Vote For Hope For Paws And Win Harlette Style

As any Bette Midler fan knows, one of the most fascinating aspects of the Divine Miss M is the company she keeps, and in the case of her Staggering Harlettes, she is in fantastic company indeed.

Although the roster changes from tour to tour, the Harlettes are a multi-talented trio of singers, dancers, often fish-tail clad wheelchair drivers, comediennes, ukulele players, and poi ball twirlers, and that is only the tip of their talented iceberg.

One of the most amazing of these gorgeous Glamazons is the beautiful, talented, and downright wacky Rhae Ann Theriault, who I've been fortunate to be friends with for a while now. She is also one of the most compassionate people on the planet, and through her most recent endeavour, she has allied herself with other compassionate people to ensure positive outcomes for the less fortunate, especially her animal friends.

Together with Don Bradshaw, webmaster of the premiere Bette Midler web-blog Bootleg Betty, Theriault has sponsored a very huge online benefit to save unwanted, neglected, or abused animals worldwide. This is a global effort in honour of one of her dear friends Eldad Hagar, whose organisation Hope For Paws could be the recipient of a $1, 000, 000 grant, courtesy of Chase Community Giving, to benefit these animals.

On the Hope For Paws website, the issue is very clear as to why this is such an important mission for pets and people alike.

"Five million pets are euthanized every year. When we created the book, Our Lives Have Gone To The Dogs, about our experience rescuing and fostering dogs and other creatures; we did not foresee that it would make a profound impact on human beings. The book has reached beyond what we could have imagined with its photos and stories are of animals who overcame abuse, neglect, and abandonment to become loving pets, companions, and even therapy dogs. With its emphasis on adopting and treating our pets as family members versus objects, the book has both educated and touched people regardless of race, religion, and political beliefs all over America and in other countries. Individuals in hospitals, cancer patients, and seniors in assisted living have told us that these stories inspired them and gave them hope. The book has the ability to ease the pain and suffering of both humans and animals alike. The written word has the power to educate, enlighten, inspire, and change lives for the better."

By voting (all it takes is a free mouse click) at the following website you can help, and there is an added incentive, as Theriault will explain herself. By the way, the beautiful cat in the photo is named Lucy, she is the pet of Hali Burton, a friend of Theriault who nursed her back to health.

"Hello Everybody,

An animal rescue organization that is very close to my heart, Hope for Paws, was voted among the TOP 100 charity organizations in the U.S. in the Chase Community Giving competition last month, and they won a $25,000 donation for the animals.

They are NOW in round two where they can win a ONE MILLION DOLLAR donation (the winner is based purely on number of votes we get online)! If you have a minute, please see some video of this dog they rescued this week (just to give you an idea of what they do):
Chase's Rescue Story


Here’s a video filmed YESTERDAY while rescuing an injured dog with a broken pelvis:


Rescuing Karma


I hope these videos convince you that they do awesome work for the animals and are worthy of your vote. They’re the ONLY pet rescue group in this contest!!


Rhae Ann Theriault (Former Harlette)"

As an added incentive, Theriault is offering her own original Divine Miss Millennium tour jacket as a prize for the person who can rally the most votes for the cause.

"If you get as many of your friends, family & co-workers to VOTE for "Hope For Paws" - you'll be entered to win an official Bette Midler tour jacket that I wore in the Divine Miss Millennium Tour!

Let's see... in order to be eligible to WIN you must try to get all your Facebook, MySpace, family, friends, & co-workers to vote. It only takes a mouse click and we need thousands of votes. One of the leading charities is in Turkey, I think. They must have people networking like crazy. We need to reach large masses of people - like at schools, universities, celebrity followers, and I'm not TWITTER-savvy!"

Don Bradshaw adds the following:

"After you’ve voted and rallied all your friends, family, co-workers, etc. to do so – and would like to ENTER TO WIN the Bette tour jacket: CLICK ON THIS LINK: Enter To Win and put
Hope For Paws Contest BootlegBetty.com in the subject line of the email. It will send me (Mister D) an email. *Simply enter your name, address, and zip code for the drawing!
Contest ends Friday, January 22 at midnight.
We can DO this! Please, Please Vote!!!!"

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Travel Somewhere Down The Road With Amy Grant On March 30

Amy Grant is one of the most positive and inspirational influences in music, from her strong faith to her refreshingly open-minded and compassionate love for all God's creations, without feeling the need to judge or condemn those who live or believe differently. To Grant, all are welcome in the House of God. Her life has been a series of journeys, through searching for faith, keeping faith despite life's hardships, and teaching faith to others to help them through their own tribulations.



On March 30, 2010, Grant will be releasing her new album Somewhere Down The Road which is actually not a "new" release, rather it is more a hybrid of original songs, new versions of popular favourites, and selected classic songs from Grant's repertoire. The six new songs are: "Better Than A Hallelujah," "Overnight," "Unafraid," "Hard Times," "What Is The Chance Of That," and "Come Into My World." We are also treated to two revamped songs from Grant's catalogue, "Arms Of Love" from Age To Age (1982) and "Oh How The Years Go By" from House Of Love (1994.) The album is completed with four unenhanced additions from classic albums: the first three of which ("Somewhere Down The Road," "Every Road," and "Cry A River") come from Behind The Eyes (1997), and "Do You Remember The Time" from Legacy: Hymns And Faith (2002.)

According to record label EMI, "Somewhere Down The Road" is like a travelogue for the soul:

"The theme for the album is stories and journeys. Amy has always been a great storyteller and many of her most impactful songs have come from her own journey as she sings about the honesty of life, it’s joys and struggles, and ultimately the hope she has found in faith and love. The songs on "Somewhere Down The Road" read like journal entries that will resonate with anyone who grapples with wanting answers to life’s toughest questions."

As such, specific themes that Grant explores on the album include learning to be honest with yourself and with God ("Better Than A Hallelujah",) the value of patience when waiting for answers to life's hard questions ("Overnight",) and learning to listen to people without judging them or feeling the need to "fix" them according to your own ideologies ("Come Into My World".)



Also, on March 30, there will be a few new compilations released concurrently with "Somewhere Down The Road", but anyone who already has the albums in question really won't need these double packs, although they are a good idea for new Amy Grant fans. Amy Grant: The Early Years comprises Age To Age and My Father's Eyes, Amy Grant: The Songwriter Collection comprises Lead Me On and Behind The Eyes, Amy Grant: The Pop Collection comprises Heart In Motion and House Of Love, and Amy Grant: The Breakout Years comprises Straight Ahead and Unguarded.



On December 29, 2009, Grant's 1999 Hallmark movie Song From The Heart was released on DVD. Grant proved herself to be as multi-talented an actress as she is a musician, and is breathtakingly beautiful throughout the film, and this beauty is radiated from the inside out. Grant's performance is on par with Val Kilmer's masterful performance as the blind massage therapist in At First Sight, also released in 1999.

In Grant's movie, she plays Maryann Lowery, a beautiful, blind cellist who lost her sight in a car accident as a child which claimed the lives of her parants. Maryann is the music teacher at the Milford Conservatory of Music, and she enjoys her quiet, comfortable life with her friend and widowed neighbor, Oliver (Keith Carradine). When world-famous musician Gregory Pavan (D.W. Moffet) visits the Conservatory to record an upcoming album, he sees undiscovered talent in Maryann, and promises her fame. He also convinces her to undergo a risky eye operation. As the two fall for each other, it will take a life-changing moment for Maryann to realize that sometimes, true love is waiting right before our eyes, waiting to be discovered.

In the meantime, Amy Grant's fans can rediscover their love for this amazing artist through her music and her movie, and one can only hope that she will return to acting one day, because Song From The Heart is a true gem.

~ Michael Holloway

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Val Kilmer, "50 Cent" and a Big Ass gun!

Why does Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson have a big ass gun and why is he holding in Val Kilmer's face. Get the latest buzz. Val Kilmer the Real Deal.

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"Back To Love" - Beth Nielsen Chapman CD Release - January 25 2010

The amazing singer-songwriter Beth Nielsen Chapman is set to dazzle her many fans with her new album Back To Love which will be released on January 25, 2010. The album will be released in the United Kingdom first (as has been the custom with Chapman's past albums) with US and international release dates to follow soon.

This will be Chapman's first mainstream pop album in six years. Her previous album Prism: The Human Family Songbook and the accompanying DVD If Love Could Say God's Name, both released in 2007, were beautifully spiritual and uplifting, but are not really considered a mainstream release. Back To Love features eleven new songs, some of which Chapman co-wrote with luminaries such as Michael McDonald (Doobie Brothers), Darrell Scott, Danny Flowers (Tulsa Time), Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers) and her close friend and hit songwriting partner Annie Roboff, who together with Chapman, co-wrote the popular hit This Kiss which was a big hit for singer Faith Hill, and was also featured on the soundtrack for the film Practical Magic.