Celebrity New Year’s Resolutions 2012

by Mick Du Russel

As we cruise into 2012 (the middle of January already!), the New Year brings hopes and wishes for better things in our lives. We often make personal commitments to ourselves called New Year’s resolutions. I’m sure some have already been broken but for some of us, our inner wishes and promises continue. For the third year, I’ve asked celebrities to share their New Year’s resolutions with us and here’s what they said…

New York Giants legend LEONARD MARSHALL told me his resolution is” Don’t be that guy in 2012″. When I asked him what exactly does that mean, he said “Bill Parcells used to always say to me when I retired Don’t be that guy who wished he could do more when the final whistle blows. Live life to the extreme in terms of whatever you’re doing… Sex, love, kids, family, wife, or girlfriend. Go for it!” Sounds great to me Leonard!

Rock and Roll legend BONNIE BRAMLETT has a unique resolution “This coming year is the first year of RETIREMENT! Wow I mean dude…a retired Rock Star??? Hahaha who ever heard of such a thing? I’m it! I MADE IT! My childhood dreams were fulfilled way beyond what I could even imagine. I made history! With the help of the rest of the world and now I need Y’all again Cause I Got A New Dream! I’m going to Hollywood to be Another “STAR”. Only this time I’ll be an “actor” and a helping hand to “disabled and challenged adults”. I mean “helping hands on” like hugs and acting and singing classes. I know I can do it! Wish me help dear one!! Blessings on u and yours”. Rock on Bonnie!

Actor BILL MUMY, best known as young Will on the classic TV show “Lost in Space” and a respected musician/songwriter, offered his short and to the point resolution “My resolution is to do the best I can and can the best I do.” Spoken very well Will Robinson!

Some more celebrities also offered their wishes for 2012. Screen legend MAMIE VAN DOREN wishes “Peace for the world”.
Legendary rock guitarist EARL SLICK got right to the point in a fun way “Have fun and kick ass!” Spoken like a true rocker!
Comedian SAL RICHARDS said “My resolution is not to make any resolutions any more because they don’t work!”
Another rocker BILL CHAMPLIN (Chicago) also felt the same way “I stay away from resolutions because they never work! But it’s the usual…eat less and exercise more kinda’ stuff”.
Veteran cabaret singer JULIE BUDD said very sweetly “Between you & Me…I don’t have any…I just always resolute to be a good kid!” Forever young!

Former Yankees public relations director MARTY APPEL offered his earnest resolution “The passing of Steve Jobs touched many of us in a way we didn’t anticipate. He really was a significant American figure who made lives better. I’ve been thinking about switching to an Apple computer for a long time, and in 2012, I resolve to make it happen. And when I do, I’ll think about Steve.”

American pop/rock singer and songwriter DWIGHT TWILLEY shared his humble resolution “In 2011 I lost some very dear friends. In 2012 my resolution is to treasure, appreciate & cherish the friends, family & loved ones still in my life. Perhaps along the way I can even teach myself to extend an extra tablespoon of warmth to the stranger on the street.”
Happy New Year everyone! I hope all of your wishes and resolutions come true and that the New Year brings peace and prosperity to us all!

Photographed Above: Leonard Marshall and Mamie Van Doren

Introducing Singer/Songwriter VINCENT POAG

by Mick Du Russel

Sometimes in life, a man has dreams that often get’s put on the back burner as education and a career demand full attention. For most, these dreams remain just what they are…dreams. For others, it comes to life down the road when the time is right. Vincent Poag is that person. A singer/songwriter, he has just put out his first CD aptly named “Circling Back” and his love of music shines through on this brilliant debut CD. Crafty lyrics, flowing melodic music and a voice that sounds very Dylanesque with a hint of Tom Waits, this is a CD that deserves more than just one listen to. I spoke to Vincent recently as his CD is starting to create a stir in the music industry….

MICK: You are originally from Long Island Vincent?
VINCENT: Yes, I grew up in Massapequa. I lived there until I went to college and now I’ve been living in Manhattan for quite a long time now. My whole family was from Long Island. I only have fond memories! I love Long Island! My father and his brothers had a hardware store in town and I kind of grew up in that store.

MICK: Does your family still live out here?
VINCENT: I do have some family that still lives on the Island but now we are kind of spread out. I come from a pretty large family. I still go out there quite a bit. On a beautiful day, it’s a beautiful as anywhere in the world!

MICK: When did you write your first song?
VINCENT: A long time ago! I’m a 60 year old guy now! I started as a teenager writing songs.

MICK: After starting out as a musician, you left that behind to enter the business world. What type of career did you go into?
VINCENT: I always considered myself a pretty good song writer and that’s the part of the music that I loved and had the most talent in. But I wasn’t the most proficient musician so I couldn’t really make a living as a studio musician or playing dates as a musician. So growing up in a business where my family always worked for themselves, eventually I knew I would just work for myself. I went into commercial real estate. I got tired of starving and used my creativity in a different way. It’s worked out real well for me. But there was this part that I left behind musically. Once you move into the business side, it becomes harder to have that freedom to create as an artist.

MICK: While you were in that career, did you play or write at all?
VINCENT: I kept involved to a certain degree but kept it limited to family functions and things of that nature. I did write songs along the way. I’ve always loved music and all kinds of artists. I’ve always continued to appreciate the music. I felt that I left a piece of me behind and that it was something I should have continued.

MICK: In 2008, you did get back into music again. How did that come about?
VINCENT: My wife was insightful enough to get me guitar lessons with a local rocker by the name of Aric Carroll (who also records under the name Slim Francis). One thing led to another and I felt that I should start recording a lot of the songs that I’ve written or they were going to go with me! Aric set up a home studio and I recorded 15-20 songs over a couple of days. He suggested I bring in some musicians and this started to really percolate my creative juices in terms of what I could do with these songs. I’ve always been the kind of person that can’t do things halfway. I have to give it my all or it’s not worth doing. So musicians were brought in and I decided to see how much further I could take this. I eventually hooked up with arranger by the name of Cathy Sommer, who is a conductor and we started to explore all kinds of orchestrations.

MICK: How did you hook up with Cathy?
VINCENT: My wife had a friend who had been involved with Broadway and had worked with her. I got her name and hooked up with her. It ended up being a very wonderful collaboration. She took me to places that I never thought I would go. For me to explore full orchestrations and make decisions around all kinds of instrumentation was wonderful. I’m really glad I had that opportunity and I’m very proud of the end result. The Christmas song is being played now. It’s one of my favorites on the CD. It’s a contemporary Christmas song and I think it has a poignant message. I hoping more people will listen to it! “The Stress Song” is another song that’s a fun song. The song was actually written by Phil Stubbs from the Bahamas. He’s a guy who has devoted his whole life to music. He has an incredible body of music. I happened to hear this song ten years ago out on Long Island being played by a Caribbean group. This was way before I ever planned to record a CD. I rewrote the song for one of my birthday parties, played it and had fun with it. It’s one of my favorite songs so when I wanted to make my CD, I went down to the Bahamas to meet Phil and get permission to use the song with my changes to the lyrics. We ended up becoming very close friends. He’s very famous down there and he’s handcuffed by the limitations of the Bahamas. I kept his basic chorus but I changed the verses and the music to some degree. It’s a fun song with a great message. The song got up to number 5 on the FM QB charts so I’m very pleased!

MICK: What inspires you?
VINCENT: I love being able to create a song from scratch. It comes painfully! Sometimes it just flows but other times it comes hard with the right words and the right music. But when you finish and you listen, it is so all inspiring! It’s very hard to land sometimes particularly with the different arrangements but when you do, when you finish a song and you feel good about it, it inspires me and I hope it does other people as well.

MICK: Does it typically take you long to write a song?
VINCENT: It varies. Sometimes it’s easier than others. At this stage in my life, I’m involved with so many things. I run a business and that takes up a lot of my time. Just being able to devote myself to the songs and focus is sometimes difficult. But I’ve learned to be patient. I’ve learned to trust myself and I don’t settle. Unless I’m happy with it, I just keep going. I can’t do things halfway and I won’t release anything until it’s to my liking and my satisfaction. I consider myself a songwriter and a singer by default because at this stage in the game, if I didn’t sing my own songs, they weren’t going to get done. I’m glad that I did finish the first album and I’m working on the second one now. I have a lot of great new songs that I’m very excited with!

We are very excited too!
To find more on Vincent, please go to: http://vincentpoag.com/
Vincent Poag – Circling Back
Buy the CD at CDBaby.com
Buy MP3′s on iTunes!

CINDY FOX- The NAKED COWGIRL

by Mick Du Russel

The Naked Cowboy has been a New York City institution for many years. Now there is a sexy and feminine version of the cowboy and she is CINDY FOX, also known as The Naked Cowgirl! Cindy is quickly becoming very well known herself and you will be hearing much more from her in the very near future! I had the great pleasure to speak with Cindy recently…

MICK: How did it all begin for you as the Naked Cowgirl?
CINDY: Since I was in high school, I was a fitness trainer and personal trainer. I went to school to become a gym teacher. I got married, had three kids. When I got separated, I needed something to support myself. I went back to school for two years to become an X-Ray tech. At that point, I didn’t know anything about a Naked Cowboy or anything like that. All I had time to do was go to school, study, training clients, teaching classes and taking care of three little kids. About eight years ago, I was working in a gym in Secaucus, NJ (which is where I grew up). I was on an elliptical machine with one of my clients and in between us was Robert Burck, who is the Naked Cowboy. At that point, I had never heard of him. She introduced us. We started to see each other often at the gym when we worked out and became friends. I eventually started dating him. I still had no idea what exactly he did by playing guitar in his underwear. I started asking people and went to Times Square to see what he did. I thought is was his way of getting attention to himself to become famous or become a rock star or something like that. We lived just thirteen minutes outside of New York City so I assumed only people from NYC and Secaucus knew who he was. After five months, I went to the Mardi Gras with him. We went down to Bourbon Street and he started doing his thing in his underwear. He was getting mobbed by people down there! That’s when it hit me that he was famous! It was overwhelming to the magnitude of his celebrity. While we were there, I was wearing jeans and bought a cowboy hat. People would see me with him and say “How come you’re not in underwear too?” or “Is this your Naked Cowgirl?” He would get hired to appear at places all over the world and I started wearing outfits that were cowgirlish. Not a bikini but little skirts or little tops. That started around seven years ago but only when we were out of the area. My children were young and my oldest son, who was 15 at the time, had a hard time dealing with me dating The Naked Cowboy. The people in my town loved Robert and they thought it was the coolest thing. My youngest son thought it was great. His friends thought it was cool. Robert always gave him money for stuff. My daughter thought it was cool just because her friends did. So the idea of doing anything remotely close to home was totally out of the question. I would only do it when we were out of state or out of the country. Eventually when we were in Tokyo, Japan, he was making an appearance for Japan’s Match.com and while we were there, I asked him to teach me to play the guitar. So he showed me some chords. But it took a long time to learn. I was busy going to school, working all these jobs. There was a part of me that wanted to do it but it just wasn’t realistic at that time. I was also involved with my fitness work, producing videos, choreographing, being featured in the videos. From Robert, I learned a lot about networking and marketing. Prior to me becoming the Naked Cowgirl, there were two others before me. There was this young free spirited girl who decided she would be the Cowgirl. She knew how to play the guitar and would be there in the summer. She got a ton of publicity and articles as the first Naked Cowgirl. But she would leave for the winter and come back in the summer. She got caught up in the whole party life in NYC and disappeared for two years. Then Sandy Kane, the second Naked Cowgirl, came into the picture. This all got me kind of angry because they knew I was out on the road as the Naked Cowgirl with the Naked Cowboy. Because The Naked Cowboy is trademarked, Robert’s manager said the Naked Cowgirls would have to sign a licensing agreement if they wanted to make money with that.
Finally, I decided if I did this in Times Square, this would give me the publicity and recognition to help me with my fitness programs too. I would be the first, officially licensed Cowgirl. I knew I’d get a lot of heat from my kids. It was a slow start but that’s how it all began.

MICK: Are you out there in the winter too?
CINDY: When I started going out there in Times Square last year, people would often ask me that. Sure enough, when winter came, the other girls were long gone as soon as the temperature dropped below 60. I wanted to prove this to people that I could do it, even if it was only for a brief time out in the cold. I would do this a few times a month throughout the winter. When we had that huge blizzard last year at Christmas time, I was sick as dog that whole day. I was just starting to feel a little better and we decided to go to Times Square for a few minutes and get a few pictures. Robert’s manager and his wife were visiting NYC from Nashville and we told them to meet us in Times Square with a camera. Visibility was very bad as we drove in from New Jersey. We got there and it was brutal outside. Robert warned me because he’s been out in that kind of weather. I went out there and they started taking the pictures. My fingers were frozen and I couldn’t even hold the guitar pick. After about 13 minutes, which seemed like forever, I walked back to the garage. We got some great photos!

MICK: I saw you on CBS with the Pro Football picks. You did great!
CINDY: That was beginners luck! I stayed up cramming the night before like it was a final exam, trying to figure out who has injuries and what their stats were. I didn’t want to look stupid going in there! So I just said what I knew and gave my own opinion. I got all of my picks right! That was amazing!

MICK: You have the new single out “Ride It Like A Cowgirl”. It definitely sounds great! What kind of response are you getting from it so far?
CINDY: My manager Lori Michaels wrote and produced my song along with Giuseppe D. of “Hothead Productions”. In the beginning, it wasn’t doing that great because we only did a soft release on it. Lori wanted to make the Cowgirl dance a new sensation, something you will hear at weddings and other parties. Lori’s choreographer, Courtney Lynch, put the whole dance together. It’s very upbeat and hip- hoppish! I think my biggest fans right now are little kids because they just love the beat!
It was a slow year but like starting a business, it takes time and starts to snowball. I’m finally now at the point where everything is coming in with people wanting to come take photos, do interviews, a lot of charity events (which I’m all about doing). It’s all great and fun!

MICK: Please tell me about Cindy Fox Fitness!
CINDY: It’s my own company officially called Cindy Fox LLC. It’s personal fitness training, whether it be in person or on videos. I have my own trademark which is a fox logo. I have that on tee shirts and different products. I work out of several gyms with my fitness training. I go to people’s houses if it’s worth it for me and not too far away. I do so many things that I try to schedule them back to back.

MICK: Do you and Robert work out together still?
CINDY: We do sometimes. My schedule is crazy and his is less crazy. He has more time in the day than anybody I know actually so he goes when he wants to. I teach the fitness classes and still work at the hospital so I go when I can.

MICK: What has been your biggest thrill so far as the Naked Cowgirl?
CINDY: Just being out there in a busy crowd is a rush. There are days where I’ve taught a class, went to the bank, cleaned my house and then head into the city. I could be so not in the mood to do this and feel like just staying home to relax. But by the time I leave the parking garage and walk to Times Square and the crowd starts coming around, I’m smiling for all of the photographs being taken and I’m in a great mood! You totally forget that you weren’t in a good mood just before! One particular big moment happened with someone I did some networking with. He wanted to come to the city to meet me and get some photos with his family. He said his little daughter actually loved my song! He said his daughter was 3 years old and I forgot how much a small child is capable of knowing things. So when the day came, I was out there playing and they came up. It was him, his wife, a baby in the carriage and little Michelle. She was very shy and I started talking to her. I started singing my Cowgirl song to her and she really lightened up. She was in awe! Her dad said “You don’t understand. She has about five songs on her CD player and you’re song is one of them. You’re right up there with Lady Gaga! She knows every single word to your song and plays it over and over!” My own kids don’t even know my song! That moment is up there!

MICK: How long do you think you will be doing this?
CINDY: I don’t know. There’s a lot of possibilities with this. Robert has been doing it for 15 years now. There’s been many times when he hasn’t felt like being out there but he is consistent, no matter what weather. He prides himself on that. He gets booked for all kinds of appearances and they use his image for advertisements. He now has Naked Cowboy Oysters that’s put out by Blue Island Shellfish Farms out on Long Island. So now most of the oysters pulled from the Long Island Sound are called Naked Cowboy Oysters. They are in restaurants all over the United States. That’s just one example of residual income. The name will carry on.

“RIDE IT LIKE A COWGIRL” now on iTunes
www.nakedcowgirlfox.com
www.twitter.com/nakedcowgirlfox

Westbury Welcomes OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN

by Mick Du Russel

For more than four decades, OLIVIA NEWTON JOHN has captivated the world over with her talent, charm and numerous acts of humanitarianism. She is a fine actress in many hit movies, a four time Grammy Award winner and has sold over 100 million albums worldwide. Today, Olivia continues to record, appear in movies, and support her favorite charities. Her short December tour comes to the NYCB Theatre at Westbury on December 8th. I was thrilled to speak with Olivia prior to the start of this tour!

MICK: I’m sure you’ve been very busy since last October with Breast Cancer Awareness month and your other projects. Did you get a chance to rest at all?
OLIVIA: I made a movie recently so I’ve been promoting that. I’ve always been an advocate of self exam and breast cancer awareness for a long time. I do get to rest when I can!

MICK: Please tell me about your first book “LivWise: Easy Recipes For A Healthy, Happy Life” (Murdoch Books) that was recently released in Australia!
OLIVIA: It’s a cook book that will be coming out in America next year at some point. The money raised from the sale of the book will go to my cancer wellness center in Melbourne, Australia that will be opening next year as well. This book is a healthy look at eating and as I’m not a gourmet chef of any kind, I asked some friends to contribute to my book. Gaia Retreat & Spa is a spa that I’m a part owner in Australia. We have the most amazing chef and we have our own garden to grow amazing food. They contributed some recipes. Another friend of mine who contributed is Karen Inge, who is a nutritionist in Melbourne (which is where my hospital is). She will be advising us at the hospital. Another friend is Kristine Matheson who heals herself through food. She talks about growing your own sprout and things like that. I also include a few of my own recipes. They’ve made a really pretty book out of it and it did really well in Australia. We are hoping is does well in America too. Again, all of my money from the book goes to the hospital!

MICK: Your new CD “Portraits: A Tribute to Great Women of Song” was produced by Phil Ramone. What was it like working with him?
OLIVIA: He’s great! He’s an old friend of mine. I’ve known him for a very long time. In fact, the first movie I ever made was a movie called “Tomorrow” in the 1960′s. Phil was the musical director so I’ve known him since then! It’s time we got to do an album together. This was done a number of years ago so this is a re-release.

MICK: How did you choose the songs for the CD?
OLIVIA: It was all women that I’ve admired. Their songs or their singing affected me in some way so I picked all of the women whose songs that I loved.

MICK: In your amazing life, what would you consider your biggest thrill up to this point in your life?
OLIVIA: Having my daughter! Nothing compares to that!

MICK: And how is she doing?
OLIVIA: She doing quite well thank you!

MICK: Do you keep in touch with John Travolta?
OLIVIA: Yes we do keep in touch!

MICK: In 2007, your holiday recording “Christmas Wish” was a big hit. Is Christmas your favorite holiday?
OLIVIA: I do like Christmas because people do get together at that time of year. When I lived in Los Angeles, my house was the place where we would do a lot of the traditional things on holidays like Easter. I used to love Easter when my daughter was small because we would have all the kids over looking for Easter eggs. But Christmas is a lovely holiday because people make an effort to get together.

MICK: You and your husband John Easterling are very big on spreading the word about saving the rain forest. Have you seen more progress in this movement?
OLIVIA: It’s hard to say. I think the more awareness and education, the more improvement will be and the word eventually gets to paths of people who really care. My husband is very optimistic about this and he believes there is change happening. I’d rather be on the edge of optimism because I think we can turn things around before it’s too late. My husband’s company gets herbs from the Amazon rain forest and these herbs have amazing healing qualities. Most of our pharmaceuticals are based on research they done on these pharmaceutical plants. I think that when they realize if we lose the rain forest, we will lose all of these keys to healing. It is incredibly import to save!

MICK: How did you meet your husband?
OLIVIA: I met my husband about 18 years ago through my friends Nancy and Jim. They went to a health and wellness convention and he was demonstrating his herbs to people.
They took the herbs and felt so amazing that they went back the next day and became friends with him. Then they introduced me to him when I went to a talk about the rain forest. That was almost 19 years ago, right after I had breast cancer. I ended up giving him a puppy because he loved my dog so much. That dog just passed away last year. We were friends for a long time and then four years ago, he invited me to the rain forest and we fell in love!

MICK: 2012 already looks like a very busy year for you with the new movie and the new CD. What’s coming after that?
OLIVIA: It’s going to be a real incredible year because the first section of my hospital in Melbourne will open. The Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre which is something I’ve been working to help raise money for the last eight years. The building is almost complete and we will be opening the first part of it in June.That’s really exciting! The culmination of many years work! I’m also doing a tour in Australia with a symphony and we will be raising money for the hospital.

MICK: Which of today’s artists do you like?
OLIVIA: Oh gosh there’s so many talented people! I love Pink! I love Beyonce. There’s so much talent out there, I’m always blown away! The standards of the singing and writing are just fantastic!

MICK: Do you still live in Australia?
OLIVIA: I have a place in Australia and my husband and I are based out of Florida now. I moved from California to Florida because that’s where he is. That was a whole change of life but it’s been wonderful.

MICK: Is there anybody you would still like to work with that you haven’t worked with already?
OLIVIA: Yes tons of people! I’d like to work with Rod Stewart again sometime. We did something together around 30 years ago. Of course you always want to sing with a Beatle so I’d love to sing with Paul McCartney. I’d also like to work with Eric Clapton. There’s so many talented guys out there and some amazing girls too!

MICK: You are coming to Westbury on December 8th. What can your fans expect to hear?
OLIVIA: They will hear the songs they expect to hear from what I gather from my fan mail and when they write to me. They will hear my hits, plus I’ll put a smattering of new things in like from the movie I just made. I do a new song for that so that will be in the show. I will probably do some Christmas songs because we are close to Christmas! And a song off of “Portraits”. It will be a mixture of my whole career.

Olivia Newton John comes to the NYCB Theatre at Westbury
in Westbury NY on Thu, Dec 8, 2011 08:00 PM

For more on Olivia visit http://www.olivianewton-john.com/

November 1, 2011

Fragments From Olympus- The Vision of Nikola Tesla

by Mick Du Russel

Some have called him a mad scientist yet he is undeniably one of the greatest inventors of all time. Yet, as strange as it is, most people have never heard of Nikola Tesla. Now, 78 years after his death, a new film is being created to tell Tesla’s amazing story and help save his famous laboratory Wardenclyffe. “Fragments From Olympus” is director by Joseph Sikorski’s and co-writer Michael Calomino’s labor of love, a project they’ve been working on for over 10 years. As the film is being developed, I had the great pleasure to speak with Joseph Sikorski about his fantastic film…

MICK: How did you get interested in Nikola Tesla in the first place?
JOSEPH: Over the years, I heard his name but never knew much about him. I used to go to the bookstore with my wife to browse the books and there was always some Tesla books in the discount section. What really fascinated me was this “death ray” that they said he invented. That’s how I really got interested. I started reading about this “death ray” that the FBI believed he invented. I learned about the investigation into the “death ray” and was very interested in getting hold of the FBI documents. Each time at the bookstore, I would read a little more and finally had to buy it! I was shocked that I didn’t know about him before and all the things he did that he didn’t get credit for and how interesting his life was. It became a cause for me to bring him into the mainstream. He did not get credit for a lot of the things that people stole from him. A lot of people believed he was just eccentric or crazy. The sad part is that he was such an incredible genius on DaVinci’s level or beyond that. He still has research that is very relevant today. We hope that a by-product of this film will raise awareness of his research and continue it, especially in the fields of alternative energy where he was a pioneer.

Today, most people have never heard of Tesla or they just know of the rock band Tesla. The reason we have electric appliances in our homes is purely because of Tesla. Even radio, his most famous invention, the schools still teach that Marconi invented radio and it’s such a travesty because the Supreme Court actually ruled in Tesla’s favor and that Marconi violated 17 of Tesla’s patents. Tesla really was the father of radio but the awards for radio are called the Marconi Awards. Schools teach that Marconi invented radio and that Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen invented X-rays. These people take credit for what Tesla did! Of course his crowning achievement was Wardenclyffe Tower which was right here on Long Island. He hoped to provide free wireless energy to the whole world. The Wardenclyffe property is in Shoreham. The building is still there though the famous tower is long gone. Tesla was funded by JP Morgan. He wanted Tesla to build a tower that would connect all the stock exchanges of the world but Tesla kept going over budget. Tesla knew it would connect all of the stock exchanges but it would also send free electricity to anyone with an antenna and a receiver. Morgan finally cut him off. He didn’t agree with Tesla. His famous quote was “wireless energy- where do we put the meter?” Tesla’s dream of free energy went down with the tower.

The building is still there in Shoreham. It was designed by Stanford White, one of the world’s most prominent architects. The building is in jeopardy. It is deteriorating. There’s no public outcry for the property because most people have never heard of Tesla. We feel that if we can help raise awareness as to who Tesla was, then maybe they will see how valuable this piece of history is.
MICK: How long have you known Michael Calomino, your co-writer?
JOSEPH: We’ve been friends since high school! We both went to Lindenhurst High School here on Long Island. He’s now in Pennsylvania. We talk frequently. The other person involved is Vic Elefante who is from the North Bellmore area. We have actor Leo Rossi (Analyze This, Halloween II) on board. When we first started pitching this, we were telling people that we could make a period piece with special effects for 3 million dollars. They said we couldn’t do it. So we made this teaser for $700 to show them what we could do. We recently learned it was a semifinalist in International Movie Trailer Festival. It’s great because we don’t even have a finished film yet. We were competing with million dollar finished films! We are showing that we can do this film cheaper than a Hollywood production.
MICK: So you are basically just up to the script right now but you still haven’t casted the film?
JOSEPH: Leo Rossi is on so we have him. We have some very interesting possibilities that are just waiting for us to get closer.
MICK: I saw your ad in The Long Island Press where you publicly asked Ralph Macchio to star in the film.
JOSEPH: Yes we did! We want to bring Tesla into the popular culture. There have been some excellent documentaries on him and some really good stuff on The History Channel. There’s a great one on PBS called “Master of Lightning”. But most people still have never heard of Tesla. We want to make something that would spark an interest in science to the younger people and into popular culture to continue his research, save the Wardenclyffe property and vindicate his name. What we have is not a documentary and not a bio-pic which traditionally aren’t very successful. What we have is a true life mystery thriller because of the element of ‘the death ray’. The story begins with Tesla’s death and the FBI invading his apartment and as they search for his papers and his information on ‘the death ray’, his life unfolds as they investigate this. This is all from real FBI documents they we were able to obtain. It’s a mystery/adventure rather than just a bio-pic.
MICK: Have you met or spoken to any of Tesla’s relatives?
JOSEPH: He doesn’t have many relatives as he never married but he does have a nephew. I will get to meet him soon. The Tesla Science Center, the people who are trying to save Wardenclyffe, are doing a conference on wireless energy and invited us to be featured speakers there. William Terbo, Tesla’s nephew, is going to be there too.
MICK: How do you envision Wardenclyffe in the coming years?
JOSEPH: Jane Alcorn is the person in charge there and what she envisions is fantastic. It would become the Tesla Science Center and Museum. It would be part history of Tesla, part working science center. The building would be restored and hopefully we can continue his research. Right now, it’s a vacant piece of land deteriorating. This is the last remaining lab of Tesla’s in the whole world so this is a worldwide attraction. In fact, in Serbia (Tesla was from Serbia) they are trying to build a replica of Tesla’s tower over there. We have the actual property and building right here!
MICK: Are there any thoughts about reconstructing the tower here?
JOSEPH: I did speak to Jane about that possibility, at least as a monument. There are some zoning concerns. It would have to be a scaled down version unless some zoning laws were changed. When the film is done, that will bring some attention to it.
Wardenclyffe really could be a fantastic thing…a boom to a repressed economic area out there. There’s a lot of good reasons to save the property. The fact that Stanford White designed the building is alone a great reason. The building is rotting there since the 1980′s. After Tesla died, the building was used for a number of things. It was even a pickle factory at one time! Then the Peerless Photo Plant came in. They were owned by AGFA who was owned by the Bayer Corporation. They took it over and poured a lot of their photo chemicals down the well there. Because of that, there had to be a land cleanup. That probably saved the property from being sold a long time ago. A blessing in disguise! The cleanup has been done for six months now.
MICK: What is your time frame as far as completing the movie?
JOSEPH: I’d like to be shooting in the Spring of 2012. Things are starting to happen. Financially, we have some big investors waiting to see who we get on board and many small investors who want to be involved.
MICK: Are you working on any other projects besides “Fragments From Olympus”?
JOSEPH: No, this my sole focus right now and bringing attention to Wardencliffe.

MICK: Tesla worked for Thomas Edison at one time, didn’t he?
JOSEPH: Yes he did. Tesla designed a motor that was able to run on AC power using magnetic fields. He designed the whole system of AC power, not just the motor but the whole polyphase system which included transformers to step the power up and down. He got the idea for this alternative current motor so someone got him an introduction to go work for Edison. He went to work for Edison and he told Edison that he invented the impossible…a motor that will run on AC power. Edison was all DC power and didn’t want anything to do with it because he had so much invested in the DC system. Tesla saw problems with Edison’s system and it’s dynamos. Edison said if Tesla could get them working up to 100% efficiency that would mean fifty thousand dollars for him. Tesla saw this as a chance to build his own lab and get a footing as a scientist. He worked night and day constantly. While he was doing this, he won several patents for automation. Finally, he fixed Edison’s problem. When he went to collect his money, Edison said “Apparently you don’t understand American sense of humor”. Tesla quit and couldn’t get any work for a while. He had just come from Croatia, had no money and the only work he could find was digging ditches.
That all started the “war of the currents”. Alternate current is much more efficient and that’s what we use today. With Edison’s DC power, you needed a plant every mile or so. You also needed copper cable which was around a foot thick. You couldn’t regulate the power either. Tesla’s polyphase system could be regulated and could send power for hundreds of miles. Westinghouse backed Tesla but eventually had to back out because the battle against Edison had cost a small fortune. Here’s a guy who gave everything and didn’t get credit for anything! He died penniless in a hotel. Hopefully, this movie will teach people about Tesla, continue his research into alternative energy and turn Wardenclyffe into a world famous museum and research center.

For more information on “Fragments From Olympus” and Wardencliffe

www.FragmentsFromOlympus.com

Interested in learning more? Visit http://www.teslasociety.com/wardenclyffe2.htm

Tesla Conference 2011 – Exploring Tesla’s Technologies 

Please join us at the Tesla Conference 2011, Exploring Tesla’s Technologies, which will be held on Saturday, November 5, 2011 at the Hilton Garden Inn, Riverhead, Long Island, NY.

This one-day conference will focus on wireless energy and communication technology with many references to Nikola Tesla’s great innovations as well as current applications and research for future developments.

The first conference, held to mark Tesla’s 150th birthday, drew a wide range of scientists, businessmen and women, entrepreneurs, students, and Tesla enthusiasts from throughout New York State and beyond.  This year we have great plans to expand the content of the conference and to further our goals of acquisition, restoration and conversion of Wardenclyffe.  Wardenclyffe is the century-old and ONLY remaining laboratory of electrical pioneer Nikola Tesla, located in Shoreham, Long Island.  Our plans are to create the Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe to honor this iconic figure in our history.

For ticket information on this event visit http://www.teslasciencecenter.org/

Pop Artist Ocean Clark

by Mick Du Russel

Ocean Clark is truly one of today’s most prolific artists. His vibrant and richly colored paintings capture classic celebrities in a style that is pop and unique. “As an artist I feel it is my duty to bring new insight and inspiration to people by using my talents to demonstrate the beauty and awe of the imagination”.
Clark is coming to the Imagine Art Gallery in Port Jefferson, NY on Saturday, September 10th when his show opens up there. I had a great conversation with Ocean from his New Jersey studio…

MICK: I read that you come from an artistic family!
OCEAN: Yes I do! Both of my parents had scholarships to art school but neither of them went because they had kids. They were very artistic. They’re both retired now and still doing artistic things. I’ve got 13 brothers and sisters, all of whom are artists.
MICK: Where were you born?
OCEAN: I was born in Tillamook, Oregon. I live in New Jersey now.
MICK: I also read that you got your start in New Orleans!
OCEAN: I spent five years in Florida going to art school but I really didn’t develop my craft until I spent eight years in New Orleans as a street artist. You put yourself out there when you’re a street artist because you have a thousand people passing by and looking to see what you’re working on. I did my paintings right there on the street. You get insulted if they sucked and you get better real fast!
MICK: It’s been written that you paint with both hands. Is that literally or is that with a brush?
OCEAN: I use brushes but I do use both hands. My left hand doesn’t really know what it’s doing. It’s mainly for show but my left hand smears paint around. The right hand does the portrait type stuff and detailed stuff. I was actually left handed when I was born but in third grade, I had a teacher tell me that I should switch to right hand because everything was made for right handed people. I still do some things left handed but most everything is done right handed.
MICK: Do you use photographs when you paint?
OCEAN: Yes, I always have some kind of photo reference I’m looking at.
MICK: I notice that classic rock stars and classic movie stars are favorite subjects of yours to paint. Have you always liked old time movies and classic rock

OCEAN: When I was growing up, my parents were pretty strict about wasting time with TV. We never even had a TV when I was growing up. They were very health conscience and focused on raising kids. They were smart with their health too. Even when we had a TV later on when I was a teenager, we weren’t allowed to watch regular cable. We watched classic black and white movies, mainly because they didn’t want us sitting in front of a TV for five hours a day. Most families these days use it as a babysitter. We were all smart and creative. We got out in the world and played rather than sit in front of a TV. Because of that, the things I am into today are much older than I am. I do a lot of the classic movie stars because that’s what I grew up on and classic rock too because my parents were always playing it. I wasn’t one to rebel against my parents because they were creative types and they let us do what we wanted pretty much. If I were to rebel against them I would have become an accountant!
MICK: Writers often have writers block where it takes time to get in the mood to write. Do you ever get painters block?
OCEAN: Yes I do. I have some tricks for getting past that. One of the tricks I don’t do much anymore. I used to set up a canvas beside my bed before I go to sleep. When I woke up in the morning, I’d force myself to finish it before I get out of bed. It’s usually a small blank canvas, like 16″ x 20″, and I would sit there and work on it until it was finished every morning. I wouldn’t allow myself to even go to the bathroom, eat breakfast or have coffee. They were usually very crappy paintings because I was in a hurry. Once a month I would show my morning work. I’d show them like they were my best work and never let anyone know that they were your quick sketches that you hate! It encourages you to get better. For the artist block, it encourages you to paint even when you don’t feel like it. You wake up and you start painting. It’s in the back of your mind and you’re constantly thinking about it. I’ve got canvases in every room, even the bathroom. No matter what I’m doing, I can be working on a painting. I have paints and brushes in every single room in my house. Also, I don’t let myself become stunted by that desire for everything to be your best. I don’t judge myself. I just try to push a paint brush around for 8-10 hours a day. If I do that, I can pay my bills. Once in a while, the painting will be my best without even trying!
MICK: Do you work on more than one painting at the same time?
OCEAN: Yes, sometimes I will have 100! I have at least a dozen that I’m working on at the same time. Right now, I have around 40 paintings that I’m working on that are not finished yet.
MICK: How long would it take to basically finish a painting?
OCEAN: Some only take a couple hours while some have taken only 15 minutes! On average, I would say around eight hours. One long day! The better ones might take a week but those are rare. I’ve got 30,000 hours of practice into it! For me to do a painting, I really don’t have to think that hard about it. I can splatter paint and cover a canvas in a lot less time than someone who has only a couple thousand hours into it. I’ve done it so much that it’s beyond the conscience thought. It a subconscious thing when I’m moving brushes around!
MICK: Do you use acrylics or oils?
OCEAN: Always acrylics. Acrylics are more permanent. Oils are a fluid and they never completely dry. Dust sticks to them, acid sticks to them, smoke and toxic sticks to them. They start to fade after five to ten years. They are probably 10% more faded than they were when you first painted it. In 100 years, they’re practically gone. You look at old paintings and they are all oil paintings. Acrylics weren’t invented until 1954. Oil paints are inferior. Comparing oils to acrylics is like comparing a horse and buggy to a Ferrari! You can’t do anything with oils that you can do with acrylics. It’s arguable but that’s how I feel.
MICK: Do you ever use watercolors?
OCEAN: I play with watercolors once in a while. I still do a lot of outdoor shows so if I’m doing watercolors, I mix them with acrylic so that they’re more permanent. Watercolors can be lifted up again and if it rains outdoors, the show is in trouble! Even with oils, your paintings can get damaged. For my acrylics, I put a couple layers of glaze over the top that makes it real waterproof. The glaze also has ultraviolet protective layer in it to protect it from the sun. My paintings will still be beautiful in 100 years. When you look at them in a gallery, you will understand and see that they’re brighter than other paintings beside them. That’s because I use the best quality materials and I’m not worried about the cost of things. I use $400 a-gallon paint. It’s better and my finished product looks better! I could use $10 a-gallon house paint but it won’t look as pretty. In ten years, it won’t look the same at all.
MICK: Which artists do you admire?
OCEAN: I admire artists like Picasso for the simplicity of his style. It’s like going back to childhood and just having fun with it. I loved his work. I admire other artists for their marketability than business sense. Peter Max for example. I don’t necessarily love his work. Some of his older 70′s stuff was beautiful.  A lot of his new stuff is like scribbles on canvas. The way he markets himself is genius! He does 100,000 prints and calls them all original. He sells over 100 million dollars worth of work a year. That’s pretty impressive!
MICK: Are you looking forward to your show at the Imagine Gallery in Port Jefferson this coming weekend?
OCEAN: Absolutely! I always have a good time out there. The people in that neighborhood are like family to me. They treat me real good!
MICK: What’s ahead for Ocean Clark?
OCEAN: I will continue painting a lot. I’m planning on moving to the beach somewhere but haven’t completely decided just where yet. After this show, I have one more show in New Jersey. Then I will be packing up. I have a ranch rented just north of Los Angeles that I’m moving to for the winter. I don’t want to have to spend another winter in New Jersey. This ranch is amazing. It has a beach, horses, a stream running through it, deep washtubs in the bathrooms! I’m really looking forward to it! Last winter, my power went out in my studio. It’s an old 130 year old factory. I have a really great space but the landlord didn’t pay for the problem when a transformer blew in the building. We had no power for two weeks. It was below freezing the whole time. I couldn’t stop painting so I painted with gloves on. My fingers were frozen. I actually broke one of my fingers. The paint doesn’t dry right and moves to slow because it’s too cold. It was ridiculous. This winter, I will be somewhere more tropical!

Come this Saturday to meet OCEAN CLARK and see his amazing work!

Imagine Gallery Presents Ocean Clark
and Laura Bochet
Saturday September 10, 2011
Artist Reception: 6 to 9 PM
Imagine Gallery
35 Chandler Square
Port Jefferson NY 11777
631-509-5340

http://www.imaginegallery.ifp3.com/
www.oceanclark.com

]]> http://spotonli.com/2011/09/an-interview-with-pop-artist-ocean-clark/feed/ 1 http://spotonli.com/2011/07/the-legendary-johnny-mathis/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-legendary-johnny-mathis http://spotonli.com/2011/07/the-legendary-johnny-mathis/#comments Thu, 28 Jul 2011 14:14:19 +0000 admin http://spotonli.com/?p=4187 July 28, 2011

The Legendary Johnny Mathis

by Mick DuRussel

He is truly one of the greatest singers in the world and a living legend. Johnny Mathis has been performing for over 55 years now and he is still going strong! His unique vocals have captured audiences, young and old, worldwide and he is always in style, regardless of whatever the current popular music may be. Johnny returns once again to Westbury this coming weekend and I had the absolute pleasure to speak with him from his California home…

MICK: How do you like appearing in the round at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury?
JOHNNY: I’ve been there for so many years and it’s one of my favorite venues. You’re close to the people, everybody gets a nice view and the acoustics are wonderful. The only problem sometimes is that we have to put the orchestra to one side of the stage. I used to work with the orchestra on the stage with me but it was kind of cumbersome because I couldn’t do anything but stand there! Over the years, I’ve seen the demise of all the other venues with seats in the round across the country. The NYCB Theatre at Westbury is one of the best and I’m glad it’s still around.
MICK: Your latest album “Let It Be Me- Mathis In Nashville” sounds fantastic. Is this your first country album?
JOHNNY: That’s right. Over the years, I’ve done a few songs that I guess you could call country. My dad was a wonderful singer and piano player. He’s from Texas. Those country songs were the first songs I heard. My dad was my mentor when I started singing. I just love singing them.
MICK: When you record a song, do you ever get that inner feeling that you know it will be a hit?
JOHNNY: Oh no. Over the years, some of my biggest hits I kind of just brushed off and said they weren’t dynamic enough or it’s not this or that. Of course you never never know. The idea is to try to get yourself in position in the business where you can record a lot of stuff and see what happens!
MICK: You’ve had nine very successful Christmas albums. Is Christmas your favorite holiday?
JOHNNY: Yes it is! My mom and dad raised seven children on domestic wages. Christmas time was very special for us. The mood was already there. The music was a big part of Christmas. I always sang in a lot of choirs. We were always going down to the local department stores singing Christmas carols. My mom and dad were professional cooks so they made Christmas a very special time for us with the foods that they prepared. Over the years, I’ve sang Christmas music and it’s been a very big part of my life. I’m so happy we’ve had such great success with my Christmas music that I’ve recorded through the years!
MICK: Are your other siblings in the music industry?
JOHNNY: A couple of my brothers were. My brother Ralph still performs with his wife. They perform all over. My youngest brother Mike is very ill. He was a wonderful musician but he’s not able to play anymore. My sisters never got involved. They were great dancers! I can’t dance! They were one up on me in that regard. My dad influenced the whole family with his music.
MICK: As an athlete, you’ve had some great successes in your life including competing in the Olympic trials and in golf, getting six holes in ones! What do you personally consider you’re greatest athletic achievement?
JOHNNY: I don’t think there’s too much athleticism concerned with golf but it’s a passion for me. It gives me an opportunity to socialize, which sometimes can be very difficult in a business like I am as I’m constantly performing! Golf is my social activity as well as a nice walk in the park. I think my biggest accomplishment was when I was on the track and field team when I was high jumping. I got to participate with some pretty extraordinary athletes. I cut my athletic career short by singing. But one of my best friends is basketball great Bill Russell. Bill and I went to separate universities and we ran track together, worked out together. We are still really good friends! That was really one of the athletic highlights of my career getting to know Bill and follow his career as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.
MICK: I guess you still golf a lot?
JOHNNY: I do! I golf at least five times a week and I get a chance to play with a lot of wonderful athletes. I get to reminisce and talk about the old times of running track and field.
MICK: What are your favorite golf courses?
JOHNNY: I play Riviera Golf Course which is quite famous. I play at some of the other great country clubs throughout Southern California. Of course, right around the corner from Westbury is the famous Black Course at Bethpage. I do go over there and play once in a while!
MICK: What is your favorite song?
JOHNNY: I think “Misty” is about as close as I can come to picking a favorite song.
MICK: Do you play any musical instruments?
JOHNNY: No I don’t!
MICK: Besides Westbury, what are your other favorite venues to play?
JOHNNY: Several of my favorite venues are concert halls. I just finished playing a wonderful concert hall called “Davies Symphony Hall” in San Francisco. Most of these concert halls are named after people who pay the money to build them. I was there for a wonderful concert in my home town a couple of weeks ago. In another month, I will be working in another fabulous concert hall in Dallas “Meyerson Symphony Center”. Those places are built for music so the acoustics are extraordinary. Of course being a singer, acoustics is one of the most important things in my life.
MICK: Do you have any fond memories of coming to Long Island?
JOHNNY: When I started singing, I went to New York when I was 19 and started recording. I remember I sang at a place called The Shell House on Long Island many, many years ago. It’s probably not there anymore. I remember I was by myself. I had to rehearse the orchestra and work the lights from my microphone at the same time I was singing. That was the most extraordinary experience of my life.
MICK: When you are home, who do you listen to?
JOHNNY: Right now, I’m listening to a group of songs that are all Puccini opera by some of my favorite vocal icons like Leontyne Price, Beverly Sills, Richard Tucker, Pavarotti, etc…Of course, I love Brazilian music. I just sat down at my computer last night and ordered some Brazilian music. There’s a guy I work out with at the local gym who’s from Brazil. His name is Carlinhos Brown. I did not know about him until I started working out with him at the gym. He is one of the most extraordinary musicians in the world. I was so happy to meet him and hear his music. I think he is perhaps the most famous musician in Brazil now.
MICK: So you just came across Carlinhos by accident!
JOHNNY: I came across him in a gym! I saw this extraordinary man on the running machine with dreadlocks down to his ankles! He didn’t speak much English but he was recording the soundtrack to the movie called “Rio’ which has been out recently. I looked up some of the recordings he had done. He’s recorded with people like Sergio Mendes, whom I made a Brazilian album with. I am now fascinated by Calinhos and his Brazilian music. I love to learn songs in different languages, especially in Portuguese- the way the Brazilians sing Portuguese. It goes over well on stage too!
MICK: Are you working on anything new right now?
JOHNNY: As far as my stage performances go, I’m always changing things around. The recordings kind of come when they come. I depend a lot on people in the industry that I’ve worked with over the years who come in and out of my life on many occasions. They are the ones who call me up and say “Hey John, what do you think about doing this?” and before I know it, I’m hooked up with them and I’m back in the studio making some recordings. That’s how the recordings go now these days.
MICK: When all is said and done, how would you like to be remembered?
JOHNNY: I’ve always thought that if you were a nice person…that was the nicest thing anyone could say about you. Even though you have all these unbelievable opportunities over the years to be heard and be seen, I think it’s a wonderful attribute if after all of your successes and extraordinary life that people think of you as a nice person!

Johnny truly is a nice person! You can catch him this weekend at
NYCB Theatre at Westbury NY Saturday 7/30/2011 8:00 PM
and Sunday 7/31/2011 8:00 PM

For more on Johnny Mathis visit www.johnnymathis.com

]]> http://spotonli.com/2011/07/the-legendary-johnny-mathis/feed/ 2 http://spotonli.com/2011/07/author-dr-carole-lieberman-the-media-psychiatrist/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=author-dr-carole-lieberman-the-media-psychiatrist http://spotonli.com/2011/07/author-dr-carole-lieberman-the-media-psychiatrist/#comments Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:50:02 +0000 admin http://spotonli.com/?p=4115 July 22, 2011

Author Dr. Carole Lieberman- The Media Psychiatrist

by Mick DuRussel

She’s a three time Emmy Award winner, best-selling author and you’ve seen her on all of the talk shows. Dr. Carole Lieberman is world famous as the “Media Psychiatrist” with a star-studded Beverly Hills practice and is highly respected among her peers. Her latest book “Bad Girls: Why Men Love Them & How Good Girls Can Learn Their Secrets” is a huge success and it has led Dr. Carole on a fantastic journey to London in hopes of obtaining a very unique piece of memorabilia! I recently enjoyed speaking with Dr. Carole from her Beverly Hills home…

MICK: Please tell me how and why you went to London to bid on Kate Middleton’s sexy see-through dress?
DR. CAROLE: Kate Middleton had got engaged to Prince William right around the same time my book “Bad Girls: Why Men Love Them and How Good Girls Can Learn Their Secrets” came out in November. I’ve been doing a lot of media interviews and I would talk about how Kate was the quintessential good girl who used bad girl secrets to catch her prince! I gave some examples and one of these secrets was wearing this sexy see-through dress at the fashion show that she knew Prince William was going to be at. They were both at the same school. That dress was actually supposed to be a skirt and she wore it over her underwear. It was a combination of being really beautiful, having a good body and sauntering down the runway. It wasn’t that she was just beautiful and had a good body, it was she had the audacity to wear this in a Scottish school parading in her underwear essentially. It was this confidence and audacity that attracted Prince William. It got him to turn to his friend and say “Wow, she is hot!”  At that moment, it went from being, in his eyes, a friend to being a love interest. She was this great example that showed women that they can catch their own prince. In my book, the last chapter is “Bad Girls’ Secrets To a Man’s Heart”. That is a distillation of stories from the rest of the book.  I interviewed over 100 men and put the best bad girl stories in the book. In between the chapters in the book, there’s the twelve chapters about each type of bad girl. Within each chapter, I have 3 or 4 real stories from men on the dating front talking about their experiences with that particular bad girl. When men read it, they are warned about the kind of things the bad girls do to catch them or trap them. Good girls can read it from a different point of view where they can see the secrets the bad girls use to catch these men. The last chapter is a distillation of the things that kept coming up again and again in these stories. So Kate Middleton is essentially a good girl who used bad girl secrets. Pippa Middleton is a bad girl! Kate represented, and by extension of her sexy dress, how good girls can catch their own prince! That’s why I went to London to bid on the dress because I wanted it as a tangible proof that good girls can catch their own prince. I was outbid because there was no way I going to pay $125,000 for the dress. I did bid on it. Before I went to London, it was estimated that the high bid would be $16,000. I thought that was within reason. Of course, things change!
That was the last item up for bid. I was committed to bid on it. By the time I started to bid on it, the bidding was up to 28,500 lbs., which is like $65,000! After coming all that way, I did place a bid! After that, it went through the roof. I realized that somebody would probably outbid me so I had a plan B. I would bid on items from the Duchess of Windsor because she was the quintessential bad girl who seduced her man to give up the throne. I wound up with three lace boudoir jackets and one shocking pink nightgown was a jacket. I had to fight tooth and nail to get those!
MICK: What was the theme of the auction?
DR. CAROLE: All together it was vintage high fashion clothing. There were about 300 items from various years, not all royalty items. There was clothing, jewelry, pocketbooks. The last items were 3 dresses from Princess Diana and the last thing was Kate’s dress. It was quite exciting. Before I went to London, my publicist sent out press releases about my quest so there had been some things in the news before I went. There was tons of press both days. They all wanted to know why this woman from Los Angeles had come to London to bid on Kate’s dress! The people there were really nice except for the person bidding against me! There were about 300 people at the auction with about 50 press people behind them to see who would  win the coveted items. There was one person bidding against me for the Duchess’s items and I was determined to win the auction after coming all the way to London! I would not go home empty handed! So now I have the Duchess’s bad girl things!
This was all for the same reason that I wrote the book. In general, it was to help men and women get the love they deserve. For men, beware of bad girls. For good girls, it was to even the playing field so they would not lose their men to bad girls and that they can catch their own prince! So it’s all tied in together!
MICK: Something for everyone!
DR. CAROLE: Yes that’s right! I have this test for women in the first chapter of the book called “The Bad Girls Test” for women and “The Sitting Duck Test” for men. In the bad girl’s test, you go from being a good girl to being a man eater depending on how many things you check off. For each type of bad girl, I explain what has made them that way. I also explain what makes men attracted to them. There are psychological roots for all of these things. It’s not only for good girls or for bad girls who want to reform or recovering bad girls. What makes a bad girl bad is feeling that she’s not lovable. It starts off with having a dysfunctional relationship with her father that makes her feel unlovable. She grows up and is attracted to bad boys who continue to make her feel unlovable. At some point, she takes her heart off her sleeve, hardens it and decides to go after men for these other reasons and that’s the 12 different types I describe in my book.
MICK: Do you have the rights to Kate’s dress?
DR. CAROLE: When I was in London, I became friends with Charlotte Todd, the designer of the dress. I asked her if she could make me a replica! I did this before I was outbid. So I did wind up with the only replica/prototype of the limited edition of manufactured copies of the dress. I became the U.S. ambassador of the dress! The only place you can get this dress in the United States is from my website. I’m looking to be placing it in certain boutiques. When I speak and do my “How to Catch a Prince Tour” lectures, the dress will be sold there.
MICK: How is the book doing?
DR. CAROLE: It’s doing pretty well!
MICK: I also saw that one of the schools you attended was the University of Stony Brook here on Long Island. Did you live on Long Island?
DR. CAROLE: I lived at the dorms when I went to college there. I was born in the Bronx, grew up in Flushing and Forest Hills. When I went to Stony Brook, we lived in Forest Hills at the time.
MICK: You are one of the world’s top forensic psychiatrists. How often are you called to court to testify?
DR. CAROLE: I usually have about 10 cases, in different stages, going on at the same time. A lot of cases will settle before they reach court. In one stage I’m reading the records and examining the parties involved in the law suits. Or I’m writing a report. Then there’s the deposition and then there’s the trial, if it gets that far. Most cases are in California but I’ve testified in a number of different states.
MICK: Who are your favorite celebrities?
DR. CAROLE: I usually get called on to analyze all the things the celebrities are doing wrong! In the book, for each of the types of bad girls, I name celebrity examples for each of the types. Whether they are real people like Angelina Jolie being a husband stealer or fictional characters. For example, I use the characters from “Sex In The City”. I suppose I would have to say Kate Middleton as my favorite celebrity at this point!
MICK: What do you do to unwind?
DR. CAROLE: Besides writing, talking and trying to help people, my other passion is horseback riding. I have a horse. I started riding when I was in camp as a kid. I continued when I was in Stony Brook. There was a physical education class on horse riding and I took it for two semesters. I ride like three or four times a week and allow myself that luxury and even compete too!
MICK: Are you a superstitious person?
DR. CAROLE: Sometimes I am. For the Millennium, I went to the Amazon in Peru and on this trip, we communed with Shamans. That was like a fine line between superstition and spiritual stuff. One day recently, I was eating Chinese food and for the first time in my life, I got a fortune cookie that didn’t have a fortune in it! I don’t know if you would call that superstitious but it seemed rather foreboding! So I demanded the waiter to bring me another fortune cookie!
MICK: You’ve been called the Dr. Freud of modern times by your peers. How do you feel about that?
DR. CAROLE: I actually studied with Anna Freud in my last year of residency at NYU Bellevue. I was chief resident and so for my last year, I went to London for four months. I did research at the The Maudsley Hospital [a British psychiatric hospital in South London] but the main reason I went there was because I wanted to study with Anna Freud. That was an amazing experience. Reading Sigmund Freud’s “The Interpretations of Dreams” is what got me to become a psychiatrist. I had decided I wanted to be a doctor when I was around eight years old but when I was a teenager, I read Freud’s book and that really resonated with me. I respect him for his theories and the legacy and changes he left.
MICK: You’ve written best-selling books on bad girls and bad boys (Bad Boys: Why We Love Them, How to Live with Them and When to Leave Them), What’s next?
DR. CAROLE: There was a book in between called “Coping with Terrorism” and that was published in London. In 2006, American publishers didn’t believe that enough people would buy a book on coping with terrorism. Today, so many people are in denial and because Bin Laden has been killed, it’s helping people stay in denial. Terrorists are not to stop trying to destroy America. So two things are next for me… I want to bring bad boys back with a new edition so I can use more current bad boys as examples. I also want to have “Coping with Terrorism” published in America because I really feel passionate about that. We really haven’t recovered from 9/11 and we aren’t dealing well with the ongoing news we hear about terrorism.
We are putting our heads in the sand in denial and it’s costing us psychologically. A good example is the obesity crisis. There are many factors for this but the main factor is that people are trying to comfort themselves with food because of being rattled from this ingoing threat and the aftermath of 9/11. We are not talking about it and we don’t want to admit out loud that we are still scared. We are coping badly by drinking too much, eating too much and various malfunctions. We really have to learn how to cope better. So besides helping people find love, I’m helping people how to survive war!

For more on Dr. Carole Lieberman visit www.drcarole.com

http://www.badgirlsbook.com/

Attention All Artists!!!

Mick Du Russel’s

That’s Entertainment: Hollywood’s Golden Age!

The Ripe Art Gallery is proud to announce a very special exhibition of  art related to the Golden Age of Hollywood from August 6 to August 27, 2011, “Mick Du Russel’s That’s Entertainment: Hollywood’s Golden Age” to benefit the Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Research Center at Columbia University in NYC. This show and sale will be a fundraiser for ALS research as medical science continues to push forward to find a cure.

Eligibility: The exhibition is open to all artists, national and international,18 years and older.   Artists can use any medium and art can be any size.

Theme: Each artist must create their piece or pieces of art based on Hollywood’s Golden age. This can be any interpretation of classic movies, movie stars, or film making from

that era.

Image Presentation: All work must be properly wired for hanging and labeled on the back with the artist’s name, title and medium.

Entry Procedure: Entries must be accompanied with a completed application.

There is a $15 per piece entry fee payable to Ripe Art Gallery

They can be dropped off at the gallery:

Ripe Art Gallery

67 Broadway

Greenlawn, New York 11740-1805

Tues-Thur 11am-6pm, Fri 2-8pm, Sat. 11am-5pm

Or they can be mailed to:

Mick Du Russel

214 Ave. A

Lake Ronkonkoma, New York 11779

(631) 335-8886

theshowbizwizard@yahoo.com

Terms: All work at the show is for sale and the proceeds will be divided into thirds.

The Eleanor and Lou Gehrig ALS Research Center Gift Fund will take one third,

Ripe Art Gallery will take one third, and the artist will take one third. If the artist

wishes to donate their third to the charity, that would be greatly appreciated.

Calendar: Entry form and work drop off to gallery:

July 30- August 4

Tues-Thur 11am-6pm, Fri 2-8pm, Sat. 11am-5pm

Or ship to gallery:  July 30- August 4

Or mail to Mick Du Russel (or arrange to drop or pick up) by July 30

Deadline for all work is August 4

Opening reception: Saturday evening Aug. 6,  5-8PM

Exhibition closes: August 27

Pick up of unsold pieces starting Sept 1, 2011

Anything left after 30 days, there is $1.50 per day storage charge

Ripe Art Gallery

67 Broadway

Greenlawn, NY 11740-1302

(631) 239-1805

http://ripeartgal.com/

Creedence Clearwater Revisted’s Drummer Doug “COSMO” Clifford

by Mick DuRussel

There is probably not a truer American rock and roll band than Creedence Clearwater Revival. Combining rhythm and blues, country and a dash of soul, CCR paved a blazing trail right into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. When the band broke up, the members went their seperate ways. Years later, CCR’s rhythm section of bassist Stu Cook and drummer Doug “Cosmo” Clifford formed a new band Creedence Clearwater Revisited. They continue the legacy today with a stellar lineup that does the utmost justice to CCR’s hallowed music. I had the great pleasure to speak with Doug Clifford recently from his home in Nevada….

MICK: Do you prefer to be called Doug or Cosmo?
DOUG: Either one! I was first called Cosmo in college. My nickname came out of nowhere and kind of stuck like dog poop on a shoe! Everybody in the band calls me Cos or Cosmo, including my longtime friend Stu Cook. It’s lasted a long time. We had a nice big album come out of it [Cosmo's Factory]!

MICK: When did you first start playing drums?
DOUG: I started playing when I was 13.

MICK: How did the band come up with the name Creedence Clearwater Revival?
DOUG: We were originally called The Golliwogs and we didn’t name ourselves that. We hated it. What made it even worse was the uniforms we had to wear because of our manager. We fired him. We had three pages of names. Credence Newball was one of them. He was a black janitor that worked with Tom [Fogarty]. Creedence of course means truth and honesty. Clearwater was an Olympia Beer commercial and also a key word for ecology at that time. We were thinking of that before anyone else; and Revival was a revival of ourselves, no more goofy outfits and no more goofy manager. That’s it!

MICK: Is Stu Cook your oldest friend?
DOUG: Yes, we’ve known each other for 53 years now!

MICK: Creedence Clearwater Revival was one of the headliners at the Woodstock Festival in 1969. What was the band’s reaction to not being included on the soundtrack album?
DOUG: That was John Fogarty’s call. He didn’t think we did good enough, but we all did. He was the band’s manager at the time and it was a bad management decision. A real bad one. We are finally in there now after 40 years, on the bonus tracks. I’m very proud of everything we did and under the circumstances; I think everyone did a good job.

MICK: What is your favorite Creedence song?
DOUG: “Born On The Bayou”

MICK: In 1993, when CCR was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, John Fogarty refused to play with you and Stu at the induction ceremony concert. What exactly happened that night?
DOUG: Nothing happened! We didn’t play! We went there expecting to play. Nobody told us. There was a conspiracy going on. John was rehearsing with Springsteen and the other big shots for a month. John told the Hall of Fame not to tell us. It was pretty ugly. It was very wrong. You always look for the positive and I think, unknowing at the time, it planted the seeds for Creedence Clearwater Revisited. This is our seventeenth year with the project!

MICK: Longer than your time with CCR!
DOUG: By over 4 times!

MICK: Is there still bitterness between you and John Fogarty?
DOUG: Yes there is! He’s carrying it. I don’t know why. He made all these bad business decisions like not being in the Woodstock movie and not taking 10% of the record company for a new royalty rate. We still have an entry level rate based on wholesale. That’s pitiful. He did a terrible job as a manager and did a great job as a creative person. He insisted on doing the management and when we needed a real pro, he lost more than anybody. He still doesn’t own his songs. It couldn’t have been worse on that side and it couldn’t have been better on the other side.

MICK: How did you find John Tristao, the lead singer for Creedence Clearwater Revisited?
DOUG: The guy is great! We networked and told everybody that we knew in the business what our plan was and asked for ideas. An old friend of his who works for one of the guitar string companies put his name in. We contacted him and asked him to pick an acoustic guitar and sing. We had five songs and these had to be done without any accompaniment. I think we had ten singers and four of them passed the first audition, including John. Out of the last four, John was the last one and we knew we had our guy. He’s also very funny and a natural showman. We love him!

MICK: Creedence Clearwater Revisited released an album Recollection in 1997. It went platinum! Will there be another record in the near future?
DOUG: No, but there might be some additions to Recollection. Our name kind of paints us into a corner where we can’t go outside of the band or do any original material or anything that wasn’t done by Creedence. There are still some beautiful little gems and nuggets in the catalog. We work the songs up in sound check. So we have a few we will be laying down and then putting out a single CD with half of the songs coming from Recollection, which were all hits and the other half will be the songs we are working on. Not sure when it’s coming out, but it will be in the mix!

MICK: What drummers do you admire?
DOUG: My mentor and favorite drummer, who has long since passed, is Al Jackson Jr. from Booker T. and the MG’s. What most people don’t realize is that they weren’t just an instrumental band doing “Green Onions” and the like. They were the house band for Stax so they played on all the hits from people like Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, etc… They were just an awesome band. A quartet as we were too. We tried to model ourselves after them. We took them on the road with us and did 31 dates in America. I became good friends with Al. He gave me some pretty good advice during those years. While I was actually playing drums he was a mentor. The guy that inspired me to play drums was the great Gene Krupa from Tommy Dorsey’s Band. I saw a television special when I was 12 and it was all about him. After that, I knew what I wanted to do! And do it on rock and roll records!

MICK: Aren’t you a Viet Nam veteran Doug?
DOUG: I’m not a Viet Nam veteran. I was in the United States Coast Guard during that time period in the Coast Guard Reserve. I had an awesome deal. There was a two year waiting list to get in. I was going to be drafted by the Army in two weeks as I already had gotten the notice. I was recruited as a football player to play on the west coast for the United States Coast Guard. We were an undefeated championship team! I led the league in interceptions in that position. Fate!

MICK: John Fogarty was in the service at the same time with you, right?
DOUG: He was in the Army Reserve in Richmond, California. That was one city away from our hometown, which was maybe five miles. We weren’t in the war. We were both very fortunate to have got past that hurdle.

MICK: What do you do in your leisure time?
DOUG: I spend time with my family. I have 3 grandchildren. I just had my third a few days ago! I’m a family guy. Play a little golf. I used to play a lot but I’m playing less and less. I live on two golf courses. I winter in Scottsdale, Arizona and then eight months in the Reno-Tahoe area. I need to get back to my golf game! It’s something that I am missing!

MICK: Are there any new bands that you like today?
DOUG: There probably are. I will hear something on the radio or on TV and I will like it. But I usually miss whoever the band is. I like the old stuff. I like country. There’s some pretty good songwriters in Nashville. The drummers are playing some pretty cool parts as opposed to just the basic of things. The rhythm sections in country now are more pop than country. I find that an interesting transition.

You can see Creedence Clearwater Revisited, along with Three Dog Night, at NYCB Theatre in Westbury
Sunday, July 17, 2011 8:00 PM
For more information visit: www.creedence-revisited.com