHER THAN THE SINGLE DIGITS THROUGHOUT THE DAY. STILL CONTENDING WITH SOME GUSTY WINDS. ONLY GRADUALLY STEPPING DOWN. TEMPERATURES START TO MODERATE BUT WE WILL BE WATCHING THAT CLOSELY WITH HIGH PRESSURE TO THE NORTH. NOTICE BY 6 A.M., THERE"S THE STORM WITH HIGH PRESSURE TO THE NORTH AND AN INCREASED EASTERLY WIND. THIS WILL BE A STRONG COASTAL STORM, BUT THE TRACK IS KEY. WE WILL BE WATCHING THAT VERY CLOSELY, BUT A SIGNIFICANTLY CLOSE STORM HERE, TIMING FRIDAY NIGHT AND THROUGH THE DAY, IT LOOKS LIKE IT WILL BE HEADING
