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Comedian George Carlin dead at 71

Counter-culture hero and famed comedian George Carlin died at approximately 6 pm Sunday of heart failure. He was only 71 years old.

Carlin had a long career, but he was probably best known for his anti-establishment stance and routines involving dirty words and drug related themes. It’s also well known that he had a history of drug abuse and dependency.

The comedian was admitted to St. John’s Heath Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon for chest pains and he died a few hours later at approximately 6 pm.

Carlin achieved icon status for his 1970s routine, “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.” His edgy material and use of some of those “dirty” words on the radio sparked a 1978 FCC lawsuit. The court ruled in the government’s favor, charging Carlin with indecency and allowing regulators to ban the use of certain words on the radio when they thought children might be listening.

Carlin is survived by his wife Sally Wade and daughter Kelly Carlin McCall.

TAO is a fabulous Nightclub

by Tricia

I’m back from Vegas!

If you ever go to Vegas you must visit the TAO nightclub at the Venetian Hotel. It’s fabulous! It’s also huge!

I was in Vegas for a blogging convention and on Saturday night we had the Bl0ggers Choice awards at TAO from 6 to 9 pm. After the “blogger” party ended many of us stayed to enjoy the night club and try to spot the celebs that showed up for TAO’s second anniversary party. What a great night to have been at TAO.

When we arrived we were escorted to the second floor where we mingled with fellow bloggers and others involved in internet advertising. Ted was kind enough to offer us a free bar and the staff at TAO kept the drinks flowing as well as served us the most delicious finger foods. If you go to TAO you must try the shrimp and lobster won tons. They’re delicious! Of course the spring rolls, Kobe beef mini burgers, desserts and other finger foods were great too.

My husband and I had a great time talking with everyone that attended the award show. It was a lot of fun.

After 9 pm the drinks were no longer free, but that was ok! We stuck around for quite a while listening to the great music and watching the place fill up.

Since we were leaving Vegas the next day and I wasn’t feeling so well we ended up leaving at about 11 pm. Of course that was just when the stars were beginning to show up. I must be honest and say that I didn’t see any celebs. I had my camera with me and I really wanted to see who showed up at TAO but I had to leave.

After we exited the club we were amazed at the line up to get into TAO. I’d swear it was a quarter mile long! There were lots of paparazzi lining up outside the door too as they waited to catch a shot of the celebs showing up for TAOs 2nd anniversary party.

Malibu Fires Force Evacuations and Cause Television Production Slow Downs

by Tricia

It’s unlikely that you haven’t heard about the southern California wildfires that are putting Malibu in danger and forcing the evacuation of thousands of homes.

The latest news on the fires is that stars are not only being forced to evacuate their homes, but filming is being disrupted as well! If these fires continue to rage some of beloved television shows may end up having serious delays in production.

Richard Gere and John Travolta who flew into the Los Angeles area on Monday for the 11th annual Hollywood Awards got a fantastic aerial view of the fires. Gere was quoted by Access Hollywood as saying “It’s as far as you could see in both directions,” Travolta then added “The smoke was actually in the plane as we flew through. It was a large area, surprisingly large. I mean I never like to see that.”

Kelsey Grammer who was evacuated from his Malibu home told E! Online “All I see is smoke, but we’re okay.” he said of his family and pet dog.

It’s also been reported that land owned by Sean Penn has been fire blackened and two of his trailers parked on that land have been charred.

Other stars that have had to be evacuated include Mel Gibson, and Victoria Principal. Victoria was kind enough to have donated $50,000 to the Malibu evacuation center so that food and blankets could be provided to evacuees. She also donated another $10,000 to an animal shelter that rescues stray pets.

Television productions that have been affected by the fire include Big Shots which canceled a cycling sequence that was scheduled to shoot on Tuesday in Malibu; A scene on 24 with Kiefer Sutherland had to be canceled due to the smoke that was drifting in from nearby fires; and one of my favorite quirky shows, The Riches, had to rewrite a scene that was to include a real sheriffs deputy – naturally the deputies were dispatched from the set to help the fire crews and evacuation efforts.

Nobu, a famous Malibu restaurant closed it’s doors on Sunday, but it’s said that they will open again to serve meals to local firefighters.

List of Toronto Hot Spots to see Celebrities

by Tricia

Attending the Toronto Film Festival? Visiting Toronto? Well if you want to know where the stars will dine and party while in town your in luck because I’ve got the low down.

There’s going to be some Festival soirees at these fabulous locations:

Sassafraz – 100 Cumberland st at Bellair. This fantastic restaurant burned to the ground in December, but it’s been rebuilt and is said to be better than ever – just in time for the Toronto Film Festival.

One- 118 Yorkville Ave, at Hazelton – There will be several private parties at this new hot spot. One is definitely a place to keep an eye on.

Brasserie – 162 Cumberland at Avenue Rd – a great place to sit on the patio. Apparently Brad Pitts been seen slipping over to the patio, perhaps for a smoke since it’s said to be the closest bar to the Four Seasons Hotel that permits smoking on it’s premises. Yes Toronto’s a tough town for smokers.

Other hot locations to attend or perhaps stand outside of as you watch for stars to come and go would be C5 at the top of the crystal in the ROM (100 Queen’s Park at Bloor), Jamie Kennedy – Gardiner Museum (111 Queen’s Park and Bloor) and of course the Spice Room & Chutney Bar located in the atrium of Hazelton Lanes (55 Hazelton and Yorkville).

If you want to party until Dawn drop into the Four Seasons Hotel (21 Avenue rd and Yorkville) or the Park Hyatt (4 Avenue Rd and Bloor). Both hotels will have festivities ongoing until at least 4 a.m. during the festival.

Other clubs with extended drinking hours that are also well known festival venues are the Rosewater Supper Club (19 Toronto at Adelaide), The Courthouse (57 Adelaide East at Toronto), The Drake Hotel (1150 Queen West at Beaconsfield) and the Century Room (580 King West at Portland). These places are sure to be rockin’ till dawn.

Bollywood hits Toronto

by Tricia

The hottest Bollywood movie out of India, Guru, premiered Thursday night in Toronto, Canada. Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai, the stars of the film, and the new Brad and Angelina of the Indian community.

Arpana Vora declared that the couple were “Absolutely gorgeous. Both of them. Just stunning!”, moments after the darling duo was whisked along the red carpet and into the screening.

Rai, who wore a white sari, and Bachchan, who donned a black suit and headband, were several hours late for the gala because of flight schedules and didn’t stop for questions. The delay built momentum at Toronto’s historic Elgin Theatre where the crowd of approximately 1,200 fans stood screaming on the sidewalk behind barriers for 6 hours. Yet another 1,200 filmgoers were already inside the theater.

The films producers chose Toronto for the premiere after receiving an impressive response for “Never Say Goodbye” which was another Bollywood film. That film had premiered at The Toronto International Film Festival this past September. The Gala crowd out numbered that for Brad Pitts film Babel.

“The South Asian community is very important to our city and so is the film industry. Bollywood brings them together,” said Mayor David Miller as he walked into the screening.

Producer Bobby Bedi (“Bandit Queen,” “Fire”) said at the premiere he chose Toronto for his premiere because it “by far is one most cosmopolitan city in the world.”

“Guru” is loosely based on the life of a young man who rose from poverty in a small Indian village in the 1950s to defy the odds and become a major textile merchant. In the film version, the character of Gurukant Desai (Bachchan) employs unethical methods to achieve his materialistic goals but does what he has to do to crack a market firmly controlled by the rich and privileged.

Rai – who has been described as giving Halle Berry strong competition for the unofficial title of most beautiful woman in the world – plays his wife Sujatha.

“She was stunning. Stunning. Very beautiful,” said Adesh Vora after he caught a glimpse of Rai. Looking at his wife though, he hesitated to concur that Rai is the most beautiful woman on Earth.

“My wife is number one,” he said.

Comedian George Carlin dead at 71

Malibu Fires Force Evacuations and Cause Television Production Slow Downs

List of Toronto Hot Spots to see Celebrities

Bollywood hits Toronto

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