The Palm Beach Post du lieu suivant : West Palm Beach, Florida • Page E002

PAGELABELTAG E2 THE PALM BEACH POST REAL NEWS STARTS HERE I MONDAY, JUNE 24, 2013 LIZ SMITH THE DISH Host feels left out by neighbor Mature actresses have most clout in Hollywood Jeanne Phillips DearAbby Dear Abby: My husband and I invite our friends for dinner quite often, and invitations are always accepted. Recently, I began to notice that we are never invited to some of their homes for dinner. I know entertaining isn't for everyone, but they do entertain other people just not us. I'm not sure why this is. We would never go empty-handed.

If we weren't asked to bring a dessert or an appetizer, we would at least bring a bottle of wine to thank our hosts, and I'd help to clear the dishes and straighten the kitchen when the meal is over. Have you any thoughts as to why an invitation is never extended to us? Not On The List Dear Not: The problem may be that the couple is embarrassed that they can't entertain you as lavishly as you have Actress Helen Mirren is part of a vibrant group of mature actresses in Hollywood, associated press 2010 Hotel coffee packs worked steadily until he was 90. You will be missed in so many ways, Mr. Gandolfini. "STRANGE BUT TRUE: 'Follies' and even 'West Side Story' didn't win the Tony Award for Best Musical.

Others can understand that 'Gypsy' would lose in 1959-1960 to 'The Sound of Music' But how did wind up in a tie with the Rodgers and Hammerstein hit -leaving 'Gypsy' to finish third at best? And don't get anyone started in how the landmark musical 'Follies' lost to the far less distinguished 'The Gentlemen of Verona' in 1971-1972. You'll never hear the end of it." These quotes appear on the first page of the Newark Star-Ledger's formidable theater critic Peter Filichia in his brand-new book, which is fittingly all about the vagaries of the Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards. Since the Tonys happened only weeks ago, many have pondered its ways and means and mysterious wins and losses. Filichia's book is fittingly titled "Strippers, Showgirls and Sharks: A Very Opinionated History of the Broadway Musicals That Did not Win the Tony Award." It's a must read for theater experts and everybody who cares about Broadway. Out now from St.

Martin's Press. Inside, the critic, who is still doing his stuff, tells of the brilliance of some of our nearest and dearest, most loved, most hated, stupidest and most brilliant creators of the recent past. This thing is just crammed with fabulous anecdotes and sets many a record straight or straightens out many a crooked story. entertained them. Or, they may have never been taught that it is rude to accept people's hospitality and not reciprocate in some way.

Because they are friends, you should pose this question to them and ask for an honest answer. Dear Abby: I have been married for 19 years and this is the third time I have caught my wife cheating. I didn't catch her "in the act" because she disguised it behind "vacations with her girlfriends." What happened was I caught her sending some guy nude pictures of herself and lying about having stayed at a friend's house. (She had spent the night with a guy.) I have remained in this marriage because I wanted to raise all my kids before separating or divorcing. I am leaving eventually, but want to stay four more years to raise my last son.

Is it immoral to lie and pretend like I want to work it out? I feel this is the best way not to damage my children. Responsible Dad in Georgia Dear Dad: I don't think you should lie. Instead, talk calmly with your wife and tell her that it's clear on high shelves. Pull things from the back of a cabinet. Unhook strung lights.

Reach under a bed. Remove leaves from gutters. Heloise Idea for bread heels Dear Heloise: My family saves bread heels and uses them as hamburger buns. No one in the family likes them for sandwiches, and they usually are thrown out. Instead of wasting them, we keep them in the freezer until we're ready to use them.

Just defrost and toast. A Reader in New Mexico Help for ants in home Dear Heloise: I have a problem with ants in my kitchen. Can you help? How do I get rid of and prevent these pests? Rita in Indiana Dear Rita: What a pesky problem! Clean counters and eating surfaces with a solution of vinegar and water. Do not use on marble counters. If you can tell where the ants are getting in, sprinkle the area with boric acid or borax powder.

Caution: Do not use boric acid if there are small children or pets that will have access to the area. It can be toxic if ingested in monies. I'm a big fan of The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson. I wish America realized just how influential The Beach Boys were on so many artists." Some artists seem to remake a successful album over and over. They see what worked and they don't want to risk doing something different.

Niemann's not one of them. "I want to look back 20 years from now at a snapshot of each album, each its own unique thing. Some are going to be weird as can be and some are probably going to be stuff you don't have to analyze, just good stuff to tap your feet to. I want to coverall of it." And if he never sees the top of Billboard's Hot Country Songs list again? "Plan A was to be a singer. Plan was to be a songwriter.

If Plan didn't work, Plan was to try Plan A again," Niemann laughs, but he's not really joking. Whether he's remembered as a singer who wrote songs, or a songwriter who sings, or not at all, he doesn't waste energy pondering that. "I'm going to let destiny choose." to you that she isn't satisfied in the marriage or she wouldn't be doing what she has been doing. You might be able to accomplish what you want with your son through a joint custody arrangement or full custody, if your wife wishes. Dear Abby: My next-door neighbor lets her two children, a 6-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, run around naked all the time.

This includes playing in her front yard and in the street. I don't want to seem like a prude or cause problems in the neighborhood, but let's face it there are perverts everywhere. At what age is it no longer acceptable for children to be nude in public? Taken Aback in Montana Dear Taken Aback: Children older than 3 should not be out in public with no clothes and no child should be playing outside that way without supervision. For that matter, clothed or not, for their own safety children should not play in the street. Dear Abby appears daily.

Send letters in care of The Palm Beach Post, 2751 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, FL 33405-1233. befuddle large amounts. Do not leave any food, especially sweet stuff, out for long periods. Clean kitchen floors often, and try to take trash out daily.

Another thing to do is treat the ants you can't see. Place "bait" traps around in areas ants are prone to be seen. Heloise Shower scum fix Dear Heloise: In one of your articles, there was a solution for cleaning scum on glass (shower doors Heloise) using shampoo. I have misplaced it. Could you reprint it, please? I thank you for your articles -they have been a blessing in so many ways.

Glen-da B. in Louisiana Dear Glenda: I would be happy to reprint it. There really is no "solution" to make. Just take some shampoo (a cheap one) and, with a scrubbie or a wet washcloth, scrub the glass and then rinse. If you are having a hard time getting the soap scum off, do this Heloise hint after your shower, when all the "gunk" is soft.

Heloise Write to Heloise in care of The Palm Beach Post, 2751 S. Dixie Highway, West Palm Beach, FL33405-1233 or email HeloiseHeloise.com. Comic enjoys prequel Crystal continued from El disappointment, he handles it really well and that makes him an adult." A tradition Crystal started in "Monsters, Inc." continued with "Monsters University." Most animated films have actors record their lines separately. When Crystal showed up at the recording studio for the first time, he was shocked that Goodman wouldn't be in the booth with him because Mike and Sully had so many scenes together. He was told Goodman had already recorded his lines and left.

"I told them that wasn't going to work." The studio called Goodman to see if he could return and he agreed. From then on, they did everything together. "It just popped," Crystal says. "I AM NOT 20-ish. I am not 30-ish.

Three months ago I was 40 years old. Forty. 4-0. That slipped out. I hadn't quite made up my mind to admit it.

Now I suddenly feel as if I've taken all my clothes off." So said Bette Davis in 1950's "All About Eve." Back in the good old days of movies, especially during World War II, women dominated the box office. And not necessary dewy young things, either. Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Crawford and other powerful females represented the "new woman." Even Rita Hayworth, the great "Love Goddess," found her greatest role as "Gilda," a woman who seemed to live by her own rules. I'd been a ranch, they'd have named me the Bar Nothing," Rita says, torturing her ex, Glenn Ford.) Of course, as soon as the war ended, real women were fired from the factories where they had happily, independently toiled to replace the man shortage, and onscreen women were turned into giddy sex symbols, or comforting, nonthreaten-ing wives and girlfriends. But the decades have rolled on, and through various ups and downs, strong women are dominant again.

I speak of such powerhouse actors as Meryl Streep, Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jo-lie, Cameron Diaz, Melissa McCarthy, Helen Hunt, Sally Field, Jennifer Anis-ton, Helen Mirren, Judy Dench, Vanessa Redgrave, Viola Davis and Nicole Kidman. Not one of them will ever see 39 again. And some will never see 60 again! (Miss Jolie is 38, to be fair and correct.) But these women still have clout. They can command top salaries. The Hollywood Reporter recently told us that one reason so many mature actresses are enduring is that Hollywood is failing to groom new stars.

(Maybe all the young, sexy, talented unknowns are drifting toward television, with its reality programming, as an easy road to recognition?) The supermarket tabloids and the weekly glossies and the gossip websites tell us we should really care about the Kar-dashians or the casts of various "Real Housewives," or the innumerable starlets and pop singers who clutter up Twitter with their pointless ramblings. But come on, wouldn't you really rather see what daring new project Drawn to country music Niemann continued from El one's career. He called from his tour bus, which was humming along the interstate toward Flint, for a show. "Unfortunately, in Nashville, people do measure success by the charts, but at the end of the day there's a lot of hocus-pocus behind them. It doesn't all have to do with requests and dedications.

There's a lot of promotions, and politics. But for me, if people are paying their hard-earned money to download a song they heard or to buy a ticket to hear us play, that's the actual proof. That they care enough to put their hand in their pocket." Niemann's interest in music began early, and it was really all he ever wanted to do. Although he was exposed to, and appreciates, a lot of different music, his heart has Actor James Gandolfini died June 19 at 51. fredr.conrad THE NEW YORK TIMES Nicole Kidman has taken on, or how hot Helen Mirren will look in "Red 2," mowing down bad guys? I ONLY MET the great James Gandolfini once, backstage at the theater where he was doing "Carnage" and trying his best to get out the stage door with no fuss.

Frankly, I was terrified to meet him. I'd never known or written anything about him, and I knew from his female co-stars of "The Sopranos" that he didn't suffer fools from the press gladly. (I do mean the talented Edie Falco and Lorraine Brac-co two sweethearts!) But Gandolfini stopped and shook hands. He was as cordial as could be while I congratulated him on his stage appearance as a quarrelsome suburban husband. I'll never forget him; it is impossible to turn away from the TV screen when he is on as Tony Soprano! I was shocked, as is the world, when word came of his death.

I hadn't realized he was so young! His burly physique and rough-hewn, "ordinary guy" features belied his youth. We've lost an actor who, likely, would have gone on for decades, refining his image and talents. I saw him as the heir, kind of, to Ernest Borgnine, another loveable big guy who didn't fit the standard Hollywood leading man role. But Borgnine always been in country. "For me it was just every single book, every video, anything I could get my hands on as a kid that had to do with country music, I wanted to see it.

I wanted to know it so bad, all I had to do was get a glimpse of it and I would remember it." Niemann left his home in Kansas and college in West Texas and headed east for Nashville in 2000. He had already recorded and self-released an album but he knew if he was serious about music, he had to go to Music City. "I know it's fun to dress up and think you look cool and dance around and sing songs on stage, but the truth is if you're going to spend your life dedicated to something and you're going to tell people you're dedicated to something, the least you can do is know where it came from." In the introduction of his second studio album, "Free The Music," Niemann offers "a 12-pack of audio beer," and it is that, but it's also a lesson in the evolution of country music. Niemann says he started out trying to answer that age-old ques Heloise Household Hints Dear Readers: Here is my little SOUND OFF: I travel a lot and stay in different hotels and hotelmotel chains. Every hotel (or chain) carries a different brand of coffee, and the packages never open the same way.

I was in Midland, Texas, recently doing a speech for their wonderful Meals on Wheels volunteers. The coffee packages in my hotel opened at the bottom of the package! Am I missing something? Things usually open at the top. Why can't manufacturers make the packaging easy to open and easy to spot the little starting I know this is minor, and I do love being able to have a cup or two of fresh-brewed coffee in the morning, but have mercy on us road warriors! Heloise Back scratcher uses Dear Readers: Other uses for back scratchers: Use to reach things sicians, random guys like Sheryl Crow's drummer and the steel guitar player for Emmylou Harris, I'm going to throw them into the studio together and see if magic can happen. I always love getting back in the studio. It's like a kid playing a video game.

"This next album will be a lot more normal, not focused so much on the instrumentation or on being a concept," Niemann said, "but more on the actual lyrics. It will be vocally driven with a lot of har Jerrod Niemann kicks off the free country music concert series at CityPlace on June 26. contributed by eb media tion: What is country? Using horns and Dixieland Band music, Niemann takes you on a musical journey that weaves its way through the history of country music. He's satisfied that he did that, even if the album's first two singles didn't screech to the top of the charts. Niemann says he's already recorded more than half of the songs for his next album.

"I've been writing a lot with Lee (Brice) and Randy Houser, and there are some mu.