| Ex-Publicist's Daughter: ' R. Kelly Is Defaming My Family'
The stepdaughter of R. Kelly's former publicist Regina Daniels has spoken out about her brief love affair with the R&B superstar, insisting the singer is attempting to defame her family by accusing his former employee of incompetence. Kelly recently denied claims by Daniels' husband, music industry veteran husband George Daniels, that his wife quit her longtime post in November because of a sexual relationship he had with the 21-year-old, insisting the pair actually parted company because she was no longer an efficient worker. However Maxine Daniels claims the star, real name Robert Kelly, is lying - because her step mom resigned when she learned about their "secret" affair. She says, "My stepmother and father didn't know about my relationship with the singer because I knew and he knew that they wouldn't approve...
What to Watch: Fast Haulin' and B-Ballin'
Thinking back, oh, let's say about 30 years ago to 1978, both the NBA and NASCAR were entering their modern era with events and personalities that stretched fandom of those sports to new levels. Both sports shared a common problem. Live TV broadcasts. NASCAR events were an ABC "Wide World of Sports" staple but shown on tape-delay. CBS had the NBA rights but small-market teams and tape-delayed playoff games — sometimes shown after midnight here in San Antonio — generated disastrously low ratings. Fast-forward to 2008 — the NBA has games on national TV seven days a week, its own TV channel and billion-dollar price tags for tradition & digital broadcast rights. NASCAR's fortunes ballooned into the billion-dollar stratosphere after its landmark 2001 TV deal to become the second-most watched sports on TV.
Gramps updates Britney Spears beat
Lynne keeps Jamie Lynn hidden," June, 77, told us, referring to Britney's mom and her knocked-up li'l sis. "[Lynne is] in denial about the pregnancy. She thinks it's just going to go away, but it's not. It's going to get bigger and bigger." But not everyone in the family puts the baby carriage before the, um, horse. "My granddaughter Tara Ann Ballard is getting married in Baton Rouge in June. I might walk her down the aisle," he said. "There ain't gonna be no wedding if I'm not there." We asked Grandpa Spears what he thought of Sen. Barack Obama, and let's just say, ahem, his views are consistent with many white Southern gentlemen of his generation. Moving swiftly on! June doesn't drink, but he does have a fondness for firearms. "I don't have a gun permit.
Googling Johns
Amanda Brooks has been a stripper, a bikini-bar waitress, and a professional escort. But her most recent title she earned with all her clothes on. Brooks (her "professional name") is the self-published author of The Internet Escorts Handbook Book 1: The Foundation, the debut chapter of a four-part series that the author is hoping will become a canon for online escorts. Aimed at already-established escorts and women considering the job, The Internet Escorts Handbook tackles questions that are existential (Is This Something You Really Want To Do?), medical ("What If Your Client Has an STI?"), and practical (Whats the Best Way to Clean Up Condoms?). The book also includes entire sections addressing an escorts personal appearance ("Misconception #9: I have to be blonde and have big boobs, or be model-thin, to make money.
Manhattan vs. New England: Clam chowder makers square off at the ...
The Super Bowl matchup between New England and New York has played itself out on dinner tables for years. The contest doesn't involve touchdowns or a halftime show, but it can get pretty contentious, as the two sides go head-to-head over one question: Who can claim the best namesake chowder? For that matter, who can say with certainty which came first or how it was created? Theories abound; facts are often in dispute. With milk or cream, pork and potatoes, New England clam chowder is considered to be the national standard, dating back to at least the early 19th century, says cookbook author Brooke Dojny, whose books include "The New England Clam Shack Cookbook." Clams were abdundant there, as well as in what are now the Maritime Provinces of Canada, and became a base for a hearty soup, according to "The Oxford Companion to Food." Different regions created different kind of chowder, featuring lobster or subtracting the potatoes, for example, but many were creamy and included clams or fish.
Junior's club is fixin' to glisten
The EpiCentre uptown may still just look like a big construction site, but one of its venues is set to open in less than a month. I tip-toed around the fences and through the rubble near College and Trade streets Wednesday to get a sneak peek at Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Whisky River, named after the country-western town he built on his land. But honky-tonk dive bar this is not. Think subtle touches such as a bar trimmed in belt buckles, rust-colored walls and splashes of dark wood paneling, then contrast that with exposed ceilings, sleek aluminum columns, track lighting, giant lava lamps and a main bar accented by tiny twinkling lights. Managing partner Chris Epstein describes the look as "somewhat of a western style, but with a modern feel and a rock 'n' roll edge." Or, as general contractor Scott Lucas of Harp Renovation calls it: " `Blade Runner' meets `Bonanza.' " There are three full-service bars throughout the 10,000-square-foot space and a stage that can be used for live music acts, dancing or more seating.
Air commission debates changing state odor rules
He said a lower threshold that triggered notices of violation would tie in with a bill proposed by state Sen. Gary Nodler that specifies that operations cited for violating state odor rules more than three times in a year would be subject to additional fines. But the proposal being debated by the commission would lower the threshold to a 4-to-1 ratio to trigger additional state oversight, but odors would have to register at 7-to-1 or above to trigger a violation, Birke pointed out. Odors exceeding the lower level would prompt the DNR to contact the plant and direct officials to develop a plan to correct the problem. The Carthage RES plant added more odor controls as a result of a consent judgment after the lawsuit filed by the city and state. Though odors still bother residents, the plant has not been cited recently for violations.
Touchdown? Nah... splashdown!
A couple of years ago, one of the local media outlets mentioned us during a series on the most bizarre sports around, lumping us in with things like the table-top hockey league." Sean Ennis, an executive member of the Manitoba Underwater Council, underwater football's governing body, agrees that most people look at him like he's gone off the deep end when he tells them how he spends his Friday nights. "Even the lifeguards shake their heads at us. But you know what? People who try it once come out of the water saying, 'It's crazy, it's nuts... when can I play again?'" The term "underwater football" is somewhat of a misnomer. The game is actually closer to rugby. That is, if rugby were played with snorkels, fins and Speedos. To begin, teams of five line up at opposite ends of the pool.
Lawyers: Gitmo Detainee Breaking Down
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10-week Detroit class covers basics of filmmaking
There are a million stories in the Motor City, and the Detroit Film Center wants to help you bring one to the screen. The documentary class beginning Tuesday will teach writing, interview techniques, shooting, lighting, editing and distribution. The Oscar acceptance speech is entirely up to you. The 10-session class meets 7-10 p.m. Tuesdays at the DFC's new Eastern Market digs at 1347 E. Fisher Fwy. (facing the service drive) on the third floor. 313-961-9936 or www.detroitfilm.org. Price is $250 for members, $310 nonmembers. .
doubleTwist makes DRM-stripping, sharing easy as pie
DVD Jon is growing up. He's no longer helping geeks free their media from DRM—he wants to make it easy enough for our parents to use, too. Through a new venture called doubleTwist, DVD Jon (Jon Lech Johansen) and partner Monique Farantzos have already released a desktop and web application that makes stripping DRM from some of the world's most popular formats—including Windows Media DRM and iTunes' FairPlay—as easy as drag-and-drop. "When you receive an e-mail, you can read it on your Blackberry, web mail, or Outlook. E-mail just works," said Farantzos in a statement. "With digital media such as video from a friend’s cell phone or your own iTunes playlists, it’s a jungle out there. It can be an hour-long exercise in futility to convert files to the correct format and transfer them to your Sony PSP or your phone.
Reshaped Braves aim toward spring training
We've pretty well exhausted this Kotsay topic since I first posted a blog last Wednesday speculating the Braves' interest in the 32-year-old Oakland outfielder, especially after Kotsay told me Friday that A's GM Billy Beane called him that morning and said a possible trade was in the works with Atlanta. So we'll not devote this blog to more debate over whether it was a good trade, though you are certainly free to continue that topic if you'd like. My last word (for now) on the subject: I think it was a very good trade provided Kotsay is healthy, because the Braves only pay $2 mill (A's paying other $5 mill of his $7 mill salary, plus the $350,000 bonus he gets for moving, which was part of his contract). And they give up a hard-throwing reliever who hasn't panned out yet and probably wasn't going to be more than a middle man if he made this year's bullpen.
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