MALIBU BEACH: A heartfelt crusade that began with one woman’s ascent against breast cancer

Shannon Tweed and daughter Sophie Photo by DAISY RAST

By Carole Jablon
Friday, August 31, 2007

Take A Hike: Raising Breast Cancer Awareness

We all know the stories written about group ascents to world mountain peaks whose elevations hold Atlas records and require oxygen tanks, not to mention dauntless attitudes and blind faith. In 1995, one particularly unique ascent was taken on by seventeen breast cancer survivors led by premier international mountain guide, Peter Whittaker, and a woman named Laura Evans, herself a breast cancer survivor.

Their goal was to raise awareness of their disease by climbing Mt. Aconcagua -- the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere (South America). They came back not only fulfilling their goal but with raised funds of $2 million for breast cancer research. Laura died in October 2000, of a brain tumor they say was unrelated to her breast cancer. Her words about personal will still resonate today: “Climbing in many respects is not unlike facing a life-threatening illness. You take every step alone, digging deep, focused on the goal and your own inner strength.”

The Expedition Inspiration Fund for Breast Cancer Research was conceived in 1993 by Laura and Peter as a tribute to the courage and determination of breast cancer survivors and to the memories of thousands of women, and men, whose lives were cut short by the disease. Since that fateful ascent in 1995, the Expedition Inspiration “Take A Hike” event continues and will celebrate it’s 12th year this October 13th, at Paramount Ranch in Agoura, California, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Event Chair, Teri Roseman, learned she was about to become a breast cancer patient in July 2003, barely a month after she’d lost her father. It was a pure case of irony since she had already been involved with the organization prior to her personal diagnosis. A strong, independent yet soft spoken woman, Teri doesn’t wince when it comes to talking about irony and blessing crossing paths. “I turned 50 in December 2006, 3 years after my breast cancer treatment. To me, 2007 became the year of doing and being.” In between travels to far off places she swore she’d get to one day, Teri also took on Chairing the “Take A Hike” event for a 2nd year in a row with a goal of raising $250,000 (last year raised $96,000). “One of the appealing aspects of Expedition Inspiration is that we tend to give grants to researchers that are working on

ideas that are not able to get funding from a NIH. Some far out idea of how to ‘connect the dots’ has a chance with us, especially since those are the ones that usually get lost in the shuffle,” she says.

This year’s proceeds will benefit the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, and will affect the 1.8 million women in this country who have been diagnosed with breast cancer and 1 million or more who have the disease…and don’t know it. Perhaps that’s why the event draws such an impressive list of women celebrities who lend their time, energy and compassion to a cause that could easily someday touch their lives. Some of the Celebrity Hosts include CCH Pounder (FX’s The Shield), Lorraine Toussaint (TNT’s Saving Grace) and most notably the mother/daughter team of Shannon Tweed and Sophie Tweed-Simmons (A&E’s Gene Simmons Family Jewels).

Even though cancer has mostly averted their family lives, Shannon feels strongly about waiting for the gauntlet to drop before taking a stand and making a difference. “I don’t believe that anyone should just sit back and wait for cancer to arrive. It’s far more important to reach out now, when it makes a difference, rather then waiting until it’s an after thought.” Sophie, who is far beyond her 14 years in beauty and maturity, chimes in as though she’s already a spokesperson for today’s charitable youth. “Even when there’s no history in your family, that shouldn’t prevent you from learning the skills it takes to be proactive and think preventively with self examination.” The Tweed-Simmons women are grateful that they’ve been blessed with good health and work just as hard at sending out the right message as they do training and hiking for themselves.

Registration will begin at 7:30 AM, with opening ceremonies at 8:30AM and Hiking at 9:00AM. Preregistration fees are $25 ($30 day of event) and includes a T-shirt, refreshments and entertainment. Left with the daunting task of building on the vision of Laura Evans, Teri Roseman knows her work is cut out for her. She’s also poignantly aware of the balance that is required to reach personal success. “I’m content and grateful everyday of my life and my philosophy is based on 3-simple words … attitude, gratitude and grace. I truly believe that it is these faiths that saved my life.” It’s Teri and all the people behind “Take A Hike” that believe you can reach out, and reach up toward any peak…achieving greatness one step at a time.

'Charlie Rose' this ain't
No Good Television lets celebrities cut loose while helping them to sell their wares.

By Gina Piccalo
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 31, 2007

SHIA LaBEOUF fantasizing about sex with a Transformer, Amy Poehler advising viewers to "get stoned" before her film "Blades of Glory" because "it'll be funnier," and Robin Williams lobbing F-bombs in foreign accents for "The Night Listener" doesn't sound like studio-sanctioned movie publicity. But in the free-for-all world of the Internet, that's exactly what it is.

No Good Television is a YouTube.com favorite precisely because it shows celebrities riffing wildly about drugs, sex and anything else, while somehow also promoting their latest films. Imagine "The Daily Show's" straight-faced shtick with "Superbad's" raunchiness and you get No Good Television.

It's a brand that fits perfectly online, but could end up on mainstream media; it was picked up earlier this month by Endeavor's Ari Emanuel, who sees it as a late-night show that will upend the staid celebrity interview for the most bankable and elusive demo: 18- to 34-year-old men.

"The good thing about those guys, they're not E! channel where it's gossip," said Emanuel, whose clients include such boundary testers as "Borat's" Sacha Baron Cohen and "Curb Your Enthusiasm's" Larry David. "They just let [celebrities] be natural. That's the differentiating factor. . . . They make it easy. They make fun of the right things. It's what guys go to."

Carrie Keagan, host of NoGoodTV.com, interviews actor Tom Lennon, left, and director Robert Ben Garant about their new movie, "Balls of Fury."

It doesn't hurt that No Good's primary host is Carrie Keagan, whom Thomas Haden Church pegged as a "smart Pamela Anderson." She's a Buffalo, N.Y., native who came to Los Angeles a few years ago to become a music promoter. Instead, she landed a regular on-camera gig interviewing the stars for the small TV production company in Beverly Hills that later became No Good Television.

NGTV.com launched in February, but the site didn't take off until its clips were first posted on YouTube.com in May. Aside from the website, No Good Television is a self-contained production company with in-house music composing, animation, puppetry, a makeup artist, a stylist and a vast content library, much of it uncensored music videos. NGTV.com features more than a dozen other online shows, but Keagan's "UpClose" and "In Bed With" are its cornerstones.

It's Keagan's effervescence, cut with a razor wit, that creates the freewheeling sensibility in the junket interview. She puts actors in the right mind-set to, say, banter about group sex or -- as Matt Dillon did for "Factotum" -- muse on the conspicuous absence of pubic lice since the waxing craze.

"Why can't all the interviews be like you?" Dillon told her.

Laughs, not gossip

Even during the PG-rated "Shrek the Third" interview with Cameron Diaz and Mike Myers, Keagan managed to devolve the chat into an R-rated discussion of "happy endings." Even Myers -- Mister "Fat Bastard" -- was squirming in his seat.

"How come I feel like I'm on the set of 'Hee-Haw' right now?" Myers asked the camera.

It's a startling change for the stars, noted Keagan.

"They do sit in those junket rooms for what feels like days answering the same questions over and over again," she said. "I think it's a nice break to be able to cut loose; instead of going in there with 20 bullet points, I'm trying to be conversational and just have a moment with them that I think they'll respond to."

On one hand, No Good Television shows a cruder side to A-list actors than what's shown on mainstream TV. It feels risqué and completely spontaneous, so viewers don't feel like they're being spoon-fed studio rhetoric.

On the other hand, it's tame compared with the galaxy of tabloid websites and TV shows competing for the next gruesome celebrity train wreck. Interviews steer clear of gossip. No personal questions are asked and the celebrities are always in on the joke. Studio executives can vet footage if they're worried an actor went too far. (An NGTV spokeswoman said that has only happened twice.)

Kourosh Taj, NGTV's co-president and head of programming, put it bluntly: "We want to help them sell their product."

For all that "win-win" synergy, the access is striking considering how far some actors have taken the whole naughty act. Actress Ashley Scott (who costars in the CBS fan hit "Jericho") joked while promoting "Into the Blue," the 2005 bikini thriller starring Jessica Alba, that her brother called the movie "Into the Crotch."

"I've done television shows where you say one wrong thing and the publicist will never talk to you again," said No Good Television executive producer Robert Morton, who has produced "Mind of Mencia" and NBC's "Late Night With David Letterman." "But these guys get away with it. I think a lot of it is the power of the audience they attract."

Generally, Keagan deals with R-rated films appropriate for the raucous interviews. But even when the whole premise falls flat -- like when "Resurrecting the Champ's" Alan Alda stumbled over the show's concept -- it's good TV.

"What kind of a name is that?" he asked Keagan when she introduced the show. "And anyway, what am I doing on it?"

Banking on it

No Good Television is housed in an enormous but nondescript old bank building in Beverly Hills. Inside it's lit like a nightclub and, in fact, every few weeks the staff hosts a party there. Next to a modest set where the crew shoots more than three segments a day, there's a red mohair bar, fully stocked.

The vibe is very basement rec room, circa 1978. Some walls are purple. Some are covered in red mohair. In one hallway there's an air hockey table. The celebrity "holding area" is decked out with massage chairs.

Downstairs a team of designers assembled the site's sophisticated animation -- the animated NGTV mascots are a beaver and a rooster -- and developed a video game component for an XBox Halo 3 promotion.

One notable absence from the building is co-host Shark Firestone, who wears a bushy afro, mutton-chop sideburns and a "Superfly" get-up. His monologues generally involve outrageous tales of unbridled excess and weird sex and cannot be quoted in a family newspaper. Not even a little bit.

NGTV's Endeavor deal is an especially sweet coup for Taj and co-president Jay Vir. Despite some high-profile investors -- Kiss' Gene Simmons and Al Cafaro, former chairman and chief executive of A&M Records -- they struggled for years trying to find the right home for No Good Television. There was a failed attempt to take the company public last summer. They nearly closed a deal with In Demand to make NGTV a pay-per-view channel but pulled out because it wasn't a good fit.

Then YouTube's popularity exploded and they decided to take NGTV online. In April, a promotional trailer for the site debuted at the National Assn. of Broadcasters conference in Las Vegas that positioned NGTV as antidote to censorship, racism and xenophobia. Taj posted NGTV clips on YouTube.com to draw people to the site in May and they immediately ranked among the most-viewed. Last week, Taj said, the site's 54 clips surpassed 70 million views on YouTube.com. Keagan's interview with Baron Cohen as Borat topped them all. In that segment, she fawned over the Kazakh reporter and sat on his lap, inspiring a typically cringe-worthy Borat moment. That clip got more than 3.8 million views.

"We're breaking down the wall," a voice on the No Good Television promo intones, "getting you closer to the artist than you've ever been before."

Fire-belching star's 'normal' home life
Kiss bassist Gene Simmons's legendary rock 'n' roll lifestyle is in perfect harmony with his blissful domestic situation -- as seen on TV

Heather Adler
CanWest News Service
Thursday, August 30, 2007

CREDIT: Getty Images Kiss wildman Gene Simmons reveals that he is a staunch;feminist.

If you ask Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, the world should be run by women in a model similar to ant colonies, marriage should seen as an unworkable farce, society should censor violence (not sex), and everyone should work seven days a week.

The man who has made his living belching fire, spitting blood and wagging his disproportionately long tongue at the world has an unconventional life with an unconventional world view to match. So it's shocking to discover that his home life is completely and utterly normal.

Simmons introduced his family -- Playboy playmate wife Shannon Tweed, 50, son Nick, 18, and daughter Sophie, 15 -- to the world on reality TV show Gene Simmons Family Jewels, now entering its third season. Unlike fellow hard-rockers the Osbournes, the Simmons are a group of well-adjusted, intelligent and, as Simmons points out, "extremely good looking," individuals.

His ridiculously articulate and creative kids do well in school (Nick has a 4.3 GPA, which is actually better than perfect due to extra-credit honours courses, while Sophie holds her own at 3.5) and they seem to have a firmer grasp on reality than most.

"[My life] is not normal," Simmons boasts, his voice puffed up with trademark arrogance. "What I do and have done for decades is stick my prodigious oral member out . . . hump my guitar and spit blood. And Shannon was, if you judge the book by the cover, the playmate of the year, on the cover of Playboy many, many times, and we've never been married. How is that normal?"

Simmons says he's bucked convention because he sees the result of common life and its rules as being "devastatingly horrible," qualifying his morals with the notion that most men don't even like their wives. Simmons, however, loves being with his partner in crime, the surprisingly hilarious and devious Tweed.

"Why do men die younger than their wives? Because they want to," Simmons deadpans. "They don't want to be there. Whereas, I prefer to be with Shannon than with other people because I actually like her. The fact that she's smoking hot is in addition to that [is nice]."

While the situations Simmons encounters on Gene Simmons Family Jewels are anything but ordinary -- in one episode, he takes Sophie to a "Sexercise" audition, where he gets voluptuous girls to do aerobics in skimpy outfits, for "bring your daughter to work day" -- the Kiss brood remains remarkably well adjusted. Simmons explains he believes his clan might have different values, but, in his eyes, they just make more sense than societal norms.

"You know, I think [we should be] less sensitive to the idea of sex and embrace it as a thing that is natural and wonderful -- and shield the eyes of our children to boxing or football or anything that's violent," he says. "It's violence that should be censored -- not sex. Nobody's going 'ouch.'"

When it comes to his own daughter, the infamous womanizer -- who claims to have slept with 4,600 women -- says he hopes she's wise enough to likewise ignore what mainstream culture tells her to be and becomes a woman who finds her own path.

"What I tell Sophie, when we talk about life in general is, 'I hope you grow up to be Sophie and not the girlfriend of some guy,'" he explains. "Women have to stop defining themselves by men. You take the guy's last name. Every women's magazine says 'The 10 things he's interested in,' 'What is he thinking?' 'Where is this going?' 'Do I have my mother's hips?' and every one of those articles weakens you."

Wait. It's starting to sound like the demon himself is actually a feminist.

"Absolutely," Simmons asserts, before trailing off into a slightly twisted view of what he thinks would make a utopian world. "I believe that every single country should be ruled by women -- but just at the high end. The pragmatic, everyday things should be by men because you women refuse to roll up your sleeves and build skyscrapers and pour concrete and pour the roads that we all drive on because your nails will break.

"That's why the ant colonies have it right: there's a queen and the rest are all male workers."

Simmons might not live a conventional life or embrace acceptable conservative views du jour, but after watching Gene Simmons Family Jewels and witnessing what a loving family he's fostered, can he really be all wrong?

- Check your local television listings for Gene Simmons Family Jewels.

- - -

KISS CONCERT

Kiss is coming to B.C. Tickets for their Sept. 15 concert on the slopes of Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler are on sale now. They're available by phoning 1-888-223-6620 or go online at www.kissonline.com or www.secureticket.org.

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

NEW YORK, Aug. 27 /PRNewswire/ --
Get ready to rock the vote and roll the tape! A&E Network(R) has launched an online viewer's choice contest for Gene Simmons Family Jewels (R) on AETV.com -- giving fans of the hit real life series the ability to call the shots and decide which episodes will be broadcast on A&E Network on September 9th.
Viewers can cast their votes from now until September 6th, on the Gene Simmons Family Jewels viewer's choice Web site at www.aetv.com/viewers-choice. Dad is Gene Simmons -- the legendary, tongue wagging demon of KISS. Mom is Shannon Tweed -- former Playmate of the Year, actress and model. And their kids, Nick and Sophie, are, well... surprisingly charming, well-behaved teenagers dealing with the trials and tribulations of adolescence, even though Mom and Dad are truly like no one else's parents.
Viewers can watch clips from 10 episodes, then choose their favorite from a list, including:

-- "Genetopia" - While stuck in the tropical paradise of Turks & Caicos, Gene toys with the idea of buying his own island. Modestly naming it "Genetopia," he sets out to create a kingdom that will live by HIS rules.

-- "Master Gene Theatre" - With brand new segments featuring Gene and the family, we take a look back at Season One including: never before seen couch interviews, outtakes, the Best of Gene's Bad Jokes and other themed montages.

-- "Alpha Male" - After several camping trip battles with Mother Nature the family comes to appreciate Gene's definition of "vacation" after all.

-- "British Invasion" - Gene uses his Rock God status to throw Nick an 18th birthday he will never forget - a personal tour of London's musical landmarks including The Beatles' Abbey Road Studios.

The top two episodes will air on A&E on Sunday, September 9th at 9pm ET / 8pm C. Cast your vote now at www.aetv.com/viewers-choice!

I AM NOT MARRIED!!!
   Folks. I have been deluged with new emails saying some very nice things. Thank you. But, seriously girls, I AM NOT MARRIED!!! I HAVE NEVER BEEN MARIED. I HAVE NO INTENTIONS OF EVERY GETTING MARRIED.
   It shocks me that women keep saying "..you wife"...and can't get it through their heads there IS NO wife. Never has been. Never will be.
   Women are finally FREE. You live in the 21st Century. You DON'T HAVE TO BE MARRIED, if you don't want to.
   So ladies, I say this again, I AM NOT MARRIED.

   MISS SOPHIE, the beautiful SHANNON TWEED and myself just came back from the INDY Race in Sonoma -- INFINION. Great race. 
   Good to see you all out there. SAMMY HAGAR came by, said hello and we chatted. Indy 500 winner DAN WELDON walked by and said hello.
   Two more races left this season. Come on down.
   Check it out at INDYCAR.COM.

Simmons at Magic Marketplace Promoting MoneyBag

(08/25/07 - billboard.com) Jason Dussault, Designer, Founder, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of Dussault Apparel Inc., is pleased to announce that Gene Simmons will be at the Dussault Apparel Booth at the MAGIC Marketplace, one of the most influential four days in the world fashion business, to promote MONEYBAG, the bold new premium apparel line that is a partnership between Dussault Apparel and Gene Simmons. Designed by Jason, the line includes hoodies, T's, belts, wallets, purses and hats.

Dussault comments, "I have always looked up to Gene as a role model and my teenage dreams became a reality when I got to meet the man himself and we hit it off, the result being the MoneyBag collaboration. It is my great honor to have Gene at the MAGIC Marketplace promoting MoneyBag."

I chatted with Kourosh Taj, the charismatic co-president and head of programming at No Good TV, on the eve of NGTV's announcement that it would make the move to late-night TV.

Located in Beverly Hills, Calif., NGTV was launched in 2000 and added Kourosh Taj -- a 14 year veteran of the music and entertainment industry -- to lead virtually every facet of the company from programming to content licensing. NGTV uses technology from Brightcove and Akamai to host its videos. It has received investments and continuing guidance from former chairman and CEO of A&M Records Al Cafaro, Co-President Jay Vir, and Gene Simmons, its chairman of the board.

After a mutual friend showed Simmons a demo tape of NGTV's content, Taj got a call to set up a meeting. "What's great about him is he got what we were doing, saw its implications, and came in as an investor. We pride ourselves that Gene invested in something he didn't create, which is not something he's done. He's there to help us build the brand and he's been very brilliant about it."

NGTV bills itself as "the world's largest producer of uncensored celebrity news and entertainment programming" and offers professionally-produced, uncensored content targeted to the 18-34 male audience. Host Carrie Keagan conducts racy celebrity interviews while host Shark Firestone is what happens when Ron Burgandy and Mad Magazine are tossed into a food processor together. There's also a puppet named Bud Dealer and animated mascots named Cock Tolstoy and Beaver Brown, respectively.

That said, it's not about being uncensored for the sake of being uncensored. The site doesn't cater to "angry or violent" videos, says Taj. What it offers the viewer is a "relationship with a celebrity like you were having a beer with them." That ethos is why content deals with Superbad make perfect sense for the site.

NGTV has marketed itself virally by uploading its videos to YouTube. Asked what he thought of the "grab and load" notion of video content appearing throughout the online video sphere, Taj says: "I find it incredibly flattering. NGTV is for the people and I love the fact that someone's seen something and wants it on their site... I'm a believer in getting the word out." His only caveat is that if someone else is making a profit from NGTV's content then that would be a problem.

Likewise, Taj supports the ad-funded model and sees the future of advertising and online video as the integration of the product into the content. He cited NGTV's deal with Microsoft Xbox: "Part of their discussions were, 'How do we integrate you into the game, but in a subtle and clever way,' and I think that's what's going to happen more."

Obviously this isn't going to work for all online video sites, but for those that create original content it's an idea that harkens back to the early days of TV when advertising took a more direct role in shaping the stories. Today we see that more and more in the guise of product presence slipping into the backgrounds of shows.

Even so, video sites like Vimeo adapt this idea in their ads where the Vimeo team creates specific, DIY ads for products that they like. With Google's YouTube embarking on the ad overlay route (placing small ads at the bottom of selected videos) this model might find more popularity and traction.

NGTV is about to make the move to late-night TV with a series in development with Robert Morton (Late Show With David Letterman), Dave Becky, and Michael Rotenberg from 3 Arts Entertainment and Endeavor. Heading to the little screen doesn't mean the site is straying from its online video roots. Taj sees NGTV as a hybrid of video content. Platforms are converging, he says, and to create a network that is multiplatform you need to bridge the gap between the web and TV. Ultimately, though, it's about the content and creating a place where it can be free to evolve. Of NGTV's role in this, Taj says, "It's a place for artistic freedom and it represents something positive in the world."

http://www.contentinople.com/author.asp?section_id=431&doc_id=132213

KISSOLOGY VOL II is the #1 Music Video
   On the heels of the 6 x Platinum and #1 Music Video KISSOLOGY VOL I (the 6 hour DVD), we are proud to announce that the just released KISSOLOGY VOL II is the #1 Music Video. Thanks to all of you.
   KISSOLOGY VOL II contains 7 hours (!!!) of cool stuff spanning decades. And, there are a few surprises.
   Check out KISSONLINE.COM for all the details.

Book Released: 18 Jul 2007
Posted 14 Aug 2007

Writer: Leah Moore, John Reppion, Tom Waltz, et al.
Artist: Jeffrey Zornow, Esteve Polls, Steph Stamb, et al.
Letters: N. Uyetake and R. Robbins
Colors: Matt Busch, Robert Studio, German Torres, et al.
Publisher: IDW Publishing
3.90 out of 5 Stars

Reviewed by J. W. DeBolt Jr.

Gene Simmons has always been a comicbook fan—even before his historic venture with Marvel Comics in the 1970s to which he gave his blood. Now he has allied himself with IDW Publishing, publishers of Scarface: Devil in Disguise and Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Space Between to give his sweat and tears to create a number of new titles: Gene Simmons House of Horrors, Gene Simmons Dominatrix, Gene Simmons Zipper, Nick Simmons Skullduggery and Gene Simmons Indy, Race of the Galaxies.

While he did not write any stories in the first book of the group, House of Horrors, Gene Simmons is the inspiration and creative director, and he wrote the intro and outro. The five graphic tales within were written by Leah Moore and John Reppion (Raise the Dead) Tom Waltz, Chris Ryall (Shaun of the Dead, Editor-in-Chief of IDW), Sean Taylor (A Private Little Corner of the Universe) and Dwight L. MacPherson. The artists: Jeffrey Zornow (Day of the Dead), Esteve Polls, Steph Stamb, John Alderink and Grant Bond. A prose piece by Nick Simmons, “The Child,” closes the set of tales in this issue.

“Into the Woods” bears little resemblance to its namesake musical by Stephen Sondheim beyond the woods and magic. A girl turns 13 and reflects upon her odd life, in which she was compelled to do “strange things” without knowing why. The village she lived in had walled itself off from the woods that they greatly feared. Her final act in the village betrays it to the terror in the woods. Knowledge of a Russian folk tale will help the reader make sense of this tale.

In “Crude,” the author takes us to a modern-day horror, the previous war in Iraq, Operation Desert Storm, where Saddam’s Republican Guard has set oil wells on fire during their retreat. I’ll just say that up until now, the horrors of war have not included what happens to these fighting men.

“Circle Seven” borrows its name from Dante, as scientists have discovered the entrance to the circles of hell. This is the most interesting of the first three stories. When the government offers him a deal that will set him up for life — for being the first volunteer to descend into hell — Dack jumps for it despite his wife’s misgivings. Suited up in a special survival costume, he begins his descent through the circles while reflecting on the nature of hell and his lack of faith. I like the irony that as he thinks of his humanity, his costume makes him look alien. The ending is somewhat expected, but the manner of its realization is original.

In “Nymph,” it’s Man versus Nature — and Nature fights dirty. This story pleasantly surprised me, as it developed and resolved itself opposite of the way one would expect in the contemporary fiction world. “The Basement” is often the imaginary play-land for children, but in this case, it may not be so imaginary. Beware of precocious children. As monsters-in-the-basement story goes, this is fairly original, too.

For the prose piece “The Child,” by Nick Simmons, I offer him his own “crawling ovation” (love that phrase). Perhaps the lack of graphics makes the horror of the story scarier, as one’s mind applies its own fears to the details. The story begins with a child born so hideous that humans cannot look upon it. This is a short morality tale that brings to mind some of the classic short SF stories of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

There’s a good balance of art styles in the book. Jeffrey Zornow’s art is dynamic and gruesome and the use of colors striking. Esteve Polls’ art in “Crude“ is not crude, but somewhat Kubert-esque (Joe, that is), with fine-line shading and mostly eye-level viewpoints with a couple of dramatic “crane shots“ thrown in. The muted colors by Robert Studio fit the military camo and desert content.

Steph Stamb’s work in “Circle Seven“ is new and different — or maybe retro. Large dot-pattern printing with watercolorish pencils give the story a dreamlike feel. Make that “nightmarelike.” The characters look spooky. The art for “Nymph“ is unremarkable, but modern, like Pia Guerra’s in Y: The Last Man, but more angular. Grant Bond’s work in “The Basement“ recalls art by Ted Naifeh or Ben Templesmith with a touch of The Goon’s Eric Powell.

Overall, I liked this issue and recommend it to readers. (However, I didn’t like the “horror-ble“ spelling of “Horrors“ on the front cover. I suppose a backwards “R“ is a horror to this proofreader-by-trade, but it’s trite.) Generally, these are similar to stories in Tales From the Crypt or House of Mystery. Will Gene Simmons step out as the new Cain or the new Cryptkeeper of the 21st century? We shall see. According to the Outro, the next ish is due in October. Expect the new titles soon, too: Gene Simmons Dominatrix, for adults only, Gene Simmons Zipper which looks existentially interesting, and Gene Simmons Indy, Race of the Galaxies, for general audiences.

Gene,

On Monday, August 13, 2007 on ABC Family an episode of "Full House" aired from 12:30 pm - 1:00 pm and at the end of the show, John Stamos and the boys were playing a polka version of "Rock and roll all night" at a party.

Just wondering if you ever saw that episode. The episode revolved around Danny's daughter dating someone name "Viper".

RF
CT

Letters...

No Good going to TV
NGTV makes jump to tube
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER

TMZ isn't the only Internet phenom plotting a leap to television. Edgy site No Good TV -- best known for its raw, uncensored celebrity interviews -- is about to shop a latenight franchise around town.
"Late Show With David Letterman" alum Robert Morton is aboard to exec produce the project, which he hopes to pitch to nets in the next few weeks.
"The more time I spend with them, the more I feel they're just stylish, funny people," Morton said of the No Good TV crew. "And the things they put together -- there's such an energy there."
Morton and NGTV.com hooked up via Endeavor and 3 Arts Entertainment, which is also producing. NGTV co-president and programming head Kourosh Taj will also exec produce the project, along with 3 Arts' Dave Becky.
No Good TV -- tagline: "Putting the F-U back into fun" -- has seen its online visibility rise in recent months, with clips on YouTube hitting more than 62 million views. Site has grown famous via raunchy clips of celebs, such as Robin Williams riffing with profanity and Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson telling off-color jokes.
Morton credits the site's celeb-friendly attitude for securing such off-the-cuff interviews with stars; the site's leaders have characterized themselves as the anti-TMZ, with no paparazzi footage and a willingness to edit questionable material if requested by the stars' reps or studios.
"Mainstream people are playing along," Morton said. "They're going on these junkets, talking to top celebs, and publicists are sending talent their way."
The TV show would ape the website's mix of irreverent celeb chats, music, sketch comedy, CG animation and even puppetry. NGTV's Carrie Keagan is set to host.
To stay true to the spirit of the site, Morton said he wouldn't expand the No Good TV operation dramatically but attempt to keep it simple.
"I wouldn't want to give them a lot of budget or carte blanche," he said. "Part of the fun is that it's homegrown: You roll up your sleeves and you do a show."
No Good TV is based in a large Beverly Hills facility that doubles as a hip lounge, where much of the online programming is shot and produced. Morton said he plans to set the show there as well.

Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970404.html

My cubicle at work on my birthday
KISS RULES!!!!!!!!!

Daryl Harmon
Fresno,Ca

Letters...

GENE SIMMONS AND SHANNON TWEED SHOOT IT OUT
FOR GENE SIMMONS FAMILY JEWELS
The famous couple makes a bet and gets behind the camera
as Playboy.com’s Newest Celebrity Guest Photographers

Legendary KISS rocker Gene Simmons and his lovely mate Shannon Tweed are Playboy.com’s newest Celebrity Guest Photographers (to view photos and video from the session, log on to www.playboy.com/arts-entertainment/celebphoto/gene-simmons/index.html beginning Friday, August 17 at 12:00 p.m. CT).
   The couple photographed Miss April 2001 Katie Lohman as part of a bet for their hit A&E reality show, Gene Simmons Family Jewels.  It’s up to Hef to decide who is the better photographer—Gene or Shannon. At stake: A trip to Vegas for Shannon’s sister’s wedding, which “happily unmarried” Gene has absolutely no interest in attending.
If Shannon wins, Gene goes to the wedding. If Gene wins, Shannon goes solo. The winner of the “shoot off” will be announced Sunday, August 19 on Gene Simmons Family Jewels (check local listings for airtime).
Gene and Shannon are part of a growing list of Celebrity Guest Photographers for Playboy.com. Previous Celebrity Photographers include William Shatner, Carmen Electra, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Tommy Lee, Ja Rule, Nelly, Jenny McCarthy and Flavor Flav.

Newsday.com Review:
Gene Simmons, 'Kissology' DVD meet Tom Snyder
BY DIANE WERTS
August 14, 2007

As the legends of TV talk keep departing this realm in alarming numbers, fans of Tom Snyder in particular should do a very peculiar thing.

Obtain the DVD set "Kissology Vol. 2: 1978-1991."

Within its three biographical discs of rock-and-roll-all-night lies a hilarious encounter between said "Tomorrow" show host and four dudes tricked out in pseudo-space gear and outrageous makeup, all laid helpless by the giggles.

Except, of course, for Kissmaster Gene Simmons, who slumps sulking in his chair for reasons he explains in another of the DVD's delights, optional audio commentary, looking back now on NBC's 1979 late-night tête- ... -tête.

"He was the Barbara Walters - bigger than Barbara Walters," today's imperious Simmons says of the expressive Snyder, who would have loved hearing that before he died July29. "Important entities would sit there and they would sort of delve into the what-is-it-that-makes-this-thing-tick, who-are-these-people. So we were honored to be on the show."

Guitarist Ace Frehley was, in fact, so honored that he got completely blitzed, and acted plastered, which Snyder loved, beseeching Ace to describe his "outfit."

"I think this outfit is self-explanatory. I'm a plumber," Frehley deadpans before another burst of mirth.

"Listen," replies the talkmeister devilishly, "I've got a little piece of pipe backstage I'd like to have you work on."

"Tell me about it!" blurts Ace, dissolving into convulsive cackles.

"When [Ace] would have a few - gallons," Simmons drawls in commentary, "he would turn into a happy guy. The result is kind of a grumpy old man who used to stick his tongue out" - that would be Simmons - "and a bombed guitar player."

The exchange is laugh-out-loud hysterical. God help the closed-captioners trying to transcribe all the antic crosstalk dialogue. (Yes! It's captioned this time!)

Why doesn't everybody strip-mine TV history the way these Kiss sets do so deliciously? The highlight of last year's three-disc "Kissology Vol. 1: 1974-1977" was another talkfest artifact: the rockers' ultra-early '74 appearance on daytime's amiable "Mike Douglas Show." As Kiss' Paul Stanley recalled in commentary, "Mike Douglas pretty much made Merv Griffin look like Ozzy Osbourne."

But it was Douglas' co-host that week, mature Catskills comic Totie Fields, who memorably looked beyond Simmons' skull-and-crossbones leather and flesh-veiling makeup to call the Israel native "a nice Jewish boy. You can't hide the hook." That surreal clash of cultures - what did Douglas' housewife viewers make of Kiss at a time when even rockheads weren't sure what they were? - was supplemented on Vol. 1 by other classic tube excerpts. "The Midnight Special." "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert." And the show-biz bizzarerie of 1976's "Paul Lynde Halloween Special." (Quips the fey Lynde, "Just what I've always wanted - four kisses on the first date!")

"Kissology Vol. 2" covers a longer period and a broader swath of territory. This one unearths TV appearances from Australia, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal, in addition to ABC's "Fridays" rock-out. Add in CNN and MTV coverage of the band, led by video jockey J.J. Jackson's chat during the 1983 "unmasking" when they revealed their faces sans makeup. Simmons and co-founder Stanley recently sat down to provide fresh commentary on it all, bluntly assessing their youthful behavior, the band's evolution and various missteps along the way.

The vintage clips remain the most priceless (though a crisp wide-screen European cut of their NBC TV movie "Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park" is a hoot of its own). The "Tomorrow" show finds Stanley recalling how the Queens boys "started out playing in Amityville, Long Island, and we always said, 'This is the Garden. Every night.'" Even then they knew they were making what they already called "Kisstory." Now it's satisfyingly amassed and interpreted for all to savor.

Hey, didn't these guys ever visit Merv Griffin?

KISSOLOGY VOL. 2: 1978-1991. Rockers' interviews with Tom Snyder and MTV, plus NBC's "Phantom of the Park" TV movie, alongside vintage concert footage; out this week from VH1 Classic, list price $35.
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.

Just to let you know ( I am sure YOU already do ) that Gene Simmons Family Jewels will start airing in Canada on Much More Music starting August 19, 2007.
I was wondering if this is the deal you were making in Toronto a little while back?
I also want to take this time to wish you an early HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!
From Dean, Nanaimo B.C., Canada

Letters...

KISSology 2 is an expanded 3 disc set boasting nearly 7 hours of rare or never-before-seen footage featuring notorious television interviews and early KISS music videos.

Pictured: Here are what the LIMITED EDITION packages & their stickers look like in stores: Left:BEST BUY Center:WAL MART/SAM’S Right:Retailers carrying Tokyo Bonus Disc.

The three Bonus Discs are available with KISSOLGY 2 on initial shipments only - get them while you can. Bonus Discs info is as follows:

The Ritz-NYC 1988 - @ Best Buy only

Largo, MD 1979 - @ Wal Mart & Sam's Club

Budokan/Tokyo Japan 1988 @ AAFES, Amazon, Amoeba, Borders, Bull Moose, Cat's, Circuit City, Criminal, Cutlers, Dimple, Down In The Valley, Electric Fetus, Grimey's, Forever Young, FYE, Gallery of Sound, Hastings, Homers, House of Guitars, In-Motion, Independent, The Inner Ear, J & R, Looney Tunes, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Newbury Comics, Plan 9, Rasputin, Record & Tape Traders, Rolling Stone, Salzer's, Scotti's, Silver Platters, Target, Twist & Shout, Vintage Vinyl, Virgin, Waterloo, ZIAS (as well as all stores in Canada)

KISSOLOGY 2 ADVANCE CLIP

The clip is taken from KISSOLOGY Volume Two. VH1 Classic Records will release “KISSology: Volume Two 1978-1991” the second installment of the definitive 3-part collection on DVD Tuesday, August 14, 2007.

KISSology: Volume Two 1978-1991” is an expanded 3 disc set boasting nearly 7 hours of rare or never-before- seen footage featuring notorious television interviews and early KISS music videos. Volume Two follows KISS from the height of mid 70’s KISSteria through the departure of Peter and Ace, the KISS unmasking and the Eric Carr years. Additionally, this DVD set will include the previously never before seen European theatrical version of the 1978 cult classic KISS film - "KISS IN ATTACK OF THE PHANTOMS" - complete with scenes not seen in the U.S. version!

THE COUNT DOWN TO KISSOLOGY 2 CONTINUES!

Subject: KISS on Lil" Bush

Gene,

Did you catch the episode where they dressed up as KISS? Very cool...Lil Bush was you, dragon boots and all...

it's a Very funny show if you follow the news, it's all for fun and I do get tired of people poking fun at Mr. Bush, but it's just for fun..

The President deserves respect, no matter who they are..

Fan since 76....

Victor Bailey, Palm Coast, Florida

Letters...

It was awesome getting to meet you in Brooklyn, MI Sunday at the Indy Race.!! You were Awesome!
xoxo Vicki =)

Letters...

Not a question but just a funny cartoon I ran across :)

Kandise France
Louisiana, USA

Letters...

   Mr. NICK TWEED SIMMONS appeared on JIMMY KIMMEL's show last night. If you missed it, check it out. The powerful and attractive Nick was asked to appear on the show and in the grand tradition of his lineage, took the opportunity to promote his self written/drawn comic book, SKULLDUGGERY (which you can subscribe to by going to SIMMONS COMICS GROUP here -- though Skullduggery is on the IDW Imprint).