Chuck Lakefield and the Sunrise Show

This is Michael Jackson music like you’ve never heard him before. A trio called Honeywagon has recorded a full album of Jackson’s hits, done bluegrass-style. It’s called “Songs from Neverland, a Bluegrass Tribute to Michael Jackson.” The set includes 10 Jackson hits, including “Beat It,” “Thriller,” “Man in the Mirror” and “Rock With You.” Honeywagon has previously done bluegrass versions of The Rolling Stones, Green Day and Blink-182. “Songs from Neverland A Bluegrass Tribute to Michael Jackson” are available now on iTunes.

THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL BY HONEYWAGON

When enrolling your kids in school or sports, you may want to think twice before handing over their birth certificate or Social Security card. Just because they’re children doesn’t mean they’re too young to have valuable personal information stolen. Even infants are at risk. Identity thieves are targeting the inactive Social Security numbers of children. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, thieves who purchase these Social Security numbers have little or no trouble opening accounts, since banks and other issuers of credit have no way to verify the age of an applicant. A pre-approved credit card offer in your toddler’s name might seem like a funny mistake but it can also be a red flag. And if your kid uses the Internet unsupervised, have a talk with them about what information is safe to give out and what isn’t. Financial experts recommend checking your children’s credit reports every year. You can also put a block on their reports, so people can’t use their Social Security numbers and names to obtain credit.

VH1 will begin counting down their five-hour 100 Greatest Artists Of All Time list with a two-hour premiere showing on September 6th. USA Today printed the bottom 15 of the Top 20 of the list -- with the Top Five only listed in alphabetical order.

Voters appearing in the countdown will be Ozzy Osbourne, Ray Davies, Wayne Coyne, Regina Spektor, Rob Halford, Whitney Houston, and Sheryl Crow.

    * The 'Top 20 Greatest Artists Of All Time' according to VH1:
      The Top Five (in alphabetical order):
      The Beatles
      Bob Dylan
      Michael Jackson
      Led Zeppelin
      The Rolling Stones
      6. Jimi Hendrix
      7. Prince
      8. Elvis Presley
      9. James Brown
      10. Stevie Wonder
      11. Bob Marley
      12. David Bowie
      13. The Who
      14. Nirvana
      15. The Beach Boys
      16. Madonna
      17. Queen
      18. Pink Floyd
      19. U2
      20. Marvin Gaye

Highlights magazine has released the results of its “State of the Kid” survey, in which children shared their thoughts and feelings about themselves and their families and their hopes for the future. Here’s what they found.
 
·         When asked what they like best about themselves, girls said a physical feature, whereas boys said their intelligence.
·         There are strong differences in what boys and girls hope to be when they grow up. Boys’ top picks included athlete, scientist, engineer, and video game designer. Girls aspire to be veterinarians and teachers, but also models, actresses and singers.
·         Kids report an average allowance of $3-5 a week, down sharply from a decade ago. The majority also report that they must do chores in exchange for an allowance.
·         Nearly a third of kids think they will personally travel to space in their lifetime. They also expect to see some other new inventions, including flying cars and helper robots.

The action movie The Expendables, starring Sylvester Stallone  and a bevy of other '80s and '90s action stars, opened in first place at the weekend box office. Stallone, who also directed and co-wrote, was joined by Jet Li, Jason Statham, Mickey Rourke and Dolph Lundgren, in a story of mercenaries trying to overthrow a South American dictator. There are also cameos from Bruce Willis and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Debuting in second place was Eat Pray Love, starring Julia Roberts as a woman who travels to Italy, India and Bali in search of enlightenment after her divorce. The film was adapted from Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir of the same name. James Franco, Billy Crudup and Javier Bardem co-star.

Opening at Number Five was the graphic-novel adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. The comedy adventure stars Michael Cera as a slacker who must fight and defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil ex-boyfriends in order to be with her. Co-starring are Chris Evans, Jason Schwartzman, Brandon Routh and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

    * Last weekend's top movie, The Other Guys, fell to third place

THIS WEEKEND'S TOP TEN MOVIES -- AUGUST 13-15

   1. The Expendables, $35 million
   2. Eat Pray Love, $23.7 million
   3. The Other Guys, $18 million
   4. Inception, $11.4 million
   5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, $10.5 million
   6. Despicable Me, $6.8 million
   7. Step Up 3D, $6.6 million
   8. Salt, $6.4 million
   9. Dinner for Schmucks, $6.3 million
  10. Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, $4.1 million

FRIDAY THE 13TH TRIVIA:

The curses that surround Friday the 13th range from sailors and fishermen being wary of going out to sea to beliefs that hearing any piece of news on the day would add a wrinkle to your face.

In 1913, New York pastor Charles Reynolds even offered to marry couples for free, if they dared to challenge the superstitions.

An extreme superstition is that if you have 13 people who sit down to a meal together, all will die within a year.

Throughout history, many of the world's most notorious killers have had exactly 13 letters in their names, such as Jack the Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Theodore Bundy, and Charles Manson.

Throughout history, May 13th has seen Pope John Paul II shot and seriously wounded in Rome in 1981, Vice-President Richard Nixon attacked in Latin America in 1958, and Winston Churchill promising Parliament "to wage war, by sea, land and air with all our might and strength that God can give" in 1940.

Finally, in 1993, a study in the British Medical Journal concluded that the "risk of a transport accident on Friday the 13th may be increased by as much as 52% and that staying at home was recommended."

FRIDAY THE 13th ODDITIES:

More than 80 percent of high-rises lack a 13th floor.
Many airports skip the 13th gate.
Some airplanes have no 13th row of seats.
Hospitals and hotels regularly have no room number 13.
Italians omit the number 13 from their national lottery.
On streets in Florence, Italy, the house between number 12 and 14 is addressed as 12 and a half.
Many cities do not have a 13th Street or a 13th Avenue.
In France, socialites known as the quatorziens (fourteeners) once made themselves available as 14th guests to keep a dinner party from an unlucky fate.

Happy Birthday to David Crosby, who turns 69 tomorrow (August 14th). Crosby, whose father was Academy Award-winning cinematographer Floyd Crosby, grew up in affluent towns in and around Los Angeles, and later Santa Barbara, California. He first attained fame as part of the Byrds, which he co-founded with Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, Chris Hillman, and Michael Clarke in 1964. The next year, the Byrds went on to score two Number Ones with a cover of Bob Dylan's "Mr. Tambourine Man" and an electric beat arrangement of Pete Seeger's "Turn, Turn, Turn."

By 1967, Crosby, who was always an excellent harmonist, had developed a unique modular guitar tuning style, and began submitting seminal '60s work to the band's sessions, including "What's Happening?!?!," "Everybody Has Been Burned," "Draft Morning," and the 1967 psychedelic classic "Lady Friend." Most notably, Crosby co-wrote the band's groundbreaking 1966 single "Eight Mile High." Due to the growing mature nature of his songs and differing musical attitudes with McGuinn and Hillman, Crosby was fired from the Byrds.

In his 1988 autobiography, Long Time Gone, Crosby recalled being dumped by the band, remembering that, "(They said), 'You're real difficult to work with. We don't dig your songs and we think we'll do better without you.'"

In 1968, Crosby joined forces with the Buffalo Springfield's Stephen Stills and the Hollies' Graham Nash to form the supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash. It was on their self-titled 1969 debut that Crosby was finally able to shine on Woodstock-era anthems such as "Long Time Gone," "Wooden Ships," and "Guinevere."

Crosby has been inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame twice, with the Byrds in 1991, and with Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1997.

Charlie Sheen, Hugh Laurie and Oprah Winfrey are among the highest-paid talent on television. TV Guide reported on the salaries of stars across all genres of TV and found that although there are huge paydays to be had on the small screen, executives aren't as willing to shell out big bucks for new talent anymore.

In addition to an unidentified "film veteran" who was recruited by the networks but ultimately not hired because of salary demands, TV Guide reports that shows like CSI are calling for their stars to have lighter workloads so as not to pay their stars so much.

It seems as though reality TV is the place to be for big money. TV Guide claims that Kate Gosselin makes $250,000 per episode of Kate Plus 8, and confirmed Snooki's rumored $30,000/episode salary.

The top earners, by category:

Drama (per episode)

Hugh Laurie (House) $400,000+
Christopher Meloni & Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order: SVU) $395,000 (each)
David Caruso (CSI: Miami) $375,000
Marg Helgenberger (CSI) $375,000
Mark Harmon (NCIS) $375,000
Laurence Fishburne (CSI) $350,000
Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) $350,000
Denis Leary (Rescue Me) $350,000
Gary Sinise (CSI: NY ) $275,000
Patrick Dempsey (Grey's Anatomy) $250,000
David Boreanaz (Bones) $200,000
Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) $200,000
Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife ) $175,000
Dana Delany (Body of Proof ) $150,000
Lauren Graham (Parenthood) $150,000
Jada Pinkett Smith (HawthoRNe) $150,000
Jimmy Smits (Outlaw) $150,000
LL Cool J (NCIS: Los Angeles) $125,000
Chris O'Donnell (NCIS: Los Angeles) $125,000
Mark Feuerstein (Royal Pains) $125,000
Jason Lee (Memphis Beat) $125,000
Joe Mantegna (Criminal Minds) $125,000
Tom Selleck (Blue Bloods) $125,000
Michael Weatherly (NCIS) $125,000
Matt Bomer (White Collar) $100,000
Nathan Fillion (Castle) $100,000
Thomas Gibson (Criminal Minds) $100,000
Jon Hamm (Mad Men) $100,000
Cole Hauser (Chase) $100,000
Alex O'Loughlin (Hawaii Five-0) $100,000
Timothy Olyphant (Justified ) $100,000
Scott Caan (Hawaii Five-0) $80,000
Angie Harmon (Rizzoli & Isles) $75,000
Anna Paquin (True Blood) $75,000
Blair Underwood (The Event) $75,000
Zachary Levi (Chuck) $60,000
Ian Somerhalder (The Vampire Diaries) $40,000
Shailene Woodley (The Secret Life of the American Teenager) $40,000
Ashley Tisdale (Hellcats) $30,000

Late Night/Talk Syndication (per year)

Oprah Winfrey $315 million
Judge Judy Sheindlin $45 million
David Letterman (The Late Show) $28 million
Jay Leno (The Tonight Show) $25 million
Conan O'Brien (The Conan O'Brien Show) $10 million
Ellen DeGeneres (The Ellen DeGeneres Show) $8 million
Jimmy Kimmel (Jimmy Kimmel Live) $6 million
Chelsea Handler (Chelsea Lately) $3.5 million
George Lopez (Lopez Tonight) $3.5 million

Reality (per year)

Ryan Seacrest (American Idol) $15 million
Joel McHale (The Soup) $2 million
Piers Morgan (America's Got Talent) $2 million
Kate Gosselin (Kate Plus 8) $250,000 per episode
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi (Jersey Shore) $30,000 per episode

Comedy (per episode)

Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men) $1.25 million
Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) $550,000
Marcia Cross (Desperate Housewives) $400,000
Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives) $400,000
Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) $400,000
Eva Longoria Parker (Desperate Housewives) $400,000
Dan Castellaneta (The Simpsons) $400,000
Julie Kavner (The Simpsons) $400,000
Tina Fey (30 Rock) $350,000
Jeremy Piven (Entourage) $350,000
Steve Carell (The Office) $297,000
Angus T. Jones (Two and a Half Men) $250,000
David Duchovny (Californication) $200,000
Kevin Dillon (Entourage) $200,000
Adrian Grenier (Entourage) $200,000
Miranda Cosgrove (iCarly) $180,000
Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) $175,000
William Shatner ($#*! My Dad Says) $150,000
David Spade (Rules of Engagement) $150,000
Ed O'Neill (Modern Family) $100,000
Patrick Warburton (Rules of Engagement) $85,000
Betty White (Hot in Cleveland) $75,000
Kaley Cuoco (The Big Bang Theory) $60,000
Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory) $60,000
Ty Burrell (Modern Family) $50,000
Jane Lynch (Glee) $50,000
Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) $40,000
Matthew Morrison (Glee) $30,000
Selena Gomez (Wizards of Waverly Place) $30,000
Dylan and Cole Sprouse (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody) $20,000 (each)
Rico Rodriguez (Modern Family) $15,000

News (per year)

Matt Lauer (Today) $16 million +
Katie Couric (CBS) $15 million
Brian Williams (NBC) $12.5 million
Diane Sawyer (ABC) $12 million
Meredith Vieira (Today) $11 million
Bill O'Reilly (Fox News) $10 million
George Stephanopoulos (ABC) $8 million
Keith Olbermann (MSNBC) $7 million
Shepard Smith (Fox News) $7 million
Wolf Blitzer (CNN) $3 million
Christiane Amanpour (ABC) $2 million
Lawrence O'Donnell (MSNBC) $2 million
Eliot Spitzer (CNN) $500,000

CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTIRE TV GUIDE ARTICLE

You may have been hearing a lot lately about Vitamin D, even from your doctor. It turns out that many of us are deficient in Vitamin D, in part because we listened to our doctors' advice about wearing sun protection. Of course, too much sun is linked to skin cancer. But eliminating exposure tends to make us deficient in "D." A recent study at Yale, reported by Bill Gottlieb on The Huffington Post, suggests that people who are "D" deficient get twice as many cold and flu viruses as those who have enough "D." If they did get a cold, the people with enough "D" got over it more quickly. In any case, the results suggest that it would be wise to take a Vitamin D supplement, specifically "D3," which is more potent than other forms. As your mom would say, it can't hurt.

Check It Out: For more, see: http://tinyurl.com/2a7zp39

Is being Hollywood's highest-paid actress enough to make you forget about a cheating ex-husband? You'll have to ask Sandra Bullock. Despite her difficult year, Bullock has earned the distinction of becoming the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, earning $56 million between June 2009 and June 2010.

Bullock topped the likes of Reese Witherspoon and Cameron Diaz for the premiere spot on the annual Forbes list. Forbes editors looked at income from film roles in addition to money that stars might have earned from perfume deals, clothing lines and ad campaigns. Sandra's roles in The Blind Side and The Proposal cemented her position.

Forbes reported that Bullock cut her usual fee to star in The Blind Side -- and reaped a large share of the film's profits in return.
Jennifer Aniston's $27 million haul was good enough for fourth place on the list, behind Witherspoon and Diaz, who each made about $32 million. Sarah Jessica Parker ranked fifth with $25 million.
The complete list is as follows:

Sandra Bullock: $56 million
Reese Witherspoon: $32 million
Cameron Diaz: $32 million
Jennifer Aniston: $27 million
Sarah Jessica Parker: $25 million
Julia Roberts: $20 million
Angelina Jolie: $20 million
Drew Barrymore: $15 million
Meryl Streep: $13 million
Kristen Stewart : $12 million

From my friend Susan this morning:

I hope the picture will go through for you - of this Army soldier in Iraq with his tiny 'plot' of grass in front of his tent.  It's heartwarming!  Here is a soldier stationed in Iraq, stationed in a big sand box.  He asked his wife to send him dirt (U.S. soil), fertilizer, and some grass seed so that he can have the sweet aroma, and feel the grass grow beneath his feet.  When the men of the squadron have a mission that they are going on, they take turns walking through the grass and the American soil -- to bring them good luck.

This was many moons ago... when Chicago played the Firefighters benefit at Fox Cities Stadium.... Barb still looks like the picture... me? Oh well!