Some Good News

Selena Gomez marries Benny Blanco: ‘My wife in real life’

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) — Selena Gomez has married music producer and songwriter Benny Blanco, announcing the news in an Instagram post showing the couple kissing and embracing on a lawn.

“My wife in real life,” Blanco responded to the post Saturday by the Grammy- and Emmy-nominated performer. Gomez wore a white halter bridal dress with floral flourishes, and Blanco wore a tuxedo and bow tie, both custom-made by Ralph Lauren.

Paparazzi had snapped photos of a massive outdoor tent and other preparations in the Santa Barbara area.

Friends in the entertainment industry and brands she’s linked to responded with heart emoji and congratulations. “Our Mabel is MARRIED,” said the account of her “Only Murders in the Building” series, and her Rare Beauty line of cosmetics posted: “so happy for you two.” Best wishes were also sent by Camila Cabello, Amy Schumer and others.

Blanco, 37, and Gomez, 33, met about a decade ago and got engaged at the end of last year. They worked together on the 2019 song “I Can’t Get Enough,” which also featured J Balvin and Tainy.

Among the songs he’s credited on as a writer and producer: Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” “Circus” by Britney Spears and Maroon 5’s “Moves Like Jagger.”

Gomez, whose hits include “Calm Down,” “Good for You,” ’’Same Old Love” and “Come & Get It,” has been in the spotlight since she was a child. She appeared on “Barney and Friends” before breaking through as a teen star on the Disney Channel’s “Wizards of Waverly Place.”

She earned awards nominations in recent years for her ongoing role alongside Martin Short and Steve Martin in Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.” Gomez has a massive audience on social media with 417 million Instagram followers, the most for any woman on the platform.

The Jewish High Holydays

As we are celebrating another Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, it is a good time to talk about the singularly most important play/musical about Judaism. Fiddler on the Roof.

No creative work by or about Jews has ever won the hearts and imaginations of Americans so thoroughly as the musical Fiddler on the Roof.

Everyone enjoys this show, whose musical numbers—“Tradition,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” “If I Were a Rich Man,” “To Life,” “Matchmaker,” and others—not only enliven Jewish weddings but are commonly understood to represent something essential about Jews and Jewishness. Jeremy Dauber opens his new biography of Sholem Aleichem with Fiddler because Fiddler is how the beloved Yiddish author is known—if he is known at all—to English readers. “Forget Sholem Aleichem,” writes Dauber, “there’s no talking about Yiddish, his language of art, without talking about Fiddler on the Roof. There’s no talking about Jews without talking about Fiddler.” And Dauber ends the book by tracing the stages through which Sholem Aleichem’s stories of Tevye the Dairyman and his daughters were transformed by successive translators and directors into what, by the time the movie version of Fiddler was released in 1971, the New Yorker’s normally severe critic Pauline Kael would call “the most powerful movie musical ever made.”

My grandfather was a dairyman in Ukraine too. He brought his family to America around the year 1905. That was the year fictional Tevye brought his family to America.

Tevye has died

Israeli actor Chaim Topol, known for his iconic role of Tevye in the film “Fiddler on the Roof,” has died at the age of 87.

A cause of death was not revealed, however his son told the Israeli press last year that his father was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Raised in Tel Aviv and revered as a top actor in his native land, Topol appeared in over 30 movies across Israel and the United States. He earned two Golden Globe Awards, one for the role of Tevye in the 1971 film production of “Fiddler on the Roof” – he originated the role on London’s West End in 1967. He was additionally nominated for a Tony Award when he revisited the part in the 1991 Broadway revival.

In 2015, Israel celebrated 67 years of independence, honoring Topol with the Israel Prize for his lifetime achievements.

One year earlier, the University of Haifa gave Topol an honorary degree, recognizing his cultural impact for more than 50 years.

Topol was also a musician, recording several singles and albums. He was featured on the “Fiddler on the Roof” movie album, as well as the London cast album from 1967. One of the songs his character Tevye sings is the notable “If I Was A Rich Man.”

Countless Israeli leaders shared their sorrow for the loss of Topol, acknowledging the legacy he left behind.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Topol’s “contribution to Israeli culture will continue to exist for generations.” .

Israel’s ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, said Topol was “one of the most outstanding Israeli actors,” who “filled the movie screens with his presence and above all entered deep into our hearts.”

Special Committee to Investigate the UFOs

Today’s CNN news included reports of a special committee to investigate the UFOs instead they use the words “unidentified aerial phenomena.” The special committee will include Steven Spielberg because after all he produced the movie “ET” and of course Captain Picard will be called in as a special advisor.

More Pageantry in the UK Sustains the Soap Opera

This is a money maker. King Charles III of the UK is expected to be crowned on June 3 next year in a ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

Speaking on condition of anonymity before a public announcement, the government officials said plans are converging on that Saturday near the start of the summer although discussions over which other days will become official holidays are still going on. Buckingham Palace declined to comment.

This event is scheduled at the beginning of the summer season so that it will draw larger crowds of visitors. According to its annual report of 2019-20, a record 3,285,000 people visited the official residences, generating approximately £49,859,000. From a retail perspective, gift shop sales of the royal collection made £19,983,646 in a single year, making its total income of the year to be £71,526,000.

Comings and goings at ‘Downton Abbey’ next season

This might make you unhappy if you are a fan of Downton Abbey. Telling you what is to come might ruin the anticipation. Like “Who shot JR?” on Dallas, revealing the next season does not add to the fun. This was posted on an AP story. Don’t read it if you don’t want to know!

By FRAZIER MOORE

From Associated Press

March 02, 2013 8:46 AM EST

NEW YORK (AP) — Shirley MacLaine will be returning to “Downton Abbey” next season, and opera star Kiri Te Kanawa is joining the cast.

MacLaine will reprise her role as Martha Levinson, Lord Robert Crawley’s freewheeling American mother-in-law, Carnival Films and “Masterpiece” on PBS said Saturday. MacLaine appeared in episodes early last season.

New Zealand-born soprano Te Kanawa will play a house guest. She will sing during her visit.

Other new cast members and characters include:

-Tom Cullen as Lord Gillingham, described as an old family friend of the Crawleys who visits the family as a guest for a house party (and who might be the one to mend Lady Mary Crawley’s broken heart).

-Nigel Harman will play a valet named Green.

-Harriet Walter plays Lady Shackleton, an old friend of the Dowager Countess.

-Joanna David will play a guest role as the Duchess of Yeovil.

-Julian Ovenden is cast as aristocrat Charles Blake.

“The addition of these characters can only mean more delicious drama, which is what ‘Downton Abbey’ is all about,” said “Masterpiece” executive producer Rebecca Eaton.

Meanwhile, the producers have confirmed that villainous housemaid Sarah O’Brien won’t be back. Siobhan Finneran, who played her, is leaving the show.

These announcements come shortly after the third season’s airing in the United States. It concluded with the heartbreaking death of popular Matthew Crawley in a car crash, leaving behind his newborn child and loving wife, Lady Mary Crawley.

Matthew’s untimely demise was the result of the departure from the series by actor Dan Stevens, who had starred in that role.

The third season also saw the shocking death of Lady Sybil Branson, who died during childbirth. She was played by the departing Jessica Brown Findlay.

Heart of Hollywood – Temple Israel Of Hollywood

Warner Brothers, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios and other long forgotten movie studios all had one thing in common. They were the all the creation of Jews. To this day Jews are a prominent part of the Hollywood scene. Geffen, Katzenberg, Iger, Spielberg are all Jews. There are others too who do not have common Jewish surnames.

David Bancroft

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http://youtu.be/VDp_KZvyXNo