Robin Roberts' touching speech at ESPYs

Robin Roberts wanted to be a sports journalist in an era when women, let alone women of color, weren't seen in that role.

But, as the "Good Morning America" co-anchor told the audience at the ESPY awards Wednesday, she doesn't let fear stop her.

The inspirational media figure was honored with the Arthur Ashe Courage award, a recognition given to someone who reflects "strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril, and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost."

Roberts, who was radiant in a red gown, graciously accepted the award with a speech that has become one of the night's most memorable moments.

"I realize there are many worthy of holding this honor. Others who have exhibited far more courage, strength and resilience," Roberts said. "It's humbling for me to represent you tonight. I draw strength from you. You give me the courage to face down any challenge, to know that when fear knocks, to let faith answer the door."

Roberts has been a living example of that philosophy as she's faced two life-threatening health problems. The sports journalist and broadcaster was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, and then with a rare blood disorder called myelodysplastic syndrome in 2012.

After receiving a bone marrow transplant with the aid of her sister Sally Ann, Roberts was able to recover and return to "GMA," stronger than ever.

"Those of us who are fortunate to have overcome some form of illness or adversity are told that we are strong. I didn't find that strength on my own," she said Wednesday. "It was the kind that grew with every kind word of support - every tweet, every email, every phone call. ... Through it all, I learned that strength, true strength, isn't when you face down life's challenges on your own, it's when you take them on by accepting the help, faith and love of others and knowing that you are lucky to have those."

After the ceremony, Roberts tweeted that the ESPYs were "memorable for many reasons," not the least of which being the graciousness of the athlete who introduced her, LeBron James:

Last night was memorable for many reasons. LeBron was so gracious, thanks! “@305heatgang: @KingJames & @RobinRoberts pic.twitter.com/yn7fZKgIQR”
— Robin Roberts (@RobinRoberts) July 18, 2013

Source: CNN's Marquee Blog 

Lifetime casts all-black 'Steel Magnolias' remake

I love this idea. I am a huge fan of the original and cannot wait to see this take on it.

Last fall, Lifetime announced plans to create an updated version of the 1989 movie 'Steel Magnolias' with an all-black cast, and so far the project has snagged stars like Queen Latifah and Phylicia Rashad. According to Entertainment Weekly, Queen Latifah is set to take on the role of M'Lynn Eatenton (originally played by Sally Field), and will also serve as executive producer on the project along with Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. Condola Rashad will play M'Lynn's diabetic daughter Shelby, as previously played by Julia Roberts, while Condola's real-life mother Phylicia Rashad will portray the widow Clairee. Alfre Woodard's on board to portray Ouiser Boudreaux; "Pariah's" Adepero Oduye is set to take on beauty assistant Annelle; and Jill Scott is expected to play hairdresser Truvy. The President and General Manager of Lifetime Networks, Nancy Dubuc, said in a statement that the cast that's been assembled is "astounding." To be directed by Kenny Leon, "Queen Latifah, Phylicia, Alfre, Jill, Adepero and Condola are some of the most celebrated women in music, film, television and stage ," Dubuc said, "and we could not be more thrilled and honored for them to bring Robert Harling's poignant story about the strength of women to a whole new generation." Last year, Lifetime described the new "Steel Magnolias" as revolving around a close group of women in Louisiana, which makes it sound like it'll stick close to the original adaptation of the stage play, but only time will tell if that's the case. A premiere date is expected to be scheduled for later this year.

Source: CNN's "The Marquee Blog"

"The Flintstones" turn 50

They are perhaps more recognizable among children as the funny-looking characters that adorn their daily multivitamin, but today "The "Flintstones" are 50! At first we thought, “How can a family that lived circa 1,000,000 B.C. be just 50?” But then we remembered it was a fictional cartoon.

Hanna-Barbera’s "Flintstones" TV series premiered on ABC on September 30, 1960, and was among the first of a new brand of television series – the hybrid that worked on both child and adult levels. "The Flintstones" centered on a working-class couple “from the town of Bedrock," Fred and Wilma, who lived next door to their best friends, Barney and Betty Rubble.

Fred and Barney worked together at the quarry for their boss, Mr. Slate, and when their wives weren’t dragging them to the opera, they enjoyed bowling and meetings at the Water Buffalo Club. Bedrock also saw its share of garden-variety wacky neighbors of varying eccentricities and had a revolving door of celebrity visitors. It was practically the Aspen of its day. Of course, the stars had names like Cary Granite and Stony Curtis.

Fred and Wilma were the first couple ever to be seen on television sharing a bed, according to the U.K.'s Telegraph, which has compiled a list of the 15 things you may not know about the cartoon. The show was even co-sponsored by Winston cigarettes at one point, with Fred and Barney appearing in commercials advertising for the company, the Telegraph points out.

Google has marked the day with a "Flintstones"-themed Google doodle tribute. How will you celebrate? When the sundial indicates it’s time to slide down the dinosaur’s tail, we’re going to head home and get ready to watch CNN’s Anderstone Cooper 0° (you know, because the world was flat and there was no 360° to speak of).

Yabba Dabba Do!

Credits: Katie McLaughlin, CNN

First lady's First Tweet

CNN's Ed Henry helps first lady Michelle Obama --
with Jay Leno and Robert Gibbs -- send out her first tweet.

It was my first chance to spend some quality time at dinner with First Lady Michelle Obama, so I decided to do what my pal Ali Velshi would probably do in the same situation: get her hooked on Twitter.

I was sitting with the first lady and Jay Leno at the head table for Saturday night's White House Correspondents Association Dinner because I'm a member of the association's board, a front-row seat to the slew of celebrities who walked up to gawk at Mrs. Obama and the president, who was a few seats from me.

Teen sensation Justin Beiber, famous-for-being-famous Kim Kardashian, comedian Chevy Chase and actor Morgan Freeman all walked up to the rope line separating the head table from the rest of the ballroom to send the first couple a shout-out.

I was snapping pics of the celebrity parade on my iPhone and posting them to my Twitter account, @edhenrycnn, during dessert, just a few minutes before the president and Leno would take their turns at telling some jokes.

Leno, a social media skeptic, finally turned to me with squinted eyes and said in a conspiratorial tone, "Are you tweeting right now?"

I confessed to Leno that I was, sparking Mrs. Obama to ask me whether journalists find value in social media or whether it's mostly trivial. I said I find it helpful to get feedback, good and bad, from people who follow my tweets.

When Mrs. Obama mentioned that she had never tweeted, I noted that the president had sent out his first tweet a few months ago from a Red Cross account to promote relief to Haiti and wondered aloud: "Why don't you send out your first tweet on my iPhone?"

The first lady laughed and said her press staff wouldn't be happy if she went rogue like that. Besides, she said, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs would have to sign off first.

Noting that Gibbs was sitting at the other end of the head table, I stood and told the first lady I'd ask him.

To my surprise, Gibbs instantly told me it was a fun idea, on one condition: I had to first send out a tweet saying he had endorsed it, so that colleagues on Mrs. Obama's staff were not blindsided.

I typed out a tweet saying, "i am trying to coax First Lady to do her first ever tweet. Gibbs @presssec just gave his blessing."

Then I walked back to Mrs. Obama to tell her the good news. But she told me good-naturedly, "Gibbs did not say that; you're lying!" I assured the first lady I would not tell her a fib, which prompted Leno to jump to his feet to say he'd go get Gibbs to sort this out once and for all.

A laughing Gibbs came over and advised the first lady it would be a harmless exercise, but she was skeptical until the commander in chief finally weighed in.

Hearing the light-hearted argument playing out a few seats down, the president asked, "What's going on?"

The first lady explained her dilemma, but the president waved his hand as if to say "no big deal" and told her to go for it.

I handed the first lady my iPhone, but it quickly became apparent that she had very little experiences with this smartphone. Like many people, she said, "How do you type on this?"

Gibbs, who was looking over our shoulders, suggested that I type it out, so I told Mrs. Obama to start dictating the note. I started my typing "from flotus," as in "first lady of the United States."

She joked about the pressure of coming up with something interesting to say. She started simply with how she was at the dinner and dictated, "this is officially my first Twitter" and added her thoughts about the comedy acts about to perform.

I knew Mrs. Obama should have called it her first "tweet," but I didn't want to be in the uncomfortable position of correcting the first lady -- my mom would be appalled -- and sounding like a tech know-it-all.

She asked Gibbs for his opinion on what she had dictated, and he said the proper way to say it was that it was her first tweet. Mrs. Obama grilled me on whether Gibbs was right, and I said he was but I didn't want to be the one changing her words, so she politely asked me to change it so that she sounded as hip as possible.

The final version, for the history books: "from flotus: 'here at dinner this is officially my first Tweet. i am looking forward to some good laughs from the potus and jay'".

Some of my followers were particularly amused that Mrs. Obama referred to her husband as "the potus" -- as in the president of the United States -- and started re-tweeting it.

It also got me a few more followers, which brings me back to Ali Velshi.

On our daily segment on his show -- the "Ed Henry Segment," of course -- Velshi and I tease each other about necktie choices and who has more people following our tweets.

For the record, I have 12,313 followers as of this morning. Velshi seems stuck on 11,025.

So let me take this opportunity to encourage the first lady to set up her own Twitter account. I bet it will be a smart way for her to push her initiatives, just as former first lady Laura Bush now has a Twitter account to help sell her memoirs and talk up her pet causes, too.

Besides, I'm hoping Mrs. Obama will follow me, and not Velshi, since I hooked her up with her first tweet.

Credits: Ed Henry, CNN

Dear President Obama #426: “Signed, sealed, delivered...uh...on Monday”

Tom Foreman is an Emmy award-winning journalist who works over at CNN. His work covers a wide-range of topics for the network and he can be seen reporting for programs including Anderson Cooper 360° and The Situation Room.

Mr. Foreman has committed to writing a letter to President Obama every day as long as he is in office. The topics are completely random and there is almost never and agenda to them. This is today's letter. I found it particularly entertaining.

Dear Mr. President,

Did I get this right? I read an article in USA Today which was all about the Post Office maybe giving up entirely on weekend deliveries, and it said the prime opponents of the measure are young Americans. How can this be? I sort of think most people under 30 are not entirely sure what a post office is, so how can they oppose this cutback?

The postal service amazes me. I know that plenty of people have gripes and have made jokes about it over the years, and Cliff Clavin was admittedly a terrific character. But it astounds me to think that I can scribble a note to someone thousands of miles away, stick it into an envelope, slap on a stamp, and for 44-cents have it delivered to the object of my correspondence!

Can you name one other thing that is so cheap and effective? And no cracks about my girlfriends in college, please. Well, ok…e-mail is better, I’ll admit that. But e-mail is still a relatively recent phenomenon and when you and all your political pals finally get around to taxing it (which you will…don’t try to fool me about that!) I suspect it will be word-for word no cheaper and perhaps even more expensive.

I love getting letters. Even these days. Even as I frantically thumb on my BlackBerry, and text on my phone, and flash semaphore messages to the folks on the Virginia side of the river. Letters just have a wonderful permanence about them, which is kind of strange to say considering that they are written on paper. They’re not like Stonehenge, for crying out loud.

Still, I like them and I get a little thrill every time I flip through the day’s stack of mail, and I’ll miss it if Saturday gets taken off of the route, so to speak.

So ponder this a bit, give me a call and let’s chat it over. Maybe we can come up with some clever new plan to offset the costs and keep the Saturday cards and letters coming. Wouldn’t that be something? Or I suppose you could write me a letter…but, uh, hurry.

Regards,

Tom

No Hugo Boss at this years Oscars!

When you sell high-end fashion like Hugo Boss suits, you can afford to pay decent wages to the people who make them. But Hugo Boss is stuck in the 20th Century. They say they need to shut down their U.S. suit factory in Cleveland and fire more than 300 workers. They say they want to make suits more cheaply in Turkey or Eastern Europe. They don’t even claim the Cleveland factory is losing money -- they just say they need to make a bit more money. Please.

That's why Danny Glover is asking stars NOT to wear Hugo Boss on the red carpet -- and show their solidarity with workers with a pin on their lapels.

From the Marquee Blog @ CNN.com:

Danny Glover has called on Hollywood to make a fashion statement at the Oscars on Sunday by not donning any Hugo Boss, choosing instead to wear a pin that shows solidarity with the hundreds of men and women who are soon to be out of work at a Hugo Boss factory near Cleveland, Ohio.

In a letter sent to Hollywood insiders and Oscar attendees, Glover wrote, "Hugo
Boss suits have been a favorite at the Oscars for decades, and for years, Hugo Boss has been making high-quality suits at a factory near Cleveland.

But over the winter holidays, Hugo Boss sent letters to those dedicated employees saying that they would no longer have jobs by April." Glover went on, "the workers are productive and the plant is profitable. But Hugo Boss has decided that it can make more profit by moving production to Turkey or Eastern Europe."

George Clooney, Jeremy Renner, Jeff Bridges, Colin Firth, Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, among others, were sent the letter along with a pin.

Glover collaborated with labor union Workers United to spread word about the effort, which includes an online petition for the public to sign, which will be delivered to attendees before Sunday night.

I'm late? It's not my fault! I blame it on the earthquake in Chile!

Yes I am for real. Well sort of. Ok, not really at all but it makes for a good conversation starter and it is a damn good excuse. :) The folks at NASA have been doing their homework again (geez they are such Nerds. Have they missed one assignment since their inception in 1958? Heck no! They are Rocket Scientists. That's how they roll.) and they have determined that the massive earthquake that struck Chile on Saturday may have shifted the Earth's axis and created shorter days.

An article on CNN.com this morning reports the following:

The change is negligible, but permanent: Each day should be 1.26 microseconds shorter, according to preliminary calculations. A microsecond is one-millionth of a second. A large quake shifts massive amounts of rock and alters the distribution of mass on the planet. When that distribution changes, it changes the rate at which the planet rotates. And the rotation rate determines the length of a day.

"Any worldly event that involves the movement of mass affects the Earth's rotation," Benjamin Fong Chao, of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Richard Gross, a geophysicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, used a computer model to determine how the magnitude 8.8 quake that struck Chile on February 27 may have affected the Earth. He determined that the quake should have moved the Earth's figure axis about 3 inches (8 centimeters). The figure axis is one around which the Earth's mass is balanced. That shift in axis is what may have shortened days.

Such changes aren't unheard of. The magnitude 9.1 earthquake in 2004 that generated a killer tsunami in the Indian Ocean shortened the length of days by 6.8 microseconds. On the other hand, the length of a day also can increase. For example, if the Three Gorges reservoir in China were filled, it would hold 10 trillion gallons (40 cubic kilometers) of water. The shift of mass would lengthen days by 0.06 microsecond, scientists said.