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Sunday, August 28, 2016

TV News: Britney Spears To Perform at 2016 VMAs; Stand Up to Cancer Special Sets 2016 Date

VMA 2016 - MTV Video Music Award Nominations

DATES

MTV announced on Tuesday thatBritney Spearswill perform at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awardsfor the first time in 10 years. Alongside rapper G-Eazy, Spearswill perform a world-premiere performance of the new single Make Me, in anticipation of Spears ninth studio album, Glory. The 2016VMAs will air live from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Sunday, Aug. 28 at 9 p.m.

The Entertainment Industry Foundation has announcedthat the fifthbiennial televised fundraising special Stand Up To Cancer(SU2C) will broadcast live on Friday, Sep. 9 at 8 p.m. Executive produced byBradley Cooper, celebrity appearances scheduled forthe telecast include Ben Affleck, Matthew McConaughey, Emma StoneandAnna Kendrick, among others. In addition, legendary pop star Celine Dion, along with Keith Urbanand Little Big Town, will perform tributes to those battling cancer.The telecast will airfrom Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles on numerous broadcast and cable networks, including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, American Forces Network, ASPiRE, AUDIENCE Network, Bloomberg TV, Bravo, Comedy Central, Discovery Life, E! Entertainment, EPIX, ESPNEWS, FM, FS2, Fusion, FXM, Great American Country, HBO, HLN, ION Television, LMN, Logo, MLB Network, National Geographic, Pivot, RLTV, SHOWTIME, Smithsonian Channel, STARZ, STARZ ENCORE, TBS, Tr3s, VH1, and WGN America. The channels are donating one hour of simultaneous commercial-free primetime for the telecast.

Six-episode Brazilian series Motelwill premiere on Cinemax on Aug. 18 at 10 p.m., the premium cabler has announced. Theseriesexamines the sensual, erotic, mysterious and perverse activities in the Divine Sin Motel, with each episode exploringdifferent genres in different rooms of the motel.

GREENLIGHTS

Investigation Discovery has greenlita new series hosted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Tony Harris, entitled Scene of the Crime with Tony Harris. Executive produced byDavid Smith and Amy Bucher, the investigative seriespulls back the curtain to revealthe often nefarious players and foreboding places behind the crimes surrounding them, per IDs press release.The six-part series will premiere on Investigation Discovery in 2017.

EXECUTIVES

NBCs superhero comedyPowerless is parting ways with creator Ben Queen, Variety has confirmed. Queens exit was reportedly due to creative differences and was a mutual decision between the producer, network and studio Warner Bros. Television, where Queen is under an overall deal and will continue to developprojects. Production on the freshman season was set to begin in a couple of weeks, but has been brieflydelayedwhile the show seeks out a new showrunner. The half-hour comedy is slated for midseason at NBC, so the later start isnt expected toaffect the shows debut.

Troikaannounced thatAustin Katz has been appointed Chief Development Officer to lead strategic growth and development at the branding and marketing innovations agency. He joins Troika from The Company (The Ebersol Lanigan Company), where he served as Chief Operating Officer. Katz is also a graduate of UCLAs Anderson School of Management, and has worked with brands, shows and production companies such as AMCs Mad Men, Bravo, HGTV and Weber.

DIVERSITY

The eight writers who participated in the 2016 Disney / ABC Writing Program have landed staff jobs on Disney/ABC TV Group productions. The program includes a series of seminars, workshops and mentoring sessions designed to help develop promising new talent from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds.

The newly staffed participants are: (Dayo Adesokan (ABCs Downward Dog), Amanda Idoko (ABCs Imaginary Mary), Andrew Mathieson (ABCs Dr. Ken), Ron McCants (ABCs Speechless), Miguel Ian Raya (Freeforms Famous In Love), Janine Salinas Schoenberg (ABCs American Crime), Christina Walker (ABCs Still Star-Crossed) and Jeffery w**g (ABCs Notorious). Raya is already at work writing an episode of Famous in Love while Schoenberg and Walker are co-writing episodes of their respective series.

Were proud that our selection of writers for this years writing program proved appealing to not only creative executives but showrunners as well, said Tim McNeal, Disney/ABC TV Groups VP of creative talent development and inclusion. Just as we pride ourselves by introducing new diverse voices to the creative process at the lower level, we find it equally rewarding to champion the staffing of program alumni as a means to career longevity.

Source: http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/tv-news-britney-spears-vma-2016-1201838497/

I bought a Costco vacation - here"s why the retailer has completely changed how I book travel

UNBOXING Costco Travel Disneyland Vacation Package

Drinks from the pool-side bar at my hotel, the San Juan Marriott. Kate Taylor

When I told people I was going to Puerto Rico, they were jealous. When I told them I booked the trip through Costco, that jealousy transformed into confusion.

"You can buy a vacation through Costco?" I was asked at least a dozen times in recent months.

My answer: Yes, and it"s incredible.

I only became aware of Costco"s travel deals in May, when a friendsuggested checking out the warehouse store"swebsite while planning an upcoming vacation.

I was amazed by the variety of options, from airfare and hotel deals in Europe to Caribbean cruises. Costco even has a section dedicated to safaris, with options in Botswana and South Africa.

That"s right you can book an entire weeklong safari, including a guide, airfare, and a place to stay, throughCostco.

View from the hotel room. Kate Taylor

Theretailer launched Costco Travel in 2000.

"Following the same philosophy as in the warehouses, we offer a limited number of products in an effort to focus on partners who consistently produce high quality, exceptional value and superb service," Costco spokesperson Nikki Chellew told Business Insider. "Costco Travel adds to the overall value of the membership with savings that can exceed the cost of an annual membership."

Three friends and Isettled on a seven-day trip to Puerto Rico, and purchased a trip that provided airfare, seven nights in a hotel, and transportation to and from an airport in August, for a little more than$800 a person.

Now, having returned from the trip, I can confidently say that Costco Travel is going to completely change how I book vacations.

First of all, booking the trip through Costco left me confident I was saving money. While searching for deals, I perused packages sold by airlines, which included flights at inconvenient times, and semi-questionable websites that were too sketchy to trust. Costco matched or beat both in terms of cost, with the added bonus of reliability.

The hotel was close to the beach, and a 10-minute drive to Old San Juan. Kate Taylor

Second, it was incredibly convenient every step of the way. Scanning through Costco"s deals felt like browsing a diner"s extensive menu it had plenty of options, but also narrowed down my choices and spelled out the benefits of each one. Once I arrived in Puerto Rico, the bonus of having a car to take me to and from the airport included in the trip was an extra convenience I hadn"t given much thought about before booking the trip.

Finally, every aspect of the trip purchased via Costco hotel, airfare, travel to the hotel exceeded expectations. To head off skeptics: Costco did not know I cover the retailerwhen the dealwas purchased, this is not paid for by Costco, and there is no weird under-the-table sponsorship here. Everything was simply fantastic.

My biggest question after the trip was why everyone wasn"t booking travel through Costco and was forced to conclude that most people just don"t know that they can.

The Hertz rental car location in our hotel made it easy to take a road trip around Puerto Rico. Kate Taylor

"It is difficult to have travel be top of mind for members when they think of Costco as a warehouse full of tangible products," Chellew says.

However, the company istrying to change that.

Costco is now advertisingits travel packages using emails, travel brochures, and deals in the Costco Savings Book. Additionally, every month the retailer publishes an article by travel expert Peter Greenberg in its magazine, the Costco Connection.

Still, Costco is primarily growing its travel business via word of mouth. Chellew says that members sharing their experiences has played the biggest role in Costco Travel"s double-digit annual growth.

With that in mind, I"ll add my positive experience to the public record. Next time you"re booking a trip, check Costco Travel first. I know I will.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/costco-travel-is-my-new-go-to-for-booking-vacations-2016-8

Chicago Bears welcome Olympic medalists to Soldier Field

Broncos vs. Bears | Post Game Highlights | NFL

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Bears invited four American Olympic medalists to Saturdays preseason game at Soldier Field, including bronze-medal trap shooter Corey Cogdell-Unrein, who is married to Bears defensive lineman Mitch Unrein.

Olympic Bronze medalist Corey Cogdell-Unrein, who is married to Chicago Bears defensive lineman Mitch Unrein, proudly displays her Rio medal at Solider Field.Jeff Dickerson/ESPN.com

Also in attendance were Chicago-area natives Kevin Cordes (Gold -- men"s swimming, Naperville, Ill.), Kelly Murphy (Bronze -- indoor volleyball, Wilmington, Ill.) and Kelsey Robinson (Bronze -- indoor volleyball, Elmhurst, Ill.).

Olympic medalists Kelsey Robinson, Kevin Cordes and Corey Cogdell-Unrein pose for photos prior to the Bears" preseason game on Saturday.Jeff Dickerson/ESPN.com

Mitch Unrein beamed with pride when recently discussing his wife"s medal-winning performance in Rio. Corey Cogdell-Unrein is a two-time Olympic medalist who also took home a bronze in women"s trap shooting at the 2008 Beijing games.

People are like, "How did you get her to marry you?" Unrein said with a grin. And I"m like, "You know, I"m a smooth talker maybe. I don"t know." I hit a home run when I got to marry her. She"s one in a million. There are not too many times you can say, "My wife is a three-time Olympian and has two medals." It"s so cool to watch her achieve her dreams. It"s so cool that we"re both kind of at the pinnacle of our sports. It really helps our relationship.

Source: http://www.espn.com/blog/chicago-bears/post/_/id/4703440/chicago-bears-welcome-olympic-medalists-to-soldier-field

Saturday, August 27, 2016

Plenty of new college football fans for 1st game of season (Aug 27, 2016)

Conference champions should NOT automatically make the College Football Playoff - "The Herd"

SYDNEY (AP) It was more than two hours before the start of Saturday"s U.S. college season opener between California and Hawaii, and Anthony Goodluck and his son were already milling outside Sydney"s Olympic stadium, soaking up the early atmosphere.

The rental company manager, dressed in a Cal Bears jersey, and son Jaiden, with a long ""Cal"" scarf wrapped around his neck, came 950 kilometers (590 miles) south from Brisbane for the big game.

The weather was cooperating, with sunny skies and light winds on a late winter day and high temperatures of around 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit). Despite nearly 75 millimeters (three inches) of rain in the past week, the stadium turf was firm

""I actually coach some gridiron in Brisbane, and I"d take college football over the NFL any day,"" said Goodluck. ""I"m a big Miami fan - go Hurricanes - but after that I love Cal State. We"re really looking forward to seeing our first game.""

It was the first time college football had been played in Sydney. The last American football of any kind was an NFL preseason game at the Olympic stadium that attracted 73,000 spectators in 1999.

Organizers said two weeks ago they hoped for a crowd in excess of 65,000, and Saturday"s attendance was close to that - 61,247 in the 83,500-seat stadium. The final score wasn"t close - Cal beat Hawaii 51-31.

Early arrivals Saturday had a chance to try their luck throwing an American football through a hole in a net in a radio station promotion. Foot-long hot dogs were big sellers at the outdoor booths, but in keeping with the multicultural nature of western Sydney where the stadium is located, Asian and middle Eastern goods also featured prominently on the menus.

Michelle Hubbard of Melbourne was an early arrival for another reason - her son, Ben Scruton, is a walk-on player for Hawaii and will travel back with the team when the Rainbow Warriors leave for Honolulu right after the game.

""I had to get him his visa,"" Hubbard said. ""And I have four tickets if anyone needs them. Ben bought them nearly a year ago for him and his mates. Now he"s in the stadium as an official member of the team.""

Scruton was offered a spot after Hawaii conducted a scouting camp in Melbourne earlier this year. He"s like many other Australian Rules players who have earned spots on college teams and in the NFL, mostly as punters.

Another set of parents were dressed in Cal uniforms - Greg and Cynthia Madden - who travelled from southern California to support their son, Cal defensive end DeVante Wilson.

""We can"t wait to get in there, to get this thing started,"" Greg Madden said as a marching band warmed up inside the stadium.

Both teams brought cheerleading squads to Australia, and Hawaii had 30 members of its marching band for Saturday"s game.

The fans mostly supported Hawaii, the underdogs, and other than reports of beer running out in parts of the stadium, most of the fans appeared to enjoy what was likely their first taste of American football.

Source: http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/story/plenty-of-new-college-football-fans-for-1st-game-of-season-082716

Chicago Bears welcome Olympic medalists to Soldier Field ...

2006 MNF Comeback | Bears vs. Cardinals (Full Game) | NFL

Olympic Bronze medalist Corey Cogdell-Unrein, who is married to Chicago Bears defensive lineman Mitch Unrein, proudly displays her Rio medal at Solider Field.Jeff Dickerson/ESPN.com

Olympic medalists Kelsey Robinson, Kevin Cordes and Corey Cogdell-Unrein pose for photos prior to the Bears" preseason game on Saturday.Jeff Dickerson/ESPN.com

Source: http://www.espn.com/blog/chicago-bears/post/_/id/4703440/chicago-bears-welcome-olympic-medalists-to-soldier-field

"Southside With You" has us asking: Where is the love in black movies?

Southside with You Official Trailer #1 (2016) Parker Sawyers, Tika Sumpter Drama Movie HD

Karen Grigsby Bates sat down with NPR"s movie critic, Bob Mondello, to talk about Southside with You, a new independent film about Michelle and Barack Obama"s very first date, back in the summer of 1989.

The film takes place over the course of a single afternoon, and, as the title suggests, is set on the South Side of Chicago.

Famous subjects notwithstanding, Southside with You is your typical date movie, complete with meet-cute antics (Barack shows up late; Michelle refuses to admit she"s on an actual date.)

But, as Karen and Bob point out, there"s something amazing in the film"s simplicity and that"s because it"s pretty uncommon to see everyday black romance on the screen today.

The film is "not about other things, it"s just about the two of them getting to know each other," Bob says. "What"s remarkable about the film is that at any given moment, it"s not being remarkable. It"s being lifelike. And that is such a rarity in movies. You don"t see African-American characters behaving in a way that is just, sort of, normal."

Bob says the film industry has a bit of a checkered history when it comes to black-on-black love. Some of the earliest examples he"s found were musicals full, operatic productions, like Cabin in the Sky, Porgy and Bess, and Carmen Jones. He and Karen theorize that stylizing black love with music was a way of making it safe for white audiences because, as Karen ponders, "Who has s*x in a musical?" (OK, we know, we"ve seen Spring Awakening, too.)

In 1961, that began to change with the film adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry"s A Raisin in the Sun. The film starred Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee, and was, in many ways, a showcase of normal black love. Over the years, Poitier became the paragon for a black male romantic lead in the movies. Later on, it seemed that Denzel Washington might fill that space, with roles like Demetrius Williams in Mississippi Masala in 1991. But unlike Poitier, Washington didn"t keep playing the perfect guy in movies Training Day and American Gangster were hardly rom-coms.

The realm of black love on screen continued to grow into the "90s, with hits like Waiting to Exhale in 1995, Love Jones in "97, How Stella Got Her Groove Back in "98, and Love & Basketball in 2000.

But in 2016, it"s once again become rare to see two black characters fall in love on screen. The simple presence of that love story is what makes Southside with You special even more than the fact that we"re watching full-length fan fiction of a sitting president and First Lady.

You can listen to the rest of the discussion here, and subscribe to the Code Switch podcast at NPR"s podcast directory or on iTunes. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @NPRCodeSwitch we want to hear your favorite examples of black love on screen.

Source: http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/08/27/64034/southside-with-you-has-us-asking-where-is-the-love/

This #WomensEqualityDay, Remember What Your Vote Means

Secretary of the Air Force - Women"s Equality Day Message

August 26th marks Women"s Equality Day and the 96th anniversary of American women gaining the right to vote here in the United States. The struggle to fully exercise those legal rights continued for many more decades for African-American women. Thousands of black women participated in marches, wrote editorials and pamphlets, gave speeches all over the nation, held demonstrations, picketed the White House, went on hunger strikes, and spent time in jail for their activism before the Voting Rights Act was signed into law in 1965.

Our foremothers knew how important it was that they sit at the table and help shape the political, social, and economic life of our society, and they didn"t take the responsibility for granted. The issues they faced were too important for them to not take action. The same is true today. In spite of the progress made in the last 7 years, our nation is still grappling with many issues including racial and economic inequality, strained relations between the police and communities of color, and rising costs of higher education, just to name a few. Our federal discretionary budget still spends too much on nuclear weapons and war and not enough on the investments needed in our communities. Women leaders and women voters can make the difference.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stated: "Countries with more gender equality have better economic growth. Companies with more women leaders perform better. Peace agreements that include women are more durable. Parliaments with more women enact more legislation on key social issues such as health, education, anti-discrimination, and child support. The evidence is clear: equality for women means progress for all."

Empowered and engaged women make a difference in their communities. Though women and women"s rights have come a long way since 1920, we mustn"t forget the challenges we still face. Yes, Secretary Hillary Clinton became the first woman to earn a major party"s nomination for President this year, but women still do not earn equal pay for equal work, are not equally represented in all levels of elected office, lack access to quality and affordable healthcare, and are threatened by gender-based violence.

The leaders we choose in November to represent us in the General Assembly, Congress, and the White House will decide if we keep moving toward equality for women, if we make needed investments in our infrastructure, schools, transit, and hospitals rather than weapons of war, and how we keep our nation safe.

Our next President will set the tone for our nation"s diplomatic efforts, likely pick our next Supreme Court Justice, and hold the nuclear codes in their hands. Who do we trust with those responsibilities? Our next Congress will put together a budget that decides how our tax dollars are spent to address real issues like the Zika outbreak, natural disaster relief, educating the next generation, and terrorism prevention.

We voters have the power and the responsibility to decide. In the past two Presidential elections, African-American women have turned out to vote at a higher rate than any other demographic group. Here in Ohio, our status as a battleground state has helped reinforce the power that each vote has on an election"s final outcome, but we must remember that the impact of our vote lasts far beyond the 2nd Tuesday in November. The people that we choose to represent us will make decisions that will determine if all Americans have the opportunity to live our lives with dignity, in peace, and with an equal chance at prosperity. This Women"s Equality Day, let"s honor the women leaders who came before us by remembering what"s at stake and pledging to cast an educated, informed vote in each and every election.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/charleta-b-tavares/this-womensequalityday-re_b_11705836.html