Dallas Star Larry Hagman Dead at 81

DALLAS:FIRST & SECOND SEASONS BY DALLAS (DVD) [5 DISCS] (Google Affiliate Ad)

Actor Larry Hagman has passed away after a battle with throat cancer at the age of 81.

Hagman starred in two of the most enduring and popular television series of all time. He got his first big break starring as astronaut Major Anthony Nelson in the popular 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie co-starring Barbara Eden as the beautiful Genie with magical powers, who was always creating trouble for the master of her dreams. The show has become one of the most iconic sitcoms of the era and has been in syndication for the past five decades.

Hagman entrenched his icon status with the role of the incredibly devious JR Ewing on the prime time hit soap opera Dallas, centered around the machinations of the oil baron at the family homestead "Southfork" and his relationships with family, friends and especially his enemies.  The famous "Who Shot JR?" episode remains one of the most watched television programs of all time, as almost one hundred million Americans tuned in to see the dastardly JR receive his comeuppance. The show was a global phenomenon, watched in over one hundred countries and making Hagman a household name worldwide.

The show was so popular that cable network TNT decided to resurrect the Ewing clan for an updated version of the series, Dallas: The Next Generation, which debuted last season to good reviews and solid ratings. 

Hagman was born into show biz royalty. His mother was the beloved actress of stage and film Mary Martin, who originated the role of Peter Pan in the smash hit Broadway musical. He is survived by his wife of 52 years Maj, his son Preston, daughter Heidi and five grandchildren. He was surrounded by family and friends at the time of his death, including co-star Linda Gray, who played JR's long-suffering wife Sue Ellen, as well as Patrick Duffy, who played JR's angelic brother Bobby.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2237668/Dallas-star-Larry-Hagman-dies-aged-81-battle-cancer.html#ixzz2D7cCnVhJ
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TNT said in a statement: 'All of us at TNT are deeply saddened at the news of Larry Hagman's passing. He was a wonderful human being and an extremely gifted actor.
'We will be forever thankful that a whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2237668/Dallas-star-Larry-Hagman-dies-aged-81-battle-cancer.html#ixzz2D7cCnVhJ
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

TNT said in a statement: 'All of us at TNT are deeply saddened at the news of Larry Hagman's passing. He was a wonderful human being and an extremely gifted actor.
'We will be forever thankful that a whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2237668/Dallas-star-Larry-Hagman-dies-aged-81-battle-cancer.html#ixzz2D7cCnVhJ
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

TNT said in a statement: 'All of us at TNT are deeply saddened at the news of Larry Hagman's passing. He was a wonderful human being and an extremely gifted actor.
'We will be forever thankful that a whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2237668/Dallas-star-Larry-Hagman-dies-aged-81-battle-cancer.html#ixzz2D7cCnVhJ
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Breaking News! Co-Anchors Quit Jobs During Live Newscast

Two Bangor, Maine, news anchors lived out Johnny Paycheck's classic anti-establishment anthem "Take This Job and Shove It" by announcing their immediate resignations at the end of a live news broadcast on Tuesday evening!

It seems co-anchors Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio of ABC affiliate Channel 7 had grown very frustrated with how the television news division was being managed by the Top Brass. The news team had more than twelve years of working for the station, but a rift with upper-management's continual interference with the anchor's stories and reports brought about the live-action drama.

"Some recent developments have come to our attention ... and departing together is the best alternative we can take," Consiglio told stunned viewers. The duo did not inform any of the management or staff  at the station of their decision to resign their jobs until announcing it at the end of the evening news broadcast, in a move worthy of the classic "I'm mad as Hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" moment from the Oscar-winning film Network.

 "We wanted to be able to say a thoughtful, heartfelt good-bye to our viewers and to the many communities we served over the years," Michaels told NBC News in an email sent out today. "We scripted something to keep from getting off-course and emotional."

The station's vice-president and general manager Mike Palmer told the Bangor Daily News that the incident was "unfortunate but not unexpected. We’ll hire experienced people to fill these positions sooner rather than later," he told the newspaper.

Michaels and Consiglio already have plans to move forward:  Michaels told viewers she will pursue freelance writing, while Consiglio said he'll continue his career "in another capacity."

Sweet Emotion: Hostess Closing Shop/No More Twinkies or Ho Hos

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There was a desperate run on Twinkies after Hostess announced Friday it’s going out of business amid bankruptcy and labor strife.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/twinkie-maker-hostess-close-cites-nationwide-worker-strike-article-1.1203105#ixzz2CStMsoei

 There has been a mad-dash run on junk food staples Twinkies and Ho Hos after the Hostess manufacturing company announced it was closing shop after more than 82 years in business, leaving a terrible economic impact in its wake. 

A small  union's stubbornness during contract negotiations is receiving the lion's share of blame for the closing, which will put more than 18,000 Americans out of work just before the holiday season as well as the loss of all-important tax revenue from local factories and outlets that sell Hostess products. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January of this year. 

After the closing was announced yesterday, fans of the company's baked goods headed out in droves to their local outlets, loading down on boxes of the tasty treats before they disappear from store shelves forever. Some of the company's outlet stores in the North East US sold out of their complete stock in a matter of hours, with panicked buyers snapping up boxes in a feeding frenzy.

Boxes of Twinkies and Ding Dongs were being listed at online auction site eBay for hundreds of dollars each. White bread staple Wonder Bread also flew off the shelves. "I guess I'll have to keep a hundred loaves of Wonder Bread in my freezer," said one harried consumer, her shopping cart piled high with bread.

More bad news for news-weary Americans as another staple that has been a part of all of our lives for so long fades to black...

A small union's stubbornness in contract talks with Hostess is being blamed for the shutdown of one of America's snack food icons, the loss of 18,500 jobs just before the holiday season and much-needed tax revenue from hundreds of plants and shops across the country.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/16/hostess-brands-to-liquidate-lay-off-18500-after-crippling-union-fight/#ixzz2CSu0ONqd

A small union's stubbornness in contract talks with Hostess is being blamed for the shutdown of one of America's snack food icons, the loss of 18,500 jobs just before the holiday season and much-needed tax revenue from hundreds of plants and shops across the country.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/16/hostess-brands-to-liquidate-lay-off-18500-after-crippling-union-fight/#ixzz2CSu0ONqd

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/twinkie-maker-hostess-close-cites-nationwide-worker-strike-article-1.1203105#ixzz2CStMsoei

There was a desperate run on Twinkies after Hostess announced Friday it’s going out of business amid bankruptcy and labor strife.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/twinkie-maker-hostess-close-cites-nationwide-worker-strike-article-1.1203105#ixzz2CStMsoei

The Weather Outside Is Frightful: Possible Thanksgiving Nor'Easter for Already Suffering East Coast

Meteorologists are carefully monitoring another severe weather system that has the potential to impact the US East Coast for Thanksgiving week.

The bad news comes only weeks after "Superstorm Sandy" brought misery and havoc to the entire Eastern Seaboard, devastating beach communities with a horrific storm surge, cutting electricity to millions of people and killing hundreds of people from the Caribbean to New England. The storm is estimated to have created well over one billion dollars US in damages.

To add insult to injury, a strong Nor'Easter storm brought heavy snows, winds and storm surge to the same region only a week later. Now, yet another storm system is being tracked for the area.

Current computer models predict the storm could hover along the East coast, or just offshore, for a few days before making landfall, kicking up big waves and tidal flooding sometime in the middle of next week. It could raise coastal water levels from 1 to 3 feet, depending on wind and tidal conditions.

All of this comes at the worst possible time, with next week being the busiest travel period of the year in the United States. The storm also could dampen Black Friday retail sales, already reeling from the sluggish economy and weather-related disasters.

Some good news:  At least during the early stages, the storm should not be as intense as last week's nor'easter. However, it may get stronger during the middle of the week, at which point it could wobble into eastern New England or get kicked out to sea.

The Blob! Scientists Create Living, Moving Gel from Human Proteins

Scientists at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, have created in the laboratory a mass of living, moving proteins, not unlike in the 1958 B-movie classic The Blob starring Steve McQueen (and its inferior 1980s remake). 

In the film, a meteorite that falls from space creates a red, gooey blob that continues to grow as it devours everything in its path. The lab created "blob" can propel itself across a surface, mimicking the movements of a living creature.

The mass–called self-propelled polymers– is comprised of miniscule droplets extracted from living cells. The proteins feed on the same energy as those found in living bodies, allowing the mass to move at the slower-than-snail like pace of 8 nanometers per step – less than the width of a wisp of smoke. 

Scientists hope that the gel can be used to deliver medicine more efficiently into the body or to perhaps target cancer cells and prevent them from growing or spreading to other parts of the human body. As the material is created from natural, biological matter, there would be less of a chance that the body would reject it. 

The material also displays signs that it can self-heal and self-generate, which could be highly useful in treating burn victims. The gel could also have industrial uses, and could be used in television and computer screens, making images even more clearer and brighter. 

  

"This is a little bit of a Frankenstein experiment," Professor Zvonimir Dogic of Brandeis University told New Scientist magazine. 

Nail Biter: Fingernail Chomping a Psychological Disorder?

People who bite their nails compulsively (of which I am one), might soon see their disgusting but (relatively) harmless bad habit classified as an obsessive/compulsive disorder!

The American Psychiatric Association —which publishes the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)—has announced that they will now classify nail biting as an obsessive/compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD is most-commonly characterized by unreasonable or irrational thoughts and fears (obsessions) that lead you to do repetitive behaviors (compulsions), such as washing your hands several hundred times a day from fear of bacteria and germs. 

For you more casual nail biters (I'll place myself in this category so I don't feel like a total nutjob), relax. Only more severe cases where people have actually eaten away their entire nails to the point of contracting infections will currently be classified as OCD. 

You casual nail biters, however should read this word of caution from medical experts:  Biting away at your fingernails can contribute to skin infection, aggravate existing conditions of the nail bed, and increase the risk of colds and other infections by encouraging the spread of germs from the nails and fingers to the lips and mouth.

My mother used to dip my nails in castor oil to keep me from biting them as a child, until I developed a taste for the nasty stuff! I'll have to think of something that tastes more disgusting to soak my nails in now...

  

Strange Invaders: Mysterious Object Photographed Over Mexico & Kentucky

A strange, large cylinder shaped object filmed flying into Mexico's erupting Popocatépetl volcano is eerily similar to an object witnessed by thousands of people in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia this past week.

A large bright object was seen hovering in the skies over the Appalachian mountain region of the United States on Tuesday of this week. Amateur astronomer Allan Epling of Pike County, Kentucky, was alerted to the object when a visitor's grand-daughter informed him there was "a strange plane flying in the sky".

Epling quickly grabbed his digital camera and began filming the bizarre object that appeared to be hovering at an extremely high altitude. Epling says the object would alternate between growing brighter and dimmer, in a pulsating manner. The object remained stationary and was observed in the skies by other witnesses for at least two hours.

Fast forward a few days to this related story about a very similar, cylinder shaped object filmed over the highly active Popocatépetl  volcano located outside of Mexico City. The mystery object was caught by a network television camera installed to monitor the potentially dangerous volcano, which has experienced increased seismic activity over the past year. A strange, bright, cylinder-shaped object can be seen entering the camera's view before apparently falling into the volcano's enormous crater as it exhales a cloud of ash. The object has been estimated to be at least one kilometer in length and approximately 200 meters wide. 

Astronomers have examined the footage taken from both Kentucky and Mexico and so far are perplexed about exactly what the objects could possibly  be. You can view video of the object falling into the volcano at the following YouTube link:

Hurricane Sandy Could Be Nightmare Before Halloween

Edit: The NOAA has projected the path of the massive storm to turn inland at Delaware and going far inland, passing directly over Washington, DC, before turning north to pass over Philadelphia, New Jersey as well as New York City. Keep in mind this is still an early projection and the storm [hopefully] will alter its course:

Residents of the US East Coast are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping that Hurricane Sandy doesn't turn into the "Nightmare Before Halloween" super-storm  (dubbed "Frankenstorm" due to the potential for a hybrid cyclone) that many forecast models are currently predicting.

Hurricane Sandy pounded Jamaica yesterday as a strong Category 2 storm, killing at least two people, bringing torrential rain, high winds and a dangerous storm surge to the Caribbean island nation. More than 70% of the island's population are currently without power or essential services. The storm quickly made its way to nearby Cuba, where it is currently battering the eastern part of the island.

Many of the current forecast models for the projected path of the storm have the monster skirting the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, with possible multiple landfalls anywhere from Virginia to Long Island, New York. The most current forecast models have meteorologists deeply concerned that the storm will collide with an early winter storm now forming in the West, and a strong blast of arctic air from Canada that would create a "Perfect Storm" scenario, referring to the monster Nor'Easter that did hundreds of millions of dollars in damages along the US East Coast in 1991 and was the basis of the bestselling book by Sebastian Junger and the movie of the same name starring George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg.

 The "Perfect Storm" is  likely to hit during a full moon when tides are near their highest, increasing the chances of severe coastal flooding the NOAA has warned. With many trees still with leaves and the potential for snow, power outages caused by falling trees could last through to Election Day, some meteorologists fear. Some are saying this storm has all the earmarks of a billion-dollar nightmare for the coast.

People living along the entire Eastern Seaboard are being urged to have emergency plans in place, should the storm strengthen and become a severe threat. Evacuation orders should be taken seriously, and citizens are asked to check on elderly or sick relatives.

Some forecast models have the storm skirting the US coast before heading out to sea. Let's hope that is what happens with this storm...

Run, Forrest, Run! Tom Hanks Drops Huge F-Bomb on Live TV

Superstar actor Tom Hanks might be quoting a line from his most famous movie role—"Stupid is as stupid does"—after dropping the dreaded F-Bomb on yesterday's Good Morning, America. 

The Oscar winning star of Forrest Gump was in New York to publicize the release of his much-anticipated new film with Halle Berry—Cloud Atlas.  The actor was being interviewed by GMA co-host Elizabeth Vargas. After showing a clip from his new film where Hanks was using an English accent, Vargas asked the affable actor to re-create the dialect for viewers at home. 

Hanks began to ramble on in his version of an English accent, mostly unintelligible, but suddenly let the F word slip out, clear as day. Both Hanks and Vargas immediately covered their mouths in shock horror, with Vargas apologizing, "We are so sorry, Good Morning, America."

Hanks was red-faced and extremely apologetic as well, saying "Man, oh man, I'm sorry. I have never done that before. I want to apologize to the kids in America watching right now. And let me say the next time I'm on the show there will be a seven-second delay. ... Man oh man!"

The remainder of the interview went smoothly, without the use of any more gratuitous profanity.

ABC News released the following official statement regarding the incident, by way of apology:

This morning Tom Hanks accidentally used an expletive during a live interview on GMA with Elizabeth Vargas. They both immediately apologized on air, and the show was corrected for all subsequent feeds.

Cloud Atlas is now playing in theaters.

New Stage Play about End of Days Available, Royalty Free!

We didn't see it coming...

Orbit, a new royalty free drama for the stage, is now available to Kindle users for only .99 cents. The play features an All-American family going about their normal lives until the inconceivable news arrives that today might very well be the last day of their lives. Highly emotional and gut-wrenching, Orbit does not shy away from the terror and anguish of the moment.

It was just an ordinary day.

What would you do if you received only a few hours notice that the entire world you have known would be coming to a shocking, cataclysmic end? Where would you want to be, who would you want to be with and what would you want to say? This is the premise of "Orbit", a new drama for the stage centered around a typical American family facing just such an unimaginable horror and how they must come to terms with a terrifying, inescapable truth...



The play is available to any drama organization, theater group or budding film makers interested in producing a short film. The play would require three young actors and can be adapted to fit your needs. A paperback version will be available soon as well. Anyone interested may contact me by commenting on this page.



The play can be downloaded to a Kindle device directly from Amazon by clicking HERE:

As luck would have it, (if you want to call it luck) a real life massive meteor explosion was seen and felt over a three state area on the very day my play became available on Kindle Amazon. It has been confirmed that a bolide meteor did explode at high velocity over Louisiana shaking homes and breaking windows over Texas and Arkansas as well. Quite a coincidence, if you believe in such things...

More Bad News for Haiti As Wyclef Jean's Charity Goes Bankrupt

Photo credit: Jorge Cruz/AP

More bad news arrived for the long-suffering people of Haiti after it was revealed that Hip Hop superstar Wyclef Jean's charitable organization to help the people of the island nation has crumbled beneath a mass of debt and alleged mismanagement.

The organization named  Yéle was originally founded by Jean, the former member of Grammy-Award winning Hip Hop group The Fugees, in 2003 as a way to help the people of his homeland. The organization did not receive much attention until after the devastating January 2010 earthquake that rocked the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, crippling the entire city and leaving an estimated 250,000 dead, with millions more left injured and/or homeless.

Jean claimed to have raised more than one million US dollars for the charity in only twenty-four hours after pleading for donations via his official Twitter and Facebook accounts following the horrific disaster. Now allegations have come to light that the charitable donations given to the organization were mismanaged, to the tune of almost $16 million US. 

In one alleged incident, it is claimed that money for the Yéle charity—a reported $30,000—was used to fly troubled actress Lindsay Lohan from New Jersey to a charity-raising event in Chicago. The event only raised some $66,000. Another claim is that Jean brought actor Matt Damon and a host of his other celebrity friends to Haiti via private jet at a cost of almost $70,000. 

Jean—who made an unsuccessful bid for the Haitian presidency in 2010—has remained tight-lipped about the closing of the charity as well as the allegations. He directed followers on his official Twitter feed to read his statement posted to his Facebook account. . 

All of this is indeed sad news for the people of Haiti, who continue to suffer in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake as well as the effects of hurricanes, tropical storms and outbreaks of diseases, such as cholera. Some 300,000 people still reside in what was initially designed as "temporary" housing on the outskirts of the city, tens of thousands of tents that have since been battered by the elements. Electricity and potable running water are extremely scarce. 

Although not as grandiose, a percentage of the sales from my book Evangeline, Alive & Well: A Story of Hope in Haiti have been earmarked to help the people of the country, in whatever small way possible. The book is also available for Kindle readers here:

Cheese Cake, Secrets & Sex? The Golden Girls Are Back...

Cheese Cake, Secrets and Sex? Must Be The Golden Girls!

Take four amazing and talented actresses, add clever writing, loads of sex talk and a box of delicious cheese cake and what do you get? Why, The Golden Girls, of course. Test your Golden Girl's knowledge and see how big a fan you truly are! Thank You for Being a Friend: A Golden Girls Trivia Book is a loving tribute to one of the funniest and most popular sitcoms of all time and a must for any fan of the long-running television show!

By far the bestselling book that I have written, Thank You for Being a Friend: A Golden Girls Trivia Book is being relaunched with a brand new cover! The cover is a much-better representation of the show and what it means to its devoted fans. You may check out the new book and cover over at Amazon: 

 Thank You for Being a Friend: A Golden Girls Trivia Book with New Cover:

Dedicated UK fans of the series may check the book out on Amazon.co.uk:

 Thank You for Being a Friend: A Golden Girls Trivia Book Available in the UK:

Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan and Estelle Getty have all sadly passed away, but at least we still have the amazing and hard-working Betty White to remind us of how incredible this show is. I know whenever I'm feeling a little down, I'll just pop in a season of The Golden Girls in my DVD player and immediately start laughing and feeling better about the world. I know millions upon millions of people around the world feel the same way...

One of my favorite all-time scenes from the show...

Woman Receives Ten Quadrillion Dollar Phone Bill

If you think your cell phone plan is expensive with your kids always texting and downloading useless crap every few seconds, you'll be grateful that your bill has never been as high as the one a woman in France recently received!

The mademoiselle named Solenne San Jose decided that she would cancel her telephone service with French communications giant Bouygues Telecom (probably for shoddy service and continuous billing errors—just saying.) After severing her contract with the company, they promptly sent San Jose a bill in the mail for a staggering €11,721,000,000,000,000 or ten quadrillion US dollars. (That figure does indeed contain twelve sets of zeros, folks!)

After opening the bill, San Jose had a facial reaction that I imagine was quite similar to this:

"There were so many zeros I couldn't even work out how much it was," she said in an interview with French media. After taking a few nitro-glycerin pills, she contacted the company and informed them of what was obviously a colossal billing error.

That wasn't as easy as it sounds, as apparently the company felt that there was at least a slight chance that the bill was correct, but ultimately sanity prevailed and the company admitted that her bill was actually for only €117.21, or $151— and not the amount of the US trade deficit.

Everyone, go check your phone bills now...

What Lies Beneath? Louisiana Sinkhole Continues to Grow

Photo credit: phys.org

Update August 23, 2013: New video from the Louisiana sinkhole shows a large group of trees being swallowed whole by the sinkhole in one giant gulp! 

Update: March 25, 2013: The Assumption Parish sinkhole has continued to grow and as of now covers an incredible 9 acres of land. More methane gas leaks have been detected as well as continued seismic activity. Neighborhoods closest to the sinkhole are still abandoned, with local governments planning for more people to be evacuated should the sinkhole continue to expand, with no word on any plan to prevent the disaster from spreading. More information in the video below:

The mysterious Louisiana sinkhole that began opening earlier in the summer has continued to expand rapidly, and appears to be ready to completely encompass a 1 mile by 3 mile salt dome located beneath the ground.

Authorities have asked more than 150 households and businesses located nearby the sinkhole in the towns of Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou in Assumption Parish to evacuate the area as a safety precaution. The sinkhole was discovered on August 3 in a swamp located between Bayou Corne and Grand Bayou on property owned by Texas Brine Corp., parish officials have stated in blog posts. The sinkhole is about 200 feet away from the Texas Brine's cavern, one of 51 such oil and gas-related storage caverns carved out of the underground Napoleanville Salt Dome.

Local residents had been reporting seeing gas bubbles, hearing odd booms and feeling mysterious tremors in the bayous for several weeks leading up to the discovery of the sinkhole. The sinkhole, on land owned by Houston-based Texas Brine Co., initially began as an acre-sized hole that quickly liquefied into muck, toppling hundreds of cypress trees as it rapidly expanded. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has since declared a state of emergency in Assumption Parish.

The top of the sinkhole expanded to encompass more than 4-acres in the past week, swallowing up more trees as well as part of a road built to help clean up the site, officials have stated. Officials have also stated that the sinkhole will more than likely continue to expand in the coming weeks, months and perhaps even years.

An oil slick within the sinkhole is now so massive the fumes can be smelled by residents more than a mile away, with some complaining the diesel-like vapors are making them ill.

"Great" Comet ISON Will Be Visible in Daytime Sky Next Year

Photo of Comet ISON taken November 10, 2013, shows blue coma and a double tail! Photo by Michael Jäger of Jauerling Austria

 Update: December 31, 2013: Is ISON still there or isn't it? The general public is still getting the runaround regarding if Comet ISON is still alive, but a recent posting from an amateur astronomer claims to have discovered what is believed to be the debris cloud of the comet (above photograph).

Update: Although currently not as bright as astronomers predicted it would be at this time, Comet ISON is still putting on a spectacular show. Scientists believe it will survive its close encounter with the sun and perhaps be visible to the naked eye by mid to late November, 2013!

A recently discovered comet will make an extremely dramatic flyby past Earth and give our planet a spectacular show.

Comet ISON was discovered this week by Russian astronomers Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok. The new comet is officially known as C/2012 S1, with ISON an acronym for the International Scientific Optical Network, the telescope used to discover the comet.

At  its perihelion (its closest point to the sun), due on November 28, 2013, Thanksgiving Day in the United States, the comet will come within 800,000 miles of the sun’s surface and could evolve into a dazzling celestial body, possibly bright enough to be visible in broad daylight. [edit:] National Geographic has stated on their official site that the comet WILL be the brightest in human history and will be brighter than a full moon.]

The possibility of the comet being visible in the daytime skies will make it one of the most exciting comets to whiz past the earth in a long while. Comet ISON will be barely visible to the unaided eye when it is in the predawn sky positioned against the stars of Leo in October 2013. ISON will then travel north after perihelion and become visible during December both in the evening sky after sunset and in the morning sky before sunrise in certain latitudes of the planet. Just how bright it will be and how long the tail may get during this time frame is not yet known, but it is possible it will be one of the greatest comets in history, if it does not break up while approaching the sun, as comets tend to do.

The prophet Nostradamus had quite a bit to say about comets and the 2012 "time frame":
Quatrain II.46
After great misery for mankind an even greater one approaches, when the great cycle of the centuries is renewed. It will rain blood, milk, famine, war and disease. In the sky will be seen a fire, dragging a tail of sparks.
Quatrain II.41
The great star for seven days will burn, The cloud will cause two suns to appear: The big mastiff all night will howl, When the great pontiff changes countries.

The great star in the quatrain is believed to be a comet while the "cloud" is the comet's coma or tail.

Mother Shipton also made similar prophecies:

A fiery dragon will cross the sky - 7A: The first comet cluster appears.
six times before the earth shall die (has died). - 8: It has appeared 6 times before. (Comet ISON is believed to be an "offspring" of the Great Comet of 1680)
Mankind will tremble and frightened be - 2: Pervasive global fear, 1926 - 2026.
for the six heralds in this prophecy. - 1: Mass death - Subject of this Prophecy. 

Simulation of how Comet ISON will look in the sky during daylight hours. Photo credit Universe Today.

No More Jimmy Choo's: Imelda Marcos' Famous Shoe Collection in Ruins

She once possessed the world's most famous shoe collection, but the former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos would be broken hearted to see her shoes today...

It seems that years of neglect have left the 1200 pair plus collection of fashionable footwear in a severe state of disrepair. Boxes of items once belonging to Imelda and her deceased husband Ferdinand Marcos—the longtime dictator of the Asian nation who died in exile in Hawaii in 1989—have been ruined by water damage as well as termites and mildew.

Ironically, many of the items—including some of the First Lady's lavish ball gowns— had been transferred to the National Museum in the capital of Manila for safekeeping two years ago after high levels of humidity and dangerous mold threatened the collection where they were once stored at the National Palace, where the Marcos' resided during their long tenure.

The collection of shoes once boasted more than 3000 pairs and were the object of great media attention after the Marcos' were ousted following a military coup d'état in 1986. The shoe collection was widely seen as an example of  flamboyant excess and political corruption exhibited by the couple, who had been in power since 1965. 

Imelda Marcos, who was dubbed "The Iron Butterfly" by the press, is now 83-years-old and returned to her homeland in 1991 after five years of exile. She is currently a member of the country's House of Representatives.