Here is Richard Simmons like you have probably never seen him before. The YouTube video appears to be outtakes from his daytime television show in the 1980s (I just watched his Biography, this is how I am guessing this). Just had a Dr Pepper Icee from the Valero off of I-10 at Westgreen and Park Row in Katy.
In a myfoxdfw.com account headlined "Good Day's Firewalking Fiasco," the station says that Gorostiza felt a coal sizzling on the bottom of her bare foot while walking across hot coals during an outdoor segment at Fair Park conducted by the Firewalking Institute of Research and Education.
"By noon, she had a pretty unattractive blister which she covered with a bandage," the Fox4 account says. "Later on, Fiona went to a doctor, and discovered she had suffered a second-degree burn." READ THE REST
Once and for All. With the Ulimate test of Endurance. Athleticism. Sheer will. Dale vs. Delkus: Rumble in the Plaza. Who has the best shot? Who has the better moves? Who'll come out on top? Only YOU can decide. Dale vs Delkus: Rumble in the Plaza.
Watch the competition, Starting Monday, May 4th at 10:00pm, only on Channel 8. SEE MORE
49. The Office: They took our show, changed it, and now they’re selling it back to us. To be honest, it’s a different beast entirely, but laugh out loud funny. SEE THE RESTClearly they are only rating current shows on this one.
When you realize Nolan isn’t behind the comments, they are kind of funny.
“Don’t forget to watch me randomly break out into Spanish,” reads one about the bilingual anchor.
A local radio station informed Nolan about the site. READ THE REST
The new format sounds like a mash-up of adult-album alternative and classic-alternative formats, with familiar tracks by acts such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Train, Counting Crows and Eric Clapton, and occasional sprinklings of less-familiar artists such as Gomez and nonwarhorse songs by the likes of Everclear, Barenaked Ladies and Beck.
The format flip followed a weekend stunt during which 93.3 played nothing but music by the Dave Matthews Band from Friday evening till 5 a.m. Monday. Dallas-Fort Worth radio fans with medium-range memories might recall that before "The Bone" launched in January 2002, the station played similar material first as "The Zone" and then as "Merge Radio." READ THE REST
Ever wonder what it is like seeing Dave Chappelle in San Francisco when he is testing out new material after a previous show the same night? Network executives are loath to reveal much about their plans. But it's fair to say that five years from now network television will look very different. The 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. prime-time period likely will be shorter, programs will be tailored to audiences, and increasingly advertisers will show up in the programs instead of just the commercials. Even more radical, say industry insiders: Networks may turn over programming to outsiders some nights or let local stations provide their own shows on, say, Saturday evenings. READ ON
Does anybody still use GeoCities? Actually, does anybody still remember GeoCities? If you do, then you will be very sorry to hear that it’s closing down. After GeoCities has taken a big traffic fall, Yahoo decided that it’s time to close the free web-hosting services after 10 years. GeoCities was founded in 1996, but in 1999 Yahoo bought it for about $2.87 billion. READ THE REST
Jeff Alan isn’t exactly his given name. And that the Social Security number he has used for most of the past 23 years isn’t exactly his either. READ THE RESTOh and that is just the tip of the iceberg according to the newspaper.
In an unassuming Houston neighborhood lie two of the most tranquil yet invigorating spaces on any art lover's journey.
In the dignified stillness of the Rothko Chapel, one is enveloped in the black mysteries of Mark Rothko's paintings; just down the street, Cy Twombly's paintings immediately take you through thousands of years of civilization, captured on the canvas with exuberance, color and grace.
I'm sure you have heard about the blog and accompanying book called Stuff White People Like: A Definitive Guide to the Unique Taste of Millions by Christian Lander at this point.CBS Radio's Sports KRLD-FM/Dallas inks a multi-year deal for the broadcast rights to the Dallas Cowboys. Coverage will include play-by-play of each of the NFL team's games, as well as a twice weekly segment with Cowboys Owner/GM and President Jerry Jones featuring regular appearances from head coach Wade Phillips. READ THE REST
Disparate tribes forged Britain in hundreds of years of conquest and amalgamation. Over another several hundred years, an empire grew, and a sense of Britishness among its people grew with it.
But in Britain's post-empire era, forces threaten that sense of common identity. There is growing Scottish and Welsh nationalism and an influx of immigrants, many of them Muslims.
And there is the European Union and its 27 member states. Britain is a part of that politically and economically, if not altogether in spirit.
So are the British British anymore? And are they Europeans? READ THE REST
Hollywood movie producer Ed Saxon (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia) discusses the role of the movie producer, plus good behind the scenes stories.Bob Gooding, a news anchor on WFAA-TV (Channel 8) from 1961 to 1979, died Sunday afternoon at his East Texas home. He was 76
Gooding, who started with radio station WFAA-AM (570), had been battling cancer for quite some time. READ THE REST
Will-E sent over the combination of Star Wars and MacGyver. Essentially someone has combined scenes from Star Wars and edited it to the music of MacGyver with a paper clip and some dynamite to make an explosive cheesy 1980s show open."There clearly has been a raid on these funds by the people of Wall Street. And it's cost the savers and the future retirees a lot of money that would otherwise be in their account, independent of the financial collapse," Rep. George Miller [D-CA] said.
Congressman Miller is chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, and a staunch critic of the 401(k) industry, especially its practice of deducting more than a dozen undisclosed fees from its clients' 401(k) accounts.
"Now you got a bunch of economic wizards jumping in and taking money out of your retirement plan, and they don't wanna tell you how much, you can't decipher it in simple English, and they're not interested in disclosing it, or having any transparency about it," Miller told Kroft.
"And most of the people that look at their 401(k)s have no idea that these fees are being taken out?" Kroft asked.
"No. Where would you find it? Where would you find these fees in this prospectus? You can look on any page you want, and when you're all done reading it, and you will find some of the fees and the commissions here, but you won't find them all, and I'll bet you won't find half of 'em," Miller said. READ THE REST
Comcast will launch 27 high-definition channels and 10 additional digital channels April 27 on its Houston cable system.
The new HD channels will be grouped in the 600 range on Comcast’s channel system via its HD set-top boxes. Existing HD channels also will be moved into the 600 tier while remaining on their current channels. For example, HBO’s HD signal will be available at its current channel 460 and at channel 695. READ MORE
YouTube has begun the first phase of a redesign that will highlight its gradually expanding library of premium shows and movies. The move, first reported last month on this site, will clearly separate that quality content from the ocean of user-generated clips that drove YouTube's popularity.
Navigational changes include the introduction of two new tabs -- "shows" and "subscriptions" -- to YouTube's masthead. Meanwhile the site has dropped a "Community" tab, which included contests, events, and groups. READ THE REST
Managers will have the latitude to choose content and talent for their stations as a way to generate more audience and ultimately advertising dollars. READ MORE
The fear of every TV crew out there, that they will be the ones to ruin the very expensive live truck:A TV live truck was finally freed from the ice Tuesday after days of being submerged in Big Muskego Lake.
Channel 58 (WDJT) was doing a story Sunday on the dangers of thin ice when they fell victim to the problem themselves. READ MORE
"Advertisers are embracing online radio faster than anyone ever thought they would," TargetSpot CEO Doug Perlson told a Kagan Summit panel session on Wednesday (April 1).Houston radio station 104.1 KRBE actually found its Internet stream (referred to as KRBE-IF) meeting the minimum reporting standard in the February Arbitron PPM results. According to RBR.com , only 13 streams (including one counted twice for an embedded market) met minimum reporting standards for Arbitron’s February report. So I guess congratulations is in order for the KRBE Internet Feed if it is actually acquiring enough of an audience to measure in radio ratings. Not many stations can claim that.
"The ability to respond to an ad immediately makes local advertising very appealing because you can target-specific ZIP codes and demographics."
According to Jeff Hely, CEO of the Radio Advertising Bureau, revenue for Internet radio was up 28 percent in January and 12 percent in February for a year-to-date average of 17.5 percent.
It's all about advertisers reaching their audience, not millions or hundreds of thousands, but the precise audience they want and need. READ THE REST
Of the recent casualties in the recent 27 percent purging of the Houston Chronicle newsroom, one of the biggest shockers was the axing of the newspaper's style critic, Clifford Pugh.
But the veteran scribe won't be on the mat for long.
The Examiner newspaper group, which produces weekly freebie papers in River Oaks, West University, Memorial and Bellaire, has hired Pugh as its newest columnist. READ THE REST
You know the toys. You’ve seen the commercials. But you definitely haven’t heard these stories. Listen up as game inventor Tim Moodie reveals the glorious secrets behind your favorite classic toys. READ MORE
It's no secret that 27 is a rough age for rock stars. Why? Because many don't make it past that age.
Some folks have been asking me where the video is of Glenn Beck Show guest David Buckner fainting live on Fox News.
Just when you thought you got Twitter down, here comes Flutter. Forget the 140 characters, the messages (Flaps) are only 26 characters. You can even use Flutter to shorten message from other services like Facebook and Twitter.These are the cheap restaurants that I enjoyed most over the last year.
By "cheap" I mean an average food price of under $20 per person. You can eat well at most of these places for under $10. READ THE REST
If you're on a Windows PC and using Internet Explorer 6 or 7, you've got a decision to make soon. Microsoft, which finished and released Internet Explorer 8 last month, is about to start pushing the latest version of the browser at you by way of its Windows or Automatic Update feature.
However, don't expect to suddenly wake up and find IE8 on your machine. Instead, Microsoft will alert you that it's available and ask you to install it. READ MORE
I've written this before and I will write it again...I've been a fan of David Sadof's since he was on Rock 101 KLOL doing the Exposure show (later Lunar Rotation and High Fidelity on other stations). The man was my gateway to alternative music. The wildfires that roared through Montague County on Thursday killed former Channel 8 reporter Matt Quinn and his wife Cathy, according to a family member. The fires swept through their rural property in the county, which is on the Oklahoma border northwest of Fort Worth.
Cathy Quinn's adult son, Chris, was being treated for burns this morning at Parkland Memorial Hospital. He was in fair condition. READ MORE
The third annual Houston Palestine Film Festival brings an honest and independent view of Palestine and its diaspora's society, culture, and political travails through the art of film. This group of groundbreaking cinematic texts rise above the degrading stereotypes or reductively politicized depictions that are so familiar to Houstonians. A major goal of the Festival is to directly expose our local community to the perspective of artists as a first step toward circumventing the many government and media filters that pollute our understanding of Palestine and the wider region. LEARN MORE
In an effort to offer hope, exemplify love and to serve people that may be discouraged by our current economic situation, Much Luvv Records and Rap-A-Lot Records would like to invite you to join us for Hip Hop Hope Family Fun Day on April 11th from 12pm-5pm at the Prince Complex 3000 Jensen Dr. in the heart of 5th Ward.
This event will include fun for the whole family with positive hip hop performances, inflatable moonwalks, face painting, games, a three point & slam dunk basketball competition, celebrity guests, health screening, free food and much more! "Being in the hip hop culture, you just don't see enough positive things being done by the artists to give back to the community. With today's news being so discouraging, we decided it was a perfect time to bring this hip hop hope event to lift the people's spirit," says Much Luvv Records CEO Bobby "Tre9" Herring.
Steve Wozniak gives a great talk at Google and you can watch it on YouTube. The Woz talks about his past and how he and Steve Jobs got together to start Apple. 
Yes I know I have already gushed over Jay Lee's photos once this week. Give me a second to give more props to the Bald Heretic. 
Two KTVO Missouri television news anchors fall for some classic prank names during the birthday and anniversary wish segment.SPIDER-MAN Turn Off The Dark, featuring direction by Julie Taymor (Across The Universe, Frida, The Lion King on Broadway) with music and lyrics by 22-time Grammy® Award-winners Bono and The Edge (from U2) will be holding open casting calls at major cities across the country starting next week.MORE INFO PLUS LOCATIONS IN OTHER CITIES ACROSS THE US
SPIDER-MAN is seeking principals and understudies for the roles of ‘Peter Parker,’ ‘Mary Jane,’ and ‘Female Lead Villian.’ The production is looking for performers with dynamic rock/pop voices including those with experience in bands and as solo performers. Regardless of experience, anyone who thinks they might be qualified is encouraged to audition.
AUSTIN, TX (Wednesday, May 27; 10 AM – 6 PM)
Dougherty Arts Center
1110 Barton Springs Road
Austin, TX 78704
This past weekend I was treated to a light plane flight over Houston with my friend Daniel Baker. We took to the skies in a Grumman Tiger and flew over downtown and out to the ship channel before cruising out to Galveston and then back to the Sugar Land Airport.
This is the Chron's new Houston entertainment site that is not branded by the actual paper from what I can tell. The only mention of the Houston Chronicle resides in the TOS and the privacy policy. Appears Hearst wants this to run as its own site and brand. Where'd the name come from? I can only think of this (someone from the Chron.com can clue me in if I am not clever enough to get it).Reliable sources inform unclebarky.com that David Duitch, news director of "The 33," is off to Columbia, Missouri to interview new college graduates for two vacant "backpack journalist" positions at the Dallas-based CW station.
And since he isn't the first -- or the last -- let's state the obvious. The pathway to a job in local TV news -- provided you're willing to work long hours for minimal pay -- is perhaps easier now than it's ever been for kids out of college with minimal experience but a willingness to learn on the fly. READ THE REST
Houston TranStar currently offers a main Twitter site that displays reported incidents for all roadways in addition to sites for individual freeways. For a list of all Houston TranStar's Twitter sites, visit http://traffic.houstontranstar.org/twitter/ .
"Twitter is a great way to give travelers the quickest, simplest news about what's going on with the roads they travel most often," said Jack Whaley, Director of Houston TranStar. "When it's rush hour, getting through an entire traffic update on the radio may be more information
than the person wants; Twitter cuts through the irrelevant and unnecessary and focuses on what's important to that person."
Telemundo said it would be the first Spanish-language net to offer HD content both at the local and network level.
Nine of Telemundo's owned-and-operated TV stations will initially distribute the network HD signal to their audiences, including stations in Los Angeles, Miami, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Dallas, San Francisco, Houston and Puerto Rico. The remaining O&Os will phase in HD signals over the next 12 months. READ THE REST
Houston: CBS will get KHMX-FM & KLOL-FM, joining a cluster which already includes KIKK-AM, KKHH-FM & KILT AM-FM. Clear Channel retains KTBZ-FM, KBME-AM, KKRW-FM, KODA-FM, KPRC-AM & KTRH-AM. READ MORE
Not deterred by the current economic downturn, the popular Creole chicken brand Frenchy's is expanding; this time in Northwest Houston. Frenchy's second fast-casual restaurant location will open its doors by Saturday, April 4, and is located at 4705 FM 1960 Rd. West, Houston, TX 77069. This location is the seventh Frenchy's location owned and operated by GlennLock Foods, Ltd., the exclusive licensees of the Frenchy's brand and a 3131 Properties, Ltd. subsidiary.
Yesterday when I wrote my weekly music update I included the band Stryper. Well they thanked me via Twitter. I got a shout out from Stryper! It was a Yellow And Black Attack via Twitter!!!
It's become a long running joke that MTV has no music in that M. The Hills anyone? While I would like to hang with Lauren Conrad over Kajagoogoo anytime, I am still happy to see music videos return:“AMTV,” [is] a six-hour block for music and advertising experimentation. From 3 to 9 a.m. Monday through Thursday, it will show music videos, news, interviews and performances, harking back to the network’s origins as a 24-hour home for music videos. READ MORE
Home to the Alamo, the second-largest city in Texas is also one of the top Hispanic markets. More than 50 percent of the population is Hispanic, per Scarborough, making San Antonio the ninth-largest Hispanic radio and TV market in the U.S. Of those Hispanics, 91 percent claim Mexico as their country of origin (per MRI). READ THE REST
The KHOU sports department is starting to resemble a small market station.Alsandor’s ascension as of Wednesday to the weekday sports-anchor slot vacated by Gifford Nielsen’s resignation Monday isn’t a simple matter of moving from one spot on the organizational chart to another. With the layoff of the station’s two sports producers, his workday will be considerably different than was Nielsen’s in the same role.
“The photographers will do the editing, but as far as deciding what we will do, it will be hands on for me,” he said. “It will be different. We’re all kind of going to school, trying to figure out how do some things that are new to us.” READ THE REST
Former 104.1 KRBE morning show guy and current Fox News/radio host Glenn Beck has seen his star rise lately. Sure he was on CNN's Headline News in the pre-HLN days, but his arrival at Fox fits the demographic better. Beck now has the third most popular show on Fox News.Roger Friedman, an entertainment columnist for FoxNews.com, discovered over the weekend just what Rupert Murdoch means by “zero tolerance” when it comes to movie piracy.
On Friday, the film studio 20th Century Fox — owned by the News Corporation, the media conglomerate ruled by Mr. Murdoch — became angry after reading Mr. Friedman’s latest column. (Movie bloggers had started opining about it late Thursday, alerting the studio.) The subject was “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” a big-budget movie that was leaked in unfinished form on the Web last week. READ IT
KHOU's news director, Keith Connors, was quoted as saying: "There may be a better sportscaster out there, but you won't find a better person than Gifford Nielsen."
Reacted Hansen: "I told the people at Channel 8 that when I go, I'd rather them say, 'There may be a better person out there, but you won't find a better sportscaster than Dale Hansen.'" READ MORE
Hearst Corp., the publisher of the Houston Chronicle, asked all of its newspapers to reduce costs by 20 percent annually through job cuts and other measures as ad sales plunge.
The publisher is studying ways to charge for applications on Apple Inc.’s iPhone and other handheld devices and is working on a device of its own for reading news content and carrying advertisements. READ MORE
The new tool is a pink overhead light designed to exaggerate acne, with the intention of making children so unhappy and insecure about their appearances that they go somewhere else. READ MORE
In a series of online focus groups, young adults across the country indicated a strong interest in local information and said they would welcome the availability of that information on their turf - social networking sites. Further, they said that a local television station would make an impression with them if it had a presence on those sites.
“They may not be loyal local television news viewers today, but they are certainly local information seekers,” said John Altenbern, CJ&N president. READ THE REST
FOX Sports Houston will broadcast a record number of Houston Astros games this season in high-definition.
The network said it will carry 123 of 147 games in hi-def, a 34 percent increase over last year’s 92-game package. READ FULL STORY
Kara Kovalchik of the Mental Floss blog rounded up the former names of some now classic TV shows.
The TV news photog known as Fil-turd has video of gators coming right at the camera! Film at 11.
