Travolta's son dies in Bahamas
Published Saturday, January 03, 2009   0 comment(s) NASSAU, Bahamas -- John Travolta's teenage son, Jett, died in the Bahamas after apparently suffering a seizure and hitting his head at his family's vacation home, authorities said Friday.A house caretaker found Jett, 16, unconscious in a bathroom lat ... full story

The layman's PR book
Published Saturday, January 03, 2009   0 comment(s) LOS ANGELES -- It's 2009. Do you know where your public image is?More places than you might think. In the era of social-networking, even private people have public images. And those images may need upgrading, says veteran Hollywood publicist Howard B ... full story

Bernie Hamilton, 'Starsky and Hutch' captain, dies
Published Friday, January 02, 2009   0 comment(s) LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Actor Bernie Hamilton, who played the no-nonsense police captain on the 1970s TV series "Starsky and Hutch," has died. He was 80.Hamilton died of cardiac arrest Tuesday night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said his son, Raoul Ham ... full story

Celebrating the inauguration
Published Friday, January 02, 2009   0 comment(s) NEW YORK -- BET and TV One, the television networks aimed primarily at a black audience, haven't paid much attention to presidential inaugurations before. This time will be different.Both are planning extensive coverage for Jan. 20, when Barack Obama ... full story

Brother accused of embezzling from Dane Cook
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) WOBURN, Mass. (AP) -- The half brother of comedian Dane Cook has pleaded not guilty to embezzling millions from the comedian and was ordered held on $3 million bail.Darryl McCauley was arraigned Wednesday at Woburn District Court on charges including ... full story

'Valkyrie' non-flop augurs well for Cruise, UA
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) NEW YORK -- After the reasonably strong box office performance of Valkyrie over the weekend, skeptics were robbed of the chance to declare "Flop!" The Tom Cruise WWII thriller earned $21.5 million over the weekend, with a four-day haul of $30 mi ... full story

This year, resolve not to make any resolutions
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) I loathe New Year's resolutions: They're contrived, oftentimes deal solely with cosmetic issues and are apparently rarely actually kept. I get the sense most people don't spend a whole lot of time thoughtfully weighing their potential resolution ... full story

Spotlight recommends
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) This is where Spotlight normally imparts some great information about a band or show our readers might not have heard about that's worth checking out. Not so this week: With many students still out of town, the first week of the new year doesn't fe ... full story

Sing in the new with the latest musical games
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) What does Auld Lang Syne mean, anyway? And who knows the lyrics beyond the first verse? Don't you want something a little livelier at your New Year's Eve party? Wouldn't, say, Queen's Another One Bites the Dust be more appropriate after a large ... full story

Pop quiz
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) Amy Henneke, 22 Bartender at The Tap A year and a half How did you get into the bartending business? I already knew someone working there. How would you describe your bar to someone from out of town? What kind of crowd does it attract? ... full story

Movies shot in Texas
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) * Benji, the first in the series of movies that would feature the stray dog, was filmed in and around the Dallas area -- including Denton and McKinney. * Revenge of the Nerds was mostly filmed at the University of Arizona, but for the scenes featur ... full story

CS: A Texas mini-Hollywood?
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) It won't happen overnight, but sometime soon College Station officials hope to see moviemakers making the area a regular backdrop for the big screen. City officials are in the process of achieving "film-friendly community" certification fr ... full story

A resolution to play more and acquire less gear
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) This should be the column that I forecast the musical trends both local and national for 2009, or discuss my litany of New Year's resolutions. For the former, I am no crystal ball. I can safely predict there will be music in 2009. And for the latte ... full story

Aggieland's been represented in film before
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) As much as Aggies love to rag on the University of Texas, it's undeniable that Austin enjoys better representation than Aggieland when it comes to being featured on the big screen. With the creative folk that tend to flock to the state capital's ar ... full story

'Terminator' featuring Schwarzenegger to be preserved
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) WASHINGTON -- One of Arnold Schwarzenegger's most famous one-liners will be back for generations to come, now that 1984's The Terminator has been selected for preservation in the nation's film archive. The low-budget film directed by James ... full story

Calendar
Published Thursday, January 01, 2009   0 comment(s) Ongoing The Beer Joint -- Firehouse Karaoke, 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, no cover. Christopher's World Grille -- Pianist D.A. McDowell, 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays, no cover. The Corner -- Piano Bar, 9 p.m. Sundays, no cover. The Cowboy Cl ... full story

Man charged in Hudson killings appears in court
Published Wednesday, December 31, 2008   0 comment(s) CHICAGO (AP) -- A murder indictment was issued Tuesday against the man charged with killing the mother, brother and nephew of Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson.William Balfour had already been charged with three counts of first-degree murder, but ... full story

Jazz trumpeter Hubbard, 70, dies
Published Wednesday, December 31, 2008   0 comment(s) LOS ANGELES -- Freddie Hubbard, the Grammy-winning jazz musician whose blazing virtuosity influenced a generation of trumpet players and who collaborated with such greats as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, died Monday, a month after ... full story

Farrow's daughter Lark Previn, 35, dies
Published Wednesday, December 31, 2008   0 comment(s) NEW YORK -- Lark Previn, a daughter of actress Mia Farrow whose sister Soon-Yi Previn was at the center of Farrow's messy breakup with Woody Allen, has died. She was 35.Lark Previn died Christmas Day at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, the m ... full story

Dick Clark still rockin' Times Square at 79
Published Wednesday, December 31, 2008   0 comment(s) LOS ANGELES -- Four years after a stroke, Dick Clark is relishing the prospect of another New Year's Eve, determined to help host his 36th celebration from Times Square. And he's hardly surprised by the current state of the music industry he helped b ... full story

Buffett banks on carefree image
Published Tuesday, December 30, 2008   0 comment(s) LAS VEGAS -- It's like the world's biggest beach party, hosted by the world's richest beach bum.The 15,000 fans packing the sold-out MGM Grand arena were enjoying the final concert of the season by Jimmy Buffett, the singer whose popularity and fortu ... full story

Memoir's publication canceled
Published Monday, December 29, 2008   0 comment(s) NEW YORK -- The publisher of a disputed Holocaust memoir has canceled the book, adding the name Herman Rosenblat to an increasingly long list of literary fakers and ending with a heartbreaking crash his story -- embraced by Oprah Winfrey among others ... full story

'40s femme fatale star Ann Savage dies at 87
Published Monday, December 29, 2008   0 comment(s) LOS ANGELES -- Ann Savage, who earned a cult following as a femme fatale in such 1940s pulp-fiction movies as Detour, has died at 87.The actress died in her sleep at a nursing home on Christmas Day from complications following a series of strokes, sa ... full story