Looney Tunes adds 60 more shorts!!
Warner Brothers Home Entertainment is planning on releasing another volume of their top tier Looney Tunes Golden Collection. Volume 5 will add 60 more shorts, bringing the total on the sets to 296. That leaves about 150 still out there to be released in future sets.
Like previous sets, each disc will take some theme. In this case disc 1 celebrates team-ups with Bugs and Daffy. Disc 2 is Looney Fairy Tales. Disc 3 is Robert Clampett cartoons and disc 4 features more Porky Pig.
The discs will come with many features, but all that is known to be included now is the 2000 PBS documentary.
The set is set for an October 30th release with a suggested retail price of $64.92.
Sammy Hagar gets the party rollin'
The first round of dates have been announced for Sammy Hagar's upcoming US tour, which will take the Red Rocker well into next year.
Hagar has a couple of West Coast dates in September before officially kicking off the outing in October at his annual birthday bash in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The initial run of shows will stick close to the South and Midwest through mid-November. Two-night stands are booked in Dallas and St. Louis. Details are listed below.
The full tour is expected to hit 60 cities, with a finale July 12, 2008, in St. Louis, according to a press release.
The shows will open with former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony's band, Mad Anthony Express, performing early VH numbers and rock classics, followed by Hagar's Los Tres Gusanos playing his early songs. Hagar and Anthony will then take the stage together as The Other Half (of Van Halen), playing VH tunes from the Hagar era.
The singer/guitarist also plans to stuff his Cabo Wabo Village into the indoor venues on the trek. The Village--filled with bikini-clad girls, bodybuilders, mariachi bands, contests and other attractions--accompanied Hagar on last summer's outdoor Livin' It Up! Tour.
Hagar and the Wabos are supporting their latest set, last year's "Livin' It Up!," which comprises party covers like Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar," and Kenny Chesney's "One Sip," alongside originals including "Sam I Am" and "Living on a Coastline."
Last month, the band released "Livin' It Up! in St. Louis," a DVD that includes live footage from the 2006 show, plus interviews, tour footage and music videos. A song from the DVD is streaming at Hagar's MySpace page.
Last week, Hagar released his new single, "Open," to rock and classic-rock radio.
Between his solo career, his early stint with Ronnie Montrose and his 11 years with Van Halen, Hagar's record sales have exceeded 60 million, according to a press release. In March, he was inducted into the Rock and Hall of Fame as a member of Van Halen.
September 2007
15 - Phoenix, AZ - US Airways Center
29 - Novato, CA - Stafford Lake
October 2007
19 - Biloxi, MS - Beau Rivage Resort & Casino
20 - Houston, TX - Verizon Wireless Theatre
23-24 - Dallas, TX - Lakewood Theatre
25 -Tulsa, OK - Brady Theatre
27 - Bloomington, IL - Theatre at US Cellular Coliseum
28 - Indianapolis, IN - Murat Theatre
31 - South Bend, IN - Morris Performing Arts Center
November 2007
2 - Detroit, MI - Fox Theatre
4 - Grand Rapids, MI - Devos Hall
6 - Green Bay, WI - Oneida Casino
7 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverside Theatre
10 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theatre
11 - Joliet, IL - Rialto
13-14 - St. Louis, MO - Fox Theatre
16 - Kansas City, MO - Uptown Theatre
July 2008
12 - St. Louis, MO - Busch Stadium
Ed Mirvish dies at 92
TORONTO (CP) - A legendary figure in the Toronto retail and theatre business has died at the age of 92.
Ed Mirvish who died early Wednesday morning in a Toronto hospital was best known for his Honest Ed's discount store and his efforts to revitalize Toronto's theatre district.
The sprawling store in downtown Toronto sold just about everything - groceries, housewares, clothes and kitsch.
He entered the theatrical business when he purchased and saved from demolition the stately Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto in 1963. He also bought and restored the Old Vic in London, England, and with his son, David Mirvish, built the award-winning Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto in 1993.
His theatres introduced Toronto audiences to blockbusters like "The Lion King," "Mamma Mia" and "Miss Saigon."
Born July 24, 1914, in Colonial Beach, Va., Mirvish came to Toronto in 1923 where he and his family lived above their downtown Dundas Street grocery. He was 15 when his father died and he dropped out of school to support his family.
Over the years, Mirvish picked up a handful of honorary degrees and awards, including the Order of Canada and the Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
"It's wonderful to go from Dundas Street to Buckingham Palace, but what is really wonderful is to be lucky enough to live in a country where this is possible," Mirvish said in 1989 before he was presented the CBE by the Queen.
Mirvish married Anne Maklin of Hamilton in 1940.
Mirvish opened his discount emporium in 1948 at Bathurst and Bloor - the heart Toronto's immigrant district. His first newspaper ad read: "Our building is a dump! Our service is rotten! . . . But. . ..
! Our prices are the lowest in town!"
He once said he named his store Honest Ed's because "it was so ridiculous. As soon as you claim to be honest, everybody gets suspicious."
By the 1950s, the store, which sported 23,000 light bulbs and took up an entire city block, had become so successful that neighbours were complaining about noise and traffic.
In 1962, Mirvish, who admitted he knew nothing about theatre, bought the Royal Alexandra Theatre on King Street and spent $500,000 restoring the 1907 theatre to its former glory.
Soon he added restaurateur to his expanding list of accomplishments with the opening of Ed's Warehouse on King, a 180-seat restaurant that only served roast beef. Eventually, his restaurant empire included 10 dining rooms.
In 2003, one of Mirvish's restaurants, Old Ed's, was transformed into the Toronto Antique Market.
Next Mirvish, and his only son David, who together formed Mirvish Productions, took the family Midas Touch to London, buying the Old Vic theatre for $1.23 million in 1982.
While the Times newspaper in London hailed Mirvish as a Toronto Medici, he was a puzzle to many Brits.
"We do not have characters like that in Britain," wrote Guardian drama critic Michael Billington. "He is a salesman - a fascinating, buccaneering tycoon."
Mirvish, who was distinguished by his flamboyance and shrewd business acumen, was also well-known for his generosity.
During the SARS outbreaks in Toronto in the spring, Mirvish and his son were instrumental in assembling a deep-discount package meant to revive the city's lagging tourism and economy. All 120,000 of the $125-or $85-packages sold out in 10 days.
At his annual birthday bash, to which everyone was welcome, there were free hotdogs, rides and cake. And each Christmas, people would line up overnight outside Honest Ed's for a free turkey and fruit cake. Sometimes they waited 24 hours.
Russell Lazar, Mirvish's assistant and manager of Honest Ed's for 45 years, said despite his wealth and fame, Mirvish always considered himself a shopkeeper.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Report: Pavarotti doing well 36 minutes ago
ROME - Luciano Pavarotti is "fighting like a lion" against his pancreatic cancer and is reacting well to radiotherapy, his wife told an Italian newspaper.
"I can now say he is doing well," Nicoletta Mantovani said in an interview published Wednesday in the Italian daily La Stampa.
The 71-year-old opera star underwent surgery after doctors discovered a malignant pancreatic mass last year.
"He's reacting well to a fifth cycle of radiotherapy. He's fighting like a lion and he has never lost his heart, also because a family he adores is by his side," Mantovani said.
"He's determined and results are encouraging," she said. "Despite the heavy treatment he has not lost weight — which by the way he would have liked — or his hair."
Mantovani spoke from the Italian resort island of Ischia, where she picked up a music award for her husband.
Earlier this month, Diva e Donna, an Italian women's magazine, quoted one of Pavarotti's daughters, Giuliana, as saying her father "knows he will die soon." Mantovani said the quotes were taken out of context.
Last week, Pavarotti's manager said the famed tenor was teaching and working on a recording of sacred music. According to Mantovani, he is also considering resuming the "Pavarotti and Friends" benefit concert that used to take place annually in his hometown of Modena, Italy.