6 People Who Rejected Awards

We’re right in the middle of Awards Season. Last month Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes were awarded, followed by the Golden Globes, and in the next few weeks, we’ll see the Emmys and Oscars. And while most artists and performers would be thrilled to get any one of these awards, there’s always the occasional grump who gets a prize from his/her peers and says “no thanks.” Here are a few prize examples of people who rejected awards.

Ving Rhames. In 1998, the actor won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a made for TV movie or miniseries for his title role in HBO’s Don King: Only in America. When he went on stage to receive his award, he turned it down, and, in the spirit of “giving,” gave the trophy to fellow nominee Jack Lemmon, nominated for 12 Angry Men. Lemmon said it was “one of the sweetest moments of his life.” Rhames insisted Lemmon keep the award; the Globes’ governing body later quietly had a second trophy sent to Rhames.

Dog Shaved Like Lion Sparks 911 Calls

Too funny:

A dog shaved like a lion made for an eventful night for Norfolk, Va., dispatchers, when several people who saw the dog on Tuesday called 9-1-1 to report a lion on the loose, the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot reports.

The newspaper obtained 9-1-1 call audio, in which one woman says, “There was a lion that ran across the street – a baby lion. It was about the size of a Labrador retriever.

The dog’s owner, Daniel Painter, told the Virginian-Pilot that he shaved his pet to look like the mascot for Old Dominion University.

Too much. “It was about the size – and genus – of a Labrador retriever!”

But Wait, There’s More! (Infomercials)

They’re loud. They’re obnoxious. They’re mesmerizing. “Infomercials”— ads for silly household products have been a part of TV since the early 1970s, usually airing in the wee hours when ad time is cheapest. Here’s the story behind three memorable “as seen on TV” products.

5-Story-High Rubber Ducky in Sydney Harbor

Deep Rubber Ducky Thought:

“A rubber duck obviously doesn’t belong to anyone but to all of us. It’s a mutual friend. And I think in the time of globalisation that we live in, we have a mutual bath tub.”

Hear hear! Mutual bathtubs for everyone! Oh. Wait…

Anyhoo – here’s giant rubber ducky video video:

Comic-Con 2012 Recap

Princess Vader

Yet another Comic-Con is behind us. The last four days in San Diego have been filled with costumes, good and bad, and a few celebrity sightings. Below are some images of the fantastic convention that brought in 125,000 fans this year. First some movie news from the Con.

Casey Affleck to Make Film @ Former Crack Addict MLB Player Josh Hamilton


Could be interesting:

EXCLUSIVE: Josh Hamilton’s rise from the depths of an addiction to crack to become the American League’s most feared slugger is dramatic enough to have been scripted. Sure enough, Hamilton has entrusted his rights to producer Basil Iwanyk and Thunder Road Pictures to be shopped for a feature that will be written and directed by Casey Affleck. Iwanyk has partnered with Kevin Walsh and The Walsh Company on the film, which he and Affleck will pitch to the town shortly.

RIP, Dick Clark

“America’s oldest teenager” has left us:

Dick Clark, the music industry maverick, longtime TV host and powerhouse producer who changed the way we listened to pop music with “American Bandstand,” and whose trademark “Rockin’ Eve” became a fixture of New Year’s celebrations, died today at the age of 82.

Clark’s agent Paul Shefrin said in statement that the veteran host died this morning following a “massive heart attack.”

We’ve written about Dick Clark a bunch of times, going all the way back to BR #2. The guy played a larger part in the ushering in of the Rock and Roll era than most people imagine. From USA Today, this morning: