(11)Jeanette Santiago

Hi everyone!

Wow, what a week have we had! A lot of news and things are keeping us busy! it sure has been an interesting one! The world of entertainment is abuzz with news, both tragic and funny! The world of sports too! Wait...in a way, sports are part of the entertainment landscape, I always felt. Entertainment encompasses film,television, music, fashion and sports. That's how I feel about it, at least.

Before I go on, I want to expand on something I wrote about last time. Boxer Greg Haugen, the two time world Lightweight champion and once world Junior Welterweight champion, who, as you may know by now, died last week of cancer at the age of 64. I forgot to mention something very important about this boxer: early in 1993, this nutjob of an athlete went to Mexico to fight Julio Cesar Chavez, who had an undefeated record of 84 (!) fights. And yet here was Haugen, saying on television before the fight that Chavez's record consisted of Mexican taxi drivers. He said they were "nothing but stiffs! Every one of them was a cab driver from Tijuana!" Don King added to the fuel by saying that Haugen said that he did not think there were 130,000 Mexicans who could afford to go. Haugen later denied he had said the latter and that he called DOn King and asked him if the promoter was trying to get him killed in Mexico. Anyway, the ploy worked because the Chavez-Haugen bout was witnessed in person by 132,000 paying customers in Mexico. In the fight, Chavez beat Haugen in one of his easiest contests. But what a character this Haugen was!!!

Ok, so now for the more recent news: we awoke, on February 26, to the news that the great Hollywood actor, Gene Hackman, his wife Betsy Arakawa and one of their three dogs had been found dead at their Santa Fe, New Mexico, home. Who can forget Hackman as Lex Luthor in the Superman movies franchise or as Popeye in the French Connection? or as the coach in the basketball drama Hoosiers? Or as an FBI agent named Rupert Anderson in Mississippi Burning? He simply was one of the best actors in history, right there with Marlon Brando, Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro. Well, the Hackmans and their dog had been dead for quite a while, according to investigations. They are presumed to have died around February 17th. Two other dogs were found well and alive.

Gene Hackman left home at age 16 and lied about his age to enlist in the United States Marine Corps in 1946. The Marines, along with other Marines forces across the world, such as the United Kingdom's Royal ones, are among the toughest people ever. I know this personally: my dad is also a United States Marine. Anyways, Hackman was honorably discharged in 1951, after which he headed to New York and worked odd jobs. Finally, in 1966, Hackman decided to pursue a career in acting, moved to Hollywood, befriended Hoffman, and the rest is, as they say, history!

On to more positive news: On February 16, we had the prestigious BAFTA Awards in London. To Americans reading this: the BAFTA are the British equivalent of the Oscars. Videos leaked to me by BAFTA insiders apparently show Netrat getting off his seat and trying to steal one of the trophies! But it wasn't him. I promise you! Netrat is more likely to have been somewhere else, like at a bar, that night!

Conclave won for best film, while Adrien Brody won for best actor in a leading role for his participation as Laszo Toth in The Brutalist and Mikey Madison took home the best actress in a leading role award for her characterization of Anora Mikheeva in Anora. Zoe Zaldana won for best actress in a supporting role for her role of rita Mora Castro in the oft-criticised transgender-woman film Emilia Perez, and Kieran Culkin, who had been long overdue an award, won for best actor in a supporting role, having played Benji Kaplan in A Real Pain. Brady Corbet, meanwhile, won best director for his guidance of the movie The Brutalist, which was, clearly, one of the big winners of the night! Marvelous, marvelous!!!

Talking about marvelous, American fashion designer Vera Wang was also a big winner of the night! At 75, she looked fabulous in her high-waisted black and white skirt and black upside-down top, combined with a short hairdo. Her clothes were designed by her own brand. For a 75 year old, she looks fuckable!!! But, don;t take my word: I once used to think Nancy Reagan was fuckable too. Look for yourself and judge!

So, anyways....something funny happened on Puerto Rican television recently, which became a major scandal there: there is a good-looking fella named Normando Valentin. who is a well known television show host and news reporter, and, quite honestly, an endearing, friendly-looking man who cared enough about his co-host Keylla Hernandez to be by her side every day until she died of cancer a few years ago. Well, he was recently called "pendejo" by Puerto Rican politician Thomas Rivera Schatz, who is nicknamed "The WHite Shark" in Puerto Rico because of his passionate pursuing of political aspects. Rivera Schatz is a member of the leading, pro-statehood party, the New Progressive party. And the word "pendejo" in Spanish means fool. Or dumb. Rivera Schatz is known, for, among other things, attacking television reporters he does not like on social media. But Valentin did not back away. He answered in kind and, recently, he said on a television show he hosts at WAPA_TV, "Ahi Esta la Verdad" ("Here Lies the Truth") that Rivera Schatz is a political bully and a waste of talent, and pointed out that, in his opinion, Rivera Schatz has been a roadblock to the most recent Puerto Rican governors, calling him "a stone on their way", kind of like when Don Altobello told Mosca that Michael Corleone was a stone on his soles in The godfather III.

Did you know, by the way, that calling Eli Wallach "Don Altobello" in The Godfather III was sort of an in-house joke, since "Altobbello" loosely translates, both in Italian and in Spanish, to "Mr. tall and beautiful?" and Wallace was neither! Even netrat was better qualified to be called Altobello!

Well, the Oscars are about to start! I will finish for now and will report again later with updates about that ceremony!

So, what do we take from the Oscars? Well, I, for one, am happy that Kieran Culkin won for Best Actor in a supporting role (again) for his participation in A Real Pain! Hopefully he is finally getting away from the major shadow that is the figure of his brother Macaulay! Other major winners included Mikey Madison (again, again!) as Best Actress in a Leading Role for her characterization of Anora Mikheeva in Anora, Adrien Brody for Best Actor in a Leading Role as Laszlo Toth in The Brutalist and Zoe Saldana, yet again, as Best Actress in a supporting role, for her playing of Rita Mora Castro in the controversial Emilia Perez. Anora won the Best Picture award, and Sean Baker won for best Directing, for his work on Anora. Anora seems to be a movie to be watched.

Although she lost, Demi Moore was also a big winner, She was nominated for best Actress in a leading role, for her participation as Elisabeth Sparkle in the film The Substance. My girl Demi, after being panned universally for Striptease almost three decades ago (wow, has it been that long?) is finally getting respect again from critics! We are happy for her!

As far as the Oscars fashions go, Miley Cyrus showed up in an Alexander McQueen outfit which was gorgeous! Alexander McQueen are always a guaranteed fashion win! One of the reasons we miss him so dearly is that he knew fashion and how to decorate the stars! Cyrus showed up in a gorgeous black dress with black gloves, although what she put on her neck made her look like she had a Goodyear tire attached to her. Ariana Grande, meanwhile, showed up in a nice, pastel white Schaparelli dress, but I have to say that the bottom part made her look like she was carrying an entire house there. Cynthia Erivo's dress was a very nice dark one but she had wings right by her neck! She was wearing a Louis Voutton. Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres was the look of elegance in her dark Chanel, which came without wings, houses or Goodyear tires. Demi Moore's Armani Prive dress did her favors, which she didn't need anyways as she is super hot, but still...she looked great and. like Torres, looked tastefully elegant. Zoe Saldana, on the other hand, was not a winner in the fashion department. Her wine colored dress, designed by the Saint Laurent house, made her look like she had a character from Angry Birds under her belly! In fact those birds should be angry I am comparing that to them! And Felicity Jones looked marvelous in her silver colored, Prive gown. She got some flak for her bodice but I liked it. Which maybe means I'm wrong about my fashion tastes?

As for the men, Timothee Chalamet showed up with a banana=colored Givenchy that reeked of coolness. And Bowen Yang in Etro with flowers was a hit-and-miss.

Well, this week was fun! Let's see what next one brings! As always, remember, God the King, Netrat the net master and Jeanette the writer love you!

Ta-da! C-ya next week!