Marc Anthony Buys A Football Team

Marc Anthony buys a limited stake in the Miami Dolphins.  Not very exciting news there.  Which is why everyone in the press, and the fans as well, were happy that Jennifer showed up.  Because lets face it, who would you rather look at holding a jersey?

Marc was surprisingly nervous during the press conference, giving kind of a long rambling speech about how great it is to be part of the Dolphins.  He seemed to relax once he got his jersey and Jennifer came out. Which I think the NFL commissioner spilled the beans earlier saying Jennifer was there, it seemed like that was suppose to be a surprise.

It was a good thing there was free coffee and Roger let on early that Jennifer was there, because many of would have had a hard time staying awake otherwise.  But now that Jennifer and Marc have a stake in the Dolphins maybe they can bring back some of the glamour the Dolphins had when Dan was there.

Sir Paul At The Ed Sullivan Theater

The Letterman show is usually pretty routine,  show up, stand around for a few hours waiting for someone to show, hope they pose on the way in,  wait  some more, hope they pose on the way out, go home.  But today was special.  Paul McCartney playing on the marquee of the Ed Sullivan Theater, the place it all started in the US for the Beatles.  The crowd started building around noon once word got out the Paul was playing 5 or 6 songs on the marquee.  By 4:00 the excitement was palpable.  Even though the hot sun had been beating down on many for hours.  Around that time fans got a taste with a sound check,  though they couldn’t see because the show put up large curtains.  Fans went nuts every time Paul poked his head out.

Once the show got started Paul showed he could rock like a man half his age. And it was great that he kicked things off with ” Get Back “. Open windows were a plenty around the theater with many people hanging out them.  And fans got a treat with glimpse of Bruce Willis riding up on a lighting platform for a better view. Perhaps the best image was the young women in a modernized 60′s pink and blue mod dress standing on a window sill in her office building dancing.  One could have thought it was 1964 all over again.

Hot Time In The City

It would seem that summer has finally arrived in the city after what seems like months of cool rainy weather.  Which must be why Hayden showed up at Letterman this week in a little lacy black dress in an effort to beat the city heat.  Or maybe she was trying to generate some of her own, and let the world know that she is all grown up.  Either way it went over well with both photographers and fans.

Megan Fox and Johnny Depp at Letterman

Megan Signing for fans at Letterman

A Large crowd gathers for Johnny Depp and Megan Fox.

What a turn out for two superstars.  So many fans showed up that the Letterman show had to close 54th street.  That last time this many people came was for Hillary Clinton during the election. Johnny was great with the fans spending as much time as the police and Letterman security would let him.  They did what to try and get the street open again.  I didn’t realize what a heart throb Johnny was.  Girls were crying because he looked in their general direction.  One girl was screaming at Megan to “get out of the way bitch”  because she couldn’t see Johnny.

I would have to say most of the couple of thousand fans there were for Johnny Depp.  While there were many Megan fans, most just wanted to she if she really is that hot in person. And yes she is.  But she doesn’t seem to ooze sexiness.

Johnny stole the show, after all he is a old pro at this. He really played up to the crowd and seemed be be having great fun.  Much like Captain Jack might.

Newark Bears and All-Star Game

The new owners of the Newark Bears are pulling out all the stops this year to fill seats and it seems to be working.  It also helps that Newark has a mayor that people believe can finally turn the city around.  Unlike others years, there does seem to be quite the positive vibe going on at Riverfront Stadium.  So it wasn’t to much of a surprise that the Bears got the All-Star game and a celebrity softball game.  The fans got to see a fun filled game with Queen Latifah, Adrienne Bailon, Ozzie Smith, and Frank Vincent. It’s nice to see a business doing good things for the community in this downtown,  especially in a community that has been having such a tough time for so long.

Away We Go

John Krasinski And Maya Rudolph

There is a big difference between Hollywood films and little indie films.  Hollywood makes the big, special effects filled, glitzy films.  The indie films a little quirky. There is also a big difference in premieres as well.  Hollywood films, big red carpets, organized, glitzy events. Indie films a little quirky.  Which explains why my photo of the leads from “Away We Go” look like they are standing at the exit of a restroom.  Normally the stars stand in front of a step and repeat.  That’s a background with the Movie title or logo on the back and it runs the length of the carpet.  But indie films are in smaller space and often times with very small budgets.  So for this premiere the A-List(Getty, Wireimage, AP) photographers got a small step and repeat, then came the video people(ET, Extra, AP, and others) then came the rest of us photographers.  That set up not only gave us the bad background, it also meant there was a traffic jam at the door. Normally it goes photographers and than video, its rare that photographers are split up. Because video has bright lights that can mess with our shots and often they hold the stars for several minutes for interviews.  And after video they just want to go in and sit. So while we were trying to get shots, often we were block or had someone in frame because of the video.  Some just rushed by us without posing.  It was a mess.

However there is always a bright side to things.  Because of all the traffic jams we got to see some people being rather silly.  John Hodgeman skipped the carpet and joking around people from the street. And we got see Allison Janney, Sam Mendes, and  Stephanie Block  fool around.  Allison and Stephanie kept making funny faces behind Sam.  So Even though it was a disorganized premiere it still was fun thanks to John Hodgeman and Allison Janney.

The Tony Awards

The 63rd Annual Tony Awards what a zoo.  The red carpet was a mad house.  Now most are, but this one was one of the worst.  There were nearly several fist fights over spots and that was with marked spots for each of us.  But we were packed pretty tightly.  A PR person told off a photographer who asked if a celebrity could pose again.  He came up a screamed at her saying if she can’t get the shot in the allotted time then maybe she “sucks as a photographer” and should consider a new line of work.  She deserved it she had been quite annoying up to that point asking for second chances and whining about not get the shot.  Not to mention she was front row with an oversized flash bracket that blocked other shooters window.

The mad house did create some interesting moments besides near fist fights.  Because of the long back up on the carpet, I got to see Liza Minelli give Will Farrell a big awkward kiss.  And a funny moment came when Angela Lansberry just walked the carpet waving cutting in front of several shots.  She almost seemed like a lost old lady who just stumbled on the carpet.  And it was fun to watch as the celebrities become visibly nervous as their turn approached to join in the pandemonium.

I learned something at the Tonys.  Those who are nominated for an award often carry a flask of water with them.  I was in an elevator with someone nominated when they pulled a small very well stashed flask out and had a swig.  Their PR person nearly had a heart attack.  They then explained that there is no water bottles allowed in the theater and that if you happen to win, you don’t want to go up and accept your award with dry mouth.  So many nominated people sneak little sips here and there. So if your ever at a major awards ceremony and you see a big time celebrity sipping from a flask it may not be what you think.